Ingram Micro India Pvt Ltd (IMIPL) organized its annual channel event,
Showcase 2002 at Hotel Renaissance in Mumbai in April. The three-day event saw
the participation of over 1,000 channel partners and 23 vendor companies.
The first day saw partners from northern and eastern regions converging at
the event. The other two days were earmarked for partners from southern and
western regions respectively.
The prime purpose behind the event was to bring vendors, channel partners and
IMIPL together on a single platform to discuss products, strategies and
programs. Says PG Kamath, VP-Marketing, IMIPL, "Our basic objective is to
provide insights to partners on how to make their businesses more
profitable."
Showcase 2002 also saw IMIPL launch two new web initiatives,
Web Warranty and eSolutions. These initiatives will help
Ingram and its partners compare products, get accurate pricing information,
check whether products are in stock and subsequently post an order.
Showcased |
LOOK INTO THE FUTURE
The highlights of Showcase 2002 were the ‘Experience Zones’ and the
interactive discussions on topics of interest to the channel. The Experience
Zones helped partners get a closer look and feel of the technologies which they
would market in the future.
In every channel event, special offers and discounts get the highest
attention. Showcase 2002 was no exception. Trend Micro, for example, was
offering 10 boxes of PC-Cillin at a special price of Rs 660 per box. The
original dealer transit price was Rs 900. Similarly partners could pick up two
boxes of NeaTSuite at Rs 5,600 per box as against the original DTP of Rs 6,000.
Ingram had also organized interactive sessions for partners which covered
several key topics such as warranty, profitability of channels, technology
selling, how to sell services, making VAR business work and business potential
of B and C-class cities.
BRAND AWARENESS
Most vendors participated in Showcase 2002 to increase brand and product
awareness among partners. Says Ajit Pillai, Channel Manager, OBU, Trend Micro,
"We participated in this event to further our brand awareness." He
added that the response was better than they had expected.
Vivek Mehta, the Channel Manager of Lexmark International said, "We
wanted to highlight our products to partners focused on doing value-added
business. Also we used this event to remove every doubt that partners had with
respect to Lexmark."
Sanjeev Gupta, Senior Manager, Business Development, Asia South, Iomega
Pacific says he came to Showcase to interact with the channel and learn if they
had any problems with Iomega.
This was also the itinerary of Sanjeev Wad, Business Manager, Distribution
Channel, Compaq. Says he, "The Showcase is an ideal place to interact with
our business partners and sign up those channel members who are not selling our
products."
Showcase 2002 was not all work and no play. Every evening provided an
opportunity for partners and vendors to mingle freely with entertainers like
Infra Red getting the crowd to boogey till the wee hours.