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Nirmal D. Menon

Mumbai , Nov. 3

KITTY parties certainly are women's affairs. However, marketers, irrespective of their gender, are intruding into this congregation, and microwave oven major LG Electronics India Ltd is pioneering this effort.

The reason is that this touch point has emerged as potential driver of sales and will be intrinsic to the division's growth plan of achieving a turnover of Rs 150 crore by December 2004.

"Our direct marketing initiatives are targeted at kitty parties and women's clubs across the country where our Healthwave experts interact with these women on a daily basis in metros and on a weekly basis in small towns," said Mr Sourabh Baisakhia, Group Head, LG Microwave Oven division.

The strategy is simple yet extensive. The microwave oven division has around 100 microwave chefs also known as `Healthwave experts' employed in 100 cities.

LG plans to increase the number to 250 in 250 cities by December 2005.

These microwave chefs encompass all direct marketing functions from pre-sale intervention to post-sale customer satisfaction, Mr Baisakhia said.

LG Microwave also has a strong distribution network of around 1,500 outlets.

It is also sold through 1,000 small appliance dealers and a host of retail chain stores.

However, the microwave oven market has witnessed a paradigm shift from retail selling to direct marketing, which is integral to sales today.

"Such experiential marketing initiatives contribute around 5 per cent to the total turnover and we expect to garner 20 per cent of our total sales from this particular initiative," Mr Baisakhia said.

Even competitors such as Electrolux have introduced cooking classes in Delhi and plan to take it to other metros.

"Though a few of our competitors have initiated similar initiatives, LG still relies on its expanse of kitty party and in-colony demonstration across 100 cities. Therefore, a lady in a far-off city such as Rourkela, Dimapur or Asansol can also benefit from such experiential marketing initiatives," Mr Baisakhia said.

The strategy seems to payoff as the September 2004 ORG Marg Retail survey declares LG as the leader with 43.6 per cent market share followed by Samsung with 20 per cent and IFB with 12.5 per cent.

More Stories on : Direct Marketing | Home Appliances

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