Roadshow Rhapsody

Roadshows were on top of the agenda of every big vendor and

distributor during 2001-02, when demand took a dive and purchase decisions were

put on hold. So the effort was put in to inspire customers to come, touch and

feel the products.

HCL organized over 1,500 small and big roadshows while HP had

1,000 to its credit. Wipro, Apple and Acer organized 40, 15 and 13 roadshows

respectively. Unwilling to be left behind, even distributors joined the fray.

Aditya Infotech and Rashi Peripherals managed 48 and 24 of these events

respectively.

UNIQUE FEATURES



Each company tried to outdo the other by coming up with

innovative ideas to attract people. HCL, for instance, organized localized

roadshows in schools and residential complexes specially for laptops.

HP classified its events in three broad categories. In the

first case, it hired a place for a couple of days in high consumer-influx areas

like Ansal’s Plaza in New Delhi. In the second scenario, it organized

activities at its retailers’ shop for a week, giving the customer some good

deals to create the pull. Lastly, it held seminars to showcase a solution to

select customers all over the country. In addition to this, the company also

showcased its products in mobile vans which moved from city to city.

The focus of roadshows remained on metros and B-class cities
What made roadshows successful
	Making sessions entertaining and interactive with games and prizesÂ
	Integrating training as a part of the eventÂ
	Incorporating  special offers and discountsÂ

In fact, mobile van roadshows became a hit with Rashi

Peripherals too, prompting it to buy one van exclusively for this purpose. Says

Rajesh Goenka, Divisional Head, Rashi Peripherals, "We would carry the

products in the van and go from city to city, covering over 16 cities. This gave

us more visibility, instant recognition and a chance for closer interaction with

customers." Rashi also hired models to carry products and move around in a

crowd of 300-400 people.

CITY-WISE SEGMENTATION



The focus of roadshows remained as metros and B-class cities.

Says Aditya Khemka, CEO, Aditya Infotech, "We held our events in cities

like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Calcutta, Chennai, Indore, Ludhiana and

Chandigarh." Acer too concentrated on the top eight cities.

However, this does not mean that small towns were totally

neglected. Says Rajan Rahi, Manager-Marketing, HCL Infosystems, "Our events

were held in tier-one towns, but our main focus was on B and C-class towns. The

potential for growth in smaller towns is much greater."

Echoes Raj Kumar Rishi, Country Commercial Sales Manager,

Imaging and Printing Group, HP India, "Most cities were covered, but the

focus on upcountry markets was greater. Less than 40 percent events were

organized in A-class towns."

Apple too held roadshows primarily in major metros, while

covering strategic small towns. Wipro made inroads in upcountry markets like Goa,

Pondicherry, Raipur and Ranchi.

WHY HIT THE ROAD?



Brand association remained one of the key reasons for

organizing roadshows. Says Rajan Rahi of HCL, "Even if the purchase does

not happen on the spot, the probability of HCL being the preferred brand increases

after the customer has visited a roadshow."

HP found that roadshows help create lot of awareness amongst

customers and that leads to incremental business, especially among homes users.

Besides creating brand awareness and visibility, roadshows

offered companies an opportunity to showcase their complete product range to

dealers and end-users.

Rashi Peripherals used roadshows to help the market graduate

to newer technologies. "Earlier we had roadshows for three-button mouse,

then we moved on to scroll mouse and now we are promoting the cordless

mice," points out Rajesh. He adds that these events also gave the channel

an assurance that the company is serious about the brand and is willing to

invest in building its marketshare.

S Rajendran, GM-Marketing, Acer India, finds roadshows an

ideal platform to familiarize themselves with local resellers and understand the

market. "This is a great way to impart key inputs on technology trends,

Acer’s strengths and obtain feedback directly from the channel," he adds.

CAUSE AND EFFECT



Organizing a roadshow can cost a company lakhs of rupees. It

is therefore important for them to know that the investment has borne fruit. Is

there some way to evaluate the direct impact these roadshows have on sales?

While admitting that it is difficult to put a number on the

impact of roadshows, Raj sz`ays that HP sets targets for the participating

partners and in most cases the desired business is generated.

HCL, on the other had, has seen a volume jump of as much as 45 to 50 percent on a quarter-on-quarter

basis even in these difficult market conditions. Rajesh of Rashi recounts how roadshows have helped increase their

business. "Till last year we were selling cordless mice in two digit quantity. But after displaying

the product in roadshows, the sales have touched four-digit quantities. Also,

our monthly sales of Sony monitors increased almost four-fold after organizing the roadshows," he

says.

Rajendran of Acer says that the investment in roadshows is

justified as it helps the channel become more comfortable about technology as

well as Acer products. All this translates to better business in the end.

LEARNINGS FROM ROADSHOWS



Organizing a roadshow is not a cakewalk. A number of things

can go wrong and companies are continuously learning how to better the events

and increase its crowd-pulling ability. Rashi, for one, has learned that special

offers act like a sweetener to the programs and make it a point to incorporate

it in every event, especially product launches. It also adopted presentations

based on the city´s potential.

Aditya Infotech has decided that each of its branch offices

will conduct three to four localized roadshows a month. "By doing this we

will be able to tap the local market to a much better extent," says Aditya.

But all companies agree on one thing–irrespective of whether the economy

sees an upswing or not, they will be bullish on roadshows. And you can soon look

forward to a roadshow from these companies at a venue close to you.