“Capturing the urban market is more of a placement game”

Micromax, the newcomer in the Indian handset industry, took only 28 months to transform itself from a micro enterprise to a brand having maximum impact on the market. The company?s business director, Vikash Jain, tells FE?s Avik Das how the company has successfully become the third largest handset brand in India. Edited excerpts:

What?s the secret behind Micromax?s success story?

When we started, we knew distribution would be the key to success in the long term. We started by being very aggressive in the rural areas. We believed that capturing the urban market is more of a placement game and can be solved any time. It?s only about six to eight months back that we started our urban initiatives.

Today, we have a total of 70,000 outlets and intend to take it to 1 lakh very shortly. So, from the distribution side we were bang on, with presence in most of the C and the D towns.

Secondly, on the product mix also, we always tried not to play the price game. We tried to incubate new industry verticals.

For example, we were the first to introduce long-life battery, the first to introduce GSM-CDMA switching network, the first one to introduce a gaming phone called Gamolution, the first to introduce the remote phone. We tried to identify the gaps in the market and fulfill them.

About 60% of our marketing budget goes to ATL activities. Another 30% has been earmarked for BTL and the rest will be spent on the digital space.

Initially, as we were more focused on rural areas, we put more stress on BTL (below the line) promotions. When we shifted attention to urban areas, we brought in the urban portfolio?chat phones, music phones, high-speed data services, etc.

Roping in Akshay Kumar was a part of our marketing strategy as he is closest to what Micromax is as a brand. He, like Micromax, is peppy, youthful, sporty and one who cuts across the genres. That?s how we wanted to represent brand Micromax.

What are the challenges the company is facing now?

With so many brands coming into the Indian handset market, the quality issue has started to bother all. One problem that we foresee is getting stuck in this ?Indian mobile handset company? kind of branding. We are proud to be an Indian company no doubt, but the intent is not to remain limited to that.

I know people who go to China come back and sell Chinese products with their brand name. That?s the only research and development they do. So the quality issue is bound to worry people. We don?t want to get saddled with that.

Micromax mobiles are also made in China. What?s the difference between ?Chinese mobiles? and ?mobiles made in China??

To be very straight, practically 70% of global electronics goods are made in China. Whether it is my design that I get manufactured in China or whether it is a mobile designed and made in China and branded and brought to India, there in lies the basic difference.

When I get it manufactured as per my standards and specifications, adhering to the standards, it?s only ?made in China?.

On the flip side, when Chinese products are rebranded, you are endorsing the standards of those brands. Here lies the difference in quality.

Why did you keep the gaming feature at the forefront of your marketing drive with the Gamolution phone?

We believe that today a mobile phone is a very, very personal device. It occupies the top pocket of your shirt. With this kind of a personal device being available, we thought what beyond the voice, SMS and data could be delivered through this device. That was the line of thinking.

Today, entertainment plays an important role in our lives. There are bouts of 30 or 40 minutes we get between our important works, or when we travel. We tried to integrate an entertainment quotient for that time of the day.

We have already launched handsets in Sri Lanka. We have also launched in Nepal. We?ll be there in Bangladesh, UAE, West Asian territories very soon. By July end, we are planning to expand our network to Latin America.