In order to aggressively scale up textile operations, V K Sodani, Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Director of Sangam India Limited is making huge investments in marketing and distribution to ensure pan-India penetration and visibility
Q] How do you plan to take the brand ‘Sangam’ forward?
We have been manufacturing suiting fabrics for men since the last 25 years. We are a composite textile house with in-house yarn weaving, processing and finishing facilities. To popularise the brand among consumer segments, we are now coming out with a television commercial. We have roped in actor Suneil Shetty and Indian cricketer Virat Kohli as our brand ambassadors. The commercials are already airing on various television channels and we are also present in the current season of IPL.
Q] What are your business and communication targets?
The ready-to-stitch fabric industry has tremendous growth potential and we feel by increasing our marketing efforts we would be able to increase our share by at least 2-3 per cent in the industry. We are hoping to get business of around Rs 55-60 crore in the coming year. We are hoping to be in the top five brands in the category in the coming four years.
Q] How are you positioning your brand in the industry? How competitive is your pricing?
Our brand is currently priced around 20-25 per cent lower than other brands in the category. We are primarily competing with the likes of Grasim, Siyaram, Donear, etc.
Q] Grasim and Siyaram have built their brand in retail market and have a good presence across consumer segments, how do you plan to compete with them? What will is your brand’s USP to fight this competition and how are you going to communicate it?
We have been in this business since last 25 years and therefore we have developed strong network of channel partners. They know the quality, value and commitment that we adhere to throughout the manufacturing process. And these wholesalers will forward this message to the consumers through word of mouth publicity. We are also translating these values to the consumer through electronic media. As far as price competitiveness is concerned, since other brands are not part of composite mills, they end up buying a lot of yarn from us. Grasim, Siyaram, Raymond, etc buy yarn from us without which their basket is not complete. We are India’s largest PV Dyed Yarn manufacturers. And as all our processing is done in-house our product quality and price is not comparable with other brands in the country. And we intend to give this quality and price benefit to the consumers and I am sure once they see our products, they will repeat their purchases.
Q] What other marketing activities are you undertaking to ensure that customers buy your products?
We already have consumer schemes in place for quantity buying and gits. We are also using packaging as a tool to promote our brand to the consumers.
Q] How do you plan to increase your distribution in the North and Eastern parts of India?
We have already identified potential wholesalers who will be delivering our products to retailers and consumers. We have already finalised ten such wholesalers in Northern India and are hoping to start with another 15-20 wholesalers in that region very soon. This will increase our product presence in these areas and will definitely lead to higher sales.
Q] Do you plan to exclusive Sangam retail outlets too?
At present we do not have exclusive stores but as part of our brand strategy we plan to open at least 50 retail stores all over India in the coming year.
Q] How much would be the size of this industry and what would be your share in it?
In the PV (polyester viscose) yarns segment that we are basically dealing with, the domestic market would be around Rs 24,000 crore annually including branded and non-branded products. In the branded category our share would be around 2-5 per cent.
Q] What is your marketing approach for the overseas markets?
We already export around one million metre fabric every month to around 230 countries in Europe, South America, the Middle East and South-East Asia. We plan to increase this volume by 50 per cent in the coming year. As our marketing approach we participate in major export fairs in India and abroad and we get good orders from there.
