Tete-e-tete With Venu Nair: MD Marks n Spencer

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We all are well aware of the brand Marks & Spenser. It is a brand that has successfully marked its presence abroad as well as in India. But do we know the person behind the success of M&S. Venu Nair, Managing Director, Marks & Spenser Reliance India Pvt Ltd is the man behind the scenes. He got associated with M&S in 2004 and never looked back since then.

So, Boldsky did a small tete-e-tete with Venu Nair in order to know more about him and M&S.

What according to you is the USP of Marks & Spencer as a fashion label?

We are an international retailer who offers stylish products at prices which are extremely affordable. So, what we bring to the market and customers is aspirational products. Our products are affordable because of the value positioning we have, and this has been the strength of our brand. The fact that we have been in this country for the last few years now and strongly connected with the consumers and customers have helped us to successfully establish ourselves in India.

Marks & Spencer is perceived as a lingerie brand by many. How would you react to that?

Lingerie is one of our important business units, and we are a market leader of it internationally. However, we are also the largest retailer in UK for womenswear and got a market share in a nexus of 11 percent. You can see we have 5 sub brands which cater to different occasions. What we have found in India is that the customer appreciates what we offer.

You have collaborated with reliance industries for entering the food market. What are your future plans?

The joint venture was found in 2008 and we have been associated with Reliance since then. It is an extremely beneficial partnership which has been working very well and we want to continue with that.

What is the complete list of merchandise that Marks & Spencer produces?

We cater to 5 business units; womenswear, menswear, lingerie, kids wear and beauty. Within each of these, we have sub brands. In womenswear, we have 5 sub-brands namely Peruna which is very feminine, colourful, and meant for a lady who is looking for very vibrant attire. Next we have autograph which is sophisticated, chic and smart. Then we have Limited which is more edgy, and fashion.

Are you planning to promote any Indian celebrity as the face of Mark & Spencer?

I can't comment on our future plans.

Which cities have maximum sales for your products? Is it one of the big metro cities like Mumbai and Delhi or fashion conscious cosmopolitans like Bangalore?

I think rather than talking of a city, it is the location which is important. We are going to locations where the market is there. We are trying to be close to our potential customers and our selection of stores have been extremely good because of which, each store does extremely well. That is the reason that we are growing aggressively.

Questions Courtesy: Anwesha