CottonKing will focus on sustainability, local production, and new styles in 2022
By Koushik Marathe – Director, Cottonking Pvt Ltd
Communication & not just advertising
For any brand, getting customer attention and eyeballs is a very big challenge. With reading habits depleting, not enough people listening to the radio, one does not necessarily have to leave his home for work or shopping & the rise of zero ad content on OTT has been blunting the impact of traditional advertising mediums of Print, Radio, Outdoor, and TV. In such a scenario it’s utterly important that CottonKing communicates with the target audience and just bombard the ads. If the combination of your product experience and communications creates a Satisfies, the customer who himself becomes the brand ambassador & recommends it to others, is the only self-fulfilling way to create a cost-effective marketing program. So one needs to understand the customer and communicate effectively with your target audience. ADbhoot is our Agency on Record for the Brand Strategy and Creative Execution. ADbhoot has conceptualized and created campaigns with three approaches i.e. Brand Promise, Brand Value, and Brand Quality.
Product focus – Not just cotton but only 100% cotton.
CottonKing is a highly focused brand and this focus shall be very helpful for us in the cluttered marketplace. We are focused on providing 100% cotton garments for men. We never blend or mix cotton with other fibres. Our brand promise is 100% Cotton and the maximum possible variety is 100% cotton. This focus helps us design our range, price our products aggressively, and give all the varieties possible in men’s wear cotton garments.
Global supply chains, Local impacts.
The pandemic years have shown us how globalized our supply chains have become. Also, if anyone link of the chain is weakened the total strength of the supply chain is compromised. We have seen commodity prices shoot up all over the world owing to the disruption due to the COVID pandemic. Cotton is no exception. Cotton prices globally have gone up by around 50%, impacting the prices of fabrics and garments in India as well. All other input costs have also increased. There was also a very peculiar phenomenon in the labour market, both unemployment and wages are rising. Previously they were inversely proportional. But again due to COVID, induced lockdowns, people are afraid to go to work and prefer to stay at home unemployed. This impact was even higher in the garment industry as 80% of our workforce is women. So any organization now has to access the impact of any such disruptions happening at the global stage and be prepared to counter the local impact of that phenomenon.
Innovation and product differentiation
Making available a new innovative product; differentiates CottonKingfrom other “me too” brands. This is another important area in CottonKingis focusing. The innovations must add value to both the customers and our product line of 100% cotton shirts. Previously CottonKing had done various innovative products which were amongst the 1st in the market like – Anti Stain, AeroSoft, Cool Slubz, Indigo Dyed Checks, etc., and all were in 100% cotton. This year as well our Design and Research team has come up with a very innovative product which we plan to launch in the summer of 2022. The user trials of the same are in an advanced stage, and we are getting very good feedback about the new product developed. This will hopefully set the tone for CottonKingin the new financial year beginning from April 2022.
Men are also enjoying the shopping!
“Men are also enjoying the shopping!” is a major change we are experiencing at CottonKing stores nowadays. Earlier men used to walk into a store, pick up a white or any shade of blue and walk off. But now men have also started enjoying shopping. They want to experiment with different colours, patterns, checks, textures, fits & want to try the garments before making the purchase. This makes the store experience (merchandise placement, look & feel) and service extremely important. So, CottonKingis working on store renovation to give posh and up-market retail experience to its customers. Additionally, we are also offering 3 different types of fits in both shirts and trousers. This gives the man choice of his looks and style as per the occasion he is getting dressed for most importantly enjoy his shopping at CottonKing!
