RmkV- Situational Analysis

Situational Analysis Of RMKV

By
ASHWIN D DEEPAK TP GOKULKRISHNAN S R KRISHNAN L PREMKUMAR D SREERAM C MBA10011 MBA10021 MBA10026 MBA10039 MBA10058 MBA10093

AMRITA VISHWA VIDYAPEETHAM COIMBATORE

RmkV- Situational Analysis

Executive Summary
RmkV Wedding Silks is a stronghold from Tirunelvelli which entered into the two big cities of TN- Chennai and Coimbatore. Since then, there has been heavy advertising and positioning by the brand which aims at portraying a young image and attract the wedding bride to the store. In recent times, it has also used a lot of kids and a rare mens collection advertisement in between. We analyze to study the effects and cause of Rmkvs current image and their urge for deviations. Also we suggest a future roadmap for the brand to remain young and improve sales and reach while maintaining their image.

RmkV- Situational Analysis

1. Objectives of Analysis
To identify the category in which the brand belongs to To identify the position of the brand in the market Generate strategies to create a favorable attitude towards RMKV by spreading awareness of Indian ethnic wear among Indian youth when the trend is towards western wear Change consumer attitudes of wearing traditional clothes (sarees) To increase the usage by changing the mind set of customers that sarees are not only for functions and festivals but also for regular day to day use To establish a brand superiority in wedding silks

2. Industry Overview
Any man who has gone saree shopping with an Indian woman knows that she will physically examine at least a hundred designs before reluctantly selecting just one. Everyone talks about them but most do not have a clue about the real size of their business. They are none but the traditional retail giants of Tamil Nadu which have dominated the states retail landscape for decades. Even today they do not seem to be affected a bit from the onslaught of modern department stores and malls in their home turf. Saravana Stores does annual business of Rs 510 crores from a single seven-floor store - that is more than what any single Lifestyle, Central or Shoppers Stop store does. From four stores, Saravana does about Rs 1200 crores annually. This is two thirds more than the Rs 717 crores turnover reported by Tata's Trent, which includes Westside (54 stores), Landmark (18 stores) and Star Bazaar (12 stores). Chennai Silks is estimated to be doing a business of Rs1150 crores (excluding jewellery) from nine stores, Nallis of Rs700 crores from 22 stores, Pothys of Rs 650 crores from four stores and RmkV of Rs 510 crores from four stores. These five Tamil Nadu retailers do sales of Rs 4200 crores every year collectively, which is more than the turnover of Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Westside and Reliance Trends put together. This is the power of regional retail, when modern retailers are still trying to figure out how to make this kind of business happen. If FDI was allowed in multi-brand retail, the valuation would be above Rs1250 crores. The average foot falls for these stores are around 7500 daily and 11000 on weekends and holidays. The stores do brisk business and it peaks during major Indian festivals like Diwali and Pongal when new clothes are brought for the entire family. The industry has a seasonal demand which peaks during festivals.

RmkV- Situational Analysis

Many of the shops like RMKV, Chennai silks and Pothys have even started online sales platform. A catalogue of around 1500 sarees is available online for RmkV. The intent for this is not sales but to provide more information to customers about the quality, make and price. Once they choose the product and design as per their budget they can come to the stores and have the look and feel of the product and purchase it. There by, Customers coming to their stores pretty much know what they want making the purchasing process much easier. Many of the highly overvalued national chains like lifestyle, central and shoppers stop does not even come close to the sales figures of these well established traditional giants in these markets. Traditional giants pose a severe threat and prove to be tough competitor to these national chains. The big, national brands may have the fat wallets and muscle power that ensure domination over store shelves, but even they find it difficult, if not impossible, to dislodge an entrenched, regional label like Nallis, RmkV or Pothys. The reason for this is unswerving brand loyalty among consumers that often continues over generations. This may be of the trust in brand and its quality or just force of habit, but be it foods, consumer goods or apparel; regional brands have repeatedly proven their unshakeable hold over customers mind space. One of the main challenges that lies ahead for the industry is change the mindset of the consumer i.e. Getting younger women to wear sarees . Sarees are considered to be very traditional and the category itself has an older look. Sarees are perceived to be worn by older women in the family or only during functions and festivals and not for regular use. Consumers have migrated to chudidars, salvar kameez and other western dresses

3. History of the Brand RmkV

RMKV is one of the most reputed companies producing its trendy, unique silk and wedding silk sarees. Back in 1924, when India was under the British rule and organized retail was non-existent, RmkV Vishvanatha Pillai set up a 1000 sq.ft. Womens RMKV Womens wear shop in Tirunelvelli, named RmkV after his initials. With silk sarees as its core product, the shop operated from the same location until it shifted to a much larger 35,000 sq. ft. megastore in another location in the same town in the 1950s. As it turned out, that market was to grow by leaps and bounds, positioning RmkV at the centre of a thriving retail hub. The founder focused on churning out volumes rather than profits. RmkV today is reputed for its wedding silks, unique silk sarees, as well as family apparel, with large showrooms in Chennai, Tirunelvelli and Coimbatore. With 88 years' experience in silk, RMKV was identified with quality products, design innovations and new techniques in handloom silk weaving which have won them two national awards. Today the brand continued that tradition, but also took the company forward, marrying tradition with modernity in everything from R&D to design.

RmkV- Situational Analysis

For 80 years, RmkV operated as a single store. Eventually, the market became so big and crowded that, the customer experience started deteriorating. Access had become a problem and there was hardly any parking for the increasing number of shoppers with their own vehicles. With organized retail emerging at the turn of the century, RmkV decided to expand and take the brand outside Tirunelvelli. A 35,000 sq.ft. Store was opened in Chennai in 2004. Four years later, RmkV opened its biggest store, a 100,000 sq.ft. outlet in Tirunelvelli. The original shop in the old market area still continues to operate. The fourth shop spread across 58, 00 sq.ft was opened at Brookfield mall in Coimbatore. There was an uncertainty in this decision as normally silk sarees are sold in traditional markets. However, sales sky rocketed within a short period of time it is estimated that the sales are between 14-16 crores per month which is three times more than the life style outlet within the same mall. The reason behind is the satisfied customers who say the price and quality known for RmkV brand stayed intact. The RmkV Design Studio has created numerous innovative unique silk sarees to date, the most notable being theme sarees such as Chinnanchiru kiliye -the 33 Bharatanatyam dance poses for Subramanya Bharathi's song Aiswarya Pookkal - National Award, 1998 Hamsa Damayanthi, based on the Raja Ravi Varma painting (National Award, 1999) Kural Ovium- depicting couplets from the Thirukkural The grand reversible sarees The 50000-colour sarees The varnajaalam range They provide a unique service to their customers who can custom-design their own saree in one of over 50000 colors, to be hand-woven by their team of master weavers. RmkV is the first ISO9001-2000 certified silk saree manufacturer in India. RmkV also carries a wide range of fancy and embroidered sarees, salwar kameez, and a complete range of ladies', gents' and children's products. Achievements & Awards

RMKV won two national awards for its innovative designs, new techniques of handloom weaving and quality products.

The company created a buzz about the conventional Kanchipuram Sarees by setting up a Guinness Book Record in 2004, for making longest silk saree. Recently RmkV has filed for patents for nagasu silk saree another linolight saree and third for its reversible saree.

RmkV- Situational Analysis

RmkV has established its brand because of its product, quality, service and impeccable offerings. It has institutionalized wedding silk sarees. Wedding silk sarees has been the brand strength but they have diversified into mens wear, childrens wear inner wear, fashion jewellery and Womens accessories. Competitive pricing and quality has been the brands strength .The biggest challenge lies in managing multiple stores and getting the format right.

Market Analysis
Market Analysis Demand Side: Market for the Brand: RmkV silks is considered as one of the traditional brands in the state of Tamil Nadu having its origin from 1924, Currently RmkV present in 3 major locations in Tamil Nadu and is a major player in the division of silk sarees. RmkV Gets 60 % of its revenue from silk sarees. Silk has always been a fabric close to every ones heart, and is considered to be traditional garments for most of the auspicious functions in the state. The state had a cultural practice to gift silk sarees to relatives apart from purchasing a grand silk saree for the bride during Wedding. RmkV took this as their primary market and created a separate collection of silk sarees for Brides and wedding occasion. This segment was considered as their core offering and even in their retail stores, a separate bay with posh interiors were set up. This separation in the store created an impact among the customer that they are specializing in silk. The key market for RmkV revolves around the advertisement business model. Whenever any kind of innovation is carried out by the research team in RmkV, simultaneous Ad campaign is aired across the media in the state to create a wave and expectation among the consumers. RmkV made a big impact in the market with its 50000 color saree, one of the first kinds in the industry and it created a huge platform for RmkV to gain market share. RmkV diversified the Silk segment into Kanchipuram silk, Wedding Silk, Embroidery sarees, Pattu pavadais ( long-Skirt made out of silk), which used latest handloom techniques, which won them two national awards. The demand for silk sarees are through the entire year except for the month of December to January (Margahlzi) where purchase for wedding are not done as it is not considered as auspicious by the people of Tamil Nadu, Similarly the month of August(Aadi) too had same response from people, but all retailers have stuck to the concept of discounting during this season to make people to buy sarees, so though the purchase for wedding does not happen sale of silk sarees happens during this season. Though the primary market demand for RmkV silks is based on demand of silk sarees, there is a secondary market demand which comes from other garments ranging from wide variety of Sarees, Mens wear and Kids Wear. This secondary demand from the consumers contributes to 40 % of the sales for RmkV. The Secondary demand from the consumers exists throughout the entire year, where the other family members apart from women use

RmkV- Situational Analysis

to purchase in the shop, the secondary demand reaches a peak spike during the festival seasons of Pongal, Deepavali and During Aadi sale. This both primary and secondary demand for the offerings done by the RmkV silks are mainly generated due to the Advertising business model of RmkV Superior Customer service Word of mouth publicity from existing customers. Thus despite the market being cluttered with heavy competition with major players RmkV has demands from its Consumers.

Consumers Segmentation of RmkV: As RmkV silks has primary demand and Secondary demand for its offering it has categorically classified its customers too accordingly into different segment. The main target audience for RmkV silks is women starting from the age limit of 8 and falling in the income segment of upper and middle socio economic class. Apart from the silk sarees the target audience for the other section of product offerings is people belonging to the income group of upper and lower-middle income groups, with no age as criteria as it provides a one stop shopping place for all the other apparels & Clothes for all the age segment ranging from kids collections, Mens collection equipped with both business formals and casual wear, both traditional and trendy outfits for women. Further RmkV has positioned itself as a brand with the personality of warm friendly and a caring person who satisfies the needs of the customers. This segmentation and positioning of RmkV has made it be successful for nearly nine decades

RmkV- Situational Analysis

RmkV Brand Preference against competition: RmkV as a brand is well preferred by the majority of its target segment in the group of upper and middle income segment. Though RmkV faces a stiff competition against Pothys, Chennai Silks, Nallis silks, etc. It has managed to gain sufficient chunk of customers , one reason is The Chennai silks and Pothys have the same target segment more focused on middle and lower income group where people are highly price conscious and , whereas RmkV focuses more on Middle and high income group of people. When compared with Nallis, the target group of Nallis silks is only customers who buy silk sarees and not other apparels, despite they have a dedicated space in their stores, and RmkV has a mixture of 60 % of customers for silk sarees and rest 40 % for other apparels and clothes. RmkV has also positioned itself as a one stop shop for wedding collections apart from bridal sarees. Few other additional reasons for Rmkvs Preference among the customers are due to few additional facilities like Online shopping with reliable delivery Superior customer service Product innovation.

RmkV- Situational Analysis

Possible Potential Customers: RmkV so far has been mainly involved pure B2C transactions; to gain edge over competition it could attract industrial customers. It could associate itself with corporate working class people and can encourage them to buy same pattern sarees and shirts for their yearly festival celebrations and other auspicious occasions, as the current Modern age corporate companies are known to celebrate each and every festival and it could be a untapped market to RmkV and sufficient research needs to be done on this line before investing the funds.

4. Competitor Analysis

Pothys: Pothys is one of the leading textile shops in Tamil Nadu, was established 90 years back by K.V.Pothy Moopanar under the name Pothy Moopanar to sell Cotton Sarees, Dhoties and Towels woven in his own loom. In the year 1977, the showroom was rechristened as Pothys. Pothys has opened the largest showroom in Panagal Park, Chennai in the year 1999.This six storied showroom with its majestic ambiences and gleaming marble and imposing atrium is popularly known as an Aalayam for Silks (Temple of silks). It has its existence in Chennai, Coimbatore, Srivilliputtur, Tirunelvelli, Madurai and Thiruvananthapuram. Their exclusively hand designed sarees include Samudrika, Parampara and Vastrakala. Samudrika pattu (silk) means a saree which has all the beautiful characteristics. The Pothys weavers have portrayed all the admirable designs in the Samudrika pattu and thus it stands as a first choice for the bride in a marriage. Parampara pattu is the jacquard work on the traditional Kanchipuram silk saree giving an outrageous look. Vastrakala pattu is the combination of Kanchipuram silk and embroidery work of north India. Vastrakala pattu is a unique blend of north and south Indian tradition and it is created for the modern women for function

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wears. Pothys also has ordinary Kanchipuram silk sarees with good design and range. The party wear sarees are exquisite designer sarees which is ideal for social gathering and festivals. Pothys has exhibited a new range of Kutti sarees (Kids sarees) for children. Pothys has a distinctive advertisement style. There advertisements always have a grace an everlasting endurance. Pothys has its presence in all the categories and price ranges. Its vasunthra pattu alone ranges from Rs 3000 to Rs 5, 00,000. The target segment is middle income customers and the strategy is to provide sarees at affordable price for value conscious customers. Discounts Aadi

Chennai Silks: The Chennai Silks showroom was started in 1960's at the textile town of Tirupur. Later it rapidly grown to various regions in popular cities like Chennai, Coimbatore, Trichy, Tirupur, Erode and Karur. The founder of Chennai silks was A. Kulandaivel Mudaliar. The Chennai Silks has set a record for making Worlds Costliest Saree that cost Rs 40, 00, 000 and also they have sold Rs 3, 931,627 to a customer which is again considered to be a record. The Chennai Silks sell Designer Sarees and Vivagaa Pattu for their customers. Vivagaa Sarees are specially meant for marriage. They have positioned it has Vivagaa Nalangu, Vivagaa Nichiyadhartham (engagement), Vivagaa Muhurtham (Marriage). They advertisements on all occasions including for Christmas and Ramzan, during which other leading stores never advertise.

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They promote their brand by Kodaiyil Kodaikanal Kondaattam where customers will be taken to Kodaikanal trip and made to stay in Star Hotel. Customers are chosen from the lots and who have made their purchase from April 1 to April 15. They sell Sarees ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 1, 00, 000 and they target customers from low income to higher income groups. Discounts Aadi and Annual discounts Nallis Silks:

The Nallis, famous for Silk was established in the year 1928 and has business for more than 70 years in Textile and Retail markets. Nallis success story has a ring of a fairy tale to it. It was started as a small retail store for Silk Sarees in Chennai by Nallis

Chinnaswami Chettiar in the year 1928. The family-run shop did steady business until
his grandson, Nallis Kuppuswamy Chettiar took over. In a radical departure from convention Kuppuswamy decided that the shop would not do any discount selling. Nallis, the shop soon built up an image of unrivalled quality at reasonable price, its roster of loyal clients also grew multifold. Nalli's focus of business has also become broader. It has its presence in Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Bangalore and in few foreign countries. Owing to high competition, they are improving their designs and patterns to attract the teens and the sari buyers, they came with bridal collections, party wear, designer wear, casuals wear for women. Nallis Silks is perceived has traditional store by the customer. To change this perception, they have launched Nallis Next. They target high income customer who are reluctant to visit crowded shopping places such as T.Nagar in Chennai.

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Nallis Silks target customers are middle income and higher income customers. Their strengths are Timely delivery, Customer service and providing additional yards sarees (9.75 yards sarees against normal 9 yards sarees)

Discounts: Nallis never ever provide discounts to maintain its quality service.

Brand Analysis
Brand name: RmkV Brand attributes: Attributes are developed through images, actions, or presumptions. They have following attributes Relevancy Consistency Proper positioning Wedding sari destination Sustainable Credibility Long established core values of good quality at reasonable price Inspirational - RmkV created a buzz around the traditional Kanchipuram sari by setting a Guinness Record for the longest silk sari in 2004. In 2005, RmkV came out with another Guinness Record, a special check patterned sari with 50,000 colors woven into it. Uniqueness By positioning it as a sari which is traditional and trendy, which it completely differentiates itself from its competitors Appealing A sari which is looked upon as a commodity has been turned to a Brand by RmkV. Every year, RmkV spends about 2% of its turnover on research and development and about 4% on branding and marketing efforts. The company pours in about Rs 15-20 lakh on a saree design, which could take as long as 18 months to develop. RmkV has not only been innovative in design and technique (Fig 1) but also in offering a color palette (Fig 2). Customers can choose from over 50,000 colors and also get their own designs made to order.

Fig 1: Innovation in Design

Fig 2: varieties by offering color palette

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RmkV appeals to the Generation Y, by providing link between traditions and trend. RmkV Silks pioneered innovation in the traditional field of silk sarees when they came out with a sari depicting, in woven silk and jari, the 33 Bharatanatyam dance poses for Subramanya Bharathi's song Chinnanchiru Kiliye. They have got the first mover advantage when it comes to innovation, which differentiates itself from others. RmkV target 3 segments namely Women, Men and Kids. They bring in innovation in womens wear by embossed silk, Jadau silk, reversible silk etc. They appeal to the kids segment by bringing traditions back by depicting stories in their dress (Fig 3: Cinderella Pavadai). Mens segment is not concentrated much by RmkV, as they positioned themselves as wedding sari destination.

RmkV- Situational Analysis

Fig 3: Cinderella pavadai

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Brand positioning: RmkV has positioned itself as a wedding sari destination. When the market was leveraging family and tradition, RmkV decided to position them as a wedding destination. RmkV targeted the young bride who respects tradition but who doesn't ritualize it. Brand association: Festival seasons and wedding occasions Brand personality: Traditional but trendy, Innovative

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5. Strategy to be used to take the brand to the desired position

All their advertisements potray a sense of youth and talks to the young bride of todays modern era. Unlike brands like Nallis (since 1900) which has a heritage image and often attracts the mothers of young brides, RmkV has successfully given a younger image even though both stores started a century ago. Furthermore, to sustain the young image of the brand, RmkV concentrates on kids as well. One can frequently find creatives with children all over. Their product launches have a kids collection during all festival periods. Innovations galore at RmkV. 50k color saree, longest saree, Cinderella skirt, pocket saree, reversible saree etc to name a few have kept the momentum going. RmkV except for the Jyothikas (Actress) marriage ad campaigns, have not used a celebrity in their ads and hence easily avoid the risk of brand ageing due to the celebrity. They must consciously avoid use of stars and celebrities in future too. Currently, RmkV is considered to be a very feminine brand. It uses more of kids and women in their creatives.

RmkV has ushered in a sense of culture among young girls who easily get attracted and adopt the western lifestyle. In future, RmkV need not do anything bizarre and different. While maintaining its young image, it has to battle the intrusion of western wear. At present, they stock jeans, t-shirts, blazers etc in their stores and gradually RmkV must wipe out their western section. The Cinderella skirt was a classic example of how a store like RmkV can attract the same young generation that is inclined towards western trends. They need to work on the same lines of innovating constantly with new launches of trendy silk wear.

6. Strategy Execution
With an appropriate media plan, the feel of the creatives come to life. All RmkV ads have a subtle and beautiful BGM (background music) which complements the visuals. Print ads on good quality papers bring visuals to life. RmkV have done an in-store promotion of its longest saree, Cinderella skirt etc and must continue to do so in malls as well.

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7. Evaluation
Rmkvs most important evaluation criteria would be its increase in number of young visitors. Since they have very few branches across the state, it can be easily measured. Moreover, they would love to see if the daughter has finally been able to convince her mother to buy the brand which she (daughter) wants to. For the effectiveness of the media plan, RmkV will concentrate less on reach since it is limited to South, especially TN. Hence, frequency will be a criterion for them.