Best foot forward

Liberty Shoes is working overtime to be counted as an aspirational brand all over again Rashi Lal

The name Liberty might stir up nostalgia among those above 25. Even until two decades ago, when the Indian consumer had only a handful of brands to choose from, it used to be a brand the middle-class Indian aspired for. As late as in 2000, it was weaving an elaborate plan to dislodge Bata from its leadership position in the branded footwear in India. But things don’t look so peachy for the 57-year-old shoemaker anymore.

The influx of branded shoes, both international and local, retailed out of glitzy outlets lining India’s high streets and neighbourhood footwear stalls now vie for consumer attention with fancy designs and attractive pricing. In comparison, Liberty seems kind of out of step. At work has been patchy distribution. But more ironically, it is the rising disposable incomes and aspirations that seem to be going against its image. Anupam Bansal, managing director, Liberty Retail Revolutions, the retail arm of Liberty Shoes, admits, “Consumers don’t see Liberty as aspirational anymore. In the 90s, one would flaunt a Liberty footwear as a status buy because it was more expensive than most.”

 

In short, consumers who aspired for a pair of Liberty shoe earlier are skipping to more aspirational brands. But Liberty is not one to give up without a fight. It has redefined its core audience, lined up a celebrity endorser to woo them and is expanding its distribution to be at the right place at the right time.

A tall task
The company knows it will be a tall task. A lot of home-grown footwear brands have sprung up since its heydays. On the one hand there are mass brands such as Relaxo and Action, and on the other there is the high-end Tashi, a Tata International venture. Arch-rival Bata has maintained its hold over the Indian branded footwear market, tweaking its product line to overcome a drag on its own brand image. And we haven’t even counted the global brands that have deep pockets.

Liberty is not blind to the opportunity. Industry estimates put the organised footwear market at Rs 4,000 crore, which is growing at 12 to 15 per cent every year. So it is looking at its long experience in the business and the consequent understanding of the Indian consumer to get it back on track.

It does have a fantastic pedigree to fall back on. Starting as a shoe exporter in the 80s, and piggybacking on its high-end manufacturing technology, Liberty priced its sports shoes six times higher than the regular canvas shoes that were available then for Rs 50 to safeguard margins. Its premium positioning was bolstered by 10 sub-brands that included Force 10 and Senorita. While the former banked on youth totems such as MTV and burgers, the latter addressed the needs of women “who were go-getters and yet carefree”. Its advertising harped on the ‘aspiration’ factor and spoke about the fusion of the east and the west at a time when globalisation was just taking roots in India.

The problem is not just the intense competition but also that most of these brands have a clearly defined talking point. If a Nike or an Adidas is strongly associated with sports, a Bata and a Dr Scholl’s is synonymous with comfort. Unfortunately, Liberty has no such instant associations. So how will Liberty crack the code of getting close to the consumer in a hyper-competitive market?

Experts say that a starting point for Liberty could be to clearly define its target audience. Purnendu Kumar, vice-president, retail at Technopak Advisors, cites the case of Bata as an example of how a brand needs to change over time to stay relevant, avoid consumer fatigue. “Bata, though not an Indian brand, has worked hard to be perceived as ‘Indian’. It is not seen as a foreign brand; of course, it came to the country even before Liberty was formed, but it has worked with a plan and established a strong retail network and a heritage of being great value for money. So it is seen as a powerful consumer brand.”

Liberty’s Bansal says he has a comeback plan in place. “We want to be the favourite brand of the middle class. We feel that the market still lies in the middle of the pyramid — where disposable income is less and regard for value-for-money more.” Bansal cites the example of Reebok which increased its volumes manifold by taking its prices a notch lower than Adidas or Nike, but managed to stay aspirational by virtue of the quality of the product.

In this game, Bansal says, Liberty’s range will be the key. It spans the entire gamut — formal, semi-formal, casual, sports footwear for both men and women. “Every season we introduce 500-800 new styles and replace old ones. We have products for the fashion conscious as well as for those who are looking for a functional buy. In Delhi, for example, we change our entire collection every six months. At any given time Liberty has 3,000 styles. That is 10 times more than any brand in the country today,” adds Bansal.

However, range will not be enough to resuscitate the brand. It will be up against players such as Metro Shoes and Lord’s that have pushed the envelope both in terms of reach and portfolio. As Pranesh Misra, chairman and managing director, Brandscapes Worldwide, points out, “Liberty needs to become a pan-Indian brand to survive. Expanding distribution will be critical.”

Liberty is only too aware. Bansal notes, “Earlier, 70 per cent of our sales came from north India. The remaining 30 per cent was from the rest of the country. Now, the north brings in 60 per cent of our business, the south 30 per cent and the east and the west together account for 10 per cent of the business.” Not just the metros, in south India, Liberty stores can be spotted in the towns of Trichy, Madurai and Salem. Research into weather conditions, attire and lifestyles of the people and purchasing power helped it decide on the product mix for these markets. In the last two years alone, Liberty has added 100 more stores to take the count to 245.

Second innings
Liberty’s makeover would still remain incomplete if it didn’t add the frills to its store design that have become de rigueur. Some of the 350 franchise stores (average size a meagre 400 square feet) it had at one time wore a yesteryears’ look and had become unprofitable. Bansal notes that customers were put off by them; such stores have been shut down. He adds, “In the last two years, we have given our franchised outlets a new look.” After the retail renovation, Bansal claims sales have doubled; he puts sales at 50,000 pairs per day.

Kumar of Technopak says, “For a retailer, the store is the key customer touch point. Also its advertising needs to be tactical.”

Liberty, which had been among the front-running shoe advertisers till the year 2000, began taking mass media positions in fits and starts, compounding its fuzzy brand image. “We completely stopped advertising in the past five years. The company was undergoing a complete overhaul and advertising would not have helped us in any way. But now we are ready to be visible again.”

To begin with, it has signed on Hrithik Roshan, a Hindi film actor with tremendous youth appeal. “We want to make the brand youthful again and target the 25-35 year-olds aggressively. Hrithik is seen as a complete family person with strong values. With a range for the entire family, that is just what the Liberty brand wants to represent,” says Bansal. Latching on to another middle-class aspiration — to be counted among the bold and the beautiful — Liberty associated with the Pantaloons Femina Miss India this year as the official footwear partner. Pantaloon Femina Miss India finalists sashayed down the ramp wearing its latest collection from the Senorita, Tip Top and the Sports range. This year Liberty has set aside Rs 9 crore for its overall advertising.

Ten years ago, the company had scoffed at the idea of using brand ambassadors to market its products — a route taken by its competitors Lakhani and Action. Now it seems Liberty has come round to the belief that making heads turn could be that first suasive step in turning around the brand image.