Home thoughts from abroad

CAMPAIGN LOGIC

Brand launches from the S Kumars stable tend to follow a pattern. Creatives are done in-house, media buying and production are outsourced, and there's usually a celebrity on board.

The diversified textiles company stuck to that formula with Reid & Taylor luxury suitings (Amitabh Bachchan) and Tamarind ready-to-wear men's apparel (Hrithik Roshan).

So there was no reason to suppose any new brand would be different. And it wasn't. Last month, the Rs 895.8-crore S Kumars Nationwide Limited (SKNL) kicked off Carmichael House using the same strategy. The only differences?

This launch marks SKNL's entry into the home furnishings category, and it's the first time the company has signed on a woman as brand ambassador: Sushmita Sen.

Carmichael House's first television commercial features Hindi film actress in a 30-second film shot by independent ad film director Sanjeev Chaudhari (he's done the ads for Lux and Nakshatra, among others).

The ad opens on a steamy (literally) shot of Sen stepping out of a bath, donning a robe and turning around in an opulent, candlelit bathroom, complete with a high, circular bath.

As she moves from the bathmat to a mirrored hallway, the Miss Universe-turned-filmstar murmurs huskily: "A reflection of my dreams, a reflection of my moods..." In the lavishly decorated bedroom, she sits at the mirror, holds up her hair, turns and continues, "... a reflection of my thoughts. To know me is difficult."

Stylishly displayed product shots flash by before Sen reappears. Dressed in a white evening gown walking into a huge room with billowing filmy white drapes, she concludes: "Carmichael House. A reflection of my desires."

Sen is at the heart of a high-decibel entry campaign that includes television, print, radio, cinema and outdoor advertising. SKNL will spend between Rs 15 and Rs 20 crore on marketing communication activities for Carmichael House this year.

In return, it expects the brand to earn Rs 60 crore. The promotions began with the nation-wide launch of the brand last month and will continue until after Diwali, the traditional buying season.

Huge hoardings of Sen draped against a curtain and hugging cushions already dot the Mumbai skyline, and the television campaign started beaming on entertainment and movie channels last week.

The ad has been shot in English and Hindi versions. And although regional language dubs are planned, there's a strong international flavour to the brand and the campaign (and no, we're not referring to Sen's Americanised twang). It started with the choice of name.

While the word "home" or "house" was necessary to emphasise the category, SKNL hit upon "Carmichael" after careful consideration and dipstick surveys.

"We wanted a name that would reflect the international values of class and elegance the brand stands for," explains Tarun Joshi, managing director of Brandhouse Retail, the SKNL subsidiary that is responsible for the group's retail initiatives.

Even the designer in charge of Carmichael House is a European and the products will be completely westernised, he adds. "The aim is to capture international trends."

The home furnishings business is a separate division in SKNL's business portfolio. While the Total Home

Expressions unit has been exporting for the past four-five years, the decision to create a domestic brand that caters to the mid-premium segment was taken only in end 2005. Research had showed that there was huge, untapped potential in branded home textiles.

With growing disposable incomes and increased exposure to international trends, more and more urban Indians are turning their attention to their homes. "International travelers come back loaded with duvets, towel and sheets sets. There's clearly a demand for these products," says Joshi.

Still, SKNL had to be careful about its positioning. While the economy category is dominated by the price warriors of the unorganised sector, the luxury segment is still practically non-existent (any market where the brand name needs to explain what category it belongs in is not ready for luxury).

The mid-premium slot (prices start at Rs 450), then, was ideal: it gave the company a chance to showcase its quality and charge "reasonable" prices at the same time.

Those are important attributes for Carmichael House's target customer: the upwardly mobile urban Indian woman. "Our target customer sets up home as a reflection of her personality. The ad and our brand ambassador had to echo that quality," says Joshi.

Before the decision to sign on Sen was taken, SKNL consulted informally with its stakeholders: agents, retailers, distributors and consumers.

Once consensus was reached, it invited independent creative teams to pitch for the campaign and work with the company's own communications division.

Director Chaudhari designed the sets and the theme of the film based on the script generated by this effort. "The ad needed to show the lifestyle of a celebrity. There had to be a 'starry' feel to the film," he says. The film was completed over two nights in April at Mumbai's Film City.

The media buying function has been handed over to Mindshare: the ad will play on 95-100 spots everyday between September and October: edits of 20 and 10 seconds are also planned.

A second round will begin at the year end, where the creatives will be changed to showcase new product designs. Print ads are being planned in lifestyle and interior decoration glossies, while selective exposure on FM radio and in movie theatres is also planned for later in the month.

SKNL has invested heavily in the distribution and retail end of Carmichael House. While the company will take advantage of its existing distributor network (it has over 300 dealers and SKNL brands are available at over 30,000 retail outlets), not all are being considered suitable for Carmichael House.

Hence the emphasis on multibrand outlets (MBOs) and exclusive stores. Within the first year itself, SKNL is aiming to establish itself in 800 MBOs and set up 100 stores across 25 cities. The company claims some 35 stores will be operational by end-September itself. There's obviously some pattern at work here, too.