Betting on the potential of brand licensing industry, the home appliances manufacturer Usha Shriram has chalked out its expansion strategy. In a candid conversation with License India, Anupam Bharat, Managing Director of the brand, divulges details on wha...
Usha Shriram is already a manufacturing company. What made you opt for brand licensing into your business model?
For any organization to grow, licensing is possibly the easiest way as you already have basic competency in that particular field. If you have a good brand in India and probably you want to become 30 times bigger in the coming years, however you have not been able to leverage it only because of the fact that you have to confine with the brand in the small space that you are operating. Then through licensing you can get phenomenal opportunities to leverage that brand, for which you did not have the expertise. However, you feel that by putting that brand in related or similar products, the total ticket size of the brand will increase tremendously by not just two folds but almost 20 times.
What categories are you looking at for extending the licensing rights?
We are present in home appliances, air purifiers, cookware, etc. Through licensing, we are looking to mark debut in the segments like kitchenware and furniture. We have already closed the deal for mobile phone covers and many other deals are in pipeline.
How has the consumer demand changed in the home segment?
The total mechanics of buying with Gen Y has shifted from a highly considered decision to desire buying. The consumers are buying on basis of their liking. This is mainly because of the increase in disposable income and people don’t mind going wrong in probably one out of their 10 purchases. And the challenge that the brand owners face is how to create that desire in Gen Y to purchase the products.
A consumer in tier-I cities has different sensibilities than someone in tier-II cities. The sales can be different in various regions.
What is your take on the parallel market? How do you aim to curb the counterfeits?
There is an overall change both from the demand side and supply side of business. At the same time, it is incumbent on the manufacturers to make the product reasonable. Once the price is reasonable, it becomes easy for the consumers to fall in line and procure genuine merchandise
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