Why Mandhana Retail's fortunes are directly proportional to Salman Khan's image

Fortunes of the clothing line has tracked the rise, and sometimes the fall, of the Bollywood superstar.

The rise began after Salman Khan’s second innings started with the success of Wanted in 2009. The success of the movie translated into the success of the apparel brand.

The brand, which is present in 15 countries, is now increasing its footprint. Venturing now into USA, United Kingdom, Far East and Sri Lanka, Being Human is more of Khan’s swag on the shelves than being just another clothing brand.

It was first launched in France and later ventured into Middle East, Nepal, Mauritius, Nepal and Fiji. The brand already has a global footprint of 500 point of sales in more than 15 countries.

“Alongside other countries we are also debuting in Canada at Holts wherein we will showcasing our collection through a pop up at Holts-Canada’s leading departmental store. Our goal has always been to be a global brand,” said Manish Mandhana, CEO, the Mandhana Retail Ventures.

Mandhana is upbeat about expansion on home ground, too. Being Human would now be available in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets across the country.

“Our plan is to tap into new markets such as the North-East, known for its fashion-driven consumers. Apart from this region, we will also be opening stores in Jamshedpur, Bhubaneshwar, Srinagar, Vapi, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Delhi, Guwahati, Noida, Lucknow, Dehradun, Jammu, Raipur, Meerut, Gorakhpur, Gurugram, Cuttack, Imphal, Shillong and Goa this year,” added Mandhana.

Additionally, Being Human is also coming up with their organic eco line limited edition capsule collection.

The start

Back in 2007, Salman Khan launched the Being Human Foundation (BHF), a registered non-profit charitable trust that would provide financial support for healthcare and primary education for the underprivileged in India. Textile and garment manufacturing company Mandhana Industries,  which was looking for an opportunity to venture into retail, approached Salman Khan and brand Being Human was born with all its merchandise offerings.

In January 2011, Mandhana entered into an exclusive worldwide licensing agreement to design, manufacture, retail, market and distribute all Being Human retail merchandise.

Salman Khan’s role

“Being Human Clothing has definitely benefitted and grown along with Salman’s successful career,” said Mandhana. Also, interestingly, Mandhana spends very little money on advertisements and promotions. Thanks to Khan who is mostly spotted in Being Human outfits, the brands need no other form of promotions.

The brand that that took off in 2009 at the HDIL Couture Week saw success with every super hit film the star delivered since then. From Dabangg, Ready, Bodyguard, Ek Tha Tiger, Sultan, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Kick, Bajrangi Bhaijan to Tiger Zinda Hai every time Khan took the silver screen by storm fans invested a little more in filling up their wardrobe with Being Human outfits.

As it turns out Khan is closely involved with the designing of Being Human outfits.

“We are very glad to have Salman Khan’s input on every important factor regarding the brand. The brand has been shaped with contributions from both teams working towards a common goal,” said Mandhana.

Khan gets an annual royalty of 5.75% from the brand which is used in the education and healthcare initiatives of Being Human – The Salman Khan Foundation.

But has there been no lows? Has the brand never suffered? Of course it has.

Every time Khan was in the news for the wrong reason Mandhana stocks suffered. “Mandhana stocks have eroded more than half of investor’s wealth in 2019,” said an NSE expert.

But could there be no recovery? “The onus of success is now entirely on the quality and performance of the brand. Salman’s level of celebrity status gave the brand its initial push and that sustained with time unlike many other celebrity brands because the star’s performance in films but this cannot go on. If the brand’s research and development team should now work on making their offerings unique so that their success in the market is not subject to the star’s personal success and failures,” said brand strategist, Saurabh Uboweja.

As for the falling stock prices, brand experts believe being Human will bounce back. While expansions will definitely help the brand get more popular, the success of one of the biggest films of the year - Race 3 - is expected to put Salman right back on the popularity radar making Being Human more desired in the process.