The Hindu Business Line : La Salle plans corporate tie-ups to boost sales

THE leather portfolio brand La Salle is planning to enter into exclusive arrangements with companies to supply them with its products. La Salle has already entered into an arrangement with Hewlett Packard (HP), whereby its employees can avail of La Salle products and get reimbursed by their employers.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Mukul Sukhani, Vice-President, La Salle Marketing Ltd., said, "We have just signed a with HP and are talking to more companies such as Novartis and Proctor & Gamble for similar deals."

The Rs 10-crore exporter-turned-domestic retailer, La Salle, has been in the Indian market for the past three years. With corporates as their main target audience, the company has also decided to sponsor corporate golf this year.

"We have assigned a total marketing spend of Rs 1.4 crore this year. This is also the first year that we have decided to sponsor the La Salle golf championships across different cities," adds Mr Sukhani.

With companies such as TCS, Essar, HSBC and HLL participating, La Salle hopes to boost its sales by building equity through this route.

While it already has Euro RSCG as its mainline advertising agency, the leather goods company does not intend hiring a DM (direct marketing company) in spite of its niche offerings. "We believe that through golf we are already reaching out to our target audience," says Mr Sukhani.

The company also plans to expand its portfolio to back-packs and ladies handbags in future. Apart from retailing through shop-in-shops at up market stores, the company is hoping to start its exclusive stores at malls in the southern cities. "We are hoping to have our company owned stores in the malls primarily in the South due to cheaper real estate costs," says Mr Sukhani.

Having obtained the licence for the brand from its parent company in the US, La Salle in India is planning to expand its presence in countries such as Dubai and New Zealand.