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Brand Concept: Brand Identities

INTRODUCTION

IDENTITY

TARGET AUDIENCE

CONCLUSION

POSITIONING

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04

02

05

03

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION TO CORD STUDIO

Background:

Cord Studio was co-founded by Neha

Singh and Pranav Guglani, in 2015.

Neha Singh and Pranav Guglani were

from Delhi and Hyderabad respectively.

Their journey started from Pearl Academy

in the capital, where a shared design

aesthetic brought them together, and

ultimately led to the creation of their

accessories label Cord. A result of a

mutual passion for travel, art and fashion, an undercurrent of

simplicity can be found in their work. the duo take pride in their ‘Made in India’ philosophy, and their collections are handcrafted using traditional techniques.

Style & Inspiration:

Cord’s style is a complete mix of contemporary western clothing and handcrafted leather goods. Cord was formed to establish a linking force that bridges the gap between the past and the present an ideology to depict stories with skilled Indian artisans and their craftsmanship along with the beauty of authenticity, and the charm of nostalgia. The need to focus more on quality than quantity led our creative process to be defined by durability, comfort, and functionality with hints of details inspired by vintage fashion. Cord believes in versatility and for their products to be interpreted by the personality of the user, whether it's our garment being dressed up or down, or the way our leather bag matures with age and wherever it travels. Cord also aims to be more environmentally friendly by using coconut shells and wooden buttons along with natural Kraft paper for packaging.

Price Range:

Accessories: SGD$16.15-148

Bags: SGD$83.43-257.02

Apparel: SGD$113.03-301.42

IDENTITY

PRODUCT RANGE

Womens’ and Menswear, summer to winter dressing, overlays and co-ords, accessories

COMPETITORS

Local brands like Shades of India, Ridhi Mehra, Ka-Sha

PRICE RANGE

Accessories: $12 to $110

Bags: $62 to $191

Apparel: $84 to $224

TAGLINE

“Where does earth find it’s strength to hold the world? Where does fire ignite it’s soul? How does water flow so freely? With Genesis, we return to our evergreen inspiration-our roots”-Genesis ‘21/22 (CORD’s most recent collection)

SIGNATURE PIECES

Summer: Blossom dresses, ravine dresses, skye dresses

Winter: long trench dresses, estuary dresses, wrap dresses

TARGET AUDIENCE

Middle-aged women looking for a contemporary style of smart casual

IDENTITY

traditional

vintage

Environmentally conscious

rustic

landscapes

craftsmanship

nature

Smart casual

contemporary

sophisticated

comfort

peaceful

functional

refined

wistful

pensieve

KEYWORDS

PERSONALITIES

CORD’s personality is very sophisticated and peaceful. With all the nature inspired prints and refined craftsmanship, it evokes a pensive and peaceful feeling amongst the clean cuts.

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MEANINGS

CORD’s meaning is one of nature inspired, vintage yet refined.

The brand gives off a peaceful aura with its unique yet comfortable cuts.

The designs that are uniquely CORD challenges the boundaries of what it means for an apparel piece to be considered smart casual with its take on contemporary styles and relaxed silhouettes.

CHOICE OF COMPETITORS-

Competitors’ analysis

SHADES OF INDIA

Shades of India is a prominent brand in India and has stores all over India such as Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and many more. This brand uses a lot of indian textiles and traditional Indian tribal patterns as well as craftsmanship. Shades of India also mainly targets women and sells women apparel and accessories ranging from loungewear, smart casual to formal. They also sell some upholstery. Their brand mainly focuses on “ bringing out the beauty of traditional techniques.” This brand has quite a few similarities to CORD in terms of target audience and style so it would be quite a big local brand competitor for CORD.

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RIDHI MEHRA

Ridhi Mehra is a higher price range brand in India with many couture inspired designs with fine tailoring incorporating traditional Indian embroideries. This brand also focuses on bring western aesthetics to traditional wear and constantly pushing the boundaries of affordable luxury. Their flagship store is in New Delhi. Ridhi Mehra targets women who are looking for formal and contemporary clothing for different events such as weddings. This Local brand is fairly similar to CORD in terms of target audience, their style also has some resemblance in CORD’s

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apparel28-379

accessories7-339

Apparel: 302.04- 4894.51

Accessories: 123.73- 633.19

Accessories: SGD$16.15-148

Bags: SGD$83.43-257.02

Apparel: SGD$113.03-301.42

CHOICE OF COMPETITORS-

Competitors’ analysis

KA-SHA INDIA

Ka-Sha India constantly make use of indigenous ideology of reusing, repurposing and reclaiming. Their style is achieved by upcycling, recycling and mending clothing and textiles of all shapes and sizes drawing from techniques of craft through innovation just like CORD. They focus on smart casual womenswear and have a specialty of making use of many different kinds of craft techniques in their apparel such as applique, clamp-dye, hand painted and many more. This brand is similar to CORD in terms of its attention to using environmentally friendly materials and practices, their target audience is also similar to CORD’s.

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AMIT AGGARWAL

AA leans towards luxury couture. Its store is located in New Delhi. Their brand has an established tradition of creating designs inspired by natural forms, focusing on structure and articulating them through unique silhouettes with intricate details. AA makes use of both traditional and modern craftsmanship, using recycled materials. The brand offers both men and womenswear but focuses a little more on womenswear with their brand philosophy being “ visualise the new age woman. She is strong, independent and bold in her choices.” This local brand is similar to CORD in terms of being environmentally conscious and similar target audience.

81.88-827.88

10.01- 161.94

Apparel 454.20-13174.50

BRAND POSITIONING

PERCEPTUAL MAPPING 1

Fashion

Function

High price

Low price

Apparel $454.20-13174.50

Apparel: $302.04- 4894.51

Accessories: $123.73- 633.19

Apparel: $81.88-827.88

Accessories: $10.01- 161.94

Apparel: $28-379

Accessories:$ 7-339

Apparel: $113.03-301.42

Accessories: $16.15-257.02

*IN SGD

BRAND POSITIONING

PERCEPTUAL MAPPING 2

High-priced

Low-priced

Well known

known

*BASED ON INSTAGRAM

CHOICE OF AXES IN PERCEPTUAL MAPPING

CHOICE OF AXES IN PERCEPTUAL MAPPING

CORD VS COMPETITORS

NEW IDEA

REINVENTING

SIGNATURE INHERENT

ADVANTAGES:

1. CORD has environmentally friendly practices towards handling their products
2. CORD assures customers of the durability of their products
3. CORD has a wide variety of promotion channels and has a significant amount of stores in India

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LACKING:

1. CORD is the only brand among its chosen competitors that does not have the blue checkmark which indicates verification of the Instagram account holder's identity helps maintain brand credibility.
2. CORD’s website is lacking a bit in having more types of functions that would make the customer’s shopping experience more accessible. E.g. Ridhi Mehra has a style customization function.
3. CORD is also lacking in promotion unlike its competitors which have celebrity endorsements and collaborations with other brands

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WHAT IS CORD’S RELATIONSHIP WITH ITS TARGET AUDIENCE?

CORD hopes that their products evokes interpretation by the personality of the user, “whether it's our garment being dressed up or down, or the way our leather bag matures with age and wherever it travels.”

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Having a complete mix of contemporary clothing and handcrafted leather goods, CORD hopes to offer their customers a lifestyle that does not only look restored but feels relevant.

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CORD also has a practice of launching only two main collections annually with the purpose of encouraging seasonless and classic designs that remain with their customers forever instead of following season trends

TARGET AUDIENCE

AMY JOHNSON

TELL A STORY:

Amy is a passionate math teacher at a local secondary school in Australia. She is very heavily involved in school activities especially being involved in planning major school activities but also finds a balance between work life and personal life since she believes both is equally important.. She enjoys relaxing during the weekends by museum hopping with her husband. Amy is very outgoing and has a very strong personality.

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AGE: 54

PROFESSION: Senior secondary school math teacher

INCOME: $100,008/yr

MARITAL STATUS: Married

MUSIC TASTE: harry styles

FOOD: fish and chips, turkey quesadillas

TV SHOWS: Suits

BRANDS: Mango

FASHION STYLE: Minimalistic, loose fitting

GOALS:

HOBBIES: visiting the library and museums

TARGET AUDIENCE

Nidhi Sunil

AGE: 25

PROFESSION: Victoria’s Secret model

INCOME: $2million/yr

MARITAL STATUS: Single

MUSIC TASTE: k-ballads

FOOD: salad and club sandwiches

MOVIES: titanic, emily in paris

BRANDS: brand endorsements

FASHION STYLE: experimental

GOALS: to get to star in more fashion shows

HOBBIES: gardening and shopping

Lifestyle

Family

Character

TELL A STORY:

Nidhi is a young top model for Victoria’s Secret. She is fairly new to the modelling industry and is still at the learning and experimental age. She has to travel constantly based on where she is booked. Having born and raised in India, Nidhi has grown an interest towards the myriad of cultures and food at all the different countries. Besides modeling, Nidhi enjoys gardening and shopping with her roomates. Due to the constant influence of cultures , Nidhi finds it hard to settle for a concrete fashion style and hopes to find one that is functional and also reflects on her hometown roots.

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USP:

WHY WOULD CONSUMERS CHOOSE CORD OVER ITS COMPETITORS

CORD’S USP is contemporary loose fitting smart casual

Redefining indian fashion norms while retaining rich indian heritage with the use of traditional Indian handcrafting methods and inspiration of nature.

There is very limited customer reviews online and CORD is mainly badly reviewed. However it is very hard to judge the actual service and quality of the brand due to the limited reviews and the fact that the brand is fairly new.

Some reviews online:

Google review: 3 reviews 3.7 stars

NiceLocal review: 4 reviews 1.5 stars

Reddit: 4 reviews

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REFERENCES

CORD. (n.d.). About Us | Cord Studio. Cord Studio. https://www.cordstudio.in/about-us/

https:\/\/www.vervemagazine.in\/author\/amitpatil#author. (n.d.). Meet The Creators of Cord | Verve Magazine. Verve Magazine | India’s Premier Luxury Lifestyle Women’s Magazine. https://www.vervemagazine.in/people/neha-singh-and-pranav-guglani-cord

Portfolio. (n.d.). IMG Models. https://www.imgmodels.com/kiyara

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https://www.shadesofindia.com/

Ridhi Mehra | Shop Online for Latest Collections. (n.d.). Ridhi Mehra. https://www.ridhimehra.com/

https://www.ka-sha.com/

Amit Aggarwal | Luxury Designer Womenswear and Menswear - Amit Aggarwal. (n.d.). Amit Aggarwal. https://amitaggarwal.com/

How to Visit a Museum. (n.d.). The National Endowment for the Humanities. https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2016/summer/feature/how-visit-museum

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Cord Store Mumbai - reviews, photos, phone number and address - Clothing and shoes in Mumbai - Nicelocal.in. (n.d.). Nicelocal.In. https://nicelocal.in/mumbai/stores/cord_store_mumbai/

Is Cord studio legit? (2021, March 19). Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/findfashion/comments/m89wga/is_cord_studio_legit/