The royal malletiers are here, on ‘time’!

If he’s successful in his mission, then Tag Heuer in India would not be known for watches anymore and it would contribute majorly in the turnover of LMVH. By Angshuman Paul

Manishi Sanwal
GM - Indian Subcontinent, Watch & Jewellery division of LVMH

You just can’t miss the gigantic silver plated insignia of Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton when you enter the New Delhi offices of LVMH, currently one of the world’s leading luxury brands, endorsed by the world’s biggest celebrities. What, then, would you expect if you were to meet the man heading the marketing operations of LVMH’s watch and jewellery division? Glamour, glitz, chutzpah, all loaded in one? That said, the simplicity of Manishi Sanwal’s office takes us quite by surprise. Manishi is the GM-Indian Subcontinent, Watch & Jewellery division of LVMH (overseeing the Tag Heuer brand), and despite the simplicity of his office environs, he is quite up the ask with concepts of marketing warfare and strategies for the Indian market.

It has been almost two years that Tag Heuer entered India and started marketing not only watches but also glasses, wallets, jackets and other similar accessories. Apparently, the legacy branding of Tag Heuer – combined with their age-old focus on technology perfection – has enabled LVMH to record an astonishing 40% growth rate in India. And even though Tag Heuer has forayed into several new segments, Manishi has made sure that the promotion and the marketing strategy for all these new products matches the brand-legacy of Tag Heuer. One of the key notable introductions was the uber-swanky Tag cellphone. The phone was released only in 11 countries and India was one of them. That led many analysts to question whether Tag had reached the country too late. Especially when a company like Nokia had already introduced Vertu many years back. Manishi defends, “Our positioning is different from Vertu. And further, within an year’s time, we are now available in all the metros; and are also providing appropriate after sales services. If we wanted, we could have had more retail penetration; but we didn’t want to go where there was difficulty in setting up after sales services.”

Manishi knows what he’s talking about. He has his ground-base knowledge pretty well structured. Manishi’s an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, and has already worked in several markets for Tag Heuer, including China and has also worked in various capacities in L&T, the Swatch group and even Samsung. Bucked up with such experience, Manishi knows the danger of over extension of a brand quite well. But given all that, and irrespective of that, Manishi is quite upbeat about introducing more products and jewellery under the Tag Heuer brand name. “Tag Heuer also stands for technology and sport and in all our brand extensions, we will resort to such common USPs. Then again, we are extending, but that doesn’t mean we will make our products available everywhere and increase our target audience,” shares Manishi.

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).

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Beyond red and sparkling...

In conversation with Shephali Bhatt and Deepak R. Patra, Sunila shares what interests her in marketing, her mantra for success, and what lies behind the glamorous world of wine

Sunila Duggal
Head – Marketing, Sula Vineyards

It is nothing less than a carnival – thrilling and exhilarating with an array of celebrity guests, uber cool music, fantabulous Greek-style open-air amphitheater, and flea market shopping. And all of it spiced up with freshly made eclectic food flanked by an exhaustive range of local and imported wines. This is exactly what the party-goers get to enjoy at the ‘Sulafest’ organised by Indian wine maker Sula. But then, if you are thinking that it’s just another fun party in town, think twice. It’s not one of those without any purpose. The motto behind such a wine festival is to bring the consumer and the wine maker closer in a consumer-friendly way, keeping the long term goal of brand creation in mind. And so far, Sulafest has successfully delivered the best for the Nashik-based wine maker, Sula Vineyards. When Sharell Cook, noted India guide of About.com wrote that Sula Vineyards in Nasik was India’s “most popular and most accessible winery,” she was simply mirroring the fact that the Vineyards has now become one of the major tourist must-see attractions. Take that for super-marketing! Much of the credit goes to the unassuming and modest Sunila Duggal, Marketing Head, Sula Vineyards.

An enterprising team leader, Sunila is one marketing personnel who exudes the glamour and sensibility of her job profile. The lady who continues to read a lot of fiction in order to know which wines are favourite among prolific writers, is a hit amongst her team members who admire her for her leadership style, which is a mélange of domination, understanding and participation. And that’s what has helped her in streamlining the company’s marketing department making the processes smoother than they were earlier. In her short stint of two years in Sula, she has also introduced the company into social media. She still remembers, “I sat with my CEO and drew a sketch of areas where our presence will benefit us. And now we are into social media in a big way.”

She is certainly one of those people who love to live every bit of the glamorous profile of her work. “I agree that being the Marketing Head of India’s leading wine company, the work is very exciting and glamorous. However, a lot of hard work is put in by my team and me,” she says. Sunila adds that in this industry, everyday is a new day. Despite being in the industry for the past two years, she feels there’s still much to learn – “I am constantly learning something new about my company, my product and the market. And that is the most exciting part of my job.” But then, considering the facts that wine consumption is still at a very nascent stage in India and the industry is under many rules and regulations, sustaining a wine brand in this country is as difficult as establishing a new one. This, she feels, makes one think out-of-the-box to be present and be accepted by the people. “It’s not only about going for conventional advertising and marketing, it is about being different. Moreover, there is no fixed mantra,” she adds.

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.

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Any guesses why the picture looks pretty?

In conversation with Neha Saraiya about the memorable moments in his journey and what it means to be India Head of Nikon Corporation

His association with India might be just two years old but he has already travelled to over 45 cities across the country and savoured almost all popular Indian delicacies including Dal Makhani, Masala Dosa and Chicken Tikka. After all, he wanted to know the real India to fulfill his ultimate dream – to establish Nikon as a local company in India and not as a Japanese brand. Today, he not only understands India well, but has also developed a penchant for Indian food. “When I had sambar for the first time, it seemed to be too heavy for me, but my affinity towards this dish has today made it my preferred breakfast whenever I stay in the southern part of the country. Even at airports, whenever I have to travel early and have time, I love to have sambar,” says Hiroshi Takashina, the newly appointed Managing Director of Nikon India (he was appointed on June 1, 2010).

Hiroshi Takashina succeeded Hidehiko Tanaka, the former head of Nikon India, who after establishing Nikon India and strengthening the division’s organisation during his three-year tenure, was moving back to Japan to take over a new assignment within Nikon Corporation. But it was not actually Takashina’s knowledge about the Indian culture that made him the successor to Tanaka’s throne, but actually his sales credentials. “His one and half year performance here in India to lead the sales and marketing team instilled confidence in me that he could take over the new role as MD of Nikon India,” Tanaka had commented when he left India. In fact, prior to Nikon, Takashina has also worked with one of Japan’s leading auto manufacturers for more than 24 years, looking after West Asia, Africa and Europe.

One thing that Takashina can never be suspected of is lack of vibrancy. His yellow tie and high spirits are enough to rest even the most irreverent critic. While yellow, we’re told, connotes Nikon’s symbol, Takashina’s enthusiasm conveys his mission, which is to establish Nikon firmly on the Indian soil. Takashina confesses to us that this is a far cry from his childhood dream of becoming a musician – while in his college days, he apparently tried his hand at several instruments, with his favourite being the piano; today, Takashina hardly gets time to play them.

Takashina is a self-confessed avid reader and a strategist who has an eye for detail. But with a preponderance of sales and marketing in his past background, doesn’t the role of an MD, which encompasses many more functions, confound him? Pat comes the honest reply, “I was always associated with sales and marketing in a major way but yes, fields like operations, HR and finance are new to me. So I am learning every day.”

Nikon, which landed on the Indian soil in November 2007, is still in an establishment phase and as such contributes just below 3% to its parent company’s revenues. This is considerably low when compared to other Asian markets like China and Japan that contribute a healthy 10-20% to Nikon’s global turnover. However, there has been a slow shift happening in the Indian digital camera market, which is a positive indication for the company’s growth. As Takashina puts it, “Currently a lot of professionals are using DLSR cameras. What happened in Japan earlier is now happening in India. As now more consumers are shifting to this range, there is a tremendous opportunity waiting for us.” In fact, Nikon’s quick drive to grab a 45% market share in this segment last year (which is anticipated to reach 50% by the end of 2010) stands testimony to this statement.

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
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Planman Consulting

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