Exhibition organisers take homegrown brands worldwide through digital route

Chennai

Many preferred wearing something unique and would wait for such events to happen. As pop-ups and exhibitions are put on hold, organisers are offering online solutions to small businesses to sustain and grow.

Monisha Gidwani has been conducting exhibitions with her brand Vimonisha for the past 30 years. “We are focussing on a systemised marketing approach where we support brands in all possible ways. Most homegrown brands don’t have e-commerce in place for delivery. So, what we are doing now is brand consulting. We are helping local businesses build a brand by setting up social media pages. The pause button has come at the right time for us to build and grow an online business which we were too busy to do with back-to-back shows,” says Monisha.

Though having an online presence was there in the minds of many homegrown brands, offline sales kept most of them busy. “I have done a series of Insta live sessions where I discussed the importance of sustainable fashion and the impending need to go digital. The objective was to drive home the point that marketing is a long-term effort and sales were only one of the off-shoots of marketing activities and that designers needed to look at brand awareness and brand recall,” the entrepreneur points out.

Lime Soda pop-up that showcases 50-plus couturiers and labels under one roof was another popular pop-up event. Soundariya Anil, the founder, says, “We thought of starting with Facebook and Instagram marketing. But it’s too crowded these days. Moreover, we wanted to do something that can sustain for the next six months or 1 year. That’s how we launched our website on June 13,” Soundariya tells us.

With the current challenges of COVID-19 and with the mandate of social distancing, we needed to think of a strategy for the small business to sustain and grow, she says. “We see this as an opportunity for brands to evolve and be exposed to newer markets. We’ve always loved curating offline pop-ups and events across cities and countries. Now, taking homegrown brands worldwide and accessible to everyone is a challenging process.”