Brands
“When you fulfill your promises, you build trust with your customers”: Edyta Kurek
Mumbai: Oriflame ushered in a new era under the leadership of its first female head in India, Edyta Kurek. The brand is focused on empowering the next generation by promoting both financial freedom and wellbeing.
Oriflame’s unique model empowers individuals through direct involvement, fostering micro-entrepreneurship. The brand equips its partners with the necessary skills and training to succeed, addressing social issues such as unemployment and income disparity.
At the brand’s event held at Jio Centre, Indiantelevision.com had the opportunity to speak with Oriflame’s senior vice president and head of India & Indonesia Edyta Kurek. Kurek shared valuable insights into the brand’s vision and more!
Edited excerpts
On Oriflame brand
For over sixty years, we’ve dedicated ourselves to developing our R&D facilities, ensuring that we truly understand our craft. Unlike others, we don’t buy formulas, we create and rate our products within our own factories. We take great responsibility for every step of the process, from sourcing the first ingredient to the moment the product reaches the shelf. Even our packaging is developed internally. In today’s world, quality is paramount because it builds customer trust. When you fulfill your promises, you build trust with your customers and they can witness the results. On this foundation that trust is established.
On Oriflame being unique and different than your competitors
There are nearly three hundred thousand people here who can attest to our results. Half of them will stand up, which shows the trust we’ve built. Show me one brand that can demonstrate these results on a daily basis. This is how we gain our unique advantage—real testimonials from people who benefit from our products and the opportunity to earn money. They can show you their accounts and where the money comes from each month. I firmly believe that the performance and quality of our products are crucial because they educate our customers. While today’s market is driven by discounts, this is just the beginning. The middle class is sure to gain growth in the future, and we need to be there to support them.
On influencers
In a world saturated with communication, everyone is trying to sell something. When I open my Instagram, I see that 50 per cent of the content is advertising, and that’s when I realized I needed to do something for the people. The individuals you see at this event are our true influencers. The North East is our largest market, where we excel within the regional community. We provide them with opportunities to uplift themselves.
On integrating AI into your platform
Imagine we have four hundred and fifty products and change our merchandising every month. Forecasting inventory each month is very challenging because one month a product might be sold at a 10 per cent discount, the next month without a discount, and the third month at a 30 per cent discount. To manage this, we rely heavily on AI to help forecast our processes and for marketing purposes. We also provide our web partners with business apps that display their business status, complete with data. Additionally, we’ve launched an app that simplifies social media presence by helping users create posts, which aids in training our team members and keeping them updated with the latest knowledge, all for free.
Brands
Malaika Arora launches accessories brand Maejoy
The Bollywood star’s lifestyle brand, built with Myntra and Exceed Entertainment, promises aspirational fashion without the high price tag
MUMBAI: Malaika Arora is not the first Bollywood star to put her name on a brand, and she will not be the last. But Maejoy, the accessories label she has launched in partnership with Myntra Jabong India Private Limited (MJIPL) and talent outfit Exceed Entertainment, at least has a sharper pitch than most. The brand drops with 250-plus styles spanning handbags and lab-grown diamond jewellery, two categories that sit squarely in the sweet spot between aspiration and affordability, and lands on Myntra’s platform from day one, putting it in front of millions of shoppers without breaking a sweat.
The handbag range covers the full gamut: crossbody bags, structured shoulder bags, bucket bags, totes, workwear classics, backpacks and clutches, rendered in synthetic leather, raffia, braids, satin, rhinestone and metallic finishes. The jewellery line runs to rings, earrings, pendants, bracelets and tennis bracelets in silver, gold and rose-gold tones, set in 925 sterling silver with IGI and GCI certified lab-grown diamonds. The brand’s guiding philosophy, “The Joy of Being Me,” stakes its claim on individuality and self-expression; its three brand pillars, Authentic, Empowering, Accessible, are the usual suspects, though the lab-grown diamond bet is savvier than it sounds. Lab-grown stones now sell at a fraction of the price of mined ones, and the category is growing fast in India as younger buyers wise up to the arbitrage.
“Maejoy is a labour of love. Throughout my career, whether on screen, in business, or through my personal style, I’ve championed the idea that fashion should be empowering yet effortless. The brand aims to democratise global fashion trends while offering women something that extends the feeling of luxury every day, be it a lab-grown diamond or a perfectly crafted handbag,” said Malaika Arora, founder of Maejoy
MJIPL, the B2B wholesale arm of Myntra, is putting its design and brand-building muscle behind the venture. Suman Saha, chief experience officer and head of house of brands at MJIPL, was bullish on the tie-up.
“Maejoy brings together Malaika Arora’s distinctive style perspective with a strong proposition in the accessible yet elevated accessories space. We believe the brand’s fashion-forward designs and thoughtful positioning will connect strongly with discerning consumers.”
Suman Saha, chief experience officer, head of house of brands, MJIPL
Afsar Zaidi, chief executive of Exceed Entertainment, the talent management firm that helped broker the deal, has worked with MJIPL before and was characteristically direct about what makes Arora an unusually bankable partner.
“Building celebrity-led brands requires a delicate balance of authenticity and market viability. Malaika is a rare talent who commands equal respect as a fashion icon and a savvy businesswoman. We are proud to facilitate this partnership that brings together her creative clout and Myntra’s brand-building excellence,” said Zaidi
Celebrity fashion brands live or die on one question: does the star actually wear it, or is the cheque the only thing they signed? Arora, who has spent three decades as one of Bollywood’s most-watched style references, has at least built a plausible case. Maejoy is live now on www.myntra.com and the Myntra app. The real test, whether shoppers buy the handbag or just the hype, starts today.
