Says Nitin Kasliwal, director, S Kumars Group: ``In one year we've been able to establish Reid & Taylor as one of the leading brands in the worsted fabric business. Now we will broaden our focus to boost ready-to-wear sales.''

Kasliwal is expecting ready-to wear brands to secure sales of Rs 150 crore in the next couple of years, which will rise to Rs 500 crore in the next four years. As for the Reid & Taylor brand, he expects it to contribute Rs 170 crore in a couple of years, on peak utilisation of its five million metres a year installed capacity.

``We will double our worsted fabric capacity in the next four years,'' says Kasliwal. ``We want to be among the top two worsted fabric makers in a five- year horizon.'' At present, Reid & Taylor is operating at three-fourths its installed capacity with exports accounting for around 20 per cent of sales.

In line with its strategy to roll out products in all markets simultaneously rather than pursuing a segmented approach, S Kumars will introduce new ready-to-wear brands in the mid-level and upper-level categories.

While the mid-level will incorporate a complete wardrobe for male, female and children the upper-level will address only men. A mid-level shirt will be in the price range of Rs 400-Rs 600 while an upper end shirt will cost Rs 550-Rs 1,000.

S Kumars is beginning with the male wardrobe in the mid-level category in November this year while the garments for women and kids in the mid-level category and for men in the upper level will be introduced in a phased manner next year.

S Kumars will kick off a major advertising campaign for the garment brands-it's in the process of finalising names for these brands in conjunction with creative agencies Percept and Triton-in November this year.

In addition to its 100 direct retailers, the expansion of exclusive Reid & Taylor showrooms is expected to establish the Reid & Taylor presence in all markets-the brand is said to be selling well in the markets of Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi and Gujarat.

``All our showrooms will have a standardised ambience and design with a colour coordination of green and gold,'' says Kasliwal. ``Most of these will be franchised operations though we may own a dozen exclusive showrooms in metros.''

The chain of Reid & Taylor showrooms will have a mix of mega stores, measuring 4,000 sqft-5,000 sqft and 1,000-2,000 sqft. A typical 2,000 sqft showroom will entail an investment of Rs 25 lakh.

Bond with the Best
Moving from the brand-centric advertising last year, the Reid & Taylor campaign for the new fiscal 2000-2001 will highlight product attributes along with the brand promise.

The Reid & Taylor brand is expected to be supported with an advertising spending of over Rs 12 crore. ``The campaign will leverage the brand's association with James Bond and entice consumers by putting the focus on the product,'' says Kasliwal.

In line with the launch of the winter collection-Reid & Taylor is adding 50 Scottish, Italian and other European designs to last year's 300-a new campaign, handled by Percept, will be launched towards July-end 2000 which is expected to stay through December 2000.

Targeted at the upscale audience, Reid & Taylor will continue with its brand platform of `Bond with the Best' and run TVCs in lifestyle, sports and entertainment channel, besides taking major position in print and outdoor media.

Reid & Taylor is a premium worsted fabric with an average price of Rs 575 per metre at the retail market. The imported portfolio of Reid & Taylor is priced between Rs 1,500 and Rs 3,000 a metre. Besides having a foreign designer based at its plant in India, Reid & Taylor also sources design inputs under a technical collaboration from Reid & Taylor, UK.