We see better growth rates in the premium segment: Karthik Yathindra

Page Industries, India’s leading apparel manufacturer and the exclusive licensee of Jockey, recently unveiled its latest campaign, ‘Luxury by Design’, spans across social, digital, OTT and Outdoor mediums to showcase the range of premium innerwear collection for men.

The latest campaign highlights the importance of the category to the overall brand and how Jockey remains committed to offering the best product to all its consumers.

Jockey has operated in the premium innerwear segment for men since the launch of the brand in India. Over the years, the product offering has evolved beyond cotton to include in speciality fabrics that offer unmatched comfort and performance. Jockey today has become synonymous with the most comfortable innerwear a consumer can get. The premium innerwear category for men stands for the best of materials and master-craftsmanship and the brand is confident that the demand this offering will continue to be on an upward trajectory from across markets.

Speaking to Adgully for the column Marketing Minds, Karthik Yathindra, Chief Marketing Officer, Jockey India, speaks about how the brand has been maintaining a strong position in the premium innerwear category and also highlights how the brand is committed to offering the best products.

Your brand Jockey is in the premium segment. How is the premium segment performing and how have you grown as a brand in this segment?

Since its launch in India, Jockey has operated in the mid-premium and premium segment. The premium segment has been the best performing in the industry in terms of growth. This can be largely attributed to the way the Indian economy is moving and consumers wanting to upgrade to better brands and products. Even within our portfolio, we see better growth rates in the premium segment when compared to the entry-level offering. Our latest campaign in men’s Innerwear also addresses this segment of the portfolio.

There are many local brands who have made deep inroads in the innerwear market. How are you trying to stay different and compete with the local brands?

You are right; there are several domestic brands who have entered the innerwear market in the last few years. However, a close study of each of these brands will reveal that their product offering is a sub-set of what Jockey offers. We are yet to see products in competition that can be considered as a gap in Jockey’s portfolio. We continue to be passionate about providing the best-in class products at affordable prices and world-class shopping experience to our consumers. That doesn’t change.

Innovation is the name of the game in every category. How have you been innovative in your various product offerings?

For us, it starts with the consumer. As a brand, we have our consumer at the centre and plan our business around him or her. Everything we do on a daily basis is to ensure our consumers have the best in product and shopping experience. This pushes us to innovate and stay ahead of the pack.

Our constant consumer research and product development trials to solve for consumer needs results in innovation and newness in our product offering – in fabrics, design, construction, fit and packaging.

Tell us more about your new advertisement campaigns. Who are you targeting and what’s been the brief to your agency?

For many years now, Jockey has been considered synonymous with the men’s innerwear category. The Super Combed Cotton and Cotton Rich range from the brand has been hugely popular amongst our consumers since its launch in India. This campaign, ‘Luxury by Design’, is being launched with an intent to present the super-premium offering from the brand in the men’s innerwear segment. Over the years, Jockey’s product line in the men’s innerwear category has extended to include some of the world’s best fabrics, including Supima Cotton, Micro Modal, Micro-Fiber, Lyocell and Tactel. This premium segment of our product offering stands for the finest materials, trademark technology, innovative design and craftsmanship. The campaign celebrates this product offering and aims to increase awareness for these products to ensure the best wear-experience in the category to more and more consumers.

Today, rural growth is happening at a rapid rate. How is your presence in the smaller markets and what kind of strategy do you have for those markets?

Our presence in the Tier 2 and 3 towns is strong with close to 45% of our business coming from this geography. We continue to expand deeper in the country through both Exclusive Brand Stores as well as multi brand stores.

Creating awareness through the right media mix is vital. How are you engaging with your audience and what’s been your media strategy?

Media mix for the campaign is largely broken into two parts – (i) Informative communication with micro-targeting across Social, Digital Media, In-store and Marketplace presence, (ii) Product Showcase across OTT, Video Streaming platforms, Outdoor Hoardings and Cinema.