Brand licensing promises a bright tomorrow for many brands even in the Indian sub-continent. Will the optimism surrounding the industry transform into reality?4Ps B&M: How did a company like Franchise India enter the world of brand licensing?
GM: We realised the potential of Indian manufacturing industry as there are thousands of manufacturers across various industries in the country which didn’t have any brand to associate themselves with. It was then that we realised how a brand could be licensed. It all started from there and when we entered the licensing arena, we witnessed the vast world of brand licensing. We have identified around 6-7 categories which will make sense for a country like India.
4Ps B&M: Can you elaborate on the categories that you think have the potential to make it big in the country in this respect?
GM: The first & foremost are the corporate brands. There is a certain amount of trust and association with every popular brand name like Pepsi and Ford. Apart from that, there are categories like personality brands where we have names like Harbhajan Singh and Shiv Khera, which have superb potential to ring in revenues. Besides this, we are also constantly talking to many others in the world of fashion designing. But one aspect should be noted when it comes to licensing of brands – a personality or a corporate brand name has to necessarily possess a certain amount of value left unlocked in order to create that emotional connect with the target audience. Clearly, overexposed personalities and brand names will not sell in the market. The other categories which we are very interested in are animation, entertainment and sports. But at the moment, the industry is at a very nascent stage and a lot of things need to be done to match standards of matters at the global level.
4Ps B&M: When it comes to industries like sports and entertainment, are you looking at only the renowned global brands?
GM: Both. We are looking at global as well as Indian brands. But if you ask me personally, I am particularly interested in picking-up Indian brands. As per our policy, our portfolio will have a balanced mix (50:50) of both Indian and international brands.
4Ps B&M: What kind of international brands are you looking at?
GM: Automotive is an area which interests me the most, as Indians love cars. We already have Ford in our kitty which is the oldest brand in the history of automotives, under which there are brands like Mustang that have a lot of value left unlocked given that we hardly see any Mustang cars running on the road. Apart from that, we are looking at the established corporate brands which create a sense of excitement amongst Indian consumers.
4Ps B&M: Talking about the Indian market, which is the brand that interests you the most in terms of licensing opportunities?
GM: I am very keen to pick up Kingfisher. It’s a great name and can be leveraged to other products. There is also Gitanjali Jewels which can be used across various categories like handbags and eye care, et al. I see tremendous opportunities in both the brands.
4Ps B&M: Are you looking at IPL’s third season as a big brand licensing opportunity?
GM: They have no clarity on what they want to do with their brands till now. But we will be happy to pitch in...
4Ps B&M: How much does License India contribute to the holding company, Franchise India?
GM: The figure is low at the moment, but in the next two years, we expect License India to contribute to around 30% to the holding company.
For more articles, Click on
IIPM Article.
Source :
IIPM Editorial, 2010.
An Initiative of
IIPM,
Malay Chaudhuri and
Arindam chaudhuri (
Renowned Management Guru and
Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
TSI exposes b school ranking scamsters Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Premchand Palety of C fore. -
For Complete Sting Operation Video Click HerePioneer Exposes the fraud called Mahesh Sharma and Mahesh Peri of Career 360 and Barbel Schwertfeger of mba-channel.com IIPM: An intriguing story of growth and envyProf Arindam Chaudhuri of IIPM on MF HUSAINIIPM Related LinksIIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAONIIPM 3-year full-time Integrated (MBA BBA) ProgrammeIIPM 2-year full time Programme (leading to the award of the MBA degree from IMI)Exclusive In chat with Society Magazine - Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri
Technical Specifications :
