We Have Increased Our Ad Spends, Especially For High-Profile Events: Shekhar Tewari
In a new episode of Pitch BrandTalk - a video series that engages with the senior management of brands to churn out innovative insights - Pitch had an insightful conversation with Shekhar Tewari, Chief Executive Officer, Modenik Lifestyle, a company formed in 2021 through the merger of Dixcy Textiles and Gokaldas Intimatewear. This merger aimed to increase the scale of its innerwear segment. Tewari shares insights about their new campaigns, brand strategies, and the synergies leveraged from this merger. Dixcy Scott's Latest Campaign Tewari elaborates on the insight behind the Dixcy Scott ‘Body Ki Bhasha 2.0’ campaign, stating, "So, similar to the first edition of Body Ki Bhasha, this is version 2.0. When we repositioned the brand - when Modenik was formed and Dixcy and Enamor were bought by a private equity giant to unlock synergies, we did some very good consumer work with the Future Brand Centric Design team and the insight that came out of that was 'aapki body aapke baare mein sab kuch batati hai.'" He explains the essence of the campaign further, saying, "We all look at a person’s body language, posture, handshake, and confidence to create a mental map. A great fitting underwear can give you great posture and confidence, while a badly designed one can cause discomfort and embarrassment." The recent campaign encapsulates this insight. Collaborating with Popular Cricketers: On choosing Yashasvi Jaiswal and Mohammed Siraj for the campaign, Tewari explains, "Our brand is an economy mainstream brand that appeals to the middle class and lower middle-class Indians. Cricketers like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Mohammed Siraj come from humble backgrounds and represent the confidence and energy of young India, competing on an equal footing with the best in the world." He further adds, "Cricket has no language; body language has no language. These two cricketers embody the confidence we want to showcase." Synergies and Efficiencies Post-Merger Discussing the merger's impact, Tewari notes, "These were two different brands appealing to two different sets of consumers. The synergies have played out well for us, especially in backend operations, design nuances, and consumer-centric thinking." He highlights the benefits, saying, "Dixcy operates on a large scale, which Enamor can learn from, and Enamor’s consumer-first thinking is something we bring to Dixcy." Brand Performance and Market Resilience Assessing the performance of Dixcy and Enamor, Tewari acknowledges the challenges faced, including COVID-19 and commodity price hikes. He remarks, "Strong brands tend to get stronger during crises. Innerwear, being a daily necessity, has shown resilience. Both Dixcy and Enamor have done very well, growing double digits, with online sales playing a significant role." On the potential for their women-targeted brands, Tewari explains, "The women’s innerwear market is largely unbranded and presents a tremendous opportunity. Our brands like Dixcy Slims and Enamor XO cater to this segment. XO, for example, targets the pre-teen and teen demographic, a largely untapped market." Distribution Strategies Regarding distribution, Tewari outlines different strategies for Dixcy and Enamor. For Enamor, he says, "Enamor plays across general trade, online, department stores, and exclusive stores. Exclusive stores allow us to showcase the brand properly and educate consumers." For Dixcy, he states, "Dixcy is a mass brand, distributed widely across over a lakh outlets, with online sales also growing. Our distribution strategy ensures we reach consumers wherever they are." Marketing and Advertising Efforts: Tewari discusses the shift towards digital marketing, especially for Enamor. He says, "A lot of our budgets have moved to digital. For Enamor, it's primarily digital with some television and out-of-home advertising. For Dixcy, television remains important due to its wide distribution, but digital is growing." He adds, "We have significantly increased our advertising spends, especially for campaigns featuring celebrities during high-profile events like IPL and the cricket World Cup." Future Outlook Looking ahead, Tewari promises more innovation and consumer-focused strategies. He concludes, "You can expect great products and consumer service from us. Both our economy and premium segments have immense potential, and we are excited about the opportunities ahead."