Having tasted success at managing India's biggest fashion pageant, the Lakme India Fashion Week, three years in a row, IMG, among the world's largest sports, lifestyle and entertainment marketing company is now eyeing fashion events in other countries.
The multinational claims that it is currently pitching for the Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese and Korean fashion events.
Says Ravi Krishnan, joint managing director, IMG/TWI (South Asia): "IMG has a global story as far as fashion events go. We own the New York Fashion Week and have also been actively involved with the British fashion awards."
Besides, the company also manages the Singapore fashion festival and has plans to grow the Thailand fashion event into a bigger business. The company also own IMG Models, a premier modelling agency.
However, its Indian success story is prodding IMG to bid for more international business.
"We now want to expand into fashion further and are doing due diligence in other Asian countries," he adds.
In India, the Fashion Design Council of India conceptualised the fashion week and IMG was called in to manage the show and bring in the sponsors. Ever since the first year, FDCI has retained IMG to organize and market the event.
Krishnan claims that IMG was retained by the FDCI as it induced its international expertise to manage the event. He feels that the time is ripe for the Indian fashion industry to make its mark throughout the world. "It's our job to further grow this property commercially," he adds.
A comparison between the New York fashion week and the Lakme fashion week shows certain fundamental differences, Krishnan points out. At the New York Fashion Week, designers pay up to $40,000 to $50,000 to participate in the high-profile event.
"The only support they get from the organisers is the venue and platform to showcase their designs. In India, a designer, however, pays about Rs 150,000 for a solo show and enjoys far more facilities than his US counterpart," he adds.
To make the fashion week viable, IMG ropes in corporates to sponsor the event. For instance, it has been instrumental in renewing the agreement between FDCI and Lakme as the title sponsor of the event for another three years. Shoe major Liberty that walked into the event this year, has also been signed for the next three years.
Among the other advertisers and associates on a three-year contract are DHL, Seagrams, Sony Entertainment Television India, Hyundai, Taj as well as the National Centre for Performing Arts in Mumbai.
This year, a long-term pact has also been inked with Foster's. Orange has been roped in for the MMS services. While these brands seek more bang for their bucks at the fourth LIFW, IMG's services to its clients extends to creating integrated marketing strategies for corporates and designers, cause-related marketing and cross-promotional activities among co-sponsors to ensure effective use of sponsorship budgets.
While investment in organising an event of this scale have reportedly run into "double digit crores", no official figure is available. Without divulging details on the investments made by the sponsors, Krishnan says: "The event is a tremendous payback opportunity for the sponsors, and corporates get a fashion rub-off on their brands."
But what is in it for IMG? "We are looking at fashion as a global proposition," says Krishnan, preferring to remain tight-lipped on profit figures.
It is understood from sources that lifestyle and fashion-related events already contribute about 15 per cent to IMG India's turnover, with sports events making up for the rest.
IMG, obviously, expects this share to grow. And, the immediate objective is to help the event multiply in size.