MARKETING MANAGEMENT

ASSIGNMENT-2

ALLEN SOLLY- ENTERING THE INDIAN

WOMEN’SWESTERN WEAR MARKET

GROUP-4

MEMBERS

C.K.BHARATH(101202128)

DEENENDRA SHETTY(101202106)

SRINIVAS HEGDE(101202004)

SUMANA BALIGA(101202138)

UJWAL SHENOY(101202056)

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Allen Solly- Entering the Indian women’s Western wear market

Abstract:

Allen Solly is a company that sells unique clothing items for men. This case discusses
the venture made by Madura Garments to sell readymade women’s wear under the brand
name “Allen Solly Women’s Wear”. This case analyses what prompted Madura Garments to
launch women apparel under the brand name Allen Solly which was ‘exclusively for men’
brand. The main purpose of this case is to analyse the environment and its effects on a
company’s policies and practises. In this case we discuss how cultural and social changes
lead to the changes in a company’s policies.

Questions

Q1

The circumstances that prompted Madura to launch Allen Solly in India were:

 Brand's impressive performance during the test-marketing phase in the city of

Bangalore (Karnataka) in December 2001.
 The market was almost completely in the hands of the unorganized sector and had
very few branded players. Most of the national level branded players were present
only in the men's wear segment.
 According to a study conducted by KSA-Technopak, in 2001 women’s wear industry
was worth 161 billion with a growth rate of 9 %, of which women’s western wear
industry was projected to grow at 15-20%.
 Studies revealed that Indian women were willing to experiment with western outfits,
but did not have access to styles that suited them.
 Statistics also show that, by the early-1990s, ready-to-wear clothes had become
extremely popular.

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  By the late 1990s, the Indian economy (and Indian society) showed clear trends of
becoming increasingly westernized in terms of lifestyles, education and vocation,
especially in urban areas.
 As the number of working women increased there was a need for apparel which suited
the women and which were more comfortable than the saree while working.

The market for Men’s branded readymade apparel is 53 billion rupees whereas market
for women’s readymade clothing was only 31 billion rupees. A total difference of 22 billion
rupees was found between Men and Women readymade market. This is exactly the reason
why Companies explicitly offered only men’s wear in the branded readymade apparel
segment in the country.

The cultural and social changes that led to the launch of Allen Solly women’s wear
are as follows:

 Saree is the traditional attire that is been worn by women in India for over many
years. Though the concept of western clothes was introduced in Hindi cinema back in
1950 it was considered to be a taboo to wear it.
 With the increase in the working women they needed an attire that was work
-friendly. This problem was overcome by the salwar-suits which needed to be tailored
as per the individual’s requirements.
 Next came in the ethnic wear that was worn only on occasions such as marriages and
festivals.
 Then in late 1990’s there was a major transition where the people starred accepting
the western culture and clothing style and this resulted in introduction of formal and
corporate western wear for women.

Q2:

Product development, retailing and promotional strategies:

 Market study was conducted through IMRB to understand the work culture and
requirements regarding western wear.
 Study revealed that the clothing style was unsuitable for Indian women. This helped
them to design the clothing that focused mainly on comfort and styling aspects.

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  Recruited Stephen King to design clothes that were suitable for the Indian women.
 Showrooms were well designed.
 Clothes were arranged in showroom in such a way so that they were easily accessible
to customers.
 The target segment were the office going women between the age of 22-40 and who
earned Rs.8000 and above.
 Made an investment of 100 million for campaigning.
 Fashion show was arranged for the promotion of the brand.
 Used the caption “Every body is perfect; you have just got to dress it right”.

Difference between marketing men and women readymade apparel in a developing

country:

 Make advertisement strategies such that women are made aware through their
favourite daily soaps.
 Women read a lot of fashion magazines than men and this might turn out to be an
advantage while marketing women’s wear.
 Lot of varieties must be made available so that they will look different from others.
 The ads must have an emotional value.

Strategy in a developed country:

 Women don’t mind wearing men’s clothing. So ads that make clear distinction is not
needed.
 Need not have to concentrate on cultural aspects while designing an ad.
 Demand for branded clothing is more in developed country than in developing
country. So providing the customers with premium clothing would be profitable.

Q3.

Yes, Madura did take the risk by extending the exclusive men’s brand like Allen Solly
to women’s wear. But there are statistics and study which showed that women’s western wear
market was untapped, where majority of market was covered by unorganized sector. So
naturally there was a booming market for women’s western wear. Study also show that due to
increase in women employee there was a need for western wear that was work friendly.
Market survey also showed women actually preferred Allen Solly trousers of size 26 and 28.

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Men are mainly interested in brand name and would not mind if that particular brand
extended to women apparels.

The market survey also shows that after the introduction of women’s wear there was
no decline in the demand for men’s wear thus there was no erosion of Allen Solly’s brand
equity.

Q4.

Yes, the Allen Solly will continue to grow as planned as they have the better
advantage of scope of operation and marketing support compared to their competitors. Also
the study showed that many men were pleased with the decision of Allen Solly to extend
itself to women’s wear. It also undertook a test marketing in the city of Bangalore which gave
them impressive results thus ensuring them that their decision of entering the women’s
western wear was not wrong.

Strength:

 Scope of Operation and Marketing approach.

 Established Brand.
 Entered the market when there were fewer competitors.
 Designed the clothing line that suited Indian women.
 Recruited Stephen King.
 Well-designed showroom.

Weakness:

 They were not the first to introduce the western wear for women in India.
 Concentrated only on working women.

Opportunities:

 Concentrate on other SEC segments.

 Presence of very few branded players in women’s segment

Threats:

 Interest from other leading textile companies.

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  Unorganized sector introduced the clothing ranges that were not as highly priced as
that of private fashion labels.
 Difficulty in offering best dressing solutions for working women.
 Unwillingness of Indian women to let go off their culture.

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