Sunday 22nd June, I travelled to Delhi again to work with business partners Rangsutra and Jharcraft. Much to my surprise I shared the plane with some other people I know from Women on Wings. During the flight I caught up with Jan Engels, who was an expert for some years and now runs his own company in India. And there were Ronald and Ineke who live and work in India for Women on Wings. What a nice start.
Working on the Rangsutra brand
In Delhi I worked with Rangsutra on the brand. At this moment Rangsutra produces garments and home accessories for Indian and international brands. Like Fabindia and IKEA. But to prevent becoming too much depending on its clients, and to create sustainable jobs for rural women, Rangsutra wants to expand the possibilities of its own brand.
Shopping for ideas
Becoming a brand is not just putting a name tag on your product. So, to get an idea of what having a brand really means, we went to huge shopping malls in Delhi to check Indian and international retail. How can we learn from and get inspired by them? It’s important to see and feel how other brands work on their instore communications. For me this was a logical step in the whole branding strategy, but for the Rangsutra team it turned out quite an eye opener. It was really good to get away from the office to broaden the views.
Next steps
Back at the office I worked with the team on an action plan with roles & responsibilities for each team member, based on the P’s of the marketing mix: product, price, place and promotion. Steady we will work towards the introduction of a collection under the Rangsutra brand. I really can’t wait to see the first sketches. In the meantime, I will have lots of contact to discuss the progress of this huge project.
Karen de Loos
