“Reach and penetration supported by reliable service creates a trust in the mind of the consumer”

It is been 11 months since Vishal Shriwastv took over as Country Manager for
Indian operations of Brother International. The company has seen a continuous
enhancement of its people, processes and channel strateies. Now that it has
established its presence in the country, Shriwastv is ready to take the next
move-leverage on Brother's technological superiority

What changes have you brought in Brother since you took over as Country
Manager?

You can call it enhancements rather than changes. We have always taken a
long-term view of the market and are on a build-up mode. We started with
expansion of people, products and processes (sales and service). On the people
front we have appointed regional heads to drive business across regions. While
on the products front we have enhanced our inkjet and laser product range. On
the process front, as in sales and services, we are still expanding our
footprint to strengthen our reach and penetration across the country.

Vishal Sriwastv Country Manager, Brother International (India)

Currently, who are your channel partners in India?

Brother's partners in India include Kores for P-Touch label printers, Godrej &
Boyce for fax machines and MFCs, Lipi Data Systems as a National Corporate
Partner for laser printers, and Accel ICIM as the national service provider. We
recently appointed Spice Net as a sales and service distributor for marketing
Brother's range of laser printers and multifunction devices as a complete
solution. Our tie-up with Spice Net enables us to tap the corporate and
institutional markets.

Apart from being a supplier of hardware, software and information technology
solutions, Spice Net also offers after-sales support.

Some of the above names are not the usual ones as distributors. How has
this strategy worked for Brother until now?

The emergence of MFDs is a saving grace for space-constrained offices and in
that sense it puts MFDs in the league of OA products. Accordingly, it makes more
sense to promote MFDs as OA products. We have made good inroads in the OA
channel, but at the same time now we have a distributor focused on the IT
channels as well. Very soon you will see us with a significant presence in this
space.

What trend are you witnessing in the printer market?

One can already witness the scenario heating up for lasers and MFDs.
Customers are being wooed by factors like price, value, ease of use, quality of
output, and usage of graphics in presentations. Globally, MFDs have caught up
with the standalone inkjet printers. Factors like TCO, rather than just plain
asset (printer) ownership, are putting laser printers also on the growth path.

Adoption of lasers as a mainstream printing technology globally and
improvements on the output front have ensured remarkable drop in
price-performance ratio. Also the narrowing price gap between standalone inkjet
printers and lasers printers is giving a boost to laser printer market.

What are the innovative products that you intend to launch in India?

We have been proactive in making technological investments for the future,
primarily in the development of key technologies in the printing field and R&D
of network and imaging devices. We recently announced the newly developed inkjet
head that boasts high-speed printing and energy conservation. Currently, we
sport a range of printers, which includes laser printers (mono and color), MFCs
(inkjet, laser), facsimile (thermal, inkjet and laser) and label printers.

What is Brother's current marketshare and what are your expectations for
the future?

We have achieved impressive numbers in laser printers, and are amongst the top
five vendors in MFCs. In fact, we offer largest range of MFCs in the country
that is targeted across segments like home, SOHO, SMB and institutions. We see a
great potential for imaging devices in this region in particular.

What are Brother's plans for the channel community?

We have clearly mapped the market in terms of our strengths and
opportunities. We have also mapped this in terms of challenges before the
channel.

We want to reiterate our commitment to develop profitable business. We are
looking at expanding our channel beyond the metros and mini metros and would be
basing our programs on this goal. This will also effectively leverage our
penetration across markets.

We consciously put in efforts to enhance the channel strength beyond the
first tier. Recently, we ran a channel incentive program called J Class. Apart
from this, we also conducted various programs like 'Dubai Meet', 'Lead Empower
Achieve Perform' (LEAP 2006) program, and 'Dial-Click-Brick' initiative
exclusively for the channels.

With the presence of several competing solutions in the market, what
differentiates your products from others?

Having established our presence in the country, the objective now is to
effectively leverage our technology and product superiority in markets across
the country, such that the customers can source our range of products. We have
developed inkjet heads and our laser printers come with regular consumables
(separate toner and cartridges), and not a starter toner. The laser MFC has a
separate toner and drum, so that users need not replace the whole unit when the
toner runs out.

Will price be a driving factor for your product in this market?

We are quite competitively priced in the market, more towards the premium
end. Brother products completely satisfy these criteria.

Why do you think channel partners should promote your brand?

The most important factor is reach and penetration supported by reliable
service. This creates a trust in the minds of the consumer. If you do look at
the printers and imaging market in general, many companies have in the past,
achieved numbers, but have also suffered on account of not fulfilling on
service.

Which are the key customer verticals Brother is focused on?

The marketplace is developing interesting niches with vendors offering
various models at price points segmented to suit the specific needs of SOHO, SMB
and the institutional customers. In the future, it is going to be the
versatility of the product in terms of its performance and service provided that
will encourage the growth of printers.

NELSON JOHNY