A Big Fat Investment
Investment in the ‘Special Sizes’ audience segment with a focus on the Indian brand, Ritu Kumar
By Maanya Charu Kalra
In 2004, when the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty was launched, from hoardings to pamphlets to posters, all were full of pictures of groups of women standing and laughing together. As the depiction lucidly focused, these women were all different in appearance but identical in the spirit of being beautiful. Dove empowered several women that year and for years to come. More so as this voice belonged to a cosmetic brand that confidently propagated that its audience is beautiful with or without cosmetics. This was consumer-centric brand investment.
Diving deeper into brand investment opportunities, there are several other brands that hold the potential to venture onto a similar trajectory and not only do good for their product but also their consumers.
Ritu Kumar – a high end ethnic wear brand that offers new styles with a depiction of age long traditions is one such brand. Started in the 1970s, Ritu Kumar now has stores in 14 cities all across India and an online presence in most other countries. International stars such as Princess Diana, Mischa Baron and Anoushka Shankar have flaunted a Ritu Kumar outfit at global events. Branching out of ethnic wear, the brand also owns a sub-brand called Label By Ritu Kumar for casual Indo-western apparel.
Most women in India would call Ritu Kumar an established brand. However, its brand image does not seem to resonate with people looking for special sizes especially petites and plus-sizes. All campaigns and promotions by the brand are dominated by women with slim-body types. Additionally, the available sizes for products end at ‘XL’( US 16).
In-store and online availability of special sizes up to ‘4XL’(US 28), a line for petite sizes and most importantly, presence of women belonging to the special size category in Ritu Kumar’s branding efforts can be a great investment opportunity for the brand.
Ritu Kumar is on the track for fast paced growth, the company earned Rs. 200 crores ($28 million) in 2018 and has a following of over 200k on social media channels. The brand has the potential for expansion into a new line and an unleveraged opportunity that can induce more sale. Brands are not just pretty, they are drivers of business growth. Ritu Kumar claims to have pioneered the term ‘fashion’ in the Indian context demonstrating hand-made products for their profitability and glamour.
About 20 million women in India currently fall under the category of ‘obese’ and the average height of an Indian woman is 5 feet.
On the one hand, brands of this nature offer high-end Indian ethnic wear apparel in India. On the other hand, they seem to ignore a large population of its target audience i.e Indian women. The most common body type among Indian women is on the healthier side with a fairly short height. Following Ritu Kumar’s pride and propaganda of its Indian roots, special sizes, especially plus and petite sizes would make the brand reach more and more Indian women. This would help the brand by giving it an integrated approach and reduce inconsistencies in brand image and messaging.
Ritu Kumar’s assessed target audience is women from urban/rich backgrounds
In 2019, a study found that most of the overweight female population in India comes from urban/rich households. Product prices by the brand are also quoted on the higher side starting at Rs. 4,200 ($62) for ethnic wear (Ritu Kumar) and Rs. 800 ($11) for Indo-western (Label by Ritu Kumar). Therefore, the offerings prove to be more suited for women that have access to resources and a certain amount of knowledge for high-end ethnic/Indo-western fashion. Thereby, making a special sizes’ product line and brand presence, a lucrative proposition.
Special Sizes are also a new hit among virtual shoppers. By the end of 2020, $5-6 million will be accounted for by plus-sizes in the $40 billion Indian fashion apparel market i.e. 10-12% of the overall market. Ritu Kumar is one of the few ethnic Indian brands with an online presence, even internationally. The brand also offers free shipping on international orders. Considering the hand-made manufacturing quality, that is unique to India. Along with the ethnic styled products, Ritu Kumar holds the potential to appear as a grand apparel store that respects real body types all across the world – for every woman who desires to dress Indian.
Brand Value = Financial Value X Brand Contribution
Competition plays a big role in expansion.
Label by Ritu Kumar’s competitors in casual, urban wear are international fast fashion brands such as H&M and Zara which offer low cost products and special sizes. For ethnic wear, the largest competitor of Ritu Kumar is Sabysachi that has lately garnered global attention. Sabysachi has recently ventured into plus-sizes, this expansion is clearly visible in the brand’s media presence which amounts to a pre-purchase phase where the audience learns about the brand’s new products.
Lastly, the latest campaign run by Ritu Kumar is #NariTumShaktiHo (Woman, you are power), the tagline goes “Celebrating women who inspire us with their strength”. By utilizing the potential trapped in the special sizes range, Ritu Kumar will cater to all female body types, that are especially prevalent in India. This can act as a medium for the brand’s support towards feminism. A brand is a promise offering certain benefits, this brand investment opportunity can help Ritu Kumar’s customers with emotional benefits (acceptance, inclusion, security, feeling closer to cultural roots etc.) as well as functional benefits (easy to find sizes, easy to buy ready-made Indian clothes, trendy, sales/memberships etc.)
All in all, established brands such as Ritu Kumar pose a promise that can only be fulfilled by positioning the brand to be inclusive of all body types and make every woman a part of the cultural and grand experience offered by the brand.