Is there a trouble in brand positioning as Wrangler takes Lee head-on in the domestic jeans market?
Wrangler has seen 50 per cent growth in topline and 100 per cent growth in bottomline in the current year. It is the most successful of our brands on a smaller base though. We launched Wrangler two years ago. The brand has had a ten-year stint in India prior to that with a different licencee during which it was messed around with. So when the brand, which is hardcore denim globally, came into the market again through Arvind, we wanted to do something sensational. Wrangler took to high-end fashion and was positioned as cutting edge fashion denim. In March last year, it was the first to bring `used look denim’ into the domestic market with the 10-year used-look collection. Alok Nanda Company created an award winning campaign – `Because Some Things Get Better With Age’ – to support it. Globally, too, Wrangler’s positioning is shifting from Western cowboy imagery – which harped on rebellion and the comfort of denim – to that of fashion which reflects the mindset of today’s youth everywhere
