36 SUPERBRANDS

MarketThroughout the ages India has beensynonymous with the delicate craftsmanship ofher artisans. Merchants from Babylon, Assyria,Persia, Arabia and later from all over Europesailed to India’s ports to take home – along withjewellery, golden ornaments and spices – thefabulously colourful tapestries and designs of herweavers and embroiderers.The sensuous feel ofthe muslins and cottons and the magic of theircolours were the envy of the globe.

Textiles are innately Indian. Notwithstandingthe vicissitudes of competition, new technology,changing demand and global economicdownturns, the ancient skill of weaving hascontinued to grow and blossom. But with theadvent of machines and their huge andrelentless production capacities the art of theweaver – at least in some segments – is slowlygiving way.

The textile market is divided into numeroussub-categories.The home textile segmentcomprising bed, bath and kitchen linen, is worthapproximately Rs. 2000 crore (US$ 444.5million) according to the findings of global retailconsultants KSA Technopak. Of this, the bedlinen segment accounts for 55%, while the shareof bath and kitchen linen is 40% and 5%respectively.

Vir tually the entire market is dominated byunorganised players. In this vast jungle, fed byliterally hundreds of sources, brands simply don’texist. One of the few happy exceptions is theNusli Wadia group flagship, Bombay Dyeing.

BombayDyeingcommandsextraordinaryrespect and asignificantly highrecall. For abrand operatingin the textilescategory –recognised tobe one of themost dynamicand fluid in theworld – it’s aprofoundachievement.

Textiles for timeimmemorialhave made astatement ofdignity, social standing and taste. Over centuries as lifestyles have changed so too have patterns of demand. In the apparel market, sartorial elegance is the norm today;it is no longer seen as just an upper classphenomenon. Fashion and aesthetics now cover a wider gamut of products such as bed sheets, bedcovers, duvets and towels.Sophisticated markets and a growing clamour to acquire these new fashion statements havespawned organised retail players competing for a share of the purse – and the mind.

Market changes have beenextraordinary. Only a fewdecades ago an item such as abed sheet was bought no morethan twice a year on anaverage.Today, the bed sheet isbought about five times a year.The age profile of buyers hasalso changed.Two decades agothe big spenders were between30 and 40 years of age.Today’scustomer – and with morepurchasing power – is between24 and 30 years of age.Thehousing boom in the domesticmarket has spurred the interestof a number of home textilesexporters – all of which isadding to the excitement.

The success of a product inthis market is no longerdependent only on the qualityof the fabric. Designs, colour,packaging and price matterequally.Today, consumers havethe choice of picking theirwares from small retail stores,company showrooms, classychains and specialist bed andbath stores. In this fast-evolvingand increasingly sophisticatedmarket the Bombay Dyeingbrand has become synonymouswith quality bed sheets and towels.

The brand currently retails across a nationalnetwork of over 400 franchised shops in morethan 300 towns. In addition, the companyexports its products to the European Union,the US, Australia and New Zealand.

Bombay Dyeing, as anestablished player, isadroitly positioned to increase its share of the export pie.Exports already account for more than 20% of its annual sales.

AchievementsBombay Dyeing wasawarded the prestigiousImages Fashion award2006 as ‘Best Brand’ inthe Home Fashioncategory. In the previousyear the companybagged the Home andLifestyle Retailer of theYear certificate institutedby ICICI Bank PaymentSolutions and KSATechnopak.Thecompany’s ‘Ebony &Ivory’ marketingcampaign for bed sheetswas chosen amongst121 entries across alllifestyle and retail brandsand received a special jury mention.

HistoryIn 1879 Bombay Dyeingand ManufacturingCompany commissionedits first spinning andweaving manufacturingunit. By the late 1950s it had expanded itsmarketing base by

Consumer Superbrands- 2nd edition(Main) 1/16/07 1:05 PM Page 36