Business and benevolence go hand in hand for ‘Being Human’, an apparel brand by Mandhana Industries. Promoted by Bollywood star Salman Khan, the brand, which was established in 2012, is today widely distributed around the globe.
With philanthropy at the heart of its business philosophy, Being Human, an apparel brand by Mumbai-based Mandhana Industries, embarked on its journey in 2012. The brand draws its inspiration from its namesake charity organisation founded by Salman Khan, one of the most popular Bollywood actors in India with a huge fan base across the world. The concept has emanated from the rendezvous between Manish Mandhana and Salman Khan, as they both felt that such a venture would be an excellent means to support a social initiative. Manish Mandhana, Managing Director of Mandhana Industries, tells more, “We are the global licensee to manufacture and retail Being Human clothing line. The brand conveys the values of Being Human – the Salman Khan Foundation through the language of fashion. It supports the cause by reaching out to maximum people to join the twin cause of healthcare and education in consonance with the brand’s credo – the clothing line with a heart.”
Own merits and the backing of a star actor have enabled the brand to build a huge success for itself in a short time. Today, Being Human Clothing (BHC) is widely distributed around the globe, along with a strong presence in home market – India.
Market presence
Starting with the European continent in Belgium, France and Spain, BHC entered Middle East in its second expansion phase. In early 2013, the brand’s first flagship store in India was launched in Mumbai.
Mandhana explains the rationale behind launching the brand first on foreign soil, “The idea was to introduce the brand initially in overseas market and make it truly international.” BHC’s European distribution is based out of Bordeaux, France and serves up nearly 120 point-of-sale (POS). Available in 10 Middle East nations – Bahrain, Dammam, Doha, Jeddah, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Riyadh and the UAE, the brand is sold across 120+ selling points in partnership with the retail giant Splash. As of now, BHC’s Indian presence comprises 30 exclusive brand outlets (EBO) and 150 shop-in-shops (SIS). It has tied up with over 15 well-known retailers helping it extend its pan India reach.
Trade nitty gritty
In India, alongside EBOs and SIS, BHC is sold through various retailer associates like Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Splash, Westside, Jade Blue and All That Jazz. To complement offline presence, the brand has also built its online footprint. The fashion line has collaborated with leading e-tailing websites like Jabong, Koovs and Flipkart in India. Internationally, BHC sells to more than 60 nations via Landmarkshops.com in Middle East and beinghumanclothing.eu in Europe. In FY 2013-14, the brand registered a retail turnover of Rs. 34.09 crore and Rs. 24.006 crore from EBOs and SIS respectively.
With significant share of the entire turnover coming from overseas, international markets hold great significance for the brand. Incidentally, the royalties received on the sales are passed on to Being Human Trust to support the welfare activities.
BHC has won several accolades for business excellence. Apart from getting enlisted among the top 15 upcoming brands in Who’s Next 2012 Paris, the brand was ranked 1st as India’s most trusted NGO brand 2013 by the Brand Trust Report. Also, it won the Apparel Retailer of the Year award at India Retail Congress 2014.
Product bouquet
According to Mandhana, “Being Human Clothing is a one stop shopping destination for everyday fashion needs.” Offering a wide array of merchandise, Being Human Clothing caters to men as well as women. In menswear, the offerings include t-shirt, polo, shirts, knits, hoody, tracks, jacket, denims, chinos, shorts and boxers whereas its womenswear range comprises denims, chinos, shirts, t-shirts, polo, shorts, scarves, knits, hoody, jackets, tracksuits, dresses, skirts and blouses. Besides these, the brand is also into accessories such as wallets, belts, cap and flip flops. The fashion line pays attention to details, fashion and trends and uses organic cotton to add another layer of social responsibility.
“Being Human clothing is modern, comfy and in sync with worldwide trends. Its USP is its humane message and commitment to social responsibility and safeguarding human and natural resources. Since the brand DNA imbues values such as love, care, share, hope, help and joy – the range carries detailed visual evoking the charitable aspect of the foundation. The outcome is collections that are stylish yet effortlessly connect with people,” says Mandhna.
Operational scope
The brand’s exclusive stores have been designed in keeping with its international appeal. The store design combines modern design sensibility with antique and rustic feel. Moreover, the lighting is done in such a way that it adds a spark to the products displayed. Mandhana apprises, “We have an in-house team of experienced visual merchandisers that work closely making the collection striking that catches every ones’ eye. The products are easily accessible. Hence, the judicious store plannogrammy makes shopping hassle free and maximises the customer experience.”
As store staff is a key component of retail business, the company hires individual with proper training. At the same, it strives to appoint at least one differently-abled person at each location. The company encourages both the employee individuality and team work. Also, each team works in tandem with other teams to realise common business objectives. Furthermore, the company has tied up with an external training institute to train its staff.
Technology integration
Recognising that technology and innovation are imperative to today’s business scenario, BHC encourages technology integration within its operations. Recently, the company adopted a novel concept – Match by Shopsense. It is an in-store interactive platform that enables customer to easily browse through products, match and create looks, search or discover new ones and share with friends for feedback through email or whatsapp using a large touch screen (27 and 32 inches), before making a purchase decision. As such, it provides a combined online and offline experience to the customer within the store itself.
The ‘match’ technology has been installed across the BHC outlets. The technology has helped the company to comprehend consumers’ behaviour, their preferences, categories, combinations, etc. Moreover, it helps in communicating offers and campaigns through the screens. It also helps store staff to figure out the collection and stock availability across stores.
Customer engagement
The company believes that customer satisfaction leads to service excellence and customer loyalty. “In retail, the front-end team makes or breaks the brand,” quips Mandhana. “Our customer service team makes constant efforts to better the service in all aspects including client handling, product placement calls, queries and redress complaints, if any,” he adds. He further said that the brand keeps customers at the heart while designing its engagement strategies, be it online or offline. He describes, “All of our offers and promotions are carefully designed after studying the shopper’s shopping habits and characteristics to enhance the satisfaction and loyalty. This is seamlessly managed by capturing information through loyalty program and the touch screen product catalogue software.”
Moreover, the brand also constantly tries to innovate and introduce new ways to interact and engage with the target group. The company also ensures that it provides an opportunity to its customers to interact with the brand at all point of sales from in-store, website, social media, mobile and e-mailers. The CRM manager too ensures to address the issues within 48 hours of a product inquiry via e-mail and social media.
Marketing and promotions
In today’s marketing driven world, a well designed marketing and promotion strategy is vital for brand success. At BHC, the marketing and promotion activities include advertising in primary newspapers and magazines, branding in malls and outdoor locations, social media and public relations. Every season, apart from launching a lookbook, the brand also introduces a campaign featuring brand ambassador Salman Khan. Moreover, various contests are run to engage more and more customers with the brand. Importantly, the promotions are thought well in advance and are customised for every region.
What’s in store?
With plans to soon launch its kidswear range, BHC is continuing its growth spree. Sharing the brand’s expansion plans for the coming years, Mandhana states, “As far as our global expansion is concerned, we have already expanded into South Africa through zando.co.za. Now we have plans to expand through international tie-ups in the UK and Sri Lanka in 2016. Also, we are looking to have at least 50 EBOs (company owned and franchise outlets) and 200 SIS by 2015.”
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