Westside's Marketing Mantra is to Pop, Not Blend
By Rachit Juneja
May 22, 2021
“Absolute authenticity is a trait that will never go out of trend. One should produce content on the basis of how they want to represent it, and not how other people are creating theirs. This is what results in building a community of connections and resonance.” - Umashan Naidoo, Head – Customer & Beauty.
Westside is one of India’s largest and fastest growing chains of retail stores. The brand is an exclusive lifestyle departmental store, established in 1998 as a part of the Tata Group. It is a one-stop shop for compelling yet aspirational fashion. The store stocks a broad range of products ranging from apparel, footwear, accessories to cosmetics and perfumes to home accessories and gifts amongst others. Providing an international shopping ambience and superior merchandise at affordable prices, Westside is known to emanate confidence, optimism, vivacity and a youthful spirit.
Westside’s marketing and communication strategy is focused on building its exclusive brands within the store, engaging with its strong loyalty base and connecting with customers on digital mediums. The brand maintains a beautiful aesthetic on their social media handles, and believes in building healthy collaborations and relationships with the influencers they associate with. To find our more about their influencer marketing initiatives, we got in touch with Mr. Umashan Naidoo, Head – Customer & Beauty, and here’s what we found out:
For a particular campaign, how do you decide on influencer marketing for it?
“Every season we recognize the various shifts that have occurred with regards to trends, vis a vis our statistics - showing our brand and building the aesthetic and then sticking to it. We believe in keeping a check on stats, not just at the end of each season, but on a daily or weekly basis. We have 26 sub brands under the Westside. Each brand is divided into Modern and Contemporary. For Instance, Nuon is considered to be a fun and colourful brand for the everyday youth, so associating with influencers who match the vibe of the same, are the people we look for. Ultimately, what matters is the idea and how to stylishly pull it together on the smallest budget, so that it looks uber.
For instance, for #WomenWeLove, we associate, collaborate and talk to women who can shed light on their lives and inspire other women to pursue and follow their dreams. We also recognised that there are a bunch of nano influencers belonging to various categories like food, dance, yoga, lifestyle. We believe in collaborating with people in order to establish connection with them on an aesthetic level.”
How do you leverage the uniqueness of each influencer?
“First and foremost, the tone and voice of the brand has to be established, along with its amalgamation with the customer profile. For our customer profile, we abide by three mantras - they are curious, they seek instagrammable moments and they are on the lookout for digital and visual moments. In terms of our tone and voice, we’re confident with self belief, but not arrogant. With these two criterias as our brand bible, our managers for social media have a point of view, boundaries and direction. So, when they are engaging to seek people who could help stimulate interest and curiosity into the brand, these are parameters we keep in mind for our associations and content creation. We seek talent, not looks. We look at whether their content is building curiosity and engagement. If all these parameters are met, we forth and conquer these relationships.”
What is your opinion on long term association with influencers?
“I don't think it is very fashionable to be hooked onto one person only, when it comes to influencer marketing. We associate with a number of people who add value to the brand, and if they are innovative, agile and are always creating something exciting, we definitely hang on to them. However, if they are creating monotonous content and haven’t brought creativity to their craft, then that makes our brand difficult to stand out, as it’ll make us “blend”, not “pop”. I don't think anything in this field is everlasting, as everything that is a part of social media is only as good as the last 20 minutes.”
How has Covid 19 impacted your market?
“One thing our brands abide by is building relationships. Be it with influencers, celebrities, brands, or even individuals in general, we believe in giving in mutual respect and kindness. This way, in times of need, we’re all there for one another, which is the whole idea of “collaboration”. When Covid 19 struck all of us, we went back to our brand bible, refreshed it with things that are more relevant, and went for the cure. For our social media pages, we recognized that no one wants to talk about clothes in these unpleasant times. People want to indulge themselves into healing, and some sort of eating. So, that’s the kind of content we provide with our live Yoga, Zumba and Baking sessions.”
What is a recent trend in influencer marketing that you think is here to stay?
“Absolute authenticity is a trait that will never go out of trend. One should produce content on the basis of how they want to represent it, and not how other people are creating theirs. This is what results in building a community of connections and resonance. Be inspired, but at the same time, stay true to yourself and your identity - as that’s where the success lies in influencing. Trends come and go, but the people who stay are the people who are truly themselves and are confident in their own skin. Sticking to your own swimlane and making it incredible from there, is what is important.”
If you were to summarize your influencer marketing strategy in 1 word or a sentence, what would it be?
“This takes me back to our purpose - consciously making style simple for every moment. At any point in time, being present, accessible and available, is what we stand by. These are the key factors that drive all our strategies at Westside.”
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