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Pep talk for stretch target

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Meghana Biwalkar Mumbai
MARKETING: Pepe Jeans plans an Asia-wide sweep with India its centrepiece for action.
 
Denim is defining trends again. It's a Rs 1,900-crore market in India with an annual growth rate sneaking into double digits, and with over 10 brands vying for the young consumer's attention, it's turning into a show stealer all over again.
 
Pepe, which claims to have pioneered stonewash jeans in India, is back in action again, and intends to storm India, Korea, Japan and Taiwan with a $25 million plan that includes setting up over 65 stores across the region. India would have a lion's share of these, to add to its 56 stores across 100 cities.
 
Says Chetan Shah, country head, Pepe Jeans India, "We are in the midst of a retail boom in India. Our 17years of experience in the Indian market will help us to take advantage of this boom, by way of increasing our retail presence from standalone stores to multi-brand outlets."
 
The product range is likely to be expanded too "" from casualwear to footwear, fragrances and fashion accessories "" by early 2007.
 
Says Vicente Castellano, licensees and international director, Pepe Jeans International, "There is a huge business opportunity. The focus of the next growth phase is to be a lifestyle brand."
 
In a market such as this, with mostly parity products, it's brand appeal that must serve as the key differentiator.
 
In an earlier bout of advertising, Pepe sold itself as a non-American jeans brand for the global aspirant (part of the 1990s' "cool Britannia" story, in a way). Aware that Pepe needs to begin talking to the consumer all over again, the brand plans to invest 8 per cent of sales in advertising, some 2 per cent higher than its regular ratio for global markets.
 
Celebrity endorsements will play a role. Says Castellano, "A brand must grow with the icon. Thus, brand ambassadors like Sienna Miller or Cristiano Ronaldo, who have universal appeal across the globe, make an obvious choice to translate brand values into a fashion statement."
 
The brand also has assorted below-the-line activities lined up, and has already shared a platform with such brands as MTV and Lycra for joint promotions.
 
Shah wants 40 per cent growth. It sounds like a stretch target, but Shah is confident of the market. "The customer pyramid is changing and aspirations are on the rise," he says, "Thus, Pepe which was once looked upon as an expensive brand, is now looked upon as an aspirational brand."

 
 

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First Published: Jun 06 2006 | 12:00 AM IST

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