"Our advertising will never embarrass anybody": MC Cariappa, Jockey India

International innerwear brand Jockey has consistently maintained its international look and feel through its communication. Consider its latest ad films - Love and Sport - under the 'Jockey or Nothing' umbrella thought, for instance. The American twist is hard to miss.

In fact, Jockey India has consciously stayed away from Bollywood celebrities because doing so helps it retain its 'aspirational' imagery in this market. Bengaluru-based Page Industries holds the exclusive licences for the manufacture and distribution of Jockey in India.

Jockey re-entered the Indian market in 1995 after exiting in the '70s when the government ordered all foreign companies to close operations. It came back with its flagship men's inner wear through a licensing model with an office in Bangalore. In 1996, the brand entered the EBO (exclusive brand outlet) model in India.

Jockey's products are currently retailed through 147 EBOs and more than 25,000 retail stores (including MBOs like Shopper's Stop or Lifestyle and mom and pop shops) in 1,200 cities and towns across India. Interestingly, today, the brand's EBOs have penetrated smaller cities like Yamuna Nagar and Haridwar.

Jockey registered a growth of 24 per cent in sales in the quarter ending June 2014, over the corresponding quarter of the previous year. "We have been growing at a 30 per cent CAGR over the past five years," said MC Cariappa, vice president, sales and marketing Jockey India, when we interviewed him recently to understand his brand better. Edited Excerpts.

Edited Excerpts

Usually, international brands design their products according to what is popular in US and European markets but Jockey International understands that the product which is sold in a particular market needs to be made there. So, while initially we used the designs from US, over time we understood the Indian consumer's preferences and started designing products in India. For example, we use pure cotton because of the hot and humid Indian climate. The silhouette and the fit are also according to the Indian body type. So while the knowledge and technology is international, the design and detail is very native.

Our production is captive in nature hence there is no outsourcing. Jockey has two factories in Karnataka (in Bangalore and Hassan) where all the manufacturing takes place. The only exception is few pieces that we may not be making very regularly. Hence, we outsource only a single digit percentage of our products.

We have been trying to change it. There is a greater focus on the 'women's segment' and we call it 'Jockey Women'. Currently, we have five Jockey Women standalone stores in Mumbai, Delhi, Guwahati, Kolkata and Chennai. Whenever we receive a franchise request at a good location, with high female footfalls but feel that the space is insufficient to open an exclusive Jockey Store, we take a call to open a Jockey Women store.

The women's vertical of Jockey is growing at rate of 30-35 per cent per year while the men's vertical is growing at upwards of 15 per cent. We are also working on our sports range; the sports vertical contributes around 25 per cent to our business, currently.

Jockey's TG is comprises 18-25 year olds and 35+ consumers too. These consumers are very demanding; they are exposed to internet, electronic media and are well travelled. There is an element of pride in what they wear even inside.

Therefore, while over the years our products have become more youthful, our Gold, Elance and modern classic ranges are targeted at consumers aged between 35-40 years.

When we came to India the prices were ridiculously high compared to what the local market was offering. One Jockey could have bought the consumer three locally manufactured inner wear but we wanted to offer them a high-quality alternative.

We do not want to ride on celebrity equity. Jockey is not a macho or sexy brand, it is a people's brand. Our advertising will never embarrass anybody.

In 2007, Page Industries went public and we started expanding our business further. We hadn't really advertised much before 2009, after which we started working with creative, outdoor agencies and media buying agencies.

We started advertising on television just two years back. Over 90 per cent of our business comes through our distribution channels, through mom and pop stores. So we spend a large part of our budget on BTL activities like billboards and POS materials. But now we are increasingly shifting our media spends to ATL.

The top 20 cities are driving our business. We have officially tied up with Flipkart, Myntra and Zivame. The sale through the online channel is still low and developing. But we do plan to create Jockey's own e-commerce platform shortly as it has great potential to grow further.