24-year-old Charu Aneja is one satisfied employee. Why? Well, she works at India’s first Diesel outlet located at the Palladium, Mumbai, where the the shift starts at 10 30 and the dress code is as casual as it could get; which is why she aptly calls it her ‘hangout-cum-workplace’. Charu, an National Institute of Fashion Technology graduate and former dance instructor at Shaimak Davar’s, is more than satisfied with her job. She says, “Diesel is a brand I loved as a consumer; I am now selling it. The best thing is, people here are fun to work with.”
And she isn’t alone. The store’s front-end arm comprises of equally young and vibrant people with diverse backgrounds but with a common purpose of having fun at work! Take the case of 29-year-old DJ Gokul Kadam, who works as the Diesel Store Patrol or 26-year-old model or yoga instructor Komal Kriplani or even Irish engineer Joseph Flynn. The Diesel outlet is undoubtedly, a melting pot! Such is the recruitment strategy adopted by some of the premium brands like Timberland, Hard Rock Café & Diesel to reach out to the target customers of India, which spells new territory.
These brands have left no stone unturned to succeed in the new endeavour. Be it social networking sites, informal gatherings like parties, discotheques, salons or even employee referrals, they are just all over the place. The reason behind this new way of targetting the market is to get the youth on board who are all for rock music, fashion, adventure sports and are part of the target group, to promote and sell their products.
Darshan Mehta, CEO, Reliance Brands, which brought Diesel and Timberland Stores to India, clearly points out the importance of such innovative marketing techniques, “These people can easily understand the needs and aspirations of young consumers, being of the same age group and share the same tastes. Besides, identifying preferences of customers correctly is important for any brand to succeed.”
If the expansion plans of these brands are anything to go by, Diesel is kicked about opening up three new outlets, whereas, two have already started business. Hard Rock Café(HRC) is managing five stores in the country, while, Timberland Stores is all set to start four stores with a front-end employee strength of 24 people.
The total number of employees working at HRC all over India is approximately 200 to 250, of which the majority is under 30. For instance, 27-year old Vasim Sheikh an operations supervisor at Hyderabad, who has been with HRC for a total of four years, is probably the oldest! . “I was searching for a job when an ad helped me locate the opportunity at HRC. A blend of music and work seemed too alluring,” he asserts.
Another music enthusiast, Kugglen D’souza, a fan of musician DBoy,was destined to be at HRC which can be made out from his tale of realisation. He narrates, “Whenever I came here, everything looked great — the music, people, their clothes, hairstyles… I loved the way they worked. So, I walked in one day asking for a job and they happily agreed.” He joined HRC this January after completing Class 12.
He further explains that his craze for hip-hop made things easier for him during the interview. It must be noted that, the employees at HRC are trained to equip them for such roles.
“We have two extreme retail talent pools in the country — one for mass retail and another for luxury brands. For brands like ours, neither of the two fits in. We need a cool, easy-going pool of individuals to whom buyers can communicate their requirements,” says Jay Singh, co-founder and executive director, HRC India.
One of the crowdpullers is the environment at these outlets, which tends to be easy-going and informal. “It’s difficult for me to work in a tightly regulated work place. At Diesel, I get that freedom,” says Gokul Kadam, who transforms into a disc jockey on weekends with Fashion Bar and Lounge, Ashoka Hotel in the Capital.
Despite the success of the strategy, roadblocks are unavoidable. Here, they come in the form of unavailibilty of candidates in India. So how do they manage it? “Any model, when tried for the first time, poses a huge challenge but once established, yields good results. We have already started getting cold calls from many who have visited the stores asking for a job,” says Mr Mehta.
