Abstract

In 2018, Dilip Kapur (Kapur), founder and president of Hidesign, was on the horns of a dilemma. Over the last 40 years, he had built up Hidesign, which was considered to be one of the first brands from India to have succeeded in the global fashion marketplace. While his global ambitions remained intact, Kapur felt that India was where the real action lay when it came to the future of Hidesign. But the Indian market posed its own set of challenges though it was growing at 15% per annum compared to the global rate of 3-5%. Kapur’s aim was to grow at 25% but he was still thinking about where that growth would come from. Should Hidesign focus on other channels? Should it go upward on the pyramid where it would face established global brands such as Michael Kors, Coach, and so on, vying for a market that was smaller and very tough? Or, should it go downward on the pyramid into a larger market with a less expensive sub-brand? How would he maintain the positioning then? Would it come at the cost of diluting the Hidesign brand for regular customers?

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the concepts of brand equity, brand concept management, brand extension, etc.
• Understand the issues and challenges in vertical brand extension.
• Understand the significance and challenge posed in positioning while extending a brand vertically online and offline
• Explore ways in which Hidesign can employ a product/brand strategy to grow at a rate faster than the market.

Keywords

Brand management; brand extension; vertical brand extension strategy; extending brand upmaket; extending brand downmarket; brand equity; brand concept; brand concept management; Function-oriented brand concept; Prestige-oriented brand concept; brand dilution; Product line strategy; positioning; business strategy; competitive advantage