For Radhika Piramal, winning in the market place and in life were big challenges when she was stepping into the shoes of the managing director of VIP Industries back in 2009. VIP as a brand needed to move forward in order to gain more acceptance with the youngsters. The strategy Radhika adopted was based on Brand Portfolio Approach as she calls it which talks about studying the product, channel management and advertising investments. The same strategy went on to create sub-brands like Caprese Handbags for women, and more.
Radhika also introduced Skybags, which excels in manufacturing youth and stylish handbags; Carlton premium business bags redefining business standards and Aristocrat as high-value travel bags to identify with the changing trends in the market place.
"In order to that old brands must be rebranded understanding the current consumer trends and continued penetration of branded goods from unbranded is a key difference in uplifting a brand," said Radhika Piramal, while speaking at the Pitch CMO Summit held in Mumbai recently.
The result of all these brand additions? The introduction of these 4 sub brands picked up the growth numbers and saw a 15% increase in the market capital from 140 Crore to 2100 Crore. And VIP's EBITDA margins increased to 9% in 2015-2016 from 3 percent in the year 2009.
Radhika is optimistic in the coming years. "Branded and unbranded goods must be re-branded according to current consumer trends," she said. "Brand Portfolio Approach keep the marketing mix constant." adds Radhika.
Earlier, the Pitch CMO Summit was inaugurated by Anurag Batra, Chairman & Editor in Chief, BW BusinessWorld. Describing the Summit as a benchmark in the industry for any marketing conference, Batra pointed out that the "Summit brings together important brands and marketers under one roof to share insights on the ever evolving marketing industry."
Introducing Radhika Piramal, MD, VIP Industries, Batra added: "There is a new normal for everything and you (Radhika) stand for that new normal."
On her personal life, Radhika was struggling to identify herself as one from the LGBT community and states that she is proud to be the world's only Lesbian CEO.
Further in the Summit, Radhika spoke about brands like Nike and Apple mentioning that VIP needs to reach a point where customers endear its brand, and looking up to big brands is a key inspiration to widen brand reach.
BW Reporters
The author is a journalist with BW Businessworld
