WCRCINT+ Marketing Leader of the Year: Madhu S Dutta
Head Brand & Marketing Raymond Limited
Your Marketing leadership ideas for the year 2018
Raymond brand has an enviable & rich legacy of over 9 decades. It is amongst very few iconic global brands with 
100% customer awareness and over 50% brand preference. It is known for ‘Trust’ and ‘World Class Product Quality”, amongst many other aspirational associations of our brand with customers.
Raymond’s core brand proposition ‘The Complete Man’ has timeless relevance and has always stayed at the heart of our product ethos. However, the brand expression is constantly evolving, keeping it relevant in an ever-changing socio-cultural backdrop and the values of the Millennial.
There has been a significant momentum on market-creating innovations – launch of many new products like Technosmart – World’s Smartest Fabric, TechoStretch, we have recently owned the white shirt category in the country introducing Raymond Whites, coupled with the launch of world-class products such as Flexi jackets, and top-end sweaters for our customers. Launch of Shoes from Raymond Made to Measure and Introduction of new categories like Linen and Cotton and so forth.
We continue our momentum on customer experience – the heart of marketing for every brand. Our approach is creating & managing customer centric messages, thereby integrating the full range of marketing. Channels & creating experiences to support customers on their path-to-purchase using innovations and new technology interface – building customer trust in today’s digital age.
How do you measure the impact of marketing / digital strategies. And How does it Impact the brand ?
In the ever-changing consumer & business landscape our approach has been to provide real-time, personalized experiences that to delight our customers. Whether, it be a mobile messaging showcasing the collection or curated fashion centric videos on Social Media platforms, a visual narrative in fashion and lifestyle magazines or a simple customer engagement at the store – now we take many diverse forms. By promoting relevant and consistent communication throughout the customer interface process, we have a unique opportunity to engage with our audiences like never before.
One of our successful campaigns on digital front, has been Raymond Father’s Day Campaign (Saluting Single Mom). It was obvious for brands to be relevant and father-focused on this day, however, amidst that, our expression was to break the clutter with a digital film that went against the typical grain of Father’s Day. Our endeavor was to showcase the Raymond The Complete Man brand ethos of being soulful. This was done by depicting the appreciation of a little boy for his mother’s journey in bringing him up single handedly via a small gift. Contrary to the most brands the idea was to reiterate the belief that fatherhood is about bearing the weight of the responsibility rather than just being a gender bound philosophy. This is a scenario of ‘today’ and only a brand like Raymond can be true to bringing this alive in a contextual and progressive manner to the audience, recognizing the appreciating the role of a single mother. Apart from setting the new milestones in campaign performance the digital led campaign won the hearts of our consumers J
For the past nine decades Raymond brand continues to remain relevant and integral for every occasion of dressing up The Complete Man.
What are the consumer engagement strategies of 2018?
Given the dynamic consumer landscape it’s imperative for retail leader like Raymond to constantly innovate for promising our customers a delightful shopping experience. A move from Product Centric to Customer Centric in other words bringing immersive Raymond brand experience at our stores
Raymond brand continues to build on its position as a classic bridge-to-luxury offering for the full wardrobe needs of the discerning gentleman. In the long run, our vision is to evolve as a unique and compelling ‘lifestyle’ brand.