Duroflex is focusing on a digital-led growth strategy: CMO Smita Murarka

Founded by the late PC Mathew in the backwaters of Kerala in 1960 for bringing coir mattresses to the Indian market, Duroflex is today one of the most trusted sleep solutions providers in the Indian market, holding 21% of the market share. Led by the third generation of entrepreneurs from the Mathew family, Duroflex has now expanded across the country, built a strong digital presence, and has grown from being just a mattress seller in South India to a holistic sleep solution provider with an assortment of products on offer.

In today’s edition of e4m ‘Pride of India Brands 2021’ series, the brand’s CMO Smita Murarka talks about the brand, its journey of decades and the way ahead. 

The business originated from the heart of the founder and has been evolving with consumers at the core of all activities, says Murarka. “Duroflex started as an owner-driven business in the backwaters of Kerala and was predominantly present in the South Indian market only for a long time before expanding to some parts in western India. But the pandemic really pushed the accelerator on our growth and in the past two years we have expanded pan India.” 

Murarka emphasizes that the pandemic had a key role in bringing out the ‘Make In India’ story and that really helped SMBs like Duroflex. The brand expanded from being just an offline, regional entity to a digital-led omni-channel, pan-India company. 

The evolving market space too had a lot to do with the growth that Duroflex has shown over the past few years. “Mattresses, as a category, used to function in a very traditional manner. And because the businesses were already doing good, it was difficult to disrupt the well-oiled system. This disruption was brought by new-age, digital-first brands and the impact was felt by legacy players like us too. And because our brand was built on the back of strong products, we could maintain our position within these young players as well.” 

Murarka further says that the need to educate consumers continues to be the biggest challenge in the space. “Around 60-70% of Indian consumers are still purchasing mattresses either from local players or smaller brands and do not really understand the importance of good products and sound sleep. As the competition grows, consumers become more aware of the branded space, and it is good for all brands who are building good quality products.”

Insisting that a sound marketing strategy also plays a key role in building brands within the category, Murarka says: “Duroflex was a local brand for most of its life cycle till now. I had joined just before the pandemic hit with a very lean marketing team and we had to deal with a lot of challenges initially because of Covid. But marketing is not only about putting out a good creative or fancy piece of content. It should be for the consumers, helping them learn something new. It is also about how well you understand the business and work like a single-minded well-oiled brand. And that’s what we have been doing for the past two years – putting the consumer at the heart of everything we do.” 

Murarka further shares that the brand has evolved immensely over the years when it comes to its approach to marketing. “For a long time, the products were retail-heavy and we were functioning in a particular market because it is not easy to transport the mattresses because of their size and weight. So, most of the marketing was also offline, very dealer-centric. Digital capacities in the category were not as evolved as they are now. However, since the pandemic we have really upped the ante on marketing. We have not only re-organised our product portfolio to make it more extensive and inclusive of better sleep solutions, but also hired a big brand ambassador like Alia Bhatt. It was, in fact, a big bet to have someone young like Bhatt endorse the category, which was earlier being promoted mostly by men. But it has worked well in our favour.” 

She concludes the chat with insights on how the brand was working hard to grow its product portfolio. “Over the past few years, we have added products like linen, furniture and recliners to our portfolio, and they are collectively amounting to 20% of our sales. We want to grow this share significantly while mattresses will continue to remain our bread and butter. But you will see a lot of new exciting launches from us in the year. We have a very busy calendar ahead.”