Porsche Designs delighted to share its uncompromising essence with the Indian customers!

Porsche Design, a leading luxury lifestyle brand in the high-end men’s accessories segment worldwide entered the Indian market with its 100^th international store. Dr. Juergen Gessler, CEO Porsche Design Group, tells Franchise India Media about the opportunities and challenges for them in the Indian market.

Bhuvnesh Talwar (BT): What made you enter India? Did you conduct any prior market survey before venturing India?

Juergen Gessler ( JG): To understand the strategy of Porsche Design, the history is very important. The brand was founded in 1972. Since 2003, the strategy has been to develop the brand by going more into retail. In 2003, we had six locations on a worldwide basis and today the store in New Delhi is number 100. We are in 40 cities across the world. We operate on a global sales network strategy of where we want to be by 2015. This global sales strategy defines India as a ‘must-tap’ country. We developed this roadmap in 2008 and have since been looking at the right partners. For us it was a question of when and not if we want to go into the Indian market.

BT: What business model are you using to come to India? What kind of  partnership do you have with Bird Group?

JG: We’ve entered India with a franchise concept as we are using it all over the world. Of course besides those franchise stores we’ve got own stores also. However, we are of the opinion that in some markets, e.g. Asia or Middle East, there are people who know the customers and the markets better than we could. So we were looking for people who know the brands and are experienced in the luxury brand’s business. Ankur Bhatia, the owner of Bird Group, has been a Porsche Design fan for many years and a passionate customer. This sent the right signals. The strategy for India is similar to other markets. We are defining must-tap cities. The must-tap cities are defined by how many competitors we have in these cities. We drew up a list of 10 relevant brands and if eight of these are present in any of the cities, then we believe that it is the right time to enter the city.

BT: As you know Indian market is price sensitive so how will you position yourself? What’s your price-strategy?

JG: The Indian market for luxury brands is about $3 billion as compared to the $160-billion market worldwide. This makes it a relevant market. The US is still 10 times bigger and Germany four times as big, but the volume of the Indian market is close to that in Singapore. Plus the Indian economy has a high growth rate, which makes it an attractive destination for luxury brands. We would be happy to have about 1 per cent of the Indian market. We are bringing our full product range. We have products such as fashion, luggage, fragrances and watches. The price range starts from $100 and goes up to $200,000.

BT: What retail formats are you coming up with in India, apart from exclusive outlets? Any plans to sell your products through multi-brand outlets?

JG: We are very successful with our model of franchise stores all over the world. In the last fiscal year Porsche Design Group managed to increase its turnover slightly to a total of 63.5 million Euro (previous year: 63.3 million Euro), in a time when the international luxury goods market has been affected particularly badly by the global economic downturn. The driver behind this growth was the franchise business under the Porsche Design luxury brand, which alone showed a rise of more than 40 per cent over the previous year with more than a dozen new retail outlets. In view of this background we look to the future with optimism and see no need to change our strategy.

BT: How do you see the competition in the industry?

JG: Every brand has to find its very own way. Our business direction is as clear, honest and uncompromising as our design principles for the Porsche Design products are. So we simply reduced the number of licenses issued and strictly focused on our core competence. However, just take a look around: every luxury brand spreads its product range. The result is that the customers get confused. They are looking for products with authenticity and credibility. So the upcoming unique selling preposition is design and functionality - the core values of Porsche Design, which we offer for more than 35 years.

BT: Briefly detail your expansion plans in India?

JG: The only way is up! This is our goal for taking Porsche Design into a promising future. To support this growth, Porsche Design will come up with many new product highlights. Keep an eye on our Porsche Design timepieces range for example. Moreover, we will be expanding our sales structure for the Porsche Design luxury brand also. However, at this stage we don’t want to unveil details.

BT: What’s your business strategy to compete with other multi national players in India?

JG: We trust in our core competence: passion, performance, purism and precision. These characteristics are on demand all around the world. And in our products they are combined in a very unique way.

BT: According to the Indian consumers’ preference and body structure will you introduce some India-specific collections?

JG: Actually Porsche Design does not offer specific collections. However, our locations are proof that our products are well received all over the globe. And Porsche Design is delighted to share its uncompromising essence with the Indian customers. For example take Aftab Shivdasani, who joined the opening event in New Delhi. He has been very happy with our men’s collection as well as the sunglasses and liked it a lot!

BT: Is this licensed merchandise of famous automobile company Porsche? If yes, who are the licensing partners for this merchandise?

JG: The activities of the Porsche Design Group are focused on three business areas: Porsche Design, Porsche Design Driver’s Selection and the Porsche Design Studio in Zell am See, Austria. The brand Porsche Design Driver's Selection covers the vehicle-related product range for Porsche drivers and fans. The collection includes among other things model cars, distinctive fashion and lifestyle accessories, flexible luggage combinations for the cars and is distinguished by quality, functionality and sportive design. In comparison: With our brand Porsche Design we attract not only Porsche drivers but people who like timeless, functional and purist-design.

BT: Do you have any tie-ups with international designers? Do you have any plan to tie-up with Indian designers?

JG: Up to the present day, all Porsche Design products have followed the same clear, honest and uncompromising principles. “If you think about the function of something long enough, the design sometimes simply becomes obvious.” It is the philosophy of Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, the designer of the Porsche 911 and grandson of the Porsche founder, who established the Porsche Design brand in 1972. Since then its products have stood for functional, timeless and purist-design. The products are designed in the Porsche Design Studio in Zell am See (Austria) which today is among Europe’s most recognised design companies. Managing Director of the Porsche Design Studio is Roland Heiler. In this function he is responsible for the design signature for all products sold under the Porsche Design brand. Mr Heiler is a Member of the Industrial Designer Society of America as well as of the German Design Council.