The pioneer knitwear brand in the country has moved on to straddle other apparel segments catering to women, youth and kids' wear as it seeks to transform itself into a complete solutions provider for all our clothing needs. But can Monte Carlo beat the Johnny-come-latelies? By Angshuman Paul
Monte Carlo, the Rs 850-crore brand owned by the Ludhiana-based Nahar Group, has become markedly aggressive in the Indian apparel market recently. Though earlier known mainly in the woollens segment, the brand is now present in segments as diverse as knitwear, casuals, formals, sports and tweens’ wear. Though wollen wear still accounts for 75 per cent of its revenues, the company is aiming to change the ratio and take its share of non-woollen wear to 50 per cent in the next five years.
In focusing more sharply on youth and kids’ wear, the brand has extended itself into the emerging tweens’ wear market (catering to the age group of eight to 14 years) in India. With 30 per cent Indians aged below 15 years and kids demonstrating a heightened brand awareness, kids’ prêt-a-porter segment has emerged as the new playground for the Indian apparel bigwigs. Currently, the kids’ wear segment constitutes over 15 per cent of the overall apparel market in the country.
To capture the market, the group decided last year to wean away the Monte Carlo brand from Oswal Woollen Mills, under which the brand had till now been housed, paving its way to making its presence felt in the casual wear and fashion segments. But the company realises that to make this foray successful, it will have to come up with some innovative brand extension strategies. Quite a few apparel brands, like Raymond, have trod the brand extension route earlier. But when Raymond – perceived as a premium masculine brand catering to men’s clothing – made the brand extension into women’s wear, the gambit proved to be a failure. Raymond put the lessons of its failure to good use when it decided to enter the kids segment in 2006. Instead of thrusting its signature Raymond brand name to a new line of kids’ clothing, it created a new brand – Zapp. Monte Carlo has followed a similar strategy, christening its kids' wear brand as ‘Tween Monte Carlo’.
A look at recent trends in kids’ wear retail shows multiple players courting initial success before heading for a downward spiral. For example, brands like Koutons Junior, Raymond’s Zapp and Spykar’s Oyo are no longer in the business. The main reason for such reverses, analysts point out, is that the retailers did not pay heed to their pricing in an extremely value-driven segment. In the case of Raymond’s Zapp, the high pricing – the average price for an item of clothing was Rs 2,000, high by Indian standards – did not go down well with Indian shoppers. Other factors like poor positioning, indiscriminate expansion, not focusing on profitability and sometimes maybe more focus on valuations and therefore too strong an emphasis on expansion without putting adequate systems in place also played a part.
To avoid such pitfalls, Monte Carlo is making sure that its brand extension is supported with adequate branding. “If you have the right branding, then brand extension is never a bottleneck,” says Monica Oswal, Executive Director, Oswal Woollen Mills. She adds that apart from Monte Carlo, the company also has successfully managed other brands like Canterbury and women’s wear brand Alpha. “Unique pricing, supported by massive penetration and then giving a global touch to the brand have acted brilliantly for all our brands under Monte Carlo,” says Monica.
The company is also working to set up a separate manufacturing unit for kids' clothing. It also intends to target the metros and Tier 1 cities where kids and youngsters make their own purchasing decisions. Being easy on the pocket, Monte Carlo expects to make a good impact.
However, the going will not be easy. Brands like Catmoss, Mom & Me, Lilliput, Toonz Kids, Gini & Jony, Li’l Tomatoes and Ruff Kids are just some of the better-known players dominating the market. Not to be left behind, brands such as Benetton, Pantaloons and Reebok have roped in popular characters like Pucca, Ben10 and Power Rangers to lure their four to 14 age-group customers. Its major competition would be from retailers like Pantaloons. About 15 per cent of Pantaloons' annual turnover comes from teens and kids apparel. What’s more, even jeans manufacturing companies such as Spykar, Pepe Jeans and Killer are trying to climb on the kids’ bandwagon. International brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Freelook Junior, and Adam Kids are also making efforts to expand their footprint.
Monte Carlo, the Rs 850-crore brand owned by the Ludhiana-based Nahar Group, has become markedly aggressive in the Indian apparel market recently. Though earlier known mainly in the woollens segment, the brand is now present in segments as diverse as knitwear, casuals, formals, sports and tweens’ wear. Though wollen wear still accounts for 75 per cent of its revenues, the company is aiming to change the ratio and take its share of non-woollen wear to 50 per cent in the next five years.
In focusing more sharply on youth and kids’ wear, the brand has extended itself into the emerging tweens’ wear market (catering to the age group of eight to 14 years) in India. With 30 per cent Indians aged below 15 years and kids demonstrating a heightened brand awareness, kids’ prêt-a-porter segment has emerged as the new playground for the Indian apparel bigwigs. Currently, the kids’ wear segment constitutes over 15 per cent of the overall apparel market in the country.
To capture the market, the group decided last year to wean away the Monte Carlo brand from Oswal Woollen Mills, under which the brand had till now been housed, paving its way to making its presence felt in the casual wear and fashion segments. But the company realises that to make this foray successful, it will have to come up with some innovative brand extension strategies. Quite a few apparel brands, like Raymond, have trod the brand extension route earlier. But when Raymond – perceived as a premium masculine brand catering to men’s clothing – made the brand extension into women’s wear, the gambit proved to be a failure. Raymond put the lessons of its failure to good use when it decided to enter the kids segment in 2006. Instead of thrusting its signature Raymond brand name to a new line of kids’ clothing, it created a new brand – Zapp. Monte Carlo has followed a similar strategy, christening its kids' wear brand as ‘Tween Monte Carlo’.
A look at recent trends in kids’ wear retail shows multiple players courting initial success before heading for a downward spiral. For example, brands like Koutons Junior, Raymond’s Zapp and Spykar’s Oyo are no longer in the business. The main reason for such reverses, analysts point out, is that the retailers did not pay heed to their pricing in an extremely value-driven segment. In the case of Raymond’s Zapp, the high pricing – the average price for an item of clothing was Rs 2,000, high by Indian standards – did not go down well with Indian shoppers. Other factors like poor positioning, indiscriminate expansion, not focusing on profitability and sometimes maybe more focus on valuations and therefore too strong an emphasis on expansion without putting adequate systems in place also played a part.
To avoid such pitfalls, Monte Carlo is making sure that its brand extension is supported with adequate branding. “If you have the right branding, then brand extension is never a bottleneck,” says Monica Oswal, Executive Director, Oswal Woollen Mills. She adds that apart from Monte Carlo, the company also has successfully managed other brands like Canterbury and women’s wear brand Alpha. “Unique pricing, supported by massive penetration and then giving a global touch to the brand have acted brilliantly for all our brands under Monte Carlo,” says Monica.
The company is also working to set up a separate manufacturing unit for kids' clothing. It also intends to target the metros and Tier 1 cities where kids and youngsters make their own purchasing decisions. Being easy on the pocket, Monte Carlo expects to make a good impact.
However, the going will not be easy. Brands like Catmoss, Mom & Me, Lilliput, Toonz Kids, Gini & Jony, Li’l Tomatoes and Ruff Kids are just some of the better-known players dominating the market. Not to be left behind, brands such as Benetton, Pantaloons and Reebok have roped in popular characters like Pucca, Ben10 and Power Rangers to lure their four to 14 age-group customers. Its major competition would be from retailers like Pantaloons. About 15 per cent of Pantaloons' annual turnover comes from teens and kids apparel. What’s more, even jeans manufacturing companies such as Spykar, Pepe Jeans and Killer are trying to climb on the kids’ bandwagon. International brands such as Tommy Hilfiger, Freelook Junior, and Adam Kids are also making efforts to expand their footprint.
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