"Our priority is to get the mindshare of the channel, ensure profitability and provide state-of-the art service support for

To make its presence felt in upcountry regions, Genius plans to hold
roadshows in 12 cities this fiscal, and will also focus on achieving 100 percent
growth

Why are there very few channel incentives, other than the 'Sona Chandi
Hungama' offered by Genius in recent times? Are you planning to introduce some
new incentive schemes in the future?

Distributors are running certain schemes for its volume dealers. We believe
in win-win partnership with our volume partners and channel partners and ensure
decent profitability for them. We will be announcing one more attractive scheme
for the channel very soon.

Partners feel that Genius needs to step up its marketing efforts, as its
brand awareness is low. What is your take on this? How are you trying to
overcome this problem?

Brand awareness has always been our main focus. Since last two years, we
have been running a massive advertisement campaign for channel community. We
have planned road shows in 12 B- and C-class cities for dealers this quarter,
where we would be showcasing our new products and enroll new partners. On the
end customer front, major advertisement campaign and PR activities are also
being undertaken with national dailies, magazines etc.

Genius had outlined plans to announce 11 retail partners. What is the
status of this initiative?

The Genius retail partner plans are on the track and we would enroll another
set of partners during our road shows.We have already tied up with Reliance,
E-Zone, Hypercity, Chroma, Metro etc and you can find all major stock keeping
units (SKUs) on shelf in these large format retails (LFRs).

Sandeep Ramani Country Manager-India, KYE Solutions Corp

Elaborate on your post-sales service network in India.

Currently, the return merchandise authorization (RMA) is being handled by
our distributors. Our distributors are doing a wonderful job on this front, as
we have not received any complaints from the channel or end-users.

We would be announcing warranty centers in India shortly, which would take
care of the post-sales service for the channel and end-users.

What are the challenges that you faced positioning Genius as a brand in
India over the past two years?

Positioning our brand in India was a huge challenge for us. In IT
peripherals market, we faced a lot of competition from the unbranded vendors.
India is a price conscious market but once you get the mind share of the user
and channel on the quality, the task becomes easy. Each region has its own
challenges. So our first priority was to get the mindshare of the channel on the
quality, to differentiate Genius from local imported brands, ensure
profitability for our channel partners, motivating them with good and attractive
schemes and our commitment towards providing state-of-the-art service support
(SWAP warranty). Genius will always ensure better products at aggressive prices
with best service support to its partners and end-users.

What is your marketshare in India? What kind of growth you are targeting
for this fiscal?

It would be difficult to comment on the marketshare at the moment, but we
are considered to be among the top three premium brands. This financial year, we
are focusing to achieve 100 percent growth.

Which are the key verticals for your products?

Our products are divided into 'channel' and 'lifestyle'. We have a big
basket of products ranging from mouse, keyboards, webcams, DSCs, DV cams,
MP3/MP4 players, headphones, headsets, tablets, digital notes, scanners, gaming
products, TV tuners, speakers, multi-function remotes, card readers etc.
Moreover, we provide various models for all our product segments. We have models
to suit all our customer needs and requirements, right from simple to lifestyle
products.

What is the new range of products that you are planning to launch?

We recently introduced several new innovations during Computex 2007. As we
have our dedicated R&D team, more new innovations would be introduced from time
to time. We recently introduced a keyboard named Slim Star Solargizer, which
runs on solar power. Also, we introduced an innovative mouse—Traveler 315 Laser,
which are anti-bacteria. They are designed to prevent two major types of
bacteria-staphylococcus aureus virus and escherichia coli virus. Such product
lines are designed for hospitals, nursing homes, BPO industry, Internet cafés
and other places, which are prone to infections due to multiple users of PCs

We will also be going aggressive on digital still cameras (DSCs) and would
soon be launching 10MP DSCs with 6x optical zoom and anti-shaking function.

What is the status of your business in B- and C-class cities? What
percentage of business comes from these regions?

B- and C-class cities accounts for sizeable amount of business for Genius.
That is the reason we plan to hold roadshows in 12 B- and C-class cities. We
would be showcasing our products and new innovations so that the partners can
get well equipped with the products.

What has been the response to Genius products?

Consumer behavior changes in every region. Currently, we are strong in South
but other regions are catching up fast. End-users are now becoming aware of
Genius due to our tie-ups with all LFRs and advertisements, which are now being
done at a national level.

Amrita Tejasvi

amritat@cybermedia.co.in