 Now, moving forward, our second special address for this evening is going to be by Mr. Sudip Ghosh. He is the CEO of VIP Industries. He has over two decades of experience in sales and marketing with expertise, spanning strategic planning, integrated brand marketing, consumer behavior and insights. Prior to joining VIP, he worked with Samsungite as the executive director marketing in South Asia, where he played a pivotal role in successfully creating the brands of American tourists and Lavi in India. In the past, he has worked at top positions for Onida, Whirlpool, India, Reliance and Bosch & Lomb. Ladies and gentlemen, I would now request Mr. Sudip Ghosh, CEO of VIP Industries to please come and join me on stage where he will be talking about brand love, combining trust and magic. I'll get you a hand mic. Can you please get a hand mic here? Okay, great. So then I don't need it. Okay, so I've been told brand love and trust and magic. So let me first tell you that I am addressing the Delhi gathering for the first time. Usually it's the Mumbai gathering. I belong to Mumbai. We had some work, so when the organizers here contacted me, I said, why not? It's a pleasure always to talk with professionals of various industries and like-minded people. So thank you very much for calling me here. So first let me understand what is brand love. Very important, right? Before we talk about brand love. So can I change the slide please? It would be great if I have the remote. Otherwise I will not be able to control the presentation. Can I get the remote or something? Okay, my first question is how many of you love a brand? Can I have some hands please? Love a brand, okay? But keep the hands up. I won't keep the hands up. Okay, how many of you love the brand the way you love your family? I expected this. All the hands went down. Yeah, you can. You can. So that's where I have a point. I'm saying we live in the world where human beings are not loving each other. How can we love a brand? First my first question is this whole concept about brand love is something which we really need to ask. Well, there are people, there are small groups of people who love a brand, who will stay with the brand. And there is one brand called Apil. We Bengali call it Apil. The various people call it Apple. Comes once in many decades, many centuries where people actually love the brand. I love the brand. Not like my family, but yes, I really love the brand. A little less than a family. But otherwise everything else is very niche but you can't do business with that. So what we are actually talking about? So love and hate is something which is for family. Let's keep it for family. Let's not keep it for brand. What we're actually talking is like and dislike. That is very clear. We like and dislike. And we're talking about brand affinity. Everybody understands brand affinity. I'm sitting in a marketing forum. So I guess brand affinity is something which is very, very easy for everybody to understand. Am I making sense? If people are quite either they've gone off to sleep or they're not understanding me. Okay, so a little bit of interaction would be great. I'll not take much of your time. I will try to finish it by 15 minutes, 15, 20 minutes and then we can have a little discussion. So how does I'm going to talk about very basic things because I've been to interactions. CMO summits like this in mainly in Mumbai because that's easier for me to reach there. And I have seen people talk about, people don't talk about some basic things. I think we need to talk about some basic things. This is not not somebody worked from there. It's not a good work from here. Okay, so on brand affinity, the first thing that is important is product. Please understand this is what I you can do enough digital advertising. But if your product is not right, nothing is going to work. Nothing. Whether you are selling advertising. No, I know in my 20, 25, 22 years of work experience. We can actually make out when an agency has been preparing the presentation in the taxi when they're coming to meet the client. The agencies think they're very smart, but it is not. We can actually make the product, the product that you're doing better. Unless your product is good, no matter what you're selling. You can sell bag, you can sell umbrella, you can sell advertising, you can sell digital. But please make the product great because that's what is very important. You don't have to do anything else, right? Make the product great, it will sell by itself. Then comes your non-product, which is your other surroundings that we talk about, advertising, your overall selling experience, your good-looking customer service executive that you bring along. All that is later, but first get the product right. Please, this is very, very important. This will give you the customer experience and that will create repeats or lapses. Obviously, this is a very simple thing and I'm sure everybody knows it, but people actually forget about it. I keep saying this to my team, whether when you make a product, you make the product so good that the customer will go back and tell his friends and his family to go ahead and buy. You don't need advertising. Of course, you would have to do the advertising that you need, but if you can get the product right, then nothing is important. Please get the product right. Very basic. I know it's something that it's not a rocket science that people usually forget about. So first and foremost thing, there's no brand love. Second, it's like and dislike and to make your brand like by customer, get your product right and then do the rest of the things equally well. So that cycle that you said, the number of cycle goes up, number of positive experience, the brand affinity goes up, then what happens? Your emotional connect goes up. Your likelihood of purchase and repurchase goes up. Where do I have to point to this to work? Likely to pay more goes up. Likely to wait. Customer might wait for the product goes up and likely to advocate goes up. So this is very important. Again, very basic things that I am saying, but it's very important for me to establish this fact before I actually go and say what I have to say. So you need to understand these very, very basic things and I repeat, it's no rocket science that I'm talking, but it's important that all of us, especially the young people who have just started their advertising marketing careers, please don't forget that. Don't get into the glitters and glamours of making an ad, making a creative. Then all follow. Get the product right. Now comes listening and acting. So we all know this is a very classic example when Volkswagen launched it in Chennai. They said Namaste Chennai and people started writing in social media. They immediately said, want to come to Chennai and it worked. So when you listen, you obviously have to act to it. Just listening will not happen. But these are very small things. The point that I want to make here is like in Amazon, they actually return back. If price of a particular book fall, they actually return the money back to you. It's amazing. It's just 16 cents, but the customer says I'll never buy anything from anywhere else. So they can play on the psyche of the consumer and that is very important. There are other stories and various stories. These are small one-off stories, but I'm going to tell you a big story. A story that's very close to my heart. And this is a story about really responding to customers. This is our story. This story began four years back, four or five years back. And this is a story of VIP industries. How many of your VIP industry shares in this room? One, we should ask you, we should treat you guys. We made a lot of money. We have been growing phenomenally. Last one year we have actually doubled our value. Okay? So this is our story. Basic story. So this is what my customer said. We don't relate to VIP. VIP is from a father and grandfather. Everybody agrees here, right? How many of you agree here? And thankfully not everybody is putting their hands up. I'm happy. It doesn't appeal to me. VIP is a brand. So we had a choice to make VIP younger and create a new brand. Right? Simple choice. That's not so simple. So we said, listen to customer and respond. They wanted to make the magic happen. Now why it is difficult? Imagine a family-run business. Or 50 years. Main brand, VIP. You have to go up to the board and say, sir, is brand-way abhi dum kam hai? Abhi is brand-way tora dum kam hai, hum po kuch aur karna chen? And best part is family listening to it. The family listening to it and understanding the need. See there are many companies who fall because they don't realize the world is changing. The beauty of this organization, let me tell you this, is we are the only country where Samsonite is distinct number two in the world. Okay? Everywhere Samsonite is number one, we are distinct number two in the world. We control 65% of the market in India. Also, we are perhaps the only Indian company we have been here for 50 years and we are still the leader in the category that we operate. There are other Indian companies, but they are not leaders in the category we operate. We are the only company where leaders in the category we operate. We know what we are saying and this is because they have been changing with every time. That's very important. So we decided that we should launch skybacks. This, ladies and gentlemen, was the first thought that we decided and we said we should. And it's a huge, huge change and this happened because the people were handling the brand, the company at that time, listened to the consumer and most importantly, the board and the owners of the brand listened to the consumer. They realized that if we don't do something now, it will be very, very difficult for us to survive. And it's very difficult, trust me. It's not easy. So we started doing and then we said, let's have, so we didn't know how to do it. We were making a bag, a hard suit case, a seller. We had to sell this to this person. Very different kind of people. We didn't know who this guy was. So we said we have to do product. We have to do distribution for this guy and we have to do communication for this guy. And we didn't know anything about it. Very difficult. So we started listening to the consumer and we realized there are categories that we were not there. So at one point of time, we did not sell backpacks at all. And let me tell you, can I have the next slide please? Next slide. This year, we have sold 3 million pieces of backpacks in just four years' time. We are the biggest backpack sellers in this country and in backpack, we not only compete with the luggage brands, but we compete with Nike, we compete with Puma, we compete with Reebok and we compete with all kinds of sports brands. They all have backpacks. From a brand which only is to make bags, this is what we launched and we started selling it to the youth and trust me of all the brands that we have managed and I have managed some brands in my life. Managing a youth brand is the most difficult thing to do because the 16 year of today is not the 16 year tomorrow. And the 16 year of tomorrow is very different from the 16 year day after. Very, very different. So we have to be relevant to the 16 year olds every year which is very different. Right? Second came on the, next slide please. We heard and we said, where do we sell? Our selling was from traditional channels. We said we have to sell 3 cop and we are today the biggest backpack brands on Flipkart. Again, we didn't know anything about it. We learned it and we changed it. Back because we learned, we understood the customers are not buying backpacks, young people are not buying backpacks from the traditional channel. They are going somewhere else. If I don't go there, I don't sell backpacks there. Somebody else will. So you have to understand. This change is happening every, every, at every segment. And then obviously communication. And we started making, next slide please. Ads like this. Will you please go and click on that. First we obviously changed the brand ambassador to Varun Dhawan. And then that Varun Dhawan photograph, will you please click, I think there is a... Skybags. SMS warranty number to check authenticity. Skybags. Backpack commercial, last 3 couple of years. And we realized that just making commercial will not do. So we started spending money on things that we never did. And we started sponsoring this wonderful property of ours called Sunburn. Can you just click on that Sunburn thing please. Again a very traditional company getting into all of this. I went there once. That evening was something called EDM. Which... But that's what consumers are listening. That's what consumers are. So, for a traditional company, that's what I'm trying to say. It's all about listening to the consumer and acting. For my last, we were also part of the... We have been doing crowdsourcing events for ever, this is our third year. People actually make backpacks. There's a special canvas where you come and design bags and we give some fabulous gifts. So we've been doing youth-centric activity, something as I said, 4 years back, this company was not doing it. What happened to the presentation? Ah, there you are. So, this is not the brand numbers, we just indexed it. So this has been the growth. 4x in the last couple of years. And today, it is India's number one luggage brand. And this happened in just a couple of years. It's something that... And we have numbers which even we couldn't believe that we could do it. And this is all because we just kept on listening to the consumer and doing exactly what they said us to do. So, what I am saying is just to sum up, listen to your consumer. Be ready to change first your mindset. That's the first thing you have to do. And it's the biggest thing. People get stuck with that. Second, your business model. If you need to change your business model, please change your business model. Otherwise, you may not be able to survive. Third, your product architecture, communication blueprint. Basically, you need to change everything if you really want to survive in this world. Okay? Thank you very much. Questions? I request the gentleman to please stand up. The one who raised his hand for the question. Amazing story, Sudeep. You understand, was digital a big part of your listening when you were, you know, reinventing the brand? Was digital one of your main strategy while listening to the consumers? Of course. Okay, so, good. I was expecting this question. So, we have five brands. Okay? We have VIP. And I'm not trying to sell all my brands. We'd love to buy now. So, we've got VIP, Alpha, Aristro, Skybags, and Carlton. Each brand has a difference listening medium. So, if I'm talking about Aristro or Alpha, those customers are not on digital. They're value customers. So, we don't listen. So, depending upon what brand and what category you're handling, yes. So, for Skybags, it was a big piece. For all our services that we offer, it's a big piece. And we spend a lot of money on it. So, if you see, on the Skybags, if you see just Skybag advertising, it takes Skybag advertising, almost 40% of my advertising budget of Skybag is spent on digital. Okay? While in Aristro, it is about 10%. Not Aristro. Alpha is about 10%. Depending upon what category you're operating, you need to allocate the brands or budgets accordingly. I mean, the pyramids are in, you know, industry house, which is a traditional way of thinking. How difficult was it for you to change the entire thought and to come to Skybag in the way you launched it? I must say my boss is very modern. So, I was lucky to have a boss who I can work with and make her understand. And my boss did a lot with the board. I also had to chip in, but every job and everyone has, I mean, we have to convince. I always believe that if you have good logic, they listen and today we are seeing the results. Today, you know, we can, you know, there was a time when we couldn't have touched VIP as a brand because it was the mainstay of the company. Today, because Skybag has become the mainstay, we can actually start experimenting with VIP. That's the bigger piece which has happened. So, you will see a lot of work coming on VIP in which work is going on now. That is important. So, yeah, it was difficult, but Radhika really helped. All right, sir, I request you to please stay back with me here on the stage. And I would now request... Can I? Okay, please, go ahead. So, congratulations, sir, and my seven-year-old son actually pulled me into a shop in a mall. He cried, he begged, and he takes Skybag to his school, actually. Congratulations for that, because perhaps he introduced me to this brand. But what I was asking was, you were perhaps a marketing professional or branding professional yourself before you took this leadership role in the finance. Did that help you? Because when you're talking about getting the product right, the whole communication and the convincing piece, any advice on that? Any finance guys here? No, I just want to say that marketing... So, I keep saying this. What is the job of a marketing? Marketing doesn't produce. We don't sell. We don't manufacture. We don't source. We don't design. We don't take a marketing. But what marketing does is it sees the business from a to penalty. That's a role of marketing. A true marketing. And you will invariably see that marketing is our... It's kind of... I should not say buy some of this. There are a lot of finance guys who have gone ahead and done leadership roles. Yes, it did help. It gives me a perspective of product. At times, when sales pressures are there, I still think about my brand before taking a call on a particular sales call. I still do, still do. There are times when my marketing guys have come back and say, Sir, you are not marketing yet. But I also have to deliver numbers. But yes, it does. So, to answer your question, if you are for marketing, it kind of gives you an overall perspective of the leadership role. All right. Thank you so much with that. How many of us are here in this room? How many of us have suitcases? Suitcase, suitcase. Hard. There's somebody waving their hands. Box. One, right? Yes. That's a market size now. How many of you have backpacks? That's a market size now. So the market has moved. To answer your question, the market has moved. So again, understand where the market is going. If I still stick with the hard-legged suitcase, I would have been selling that gentleman making me very happy. I meant the strollers too. Absolutely. So I have VIP. So what? Okay, fantastic. My question is a bit different, sir. I wanted to ask, you were the market leader's sorts of VIP suitcases at that point in time and now the strollers are first. We still use. Yeah, please carry on. Okay, so the way I see and the way I look into this, every brand has a role. I have six brands. So VIP is still hardcore strollers. Skyback still, 40% will be strollers. Okay? And Aristotle is hardcore strollers. So if you see in the stroller market, I've already got 60% market share. And nothing has changed. So if I make skyback also stroller, then I'll eat into each other's share. So with this 60% skyback getting into short haul, why is not? I still do a huge amount of stroller because that's my bread and butter. But for the brand Skyback, I've created a new segment of 300, 350 crore of rupees, which otherwise I would have not got. Suitcases I've given. Thank you. Any more questions, ladies and gentlemen? Are we taking more questions? All right. Thank you, sir.