Saima Khan

This paper investigates the impact that seven marketing activities namely event sponsorship, celebrity endorsements, advertising, distribution exclusivity, store atmospherics, brand websites and brand’s social media have on the brand equity of Haute Couture Brands. Globalization, high disposable income, economic prosperity and an increasing demand for luxury labels has contributed to the flourishing demand for Haute Couture Designer labels. The fashion calendar in India is full of Luxury and Haute Couture events throughout the year, thereby providing exhaustive purchase options for the affluent Indian consumer and exacerbating the market competition. This study attempts to assess the consumer based brand equity of Haute Couture Labels and apprehend their salience in the domestic market

Gitanjali group was the pioneer in introducing the concept of branded jewelry in Indian market when it came up with its first brand Gili in 1994. Since then it has established hegemony over the jewelry trade in India with more than twenty jewelry brands in the market. The sleek, affordable and contemporary designs have caught the fancy of women belonging to every age group.The mammoth brand portfolio of Gitanjali adds to its vulnerability for brand cannibalization. But Gitanjali has an unsurpassed brand positioning that gives certain individuality to every brand and specifies its target consumers efficaciously. This calls for an astute business strategy which supports the behemoth brand portfolio of Gitanjali and also shields it from the competitors like Tanishq, PC Jewelers etc. The focus of this paper will be on Marketing Strategy, Business Strategy and Distribution Strategy adopted by Gitanjali which are the lifelines of the jewelry conglomerate. Keywords: Branded Jewelry, Value Chain, Brand Portfolio, Marketing Initiatives, Brand Building Strategies, Distribution Strategies, Brand Ambassador, Brand Personality Fit.

This research study aims to examine the relevance of advertising response model in the Indian context as well as determine whether Purchase Intention is determined by Attitude towards Advertisement and Attitude towards Brand. Also the effect of attitude towards Advertisement on Attitude towards Brand is studied. Structural Equation Modelling is used to investigate the causal relationships between dimensions of advertising response model, Ad Attitude, brand attitude and purchase intentions. Factors directly related to purchase intention are specifically measured. Results of the study suggest that Purchase Intention is influenced 40% by Attitude for Brand and 32% by Relevance. However, Attitude for Advertisement does not determine Purchase Intention.Thus it can be concluded that there are some other unidentified factors besides Relevance and Attitude towards Brands which can explain the remaining 28% of Purchase Intentions. The implications for marketers is that they must focus on brand building and product development because these basically determine purchase intention and fulfill the basic objective of advertising ie. generating high sales revenue. A positive attitude towards the ad does not influence Purchase Intention. Keywords: Attitude for Advertisement, Attitude for Brand, Purchase Intention.

This research study aims to examine the relevance of BRC advertising response model in the Indian Context as well as determine the interrelationship between the adjectives, Attitude for Ad, Attitude for Brand and Purchase Intentions. Furthermore, the basic purpose of this model is to identify the factors influencing Purchase Intention. Structural Equation Modelling was used to investigate the causal relationships between the dimensions of advertising response model, Ad Attitude, Brand Attitude and Purchase Intentions. Factors directly related to purchase intentions were specifically measured. Results of the study suggest that purchase intention is influence 40% by Attitude for Brand and 32% by Relevance. Empathy and Entertainment do not determine Purchase Intention at all but they do affect the Attitude for Advertisement. Thus it can be concluded that there are some other unidentified factors besides Relevance and Attitude towards brand which can explain the remaining 28% of Purchase Intentions. The implications for marketers is that they must focus on brand building and product development because these basically determine the purchase intention and fulfill the basic objective of advertising i.e. generating high sales revenue. A positive attitude towards as doers not influence Purchase Intention.

This article proposes a framework of brand experience as a competitive differentiation strategy to safeguard brand equity. The media landscape is constantly evolving and increasing in complexity: fragmentation of traditional media and growing influence of new media means that traditional marketing paradigms work no more and the traditional brand building techniques stand exposed. This paper makes out a case for building experience brands to safeguard equity and outlines how successful experience brands can be created where experience acts as bulwark against determined competitors by providing a strategic edge and differentiation. The study delineates the elements that are critical in designing an experience brand through an integrated review of marketing and branding theories in relation to brand experience. The authors also attempt to outline the key elements for creating the right customer experiences. Furthermore, it has been observed that employees play a crucial role in delivering brand experience but need a strong leadership.

This case analyses the brand value of the world's first and most selling fairness cream brand using Brand Asset Valuator model proposed by Young and Rubicam. A detailed analysis of Fair & Lovely is done on four basic dimensions of this model: Brand Differentiation, Brand Relevance, Brand Esteem and Brand Knowledge which further are clubbed into two parameters Brand Strength and Brand Stature respectively. Brand Strength predicts the future performance of a brand and is a summation of effective brand differentiation and relevance. Brand stature reflects the current performance of the brand which is an outcome of high brand esteem and relevance. Fair & Lovely is strong on all the four pillars and occupies the leadership position in its product category because it has constantly revamped itself with the changing needs of the market and has been quick in identifying the present as well as future challenges and opportunities. Even after more than three decades of its existence the brand still dominates the Skin Fairness Product category because it has ensured that the core association of Fair & Lovely and healthy fairness does not get diluted with time. At the end it has been pointed out that over the years Fair & Lovely has restrained itself from brand extensions despite its tremendous brand power. The issue is that predominant Brand Association of Fairness and Feminity are in a way restricting the brand from diversification and caging its existing product category. thus some innovative strategies need to be formulated in order to efficiently leverage the transcendental Brand Valuation of Fair & Lovely.
Keywords: Brand Differentiation, Relevance,Esteem, Knowledge, Brand Strength, Brand Stature, Brand Asset Valuation, Brand Power

The influence of celebrity's trustworthiness, attractiveness and expertise on consumer's intention to purchase is investigated. it was observed that a celebrity has considerable impact on consumer's purchase intention and the celebrity's perceived personality (trustworthiness, attractiveness and expertise) largely determine how a brand, product or service will be chosen by a consumer. This clearly revealed that attributes of each celebrity that are likely to have maximum impact on a peron seeing the ad and deciding whether to buy or not to but the brand or product. Keywords: Attractiveness, Celebrity Endorsement, Expertise, Purchase Intention, Trustworthiness

Indian apparel market is blooming expeditiously and has caught the fancy of international fashion apparel brands that are flushing into the domestic market with a firm marketing strategy to capitalize on the modern Indian Consumer. In this situation, the indigenous fashion apparel brands stand a fierce competition from these international brands which carry abounding experience of several markets and the advantage of a broader consumer base. Therefore the Indian brands need to garner strong consumer loyalty for survival. This paper aims to gauge the consumer loyalty of Indian consumers for the local fashion brands using a structured questionnaire. The results indicate the strengths and weakness of local brands along with the opportunities and threats in the current competitive Indian fashion apparel industry. Keywords: Consumer Loyalty, Indian Consumer, Local Brands, Purchase Intention

Consumer Loyalty of Indian Consumers towards Indigenous Fashion Brands.

This study aims to identify the effect of humorous advertising on brand recognition by consumers. For this purpose, four brands were selected, namely, Fevicol, Cadbury Chocolate, Karrbon Mobiles and Coca-Cola. For each brand, two television commercials were chosen, ensuring that one is humorous and the other non-humorous. So in all, eight television commercials were shown to audience comprising 125 respondents. Their responses were collected in the form of a structured questionnaire. The results suggested that humor is an essential ingredient of an advertisement and has profound effect on building brand recognition. This could be inferred by comparing the results of the same brand. Humorous advertisements were found to be more effective than non-humorous advertisements. Thus it can be inferred that humor should be used in advertising as it leads to positive brand recognition.

Globalisation, high disposable income, economic prosperity and an increasing demand for Western wear have ushered the entry of many international fashion brands in India. Every year, internationally acclaimed brands are affiliating to the Indian fashion industry, thereby providing exhaustive purchase options for the modern Indian consumer and exacerbating the market competition. This paper attempts to assess the consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) of international fashion apparels and apprehend their salience in the Indian market. Top five global fashion brands (as rated by Interbrand (2012)) were selected for this study, and a structured questionnaire was administered to over 500 respondents aged between 18 and 39 years from six Indian metropolises. Four hundred and forty eight questionnaires were found acceptable for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and path analysis. The results revealed that brand awareness and brand loyalty influence brand equity more than brand associations and perceived quality.

This research studies the influence of celebrity's trustworthiness, attractiveness and expertise on a consumer's purchase. It is an effort to delve deeper into the reasons why and how consumers go in for a product or service that is endorsed by a celebrity. AS structured questionnaire was administered to a sample size of 493 people, and respondents were asked about the two chosen ads featuring the two celebrities under study. SEM was applied to analyze causal relationships. It was observed that celebrity has considerable impact on consumer's purchase intention, and the celebrity's perceived personality traits (trustworthiness, attractiveness and expertise) largely determine how a product or a service will be chosen by a consumer. This clearly revealed that attributes of each celebrity that are likely to have maximum impact on person seeing the ad and deciding whether to buy or not to buy the brand or product. Keywords: Attractiveness, Celebrity Endorsement, expertise, Purchase Intention, Trustworthiness.

This study aims to ascertain the motivators for fashion clothing consumptions amongst Indian Youth. The interrelationship between Product Involvement, Purchase Decision Involvement, Advertising Involvement and Consumption Involvement is investigated. A sample size of 150 consisting of college going students of Aligarh aged between (18-26) yrs and the consumption pattern of males and females in specific was also analyzed. It was found that Consumption Involvement has a high correlation with Product Involvement, Purchase Decision Involvement and Advertising Involvement. Although there is no significant difference in the involvement of males and females towards fashion clothing but Product Involvement and Purchase Decision Involvement has more impact on Males and Consumption Involvement and Advertising Involvement has more impact on Females. The research indicates that there is a growing market for fashion products in India and the manufacturers of fashion wear may consider this as a major opportunity for their products in the country.