23/09/2015
Interview of Stardox CEO Mr. B.D.Nathani
to Shoes & Accessories Magazine...
Tell us what Stardox has been up to since its launch.
Stardox was launched in Feb this year. We have been able to open distribution channel across India. Today, we have distributors spread across J&K, H.P, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, M.P, U.P, Gujarat, Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad. We have been able to tie up with retail chain like Centro, Hollywood in Hyderabad as well as Metro & Mochi (select Stores). In some parts of India very soon we will be opening our distribution in the entire eastern India like North-East, Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa. Additionally, Stardox is available at all the important online portals like Amazon, Jabong, Myntra, Flipkart and Snapdeal.
What elements make your brand unique?
Stardox is using the best finished leathers and Brazilian NU-Buck leather, outsoles with heavy looks but with extremely light weight quality. These are all imported and distinctly different from other outdoor brands available in India. Stardox has an added element of lifestyle and designs with comfort making it different from our competitors.
Where do you think Stardox stands among other brands?
In outdoor categories, there are hardly any brands available in India except CAT. As far as other Indian Brands are concerned, we have tried to position it differently with emphasis on lifestyle, design and comfort. Stardox is positioned as a premium, casual and outdoor brand with ad-campaigns clearly stating ‘Adventure Redefined, Lifestyle Redefined & Comfort Redefined’.
What prominent products have been quite successful in the market? What has made them so?
Since Stardox is only four-month old, hence it is too early to judge a particular style or range which is more successful. Still we have launched 9 styles, out of which articles 7778, 7779 and 7776 have been highly appreciated by consumers. We are launching New Winter collection by 1st week of September, consisting of 6 more new styles in 3 colors each.
Online retailers, with deep pockets, have been selling products at highly discounted prices, and this has made a lot of brands quite uneasy. What’s your view on their move? What’s your online retail strategy?
We do believe that huge discounting affects all the Brands. We are definitely against continuous heavy discounts as it affects the Brand image and Brand equity. We will prefer small discounts for a short duration during the off season, which helps companies to liquidate their old inventories. We are already on all the major e-commerce sites like Jabong, Snapdeals, Amazon, Flipkart and Myntra. We will continue to go with multi-brand online stores like that instead of going for exclusive Stardox online store.
In such a scenario, how do you see the future of footwear Multi-brand Outlets in India?
We do believe that there is a great future for multi-brand outlets in India in the next 50 years. We don’t see any dilution of MBO’s as India is a very huge and vast country, unlike small countries of Europe. India is not a country, but a big continent.
How much the budget for digital and social media campaigns makes up the gross marketing budget? How has the response been on digital marketing?
Normally, conventional brands like Columbus may keep only 5% of their budget for social media and digital marketing, but in case of Stardox, a brand targeting youth, we are keeping 10% of our total budget for social media and digital marketing. The response on digital platform has been fairly good. But in future, digital marketing will slowly take over and grow much bigger. The companies will have to keep higher budget for digital marketing
Discuss your retail strategy for the coming years.
As Stardox is a premium brand, the strategy has to be different then Columbus. Hence, Stardox is being retailed at top key retails like Metro, Mochi, Centro and Hollywood. Talks are on to sign agreements with few other top retailers like Shoe Tree, Regal, INC5, etc apart from above MBOs, since they play still a very important role in India due to the sheer size of the country, and through them we reach to every nook and corner in the country.
