Bangalore a global fashion hub?

FASHION: Karnataka ready with 50 acres to bag the prestigious project.
A melting pot of styles and influences from countries across the globe; a dazzling boutique for international visitors to enjoy the latest trends in fashion from hair-bands, shoes andlates bags to apparel and jewellery; immense business opportunities for manufacturers, sellers and designers; an excellent platform for students to get hands-on experience in the fashion industry. Visualise all this under one roof and what may come to your mind is the international fashion hub in Hong Kong or that in Paris. Well, hold on. As we ready for another season of fashion, here is some news for the brand conscious and the fashion savvy to cheer. If the government of Karnataka has its way, the days are not far when Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, will join the line of these cities with the ‘world boutique’ tag.
In its continued endeavour to sell ‘Brand Bangalore’ to the international community, the government of Karnataka is learnt to be vying for the international fashion hub status, for which Delhi is also in the race.
Since quite some time, the Centre is keen on setting up an international fashion hub in the country. Delhi has shown interest in the project. However, due to the lack of suitable land, the project has not yet taken off. Meanwhile, the government of Karnataka, which has got suitable land in its possession, is trying to grab this opportunity, sources in the state government told.
Considering a proposal to push for the international fashion hub status to Bangalore, the government of Karnataka has conceded to make an initial allotment of 50 acres of land for the project, as against the requirement of 100 acres. The land is situated at the state-developed Doddaballapur apparel park in the outskirts of Bangalore. Due to its proximity to the new international airport and NH-2, the land is ideally located for the project, said a government official.
The detailed project report is under preparation. Once the report is ready, the state will take it forward to the Centre and will try to sell the idea ahead of any other state, the official said.
The fashion hub is envisaged to involve an investment of Rs 500 crore, to begin with. Grants and investments will be sought from the Centre, respective state governments and other stakeholders. The idea is to seek representation from all states of the country to showcase their specialty products. World-class restaurants, hotels, convention halls and many other facilities will feature in the fashion hub. It will be a one-stop solution for brands, suppliers, manufacturers, designers and models from all corners of the world.
Bangalore is fast emerging as an important sourcing hub for international top brands in apparel and accessories. There are more than 2,000 textile and garment units in Bangalore. The city is also the silk capital of India accounting for about 50 per cent of country’s silk output. Bangalore has also achieved fame for its gold and diamond jewellery. Being an IT/BT hub, and a medical tourist destination, the city attracts people from different countries. All these factors, along with the pleasant climate strongly favour Bangalore’s development into a fashion hub, feel designers and style experts.
About 30 companies have bought land in the Doddaballapur apparel park and a few of them, including Everblue Apparel Ltd, Bombay Rayon, Himatsingka Seide, and Amtek industries, have already moved in. The park is spread across 187 acres and the government is planning to go ahead with the second phase of expansion. However, there are several infrastructure issues that need to be addressed before any expansion takes place, say industry experts.

Best Global Brands 2008

Rank: 1

Company: Coca Cola Inc
Coca-Cola took the top spot among the Top 10 Global Brands 2008 for the eighth year in a row. Its sales surged in Asia, with Olympic sponsorship boosting its profile. But at the home front, the company continued to record sluggish sales.

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Company: IBM
IT major International Business Machines (IBM) pushed ahead of Microsoft for the first change to the top four since at least 2001.

Rank: 3

Company: Microsoft Corporation
Bill Gates brainchild Microsoft Corporation held the third position in 2008.

Rank: 4

Company: GE
GE held onto fourth position among the Best Global Brands 2008.

Rank: 5

Company: Nokia
Finnish telecom company Nokia was at no 5, amid all the iPhone buzz across the globe. Its reputation for quality put it far ahead of rivals in India and other emerging markets.

Rank: 6

Company: Toyota
Car maker Toyota held the sixth position in the list of Top 10 Global Brands for 2008.

Rank: 7

Company: Intel
The annual study on the hottest brands in the world showed that tech companies put on the strongest showing while financial companies were the weakest.

Rank: 8

Company: McDonald's
To qualify for inclusion in the Best Global Brands 2008 list, each brand must derive at least a third of its earnings outside its home country, be recognisable outside of its base of customers, and have publicly available marketing and financial data.

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Company: Walt Disney
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Company: Google Inc
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Govt-run financial brands ’ve upper hand

FINANCIAL brands are built on the bedrock of trust and expertise. But with the US-led global financial meltdown spawning an undercurrent of fear and distrust among millions of investors, employees and consumers alike, brand experts say that government-run Indian financial brands like SBI and LIC seem to have an edge, as they are built on strong relationships and a trust that emanates from an implicit sovereign guarantee rather than a claimed ‘expertise’ that many of the (now failed or failing) marquee global names used to harp on. Says SBI Life Insurance MD Uday Shankar Roy: “Government funded financial institutions have always been criticised for being stringent with the regulations and investments. But, we must understand that ultra-modern risk-monitoring practices adopted in the West have failed miserably. Considering the present scenario, the central banking regulatory authority in India stands the strongest. The traditional monitoring and investment practices will certainly see an upswing now.”The meltdown will hit the sheen of western brands hard and a conscious move towards Indian brands will be
noticed among the Indian consumers. Says Ogilvy & Mather India country head (discovery & planning) Madhukar Sabnavis: “Trust is what business relationships in the East are built upon. Culturally, in India, as long as trust remains consumers are willing to live with business ups and downs and accept that as a part of life. Indians as a race is forgiving and hence the importance of trust.”
Public sector banks riding high on credibility have underscored robust growth in the recent times. According to the recent ET-Brand Finance India’s Top 50 Most Valuable (Company) Brands 2008 study, India’s largest bank State Bank of India emerged as the most valuable financial services brand value at Rs 16,595 crore. While Punjab National Bank’s brand valuation escalated by about Rs 570 crore in 2007-08, Bank of India has shown a growth of over 50% as against the previous year. In comparison, now bankrupt Lehman Brothers had shown a drop in its brand value in 2007 ($4 billion) from $4.4 billion in 2006, according to Brand Finance’s annual report on 500 most valuable global brands.
Given the volatility of global financial market and lessons learnt from the South-Asian crisis, subprime crisis and present meltdown, the ideology of safety and security have superseded the ‘cool image and dynamism’ plank. Brand experts across various sectors have echoed the strong sentiment of building relations as the essence of Indian business practices. Says Publicis Asia regional strategist Partha Sinha: “Indian financial brands are build on relationships whereas multi-national have always been expertise driven. But now this edifice of ‘expertise’ is coming unstuck.”
Even as the US suffers from major financial crisis, Tata AIG Life claims to be well capitalised and is confident of meeting stringent local regulatory and capital requirements. “Since the Tata Group holds major stake (74%) in the company, the credibility earned by the conglomerate shields Tata AIG Life from any immediate material impact,” says the company statement.
Future Brands CEO Santosh Desai feels: “Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers and too a certain extent AIG are not too big brands for an average Indian. Moreover, the credibility lend by the brand Tata maintains the faith among the stakeholders.”Financial institutions in India see a silver lining amidst the crisis. For instance, Reliance Money acknowledges this scenario as the right time for expansion in the international markets. Says Reliance Money CEO Sudeep Bandopadhyay: “With a century-old American banks collapsing, I think, it is a wonderful opportunity for Indian banks to go international with their intrinsic values. We also see it as a good time to acquire quality assets.”