Branded Stallion and Gazel, the totes will be colourful and with contemporary designs to appeal to the young traveller. The focus on the youth segment is part of the company's larger strategy to establish its soft luggage brand Skybags anew, and to take on the unorganised sector which dominates the soft luggage market. ``We were not taking the youth segment seriously at all,'' admits the company spokesperson of VIP Industries Ltd, which claims to be Asia's No: 1 luggage manufacturer and the world's second biggest.

``We want to outperform in the soft luggage segment which is currently growing at 30 per cent. We want to capture a major chunk of this market. Theunorganised sector finds it hard to establish a brand and that is where we can cash in,'' says the VIP spokesperson.

Pertinently, starting with a revamp of its Skybags range in terms of design and textures--and a spew of new models to cater to different segments and covering various price points-VIP Industries is also keen to build its brand through initiatives like promos and contests. Consider the initiatives on the roll:

n Also on the anvil this month is a new model--Skybags Atlantis--designed specially for those consumers who seek tougher soft luggage. Priced at Rs 2,095 and Rs 2,995, the Atlantis range combines the portability and lightness of soft luggage with the toughness and durability of hard luggage. A 21-inch Atlantis will also be launched in the cabin luggage Strolly segment at Rs 2,145.

n To widen the target audience for its Strolly, VIP has improved the designs and rolled out three new models taking the Strolly's total tally to six. ``The Skybags Strolly was getting very boring. We had tobring some excitement to the segment,'' says the spokesperson. The 21-inch Strolly EXS, priced at Rs 2,125 has been designed specifically for air travel, while the Rs 2,595 Strolly EXL has been given gold-plated and leather trimmings, an internal trolley mechanism and an in-built skid plate.

n VIP has also updated its website and launched a new travel portal website-the VIP Travellers' Guide. ``The idea is to make it more interactive and give the browser a reason to come back to our site,'' says the spokesperson. The guide links the VIP brand with travel and offers the consumer a complete travel information package as well as details of VIP products. The website has been designed to take care of all the needs of the modern traveller, in India and abroad. To get browsers hooked, VIP is currently holding a contest `Let Your Mind Travel'. In the first month of its launch, May 1999, VIP claims to have got more than 800 entries and in the first week of June, it got 200 entries.

The changes at the product fronthave been communicated through its new ad campaigns launched in May this year. While earlier, the ads hinged on the status symbol-`Do allow your reputation to precede your arrival'-the current ads are more travel oriented. The campaign promoting the Equator and the Strolly range for instance, exhorts the consumer head on: `Where next?' Through its other ads, the company is trying to portray its wide product portfolio. The company spends about six per cent of its sales on advertising and about 1.7 per cent on R&D. It achieved a sales turnover of Rs 268 crore in 1998-99, as against Rs 248.84 crore in the previous year, recording an increase of 7.8 per cent. A member of the Mumbai-based Rs 800-crore DGP Enterprises Group headed by Dilip G Piramal, VIP has a two-thirds share of the Indian organised luggage market and 97 per cent brand awareness.

The total size of the luggage market in India is estimated at Rs 1,200 crore of which 55 per cent is captured by the unorganised sector while 45 per cent accrues to theorganised sector. The total luggage market in the country is estimated to be growing at 10-12 per cent-while the rate of growth for soft luggage alone is 30 per cent.