Raymond - The Complete Man's Brand

In January 2002, the leading Indian textile and apparel company, Raymond India Ltd. (Raymond) announced that it would change the advertising agency for its textile division. Raymond shifted the Rs 350 million¹ advertising account from Enterprise Nexus (Enterprise) to RK Swamy/BBDO (BBDO).

The company's decision surprised many industry observers. Analysts believed that the focused advertising campaign by Enterprise was responsible for positioning Raymond as the leader in the textile market. Responding to Raymond's account shift, Rajiv Agarwal, MD, Enterprise had earlier said, "I think it is a pity if Raymond were to move, and I am not saying it because I was a part of the team here.

He believed that though Enterprise, over the years, had been consistent in its advertising of Raymond, it seemed to have been moving away from its emotional approach towards a fashion and attitude-centric approach during the early 2000s. He said, "Some of the recent work done by Raymond is very much what the category (other players) is doing. And that is quite uncharacteristic of Raymond." Some analysts felt that the campaign had been stretched too long and had therefore lost its sheen. A senior executive of an advertising agency said, "The Complete Man is limiting because almost everything that had to be explored about the 'complete man' has been explored - His love for his family has been explored.