To study the marketing & advertising strategy
&
To identify the innovative approaches in product offering of Denim brands
Submitted by
Dipraj Sinha, Sanjeet Singh, Mukesh Dhurve
MFM-III
Under the supervision of
MS. Harleen Sahani
Submitted to
Department of Fashion Management Studies (FMS)
National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT)
(Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India)
GH-0 Road, Behind Infocity
Gandhinagar 382007. Gujarat
http://www.nift.ac.in
Acknowledgement
Our research and documentation would not have been possible without the guidance and help of a few people who not only
provided us with proper knowledge about the fields but also with many cherishable memories.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our college, National Institute of Fashion Technology, Gandhinagar, for providing us with the opportunity to conduct a research on Denim brands.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude NIFT, Gandhinagar for providing us with the opportunity to conduct this
research.
We heartly thank Ms.Harleen Sahani, Assistant professor of National Institute Of Fashion Technology, Ministry Of Textiles,
Government of India, for encouraging us towards craft initiative works.
INTRODUCTION
Jeans are trousers typically made from
denim or dungaree cloth. Often the
term "jeans" refers to a particular style
of pants, called "blue jeans," which
were invented by Jacob Davis in 1871
and patented by Davis and Levi Strauss
on May 20, 1873.
Originally designed for cowboys and
miners, jeans became popular in the
1950s among teenagers, especially
members of the greaser subculture.
Jeans were a common fashion item in
the 1960s Hippie subculture and they
continued to be popular in the 1970s
and 1980s youth subcultures of punk
rock and heavy metal.
Historic brands include Levi's, Lee, and
Wrangler. In the 2010s, jeans remain a
popular fashion item, and they come in
various fits, including skinny, tapered,
slim, straight, boot cut, cigarette
bottom, narrow bottom, low waist,
anti-fit, and flare.
"Distressed" (visibly aged and worn,
but still intact and functional) jean
trousers have become increasingly
fashionable, making pre-sale "factory
distressing" a common feature in commercially sold jeans.
Jeans are now a very popular article of
casual dress around the world. They
come in many styles and colours. However, blue jeans are particularly identified with American culture, especially
the Old West.
As well, although jeans are mostly
known as a fashion garment in the
2010s, they are still worn as protective
garments by some individuals, such as
cattle ranch workers and motorcycle
riders, due to their high durability as
compared to other common fabrics.
LITERATURE REVIEW
The Indian denim industry is showing
continual growth trends over the years.
With newer territories, technologies and
trends, the market is only going to see
some exciting moments ahead there is a
buzz in the industry. Kishore Biyani has
35 fashion brands with a combined turnover of over R7, 000 crore.
In terms of volumes, the denim market is
estimated at 300 million pairs of jeans,
which is projected to grow to 550-600
million by 2015
We are the second-largest producers of
denims after China. Of the total denims
manufactured in India, 700 million metres
are used in the domestic market and the
rest is exported.
What India needs is more denim
brands. Today, denim wear is going
deeper into the rural markets. Not only
men, even teenage girls in rural areas are
opting for denim wear. This calls for
more brands that can cater to the
demand.
This is one fabric that will never completely go out of fashion. The denim market in
India is growing at a very fast pace, with
the market for branded jeans constituting
over R2, 000 crore in the country. India is
growing at the rate of 10-15% per year
The denim market in India is set to nearly
double to over Rs 13,000 crore in the
next three years (by 2017), owing
primarily to youngsters obsession for
the cult fabric. The boom will be fuelled
by not only an increasing demand from
small cities and rural areas, but also
acceptance of the fabric at workplaces,
the study adds.
Market size and growth
Denim is of the most promising category
in Indias apparel market. In 2014, the
denim market of India was worth `13,500
Cr. which accounts for 5 percent of the
total apparel market of the country. The
market is projected to grow at a CAGR of
15 percent to become 27,200Cr. markets in
2018.
The denim market in India is skewed
towards mens segments with 85
percent contribution coming from it.
Womens denim segment contributes 9
percent to the market and the kids
segment the rest 6 percent. The womens
and kids denim segments are expected
to witness higher growth rates due to
their lower base and increasing focus of
brands and retailers on those segments
COMPARISON OF DENIM CONSUMPTION
In general the western lifestyle and western
fashion has accelerated the trend of casualisation across the globe. This trend has boosted the consumption of casual fashion apparel like denims, dress shirts, tees, casual shirts
among both men and women consumers in
all developing countries including India. The
average number of denim items owned by
Indian consumer is much lower in comparison to consuming market of the United
States, Europe etc. The number is even lower
than countries like Brazil and China. This
difference in the number demonstrates the
huge potential that exists for denim in the
domestic market.
CITY-WISE DISTRIBUTION OF DENIM MARKET
The value share of denim market is skewed in
favour of mega metros and metros which
account for almost half of the total denim
market at a share of 49 percent. Though the
markets of other urban areas and rural India
contribute high in volume terms, their combined share in market value is only 51
percent. As the penetration of denim category and the awareness of denim quality
increases in those cities and rural India, their
share in market value will start increasing
with more number of consumers willing to
pay premium for the quality, design and fit.
PRESENCE OF BRANDS
DRIVING FACTORS FOR DENIM MARKET
In India unbranded denim products dominate
the market with around 60 percent share of the
market. The share of brands in denim market
stands at 40 percent. Most of the unbranded
players operate on the lower price segment of
the market where awareness of quality of fabric,
finishing and washes, design and fit are relatively
low.
Some of the key driving factors for the denim
market in India are:
An aspiration youth (15-29 year olds) with higher
spending power than previous generations,
which make 26 percent of the consuming population
The emergence of semi-urban clusters, areas
having less number of farming communities,
across the country has opened a plethora of
opportunities for regional brands and retailers. A
typical denim consumer of the semi-urban cluster demonstrates a blend of the characteristics of
urban and rural consumers; like an urban
consumer he or she shows awareness of brand
and product quality and like a rural consumer
pricing and affordability plays a crucial role in his
or her purchase decisions.
The regional brands have focusing to cater to
these typical requirements of the semi-urban
consumers. However presence of lots of
unbranded players in such markets it a market of
intense competition to many national level
brands
A wide range of consumer segment that consider denim as an apparel of choice owing to its
comfort and style. Favoured preference for
denim amongst youth owing to its versatile association. Increasing usage of denim products by
women and youth in smaller cities and rural India
DENIM VALUE CHAIN IN INDIA
India has an integrated value chain for denim
products starting from fibre to retail. Denim is
primarily produced from cotton and India is
expected to overcome China as the single largest
producer of cotton the world in 2014. The country is the second largest producer of cotton yarn.
The denim fabric production capacity of India is
more than 1,000 million meters per year, and
India is still witnessing entrance of more denim
fabric manufacturers in the industry. Denim
fabric production in India is concentrated in the
western and northern parts of the country with
more than 45 percent contribution coming from
Gujarat alone where Ahmadabad is the production hub.
Denim apparel production in India
remains a fragmented industry where only
20-30 percent of denim apparel is manufactured in the organised units. The denim
apparel production activities are concentrated in Delhi and NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore and Ahmadabad.
SOME OF THE KEY TRENDS IN DENIM
MARKET
In India most of the denim manufacturers
focus on the domestic markets as the value
realisation remains higher in domestic
market than in export markets
In the recent times the industry has
witnessed entrance of new fabric manufacturers which is expected to make the
market for denim fabric more price competitive in the coming years
Cotton remains the fibre of choice in
denim apparel. In blended denim fabrics
polyester is being used as weft threads
The demand for stretch denim is growing
at a faster rate in India market due to its
comfort and fi t characteristics
The colour of denim jeans is no longer
limited to traditional blue colours. Indian
youth has started accepting denim in
different colours including green, red,
yellow etc.
TECHNICAL ASPECTS
Process of Manufacture of denim garments is
like any other garment except that these
garments require special care and finishes. The
basic outline of the operations for denim
garments in general is given below.
1. Pattern design and pattern making.
2. Cloth cutting by mechanical process.
3.Sewing by high-speed industrial sewing
machine.
4. Trimming and inspection.
5.Ironing and pressing as finishing process.
Designers use five elements to create a design
that will stimulate the potential consumer to
buy like colour, silhouette, drape, texture and
tone. Besides these the designer selects
buttons, uppers, snaps, thread lace, tapes,
braids, medallions, sequins and a variety of
ornaments and closures and decorative devices to impart the desired design effect. Cutting
involves three basic operations, i.e. making the
marker, spreading the fabric and chopping
fabric into the marked sections.
There are six types of machines available to
chop or cut a lay into the component parts of
the market like rotary blade machine, vertical
reciprocal blade machines, band knives, similar
to band saws, die clickers systems with
straight blades and automated computerised
laser beam cutting machines.
The sewing operation is performed to join the
individual cut components in to desired shape by
using power operated sewing machine. Fusing
and cementing are processes for stitching or
decorative seaming.
In fusing, the seam bond on decoration is formed
by melting some fibre or finish content in the
material in a manner that joins the sections or
decorates in the desired area. In cementing, the
bond or decoration is made by an adhesive, such
as cement, glue on plastic which is applied to the
materials during or immediately preceding the
cementing process.
Fusing is either by direct heat, by hot head fusing
presses, in which pressure surface area is heated
by electric heating grade or steam. Cementing
processes use mechanical pressure systems with
inbuilt head application depending on the adhesive materials used.
Moulding is a process that changes the surface
character to photography of a garment of one of
its stitch sections by application of heat, moisture
or pressure. Pressing, pleating, blocking mangling, steaming, creasing, curing and casting
curing and casting are trade terms for various
moulding processes. Pressing has two major
divisions.
Buck press is a machine for pressing a garment
or section between two contoured, heated pressure surfaces that may have steam vacuum
systems in either or both surface. In the field of
casual fashion the fade look has significant
value.
Previously the faded effect used to come after
repeated washing of the garment. Now we can
get the fade effects instantly by latest washing
technology and it plays a very important role in
the saleability of the denim garment. There are
many types of washes.
The prominently used are Hard Wash, Half
Bleach, Full Bleach, Marble Bleach, Acid Wash,
Stone Wash, Chemical Wash, Ice Wash, Moon
Wash, Bright Wash, Gun Wash, Camel Wash, Ink
Wash etc.
Lee History
Lee Mercantile Company was founded by Henry
David Lee in 1889, when Lee opened his first garment
factory in Salina, Kansas, producing dungarees and
jackets.
In 1913, the Union-All work jumpsuit was created,
followed by the first-ever "Overall" in 1920 - laying the
foundation for Lee's early growth. Also in 1920, the
Buddy Lee doll was launched for promotional use, but
quickly became a popular play doll.
Through the '20s, Lee introduced many new innovations to manufactured denim, most notably the
zipper fly. Throughout the '30s and '40s Lee continued
to build on their brand, becoming the nation's #1
manufacturer of work clothes.
The decade of the '50s was a time of intense expansion for Lee as the company ventured into casual
wear. Lee expanded its presence throughout the '60s,
spreading to 51 countries and consolidating with VF
Corporation in 1969.
The company continued to expand its fashion lines
throughout the '70s, '80s and '90s, launching Lee
National Denim Day in 1996. Today's Lee is all about
bringing more fits, styles, finishes, features and choices than ever before to market.
OBJECTIVE
To study the marketing & advertising strategy of denim brand Lee
To identify the innovative approaches in product offering to the customer across India
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Type Exploratory research design was used as it relies on secondary research such as reviewing available literature and/or data, and qualitative as well as quantitative research approaches such as informal discussions and personal
interview.
PRIMARY RESEARCH
Interview of category head denim of Lee brand
Questionnaire
and its
interpretation
In conversation with Mr. Nishank Ponappa
1-Lee varies in its brand positioning across the world. How do you tackle this disparity?
Name:- Nishank Ponappa
Age: 28
Profile: - category head Denim India(Lee)
Email IdCompany VF Brands India
- Positioning and the development of category essence entails the association of the brand to
other objects that collectively represent a consumer goal. However, for category essence, the
connection is among objects that imply the goal in using the category rather than the brand. To
illustrate category essence, for example of the beer category for 18- to 34-year-old men
Category essence uses insight about how the category fits with consumers' goals as a brand's point
of difference. The assumption is that if consumers perceive that a brand is positioned in a manner
that is sensitive to their concerns, the brand is viewed as the solution to those concerns. For example, Lee jeans showed the difficulties women encountered when trying to get into a pair of jeans.
Consumers were urged to buy Lee jeans to remedy this problem, though no rationale for this
choice was provided.
2-Why did your tapered fit category fail to take off in India?
Because we are late in the market when we launch this fit it is almost out of fashion in the Indian
market.
3-Youve launched multiple fits in India over the years. Whats been purpose for that?
The main competitor of Lee is Levis. Levis come into Indian market after Lee to become a market
leader Levis started launched different variety of fits or fabric in to Indian market so compete with
them we launched more fit than Levis. Result of that our sales increases and we become again no-1
in India market
4-As more and more of what Lees sells at affordable price your ability to manufacture and
source them at lower costs will determine more of your success. But with workers across Asia
rebelling against lower wages how long can you offer affordable prices?
- We actually source fabric from Arvind and Raymond and after that we do experiment with that
fabric so do not cost much that is why we offer jeans at lowest cost but levis develops new
denim fabric
For example- we give instruction to our fabric producer company for different washes of denim,
then they send fabric of the different washes, it come up with different shades and then producer send us the swatches of different shades and then we select from them and develop garment
from that.
5-Which type of innovation you did recently in product offering to customers
Denim refreshment series It is very innovative series we launched in India for spring summer
2015. it has quality of in summer it keep cool and in winter its keeps you hot and most important
it is water repellent fabric .
6-What do you consider when you offer such type of innovation & design.
Ans - Actually we consider many things when we develop new things to offer to our customers
but we consider mainly three things We study the current market trend, competitors analysis
and we study the previous year style no sells on the basis of that we develop such type of fabric
and product.
7-What is the motto behind Ad campaign of Lee denim brand
Ad we design according to our product we are going to offer to our customers for example we
recently launched denim series called Denim refreshment according to that we design ad or
target customer promotions activities.
8-Which type of marketing strategy used by Lee
Road shows
Personal marketing
Social media marketing
9-Which type of innovation do in marketing by Lee Brand?
Yes actually we do innovation but not too much on advertisement on print
media or electronic media we focus on the store VM, layout of store, store ambiance, product display and promotions inside or outside the stores
10-How can you achieve new growth by discovering unexpected consumer
insights?
Very nice question ask by you people actually its require lots of data mining our
data research team do all the analysis on basis of style no, colour, fit and category
wise this is the back bone of our industries on that basis of that we forecast our
sale and develop products . this all Creat a new shopping system
LEARNING
The Indian denim industry is large, mature, and highly fragmented. In the India, denim sold is
produced both in domestic and foreign locations. Due to global economic downturn, the apparel industry has been severely affected, but the condition of denim market is better as compared to other apparel segments. Economic condition, demographic trends and pricing are
the factors driving the apparel sales.
The report analyzes the denim jeans industry in the Indian. Market trends like introduction of
new concepts, retail and apparel pricing and key drivers of denim market have been included.
