Rumman Rizvi on Mokobara's mission to elevate the joy of travel

The travel and lifestyle industry is undergoing a significant transformation as brands innovate to meet the evolving needs of modern consumers. With a growing emphasis on personalization, design, and experiential travel, companies are redefining how they connect with their audiences. Mokobara, a brand committed to elevating the joy of travel through thoughtfully-designed products, exemplifies this shift. By blending functionality with style, Mokobara is tapping into a market segment that values both aesthetics and practicality, positioning itself as a leader in a competitive industry landscape.

In an engaging conversation with Rumman Rizvi, Head of Brand and Customer Experience at Mokobara, we delve into the brand's unique approach to reaching its target audience and enhancing customer experiences. Rizvi discusses Mokobara's innovative strategies, from personalized product offerings and impactful collaborations to leveraging technology and social media. He also highlights the brand's successful ventures, such as the partnership with Vobble and the Crew movie, and shares insights on future plans for product expansion and geographical growth. This interaction provides a comprehensive look at how Mokobara is setting new benchmarks in the travel and lifestyle sector.

Who is the primary target audience for Mokobara, and how do you tailor your marketing strategies to reach them?

I think our Founder Sangeet said it best.

“There is a set of consumers who have transitioned from Bata shoes to Reebok, and now wear brands like Onitsuka Tiger & Birkenstock. They care about their airport look and share travel stories on social media. The bags they carry, however, have been noticeably absent from this conversation. And, that’s where we come in.”

We aim to give these people thoughtfully-designed products that they are proud to sport, at a price that makes sense.

This consumer base isn’t just travelling to get from point A to B. It’s not a chore, it’s a celebration. It’s this feeling that we wish to capture across all our communications. From our positioning - ‘designed to elevate the joy of travel’, to our photoshoots, which often feature confetti and big smiles. Travel is exciting and we tailor all our comms to beautifully capture this feeling.

How does Mokobara use personalization in its marketing efforts to enhance the customer experience?

We first started off by offering personalisation on our luggage. And, people loved it. Apart from actually helping people identify their luggage faster (and ending luggage mix-ups), we realised it was a great conversation starter for our community. Especially on social media.

Soon, our inbox and DMs were flooded with requests from our community to help personalise our backpacks, briefcases and totes. That’s when we launched the Moko Pins.

We’re always looking to find ways to make our community’s experience more personalised. Product personalisation is just our way of making every Mokobara feel more like you.

Can you tell us more about the collaboration with Vobble and the inspiration behind the Moko Blocks luggage range?

The Moko Blocks was actually our entry into the Kids category. We designed the range for kids, who wanted to emulate adults and carry their own luggage. But we also wanted to make it incredibly fun, so they could play with it even when they return from their vacations.

With our collaboration with Vobble, we were looking at how we could add more magic into long-hauls and long car-rides. Vobble’s audio stories are crafted specifically to engage young kids, during these in-between moments, every day. It’s a great way of transporting your little one into new worlds, even when they’re sitting very still.

How do you think integrating Vobble’s audiobooks into Mokobara's luggage will transform travel experiences for families?

So, with every Moko Block, you get a free 3-month subscription to Vobble’s audio stories. It’s a great way to ensure that you never have to press pause on the family vacation excitement. Especially during those really long commutes. The stories are immersive, and are crafted to keep your kid engaged, throughout the commute. And, it gives parents some much needed me-time too.

Mokobara’s collaboration with IndiGo Airlines tackled excess baggage fees. What are some other innovative solutions Mokobara is working on?

We’re on a mission to elevate the joy of travel for people going places. No matter what that place may be. From visiting new countries to work commutes, we’re always looking to add joy into every kind of transit. Currently, we’re keenly looking at targeting the modern professional. We have an extensive work range - from backpacks to briefcases and totes, and are working something out for this community.

The collaboration with the Crew movie garnered significant attention. How did this partnership come about, and what impact has it had on Mokobara's brand visibility and customer engagement?

Indians love cinema, and so do we. Collaborating with the Crew was a great way for us to integrate ourselves into pop culture. Crew was a film that revolved around travel and aviation, hence it proved to be a seamless integration. We want all our collaborations to feel organic, and this opportunity was just that. This definitely resonated with viewers, as we also witnessed that the collaboration had been picked up across social media.

In a competitive market, what strategies do you recommend for creating a unique brand identity?

Consistency: Identify your strengths. Recognise opportunity. Deliver work you’re proud of and then do it again, and again.  We’re already seeing instances of people happening to encounter the music we play on our product videos on social media, and tag us in a comment. Whether it’s our messaging across platforms, or our confetti-filled shoots, we believe in the power of doing something so consistently, that it becomes inherently part of the brand identity.

Attention to detail: It really does go a long way in setting yourself apart. Our design process involves scrutinising every last detail of every product, to identify the places we can add some magic to. Take our yellow lining, for example. “We want customers to smile when they open our products,” quotes Navin. While yellow isn’t a conventional choice, we always believed that it would make the packing experience all the more magical.

Patience: "The one thing the pandemic taught us is to just be patient. It takes a lot of heart, sweat and tears to build a consumer brand", Navin shared in an interview with The Established, emphasising on the importance of taking your time over important decisions, and not rushing into things.

Which marketing channels have been most effective for Mokobara, and why?

Each platform serves its own purpose. We currently direct all of our marketing communications towards Instagram, for the sole purpose that we’re a design company, and Instagram is driven forward by visuals.

We have a strong community on the platform. A community of people who often tag us in their travel stories, and love sharing their journeys with us. Travel easily lends itself to Instagram, with hundreds of #TravelFits coming in every day.

How does Mokobara aim to set new benchmarks in the travel and lifestyle industry through its marketing efforts?

When it comes to our social media feed, we like to keep things light and fun. Travel lends itself beautifully to Instagram. We’re always looking to leverage this feeling of fun and wonder in our content. It serves as a nice contrast to stills of models walking with luggage, only occasionally smiling. We’re always going to aim to create content that feels organic to the platform, and leaves the viewer with a smile.

What are Mokobara’s plans for market expansion, both in terms of product offerings and geographical reach?

Anticipating the trends and demands of 2024, we will be broadening our product range, addressing specific needs across various use cases and price points. As for geographical expansion, Mokobara was started up with the vision of building a global brand, which happened to be born out of India. Moving forward, we will be looking to expand overseas, with stores opening up in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the near future.

 Also Read: IndiGo launches an exclusive luggage collection