Helping international brands enter India

Brand Access, a start-up retail innovations company, recently entered into an agreement with Australia-based Colette for expanding its distribution network in the country via a master franchise agreement. In a conversation, Nishant Dhar, Managing Director, Brand Access, highlighted their array of solutions for foreign brands.

How does Brand Access help retail brands?

We customise an India-related entry strategy for an organisation, and pay particular attention to the prevailing competition, positioning and pricing strategy for this brand as well as legal and compliance requirements.

And, once we and our client are convinced of the viability of entry, we help them find suitable local partners or enter into master franchise agreements. For instance, for Australia-based Colette we formulated a launch strategy with the help of local experts, and with the women’s accessory segment showing strong growth potential, our firm also helped them find suitable partners.  

What is the cost for utilising your services?

It depends on a case-by-case basis as well as the scope of the study involved. However, if the client is also seeking our assistance for a joint venture or master franchise agreement, the cost related to market research is borne by us.

And, we also provide our client with an indicative return on investment, and unless both of us agree on the threshold level for the same, we leave the entry decision to the concernedbrand.

Kindly throw more light on your marketing and promotional strategy?

We have recently launched our services, and are relying on a combination of word-of-mouth as well as our global expertise for expanding our client base here.

What are your future plans?

Colette by Colette Hayman will have 65 stores in the country over the next three years, and we are playing a significant role in this process via a 10-year master franchise agreement. In addition, we are in discussions with several global brands for a similar strategy.