"Media is the new vertical we are getting aggressive on"

"Media is the new vertical we are getting aggressive on," Madhav Kota, Senior Manager - Marketing Consumables, Canon India 



From 200 Jinnees as partners, Canon India is targeting to achieve 250 Jinnees by the end of this half yearly. It is also gearing up towards media as a potential business vertical through these Canon Jinnees. On an aggressive mode of expansion, it foresees some new areas of business and has strong plans to enhance its market penetration. Here are excerpts of an interview with Madhav Kota, Senior Manager - Marketing Consumables, Canon India. 



How is the Canon Jinnee program performing? How do you tap the potential of channel partners in business expansion?

We launched this program last quarter. The Jinnee program is running aggressively in the market. As of now, we have nearly 200 Canon Jinnees spread all across the country. For the consumables industry, it is the first of its kind. It caters to partners who came face to face with customers. There was a need to create awareness, train and educate them. 



For metros, the company has entrusted the distribution to Canon Premium Partners (CPPs). In non-metros and smaller places, we are looking at Tech Pacific as the conduit between Canon Empowered Partners (CEPs) and the vendor because of its distribution strength. 



As a policy, we ensure that CPP and CEP arrangements are well aligned so that there is no undercutting of margin. The total presence of CPPs in the country is around fifty and CEP constitutes around 350.



What would be the next line of action in continuation of the Jinnee program?

We want to broaden our canvas and for doing it, we want to reach more cities. We want to increase the number of Jinnees to achieve better market penetration. This includes our nationwide expansion plans in B- and C- class cities. 



What is your comment on Canon's initiation of certification program?

We are aggressively working on this aspect. We will soon be certifying Canon Jinnees so that they get more authenticity in the market. As per our plan, we will start this certification program within this quarter. 



Through Canon Jinnees, what value additions will be provided to your customers and partners?

Canon Jinnees was intended to educate customers through our partners. Coming over to the value adds that we are giving partners is the long term relationship they were in need of. We do lot of groundwork for any specific location before selecting any Jinnee partner for that location. We our selves analyze the potential of his/ her market location then by sitting together we make him/her understand about the market dynamics of that location. So, this level of relation we are giving to our partner and this is very well accepted and appreciated by our partners. 



What is the market segment targeted by Canon specially through these Jinnees?

Basically we are targeting SOHO and SMEs through Jinnees and corporates and government is been targeted through our Canon Premier Partners (CPPs). Our CPPs are taking care of regions for example we have one CPP, who is taking care of Delhi, one is in Kolkata, Chennai and we have two CPPs in Mumbai. 



Any new market segment on which you are getting aggressive?

Yes, we have analyzed media as a potential market segment for us. This we will be targeting through our Canon Jinnees. In near future Canon is going to be very aggressive on media. This is been observed by the fact that sale of digital cameras has been increased substantially. There are many people who wanted to click and develop their family picture in their homes. We will be taking an aggressive guard to tap this market segment through our Canon Jinnees. Currently, we are discussing the potential of this segment with our partners and it is expected that by the end of in quarter we will be launching some of the exclusive programs for this segment. 



What level of service do you give your partner?

We support thoroughly our partners. A decent example of our efforts towards this is, for the easy availability and convenience of the consumers, the company has 'Canon Consumables Online Program', wherein a consumer can place an order for any consumable through its web site. 



Apart from this, Canon has also deployed a call center under 'Call Canon initiative. In this a customer can call the company directly on its toll-free number and order the specified requirement and ultimately that will be delivered at his doorstep. 



This whole program runs in synergy with our partners because the nearest Canon Empowered Partner (CEP) fulfils the order. In turn, he gets a transaction. This is another way how we contribute to the business of the partners. Further, the company also educates the partners to promote genuine consumables and, at the same time, the company looks at its products how that can be easily differentiated by default. The product pack carries promo materials and a unique hologram. 



In the long run, what targets has Canon set for itself?

We are targeting to achieve Rs 200 crore by the end of 2007 in India. And interestingly we want to achieve this mark through our existing channel partners. Therefore we want them to grow along with us.