'Our partners will experience a simple, independent brand interface with efficient service standards.'

With an experience of nearly 10 years in the IT industry, Tashi Gelek joined

Benq in Taiwan (formerly known as Acer Communication & Multimedia). In 2000,

when Benq India was formed, he was sent here as business manager. Currently, as

head of sales and marketing, he leads business development, marcom and sales

teams. His responsibilities include formulating national strategies for new

products, marcom and channel sales structure. Excerpts from the interview:

This is the second time Acer has changed its name. How would you justify

the recent change in name?



It showed the migration from being a peripherals company to communication

and multimedia one when we changed our name from Acer Peripherals to Acer

communication & multimedia. However, Acer Peripherals was not able to fully

justify for communication and multimedia products. That was time when the first

change was essential.

The second change that is happening is in its context and content. Benq has

been created in response to a need in the market place. Today, consumers must

make a choice between innovation, quality, simplicity and value. In launching

Benq, for the first time these key attributes are brought together.

This is all about value migration that the brand has been going through. As

the erstwhile Multitech, we were manufacturers and subsequently as Acer

Communications and Multimedia, we focused on computer peripherals, while as Benq

we are projecting our product range as digital lifestyle devices.

How do you plan to manage the transition from ACM to Benq in the minds of

reseller and end-user?



We expect a three month roll-over between Acer-branded products to Benq in

the market. In this interim period, we will be using the tagline as

"Inspired by Acer", since we would like to carry on the brand equity

of Acer fully into Benq’s future. We will have to do complete rounds of

marketing activities to communicate the new brand Benq to resellers and

end-users.

We have already started communicating this message to resellers but will also

organize rounds of dealer/reseller meet in major metros and B and C-class

cities. At the same time, we would organize rounds of SI meet to communicate the

same message.

Towards end-user awareness, we will kick-off with the new brand promotion

once the Benq products are available.

What would be the business strategy for Benq in the coming years?



In the words of our chairman and co-founder, Mr Stan Shih, "Benq’s

business strategy is focused and forward-looking and will position the

organization at the forefront of the industry. While Acer’s business centers

on its role as an e-Enabler through IT products and mega-micro services. As a

stand-alone brand Benq will now reinforce its core focus on digital lifestyle

devices."

Our customers and business partners will experience a simple, independent

brand interface with clearly efficient service standards. The interface with

consumers will also be strengthened as Benq will be known for digital lifestyle

devices. This will broaden market opportunities for both Benq and our business

partners.

Have you seen any major shift in the market share for your product range

in India? Which products of Benq do you think will make a mark (with regard to

market share)?



We were late entrants in the Indian market and launched our products wherein

established players had a head start over us. In a short span of about two years

we have been able to establish leadership in the keyboard segment and have

currently reached the second spot in scanners and CD-writers. While these

products will continue to be popular and fetch us more penetration in the

market, we expect encouraging response from the consumers for the products like

digital cameras, LCD monitors and DVD ROM. The key products to make an impact in

the Indian market would be CD-RWs along with scanners.

The company plans to introduce 22 new products. Are these all together new

products or just new versions of existing products?



The company has already launched keyboards, scanners, CD-ROM drives, CD-RWs, CRT
monitors, LCD monitors, projectors in the Indian market. We do expect to launch

a range of products in these categories that will be in keeping with our tagline

of ‘Enjoyment Matters’ and would provide the consumers world-class

technology at an affordable price and ease of interface.

We would also be launching products like digital cameras (a dual mode model);

scanners (1200 dpi scanner); and smart panel LCD monitor.

What role will the resellers play in pushing Benq? And what steps have you

taken in this direction?



Resellers will play a key role in promoting Benq. Over the years, we have

been putting lot of efforts in developing Acer loyal channel partners across the

nation by giving them direct marketing support. Our approach towards them can

simply coined as "Focus, Local Touch & We Care". We have already

developed successfully "Benq Premium Partners (BPP)" across Mumbai,

Pune, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai. At the same time, we are appointing

"Benq powered system integrator (BPSI)" across these markets to create

pull. These BPSI will also receive direct marketing support from Benq.

Do you have B and C-class cities in your agenda for marketing your

products?



We have developed the metros–Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai.
Using these cities as the base, we will start developing the nearby potential

markets. From Delhi as the base, we will start developing Chandigarh, Lucknow

and Jaipur markets. In the western region, we will develop Pune, Ahmedabad,

Indore and Nagpur. In the South, markets like Coimbatore, Cochin, Madura, Trichy

are potential markets. From Bangalore, we will focus on Mysore market. In short,

we will focus on the potential B and C-class cities.

Do you have any plans to begin manufacturing or assembling your products

in India? How big and effective is your after-sales network?



For the time being, we don’t have any plans for setting up our own

manufacturing plants in India. Benq will be among the few MNCs in its category

to set up its own service backbone in the country. We have our own service

centers in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore doing the component level repair. Mumbai

acts as the backbone for Western market; Delhi for North; Bangalore for South.

We also have our own ASP model across the nation. Currently there are 30 ASPs

across the nation and plan to expand up to 100 in 2002.

Did the slowdown affect your business?



Yes and No. Yes, because we could have grown at a more rapid pace and No,
because we have achieved the projected growth rate in certain product categories

like CD-RWs and scanners.

NELSON JOHNY in Mumbai