Build A Brand With A Story That Touches The Audiences
In conversation with Everything Experiential, Barun Prabhakar, Marketing Head, Liberty Shoes, revealed how his company built a brand that attracted a larger audience among young Indians.
Here are some excerpts from the interview:
Liberty is becoming youthful with its marketing strategies, what is driving this approach?
Liberty is a name that any Indian could relate to easily, may it be their 90s fashion statement or their school memories, no one can deny Liberty’s presence in their life. And the same baggage has been a challenge for us at times when you have such a strong mindshare among the customers.
"we worked on the product mix, its design language, and the price mix and created a buzz in the industry"
Barun Prabhakar
Over the last few years, we have been trying to smoothly transition the brand identity of Liberty without compromising on its legacy. To connect with the younger India, we launched new brands under Liberty, we worked on the product mix, its design language and on the price mix and created a buzz in the industry. Every campaign that we do now is backed with a strong concept, which is relevant in today’s time.
With our latest campaign, “Sitaare Aise Hi Nahi Bante Mehnat Karni Padti Hai AM To PM“, the concept was to acknowledge and celebrate the immense strength that a hustler needs in order to work hard consistently on an everyday basis in order to achieve one’s dreams. Also, the campaign touches on the issue of women being considered “delicate” in our society and attempts to break the stereotype. Furthermore, the strategic thought behind selecting Ayushmann Khuranna & Rakul Preet as Liberty’s brand ambassadors was to strengthen the connection with young consumers.
"Having an in-house creative team gives you better control over creative experiments and timeline controls"
Barun Prabhakar
How are you managing both creative and marketing without the agency on board?
Having an in-house creative team gives you better control over creative experiments and timeline controls. Sometimes it tricks the brain, as I feel a creative person (creator) is more like a mother, who carries his child (idea) in the womb (brain) for weeks, and months, and with every passing day they feel the growth of it. It is more of an emotional investment, on the other hand being a marketer is like being a father, who at the end of the day wants to see his child (idea) a successful individual.
A creator has a long, detailed wishlist, has a very fine eye for nuances which ultimately brings out the best communication, at the same time the marketeer is more focused on the ROI, and the key deliverables. So, it becomes a little tricky while playing both characters at the same time. But the good part is, the final outcome is well nurtured.
Liberty has recently sponsored the reality show Jhalak Dikhla Jaa, how has the response been to it?
To reach our target audience, we wanted to collaborate with a reality show which has an impactful presence as well as relates to our campaign’s concept. Keeping this in mind, we finalised our sponsorship with Jhalak Dikhla Jaa, and the response was truly phenomenal. If you look at the show format, it narrates the same statement, success doesn’t come easy, and one needs to put his best –am to pm.
What is your strategy regarding experiential marketing?
Currently, we are working on experiential marketing for our upcoming campaigns of Liberty’s other homegrown brand; Healers. So, I would like to keep it under the wrap for now.
