Saturday, January 16, 2010

And now its 2009…

Sitting tight at his work office in Chennai, C. K. Ranganathan (or CKR as he’s lovingly called by his friends and colleagues) is giving a fair bit of thought to the next big leap for his carefully nourished FMCG gambit CavinKare. In as much, the Rs.700 crore company is poised at a crucial inflection point in its history today. Having already dug its tentacles in regional markets and won the confidence of low-income consumers, CavinKare is now mulling its next step, which includes pan-Indian forays for some of its businesses and even bringing in some SEC A consumers within its fold. Says an enthusiastic CKR, “We are making efforts to be seen across categories. And you’ll see that in another decade, we’ll be an HUL in the making!” CKR ambition is for CavinKare to soon “become a Rs.5,000 crore group.”

It’s not just empty posturing. Peep into his detailed roadmap for achieving that target, and you realise that his ambition is neither inflated nor overrated. CKR believes that the key to CavinKare’s growth is the slew of brands in its kitty, which have a tenacious stranglehold in regional markets, spanning segments like shampoos (Chik, Meera, and Nyle), fairness cream (Fairever), deodorants and talcum powders (Spinz), masalas and ready mixes (Ruchi, Chinni’s), hair colours (Indica) and toilet cleaners (Tex, Topp Mopp). Not only that, he’s also taken his brands in select overseas markets, with a particularly strong presence in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Today, says CKR, CavinKare boasts a market share of 24% in shampoos, while Fairever has a 7% share in the fairness cream segment. Going forward, it is this strength that CKR hopes to exploit in his growth pursuit. “Most Indian companies simply leverage one parent brand. That is the weakness of Indian companies. They are afraid to create more brands thinking it will cost big money. But look at us, we have dozens of brands and all are growing healthily and we are even able to fund their growth,” explains CKR, adding that the company is now raring to “grow inorganically” and while he refuses to take names yet, he promises we’ll hear about new acquisition plans soon enough.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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Monday, January 11, 2010

Fun for you, but they mean business

Ramanathan avers, “We are a company that is totally focused on domestic tourism. That is why we are in a way safe from global recession. Although we lost in the third quarter of last year, we covered it in the fourth quarter by focusing on customers, who have not been affected much by the slowdown like doctors, lawyers et al.” This can be well substantiated from the fact that almost all resorts of the company witnessed an occupancy rate of around 75% last year (69% members and 6% by non members). The company even successfully rolled out is Initial Public offer (IPO) last month for the expansion of some of its resorts and setting up of new projects to support its expansion strategy.

So is it all so good with MHRIL? Well, not exactly. There are few issues encompassing the credibility of the company. And the first one comes from its membership agreement. It is a long service obligation on part of both the company and its customers as the membership duration lasts for as long as 25 years where in the admission fee (60% of the total cost) and the entitlement fee (remaining 40%) needs to be paid on EMI basis. This is not only a burden on the part of the consumers for a quite elongated period, but also an obligation on the company to maintain its resorts for that stated time. The second problem for the company comes from the issue of demand seasonality and dependence on travel industry. Explains an industry analyst from Angel Broking, “The company relies on discretionary spending by consumers, which is a lot vulnerable to economic cycles.”

Meanwhile, in order to expand their portfolio now they are even looking at branding of their Spas, ‘Swastha’, so that it can be extended to cities as well. But how will that be possible when the company does not even have a pan India presence? Well, Ramnathan answers, “Currently we have around 23 resorts, but we have bought land in many parts of the country. Our focus will be to grow in India.” Presently MHRIL has resorts in the west and northern India only. Thus the challenges are humongous, but then that does not stop Ramanathan from dreaming big for his company, at least not at a time when the travel and tourism industry is set to contribute 8% to the Indian GDP.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Management guru Arindam Chaudhuri’s latest blockbuster book, Discover The Diamond In You
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Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better By Swati Sharma
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Detail of all IIPM branches
IIPM set to beat economic slowdown
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON


Thursday, December 17, 2009

Why does India matter to HTC?

Jack Tong, VP, HTC APAC4Ps B&M: How is the smartphone market in India shaping up and how are you placed in the same?
JT:
Well, right now, India is the ideal market to be introducing smartphones in, as the market is growing quite rapidly and there is a strong demand for the phones that enable people to do more than just talking. HTC is a strong player in terms of data capable devices and we believe that the market would keep growing given the fact that 3G would be launched shortly in the country. As a matter of fact, we are quite bullish about the entire APAC region and India is a very important market for us in this region.

4Ps B&M: What are the other devices that would be offered by HTC in the immediate future? Any plans to get the second Android phone in soon?
JT:
Well, we are looking at launching many devices that we have in the international market, in India too. You would see some of them shortly. But how many of them would be launched would depend on the market performance and the response our existing devices get. As for the other Android devices, that too would depend upon the response for HTC Magic and the market behaviour.

4Ps B&M: What sets apart HTC devices from all others in the market?
JT:
Well, we may not have as many devices as some of our competitors, but we do have a robust portfolio in the segment we operate in and our strength lies in not the number of devices that we offer but the ease of use and innovations that we are able to offer to the end consumers. We don’t believe in packing features, but add things that would be relevant to the customers and make his mobile experience faster or simpler or both.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM fights meltdown, places 2300 students By Education Mail Bureau
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better By Swati Sharma
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Detail of all IIPM branches
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Monday, October 26, 2009

GLOBAL CAMPAIGN - FACT OR FICTION?


IIPM, GURGAON

Do our Ad guys agree? Sanjay Nayak, the Delhi-based President of McCann, believes this is a debate that will continue forever. “It’s like this. If basic human needs – food, shelter, incomes, relationships – are addressed in an imaginative way, then there is little scope for confusion and conflict.

However, there are products and services which, despite a strong central idea at the core, need execution that embraces local sensibilities. Glocal would be a more appropriate approach, I think.” Priti Nair, the dusky Managing Partner at BBH, agrees. “Think Global – Act Local remains my signature mantra! No matter how ball-bustin’ the creative idea is, unless it is coloured, infused and dipped in local nuances, it’s unlikely to rock! Take the classic case of DAAG ACCHE HAI. The basic brief DIRT IS GOOD – which came from the West – had a completely different connotation and one we couldn’t possibly plug in a country where mothers go bonkers cleaning their kids’ clothes. We had to fuse charm with logic and sell the idea that if the cause is good, dirt is okay.” Santosh Padhi – Paddy to the Adbiz – is up next with his take. He believes it all depends on the category. “If it’s something like Jeans and the target is youth, then global is definitely possible because of basic shared concerns. Youth everywhere, share the same anxieties about growing up, relationship with parents, conflict with school, establishment and authority, love, future… if one can strike at these strands, then chances are, they will succeed. However, as Priti pointed out, in most cases, local renditions are a necessity because it’s this local flavour and insights that are the main connectors.” Agnello Dias (Head honcho of TAPROOTS along with Paddy) reckons that if a campaign manages to address its constituency, across the board, effectively, nothing like it. It saves everybody from the trauma of cross-over and big buck expenditure… and that’s the main reason for the existence of a global campaign. One doesn’t have to, repeatedly, do localised versions, in every port of call. “Unfortunately, most people go about it the wrong way. It can never be done by design. One has to see how it holds up against different cultures and accordingly adapt – or if necessary – do fresh work that embraces the local milieu. Nike is an outstanding idea of cutting-through work that resonates, globally, without problems because it (consistently) simply, imaginatively and powerfully celebrates their iconic JUST DO IT spirit for different markets in a manner that is understood locally. It is global brand-building at its best,” avers Dias.

At the end of the day, universal truths remain universal truths. If conventions exist everywhere, so does creativity and the challenge is to recognise, understand and endeavour to connect with the growing plethora of opportunities in a shrinking world. Ultimately, the final truth that defines human communication remains writ in stone… If you really want to talk to millions of people, learn how to talk effectively to one. The rest will come naturally.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM fights meltdown, places 2300 students By Education Mail Bureau
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better By Swati Sharma
Event at IIPM
Detail of all IIPM branches
IIPM set to beat economic slowdown
IIPM - Admission Procedure