A different beat!

The man whose basmati rice brand, India Gate, has achieved global status talks about his experience...

4Ps B&M: What were the major challenges that you faced while taking your brand India Gate global?
AKM: First of all, the dominance of large retailers like Wal-Mart. Then convincing the customer about the quality of the product posed a challenge, because in the food business, quality assurance is must. But India has a copyright for basmati rice and I started highlighting that aspect in my product and gave all possible details of manufacturing process, location, date, et al, on the packaging.

4Ps B&M: When it comes to USA, the food standard bills are very strong. Did this prove a bottleneck to enter the US market?
AKM: Not only in USA, but in Europe too, food safety rules are very strict. But as I said, we paid attention to our packaging and when it comes to processing, we followed global standards. I think these are the basics to create a brand which have to be supported by proper promotional exercise. So, we started highlighting the USP of the basmati rice.

4Ps B&M: What major challenges do Indian food entrepreneurs face while trying to create a global brand?
AKM: Most players can’t afford to create a brand as it takes time and money to generate goodwill that is required to creating brand. And then, many players still consider it a commodity, which cannot be branded. Having been in the industry for over than three decades, I learnt that even a common food commodity like basmati rice could be branded. All it needed was the right brand name, with proper marketing efforts. I deliberately gave it the name ‘India Gate’ because its represents India.

4Ps B&M: And as per you, which are the key markets for Indian foods?
AKM: It’s difficult to point out the key markets. Like for rice, is can be either of Middle-East, Europe, Africa or US while Indian spices are demanded widely in Europe.

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).

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A man who has jumped from paints to carbonated drinks to straight-off-the-shelf retail,

Mayur Toshniwal does not disappoint in his astute views on life, leadership and... biology!

Biology is the subject he hates, understanding personalities is what he loves, managing operations at Future Group is what he does. Mayur Toshniwal – President, Retail Operations (Value Formats) of Future Group comes out as a man who possesses a diversified personality, and not just because of his mix of mechanical engineering (from IT-BHU, Varanasi) and MBA (from IIM Ahmedabad).

Toshniwal started his corporate journey at the mecca of marketing learning, Asian Paints. But with his penchant for commerce and the personal quest to indulge in business, through his seven years tenure in Asian Paints and then in Coca Cola, he relentlessly kept hunting for something new. And his hunt came to an end when one day he met Kishore Biyani, the owner of Future Group, and in just 15 minutes flat decided to join the group as the CEO of North India.

That was five years back. But the journey till date, which he has cherished, has not been as hunky dory as it might seem – for as Future Group proliferated from Pantaloon to other different formats like Food Bazaar and Big Bazaar, Mayur’s challenges also started increasing. Moreover, with the responsibility of the pan India retail operations for the Rs.10,000 crore group, things were as complex as one could handle. “But it’s always interesting as you not only have new formats, but also have new cities adding bringing new challenges,” says Toshniwal.

But what about the growth target of 40% that Future Group had aimed for with respect to Pantaloon Retail India Ltd (which owns the brands of Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar etc)? Especially as the same-store-sales grew only by 5.7% in the first half of 2009 (Jan-June) and home retailing in fact declined by 4.8%. How logical was it to expand so much during the last year? “Yes, the last three years we have done major expansions; we entered in various new formats; Food Bazaar was established as a standalone store etc – we estimated that India will be a hub for a robust retail industry. It was the slowdown and rising real estate cost that affected the industry. But irrespective of that, grocery and food retailing format of out store has grown more that our expectation,” explains Toshniwal.

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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Delighting dealers?

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Says Srikant Gokhle, CEO, Impact Retail (which owns the X-cite brand), “For the customer, we are the face of the company. It is we who sell their products and look after their after sales.” In India, a major chunk of sales of electronics and durables come from multi-brand outlets rather than exclusive stores (over 50% in some cases). Delighting the dealers therefore, becomes obligatory. When a customer walks into a multi-brand outlet with quite a handful of brands to choose from, it is the dealer who convinces the customer to buy a particular brand. And based on the relationship the dealer shares with the manufacturer, he pushes the brand to the customer. Most big dealers and modern retailers take the onus of installation of goods and providing service to the consumers upon themselves. So, in case a product develops faults, the consumer comes back to the dealer or the retailer, who in turn either rectifies the problem or sends it to the manufacturer. In this entire chain, the customer has no direct contact with the manufacturer; as Ajay Baijal, CEO, Reliance Digital, shares, “We have our own after-sales service program called Res-Q, and we also offer our own warranty in addition to the warranty offered by consumers.” X-Cite too has its own after sales service programme called Get Set Go. Stressing upon the need for great after-sales service for retaining customers, Gokhle of Impact Retail puts, “We cannot afford to lose our consumers especially on account of after-sales service...”

Even when it comes to marketing, dealers and retailers have joined hands with the companies. In order to enhance footfalls, dealers launch their own promotional discounts and schemes, as S. Rajendran, CMO, Acer India, reveals, “Our trade partners also come up with schemes to attract customers on their own and seek our participation in some of those initiatives too. We participated with Croma on their programs like ‘Back to School’, and with Home Solutions for their campaign on August 15, to make the most exciting offers available to consumers. Presently, we are engaged with Staples Future as partners in the ‘Tech Challenge’ which kickstarted on September 18.” Trained company salesmen assist dealers at the points-of-sale. Dealers at their own level also take measures to ensure sales, especially during the festive season when consumer spending is at its crest, as Kushal Negi, a multi-brand dealer in Delhi’s Yusuf Sarai Market puts it, “We send SMS messages, leaflets, pamphlets and even organise lucky draws to engage customers in large numbers.”

Then there are other means to delight the dealers as Prem Kumar, CEO, Fly Mobile, explains, “We train our dealers about the benefits of dual-sim enabled handsets. We are more of a technology enabler for our dealers,” to which V. Ramachandran, Director – Sales & Marketing, LG, adds, “We instill confidence in dealers by way of our services and work together on both monthly and quarterly basis. LG is very proactive when it comes to commission and transaction issues...” For sure, with the breeze of positivity blowing into our faces during festival time, the dealers will definitely give the companies, the reason to celebrate, and the white goods kings know this very well… Are consumers kings? Well, Deputy Kings surely!

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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