The company had announced attractive prizes for the World Cup team as well as buyers of its new home PCs. Every Pentium-based computer was accompanied by a cricket software from Stump Vision, a company owned by Indian cricket star Anil Kumble. Zenith had kicked-off its campaign with much fanfare from Bangalore, Kumble's home ground.

Acccording to Zenith Computers' managing director Raj Saraf, the campaign has proved to be successful. ``We were planning to sell 2,500 computers with free CDs under this campaign and sold most of them in a period of one month. Barely 100 CDs remain,'' he said. Saraf said the company has just completed delivery of all orders and was satisfied with the customer response.

He said the pricing strategy of pegging Pentium III machines under Rs 50,000was tactical and more timely since the company expected a major drop in prices. ``We announced it first and see, others have had no choice but to follow it,'' says a smug Saraf.

He considered price to be a major factor in influencing sales of high-end machines running on the latest Pentium III processors. ``The World Cup campaign has given a leg-up to our marketing efforts,'' said Saraf. The Rs 200-crore Zenith Computers has been gaining share in the home PC segment. ``IDC figures have shown that we have a market share of around 30 per cent in the home segment,'' he said. Saraf added that the interactive CD on cricket, which consisted of an encyclopedia and fact files on all the World Cup matches was received well. The CD also allowed users to simulate the game in the animation mode, making it popular among children. Zenith is, however, yet to announce the rest of the prizes it announced.