Mukesh Valiram talks gamification and growth opportunities for MLB in Asia

nto Southeast Asia, and we are very excited to add this brand to our portfolio,” he said.  He went on to say that given MLB’s success in South Korea, China and Hong Kong, it is a natural progression for the business to explore other markets in the Southeast region. “MLB offers a wide variety of categories from shoes, bags, apparels to accessories. The brand offers good quality and on-trend lifestyle fashion that caters to a broad audience. So yes, we believe the brand will be very well received in Malaysia,” he said. Valiram added that the company’s initial results in the region have been consistent with its sales projections. Every MLB store has unique designs that cater to each market and are positioned differently to take advantage of demographic spreads in each Southeast Asian niche. The brand has focused a lot on its direct to consumer operations, and Valiram revealed that MLB is currently working on gamification and building its online sales channels. This is especially relevant in the APAC marketplace, as the rapid pace of digitalisation since the onset of the pandemic, has required brands to become more dynamic, nimble and agile in this space. Design counts Some quarters have opined that when it comes to the world of baseball, specifically the MLB in the US, there is simply not much demand in global markets. But Valiram does not believe that this is the case.  “In this day and age, sports not only appeal to athletes or sports enthusiasts alone. They are now part of the fashion world. The majority of the MLB product design carries a wide range of MLB club logos,” he said. He has observed that customers are purchasing products because of the design, not so much because they are interested in baseball. Valiram went on to say that he sees the same customer behaviour in other markets in Southeast Asia. Ever evolving conditions With headlines continuing to focus on issues like a possible looming global recession, supply chain bottlenecks and inflationary pressures, Valiram is being proactive in counteracting these problems. “I believe we can be prepared for times like this with the right strategy in place. MLB listens to its consumers and creates products that are on trend to the current generation. We just have to ensure we act and react with speed with ever-changing market conditions,” he stated. Once again, younger consumers are always the main talking point for brands like MLB, and Valiram acknowledges that this demographic is a key focus for its operations going forward. “This generation is all about quality not quantity. MLB offers high product quality at a reasonable price point. And as we see this generation being more socially responsible – the brand also offers sustainable materials in selected domains,” he observed. Valiram went on to say that he believes Gen Z and Millennials like to stay well informed and on-trend, hence its social campaigns are targeted to this generation to ensure they are always in-the-know. Looking forward to the rest of the year, Valiram said there will be a lot more to come from the brand in Southeast Asia. “It will be a very exciting year for the brand with more expansion plans in SEA this year across Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia! Stay tuned,” he said. In a related development, Malaysia recorded an impressive 65 per cent increase in hiring activity year-over-year, primarily due to robust retail sales and an upward trend in consumer sentiment. The easing of Covid-19 social movement restrictions along with a fast-growing retail business that has been helped by the reopening of borders are contributing to a boost in retail jobs. According to the Foundit Insights Tracker (FIT), similar trends were observed in the hospitality sector, where job demands increased significantly by 55 per cent. Sekhar Garisa, CEO of Foundit for APAC was quoted as saying “the job market in Malaysia is showing strong and sustained demand, and that the overall picture is of resilience and growth.”