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After 2-3 years of test marketing and studying the ecosystem, Universal Music India, the Indian arm of global music label Universal, has take a serious plunge into music merchandising in the country. The products, which span across fashion, apparel and digital accessories, will be available under the global music merchandise label Bravado, across physical retail and e-commerce platforms.
Focusing on the merchandise business is part of Universal India's strategy to develop non-core businesses (music being the core business) in the country, given the increasing consumption of music (Indian and international) on digital and cut-throat competition to acquire Bollywood music. Merchandising, music publishing and events are three verticals the music label identified for sharper focus in the country.
"People are reticent to spend money on music (in India) but do not mind paying for an experience. They are fine spending money to experience a live gig and/or music festivals. We have been testing the market for a couple of years now and have had healthy sales. With e-commerce platforms coming in, we felt this was the right time to go the full hog on merchandising," says Devraj Sanyal, managing director and chief executive, Universal Music Group, South Asia. The product range launched includes apparel like t-shirts, hoodies, fleeces, home accessories like coasters, cushion covers, mugs and magnets. Tech aficionados can avail of MacBook and iPad sleeves, laptop skins and mobile covers while those who like their music and art can have a wide choice of posters and canvas prints. Soon to be launched product ranges include caps, belts, eye wear, boxers and flip flops.
The above products will span across a wide range of artists and bands, including contemporary superstars like Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Eminem, 5 Seconds Of Summer, Imagine Dragons, Lil Wayne, Swedish House Mafia, Axwell to some of the greatest'classic'artists / bands like The Rolling Stones, The Doors, Bob Marley, Queen, Guns N Roses, Mark Knopfler, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, John Coltrane, Green Day to name a few. Like in case of music, books and movies, merchandising, too, is grappling with the issue of piracy. Second copies at traffic signals and in crowded street markets are found in abundance across the country. Sanyal is well aware of the issue, and believes Universal has cracked the code on this one.
"Ten years back, if someone wanted to own a bit of a music band/brand, they had no option but to go to Fashion Street or some place and buy a rip off that cost around 200 bucks because the original would cost around 2500 bucks. The way to bust piracy in this sector is providing quality products with price parity. For the past couple of years, we have been trying to bring in this price parity in our products and we can now say the difference between our original quality merchandise and the pirated stuff is a mere Rs 100-150 bucks," he says.
The bulking up of the product portfolio and increase in number of points of sale will be accompanied by aw burst of advertising and promotion activities. The first phase of marketing will focus on digital. Sanyal believes that with its ability to micro target consumers, digital is the right way to go. Apart from that, there will be strap-on ads about the merchandise on English entertainment/music channels. Strap-on ads are those that are basically superimposed on other related ads. For example, a line about the merchandise is added at the end of an ad about one of Universal's artists' new album.
