IIPM News Broadcast: January 2011

Monday, January 17, 2011

Mahindra - Tractors

The company follows a similar approach when it comes to selling in markets like Indonesia, Hong Kong Thailand and the matching likes but the approach towards marketing its products is certainly different in developed markets like the US. However, the Indian consumer is maturing with time and with rural boom in sectors like telecom, transportation, , the rural consumer is getting more urbanised by the day. “As the consumer is evolving, we are ready with something like a Mahindra Kisan Mitra, a website developed for the farmer that not only educates him about the Mahindra products but also gives information on various crops, mandi prices et al,” points out Goyle. In fact, the company has also started an initiative wherein it is planning to turn its dealerships across the country into farming advice centres with an aim to strengthen its brand in the farming community and boost tractor sales. Tagged as the Mahindra Samriddhi Centres, the dealers have set up small farms to demonstrate the best farming techniques to the farmer. Notably, there are 80 such centres present currently and the company plans to take this number to 250 by the end of this year. Clearly, BTL activities have been an integral part of Mahindra’s strategy and as a good monsoon is expected to hit the Indian turf this year, experts are of a view that it will boost the sales of the company this fiscal. Moreover, while the company hasn’t given out is sales targets for the fiscal but factors like easier availability of finance is working in its favour.

Pawan Chabra

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

“WE WORK WITH OUR SONY SISTER COMPANIES”

Sony India has taken the Blu-ray market by storm with the introduction of Blu-ray technology at an astonishing price of Rs.9,990. Keith Ribeiro, Managing Director, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment talks about how Blu-ray is paramount in delivering the best picture & sound quality and is a perfect complement for HDTV, the fastest growing category in consumer electronics

Sony in India is planning big initiatives for the Blu-ray market with the introduction of Blu-ray audio-visual products at a starting price of Rs.9,990. Another big plan is to double the number of Blu-ray movie titles to 500. In an exclusive interaction with 4Ps B&M, Keith Ribeiro, MD, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment talks about how a collaboration of the home entertainment & consumer electronic industries can promote cutting-edge media and entertainment device.

Your take on the new trends in the entertainment industry!
As far as the home entertainment industry is concerned, sales of physical media continues to be a strong revenue generator for the studios. It also remains one of the most cost effective means for a family to consume entertainment. We are also seeing evidence that Blu-ray is constituting a larger percentage of shipments and Blu-ray discs will be one of the major keys to renewed growth in the category. Additionally, there are several opportunities that are present for this industry. Among them are digital downloading and streaming; alternative distribution formats; increased retail space; and portability & connectivity on any desired playback devices.

But really, can Blu-ray bring more new experience to user entertainment?
We are continuing to call out Blu-ray on all of our marketing efforts for new release titles, in print, TV and online ads, emphasising the significant improvement in picture and sound quality, as well as the unique interactivity of BD Live and additional high-definition content. SPHE continues to develop new and exciting added-value content, with an emphasis on BD Live. Among our latest is what we believe will be BD Live’s “killer app,” MovieIQ. With a MovieIQ-enabled Blu-ray Disc and an Internet-connected Blu-ray player, movie fans can immediately access continuously updated information on cast and crew and explore relevant trivia such as production facts, music and soundtrack information all tied to scenes within the movie. These kinds of organic yet compelling features are what, we believe, will drive Blu-ray into the mainstream.

How much advertising spends is targeted at Blu-ray?
Blu-ray advertising is not the domain of one single division. Sony is in a unique position of having resources in every part of the evolving home entertainment world, be it software or hardware. Since every marketing initiative is cross divisional, I will not be able to accurately estimate the overall size of Sony’s budget. What is important to remember though is that we work with our Sony sister companies to develop a unified message targeting both consumers and retailers. For example, we are working on a BD Live piece with Sony Electronics that will show both the ease of connecting your Sony Blu-ray player to the Internet and accessing exclusive BD Live content with Sony Pictures Blu-ray titles. Additionally, we’ve partnered with the Sony Rewards team to create the Sony Pictures Blu-ray Club, wherein users can register their Sony Blu-ray Discs via BD Live to earn points that they can then redeem for cool Sony products.

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

4Ps Cover Story

BIG, FAT, HAIRY, AUDACIOUS...

As regards the current targets for this year both the companies are tightening up their belts on the war front. LG has ramped up its overall production capacity to 1.3 million units this year. Samsung has recently invested $10 million for its production expansion and is aggressively focusing on its AC segment with a sales volume target of around 1 million units this summer. As Ravinder Zutshi, Deputy MD, Samsung India shares with 4Ps B&M, “Overall, we are looking at a 40% jump in sales volume of our refrigerators and ACs in the April-June quarter. In ACs, we plan to double sales volumes in 2010 this year to one million units, garnering a market share of over 30%. In refrigerators, the market share target has been set at 26% by the end of 2010.” So if ACs are one of the key areas for Samsung this year, LG is busy promoting high-end products like LCDs. “We are now targeting a premium segment of consumers to give the company a premium image. Currently, we are focusing on our Home Entertainment segment, which is our next big target after the launch of the Direct Cool Range in the Home Appliances category and the all new AC range for summer 2010,” explains Shin.

Clearly, if you look at the current scenario, it’s very difficult to predict who will win the crown of glory. But more than that what is important to consider is that there are future challenges that are causes of concern for the behemoths with respect to sustaining the growth and deciding the future road map to take them to a higher level. The biggest challenge for LG, as Shin himself accepts, is succession planning. LG currenlty simply doesn’t have the next big face that could handle the huge growth pressures (“This thing is the most important and is above even numbers,” says Shin). For Samsung, the problems are more market oriented. Irrespective of the advantage till date, the fact is that the maximum sales in the Indian market takes place only through discount-promotions and that too specifically during festival seasons. Till the time Samsung is able to cleverly promote a price leadership image, without compromising its quality positioning, it’ll continue to follow LG, which – due to its supreme focus on providing value offers – leads the market indisputably.

In a 1996 article (Building Your Company’s Vision), two effervescent authors – Jim Collins and Jerry Porras – mentioned that every company needs to have its Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) to be able to achieve visionary targets that would have seemed impossible previously! LG and Samsung have already been there and done that in India. Now’s the time for something more... atrociously, audaciously more!