Lee Cooper’s summer campaign ‘Life is out there’ features youngsters in the outdoors. What is the primary TG for the brand by age?
For the ‘Life is out there’ campaign, we came up with a proposition which is not only about the product but also about the people who use our products. We tried to put people at the centre of the campaign. It is all about encouraging people to step out of their home or comfort zone and endorse the experience and live life to the fullest.
We launched the first phase of the campaign in August-September last year, a time when things were getting normalised.
Our core TG would be between the age group of 18 to 30, that’s the category where maximum business comes from. At the same time, our consumers extend from 18 to 45 as well.
From airport screens to social media, the campaign is widespread. What is the media mix (share of each) for this campaign, and for Lee Cooper India in general? Is the share of digital growing?
It is a multimedia campaign. We are leveraging all the mediums except TV.
The ‘Life is out there campaign’ launched on 17 March 2023 and will run till 15 April. Post that, we will work on brand recall and engagement through digital. Through digital, which includes social media and all new age formats, and targeted ads, we expect to reach a 100 million plus audience. We are doing five to six rounds of print ads in top cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru etc. A good share is spent on airport activities and OOH. We have tied up with Vistara and Indigo for one month exclusively. We have a presence on the boarding passes of these airlines along with QR codes and the consumers can scan through our latest collections.
The ad strategy is largely driven by digital as for our core TG, the primary source of entertainment is their phone screens and it is equally supported by traditional and conventional mediums.
For the first time we are trying and creating innovative interactive ads. That would be live in the next stage of the campaign.
One reason why TV is excluded would be because the medium is expensive. Given the theme of the campaign, this would be the strategy largely, given the current times, marketing requirements and business needs.
Is the brand underlining its international roots with the use of foreign models and locales? Is there any research / insight to suggest that this approach works for today’s Indian youth?
The entire positioning and identity of Lee Cooper has been that of a British denim brand. We are known for our legacy across the globe and known for several milestones in the history of denims. Because of these milestones, we enjoy a huge fan following and a strong loyal customer base across India as well.
In order to live up to and retain that international image, we use international models and it has been working well for us all these years and we would like to continue with that. Having said that, while on the imagery we have international faces, to drive affinity at a national or regional level we engage with a lot of influencers. We want to retain and drive the international image and on a one-on-one level we want the social media influencers to drive our brand messaging.
We do periodic tracking almost every quarter. This helps us in getting a complete picture of where we stand in terms of key brand metrics. It also helps us to evaluate the impact of the last campaign and also act as a base for the future campaign.
In December 2022, you opened stores in student hubs of Pune and Manipal, besides Gwalior – a month after opening a store in Indore. In January, you opened a store at Mantri Square Mall in Bengaluru, with stated intent to open retail stores across different metros. What is the geographic presence by stores and how many are in metros, how many in Tier 1 and how many beyond?
The strategy was to reach out to newer towns and places and through that tap young consumers. We have 25-plus exclusive brand outlets which offer the complete brand experience.
At the moment, 60 pc of the outlets are in metros and 40 pc in tier 1. We opt for tier 2 only if there are business leads and potential.
The products are available on multiple marketplaces. What is the share of online contribution to sales? Where do you see this ratio of physical vs online sales settling?
Currently, 80 pc of the business comes from offline stores and 15 to 20 from online platforms.
I foresee a 5 to 7 pc incremental contribution to online sales in another two to three years.
Do you have any plans to set up your own website or app?
Since we have the strongest and robust platform within the Reliance family, Ajio.com, we leverage it as much as possible.
Lee Cooper entered India as a footwear brand. What is the share of footwear and apparels in the business today?
Sixty to 70 pc of our overall business would be from apparels and the rest would be from footwear.
You have associations with influencers. Is that strategy working for the brand? Are there plans to sign celebrities as brand ambassadors?
The influencers already have a loyal fan base. When we get them on board, we always try to use their talent and expertise to communicate the brand message in the most authentic and entertaining way possible. The entire influencer campaigns of Lee Cooper are based on entertainment, education, engagement and enrichment. Influencers help us strengthen the brand affinity with consumers. They also help our consumers and young generation to follow trends and experiment with different styles. It has been working for us so far.
The kind of brand Lee Cooper is, it doesn’t need any celebrity face. We have international models and influencers. We create IPs like ‘Master of Denim’ where we have invited people from various walks of life and got them to experiment in a fashion and fun challenge. The series featured celebrities like Palak Tiwari, Shilpa Rao etc.
Lee Cooper globally is known for association with music and has played a role in defining the disco decade. Do you see any association with music in India?
Definitely. Music is a great passion point that we need to explore and make it work in favour of the brand. Music and sports are two passion points that connect anyone and everyone. We are known for our association with music across the globe and is part of Lee Cooper’s DNA. We will try and explore the opportunities associated with musical properties that will help us connect with our consumer base.
(First published by The Free Press Journal BrandSutra under exclusive syndication arrangement from MediaNews4u.com. Feedback: [email protected].)
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