Marketing by the Retail shops in T Nagar
I am not sure how many of you have visited Madras and T Nagar especially. At least the ones that have visited Madras from the north of Vindhyas always talk about visiting Nalli every time they do make it there. It is great for a brand that seldom advertises and has handful of outlets outside Tamil Nadu.
A quick walk (which is virtually impossible) down the ‘Golden stretch’ would prove the point. The stretch between Panagal Park and T Nagar Bus Stand is home to more than 100 jewellery shops and a few hundred clothing shops. And all of them do ROARING business. During times of distress, I have always walked through this stretch and have found all the confidence I need to prove that there is enough money in the market.
I can never forget a bill board by a company called Rajkamal Sarees. When I was a school kid I have seen their billboards in all Chennai metro railway stations. Proudly it would read “Kick your jobs. Sell Rajkamal Sarees”. We seem to have come a long way from there.
Marketing is a tradition for these stores. Spending an evening with Sun TV will prove it for you. You can see at least 15 different brands of Silk Sarees, 8-10 jewellery showrooms and equal number of clothing outlets advertising. The point is that these advertisements defy some basic rules of marketing.
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NO differentiation in advertising
If you remove the brand pack shot from the TVC and plug another brand’s pack shot, it wouldn’t change a thing. The consumer may just not notice the brand. -
NO USP
Unique Selling Proposition? Go to hell. Though I cannot prove it, I believe that they all source the saris from the same set of looms in Kanchipuram (the silk saree capital of India situated about 70kms from Madras).
That apart, they are all in a huge cluster placed one next to another thus beating any geographical advantage over another. Still each seem to have a story to tell. I am just discussing a few examples here. Maybe there is something to learn from each.
RmKV Silk sarees
They did a series of ‘World Records’. Longest saree, maximum number of colors in a saree etc. It has now become a tradition for this brand to break ‘world records’ for some reason or the other. The best part is that they had a popular film star Jyotika as their brand ambassador for a while. I still can remember their TV commercial featuring Jyotika selecting the color of her saree for her wedding. It was very apt timing because around that time she was getting married to her co-star Surya. Brilliant plug!
Pothy’s
Very little in terms of product differentiation. But the scale takes the cake for this brand. Pothy’s was a prominent outlet in Coimbatore Tirunelveli and they started opening branches because their competition decided to tickle them. Yes. When Nalli opened an outlet in Coimbatore, Pothy’s was outraged. And outraged is a euphemistic term, because going by what they did, it should be termed as nothing less than a war. They opened the then largest clothing outlet in Chennai bang opposite Nalli’s. And was amongst the first to go TV with consummate ease. They did take a huge part of the market share and they made it look so easy. Chennai (read T Nagar) had two large stores to go to now.
Another huge marketing trick of Pothy’s was the Aadi sale. Traditionally, Aadi (a tamil month) is a month when Tamilians don’t buy new stuff. They believe that things bought during that month will not stay! But this just happened to be a turn around. Around this time, Pothy’s started the Aadi sale. Prices were slashed by up to 50% and some price conscious Tamilians took the bait. All it requires is your neighbor to buy a new silk saree and show it off. The woman of the house has to get one for herself. The mood was almost like “screw the belief. Get that saree!”. The best part is the fact that this has opened up a new season for all categories in Tamil Nadu including white goods, clothing, jewellery etc. An erstwhile unchartered market!
LKS Gold House
Traditionally the only big guy in the Chennai (later TN) market was GR Thanga Maaligai (GRT). When LKS Gold House started, they took the same route (albeit in parallel) as Pothy’s. Heavy duty advertising was one of their key strengths. They were amongst the first to have a proper advertising agency servicing them. A key learning from LKS is the cost of production. These guys understood clearly that airtime is expensive. So they used to get new producers every time and experiment just to ensure that the cost of production of these TVCs were kept at a minimum. I have heard that they have done TVCs for as less as INR 50000 (in the year 2000), while never hesitated to buy airtime across channels even if it runs into a couple of crores. Brilliant strategy!
GRT, Nalli’s & Kumaran
I can’t leave out these brands. They have stood the test of time and wait… family splits. Both Nalli family and Kumaran family have had splits between brothers at some point of time. But they have always kept the tradition of their brands flying high. They were able to adapt quickly and also started campaigns to retain their existing customers. Notable amongst them is GRT’s chit plan. They started a chit system (quasi financial instrument) where customers can pay a fixed amount to GRT on a monthly basis which will earn interest for them and will be redeemed for Gold Jewellery at the end of the term. Awesome quick thinking! Nalli & Kumaran meanwhile went into newer markets and worked on market expansion.
While Nalli & Kumaran went into Market Expansion mode GRT also diversified. They started hotliering. GRT Grand Days and stakes in some of the large 4 & 5 star hotels in Chennai and other places hedged their dependence on retail folk buying gold, silver and platinum jewellery. Remarkable for what can otherwise be termed small town businesses.
Saravana Stores
How can I write about T Nagar, business and not discuss this brand. They used to sell only kitchen utensils. Well, that was ages back. Now, they can be the Hypercity equivalent of Mumbai. Or better still, the Mustafa equivalent of Singapore. Saravana Stores is now into every business one can think of! You can go to a Saravana stores outlet in T Nagar and actually buy everything for your home – including your home. Yes, they also sell real estate plots in there! I have always resisted getting into that store purely because of the crowds. But on one occasion, I stepped out of my shell and walked in and boy! Was I sold? Yes, most certainly! That was the first place where I saw broomsticks being sold in counter A and in the next counter (believe you me) carried mobile phones. Madness with a strong method behind it! That’s how I would describe this brand. Their procurement wing is an awesome bunch of individuals. They must be. Else, you can’t get the kind of deals that this store provides you with. Anything you buy, will be a comfortable 15-20% below the market price. From vegetables to video equipments, you can find almost anything here. And their strategy? Pricing. Beat that!
And their marketing wing is one of the most ‘on the ground’ teams one can encounter. I haven’t had the opportunity to meet them, but can vouch that they carry foresight like no other. They signed up an up and coming female actor ‘Tamannah’. A Bombay girl who can’t speak Tamil to save her life. This was a couple of years back. Today, she is the toast of the Tamil Film Industry. With films against every single big hero of today, she is the most wanted heroine and the numero uno. And Saravana Stores found her before she became that on a long term contract. That’s what I would call a ‘STEAL’!
There are many others and many other successful ones. But this article can’t carry all. But the learnings from each one of them would make an MBA hang his / her head in shame. These guys just know how to milk the customer without letting them feel the pain and probably, we all have a few leafs to take out of these books!
Amen!
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I stand corrected by a colleague and good friend Chandrasekaran. Pothy’s was started in Tirunelveli and not Coimbatore as mentioned in the post. The error is regretted.