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India Fashion Week is now a brand in itself; but is it in synergy with its sponsor brand, Lakme? By Amanpreet Singh
The sponsorship, according to the company, has been more than worthwhile. Anil Chopra, Business Head, Lakme Lever, reports a sales bounce of some 42 per cent for the just-concluded year---considerably faster than the industry pace of 16 per cent. How much of that is on account of the fashion jamboree? Well, Chopra cites brand tracking studies that track the performance of 'statements' introduced at the Lakme India Fashion Week, and these have been satisfactory. But are the brand and the show in synergy? Are they saying the same thing? That would be difficult to establish in any objective way; and in any case, how desirable that would be is also open to question, given the diversity of fashion statements that the show encourages. Suffice it to say that the alliance is "a marriage made in heaven", according to Ravi Krishnan, Managing Director, IMG/TWI, South Asia, and Senior International Vice-President, IMG, representing the organizational body. Five years ago, when IMG and Fashion Development Council of India (FDCI) started India Fashion Week, "The first brand that they thought of approaching was Lakme, the leader in cosmetics in India", reveals Krishnan. Vinod Kaul, Executive Director, FDCI, also sees the deal as a major win-win one. "The Fashion Week in association with FDCI lends Lakme the credibility that no advertisement can," he says. Running an ad campaign alone is no good, given the media fragmentation. Also, advertising tends to be a monologue, while the Fashion Week offers a platform for an actual dialogue. A reason that "presently 20 per cent of the Lakme ad spend goes into the Fashion Week", as Chopra reveals. The sponsorship has done wonders for the brand image too, claims Chopra. "Lakme earlier was known as 'my mother's brand', reliable and good, but not contemporary," he says. That has changed, and the brand is now seen as a trend-setter. The theme at the New York Fashion Week was floral this year. Lakme, however, decided to add its own dimension to this and made it 'Fruit Shock' for this year's Lakme India Fashion Week. This would retain the colour, but add new dynamics of smell to widen the sensory experience. And the theme is to be interpreted by three designers--- Pop by Anshu Arora Sen, Burst by Anamika Khanna and Crush by Aki Narula---even as they make the transition from haute couture to prêt. Would it help sell shiploads of fruit-flavoured lip-gloss? Sure it will, hopes Hindustan Lever. But more than that, adds Kaul, "the association with India Fashion Week and FDCI adds that extra depth to the Lakme brand". Well, whoever said fruit beauty is skin deep?
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You've
noticed, of course. It's not India Fashion Week. It's the Lakme India
Fashion Week. Lakme is a cosmetics and personal care brand owned and
marketed by Hindustan Lever (its consumer equity was created largely by
the Tata group, but that's another story).