In pursuit of that Sharp edge

It's been a hectic March for Sharp Corporation's Sunil K. Sinha, CEO, India region, and Tomio Isogai, General Manager, as they criss-cross the country. On March 5 they addressed a large gathering of dealers, distributors and retailers in Ludhiana. On March 10, they were in Mumbai doing the same. Chennai is next on the agenda.

After maintaining a low-key presence in India for over two decades, the $30-billion Japanese electronics giant is now aggressively charting out a second coming. For the last few months, the top management of Sharp in India has been engaged in a massive communications exercise with distributors and dealers across the country, introducing them to the company's brand new product portfolio.

“We have hired a minimum of 8,000-10,000 sq. ft. venues and invited 250-300 dealers on average to each event. The new products are lined up along the wall for them to take a look and understand,” says Sinha.

Jostling with the LCD TVs are air-conditioners, refrigerators, microwave ovens, washing machines and vacuum cleaners — the six categories in which Sharp has launched new products and will be hoping to make a dent. The product rollout juggernaut, which began in November 2010, has already passed through Kolkata, New Delhi, Bangalore, Kochi, Pune, Chandigarh and Ahmedabad, besides Ludhiana and Mumbai. “By April-end, we hope to complete the national rollout,” says Sinha.

Starting March, Sharp will hit the print media with its advertising campaigns created by its agency Dentsu, and will also be doing special promotions at each consumer store.

But given that consumer durables is a fiercely competitive sector in India, with the market fragmented between the aggressive Koreans LG and Samsung, several Indian brands, the Chinese Haier and Dutch brand Philips, not to speak of Japanese rivals Sony and Hitachi, what are the prospects for Sharp?

LG dealer Ashok Arora, who owns a distributorship as well as an exclusive LG outlet Electronic Craft in East Delhi, points out that two other Japanese brands, Toshiba and Panasonic, have also suddenly got active in the Indian market. “Sharp's products are good and it is the original creator of LCD technology, but unless they create brand awareness it will be difficult for them to make an impact,” he says.

Betting on one-of-a-kind products

Sinha, however, is optimistic. He says Sharp's new India strategy is to launch a series of one-of-a-kind products at affordable prices. “No me-too products for us here. We will be trying to catch the consumer's eye with Sharp patented products that are unique,” he says.

For instance, in air-conditioners, Sharp is selling portable air conditioners that can be moved from the puja room to the kitchen. This will be marketed with the line ‘Take your Cool Wherever You Go'. The ad campaign for this product will be launched in April.

Another unique product, says Sinha, is the multi-split inverter AC where a single outdoor compressor unit will cater to three indoor cooling units, saving on space and power consumption. “We are promoting this with a Save Your Balcony campaign,” he says.

In refrigerators, it is riding on a product code-named Butterfly that can be opened either from the left or right.

Similarly, its microwave ovens will offer a steam cooking option, and in which stainless steel vessels can be safely used. For the last few months, Sharp has been doing cooking demos, testing out Indian recipes — idlis to rice to tandoori chicken — on its microwave oven.

And in vacuum cleaners, the differentiator will be a mop attachment — to fit in with Indian needs.

Will PCI be the game changer?

But, even as it gets into all the standard durables and appliances categories, both Sinha and Isogai are betting that the game changer for their operations in India will be the plasma cluster ion (PCI) generator.

This is a device that Sharp claims can change the ion concentration in the air, giving it the quality of air found in a forest. “It can remove bad smell, such as cigarette smoke, food odours and paint smell quickly. It is not a purifier but can change the air,” insists Sinha.

This product will be available in four sizes at prices ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 50,000. There's a large-size model meant for airports and institutional areas, a smaller size for office cabins and homes, and another size for cars or elevators, and finally a tiny, portable one targeted at women and that can be hung around an individual's neck like a mobile phone. “It's not only a virus buster, but can also improve the skin,” claims Sinha.

According to Isogai, PCI in Japan has emerged as a strategic product differentiator and Sharp's air-conditioners and refrigerators are equipped with this technology.

That's all very well. But is there really room for yet another player here?

Giraj Sharma of Behind the Moon consultancy, who has been helping Sharp with their distribution and other strategies, insists there is room, and says the product features could be a differentiator. “It will not automatically lead to numbers. But it will create brand salience,” he says.

Given that Sharp is not going for television advertising, will it be able to make an impact? “In a way it is okay. TV is so fragmented, besides being prohibitively expensive,” says Sharma.

Sinha's take is that an ad does not tell the full story of the product. “We want the customer to walk into a shop and really understand our product,” he says.

The first step will be painful, he admits.

Legacy yes, but limited brand recall

Set up in 1912, creating the world's first mechanical pencil, transistor radio and black and white television, among other things, the company has a history of product innovation on its side. In India, however, it has had a troubled innings. Set up as a joint venture with the Pune-based Kalyani group, it found it could not use the Sharp brand when it entered India as a Bangalore-based Indian company had hijacked it. For a while, it retailed under the Optonica brand. By the time it freed its brand name with an out-of-court settlement, the market had changed dramatically, technologies were changing, the Koreans were here, and Sharp focused its energies on the other two divisions — business systems and software design.

Now, with the market heavily fragmented, Sharp is trying to rekindle its consumer durables business. To give it a push, it has recently reorganised its corporate structure in India. Sinha has been made head of all three divisions in India and investments have been made in people — primarily in sales and marketing teams.

In this second innings, the biggest challenge will be to create awareness for the brand. “It has high, aided brand recall, but unfortunately unaided recall is low,” admits Sharma.

In Japan, Isogai points how the company has stayed ahead of the curve by being a trendsetter in products. “We have been constantly looking at customers at eye level and anticipating what their next need would be,” he says. It remains to be seen whether it can do the same in India.

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