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Rina Chandran

Mumbai , Oct. 6

MIRC Electronics is focusing on the southern markets, beginning this festive season, to drive volumes as well as establish the Onida brand as standing for a multi-product organisation.

The company is setting up two or three exclusive showrooms in Chennai, and is also stepping up advertising in the regional languages, both for the first time.

"The south is a big opportunity for us: Historically, we've been strong there, so with some amount of scaling up of market effort, the returns will be substantial," said Mr V. Chandramouli, Vice-President - Sales, Marketing and Service, Mirc Electronics.

"Besides, our multi-product effort is already strong in the South, as it has always been a good market for washing machines and for DVD players. So it will benefit volumes and make the brand stronger."

Mirc's target for this festive season is 3.2 lakh colour televisions (as against 2.3 lakh CTVs last year), 25,000 washing machines and 8,000 DVD players - and significant numbers will come from the south.

Ad spends in the southern States is up by almost 50 per cent this festive, as the company makes an effort to look at language gross ratings points (GRPs), rather than those generated by the Hindi and English commercials nationally.

Overall, the ad spend is up by about 25 per cent, so the Southern focus is "disproportionately high," Mr Chandramouli said.

Currently, Onida is running ads for its festive promotion of free headphones on select models of televisions, Onida DVD and Onida Black flat screen TVs.

The exclusive shops in Chennai will open in November — well in time for the high-volume New Year sales — and will be located in large residential areas, and not the usual shopping locations, to keep costs down, and to enable greater `detailing.'

The showrooms will display all Onida SKUs, and they will not conflict with the existing channel in terms of locations or pricing, Mr Chandramouli said.

The showrooms will be `retailing ` platforms, and not wholesale outlets, as most exclusive showrooms tend to be, and will focus on enabling the consumer to make the right choice and to experience the products more fully.

"In a multi-brand outlet - especially when it's crowded - the consumer doesn't get much help in figuring out what's right for him, and what the various features of the products can do," Mr Chandramouli said. "So the consumer is forced to figure these out for himself, and he feels insecure about that, because there is so much on offer today."

Onida will carry forward the exclusive outlet concept based on its success in Chennai, and is also looking at bolstering its presence in the weaker markets in the North and Centre, with a separate scratch card promo for festive. The company is also providing micro-level marketing support in smaller towns in the form of billboards, offers and banners and a competitive pricing stance, all aimed at bringing Onida "within touch and feel distance of consumers," Mr Chandramouli said.

In addition, Onida has also stepped up its spends on exhibition stalls and in-shop to provide a superior experience: it is spending Rs 2 crore on exhibition stalls this year, and is spending Rs 1.5-2 core on in-shop displays in 200-250 premium outlets and on classier catalogues.

"We want to establish the fact that Onida is a product-centric company, so we want the consumer to experience a superior, premium product at every touch point," Mr Chandramouli said.

"This is the most important season for us, and we want to significantly enhance brand image and synergise efforts on multiple points."

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