It’s not an easy road ahead

Two years back when s.Oliver, the German apparel brand, had made its foray into India, unlike any other European brand it didn’t tie up with any established apparel retailer, but had entered into a joint venture with Orient Craft Ltd., a relatively new player which was not retailing any other global rival brands. Cut today, bucked up with logistic expertise of Orient Craft and the core attention received from this Indian apparel manufacturer, s.Oliver has reached break-even for both its stores within a time span of just 18 months. In fact, the company is now planning to mint Rs.300 crore from India in another three years time. But then, how exactly is it planning to achieve this astonishing target? “We would be enhancing our portfolio. Moreover, our stores would now emerge as a one-stop shop for fashion and lifestyle products,” avers Gaurav Sehgal, COO, s.Oliver Fashion India Pvt. Ltd. Further, the company even plans to invest Rs.3 million in brand building and is also mulling over the idea to open seven more stores by 2012. However, the million dollar question is, with such high prices (not surely for the masses) will s.Oliver succeed to beckon the consumer? Specially when its competitor, United Colors of Benetton with a comparatively economical pricing, is stealing the show.

“We are operating in the mass luxury segment, wherein we are offering a better quality product to consumers. We don’t outsource our products, all are imported from the head-office,” reasons Sehgal. Agreed that to cash in on the mass luxury segment prices won’t matter, but then the group plans to roll out s.Oliver stores in tier II cities also and the current pricing strategy might not help them there.

Angshuman Paul

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).


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It’s my land, dude

Call it an old God-made snag or man-made trouble, acquiring land has always been a nightmare for Indian businessmen. With 2.4% of the total surface area (most of which is used for agriculture), Indian businesses have always been given a pitted treatment when it comes to the use of land for setting up factories or starting new projects. And the biggest bearer of this trouble is the infrastructure sector, which with all its verticals, finds it tough to comply with the land acquisition laws of India. Leveraging Public Private Partnerships, the road sector of the country has come up with some world class roads. The Build-Operate-Transfer concept has been very attractive for the private sector with many new companies wanting to enter the segment. The biggest hurdle companies face is that of land acquisition. Says G. V. Sanjay Reddy, Vice Chairman, GVK Power & Infrastructure Ltd, “When it comes to land acquisition, we face tough time from the government’s side. The policies are also not very supportive.” The same is the trouble with financiers of big projects as the criteria for investing in infrastructural projects by big investors is to find out whether the land issues have been settled or not. A lot of confusion persists in this area as India does not have a proper law when it comes to acquiring land for industrial purposes. The Land Acquisition Act of 1894 says that only government is allowed to acquire land for public purposes. The private sector has to buy 70% of the land and government help in getting holdouts will only be given in the 30% of the remaining portion. The solution perhaps lies in setting a standard law across India, apart from amending the age old Land Acquisition Act, which has been proposed for quite sometime now, but due to political pressure it doesn’t seem to be happening soon.

Niharika Patra

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Michael Jackson’s death has given a new lease of life to Hollywood’s ailing economy

An auction event organised by Julien’s auctions (of Darren Julien), sold a Jackson album ‘Goin’ Back to Indiana’ for $33,750. The auction also featured other collections of Michael Jackson, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. Social networking sites have also not let-go this opportunity and have done everything possible to give their users real-time updates.

Twitter and Facebook are alleged to be the first ones to break the news of Jackson’s death. Twitter saw up to 5,000 Jackson-related messages being posted per minute and eventually his death emerged as the most discussed subject on the portal. Facebook saw a similar response; with the number of postings tripling during the hour after the news of Jackson’s death broke. Talking on these marketing techniques, Barry states, “Some companies license rights to use a dead celebrity’s image, movie clips, or music and incorporate those things into TV ads or promotional materials. Others just pay homage to the dead celebrity to gain a marketing association with the individual.”

Even IT giants are getting enamoured by the potential of this mammoth business. Corbis, the digital image company set up by Bill Gates, has bought a Beverly Hills company, which owns the image rights to more than 50 deceased celebrities. Corbis takes a 20% cut of the profits from any endorsement, double the usual rate for a living celebrity endorsement. Even celebrity Promotion Companies like CKX rely heavily on dead celebs for their bottom-line. They purchase the intellectual property rights and thus churn out huge money.

And if you thought that only the big brands and consultants can take advantage of legends that have passed away, you could not be more wrong. Just walk the streets of New York, London or Rio De Janeiro and you’ll see markets flooded with Che Guevara, Marilyn Monroe and now even Jackson merchandise, ranging from T-shirts, handkerchiefs and coffee mugs to sundry decorative brick bracks. True, dead celebs make for hot brands, hotter than even the living ones! May their souls Rest In Peace!

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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