Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Jul 18, 2006
Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Jul 18, 2006 |
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Marketing
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Brands Birla Cellulose mulls separate fibre brand for Group apparel Purvita Chatterjee
Mumbai , July 17 Grasim Industries' fibre division - Birla Cellulose - is considering creating a fibre brand for its Group's apparel brands. The Aditya Birla group to which Grasim belongs boasts several licensee brands from the Madura Garments stable such as Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Byford. Speaking to Business Line, Mr Vijay Kaul, Chief Marketing Officer, Birla Cellulose, said, "We are in the process of evaluating a separate product which could be promoted through the Group's own brands." The cellulose division is mulling the possibility of creating more fibre brands to cater to its own products and ride on their brand equity through a co-branding exercise.
Co-branding
"The fibre industry is at a nascent stage and research is on to create a product which could be separate brand altogether for our own apparel brands," adds Mr Kaul. Although Birla Cellulose continues to supply its fibres such as Modal, Viscose and Excel to a host of branded textile players, it has engaged in a co-branding exercise for its Modal fibre brand (Birla Modal) with only a few brands such as Nuva inner wear and more recently the Royal Classic Group's knitwear brands. Besides it continues to supply its fibres to international brands such as Gap, Target and Marks & Spencers. With the imminent possibility of the Aditya Birla Group making a formal foray into the retail segment, co-branding in fibres is expected to gain momentum in the future.
Home linen segment
Adds Mr Kaul, "We are trying to get higher in the value chain and are negotiating with fabric manufacturers directly today. While the group is expected to have long drawn out retail strategy in future, we are looking at getting into the brands that are already available with us.'' Apart from targeting apparel brands, the cellulose manufacturer is also planning to enter the home linen segment through a co-branded initiative. In fact, all this while Birla Cellulose has been staying away from a co-branded initiative with its group's own brands. Explaining the reasons behind this move, Mr Kaul says, "We felt the power of these brands is higher and it would not be easy for a fibre brand to get in there since its value would get lost. But now we have thought it over and are considering getting our own brands in." Besides, with the imminent possibility of FDI being allowed in the retail segment, the demand for such fibres is also expected to go up. "At the moment the growth in cellulose fibres is between 4 and 5 per cent. We expect this to go up to 10 per cent with FDI being allowed in the country,'' adds Mr Kaul.
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