Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Mahesh Gupta, Founder & MD, Kent RO systems gets candid with neha saraiya on what drove him to quit his job at IOC and set up his own venture

How has the scenario changed since then?
Now we are heard and our voice is accepted. Consumers too are aware and demand a better product and a better technology.

But, the competition has also increased...
Yes indeed. But we need to keep innovating and upgrade our technology which we have been doing till now. In a consumer business, a consumer is not looking only at the product but at service as well.

You claim that your products are based on cosumer insights. What kind of research goes into it?
It’s not a methodological research that we follow, but it’s a research through our interaction with people in the field. Further, we have created a special marketing team in Delhi which remains in touch with consumers on a daily basis. It’s quite important as we need to know the pulse of market. Even for our channel partners based outside Delhi we do the review once in every six months.

How challenging is it to remain on top?
The business demands a great service network as such we need to be on our toes every second. Secondly, many fly by night operators enter into the market and spoil the business. They buy components from outside and develop it. Further, as our products are becoming popular, duplicate and fake products are dumped in the market in our name.

Your future plans...
I see myself as a market leader. I want to surpass Eureka Forbes as its turnover is bigger than ours. However, in the RO category we are still the leaders.


For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting


IIPM in the league of best management institutes of India.....

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Still MAC! Yes!

Despite the VAT rate increase, McDonalds released its new advertising campaign themed, “Affordability” for its Happy Price Menu with the central message, “You don’t need to think twice when McDonalds has burgers at only Rs. 25.” Earlier, the same burger was priced at Rs. 20. With the ad-drive, McDonald’s is hoping that the Young Adults No Kids (YANKS) group, which is seen contributing to 75% of McDonald’s footfalls, would not really mind the 25% increase in prices if the same is communicated appropriately. Given that McDonald’s has been ranked in July 2010 as the 12th best brand in the Asia Pacific region by one report, the presumption of McDonald’s holds weight, if not evidence, given that it caters to above of 2 lakh customers in India on a daily basis, by various estimates. In related news, in the United States, McDonald’s profits were up 12% and reached a promising $1.23bn. Apparently, McDonald’s is also in the process of streamlining its supply chain processes much better to ensure these profits rise further in the future.


For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

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

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

IIPM in the league of best management institutes of India.....

Saturday, March 12, 2011

4Ps B&M analyses

Mercedes has proven to be that fast second-mover. But how does the company plan to market its latest offering to the Indian consumer? According to estimates, the size of the pre-owned car market in India is expected to be 10-15% of the new car market volume (sales figures for the first half of 2010). This figure is expected to rise substantially over the next couple of years, which makes the pre-owned car market critical for all luxury carmakers. So what marketing mode of mass communication are the second-hand car sellers banking upon. Says Debashis Mitra, Head – Sales & Marketing, Mercedes-Benz India to 4Ps B&M, “A large chunk of awareness will depend on the word-of-mouth advertising through the consumers in the pre-owned cars business.”

On the proactive front, the company plans to follow conventional advertising methods to promote its second-hand car arm in the Indian market, as it has been doing for its passenger car business so far. Talking about outreach, the company has rolled out its Proven Exclusivity program across four cities (Phase I) and plans to take the count to 12 locations by the end of 2010. Aulbur also says that Mercedes is expecting to generate around 10-15% of its topline via the used car route by 2011. Experts also opine that the second hand car business will guarantee greater footfall in Mercedes’ showrooms across the country.

There is a challenge that threatens to decelerate this dream run of the Mercs – the unorganised market. According to industry data, 90% of the resale auto market belongs to the unorganised segment, which covers not just the friendly neighborhood second hand car dealers but also the one-to-one ‘grey’ dealmakers. There is one hope though – thanks to the segment in which Mercedes operates, it is widely believed that the consumer will prefer the organised channel.

Even in other segments, competitors like Maruti True Value (Maruti’s preowned car reselling arm), have been showing growth rates between 25-50% month on month (data available till February 2010). At the same time, due to the fact that there is no dearth of top class service and support facilities for even the grey market purchases/imports, one would have to wait for the market figures to come in, before confirming Mercedes’ success. Sixteen years and 30,000 units sold in India – what does the future hold for Mercedes? Whatever it does, its long-earned glory in India will come in handy.


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.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting

Thursday, March 10, 2011

It’s a Fox’s Jump

FOX International Channels (FIC) which is a subsidiary of the FOX entertainment group has added 7 new channels to its portfolio in India. FIC which produces and distributes entertainment, sports and movie channels around the world is part of media mogul Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Out of the seven new channels that the company has announced to be launched in India, FOX Crime and FX are already available but only with DTH players like Tata Sky and Sun Direct; but will soon be available with other DTH players and cable distributors going by the announcements made by the company. These new channels are in the genre such as music, wildlife and crime and will give the Indian customer more options in the space. This will apparently bring change in the entertainment space because FOX is attempting to bring its international experience in play to capture more market share in the Indian market. FOX, for records, has 170 plus channels in its global portfolio and may bring a few more if these launches are successful.


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.

IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM makes business education truly global
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm - Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri (IIPM Dean) – ‘Every human being is a diamond’
Arindam Chaudhuri – Everything is not in our hands
Planman Technologies – IT Solutions at your finger tips
Planman Consulting
Arindam Chaudhuri's Portfolio - he is at his candid best by Society Magazine

IIPM B-School
Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri
Planman Consulting