India: Tantra's brand philosophy is first world creativity at third world prices

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India: Tantra's brand philosophy is first world creativity at third world prices

Ranjiv Ramchandani, Director, Tantra, has turned the humble t-shirt into a witty apparel. The Tantra brand, which started as an experiment, and with a budget of just a lakh of rupees, continues to grab the attention of the Indian youth. Tantra has made it fashionable to wear India on your sleeve. In conversation with Textile Excellence.

Define Tantra's personality as a t-shirt brand.

Tantra is a cool, cutting-edge ideas-based t-shirt brand for the brown race, and for the world at large. A t-shirt without an idea is like food without salt. Humour plays a big part in the brand's personality and style of functioning. The bottom-line is, do not take life too seriously. Chill out, stay cool.

What is the brand philosophy?

Tantra's brand philosophy….is 'First World Creativity' at 'Third World Prices'. The humble t-shirt has not been given the importance it deserves. At Tantra, our aim is to make the tee a special and witty apparel.

How and when was Tantra started?

Tantra is India's pioneering t-shirt brand. It was started in an ad. agency, as a weekend experiment, but officially took off in 1997. That happened when I quit my full-time job as the creative director of a leading advertising agency to devote myself to the business of creating a non-stop t-shirt adventure for the nascent Indian market. I started with a budget of Rs 1 lakh.

Tell us about your journey so far.

Initially, (since, the brand was clearly a break from the status-quo)…there was a great deal of skepticism from the trade. However, once the product was placed on the retail shelf, word soon got out. What Tantra did was a completely new take on a t-shirt. It was unlike anything that had been done before. Before us, most tees in the market (including the big brands) were logo-driven. Tantra started a conversation, created empathy, laughed at itself and quickly earned the trust of its target audience.Thus, a t-shirt brand was created by pure word-of-mouth, and virtually no advertising! At the heart of the brand is Tantra's ability to create a one-on-one dialogue / relationship with the end-customer, notthe trade (here, it is interesting to note that salesmen were often in the dark, as to why the t-shirt was selling!)Currently, the company offers products in all three categories (men, women, kids), as well as two additional brands, Barking Dog and Line Maro tees, as well as pre-winter and winter merchandise.

In a world of increasing options how do you plan to strengthen your customer base?

The customer is no fool and Tantra respects that. Any drop in creativity, quality or consistency will be immediately picked up by the discerning consumer.The Tantra Design Team, a core group of Mumbai-based artists, writers, cartoonists and visualisers ensures there is no dip. The reason why Tantra stays strong is because its content is 'managed' by creative people. Tantra's focus stays on the 'idea', and not on the turnover. Tantra churns out a new product design at an average of one every second day. Thus, there is a new thought, a new twist, waiting for the consumer every time he/ she visits the store.

What is your marketing/ retail strategy?

Tantra retails via EBOs/ MBOs/all major malls, and online. Most exclusive outlets are run by Tantra fans! Currently, the company is headquartered in Mumbai, with sales office in Delhi, Jaipur, Bangalore and Chennai. We distribute our products via MBOs, malls and approx. 45+ EBOs/ franchise stores. We are doing excellent business in Chennai, Jaipur, Kolkata, Delhi, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ranchi, etc. Online sales are doing well, and I believe that is the future.

What are your future plans?

We are in the process of launching a host of new products into the market, within the next 3-12 months. Since Tantra is an idea-based company, it makes no sense that we sit on our ideas, rather than making it sit on our delivery system, i.e. the tee!