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Wednesday, December 22, 2010

The journey has surely been very exciting so far, but going forward, the times may turn challenging. Amit Nandi, Head - Probiking, Bajaj Auto shares

Are you also planning to take the format overseas also?
As of now, there are no plans to take the format overseas. We will be limiting ourselves into the Indian market only.

With the KTM bikes making their inroads into the Indian market in the coming time, how will you be able to make the showroom as a distinctive place for the three – Bajaj, Kawasaki and KTMs?
The KTMs will be available in the Indian market by next year. In fact, all the bikes that are meant for performance from Bajaj will find a place in the Bajaj’s Probiking showrooms. We will have a separate section for Bajaj products as well as the Kawasakis and KTMs.

How different will be the marketing strategy in the case of the Kawasaki products?
In case of premium bikes, the marketing strategy focuses more on interacting with the consumers and to give him an experience wherein he gets to touch feel and ride the product. That’s how the prospective consumer converts into a loyal consumer.

What are the other plans for the format in the current year?
According to the plan outlined, we shall be standing at 35-40 Probiking showrooms wherein the figure currently stands at 32 showrooms.

How has the role changed for the Probiking showrooms after the launch of Kawasaki products in the Indian market?
The importance has certainly gone up as now we have almost 80-90% market share in the above 250cc market and there is a market for superbikes that will grow with the time.

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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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Monday, November 15, 2010

THE (DIS)LOYALTY MARKET UNVEILED

The need for a greater customer intimacy is getting amplified by the changing trends in consumer behaviour

The need for a greater customer intimacy is further getting amplified by the changing trends in consumer behaviour, which are engineering a shift from Customer Relationship Management to Customer Managed Relationships, where customers want organisations to be more transparent with the information they have on them and give them the choice to define how that information should be used to make the consumption of products and services more convenient for them. Organisations need to start thinking on these lines and ready themselves for this shift in the balance of power or they will find themselves increasingly irrelevant to their customers. Perhaps its not too late for everyone to consider seriously what Robert Lauterborn proposed (in as early as 1990) to do away with the product oriented 4Ps of marketing, which was the bedrock of all marketing strategies for several decades, to the customer oriented 4Cs – Consumer wants and needs, Cost to satisfy, Convenience to buy & Communication for our times.

Loyalty practitioners have hailed this approach all along and brought to market many strategies that resulted in organisations coming closer to their customers. The early adopters – airlines, hotels & retail companies have led from the front and now almost every business is thinking about it to build sustainable & profitable relationships with customers. It therefore comes as no major surprise that all forms of loyalty marketing have seen an unprecedented growth in the last decade. An estimate on the spending through loyalty marketing in India is an impressive Rs.3,500-4,000 crore, and with the advent of technology in mobile marketing & social networking giving marketers the power to reach & build a relationship with every customer, the marketing budget will continue to split in favour of such programs. Ultimately, the consumer marketer relationship will have to tread on carefully with its ear to the ground in these times where change is the only constant but for the fact that the consumer is driving it.