Marie Claire making it big in retail through licensing

Starting from a magazine, the French lifestyle brand Marie Claire has set benchmarks while expanding to various segments, lifestyle being one of them. Having created ripples in the Indian retail segment, the brand is looking betting big on Indian market. Start: The French brand that spans across 28 markets, engages and connects with more than 90 million women around the world. As a magazine, Marie Claire is really close to women and the brand follows the mantra of going along with the desires of modern women and their wellbeing.

Enjoying a readership of close to 14 million women readers around the world, the brand is fervent to translate its legacy to lifestyle segment in India. Brand licensing is one such area where Marie Claire is truly carving a niche for itself in here. It was in early 2015 that the brand marked a foray in India alongside its local representative Bradford License India. Cut to present and the brand has a bevy of local licensees added to its portfolio.

What sets it apart? Headquartered in France, Marie Claire’s brand licensing efforts are helmed by Roberto Bre, the director and board member of Private Collection & Co. In his words, “Marie Claireis working with local companies in India who also understand the differences in terms of cultures, because you can have colour, perception which would be different in different areas of the countries, but also sizing and shapes can be different.

And that is the advantage of brand licensing.” Through licensing and through local partners, the French brand wants to adopt the French style to the taste of the Indian women. To keep the flavour of the brand intact, the design are provided by designers in France to give a French touch, which are then adapted according to the market sensibilities in here. Under Bradford License India’s representation, the brand’s licensing business has grown by leaps and bounds. Starting off with conventional licensing deal for women’s wear pret collection in 2015, the brand has off late forayed into salon and wellness industry with a model that a combination of licensing and franchising.

Category by category Each category is unique, but the goal is similar – sufficing the fashion needs of modern woman. And with presence marked in apparel (with Harpa), jewellery (Rubans), sunglasses (Optiline), salon & wellness academy (B2C Networks LLP) and latest watches (Flipkart), Marie Claire is aiming to multiply their revenue proposition. According to Bre, “For generations Marie Claire brand has captivated women with its smart, trend setter, stylish and great appetite for life.

This philosophy of Marie Claire will be reflected in the Marie Claire lifestyle range, thus taking the engagement with our clients in India to the next level.” Operating on franchise owned, franchise operated model for salons, Marie Claire aims to have 20 unisex salons in next 3 years, shared Vandana Bhardwaj, Director, Marie Claire Salon & Wellness India. The brand would initially focus on major metros, Tier 1, Tier 2 cities before expanding its footprint to smaller towns. In words of Amiteshwar Grover, Managing Director of Epic Brands, who is the apparel licensee for Marie Claire, "Our revenues have jumped by 25 per cent with Marie Claire."Initially Epic Brands started retailing the licensed range online. Going forward, it is now scouting opportunities to enter the brick and mortar format with Marie Claire licensed apparel collection.

Speaking on similar lines Jatin Shah, Managing Director of Optiline Eyewear - the eyewear licensee for the French brand saidthat they are looking for a value proposition through Marie Claire licence. A breakthrough in markets With brand licensing finding its grounds in Indian markets as the "go-to" retail strategy, the potential is huge as compared to the global markets. Needless to say, that this magazine brand has efficiently monetized on the available opportunities.