As Raymond celebrates its 90th anniversary, Shantiswarup Panda, CMO, Lifestyle Business, Raymond Limited takes us through its journey and tells us how the brand has rediscovered itself with every passing year, taking ‘The Complete Man’, to a different level each time.
By NEETA NAIR
Q] The complete man tagline has stayed with Raymond since 1992. How has the brand reinvented the identity of the Raymond man through the years?
Raymond as a brand has always reflected the way the society is changing. So it has always been an embodiment of what the ‘complete man’ stands for. The ‘complete man’, is a person who is successful but not someone who tries really hard to get there. He is an embodiment of values, full of warmth, empathy and a person who cherishes the relationships he has with those around him. So whether you see a campaign which was done in early 90s or a campaign you see today, you will notice that it is always contemporary and reflects society at that point of time. It’s consistent yet evolving. Unless a brand really rediscovers itself in terms of having a conversation with its consumers and society, it loses relevance. And here at Raymond, we try and make the brand contemporary and relevant for the consumer irrespective of whether we are talking to a 25-year-old way back in the 90s or in 2015.
Q] What was the insight behind this particular campaign- The complete man knows what’s real?
We noticed, in every meeting, half the people are on their phone, either checking emails or on Whatsapp. This is the case even during the time we spend with our families. So we attempted to take a slice of life and put it on screen. Parents can’t give quality time to their kids because of the digital distraction all around. So in the campaign we show how at a function the kids perform really well, but most of the parents are scrambling to record what is happening rather than enjoying the performance, living in the moment and enjoying what is real. While they are occupied, only the real man stands up and applauds. So that’s what touches you and almost makes you pause and think about the fundamentals before a smartphone took over your life.
Q] So what is the marketing mix of this particular campaign and which medium is the focus of your ad spends?
It won’t be right to say our focus is one medium versus the other. Rather, our strategy at Raymond is to focus on the consumer levels. So we are where the consumer is. We want to engage in constructive conversation with people who think and believe that Raymond is a brand which understands them. We are ready to engage with them to understand what they want from the brand. So it’s both digital and traditional media. And the world no longer operates in silos, you know, so we want to be everywhere.
Q] How much are you investing in the digital medium? What is the strategy there?
It’s a medium where everybody is on a learning curve, some higher up than others and the whole medium itself is being rediscovered and reshaped each day. It’s very difficult to put a hard number on how much we are investing there, but our endeavor is to move from the traditional one-way communication to engage in a two-way communication with our consumers. And that helps us get our consumer’s feedback into the brand and understand what they want, what they aspire for in life. We are trying to increase our spends in new media versus traditional media. We have to be really agile in terms of our investment strategy across mediums.
Q] In all your ads, you focus more on the character of the Raymond man as opposed to the product you are trying to promote. What’s the approach behind that?
We are working on a two-pronged approach one, overall umbrella strategy comprising ‘The Complete Man’ campaign and, beyond that, we have different product lines which we have begun to focus on more and more. That’s the overarching theme that runs across the whole lifestyle business marketing strategy. For instance, we highlighted the linen range last time. So while the overall campaign was ‘The Complete Man’, we spoke about linen range that’s coming out and also ran an offer with it. We will always talk about the Raymond brand, its values and what it stands for. Beyond that we will speak about what our product brings to the table, how well it is made, its quality, as all these attributes are really important and the consumer has become really discerning considering the access they have to global brands today. So we want to present them with what they really would like to see from a brand like Raymond.
Q] You chose the India-South Africa cricket series to release the ad. Was there a specific reason for it?
It’s more about the season starting with Dussehra, Diwali, Christmas then ending with the New Year. And when you look at traditional spends in India, as a market for fashion, fabric and lifestyle, this is the time people are ready to open their wallet and spend much more than what they would do otherwise. It has always worked for Raymond this way. Cricket is just a big bang start for us, more like getting eyeballs on one particular day because there is a big event there.
Q] What are the retail activities you are undertaking to bring about more consumer engagement?
Raymond by far has the biggest retail presence as a lifestyle brand in terms of footprint of stores. We have 1000 plus retail outlets in 350 plus towns across India. So beyond mass media, these are big activation touchpoints for us. Now we are working on a strategy where we actually streamline what we talk about online and bring it on ground inside our stores. So when a consumer is looking at our TV campaign versus what he is observing inside the store, the look and feel has to be the same.
Q] Why has such a big brand like Raymond never got a celebrity to endorse it?
You need a celebrity when a brand is new and people don’t know about you. But when you look at Raymond, it is an iconic brand and has been in this country for 90 glorious years. We don’t need a celebrity, the brand itself is a celebrity in India. So I don’t think we would ever take a celebrity to endorse our products.
Q] What is the current market share of Raymond in the suiting category and what kind of challenges do you face in marketing the brand?
In terms of market share, we don’t have a syndicated study as such but rough figures say in terms of worsted fabric we are 60% plus of the market today. For a marketer, the challenge is to get the consumer’s point of view on the brand. That is what makes the brand tick. As long as we are relevant and are representing a slice of life of the consumer we will be relevant and be in business.
Q] Now that Raymond has turned 90, what kind of changes are we going to see in the brand?
It won’t be a straight left or a right turn for the brand from here on, honestly. We have always represented the change in society in our campaigns so the brand has consistently been changing over a period of time.
ABOUT THE BRAND
The Raymond Group was incorporated in 1925 and within a span of a few years, transformed from being an Indian textile major to a global conglomerate. The company has an expansive retail presence with over 700 retail outlets spread across 390+ cities through its exclusive chain of ‘The Raymond Shop’ and stand-alone brand stores. They also have fabric and apparel brands in their portfolio like Raymond, Raymond Ready To Wear, Park Avenue, ColorPlus and Parx.
FACTS
CREATIVE AGENCY: FAMOUS INNOVATIONS
MEDIA AGENCY: MADISON
SOCIAL MEDIA & DIGITAL AGENCY: 22FEET TRIBAL WW
PR AGENCY: MSL GROUP
CMO FILE
Shantiswarup Panda has over 13 years of experience in managing brands across all aspects of branding including media planning, communication and channel marketing. Prior to Raymond, Shantiswarup was working with Hindustan Unilever for over a decade and has headed sales and marketing roles in Oral Care and Personal Care space. Prior to this he also worked with Infosys Technologies.
MARKETING TIP
Get the consumer to the center of everything you do in business. As long as you are doing that, you are in the right direction.
Feedback: neeta.nair@exchange4media.com
