Nappa Dori: Crafting the Branding Strategy

The Indian luxury leather brand Nappa Dori, founded in 2010 in Delhi, had a product range that included a luxury line of trunks, bags, accessories, and bespoke projects for its prestigious clients, which included international luxury hotels and airlines. The brand had earned worldwide recognition from global luxury clients, and by 2017, it had seven stores, a design studio, and two cafés in India as well as one destination store at a luxury resort in the Maldives. The company’s self-taught designer-owner wanted his brand to be globally recognized as an affordable luxury brand from India by 2020. However, he often wondered whether his brand story was on the right track. For instance, was it a good idea to expand into related categories while creating a unique user experience? Should Nappa Dori focus on setting up shops in luxury destinations around the world? Did the young brand have the right story to resonate with globe-trotting luxury connoisseurs? To build a global luxury brand, the firm needed to craft a unique experience that resonated with luxury connoisseurs. The founder knew that what had started as an organic exploration into luxury now needed a well-crafted blueprint as it entered the next phase of sustainable growth toward achieving global recognition.

The case is suitable for use in foundations courses in marketing management, strategic marketing and brand management, and luxury brand management at the graduate level. It provides learners with an opportunity to study the macro-environment of luxury markets and comprehend how they determine a firm’s current and future business strategy in national and global contexts. After completion of this case, students will be able to<ul><li>identify and describe the critical elements of a company’s business and marketing strategy;</li><li>analyze a luxury brand’s architecture using conceptual brand models;</li><li>assess the effectiveness of a company’s business performance by analyzing its financial statements from a strategic marketing perspective;</li><li>identify and evaluate various growth options and branding strategies available to an evolving luxury brand; and</li><li>identify key elements of the selected strategic alternatives for the brand.</li></ul>

• marketing, branding strategy, luxury brands, emerging markets