8/18/2014 The story of Archies greeting cards | indiaretailreview

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The story of Archies greeting cards
Posted on June 7, 2014
Exchanging greetings on special occasions today no doubt is preferred via text messages on mobile phones,
emails and also by means of the social networking sites but that has definitely not put greeting card companies
out of business. A glaring example in front of us is that of Archies. Here is the interesting history of this card
and gifting company which has achieved a remarkable milestone at each step of its journey.
The countrys social expression industry is valued at about Rs. 500 crores with the greeting card market
estimated to be around Rs. 300 crores at retail value. Of this, the organized sector accounts for approximately
Rs. 150 crores and Archies share is close to 50 per cent. Keeping this in mind, by all means the brand today
deserves to be called a leader in its category and also a pioneer in introducing the concept of celebrating
different days like mothers day, fathers day, friendship day, sisters day, brothers day, doctors day etc.
Brand Recall
Having evolved from a cards only outfit to a complete social expressions company, Archies is a brainchild of
Anil Moolchandani. Though the family business for the Moolchandanis was selling sarees, it was Anil who
tapped an opportunity in hand to launch Archies. The story goes as As Anil Moolchandani was at his saree
shop in Kamla Nagar, Delhi, one of his customers presented him with two posters that he had brought back
from the United States. Moolchandani displayed these posters in the shop and was amazed when visitors
inquired whether the posters were for sale. Sensing a good business opportunity out of the inquiries,
Moolchandani started putting up additional posters for sale at the saree shop and in 1979, he set up the brand
Archies; as a mail order poster shop, and started operating from a mezzanine office measuring 200 sq.ft.
The other products on offer included song books and leather patches. Proudly recollecting the first mail order
bagged by Archies, Youhan says, Archies received its first mail order worth Rs. 12 from a customer in
Lucknow. Talking further about its journey, A major turning point in Archies life came 1980 when the
company introduced its first line of Greeting Cards, called the Poster Series (P Series), by means of reducing
posters to smaller sizes. The success story of the P-Series, which continuous till date, led to Archies setting up a
distribution channel. The market response generated was overwhelming and the network of distributors grew
rapidly. Says Youhan, In 1981, we held out first distributors meet in New Delhi.
Citing the challenges faced, Youhan reveals, When we set up Archies Gallery in 1987, there was nothing like it
in India. It was a first. Over the years every innovation and extension of product line has always been a first.
The initial challenge was to sell the concept, which was not so tough as we were filling a vacuum. The current
challenge in an evolved market is finding good locations at viable costs, as the cost good retail real estate is
today literally gone through the roof.
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Growing market demand and interest led Moolchandani to expand and enhance the product portfolio. The
company procured its first ever foreign license from Walt Disney, U.S.A., in 1984. This enabled the company to
offer to its patrons greeting cards with Disney characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck etc. Adding
innovations to its existing line of offering, Archies products acquired international gloss and appeal.
Around five years after its launch, Archies launched its first advertising campaign in 1884 and gradually this
brand became synonym with exchanging of greeting cards for various occasions. Strategic tie-ups with global
players, including Portal Publications, Gobson Greetings and American Gretings Inc. (the worlds largest
publicly held Greeting Card Company) of the U.S. and Paramount Cards enabled the company to offer its
consumers a range of special-occasion cards like Thank-you, Miss-you etc.
Taking a step ahead to meet its customers face-to-face, the company set up its first shop Archies Gallery.
This first of its kind concept-store opened its doors in Kamla Nagar, Delhi in 1987 and this led to the opening
of many more stores as well. A thirst for expansion led the company to opt for the franchise route and the year
1993 saw the opening of the 100 Archies store. Mid 1990s was when the company decided to become a public
limited company. According to Youhan, the companys public issue was oversubscribed four times and three
years post that the companys shareprice with an original offering of Rs. 70 zoomed to a meteoric Rs. 1400.
Keeping Pace with Market Dynamics
Not loosing sleep over the growing popularity of internet, Moolchandani took the challenge head on and
converted it into an opportunity by introducing e-cards and offering online gifting opportunities through its e-
commerce portal www.archiesonline.com. This portal has to its credit being amongst the first Indian portals
worldwide to offer consumers paid for e-cards. The popularity of the brand led to the spreading of its wings
outside India as well with Archies Gallery being present in 6 countries across the globe India, Bahrain, Sri-
Lanka, Nepal, UAE and Bangladesh.
Apart from offering greeting cards in English, the brand also offered options of greeting cards in Indian
languages Hindi, Marathi etc. According to Youhan, the company prints close to about 65 million greeting
cards in a year and it also exports greeting cards to Russia and Western Europe.
Bringing in an emotional connect in all the activities undertaken, Archies has well designed all its marketing
and promotional activities adding a human touch. In the early years, promotion for Archies was restricted to
mail order advertising. Its first press advertisement was in 1984, for the Great Archies Explosion, an
exposition held in a five-star hotel. The brands first radio spot was aired on All India Radio in 1989 and its
first television commercial was broadcast the following year, being one of the first to use Cable and Satellite
Channels for advertising. Next came in movie tie-ups where one cannot miss mentioning the association with
the Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar starrer Waqt; the most successful tie-up a brand can ever have with
film.
From making days like mother, father, sister, brother, daughter and friendship days popular; the brand also
has a niche programme in the Archies product portfolio Gift of the Month. In this marketing initiative, a
product is chosen and sold at Rs. 99 well below its normal printed price for the entire month. According to
Youhan, an average Archies store stocks close to about 5,000 items at any given point of time.
Extending its portfolio to serve its corporate clients, the brand under the Giftworks brand, has custom-made a
wide selection of merchandize like wine boxes, chess sets, candle stands etc. Establishing a connect with the
youth, the brand also had a tie-up with one of the most popular show on television MTV Roadies where they
even had a range of MTV Roadies merchandize available at the store from boldly designed bags, sipppers,
caps, mugs, photo-frames, wallets and key rings. In terms of CSR activities, the brand has a tie-up with CRY
and Help Age.
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About indiaretailreview
Been a part of the retail industry in India since almost a decade now writing about it for top retail magazines in India - earlier as a
Senior Correspondent for the Images Group for their magazines Images Retail, Images Business of Fashion, Progressive Grocer
and indiaretailing.com and then as the Editor for STOrai magazine from the house of The Retailers Association of India.
Currently penning a book for an industry veteran!
View all posts by indiaretailreview
Zainab Morbiwala -
As penned for STOrai magazine in 2011
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