Relaxo: India’s Leading Footwear Brand with Star-Studded Marketing

RELAXO began its journey in 1976 as a small manufacturing unit in Delhi producing Hawaii slippers. Over nearly 5 decades of strategic marketing and quality production, it has grown into one of India’s largest footwear brands, catering to the mass market with affordable and fashionable shoes.

About RELAXO

RELAXO was founded by brothers Ramesh and Rajeev Dua, who leveraged their understanding of the average Indian consumer to build comfy and wallet-friendly footwear. Starting with basic flip-flops, RELAXO now makes a wide range of shoes including floaters, sandals, ballerinas, and sports shoes across brands like Sparx, Flite, and Bahamas.

Its manufacturing facilities are spread across India with factories in Bahadurgarh, Haridwar, Baddi, and Gujarat. In 2020, RELAXO produced a record-breaking 100 million pairs of shoes.

What’s New with RELAXO?

Staying relevant to changing consumer needs has been key to RELAXO’s success. Some recent developments include:

Launch of more athleisure and sports shoes targeting health-conscious youth
Increased focus on environmentally sustainable production
Opening 400 new retail stores in 2022 to deepen market reach
Collaboration with Disney for kid’s footwear collections

Buyer Personas

RELAXO targets two main profiles of shoe buyers in India:

Rural Residents & Factory Worker

Tight budget but likes stylish and branded items
Buys shoes for durability and comfort walking long distances
Influenced by TV ads and shops in nearby town

Urban Youth & College Student

Looks for both comfort and fashionable designs
Money-conscious but willing to spend more on bigger brands
Makes most purchases online after checking Instagram trends

RELAXO’s Marketing Mix: Crafting the Right Strategy for Mass Market Success

As one of India’s foremost affordable footwear brands, RELAXO has tailored each element of its marketing mix to appeal to mass market buyers across the country. By balancing aspects like product range, pricing, distribution and promotions, it has carved a winning strategy to achieve scale and leadership.

Product Strategy

RELAXO’s extensive product catalogue is designed to cater to every family member with options spanning price points and usage occasions. For women, it offers a vast range spanning flats, heels, sandals, slippers etc. in materials like PVC, leather, canvas and jute.

Trendy prints, buckles, bows, sequins and embroidery provide contemporary styling. For men, RELAXO has formal shoes, sneakers, sandals and chappals in both classic and modern silhouettes. Durable soles and breathable fabrics ensure comfort.

Kids enjoy popular animation characters on floaters and active sports shoes for school or play. New collections launch seasonally – anti-slip waterproof shoes in monsoons or cool cotton slipons in summer. Limited edition collections with Disney or superheroes add excitement.

Across categories, the focus is on fresh designs suiting Indian sensibilities, usage comfort aided by quality materials and affordable pricing points from ₹500 to ₹2000. This built-for-India product strategy positions RELAXO as a complete footwear destination for the entire family.

Price Strategy

Pricing is a crucial lever to maintain affordability while preserving profitability. RELAXO adopts value-based pricing to provide quality at a cost advantage over competing brands. Prices range from ₹500 entry-level options in basic PVC to ₹2000 for premium leather casuals and formals. Key pricing approaches include:

Penetration pricing for high-volume basic models like Hawaii chappals to attract bottom-of-pyramid consumers.
Skimming pricing for new launches likes sports shoes to tap early adopters while positioning as premium.
Institutional tie-ups like supplying bulk orders to schools, hospitals at discounted rates to gain share.
Tactical promotions like monsoon sales, festival offers to liquidate excess stock.

This optimal balance between consumer cost and company margins has expanded RELAXO’s customer base extensively.

Place Strategy

Ease of availability has been critical to RELAXO’s widespread adoption. It sells through 3 retail channels:

Traditional Outlets:

500+ exclusive brand outlets across Tier 1/2 cities displaying complete range
Multi-brand dealers with dedicated RELAXO section in 3500+ cities including rural areas
Door-to-door sales representatives servicing remote locations

Modern Commerce: Strategic partnerships with e-commerce platforms:

Myntra, Flipkart, Amazon to sell online
Dedicated website and mobile app foreasy self-service shopping
Social commerce via FB, Instagram through influencer marketing

Emerging Channels: Experimenting with new retail concepts:

Shop-in-shop stores at malls targeting youth
Experience centers at key outlets for personalized trials

This expansive physical and digital distribution footprint puts RELAXO products within easy reach across urban and rural India.

Promotion Strategy

RELAXO undertakes multimedia promotions with a mass-market lens. Television remains the primary medium given India’s broadcasting reach. Its high-decibel TV ads account for almost 50% of total ad spends. These showcase top celebrities like Salman Khan and Ranveer Singh wearing RELAXO shoes while dancing to foot-tapping jingles. The youthful energy and star power drive brand recall.

Print ads in mainstream dailies and regional languages maintain visibility. In-shop branding through wall murals, catalogs and product bundling attracts retail customers. BTL activations like melas sponsorship and college campus marketing also help experiential marketing. Growing focus is now on digital media – viral YouTube shorts, influencer marketing on Instagram and hyperlocal promotion on ShareChat.

This strategic 360-degree promotion via mass media vehicles ensures RELAXO remains top-of-mind.

The success of RELAXO’s balanced marketing mix lies rooting strategy in Indian consumer contexts. Affordability takes precedence over profits, small-town penetration over metro presence and traditional channels on par with modern ones in outreach considerations. Keeping this Indian essence at its core even as it modernizes positions RELAXO sturdily to scale greater heights in the future.

Competitor Analysis

RELAXO competes with both established brands and regional players.

Bata – Leading formal & casual footwear brand with pan-India presence but declining market share
Metro – Affordable shoes produced by local companies like Ajanta, Lakhani, Action targeted at rural and semi-urban areas
Lotto – Niche sportswear brand gaining ground along with growing fitness culture

While competition is increasing, RELAXO retains leadership due to scale, reach, brand trust and understanding consumer needs.

The X-Factor Behind RELAXO’s Success

A unique aspect of RELAXO’s strategy was leveraging celebrity brand ambassadors like Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar. Their mass youth appeal resonated with target customers, built awareness and shaped preferences.

Regional brand ambassadors like Sonakshi Sinha also helped strengthen penetration in Tier 2/3 cities. Their combined star power has made RELAXO a household name, associated with quality, style and reliability at a reasonable price.

This strategic leveraging of celebrity endorsements to tap into consumer aspirations has been pivotal to RELAXO’s rise as to the numero uno affordable footwear brand in India.

The Road Ahead

RELAXO is strengthening capabilities across the board – manufacturing excellence, distribution expansion, product innovation and digitization to consolidate leadership.

Exciting times lie ahead as RELAXO strives towards its vision ‘To provide footwear to every foot’!