In an interview with EE, Sanjay Behl, CEO, Raymond Lifestyle, spoke about how the company is leveraging experiential to create immersive brand connect.

Brands are moving beyond traditional marketing and associating with platforms that bring the brand experience alive. One of the latest examples of this is Raymond’s association with MTV India Music Summit. In an interview with EE, Sanjay Behl, CEO, Raymond Lifestyle, spoke about the association and how it offers Raymond a unique opportunity to leverage the brand connect.

Excerpts:

Tell us about this association between Raymond and MTV India Music Summit?

Raymond is an iconic Indian brand which has a legacy of 93 years. It has always stood for strong Indian values and ethos. In fact, not only Indian music, Raymond has been strongly associated with Indian art and craft too. We have been supporting ‘Khadi movement’ wherein we have tie-ups with 200,000 artisans across the country.

We have also been supporting earthy causes portrayed through films like ‘Sui Dhaga’. We supported the Commonwealth and Asian games athletes from India. So, MTV Indian Music Summit is that extension of Raymond as a brand that wants to support a cause that is truly Indian.

How would you describe the common elements that connect brand Raymond with this music summit?

The show brings not only the genres of the country together, but also the musical ethos with the kind of the artists who are performing at the summit like--violinist Dr L Subramanian, Maestros Shujaat Khan, Bhimsen Joshi, Parveen Sultana, renowned musicians such as Shankar Mahadevan, Kailash Kher, Hariharan and many more. So it presents a very rich diversity and heritage of India, very similar to what Raymond is. Raymond presents an extremely rich diversity of fabrics, it’s not just the exports in wool, but we also have expertise in cotton as we make some of the finest linen in the world, very similar to the richness that Indian music bestows.

How is Raymond evolving as a brand from being an apparel company to exploring diverse experiential vistas?

We have been on a journey from being a wardrobe company to evolving into a truly immersive lifestyle brand. We are in a process of evolving from a product company to a solution and a lifestyle experiential company. In that journey, for anything that is embracing lifestyle as a connect; Raymond is going to be there.

Has Raymond taken a strategic decision to venture into the realms of music, entertainment and arts?

Yes, it is a strategic partnership not for a short term but for five years, and that may be extendable. We are looking at supporting everything long term that is rooted in India, that people want to partner with or something that celebrates or embraces the Indian ethos.

How do you see traditional marketing versus experiential marketing?

I think the traditional marketing is more of 20th century marketing, whereas experiential marketing caters to the millennials, where the technology has democratised access to almost all the brands and products today. Experiential is the next wave for the real sustainable differentiation and creating a compelling advantage for most of the brands, like ours specially.