The relaunch which began in Mumbai a fortnight ago is scheduled to move tothe South next month and then to the North early next year. The nationalrelaunch is expected to be complete by May 2000. The relaunch includes therelease of a new ad campaign, structural change in the product design andproduct price, and improvement in the distribution network to increaseavailability of the brand.

Manoj takes on Peter: As part of the media plan, the company released afive-series print campaign last week which is a direct hit oncompetition-especially the leading brand in the category, Peter England.Actor Manoj Bajpai was selected as the face of Vivaldi, and the voice whichpokes fun at the competition: ``Angrez toh chale gaye. Peter ko peeche chhodgaye''

With a tagline that urges the consumer to ``Do what you want. Just thinksmart yaar!'', the Lintas ads are trying to etch a down-to-earth Vivaldiidentity through Bajpai. Says Bombay Dyeing's vice-president (apparels) G SShrikhande: ``We wanted a personality who is a no-nonsense guy. We wanted anactor of intelligence who goes well with the brand. And Bajpai fitted intothis because he is an actor, not a star.''

Prior to the campaign, a teaser trial ran for a week asking people to guesswho will be wearing the new Vivaldi range. The television commercial is tobe released from November 20, 1999. Apart from releasing the campaign inprint and television, the company has also targeted hoardings and kiosks. InMumbai alone, about 50 hoardings, 500 kiosks and 8 bus shelters have beenused to communicate the new `Vivaldi' range. The company is spending Rs 60lakh on advertising in Mumbai. Depending on individual states, the campaignswill run on different channels. Like, says Shrikhande: ``While the relaunchtakes place in Andhra Pradesh, the campaign will run more on Eenadu and inAsianet when it happens in Kerala.''

Buttonholing price: In terms of product price, the company has rationalisedthe price points. Instead of the nearly dozen price points in the Vivaldirange, the company has rationalised it down to 6-7 price points. Earlier,the range started from Rs 249 onwards with polycose as one of the fabrics.The company has knocked off the particular fabric and is now selling onlypolycotton and cotton with the price ranging from Rs 349 to Rs 649. SaysShrikhande: ``We want to become a top brand.''

The product variations too have been rationalised. Earlier, the company usedto introduce more than 100 designs in a month for the Vivaldi range. ``Butpeople used to find it very confusing to select a particular shirt from ahorde of shirts,'' says Shrikhande. To avoid that, the company has not onlyreduced the number of designs to 50 per month but structurally arranged themwith a theme running for 12 designs.

So in checks, a theme runs from micro checks to big checks. As a result, itis easier for the dealer to stack the range and convenient for the customerto choose. Again, in the earlier fold-design, there were a number of pinsholding the shirt in place. In the new range, only one pin holds the collar,the purpose being to project Vivaldi as a customer-friendly brand.

Sewing up reach: To make the brand available more easily, the company hasincreased the number of outlets from 12 to 34 in Mumbai. Of them, four areexclusive outlets. For the first time, Bombay Dyeing has also gone in forexclusive outlets for the Vivaldi range of shirts. At a national level,Vivaldi is present in 200 outlets. The company is targeting 600 outlets byMay 2000. According to Shrikhande: ``Of 600, 20-25 per cent would benon-exclusive outlets and 12 per cent exclusive. The remaining will bemultibrand outlets.'' With the relaunch rolling out, Bombay Dyeing is nowmoving to a target. Within the next 6 to 8 months, it hopes to double marketshare from the current three per cent. That's of course if Peter England,Zodiac, Arrow and Park Avenue, choose not to `think smart'.

Old Vivaldi for sale
IT'S all very well launching `a new range'-but what do you do with the oldstuff? Bombay Dyeing has come up with a unique solution for clearing Vivaldishirts from Mumbai shelves: phase out the old stock by putting up sales inother states where the relaunch is yet to take place. About 5,000 shirtsfrom the old range in Mumbai are thus currently on sale in other states,across the country!