Parx : Live Easy

Brand : Parx
Company : Raymond's Apparels

Brand Analysis Count :  # 503

Parx - the premium readymade casual wear brand from Raymonds Ltd is in a relaunching mode. This Rs.185 crore brand from Raymonds wants to play an aggressive role in the hyper competitive ready-to-wear category in the Indian market.

Parx was launched in 1999 as a premium ready to wear brand targeting the highly mobile young corporate customer. The brand was targeting the users for their after- office hour dress requirements. Despite the backing from one of India's reputed textile brand and perceived high quality & expertise, Parx did not quite make it to the big league. It was dwarfed by the success of brands like Color Plus ( which was later acquired by Raymonds) and Allen Solly.

The Indian ready-to-wear market is highly lucrative in terms of market size of approximately Rs 24000 crore. The casual wear market is expected to be around Rs 7200 crore.  

Despite the fact that Parx belonged to one of the most respected textile houses , the brand did not quite caught the fancy of the consumer. As a consumer, I found the brand very pricey and failed to give any meaningful justification to the pricing either interms of brand or product features. Over a period of time, the brand also failed to keep itself aspirational due to increasing competition from global brands.

Parx was also laid-back in its branding efforts. The brand owners was not quite clear about the positioning of Parx. Neither the brand had any meaningful positioning. The brand was neglected by Raymonds and most of the promotional investment was given to the flagship brand Raymonds and Park Avenue.The brand was perceived to be just another casual wear brand from a reputed manufacturer. This lack of a clear positioning failed the brand to justify its premium pricing. Having said that, Parx has a good fan following in tier II cities. The brand is pushed back in metros and large cities by the competition. 

The promotions of Parx was also very erratic. I don't remember any work of this brand nor any of its taglines. This lack of proper investment on brand promotion also weakened the brand's position in this highly cluttered market.

In 2011, the brand went in for a relaunch. The brand redesigned its logo and also introduced a brand- symbol  :- a Racing Stag. This symbol will be in all garments from the brand. The brand also launched its first ever television campaign since its birth.

Watch the tvc here; Parx

Parx now has a new tagline " Live Easy ". The brand is focusing on building a personality traits of independence, attitude, casualness, freedom  through these commercials. The use of foreign models aims to bring an aspirational  touch to the brand. The attempt is to brand ladder to the higher attribute of freedom rather than product characteristics.

The new effort is commendable but little too late for a brand like Parx. The positioning idea of Live Easy is nothing new and the same theme is used by various brands across categories. The brand lost precious 12 years in creating a space for itself in the Indian consumer's mind. The brand now needs to tell compelling stories of the brand attributes it is trying to tell. It needs a lot of catching up to do. 

Premium : Pleasure,Ecstasy ,Euphoria

Brand : Premium
Company : JK Helene Curtis

Agency : Impulse

Brand Analysis Count : 401

Premium is one of the most under utilized brand in the Indian personal care category. A brand which has been in existence for more than 40 years has not been able to make its mark in Indian market.

Premium is a brand owned by JK Helene Curtis which is a Raymond's group company. Despite from a group that owns iconic brands like Raymond's and Park Avenue, Premium failed to reach anywhere near its peers.

What usually comes to my mind about this brand is its Cologne. Premium Cologne is one of the very few affordable colognes in the Indian market. I was initially surprised at the price of this brand because I felt that Premium would cost more.

Premium brand is not a failed brand . Infact company claims that Premium is the market leader in room fresheners.

Premium is an umbrella brand that endorses various products like Talc, Shaving products,perfumes and Room fresheners. There are experts who argue that the unrelated extensions have created problems for the brand.

In a report in Business Line, another brand expert suggested that the brand name Premium has created positioning issues for the brand. The name has caused a perception that the product is priced higher which created a problem of Narrow Positioning.

But more than the brand name, Premium is languishing because of lack of marketing effort. The company has never cared to create a Brand DNA for Premium. There is no brand manthra, no core brand values or a brand persona. There is not even a tagline that gives the brand an identity. There is also no memorable brand campaigns.

I personally feels that the company is not able to fit the brand in its portfolio along with Park Avenue. Park Avenue has its own range of men's toiletries and Premium may be sidelined for making space for Park Avenue range.

Premium is really a sad story. The brand has a good name, a good company to back it and an opportunity in the market but there is no will from the brand owners to develop it.

Park Avenue : Play the Lead

Brand : Park Avenue
Company: Raymonds
Agency : Dentsu Marcom


Brand Analysis Count : 331

Park Avenue is one of the most respected textile brand in India. The brand which was launched in 1986 redefined the ready to wear segment in India.

Park Avenue is a lifestyle brand known for its quality formal wear. The brand is also an example of a brand which was built on print media.
Park Avenue and Raymonds comes from the same company. While Raymonds catered to an older mature executives , Park Avenue focused on younger crowd who are fashion conscious but also needs to wear ultra formal wears . This was visible in the nature of the communication. This brand is for those who look for classic formal wears.

Indian menswear market is estimated to be around Rs 37,000 crore ( businessline 2007) and of which 35 % constitutes the apparels.
Park Avenue built the brand around its distribution strength . The brand is sold through a strong dealer network consisting of multi brand outlets and exclusive outlets. .

Park Avenue built its brand around the print media while Raymonds is known for its television campaigns. Park Avenue is also a brand which understood the power of using foreign models for the ad campaigns. Indian consumers has a penchant for foreign models. Further foreign models gives an upmarket image for the brand.

Besides using aggressive commercials, the brand also emphasis on innovation in style and fabric. Since the brand is a formal wear , the emphasis is on creating elegance which the brand has succeeded .
In 2007, the brand extended itself into women's wear which is Rs 2700 crore market.The brand is targeting the Rs 450 crore premium western wear market. This market is growing at a rate of 20% owing to the changing Indian demographics.

The brand has a tagline "Play the Lead ". I think that the brand is trying to attract those young corporate leaders. However, the ads does not highlight this theme. Most of the ads of Park Avenue focuses on the classic style and quality.

Park Avenue offers its customers a complete range of clothes and accessories including personal care products. Although the personal care products are not promoted, surprisingly the range is highly affordable.

As a customer , what I like about Park Avenue is the quality and the value that this brand offers. Unlike brands like Louis Phillippe or Color Plus, Park Avenue does not have a tag that shows off the brand. But wearing this brand creates a classic formal look for the customers.