Through the frosted glasses in Daizo Ito’s swanky office in Gurgaon, one can clearly see the growth and chaos bustling in and around Gurgaon.

But an unconcerned Ito is focused on only one thing: how to convert the Japanese behemoth’s missed chance in India into an opportunity to make Panasonic a trusted household name in the country. By Aditi Prasad

The thrilling World Baseball Classic (WBC) finals held at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium earlier this year saw Japan and Korea slug it out for the title, with underdog Japan winning the championship on the back of the team’s super pitching form. Some commentators believe that the photo finish WBC event irrevocably established that baseball was no longer just an American game. But for some others like Daizo Ito, Panasonic India’s Chief Executive, it signified much more than that viz. the curious case of the Indian consumer durables market where Koreans monopolise the segment at the cost of global Japanese heavyweights like Panasonic. Japan beat favourites Korea in the WBC finals, and Ito now has a plan, if not to beat, then at least, join the ranks of the Korean biggies in India’s Rs.26,000-crore durables market.

“We are no longer pussy cats, but hungry tigers,” Ito avers, with a roar, his towering personality almost dwarfing his swank cabin in Panasonic India’s premises at Gurgaon. For those who came in late, Panasonic was one of the first consumer durable companies to have spotted the India opportunity way back in the 90s, much before LG and Samsung soared into the limelight. In Ito’s own words, when he was sent by Chairman Nakamura to take charge of Panasonic’s India operations 18 months ago, he was “shocked” to see Panasonic languishing near the bottom, at 16th position in brand awareness among all its rivals. “In most other Asian countries, we are at the number 1 or 2 positions competing with either Sony or Samsung,” he laments.

Not that the big guys at the company headquarters in Japan were caught napping. Instead, all these years, Panasonic had been merely looking at China as their big growth engine. With the result that today, China contributes almost 8% to Panasonic’s global turnover; while India’s share stands at an embarrassing less than 1% of the behemoth’s global revenues. Ito however is in town to challenge status quo. Reputed somewhat as a turnaround man within Panasonic, the man has, to his credit, turned around the fortunes of Panasonic UK and has also taken his company to the number one position in Thailand over the last few years. Now his eyes are fixed on India. “Panasonic’s 100th anniversary is in 2018 and my gift to our headquarters on that occasion will be to make Panasonic India a stark success,” he avers smilingly. Ito has already got off to a good start. The last year has seen Panasonic jump from relative obscurity to right under the floodlights, courtesy a big budget marketing blitz with a host of ambassadors, including the new heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor and even the Bachchan father-son duo for their ECO initiative.

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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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With hope, all the way

December 7, 2009 will witness world leaders from 192 countries gather at Copenhagen to attend the most coveted conference – the United Nations Climate Change Conference. The conference will supposedly decide the future of our planet, which may go into oblivion if a definite framework on limiting carbon emissions before the expiry of Kyoto protocol is not formulated. UN, in its endeavour to connect with the general public, has devised a cause-related campaign with the leading ad agencies of the world (including O&M, McCann Worldgroup, Euro RSCG, MPG, Draft FCB, Tribal DDB, Colle+McVoy, Saatchi & Saatchi, Digitas, Interbrand) by the name of Hopenhagen, which signifies a more hopeful way of living in the future without any adverse effects of global warming. Seems that the mantra of hope propagated by US Prez Barack Obama will find solace in all the major ‘changes’ taking place in the world.

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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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IT’S NEO, IT’S NOW!

And the good start of the ODI tournament reflects that the channel’s efforts have worked. As per aMap, the fourth India-Australia ODI got a TRP of 2. Neo Sports’ Marketing Head Abhishek Verma, says, “We are very happy with the initial response to the tournament. And these are aMap ratings… The TAM ratings for cricket matches are generally double of that of aMap. Moreover, as it is becoming a close fight for the series we are expecting an average TAM ratings of 8-9 points for the entire tournament. The advertisers’ response to the tournament has also been good. Neo Sports got eight sponsors on board, including brands like Hero Honda, Tata DoCoMo, Gillete et al. In fact, DoCoMo has joined in as a sponsor for the entire six month season on Neo cricket The ad rates are Rs.3.5 lakh for a 10-second slot for bulk buyers and for usual buyers, it is Rs.4 lakh. This is at-par with the much hyped IPL 2 ad-rates. When quizzed about the warm response from advertisers for the Hero Honda Cup despite the recent bad performance of cricketing events on TV, a media planner said, “Any India playing cricket attracts eyeballs. That’s why bilateral tournaments with India get a very high rating and wider reach, compared to a tournament or a Twenty20 cricket (excluding IPL). This is because there is no fear of India getting knocked out. And that’s why advertisers are excited about the India-Australia series.” Neo cricket is expecting Rs.150 crore revenues from the ongoing HH Cup alone. For the six month long season the channel expects ad revenues approximating to Rs.500-600 crore. This figure is close to 40% of the entire advertising spend on cricket in a year (Rs.1300-1500 crore).

But the question is with channels like ESPN (seasoned in sports broadcasting globally) and SETMAX (that has some of the hottest cricket properties), will a two year-old channel like Neo cricket be able to make a space for itself? On the face of it, this may look like a herculean task, but Neo has been doing well on the back of the telecast rights for all international and domestic cricket played in India. In fact, the channel became the most watched sports channel in 2008, with a market share of almost 28%.

And keeping in mind India’s fascination for cricket (at least when the Men in Blue are around), Neo is sitting on a gold mine... at least till it owns those telecast rights!

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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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When Spin Doctors give the PR Push

How different it is to build a political brand as compared to a corporate brand through PR activation? Well, it’s similar... but not identical!

It was during April-May this year that all of us were subjected to the frenzy created by the political parties and their choice of leaders in a run up to General Elections. Political posters, advertising spots, hurried activities and flurry created by rallies screamed all through the day to ‘vote-for-me’ pleading candidates. The distorted images of leaders wrestled for attention, holding onto the voters’ index finger. A while later you found yourself in the ballot booth, conscious of the fact that your vote counts, though subconsciously sending off similes of candidates who successfully incarcerated your attention.

Yes, welcome to the world of ‘undeciders’! And being in this special ‘undecided’ category, you happen to prove all exit polls wrong and make the unthinkable happen. You end up voting for a candidate who has been able to communicate his achievements effectively. The man, or the woman, you voted for may be as good as the competition, but he or she has scored in terms of efficiently and effectively communicating with the buyer; read voter in this case. The situation at a hyper-market is so much alike. Building a political brand is similar to building a consumer brand – similar, but not identical. To build a consumer brand, a product is needed to position against a target group. A political brand, on the other hand, is developed to strike functional and emotional values to an electorate despite the difficulty of defining the market place. The single most distinction towards PRable communication between a consumer brand and a political brand is the ‘value proposition on offer’ around which a consumer brand is built. A political brand is positioned on the basis of the history of the political party, credentials of the political leader and the character that is to be highlighted on the block. These three fundamentals of communication for a political brand make it a tad complex over a consumer brand. The political brand must signify party lineage ably supported by credible manifestos and policies. The party’s credibility typically has a huge rub off on the positioning of an individual leader. Similarly, soiled reputation of a colleague on the political brand can hamper the desired image. There are often multiple opposing brands in one party, more so for Indian electorate where allies come together to form a ruling party or an opposition. For instance, the Congress has a certain brand image and equity, and its allies and political leaders have their own brand image. The PR strategy needs to inculcate such details, especially while positioning a leader at constituency level. For a consumer brand, the brand positioning is devoid of sub-brands and complicated alliances. The attributes of a consumer brand reach out to a specified target audience nationally.

With the evolution of media sphere and increased public scrutiny, corporates and politicians alike are under intense pressure to act transparently and hence the need to communicate. PR perhaps gives them the edge on any other medium to communicate effectively to the target audience, as PR places exposure through third party endorsements and brings about credibility. While PR communication for a consumer brand is more forthright and is based on key characteristics, a political brand is more focused on building an emotional quotient with the target audience. In western countries, Political PR is often referred to as spin doctoring. While the term spin doctors may have some negative connotation, it essentially includes selectively presenting facts and quotes that support one’s position. Spin doctoring carefully times the release of certain news so it can take advantage of prominent events. In India, while Consumer PR has evolved to a large extent, Political PR is still carried on a selective basis with the sole intent of managing media exposure during the election process. However, with PR coming of age, it is only time that political PR will gain ground and be a part of the political team at a more strategic level.

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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Can Piaggio ride faster?

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As per the latest reports, Piaggio has plans to launch brands like Gilera, Aprilia and Derbi (a small motorcycle), alongwith the much-popular Vespa brand. “If Piaggio will enter the Indian two-wheeler market, the Vespa brand will definitely be there. But it’s too early to talk about the other possible brands,” adds Chopra. But what convinces Piaggio to mark a re-entry after a long 10 years? “The Indian two-wheelers market is one of the fastest growing after China in the world. Moreover, its attractiveness ensures that competition will get all the more intense going forward,” shares the market leader’s top honcho, Shinji Aoyama, President & CEO, Honda Motorcycle & Scooters India limited (HMSI). HMSI enjoys more than 50% market share in the scooters segment. When quizzed on his vision for the two-wheeler market, Piaggio’s Chopra agreeingly states, “We at Piaggio see a huge opportunity in the Indian two-wheeler market and we would not like to miss out on the same.” As per industry sources, the company will be manufacturing two-wheelers at its manufacturing plant at Baramati, Maharashtra, where its three-wheelers are currently being manufactured.

In fact, Piaggio is also equally bullish on the three-wheeler segment and it plans to roll-out variants in petrol, CNG and LPG by end-2009. “We pioneered the LCV segment in the country and we are the market leader despite the fact that there was a big market that Piaggio wasn’t catering to,” avows Chopra. The company is also planning to launch a mini truck – a half-tonne 4-wheeled truck by early 2010. But the biggest task would be to win the consumer’s trust when it comes to the two-wheeler segment for Piaggio. The company will have to spend bigger bucks to ensure closer ties with the consumer. The already comfortable position of Piaggio in the three-wheeler segment, will help the company in both the branding and distribution aspects.

However the top spot in the scooter segment for now surely remains a distant dream for Chopra, as the situation now is a whole lot different to what it was back in the 90s. Can Vespa make this ride easier? For now, your guess is as good as ours!

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.

The Sunday Indian:- B-SCHOOL RANKING SCAMSTERS EXPOSED!
For Exclusive Footage by Sunday Indian Click Here

Outlook Magazine's B School Ranking Scam Exposed
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IIPM exposes Career 360 and Mahesh Peri scam
IIPM - We will change your outlook : Career 360 and Mahesh Peri scam is exposed

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