Indian luxury products lack quality compared to the global range: Brand expert

Hyderabad: France, London, Geneva, Italy and the US! What do these countries have in common? They all produced self-made entrepreneurs, who dreamt and gifted the world priceless legacies in the form of Louis Vuitton, Cartier, Dior, Chanel, Hermes, Gucci, Rolex and the likes.

So, where do India’s dreamers stand with their creations in the luxury and premium products market globally?

To this brand expert Arvind Vijay Mohan told Bizz Buzz, “The first movers of luxury brands, the Western brigade, are well established in both international and Indian markets. Their deep-rooted presence overrides the presence of Indian brand names. Moreover, the quality of an Indian product is found wanting when compared to the global offerings.”

Besides, lack of quality products, what is missing from the facets of originality is an inspirational brand story.

Arvind adds, “There are many Indian companies that want to create an enterprise; they have to be visionaries and think of future market trends. An existing vendor will not have a taker. The brands story takes shape from the manner one envisions a brand. It could as well be a master craftsman from any Indian State.”

Does that mean that Indian brands have not contemplated on the lines of building a brand story? The brand guru responds that the effort has to continue beyond creation of a brand and come up with an inspiring story that draws attention.

“One should conceptualize and promote that special attribute of the product that makes it unique and meets standards of international giants and yet retains its Indian flourish,” Arvind said.

A segment for any entrepreneur to break through easily in India is the affordable market of products, as “Forthright brand essence comes with adequate capital backing, which allows entrepreneurs to focus on creating only the brand for a year, keeping worries about sales aside,” he suggests, while hinting that before the launch of the product it is essential to get a feel of the level at which the market is saturated. Under such situations, Arvind pointed out that finding buyers is not the challenge; the key is in creating a product that attracts the buyer.

“Create a product that can stand strongly alongside any of its contenders, and chances are that the entrepreneur will find a community that resonates and buys. Many young people are creating drops…they will create only 100 units of a sweatshirt, which they will release and sell only for one-time. This is an interesting model for entrepreneurs to think about while placing their product in a saturated market,” he proposes.

A luxury and premium segment that Arvind closely works with is the Indian Art. The latest turnover of Indian Art in the auction market is an unprecedented Rs. 1,275 crore, he informed and added that the 73 new records set last year indicates that the market is growing.

“Indian art auction market is at its strongest now, poised to grow even further on the back of creations by master artists, whose works are now beginning to appear for sale. In connoisseurship, we have seen a surge in new collectors that started with Covid-19. Delhi and Mumbai together boast of 150 billionaires and all of them are beginning to collect art in some capacity,” said the founder and CEO of India Art Investor and Artery India.