Goddess on Swimsuits- GD Discussion Topic

Please read the article here and discuss along the following lines:

1. What do you think about the appropriateness of use of religious icons on swimsuits.

2. Is the protest an interference on the right to wear ?

3. How would you respond to this challenge as a designer and as a retailer

4. What are the issues involved here

5. Are these communities overreacting, or did Burke act inappropriately by using these religious images on spandex?

Regards,

Priyank

Some Case Studies for GD of MFM- 2011

Here are some of the case studies for you to start thinking on those lines. You will get slightly easier case studies in the GD for NIFT MFM

1. Zara:

Please read the case here

You are a Rs. 300 Cr. brand selling Women Western Apparel Across 100 stores in India. How would be tackle to safeguard your market position in view of seemingly success of Zara in India.

2. Shane Warne spins own apparel brand 

 Please read the case here and discuss the following questions:
a. What is the offering to the customer and how it is different from other offerings.
b. Comment on the longevity of the brand in India.
c. How do you think other brands in India will counter this.

3. Future Ventures
Read this Article ( Slightly Financial). Would you recommend this IPO. Why ? Why not ?

4. Liftstyle Retail


Read it here
Comment on the product, price, positioning and promotion for this brand. What can be the reasons of the success of its private labels.

5. Globus

Read it here

Comment on the success of E-commerce Retailing of Apparel in India.

Queries regarding GD and Interview for MFM

Here are some queries from the readers and my response :

I have just finished my graduation from D.U in psychology and am appearing for the interview with NIFT in M.F.M on the 19th of may. I am very confused as to how to really prepare for it. It would be really kind of you if you could give me some tips and tell me what kind of questions do they ask in the gd as well as the personal interview.

My Advise to you is since you are a student of psychology, you can contribute to the apparel companies in the understanding of buyer behavior, psychological pricing and understanding of brand values. So it would be worthwhile to read about “consumer behavior”, books of which are available. To prepare for the GD, just hit “Retail India” on Google and read out every thing that is discussed. Visit CP or nearby mall noting brands which are there and if you could identify brand personality in terms of its gender, conservative or not, pompous or elegant and so on… These will give you raw material to discuss in the interview. In the GD, try to initiate it by looking at the paradigms I have mentioned in this blog.

I have completed bsc in biology. and I have worked with a sportsclub as guest relation executive for 25 months. I got a call from nift for MFM. I wanted to ask what kind of questions they can ask me and how I should prepare for the interview.

I had a colleague in MFM who was from biology background and is working successfully in Landmark Dubai. Since you are working in sports club, visit some sports brands as Puma, Nike or Adidas, and find out the distinction among them. Hit the names of these brands on Google and read every thing about them. Find out about the owners of IPL and the money involved. And be prepared to face some questions about commonwealth.

I have cleared the NIFT MFM Exam, I really need to clear the group discussion and the interview , I have read your blog, so are these the type of questions which come? If yes/ can you suggest me where to prepare from ?  Because do not have a commerce background. So I want to know the correct answers for these?

Do not worry if you don’t have a commerce and textile background. Most of the students are out of these streams. Just apply some thought on how your experience and background can contribute the apparel industry. Interview is very cordial. GD is like any other GD in a management institute. The questions that are posted on the block are only indicative. There are no correct or wrong answers to these. What is required is they are answered with thoughts applied on them.

Best of Luck to All of you !!!

Apparel Exporters Looking at Home Markets

Apparel exporters have started either to supplying the domestic companies or set up their own retailing units. 

Examples:

1. Bangalore Based Indian designs supplying to H & M and Old Navy now trying to open 30 new stores with their western casual brand Identiti. Presently they have 12 stores. ( Naseer Humayun- MD of Indian Designs). At present 5% of the revenue is from domestic market.

2. Forbes Brands, a division of Gokak Textiles, have launched a youth focussed innerwear brand recently called Facit. ( Nischal Puri- CEO of Forbes Brands).

3. Integra Apparels and Textiles of Ashok Piramal Group- supplying to brands such as Dockers, Levi's and Benetton. The revenues of the company from domestic markets have increased from 15% to 40%. The company supplies to Madura Garments, Reid & Taylor and Arrow.

4. Gokaldas Exports, India's biggest exporter- now increased their sales from 4% to 8% in the domestic markets. 

5. Go Go International, supplying to brands such as VF Corp, Lee and Marks and Spenser is exploring in domestic markets.

Reasons for entering into domestic Markets

1. To offset the losses arising from economic slowdown in the US and Europe.

2. Rupee fluctuation is becoming a concern.

3. Increase in yarn rates are making exports uncompetitive. While consumers in India have been able to absorb  a 10-15 percent hike in prices of garments. 

Challenges

1. Brand Building and Marketing are the most crucial factor for a company who want to establish their retail presence in India.

Case Study: Replay Planning for New Partners in India

Please read this article first

Questions

You are the business manager of a major apparel company. There is a proposal before you to join hands with this company. What will you decide and why ?

Analysis

Your answer will depend upon your response to the following and many other questions:

1.  Why would you like to join hands with Replay? Think about product, price, placement and promotion and of course profitability.

2. Why Replay wants to have its presence in India ? Think about the five factors as mentioned in 1.

3. Why companies like Replay want to tap India through direct route than indirect route ?

4. As a customer why would you like to buy Replay Jeans ? Think about product, cost, availability and brand value

Now you can decide, I guess. Please post in comments about your decision and the reasons for the same.

Knowledge Primer- Private Labels

Private Labels are those brands which are owned by the retailers themselves.

Normally in an MBO ( Multi Brand Outlet ) you can see many brands which are external to the store.

However the store also offer their own brands. For example 'STOP' is a private label by Shopper's Stop.

Private labels work better in categories where there is a poor brand recall. For example in cereals category only two brand names come to the mind.

Private labels are recent phenomenon in India. According to an estimate private labels account for nearly 40 per cent of Wal Mart sales globally.

Buy why retailers keep private labels. The answer lies in margins. The margins are much higher in keeping private labels. They range from 15-20 per cent in FMCG, around 20 % in electronic goods and 30-70 per cent in apparels. The other reasons are differentiation and increase in consumption.

But why customer buy private labels ? The answer could be that store labels spell trust and savings.

The key concerns for retailers are inducing the first trials. It is seen that once used, customers have a very good brand loyalty.

Private labels work best in low-involvement category. For high-involvement categories, such as apparel, it is the name of the store that matters the most.

GD Case Study for MFM: Discount Coupons

Please read the full case here.

Now try to answer the following questions:

1. You are an apparel retailer having 50 stores all across the country. Would you like to avail of such services. Give Reasons. 

2. You are a customer of apparel retail. Would you like to go to such websites and avail yourself of such service. 

3. What type of apparel retail do you think such services are applicable; formal, casual, ethnic, mens, womens or kidswear. Why ?

4. You want to become such a service providers. What all you have to take care before launching such venture. 

Some Definitions of Stores

You would do well, if you keep these definitions of store in mind.

Please remember, however, that Indian stores are more or less a combinations of each of these (and size is much smaller). So to categorize a store in purely one category would be a disaster.

Mass Merchandiser

a retailer or retail store that seeks to sell large quantities of goods quickly through such means as discounting, customer self-service, or unadorned display and packaging, as in a warehouse.

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/

Destination Store

Giant retail store combining the attributes of several categories of stores: the size of a mass merchandiser, the variety and scope of a department store, and the low prices of a discount store. So called because consumers are willing to travel a good distance to shop in it.

Department Store

Large retail establishment with an extensive assortment in variety and range of goods, organized into separate departments. All departments are housed under the same roof to facilitate buying, customer service, merchandising, and control.

Discount Store

A department store which offers its items at a lower price than many other retail stores. Discount stores are often able to drop their prices due to efficient distribution methods. Many of the largest discount stores are also chain stores, and include Wal-Mart, Target, and K-Mart. Furthermore, many of these discount stores could also be categorized as big-box stores, as they grow to include more and more products, sometimes even including a large grocery section.

Source: http://www.businessdictionary.com

Case Study: Concept of "360-degree" lifestyle store

Please read the full article here. 

Questions (Any of these situations can be asked in a GD):

1. You are the brand manager of an apparel retailing company having 12 stores all over the country. Your Boss gets excited about the concept. Would you recommend ? Would you not, why ?

2. You are business manager of a cafe chain in India. Your boss gets excited about the concept. Would you  recommend ? Would you not ? why ?

3. You are a store manager of an apparel company. The company management is asking your recommendation towards giving a space for opening of a cafe. Would you recommend ? Would you not ? Why ?

4. You are a customer coming for shopping in an apparel retail store. You spot a cafe inside the store. Would you welcome such a change, be indifferent or dont like it at all .Why ?

What to Study for GD/ PI for MFM

I have been asked this question several times. It is important that there should be certain background or orientation in order to perform well. Here are my top readings that you can do for GD/PI for MFM.

1. Images Retail: It is a monthly magazine, you would do well to go through it. It is also important that you know the meanings of the terms such as footfalls (No. of people entering in a store), Ticket Size ( Average bill value of a store), Visual Merchandising ( The display of merchandise in the store) Markup ( Cost + Profit) and Margin ( Sales Price- Profit).

2. Economic Times or Financial Express or Mint: Look for the news related to apparel retail, textile or apparel exports.

3. Business of Fashion: A must read  magazine. Please  go through it atleast to have the idea of how brands are doing.

4. Vogue: To get a hang of what fashion is all about.

5. Visit to a Mall: Go to apparel stores and note down:

a. Best store in terms of visual merchandising
b. Best store in terms of variety.
c. Best store in terms of service
and so on... you will get to know so many things about stores.

6. A textile Book: Get to know the meanings of Voile, Silk, Chiffon, Georgette, dyeing, Batik and so on. Should know the difference between weaving and knitting, dyeing and printing etc.

7. Your own wardrobe: Study your cloths. How many formals, casuals etc do you have. What are your wearing and spending patterns.

This is just a small list where you can get enough material that will see you through the conversation during GDs and PI.

Discussion Topic: Pepsi Launching Fashion Merchandise in India

Discussion Topic

Pepsi Launching Fashion Merchandise in India

A report by Financial Chronicle had reported in September that Pepsi would enter into exclusive fashion and apparel stores in India to sell its new brand of merchandise. It would be in mid price segment with Tier II and Tier III cities would be the core markets.

1. Why Pepsi is thinking about entering into the apparel and fashion business in India.

2. Can it Tap the opportunities in the Indian Retail Industry with its apparel and Fashion Business.

3. How it will fare in the hotly competitive Indian Retail Industry.

How to Approach GD in MFM- The Production Paradigm

How to Approach GD in MFM-  The Production Approach

This approach is more applicable for the students preparing for the M.F.Tech Course. However, the cases can be asked in MFM too. Again let me first discuss a brief theory:

Any production situation is characterized and judged by broadly four parameters:

1. Quantity

2. Quality

3. Cost

4. Delivery

Which means that these four ( Double Q, C,D) can become levers for you to initiate, contribute and conclude any discussion based on these. Let me tell you a typical situation:

You are the CEO of an apparel manufacturing company. How will you beat manufacturer from say, Bangladesh.

Here the parameters for you to evaluate are Quantity, Quality Cost and Delivery. Thus can we give the right quantity with the quality delivered at the right cost and within the time asked by the client. The whole discussion can revolve around the levers. 

Hope this will take care of at least 20% of the discussion topics asked in MFM.

Cheers !!!

How to Approach GD in MFM- The Marketing Approach

How to Approach GD in MFM

There can be many approaches towards contributing to a GD for MFM. I like the marketing approach best, because most of the topics/ case studies asked in MFM are related to marketing or retailing. For other approaches I will talk about them in my subsequent posts. Here I would like to deal with this approach:

The approach uses some theory of marketing. Let me discuss that first. This is simple and easy to understand.

Marketing is the satisfaction of a customer's need profitably. That is it. Thus if a customer craves for social recognition, then clothing can satisfy that need. And if you can offer that solution to him where both you and him are satisfied, your job is done.

Having said that however, it is not so simple. There can be four cases:

1. The clothing that you offer is not attractive enough so the social need is not satisfied. In that case the customer would not buy it. The solution to this is called "Product Design"

2. The clothing is not right priced: either it is very high priced so that it deter customer to buy or it is very low priced- which customer find beneath their dignity to buy. This problem lies in the domain of "pricing".

3. The clothing is not available at all. Or if available, then the shop is too far and too unattractive a place to to. This problem lies in domain of "Placement"

4. The clothing is right, very genuinely priced and available but it is not known to people. In that cases advertisement and other support is needed so that people know about it. The problem lies in the domain of "Promotion".

Now any  problem related to marketing and retailing can be fitted in the domain of solving one or more of these 4 Ps of marketing ( Product, Price, Place and Promotion). This will be a structure where you can initiate a discussion and give valuable suggestions or even can close the discussion.

Here are some of the examples where a case can be presented and where the problem can be structured as that of one of these 4Ps.

You are a local apparel retail and Reliance Mart has come in the neighborhood. What tactics would you adopt to counter this.

So your thought would be changing either the product offer, or pricing or becoming more closer to the customer or promoting yourself in a different way.

I hope you are able to understand what I am trying to explain to you. In fact, 70% of the GD topics in MFM revolves around marketing theme. Apply it in different situations and enjoy ?

And yes, you can always pose your doubts in comments or Cbox provided at the side.

Cheers !!!

Current Topics for GD/PI- MFM- NIFT-2010

These, according to me, are the hot topics that can be discussed during group discussion and personal interviews:

1. You are brand manager of a casual apparel brand. How you can use social networking sites such as Facebook or Linkedin for the benefit of your brand.

2.Indian apparel retail post recession. Challenges and Opportunities. 

3.  If your brand is doing well in Metro cities, would it make sense to venture into the Tier-2 cities. How would the marketing mix ( product, price, place, promotion) be different there. 

4. Should apparel brands go on discounts at all ? Why ? Why not ?

5. Should there be any return policy for an apparel brand ? Why ? Why not 

6. Malls are not the same post recession. 

7. Rising Prices of Cotton Yarn- Boon or bane for Indian Exports. 

8. India should stick to manufacturing and selling traditional textiles and leave the manufacturing of other textiles to China and other countries.

9.Organic Textiles. Does it have a future or it is a mere eyewash .

10.India Advantage- Apparel and Textiles

11. Indian customer knows only one language- the language of discounts- every other strategy is useless.

You can read My Retail Notes to prepare for some of these topics.

Case Studies for GD in MFM, NIFT

I am describing some of the case studies that may be asked in a group discussion in MFM, for NIFT

1. XYZ is an Indian exporter. His exports are going down. He knows that the reason may be appreciation of Rupee, competition from Bangladesh or China or some other factor. How can he cope up with the situation.

2. XYZ is an Indian exporter. He wants to launch his own apparel brand in the mid-higher segment of the market. He has two options, one to go with multibrand outlets like Shopper's Stop and other is to go for his own exclusive outlet. Which one do you suggest.

3. XYZ is a fashion designer. He wants to enter into the apparel retail market. Should he start manufacturing private labels for MBOs like Shopper's Stop or should he launch his or her own brand in the market ? What do you suggest.

4. Today we see that all the advertisement for fashion / designer wear has the same theme: beautiful/handsome models dressed up in same scenic routine. Can you think of some innovative ways of promoting the brand.

5.In this era, where organised retail is coming up in a big way in India, is there any future for the small store.

6. In a country like India, where price and discounts play such a major role in building a brand, how can a luxury brand like Louis Vitton build its marketing strategy.

7. In this era of cut-throat competition in apparel brands, it is very difficult to differentiate one brand from the other on the basis of merchandise alone. Can you suggest some strategies so that customer will be able to have a unique positioning for a particular brand.

8. Should Indian designers stick with the theme of Indianness or they should venture out with other themes, which will be more fruitful and effective ?

9. How an ordinary apparel retailer can counter a strategy adopted by discounters.

10. In India can we say that there exists a 'fashion sense', which is very much evident in western countries. Can you suggest some indicators for that 'fashion-sense'

11. Who is more important in an apparel retail organisation- designer or marketer ?

12 What is better for an apparel retail brand in terms of opening a store: to open a small store in a high rental area (obviously with higher footfalls and sales) or to open a big store in a less important location.