TRENDS (Page 3)

If there was one thing the Quality Summit 99 will be remembered for, it will be honesty and candour. The Vajpayee Administration and India Inc. took gentle jabs at each other. Corporate captains stressed the need for a quality movement in the government.

M.S. Ahluwalia, Member, Planning Commission

In his reply, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, 56, Member, Planning Commission, remarked that business never improves on its own. Only the fear of losing customers brings about change. ''Even Bajaj Auto introduced the new versions of 'Hamara Bajaj' only in the post-liberalisation era. More product innovations took place between 1990 and 1995 than in the 1980s,'' said Ahluwalia even as Bajaj Auto Chairman Rahul Bajaj squirmed on the dais.

An example of this was soon provided for by the Confederation of Indian Industry's (CII's) Deputy Director-General N. Srinivasan. He lamented the fact that, for the third year running, no corporate was judged worthy to be presented the golden trophy that goes with the CII-ExIm Award for Business Excellence. Scaling the Quality Summit is, obviously, tougher than it looks.

GLOBALISATION
How To Conquer The World
Brand gurus offered multiple strategies for taking Indian brands global.

Branding was repositioned at the Confederation of Indian Industry's Brand Summit in Chennai. With globalisation stretching markets and the marketer's purse, the focus was on creating strategies for effective global brand management. BT presents the 6 routes to global branding that emerged from 3 days of brainstorming.

V. BALARAMAN
Chairman, Brand Summit
'YOUR BRANDS MUST SUCCEED AT HOME FIRST'

He was the man behind the Brand Summit. Hindustan Lever veteran V. Balaraman, 53, Chairman, Brand Summit, spoke on critical brand issues on the eve of the New Millennium.

ON CORPORATE BRANDING IN INDIA. Corporate branding is a challenging proposition in India since there are many brands and diversified products from the same company. None of them is able to convey the corporate's ethics and values. The Body Shop is not just selling a product. It is branding environmental concerns by asserting that no animal-testing has been done. The brand content has percolated from the corporate down to the customer, who rewards the brand by showing an affiliation to this value.

ON PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION. Differentiation is the deal-clincher. And for that, a corporate can make use of sub-branding and customisation of the brand to suit various international markets. Sub-branding won't dilute the corporate brand message. The corporate brand is like a master brand, and sub-brands are merely extensions of this. Hindustan Lever, for instance, has created its strong brand equity through the extensive usage of sub-branding.

ON GLOBAL BRANDING. Before you want to make a mark in the international market, you have to consolidate your domestic standing. If your brand doesn't sell well in your own home territory, it is preposterous to think that it will be well-received abroad. The Japanese are strong in their domestic market. Success has to be local first, then it should be global, as only this will provide true value to the customer.

-M. Bharati

I. OFFER A HIGH LEVEL OF CUSTOMISATION. A brand as an experience calls for high sensitivity to the customer's needs-even discerning to the customer's subtle expressions! Customisation has become imperative as the customer will always find exactly what she needs, whether it's your brand or not. Every global player is trying to develop a brand-image-specific customer-relation marketing module, which entails customer-emotion evaluation. With growing use of technology and freer cross-border trade, the customer has so much choice now that one-size-fits-all marketers will perish if they don't customise.

II. MANAGE THE VALUE PERCEPTION. The brand transcends every barrier-most of all, class. But it still means different things to different socio-economic groups. And the customer's commitment towards the value of a brand is inversely proportional to her standing on the socio-economic scale. The functional attributes of successful global brands define a brand, but it's the value that the companies manage to yoke to these brands, by exploiting the perception of customers belonging to different socio-economic groups, that, ultimately, makes them work.

III. DON'T EXTEND YOUR BRAND INDISCRIMINATELY. Procter & Gamble, Chevrolet, and Millers & Coors have all been victims of indiscriminate brand-extensions. Levi Strauss' brand-share dropped from 31 to 19 per cent in just 7 years when it came up with 27 different cuts to appeal to a wider market. Diluting the brand equity by getting into sub-branding will only kill sales. For, when there are too many products under the same brandname on the shelf, the customer is not patient. In the US, 90 per cent of brand-extensions die.

IV. LOCALISE GLOBAL BRANDS. Ford Motor's response to the Indian market is a pointer. Even as it positioned its new car, the Ikon, in line with Indian needs, it replicated its global manufacturing technology in all the Indian plants. While it is true that customers of global brands want to enjoy the same quality of product, packaging and communication as is available in the developed markets, even those features must make sense in the local context of consumption.

V. SPEAK IN ONE VOICE. No matter what its product, service, or market, General Electric's communication is universal: We Bring Good Things To Life. The brand communication, even as it uses different media, must be unified. It also needs to have a universal appeal. But implementing such a translation worldwide is a huge task considering that every different global market has its own media and idioms. One way out is media focus. Colt, the UK-based air-conditioning and ventilation company has cut the number of trade publications it advertises in from 32 to just 1.

VI. DON'T NEGLECT THE NUANCES. Everyone knows it by now, but cross-cultural mistakes can still kill your chance of globalisation. When an ad agency created a commercial for an antiperspirant, for airing in Tokyo, featuring an animated lady octopus-referred to as an Underarm Expert-spraying under all her arms while talking about efficiency of the spray, it just drew hysterical laughter from the audience. Why? In Japan, an octopus is thought of as having eight legs-not eight arms. Don't forget, there is no one global market-to conquer the world, you have to conquer every market differently.

TRADE
Trading In Its Original Image
The trade fair has become a consumer-products exhibition-not a B2B mart.

It began life as a B2B exhibition. But the India International Trade Fair (IITF) has morphed into the country's biggest B2C event. Visited by 3.50 million people from different strata-businessmen, foreign delegates, and consumer-product buyers, few of whom are targets for business deals-IITF 99 was out-and-out a general exhibition. Says M. Ahmad, 55, CEO, National Small Industries Corporation, which holds the Techmart exhibition alongside the IITF: ''As more of specialised fairs come in, the IITF is becoming a mela. We have taken precautions, and have constructed a separate small-scale exhibition centre in Okhla (Delhi).''

Sure, corporate India got a first-hand view of the latest international technology and products. But, with special industry shows like Auto Expo (automobiles), IMTEX(machine tools), Gartex (garments), and Kisan 2000 (farming machinery and equipment) dotting the landscape, the IITF's focus has shifted to retail displays. Argues Y. Saifullah, 55, Senior General Manager, Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO): ''You can't focus on business visitors alone. We have allotted time for trade visitors. Promoting trade is crucial, but the common man should also get an opportunity to see what he couldn't normally.''

That, contends the ITPO, is why the entry-fee for the public was always kept low (Re 1 for many years, and now Rs 15 per head). The consumer attractions? It is the only national fair in which the states participate, with each trying to project its products and image. Besides the participation of foreign countries-70 companies from 14 countries participated in the fair-the IITF also attracts foreign delegations who are interested in sourcing technology or products from India.

For B2C sellers, the cost of participation is attractively-low. Specialised fairs are more expensive-Rs 8,000-10,000 per sq. metre of space, compared to the Rs 3,000 per sq. metre charged by the ITPO-and last for fewer days: 4 against the IITF's 10. Says Rajeev Karwal, 36, Senior Vice-President (Consumer Electronics), Philips: ''We look at the IITF to enhance our brand equity, and also to enhance our sales.'' Other companies agree: armed with a special sales team, LG Electronics clocked sales of Rs 3.75 crore at IITF 99, with a bill of Rs 75 lakh. Q.E.D..

LAUNCHES
Consumer Durables Steal The Show
Digital products and financing schemes attracted the crowds. Trade? What trade?

R. Zutshi, V-P (Mktg), Samsung Electronics

It's the domestic marketer's dream come true. The India International Trade Fair (IITF) offered the manufacturers of consumer durables a perfect platform to showcase their products. And the exhibitors made the most of this opportunity by packing in new product launches.

Nearly 5,200 companies-from both the organised and the unorganised sectors-presented their latest offerings at IITF 99. Two themes that emerged clearly this year: digitisation in consumer electronics, and the vending of new products with attractive consumer finance schemes.

Philips, Samsung, and LG Electronics, for instance, displayed-and sold-their current offerings and future digital products, comprising the latest DVD-players, home-theatre systems, MP3-players, HDTVs, Plasma TVs, flat-screen TVs, front-door cooling refrigerators, and refrigerators with a bar, and water and ice-cube dispensers. Says Ravinder Zutshi, 43, Vice-President (Marketing), Samsung: ''Demonstration, exposing products, and positioning them is the key objective at the IITF, so that the dealer's brand-recall is high after the fair.''

Another striking feature of IITF 99 was that most consumer-durable marketers tried to pack their launches with attractive finance schemes, gifts, and special prices to entice the potential customer. This was catalysed by consumer finance players like ICICI and The Associates (formerly Avco Financial Services) offering on-the-spot financing to attract customers. Says Ajay Kapila, 36, Vice-President (Marketing), LG Electronics: ''We want to facilitate the buying decision this way.'' Next year, they should call it IIC-for Customer-f.

HEALTH BUSINESS
Working Out For A Better Future
Sports and fitness products carved out a niche amidst the consumer products jungle.

They're cashing in on health. To promote sports and fitness equipment, the Federation of Indian Micro and Small & Medium Enterprises (FISME) organised India's first-ever Sports & Fitness Fair concurrently with the India International Trade Fair 99. Says Anil Bhardwaj, 40, Secretary General, FISME: ''The objective is to promote exports by creating domestic capabilities, both in qualitative and quantitative terms.'' The fair was sponsored by the Union Ministry of Commerce & Industry, the Development Commission of Small-Scale Industries (DCSSI), the Sports Goods Export Promotion Council, and the Small Industry Development Bank of India.

India's sports industry, which is centred largely in Meerut and Jalandhar, exports products worth Rs 200 crore-mainly football and cricket gear, and athletic equipment. Now, with health clubs and fitness centres mushrooming in urban India, the demand for health and fitness equipment is growing exponentially. Says Promod Arora, 27, Senior Executive, Benson Sports, a Meerut-based sports equipment-manufacturer: ''We can't go all over India. The fair allowed us to get in touch with potential dealers besides providing publicity for our products.'' No wonder, then, the manufacturers didn't mind the bill of between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh for displaying their products.

Sure, some participants were not happy with the exposure and publicity they received. Says S.K. Agarwal, 40, Marketing Manager, B.D. Mahajan & Sons, a Meerut-based manufacturer of cricket gear: ''We had just 4 or 5 trade enquiries. We were looking forward to getting foreign buyers. That hasn't happened.'' Maybe. But then, you can't win a marketing marathon the first time you enter it.