Lifestyle and couture brand Pierre Cardin has been unable to command a premium in the writing instrument segment in spite of having high-end sub-brands in its portfolio.
The Mumbai-based Flair Pens, the sole distributor of Pierre Cardin pens since 1993, has been trying to sell the brand at a premium (at almost Rs 2,000), but has been unable to do so. The brand currently gets volumes from the Rs 200 segment.
Speaking to Business Line , Mr Khubilal Rathod, CMD, Flair Pens, said, “We have got negligible volumes at the premium end of the market. In India, it is only entry-level prices which work in the writing instruments category.” Pierre Cardin pens have been selling at Rs 100 to Rs 200 and currently account for Rs 25 crore of Flair Pens' Rs 275-crore turnover.
In fact, the pens initially were launched at higher price points (above Rs 400) but the company has had to subsequently scale down prices. “When we got the licence for the Pierre Cardin brand in 1993 we had launched the pens at a premium but consumers were unable to accept the high prices,” added Mr Rathod. But industry observers think it is the quality and positioning of the brand that is responsible for it not succeeding at the premium end of the writing instruments category.
According to Ms Pooja Jain, Executive Director, Luxor Writing Instruments, “Unlike in the other markets, Pierre Cardin pens have a different positioning and is a mass brand in India. It is a good brand but with inappropriate pricing in this country.”
In spite of Flair Pens importing the brand from its manufacturing base in Germany, it has not been able to attract premium pricing. Of late, Flair Pens has introduced Discovery – Roller pen under the brand pegged at Rs 200 with the wet ink effect of a fountain pen.
Meanwhile, marketing experts believe it is not easy for a brand to straddle both the popular and premium price points. According to Mr Jagdeep Kapoor, Managing Director, Samsika Marketing Consultants, “A premium brand with a popular price point will fall flat and will hardly have any success.” Meanwhile, Pierre Cardin pens use the French designer itself to endorse the brand in India. The Pierre Cardin brand is a registered trade mark of the Switzerland-based company headed by Pierre Cardin, who is yet to launch the ‘fashion' brand in the country, having made making several attempts in the past.
Published on February 22, 2012
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