• Investment World
• eWorld
• Catalyst
• Mentor
• Life
• Canvas
• Praxis
• Urban Pulse
• Brand Quest

M. Ramesh

CHENNAI, June 4

THE 18-year-old FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO) is all set to embark on a brand-building exercise and at the same time open more chapters to conduct its operations in a more decentralised manner. Ms Surekha P. Kothari, the recently elected President of FLO, says she wants to see an "extension and expansion" of FLO.

FLO was formed in 1983, with the basic objective of "women empowerment". It works at three levels. At the basic level, it holds entrepreneur development programmes for women at the low or zero income levels, working with them in advising on how to start a business and following it through with some help in vocational training. At the middle level, it holds seminars and workshops for women who run small-scale businesses, such as computerisation and financial management. At the senior level, FLO has sophisticated programmes for women at the helm in areas such as marketing and finance.

That these activities are duly recognised and support obtained, FLO would undertake its own "brand-building exercises", Ms Kothari told Business Line. For the first time, a PR agency would be hired to help in brand building and popularising FLO.

The first step in building its brand is the proposed tie up with the Femina magazine. It is proposed that there would be a page (or two) for FLO in Femina, which would be used basically for write-ups on FLO's activities. In return, FLO members could support Femina subscriptions — the details of the scheme are still being worked out.

Second, FLO would open more chapters across the country and conduct its operations in a more decentralised fashion, Ms Kothari said.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section
SIAM's new format for classification

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line