Dressing the best man

Campaign Logic

Just as you thought no one but Pierce Brosnan would do when it came to "Bond-ing with the best", India's own Amitabh Bachchan has shown why he could be a better candidate.

Launched in October, the Reid & Taylor TV commercial (TVC) has Bachchan replace Pierce Brosnan, who is considered the next best thing to have happened to the legendary character of James Bond after Sean Connery. It looks like an ambitious image makeover for Reid & Taylor, a division of the 53-year-old S Kumars Nationwide Ltd.

But Tarun Joshi, communication custodian, Reid & Taylor says they had their reasons for the move, "Our sales curve was flattening, which indicated that though we were selling, we needed aggressive growth targets. And for that, we had to look at our advertising and marketing strategy more closely."

Smart marketing is vital in the market for suit lengths because it's a high visibility business that is, at the same time, extremely fragmented.

To add to the problems, it is segmented differently by different producers "" some segment it on the basis of fabric, others on price and so on.

This was as true for worsted material "" a fine smooth yarn spun from staple wool "" which is what Reid & Taylor, launched in India in 1999, sells. In a market of roughly Rs 1,200 crore, Reid & Taylors turnover is Rs 180 crore or 15 per cent.

Why were sales stagnating? Research by A C Nielson on both consumers and retailers suggested that though brand recall was high, it was out of proportion with sales. The research universe included men 25 to 44 years of age and retailers who stock Reid & Taylor, and those who didn't or have discontinued.

The problem, it turned out, was in market spread.

Says Joshi, "We have a big presence in the premium range and have tapped the market in big cities satisfactorily. But we saw that with a Hollywood actor like Brosnan, we might have been alienating people in smaller towns just a bit "" people who have buying power too."

The research also shows that, in terms of pricing, though Reid & Taylors range was on par with competitors, the image it created was one as being "unaffordably expensive" (the Reid & Taylor suit lengths range from Rs 400 to Rs 4,000 a metre).

"We now had to derive empathy from the consumers. After a lot of brainstorming, we came up with Bachchan's name as the Indian brand ambassador, the Indian male who represents style," he says.

Their second choice? "Shahrukh Khan, but then he is much younger and has already modelled for Mayur fabrics," Joshi gives his reasons Joshi also reasons that Bachchan's appeal cuts through the age barrier.

"Everyone is mad about him in India; we almost worship him," says Joshi.

The course was set and S Kumars in-house creative team made the ad, which was executed by Mindshare, its media-buying agency, and directed by Rakesh Mehra, the director of the Bachchan-starrer Aks.

This time, the TVC uses Bond-meets-Bollywood scenes with detonating bombs and dressed-in-black villians toting guns.

Only this time, instead of Brosnan, it's Bachchan fighting it out with them, jumping off a building, walking through a bomb explosion "" immaculately dressed in grey and black suits. "I'm quite invisible without it," he says caressing the jacket in the end.

"That is another difference with Bachchan as a brand ambassador for us and for others," says Joshi, "While others show him larger than the brand, vouching for their products, we have the style-icon say that he is invisible without a Reid & Taylor suit."

All very different from commercials where he has been shown sitting around, dressed in kurta-pajamas.

But isn't the man over-exposed, endorsing too many products nowadays? "That's the kind of risk you take with the Amitabhs and the Sachins of the world. Everyone wants to have them. We had considered it and had agreed to make the gamble."

And has Bachchan tugged at those Indian heartstrings? Has his image been more successful in passing the message than Brosnan's?

"Too early to say," says Joshi, since the stocks are out but they still don't know how much of it has been liquidated.

But feedback from the retailers says that there are people walking into the showrooms and asking, "Amitabh wala suit dikhana" (Show me Amitabh's suit). The same TVC is being aired in West Asia and the news is that there's been some activity there too.

Joshi also points out that the association with Brosnan is not dead. "We are only testing Bachchan out and will review the it again after a year. We might just decide to continue with Bachchan next year too, or have both of them as our ambassadors."

The TVC is the first one in the series and was consciously made such that it reminds of the earlier Pierce Brosnan ad, so as not to confuse the consumer.

The next films will have more of an emotional quotient, says Joshi. The next TVCs will be aired in January and March next year. The print campaign is in the final-touch phase and will be out next month.

The company is also catering to the niche consumers in more ways than one. For instance, addressing them in events like the Open Polo Championship that was held from November 14 to 23 at Jaipur Polo Grounds, Delhi.

So, the choice has been made, the strategy is in order, the campaign has begun. Will it work? Let's wait till tomorrow comes.