Targeting the right niche
Having toyed with the idea for around 2-3 years, Go Go International’s newly launched domestic brand only lives and breathes for the youth segment, aged around 18-25 years old. It was not a big effort for the manufacturing company to devise a domestic brand as it was already familiar with global fashion and trends. According to Achal Goenka, Director, Anti Gravity, who found that the several known international brands that had entered the country would often offer more to the 30-35 year olds despite positioning themselves as youth segment brands. He is keen to concentrate his new brand within the target audience with product categories that appeal to both men and women. He says,”We are a non-denim brand. We define it as cool chic in style. Anti Gravity concentrates on the all young fit and soft hand feel of its fabrics.”
He further points out that the brand which is backed by its parent manufacturing and exporting company comes with the right product knowledge across international design, exposure to technical know-how and manufacturing skills, speciality that has been developed in the past 30 years. Exporting to leading foreign brands like Gant, Benetton, Marks and Spencers and Forever 21, to name a few, the product itself was the company’s biggest unique selling point achieved by its efficient manufacturing backend support.
Even though 10 percent of the production at Go Go International satisfies domestic demands for brands like Puma and Levis, there were certain new expectations that needed to be dealt with. Explains Goenka, “We thought of a domestic brand as we realised that there is a huge market for it in India. When we did our research and then we realised that the biggest challenge in the domestic sector is the back end when it came to the sourcing and manufacturing. There were challenges with the goods coming on time to the shop and our strength really lies there. We thought with this knowledge, superior design of the product and manufacturing, we would be able to give justice to what really lacks in the Indian market.”
Production plan
Goenka’s confidence that the brand will exceed expectations stems from the exceptional back up of his own manufacturing unit made up of 3 factory spaces, 1 in Hassan and 2 in Bengaluru. Equipped with 1,500 machines, the three units churn out 10 million pieces a year. The Hassan based unit is also equipped with a dyeing, printing and embroidery unit. According to Goenka, a bit of the production work for Anti Gravity will be sourced out to Tirupur where the yarns are also knitted into fabrics. Some of the fabrics are also sourced out from China.
The new brand is expected to sell around 50,000 pieces during the season and then double by the next.
He elaborates, “We have invested towards the brand building, marketing and man power for Anti Gravity. Our existing people work for exports, so there is a support system but since it is a start up we have to segregate.”
Product categories
The Anti Gravity collection is more focused on joggers and knits. The men’s wear comprises t-shirts, polos, sweats and joggers. The women’s wear has sweats, tops, joggers and will be followed by dresses, skirts and shorts during the spring-summer collection. Though it offers practically all the categories in a fashion line, the brand will lay more emphasis on knits and joggers and may plan to do denims, sweaters, pull overs and jackets. All the product ranges are priced from Rs. 700 to Rs. 2,500.
Marketing strategy
Currently the youth brand is focusing on retailing through well known online retailers like Myntra and Jabong, which will help to leverage the start up. Goenka is also planning to go through distributors who are well channelised. The next season’s collections will be supplied through the large format and national level outlets. After two years, the brand will perhaps go through EBOs or exclusive outlets depending on how things go. Says Goenka, “We have a long term vision to be a brand and so in the first two years we would like to see how our brand is received in the market. We had taken 2-3 years to enter the domestic market. We are exporters and we have been warned about the few major challenges that are there in the domestic market. The brand building is a totally different ball game and the second challenge is sticking to smaller quantities. While launching a brand, we do quantities of 100s. Third challenge is the payment and credit which is what the domestic market is all about. Whereas, in export, we have up front payments.”
Future plans
Anti Gravity is targeting a growth of Rs. 8 to Rs. 10 crore for the new season and a target of Rs. 20 to Rs. 25 crore by the end of the next fiscal year. Goenka expects the new venture to break even within the next four years. He adds, “The new plan to jump to Rs. 50 to Rs. 75 crore. In five years we are targeting on Rs. 100 crore.”
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