While businesses around the world grappled with these questions, the answers, surprisingly, come from Ebrahim Currim Sons, an umbrella manufacturer in Mumbai who has withstood, and even grown, in the face of competition from low cost Made in China umbrellas.
Couple of years ago, umbrellas made in China had invaded Mumbai. Instead of surrendering, Ebrahim Currim Sons faced the competition through an innovative business model branded umbrellas. Currims approached brands to advertise on their umbrellas. Major brands such as Nestle, Castrol, CNN, printed their logos and messages on Stag umbrellas, thereby subsidising the cost to the consumer.
Stag also launched colourful designer umbrellas for men catering to the growing tribe of Mumbaikars wanting to stand out. Further, segmentation of the market led to the launch of a range for kids and choices between multicoloured and singlecoloured umbrellas. Stag was able to survive the onslaught from the cheaper Chinese umbrella because of the vision of the owners.
Stag umbrellas, ventured into the field of umbrella making, in the year 1860, with the mission of becoming a topnotch manufacturer and supplier of a wide range of umbrellas. Today, the mission has been achieved as the company is counted among the leading manufacturer ans Supplier of umbrellas.
The first production unit in Kerala was set up here in 1902. The company now has five units including one each in Mumbai, Chennai and Mangalore.
Quality had been our mainstay all along, and customer dissatisfaction pained us, says 46yearold Aziz Currim, partner and a greatgrandson of Ebrahim Currim himself. The company abandoned the price war, vowing to improve quality. At a higher price, sales of the improved Stag umbrellas actually increased.
Then Currims started innovating. It had tried diversifying from the standard black model before, with limited success. But now, India was caught up in consumerist frenzy. Stag offered its umbrellas for branding, and makers of cell phones, automobiles, and nonalcoholic beverages all paid happily for the chance to slap logos where everyone would see them for three months a year.
Noting the new fashion consciousness of Indian men, the Currims relaunched designer umbrellas that had failed to catch on a generation before. This time, teenagers and young adults lapped up the funky designs and cool colours. Suddenly, the Currims solution seemed simple Identify customer types and their needs, and satisfy them with specialised, highquality products.
So Stag launched umbrellas with a builtin highpower flashlight for those who walk unlit roads at night, and models with prerecorded tunes for music lovers. For women who walk on secluded streets after dark, theres Stags Bodyguard model, armed with glare lights, emergency blinkers and an alarm. Aziz says customers pay up to a 100 premium for the new products.
In hindsight, it looks like a great strategy. Actually, we were just trying to survive, he admits. The company says it has halted marketshare losses and returned to profitability. And now in monsoons, the grand old black Stags still reappear on the streets of Mumbaibut now, priced 15 higher.
Currims have stores in Mumbai, Chennai, Kozhikode and Mangalore. Taking credit for a great cultural leap, Aziz says, Chhatri comes from the word Kshatriya, meaning protector. In the olden days, the common man did not use an umbrella. We taught people to switch from palm leaves to umbrellas.
