A Truly Multi-media Marketing Approach is What Makes Us Successful at Both Top and Bottom of the Funnel- Karan Kumar, Fabindia

Agency Reporter interacted with Karan Kumar, Chief Brand & Marketing Officer, Fabindia. He is associated with the brand for nearly 2 years.
He is a high impact marketer with an indelible reputation for building businesses through creation of powerful brands. His experience spans across multiple categories, media ecosystems and heterogeneous markets.

1. The dichotomy between rural craftspeople producing modern & contemporary products for the urban elite is quite interesting and unique. How have you bridged this gap?

We don’t see any dichotomy here. The rural craft person is the true custodian of our rich culture and craft traditions and is best suited to make products anchored in that knowledge. The form those products take must be relevant to the needs of the lifestyle of the contemporary consumers. We play the role of that bridge which helps the crafts persons design relevant products and making them reach the discerning urban consumer. It is a win-win situation for all involved in this process.

2. You have said in an interview that “Brands play a larger role beyond business, driving progressive values and messages that alter the larger narrative of in the categories they operate in”. How is Fabindia contributing to this?

Every responsible brand champions values that are anchored in its purpose. It is these values that dictate the nature of business and products the brand brings to its audiences. For us, it is about championing authentic Indian products that are inspired by our rich craft heritage. These products offer a certain intrinsic value that is not only timeliness but infact grows with the passage of time and generations. Our endeavour is to make India’s diverse and rich craft traditions and heritage thrive – on one hand, providing sustainable employment to craft persons and their families and on the other, ensuring that modern consumers continue to find high quality, contemporary and relevant products inspired by our glorious craft traditions.   

3. What has been the response for Fabindia in the e-commerce space?

The response has been very encouraging and we continue to grow our business through the ecommerce channel as well. E-commerce backed by our omni-channel approach sits on top of our extensive physical retail footprint providing our customers with varied options to research and purchase our products depending on which ever one is their preferred channel of engagement and purchase.

4. Fabindia has engaged with customers only intermittently. Do you think not being heavy on advertising works in your case? Does your reliability on word-of-mouth suffice?

Our marketing mix is a healthy balance of conventional reach focussed advertising, sharp targeting via social & digital media, vigorous engagement through our CRM programs and physical engagement with our customers through events, workshops & activations in our physical retail spaces. This considered media mix has helped us continuously, to both engage with current customers as well as reaching out to newer ones. A truly multi-media marketing approach is what makes us successful at both top and bottom of the funnel and this balanced approach with continue to guide us in our forward pursuits as well.  

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5. Is it ever appropriate for design to overrule data? Why?

Successful design never overrules data but in fact emanates from it. Data helps us understand our audiences and their needs better. This superior understanding fuels the product design process. We don’t design and data at cross-purposes.

6. Do you think the brand’s innovations in digital and social media marketing has yielded significant presence and profit?

As mentioned earlier, we adequately fund multiple marketing channels and platforms in our endeavor to successfully engage with both existing and new customers. This balanced and comprehensive approach to marketing is the centre piece of our overall strategy to drive business across our channel formats.

7. You are a famous brand amongst foreign nationals too. Do they contribute significantly to your profits? What strategy have you devised to pull this crowd?

Are we a brand of choice for foreign travellers visiting India? The answer is Yes. But does that clientele contribute to the majority part of our revenue? The answer is No. Our focus is the discerning urban Indian consumer who seeks a certain intrinsic value from all products that s/he chooses to purchase. This consumer cuts across all standard demographic and market class definitions and recognizes us as a brand and identifies with our purpose.