 "Wildcraft steps out of a niche")
The biggest challenge for niche brands looking to expand operations is staying true to their original identities even as they launch new product lines. A case in point is iconic watchmaker Titan. To stay relevant and keep pace with the evolving lifestyle of consumers, it transformed into a fashion and lifestyle brand and extended its product portfolio into new segments such as jewellery (Tanishq) and eyewear (Titan Plus). Wildcraft, the 23-year-old Indian sports and adventure outdoor product company, is attempting to do a Titan as it eyes a new product segment such as footwear.
In this scenario, the Bengaluru-based company recognises that zeroing in on relevant business opportunities and scaling up internal capabilities are key to chasing higher growth. “As we go about expanding our business, we are pursuing a solutions-led approach rather than a category-led one. The genesis of a new product portfolio stems from our goal of equipping a person who’s stepping out from head to toe,” says Siddharth Sood, co-founder, Wildcraft.
This approach has so far helped the company to identify three distinct product segments — rucksack, followed by apparel and now footwear.
Wildcraft is hopeful of drawing on its years of expertise in customer experience and preferences while getting into new product categories. However, the brand is also alive to the challenges that come with categories like apparel and footwear.
For example, apparel brings with it complexity of size and colour which is non-existent in gear and equipment category. Given the different body types, design and fit for apparel varies vastly for north, south, east and west, says Sood. Similarly, in footwear, Wildcraft faces stiff competition from leading brands such as Reebok, Puma and Nike with a greater overlap of products.
So, how well equipped is Wildcraft to meet such challenges?
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According to Sood, the trick lies in smart brand positioning and pricing.
He adds the likes of Reebok and Nike are performance-oriented brands focused on product offerings targeted at specific disciplines like badminton and football. Wildcraft has positioned itself as a multi-utility product — not specific to any sport.
Such a positioning allows it to tap into a larger section of consumers that is looking at high-quality products at accessible prices. Hence, “the brand is positioned premium by quality and not by price”.
For example, Nike and Reebok’s high performance running shoes cost upwards of Rs 5,000. Wildcraft’s running shoes are priced at Rs 2,495. Its best in class trekking shoe, Amphibia Sphere, costs Rs 6,495. Akshay Mathur, senior vice-president, Komli Media, says Wildcraft is synonymous with adventure and outdoor sports activities with great retail presence. It’s a brand for the young and bold.
“For a brand with such repute, it will be vital to ensure the right audience is reached. A strong capability to listen to the consumer groups on social networks through social tools will go a long way. Metrics around share of voice, reach and frequency, positive sentiments, engagement metrics will be important to keep an eye on,” he says.
Wildcraft is expecting to close the current financial year with sales of Rs 400 crore and looking to hit the Rs 1,000-crore mark in the next three to four years. It has been making significant investments in manufacturing and retail to be ready to scale up operations as the demand rises with an expanding Indian outdoor gear market —estimated to be over $2 billion. It has also been investing significantly in talent, on-boarding people in its product design team over the last two and a half years. On the retail front, the brand’s focus has been on running profitable stores with a right mix of high-street stores and mall presence. With 170 brand stores, 50 per cent are in malls.
To keep costs low, Wildcraft has gone slow on its retail expansion. In the last nine years, it has rolled out only 10 to 15 stores. However, with the company’s growing product portfolio, the run rate for new stores is 30 to 40 stores per year.
Leveraging the existing distribution and retail network will be essential for the brand. According to Mathur this will also help cross sell to its customer base. “This could be a sub-brand within the store with a separate area and branding to keep it distinguished from the current product lines and yet take advantage of store footfalls.”
Wildcraft manufactures in its two units in Bengaluru and Himachal Pradesh. The two plants have a capacity of manufacturing five million units annually.
Sood says the brand controls a large part of the value channel including functions like sourcing, product design, sales and logistics, giving it the wherewithal to scale up operations significantly.
Mathur suggests it would be interesting to see Wildcraft expand into indoor/outdoor gyms and gym equipment, combining adventure, sports, health and fitness.
Further, a strong online strategy is a must to tap into the new generation. Reach and engagement digitally will be the way forward.