India: Reebok zones in on Indian women

Subinder Singh, managing director, Reebok India, said further similar concept stores are planned: "We intend to have 10 Woman's World stores across major metros by the year-end."

The stores will be positioned as a lifestyle resource for fitness inspiration.

The company is also planning an aggressive advertising campaign, which would cover both print and outdoor, created by J. Walter Thompson India.

Reebok International has always been known for its emphasis on getting the right product mix for women, and it is going with 'gut feel' as it brings this initiative to India. "When a concept is staring us in the face, we didn't want to fall into a 'paralysis by analysis' trap. While people talked about rising female power, it has started manifesting itself in obvious ways only in the last two years," said Singh.

Reebok is also doing its part to expand the fitness trend -through the Reebok Instructor Alliance programme, it has trained 600 fitness instructors, 95 per cent of whom are women. "This activity has shown us that there is a big boom in women taking to fitness, wearing new, westernised clothing.

There is acceptance of branded products, and paying for value-for-money," said Singh.

Apart from the weekly presence of fitness instructors at stores, the stores will have an equal mix of clothes, accessories and shoes. All designs in the women's store will be sourced from Reebok's international collections and made in India through contract manufacturers.

Reebok India has an annual turnover of around US$37.75 million and is looking at 50 per cent growth this year. India is also the first country outside the US where the brand leads the race among multinational brands, such as Adidas and Nike. It has also been first off the block with product and marketing innovations in the country - India earned Reebok's internal 'best subsidiary' award last year for the best team, risk-taking and sales growth.