Research NXT
  • Home
  • Content-Based Marketing
  • Resources
    • Insights
    • Research Reports
    • Expert’s View
  • Contact us
Your cart is empty. Go to Shop.

Leveraging Digital & E-commerce to build an Iconic Brand

Harkit_singh on Marketing automation in India

Harkirat Singh, Managing Director of Woodland, during his conversation with Santosh Abraham, Lead Analyst at Research NXT, shares the story of Woodland emerging as an Iconic adventure brand from India and how the use of CRM & Marketing Automation Tools has helped the brand to build an Omni-Channel strategy and go Global.

Santosh: Woodland is one of the Iconic adventure brands of India, that’s what I relate to when I hear Woodland. It would be great to know, how have you established Woodland as a brand in India.

Harkirat: We have always been in, standing there for whatever outdoors means and we’ve been making products which are meant to be used for outdoors, whether it is our rugged shoes or our jackets, which are waterproof jackets, mainly it’s like a survival kit. We try to incorporate as many technologies as possible in our products, shoes, garments and accessories and give customer something which is meant to be used for outdoors and since, that is the way of life today. People are going outdoors and they are going trekking, they have become adventurous, from Woodland’s side, we want to provide them, all the kits, all the accessories, whatever is required for their outdoor adventure.

Earlier people used to depend on cheap imports or they couldn’t find the right equipment here in India, but since we’ve come, these things are being seen in market, even the customer is very well aware of these sort of stuff which they want when they go for outdoors. Recently we launched slings and sleeping bags and walking sticks which earlier probably people were not quite sure but today we get demand growing. Our strategy has always been very clear and since we started, we actually came from Canada, which is again known for outdoors. In India of-course, we had to change the product accordingly to the weather here, but the outdoor spirit remains the same, so we cater to that spirit.

Read More...Read Less...

Santosh: Well! That’s great to hear, so you got the concept from Canada and created a market in India. How have you adopted the new age digital media in your business and how are you implementing technology in your marketing?

 Harkirat: See, marketing has been always very important for us. Since our product is youth based, and since we must connect with our customers very well to understand what they need and showcase them what we’ve got new for them, because today innovation is very important for any brand to sustain in the market. So, innovation in the product line, innovation in the marketing base, everything is very important.

Our customers are between age group of 17 to 35 years, the youth, we try to find how we can connect with them, through social media or through events or through whatever possible ways, going to rock shows where they are, or going trekking and camps with them, we try to connect with in various ways and even traditional media like press and electronic media plays a big part.

But what I feel today, is, we need to change from the traditional ways and innovate better ways because this is the way the youth are going, we must follow them and today we have shifted most of our marketing strategy from the traditional to digital. There are various ways, how we can connect with them like social media to know them as the customers and make Woodland as their friend, so that they can talk to woodland and there should be a one to one with the customer and through social media, I think, that is very much possible.

We have 600 of our own stores, so it gives us right opportunity and platform to know about our customers. Majority of our retail sales come from our own stores. We have a repository of all our customers and we follow customer relationship management policy where we relate to them throughout. Once they buy from us, and see to it that they are satisfied and they come again and any queries they have they can always ask. Whatever new launches and new product is issued, they are updated as fast as possible.

Santosh: You mentioned you have a CRM process, are your using any CRM products?

Harkirat: Yes, we have, SAP CRM implemented, we also use this system for loyalty management. I think it’s a very good way of maintaining relationships with your existing customers and keeping them updated on your products. When our customers have any queries, we have our customer care people connected with them via CRM and any query can be sorted out as fast as possible. It’s very important to have these systems, especially in today’s digital age one dis-satisfied customer can cause a very big impact on the company and the brand.

If I talk about 5-10 years back, mostly our stores were the points where we sold our products from and could connect to our customers. But today, we sell our products through, online platforms like Amazon, Flipkart or our own websites woodlandworldwide.com. And today what we see is trend of buying has changed. Customers visit the site, they can browse through the products, most of the decisions are made online and then they buy from our stores or online as per their convenience. CRM has become an important point for us to connect with the customer via these online / offline sales channels and grow our relationship with our customers.

“We have worked on an Omni-channel strategy and they are all connected.”

Santosh: Sure! That’s a very important point that you’ve mentioned in terms of keeping the customer at the center. You are selling via different channels, Amazon, Flipkart your stores and website how you are ensuring consistency in messaging with multiple channels?

Harkirat: We have worked on an Omni-channel strategy and they are all connected. Customer buying from Flipkart can always go to a store or come to our own site and check out what he’s bought. Sometimes they feel, they might get duplicate product from online stores, so they can always come and check at our physical store. Consistency of information on online and offline channels about the product is very important to give that sense of safe purchase. Its very important that this connectivity with the customer is maintained throughout the process and we give the same experience across all channels.

Santosh: What is your observation on customer expectations when Woodland started in 1992 and now?

Harkirat: I see a big difference in the customer expectations between when we launched our product till today. We have also gradually evolved, seeing the market changing and when we started there were company owned stores, we used to sell through Multi Brand stores only. And we had no connectivity with our Customer at all.

When the stores came in, we came to know our customers better, we started keeping the database of our customers. Today, ECommerce being there, things have further changed and, now we know the customers much better. We connect with them through social media; through facebook, through YouTube. Normally, at a store you can’t interact with the customer at that length but once you become a part of their day to day life, it changes the whole relationship with customer.

So, I think these things have really changed and it’s become so easy to sell now vs when we started, sometimes the store being the only channel, its physically not possible to have all the product range in display. Now when a customer visits a store, likes a product, but the size is not available; it can be immediately delivered to them with ecommerce in place. It’s become much easier to deal with the customer.

We have a lot of interactive sessions, we have ambassadors, outdoor ambassadors. We also find people who are doing something extra ordinary in the field of outdoors, and we try to bring them out. We facilitate them and make the customers talk to them. They can give them tips on how the products can be used. We have some ambassadors who have gone to Everest and Antarctica and some have done paragliding ride. These ambassadors also help us in innovating our products. So we, kind of learn from them. It’s both ways, you learn from your ambassadors, from your customers and you can incorporate so much things to improve our product. So, I think it’s helpful both side.

“This needs marketing teams who are more innovative, people who can think out of the box.”

Santosh: With the new approach to marketing using technology, has your way of hiring marketing teams also changed?

Harkirat: See, initially of-course we have in marketing, which includes people who are looking after the Traditional, digital media and the press. Today, it’s very important  because we have old team which is just working on the digital front,  which has become so important to us now. We also have agencies that are managing the digital part.

For us to make new content is very important, because if you are in the digital space, the whole game is around the content, so what content we can make, as I told you we have a lot of expedition, lot of ambassadors, we work with UNICEF and WWF. We do lot of treks with them, we do lot of outdoors, lot of events, we gather lot of digital content . I think, today getting the right content and then passing it on to your customers has become very important and this needs marketing teams who are more innovative, people who can think out of the box.

Santosh: Got it! So, I’ll wrap up my discussion with a last question. We have more than 6000 subscribers to this particular research and I think they will greatly benefit from you, on tips of how you have built an iconic global brand from India? 

Harkirat: Today being global is much easier than earlier days. We have just recently opened our new operations in Russia, then we have opened our operations in China. To be a global leader of-course you need to have the right product for that country, but I think today you’re marketing strategy remains the same. When you are targeting the youth, we see internationally all the countries, whether it’s in Russia or it is in the middle east, our strategy remains the same, ground level remains the same.

With e-commerce, it’s easier to sell in any country. If I go and start opening stores in those countries, it’s not the right way to expand. E-Commerce & Digital marketing are the biggest innovations that are helping brands to go global.

Register to get your Free Copy of the ABM Best Practices Report_ India, 2018 \

Related Posts

Allison_Piano_UpdatedBanner

MarTech

Creating a B2B Content Marketing Engine that Converts

Rikard_Lawson_Strossle_InterviewsBanner

MarTech

Importance of organizational alignment and clear content goals

Avlesh0WebEngage-Interview

Experts View, MarTech

Personalization and In-the-moment messaging for B2C Marketers

PayPal Acceptance Mark
Connect with us

Research NXT

Suite no. 21,
EFC Center, 4th Floor,
West Wing, Marisoft III, Kalyaninagar,
Maharashtra, India – 411014
+1.408.786.5743 (US)
+91 749-833-7353 (India)
enquiry@researchnxt.com

Quick links

  • Home
  • Content-Based Marketing
  • Resources
    • Insights
    • Research Reports
    • Expert’s View
  • Contact us

Adobe Digi 100

LinkedIn Content 50

Copyright © 2019 Research NXT

Privacy Policy for Research NXT

At www.researchnxt.com, one of our main priorities is the privacy of our visitors. This Privacy Policy document contains types of information that is collected and recorded by www.researchnxt.com and how we use it.

If you have additional questions or require more information about our Privacy Policy, do not hesitate to contact us through email at webmaster@researchnxt.com.

Log Files

www.researchnxt.com follows a standard procedure of using log files. These files log visitors when they visit websites. All hosting companies do this and a part of hosting services’ analytics. The information collected by log files include internet protocol (IP) addresses, browser type, Internet Service Provider (ISP), date and time stamp, referring/exit pages, and possibly the number of clicks. These are not linked to any information that is personally identifiable. The purpose of the information is for analyzing trends, administering the site, tracking users’ movement on the website, and gathering demographic information.

Cookies and Web Beacons

Like any other website, www.researchnxt.com uses ‘cookies’. These cookies are used to store information including visitors’ preferences, and the pages on the website that the visitor accessed or visited. The information is used to optimize the users’ experience by customizing our web page content based on visitors’ browser type and/or other information.

Privacy Policies

You may consult this list to find the Privacy Policy for each of the advertising partners of www.researchnxt.com.

Third-party ad servers or ad networks uses technologies like cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons that are used in their respective advertisements and links that appear on www.researchnxt.com, which are sent directly to users’ browser. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. These technologies are used to measure the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns and/or to personalize the advertising content that you see on websites that you visit.

Note that www.researchnxt.com has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.

Third Part Privacy Policies

www.researchnxt.com’s Privacy Policy does not apply to other advertisers or websites. Thus, we are advising you to consult the respective Privacy Policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information. It may include their practices and instructions about how to opt-out of certain options. You may find a complete list of these Privacy Policies and their links here: Privacy Policy Links.

You can choose to disable cookies through your individual browser options. To know more detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers, it can be found at the browsers’ respective websites. What Are Cookies?

Children’s Information

Another part of our priority is adding protection for children while using the internet. We encourage parents and guardians to observe, participate in, and/or monitor and guide their online activity.

www.researchnxt.com does not knowingly collect any Personal Identifiable Information from children under the age of 13. If you think that your child provided this kind of information on our website, we strongly encourage you to contact us immediately and we will do our best efforts to promptly remove such information from our records.

Online Privacy Policy Only

This privacy policy applies only to our online activities and is valid for visitors to our website with regards to the information that they shared and/or collect in www.researchnxt.com. This policy is not applicable to any information collected offline or via channels other than this website.

Consent

By using our website, you hereby consent to our Privacy Policy and agree to its Terms and Conditions.

This privacy policy was created at privacypolicygenerator.info.

Manual Popup

Whitepapers, Buyers Guide & more…

Get access to Expert Views, Insights and In-Depth Research on Trending Enterprise Tech.

By providing details you agree to Research NXT’s Policy T&C

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT Reject
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Read More
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Read More

Necessary Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.