Van Heusen: Branching out

Apparel brand Van Heusen launched its largest store and a new retail identity in the capital recently. Measuring a whopping 7,500 square feet, the showroom, situated at Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj, in south Delhi, played host to V Dot brand ambassador John Abraham who had come for the inauguration. V Dot is the brand’s club-wear range.

The brand, launched in India in 1990 and marketed by Madura Fashion & Lifestyle, has aggressive expansion and renovation plans. It has 135 stores all over the country and wants to hit 150 by the year end, following which it plans to add around 50 new stores every year, and is set to revamp the look and feel of all existing stores.

But retail presence alone does not guarantee success in a highly fragmented market such as apparels. The organised apparel market in India is estimated at Rs 10,000 crore, and Van Heusen claims to have an 8 per cent share in that. And the brand knows it has to innovate to stay ahead of the pack. “Although we have always been known for our formal wear, we realised club-wear was gaining favour among the youth. We decided to experiment with a casual range called ‘Informals’, and it was a huge success. Continuing with that, we launched V Dot in 2006 as its extension,” says Ajay Ramachandran, brand head, Van Heusen.

The target consumers for the conventional formal clothes were professionals in the age-group of 35-37 years. With V Dot, the brand lowered the age bar to target the youth (25-30 years). In the same year it introduced Van Heusen Women, and in March 2011 it launched Van Heusen Sport, a casual range. “In the face of stiff competition, a company has to look for new avenues for growth. Hence, we introduced all these different lines,” adds Ramachandran.

Continuing with the branching-out strategy, the brand is planning to enter the non-apparel segment with a range of footwear to be launched in November this year. It is also eying other segments like luggage and eye-wear.

The brand is set to launch a new television commercial as well as print ads featuring John Abraham. To support that, it has a nationwide marketing and promotional campaign chalked out. “We plan to have outdoor campaigns all over the country. We started with Kerala to cash in on the Onam festivities. Next we will move towards the east during the puja period. This way we’ll move all over the country to make our presence felt,” adds Ramachandran. The brand has roped in JWT for advertising, and the budget is split 60:40 between television and print.