Winkles tickles iBall's fancy

MUMBAI

DECEMBER 11, 2006

First came The Best IT World. Then came its flagship brand, iBall. And now we have Winkles, iBall's sub-brand. This is the latest brand that The Best IT World has come up with for its range of accessories that include CD/DVD covers, ergonomic footrests, laptop stands and laptop security locks.

The company has been test-marketing Winkles in Mumbai for the past few months as a dry run before launching it with great fanfare in January 2007. "The initial feedback we got was encouraging and also a good learning experience for us. Based on it, we are making some modifications in our product offerings and will roll out the products in the market early in 2007," says Sandeep Parasrampuria, MD, The Best IT World.

The company is getting into place a completely different channel network, comprising malls, stationery and gift shops, in addition to the conventional IT channel. It has already appointed nine distributors in India and is showcasing its products in Vijay Sales and Alfa Stores among others.

It has also employed an entirely different team that will handle the distribution channel. "This channel is not like the IT channel and the products under Winkles are not as much planned purchases as they are impulsive buys. Therefore, we are testing the waters with a different nature of distribution," Parasrampuria informs.

These distributors will operate in specific geographies to discourage channel infighting. Also, healthy sales margins of around 20 percent are offered to the dealers to infuse their enthusiasm.

The biggest challenge of getting into the accessories market is the lack of branded products. Most products are either unbranded or the branded ones are very expensive. Winkles hopes to create a niche for itself by offering innovative designs at reasonable prices.

Also, dealers were initially not very keen on this product line as it is a push product. This is why The Best is trying to create brand awareness through road shows besides advertising in the TV and print media.

The company will first roll out the Winkles brand in the metros and then cover 20 cities by the end of 2007. It will have in-shop promotions as well as send its sales executives to educate the dealers and customers about its USP like better sleeve quality and contemporary designs.

Meanwhile, The Best is also seeding its laptops business and hopes to launch new models in JFM quarter, 2007. "There are lot of laptop brands and there is intense competition in this business. We want to differentiate ourselves with our service offerings for this segment," Parasrampuria elucidates.

The Best will also be bringing in MP4 players by mid-2007. iBall currently has MP3 players, and has recently launched its latest model which has 1GB memory and sports and FM radio along with voice recording. While plans for introducing MP4 players were on the agenda for a long time, The Best was waiting for a model that had a LCD screen of at least 2 inches. "Currently, other brands have LCD screens of 1.6 inches, which is not good enough for watching videos. Our suppliers have come up with a model which has a larger screen size, which we will launch shortly," adds Parasrampuria. © DQC News Bureau