Cross cultural branding of Indian and French fashion brands

Abstract

The project was initiated as a part of the HEC IIMB Exchange Program (HIEP) wherein a project of joint interest was conceptualized. We looked at French culture and fashion industry was the first thing which sprang to our mind. But to our surprise, we found that there is very little presence of affordable French fashion brands in India and vice versa. In FabIndia, we found a brand which captured the essence of India and can be a perfect showpiece to establish Indian textile presence in Paris. Our counterparts from HEC Paris suggested that we look at Naf Naf, a highly successful brand in Paris and several Asian nations too, to be brought to India.Before we took a deep dive into the brands, we tried to gain perspective on International Branding and the current paradigms regarding the same. Based on our understanding of cultural brands, a cultural branding framework was developed to aid in devising strategies for brand launch in countries other than the host nation. We also looked at Benetton, a globally successful brand to better understand global branding execution.FabIndia and Naf Naf were then analyzed and combined with industry understanding to synthesize brand identities for the brands in France and India respectively. Specific recommendations for target segments and the associated marketing mix were spelt out.