Building on its Rajasthani connect, IPL team Rajasthan Royals, in collaboration with Indiehaat Ventures, has decided to launch handicrafts made in the State under its exclusive line ‘The Royal Collection’.
Raghu Iyer, CEO, Rajasthan Royals, told Business Line that this was not only a branding opportunity but also had big commercial potential. “Most team-related merchandise is largely sold in the two-month period when the IPL season is on. We were looking for an opportunity to sell merchandise throughout the year. We believe Rajasthani handicrafts are popular not only in India but also abroad,” he added.
Iyer said the team had been supporting local talent from Rajasthan on the cricket pitch and expected this joint initiative to promote Rajasthani handicrafts.
“The three promoters of Indiehaat are also bright young entrepreneurs from Rajasthan,” he added.
From upholstery on Rajasthan furniture, embroidery to patchwork and tie-die in accessories to laptop covers, bags, cushion, among others, the collection will sport a range of handicrafts.
Shailendra Singh, Director, Indiehaat Ventures, said, “We plan to launch as many as 500 products through the year and new products every fortnight. While we will focus on sourcing and designing these products, Rajasthan Royals will actively promote and market them.”
Film actor Shilpa Shetty, the team owner of the franchisee, is also expected to get involved in the promotion of ‘The Royal Collection’.
Selling online
For now, these products will be sold online through the company’s e-commerce platform – the chorbazar. “We are also in talks with retail stores to display these products. We will initially target the domestic audience and will later also look at the international audience,” he added. Singh said the company was working to ensure that the collection was modern and trendy and had products that make young working professionals with disposable income to pick them up.
He said that the company had identified key clusters of artisans and was sourcing these products from across the State.
Based on the performance in the first year, both the companies could look to extend these partnerships beyond the year.
Overall, for IPL teams, the merchandise story has not been a very successful one. Most teams strike minimum guarantee deals with product makers and are not actively involved with the design or promotion for the products and are largely selling sports gear, T-shirts and caps. However, both the partners said that this is a different merchandising partnership where both the parties are actively involved.