Industry players share ‘experiences’ of building a brand

The e4m Pride of India Brands - The Best of South conference saw innovators and entrepreneurs from across sectors take part in a panel discussion on the topic - ‘Experiences how I built this’.

The session chair was Ramanujam Sridhar, Founder CEO, brand-comm. The panelists were VKC Razak, Managing and Founding Director, VKC Group; Sugumar Nagarajan, Executive Director, Anil Foods; Prateek Shah, Founder & CEO, Specsmaker; R Sriram, Managing Director, Butterfly, and Vijay Kapoor, Managing Director, Derby.com. 

Speaking of the brand journey, Nagarajan said, “Over the years, Anil Foods has evolved and twenty-five more products have been added to the breakfast and dinner category.” 

Introducing his brand, R. Sriram said, “We are into kitchen space and breakfast appliances. It’s known for its durability. We focus more on understanding consumer demands. As of now, we are a south brand; we will make it a pan India brand.”

Further in the discussion, Prateek Shah spoke about Specsmaker’s journey, “Specsmaker was founded in 2007 as a high fashion, high function brand focused on diversifying an uncluttered market spread across four states, and Kerala has been added recently. Our strategy is to go deeper into the market than to spread swings across India.” 

As for Vijay Kapoor, he said, “Aspiration to be an entrepreneur resulted in the creation of a fashion brand derby.com. Generating employment is the responsibility of entrepreneurs.”

Abdul Razak too spoke about his brand’s journey. “VKC was established in 1984; it’s a second-generation footwear manufacturing business; my father started his business. Those days slipper straps were not appropriate. He came up with new ideas and innovations and then launched a footwear brand. Over the years, the brand growing exponentially.”

The panel members were asked to clarify the strategy behind expanding business in southern India. “Retail business is about attention to retail. Spending $1 in Tamil Nadu is far better than $1 in New Delhi,” said Shah.

On how Butterfly was run differently, Sriram said, “We are looking at the next five-year growth plan. The cooking patterns are different in the north and south. The region-wise kitchen is important. Innovation is the key, and that’s what we are driving right now.”

Talking about franchising, Kapoor said “it was essential to scale up the business, using your or others’ money to expand a business”. “In franchising, the company uses others’ money. The franchise must comprehend the business’s need to cater to the audience’s demand.”

Regarding celebrity endorsements, Razak said, “The function is changed to fashion now; we must maintain both to cater to the broader audience need.