The Tiger Balm story is a soothing one for indigenous brand-owners. A herbal ointment that relieved aches and pains, it was developed in the 1870s by a Chinese herbalist working in the Emperor’s court. Herbalist Aw Chu Kin passed his knowledge of Chinese medicine on to his sons, Boon Par (gentle leopard) and Boon Haw (gentle tiger), who gave the product its name and a brand strategy. It was a simple–and clearly timeless–strategy, based on the brand’s heritage.
The original recipe has long been enhanced with Western and Chinese medicines. The balm is used to relieve headaches as well as muscular sprains by sports personalities as much as housewives. Brand control now belongs to a large Singapore-based corporate group. But the brand retains the springing tiger logo created by Boon Haw, the packaging stays with the photographs of the two brothers, and the official-looking seal still serves as the cover for the small jar. Only now, with sales in excess of S$100 million and a market across 70 countries, Tiger Balm has sprung from being a folk remedy to a global brand.
But that’s the beauty of a great brand. Customers change, the environment gets more dog-eat-dog, but the brand continues to serve as a route map for purchasing behaviour and accrues value for its owners. It’s not just about the money it makes, it’s about the compelling idea behind it, which identifies a market need, creates a product to meet the need and deliver value (at any price point), and captures the customer’s loyalty in a distinctive fashion.
Four Indian brands that Sumeet Yadav, business head of Diesel and Steve Madden, thinks make the cut are Fair & Lovely, Hero Honda, Hidesign and Fab India. Each of these brands has withstood international brand onslaught in its own unique way, he says. Given the Indian desire to look fair and, hence, lovely, it’s no surprise that the segment is chockablock with brands. “And yet, each time there’s a threat from a new player, Fair & Lovely creates a product to outflank it,” says Yadav. Hero Honda, he believes, owns the “most fuel efficient” bike segment, thanks to a great product, while Fab India is a mix of very differentiated products and astute pricing. “And Hidesign is a fantastic product at a price that delivers great value.”
Speaking for his classic-rather-than-trendy brand, Dilip Kapur says Hidesign was born out of the need to be distinct from the uniformity and synthetic flatness of the mass market. “It was almost like giving shape to my aversion to painted, patented leathers that lose all semblance of naturalness,” he says.
Catering largely to people from non-mainstream professions, Hidesign bags started out looking distinct, with heavy, handcrafted leather bearing solid brass hardware. Over the years, the Puducherry-based company has started creating more sleek and refined bags as well, but it’s the old heavy monsters that the old brand junkie still craves. But then, there are a lot of new Hidesign customers too. If yesterday’s client was largely male, and a mid to senior executive, today’s buyer can just as easily be a globe-trotting executive aged between 25 and 35 as a homemaker, or a fresh grad looking to put her best foot forward. And yes, there are more women than men now reaching into their Hidesign bags for money.
Yadav says most marketers confuse value with low price, whereas consumers are fairly evolved and understand the difference. “For a premium consumer, a Diesel Denim at Rs 15,000 offers value because the buyer understands what it delivers in terms of style, fit and peer recognition,” he points out.
High-end skincare brand Forest Essentials would agree. As Chief Managing Director Mira Kulkarni says, “Our product pricing is never governed by the competition. Our pricing is a function of the quality of the ingredients we use, and that’s something we are not willing to compromise on.” Clearly, neither are her silken-skinned customers.
Founded in 2000, the brand positions itself as ‘Luxurious Ayurveda’ and, according to Kulkarni, caters to the aspirational middle-class consumer who looks for quality and is willing to pay for it as well as the discerning consumer to whom only quality matters, not price. With disposable incomes soaring and more and more women believing they’re ‘worth it’, it’s no surprise that Forest Essentials has found its niche and got, what Yadav calls, a “clutter-breaking, consumer-connect strategy” in place.
To stay relevant, the brand keeps adding to its repertoire of products. A fact no doubt appreciated by Estee Lauder, which acquired a minority stake in Forest Essentials in 2008.
Woodland is another brand that has seen its prices hiking strongly up the charts, without losing steam, or clients. Few know that the company started out in Quebec in the 1960s for making winter boots and entered India only in 1992. At the time, in a market that was largely disorganised, Woodland created the category of specialised ‘outdoor sports’ shoes. The high-quality of its leather weathered out the positioning and pricing storms, and Woodland won a loyal constituency among adventurists in India. “We’re the number one choice of climbers, mountaineers, extreme skiers, snowboarders, endurance runners and explorers,” says Managing
Director Harkirat Singh.
Over the years, the brand has adopted a green platform, by creating shoes and casual wear that “are made with materials and chemicals that don’t harm nature.”
Not that it’s neglected the fashion-forward. In 2004-05, around the same time that global high street brands started entering the market with prêt pitter-patter, Woodland created premium sub-brand Woods that offers uber fashionable but comfortable shoes and bags at rather steep prices. Singh says the pricing has got nothing to do with the influx of global brands into the Indian market. Woods is positioned as a premium brand that “focuses on quality and cutting edge trends” and is designed by a dedicated team that travels the world keeping track of the latest trends from London, Tokyo and Paris, he says.
All the three brands speak as one, on the importance of retail. And all swear by company-owned stores (though Woodland is available at multi-brand outlets as well). Singh’s company has 300+ company-owned stores across the country with 60 more in the pipeline. Kapur says he couldn’t find distributors who understood his brand when he started out. So he entered directly, and it “turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences” for Hidesign. The brand is now present across India through 60 stores, of which 52 are company owned. Forest Essentials believes that it doesn’t sell only a product but a “total experience”. Hence, its 16 stores across seven cities are company owned.
Yadav should approve. “Consumers often position a brand in their minds depending on where the store is located,” he says. But, as Tiger Balm has proven, retail strategy is only part of the game. Give the customer the right product experience and value, and he’s yours for life. But then, Hidesign, Forest Essentials and Woodland seem to know that already.