question hour

Chennai seems to be awakening to the luxury brand movement at last?

Chennai

Malathi, Chennai is most certainly on the morph. From among all other South Indian destinations, Chennai took its time, but is surely there now. Brands want to be there and they seem to be milking both volumes and value now. The first city in the South to take well to luxury brands and branding was Bengaluru. Then followed Hyderabad, which is today a buzzing luxury brand metropolis. And now, it’s Chennai’s turn.

Chennai's luxury quotient is increasing, but it is a solid quotient. Customers are careful not to invest in buying hollow luxury brands. Instead, customers are looking for luxury that defines value and longevity as well. Chennai's luxury quotient is therefore that much more durable than any else.

How do brands decide to exit a country? Is it pure business?

New Delhi

Vishwas, brands decide to enter a country based on its business potential. Brands decide to leave a country for that very reason as well. When the actual reality of being in a country and not making enough money out of that presence bites you, you evaluate.

Take the retail business environment, for instance, which has seen overseas brands enter and leave as well over the last five years of aggressive retail play.

At the end of the day, retail is not merely about visibility. It needs to be about volume and profit delivery as well. The moment your brand stops delivering that continuously for two years or more, it is time to question the entry itself.

What then are the caution points brands should keep in mind while operating in the complex Indian market-place? Brands need to do their homework before making an entry. The second thing I suggest to overseas retailers is that you first create your market, and then enter.

There are excellent models to work with on that score.

All brands have a time of entry and a time of exit. Brands which enter India premature, decide to leave premature and early as well. The exit of some recent brands indicates the fact that these were early market entries that had not done their homework well enough. Just to embrace a luxury mindset in India is not enough. It is important to appreciate the local market, its nuances and its needs and aspirations. Brands that do their homework well last in the Indian market longer than brands that don’t.

You do a fair bit of high-profile public speaking. I want to be a marketing speaker of repute in the future. How are your keynotes different?

Mumbai

Rohit, every Tom, Dick and Harish can speak. And so do I.

My marketing keynotes are interactive. They depend totally on a set of 93-plus theories I have developed, researched and distilled over the decades. Each one of these theories resonates with business as equally with life. That helps make a potent connect. And the second fact is the point that I don't repeat what I use as examples. ‘Conference vultures’ who flit from conference to conference find that interesting, as I am an “all new” keynote presenter at every conference. I kill my examples and allegories conference after conference. It helps.

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