Group B6- Eagle- Source- Business Line 21st march,2013

Marks and Spencer sheds premium tag to enter Indian wardrobes

·         British retailer Marks and Spencer (M&S), which was perceived as a high-end brand, has undertaken a shift in strategy by positioning itself as a mid-premium retailer for India

·         “We are a value retailer globally and that is the positioning we want in India as well,” Venu Nair, Managing Director, Marks and Spencer Reliance India, said.

·         Industry watchers point that who visited M&S stores globally felt that the experience wasn’t the same in India.

·         M&S operates in India through 51:49 joint venture with Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Retail

·         M&S said it had increased local sourcing of its products to nearly 60 per cent.

·         It faces stiff competition from international brands such as S Oliver, Benetton, Espirit, Zara, Tommy Hifiger, and Mango, who also operate in the same price point.

·         Asked if the brand is planning to go solo following the Government’s decision to open up FDI in multi-brand retail, Nair said it did not plan to go alone in India venture.

Publisher Westland writes a new chapter to sell books

Westland, a subsidiary of Trent (part of the Tata Group), has started a pilot with five Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) outlets in Chennai to sell its top-selling published titles. Westland, a subsidiary of Trent (part of the Tata Group), has started a pilot with five Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) outlets in Chennai to sell its top-selling published titles. It is also planning to approach spas and salons. Westland would also be taking advantage of the Tata Group owned outlets such as Star Bazaar, Westside and Croma to retail its published titles. Other Tata Group retail formats such as Tanishq and Titan or even the latest venture Starbucks could be destinations for Westland’s future titles. With the advent of e-books, Westland is not threatened by the prospect of a decline in brick-and-mortar book store sales. Westland exited the books distribution business four years ago, when the publishing business was still nascent. With sales turnover of Rs 23 crore this fiscal, the company hopes to make profits by tapping into the potential of Indian authors.

Sabeer Bhatia’s Jaxtr Inc launches global SIM card

Jaxtr Inc, a company co-founded by Hotmail fame Sabeer Bhatia, launched Jaxtr SIM - a global SIM card with an eye on increasing number of international travellers out of the country after rolling out the product in the US recently. Priced at Rs 600, the card is 70 per cent cheaper than other existing solutions. With the Jaxtr SIM, travellers to the Europe including Britain, US, and Canada can make inexpensive local and international calls by using a local number, while in other markets; they can avail of this facility at cheaper tariffs.

Jaxtr aims to sell around 1 million cards to Indian travellers over the next two years.

PVR bluO eyes bowling centres, dart stations to hit bull’s eye

Turning its focus on non-cinema entertainment, PVR is looking to chart the next stage of its growth strategy for PVR bluO branded bowling centres.

PVR bluO, a 51:49 joint venture between PVR and Major Cineplex Group of Thailand, has about 110 cosmic bowling lanes and expects this to increase to about 400 lanes in the mid to long term.

“We have established bowling centres in cities such as New Delhi, Gurgaon, Bangalore and Pune, and are close to reaching the critical mass of 150 bowling lanes. We will now consolidate our position, pause a bit, and look at deeper analysis of consumer patterns,” said Gautam Dutta, Chief Operating Officer, PVR and Chief Executive Officer, PVR bluO. The company is also in talks with real estate players to take its bowling centres to cities such as Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Cochin, Hyderabad and Mumbai,

Fashion bowling

Dutta said, “We are into fashion bowling and, therefore, need to keep refreshing the concept to increase consumer stickiness.” From offering Karaoke to tattoo parlours, to live music, XBOX lounges and, more recently, Playstation lounges, the company has been offering consumers more than just bowling.

Next, PVR bluO will be adding pool tables, darts stations as well creating sport lounges. He said the company may rethink its strategy as it would need to go, perhaps, into larger spaces in malls to be able to fit in the various concepts for entertainment.

Expansion

The company is also considering expanding into tier 2 cities. But, the format for these regions will need to be smaller to be able to achieve economies of scale, he said.

IPL 6 ad inventory sold out after drop in rates

MUMBAI/DELHI, MARCH 19:  

Indian Premier League 6 has managed to sell its complete ad inventory this season by dropping ad rates between 8 and 10 per cent. The tournament has sold 10-minute ad spots between Rs 4 lakh and Rs 4.5 lakh (lowering it from Rs 5 lakh last season).

Rohit Gupta, President, MSM (the owners of SET Max, the official IPL broadcaster), said, “We are getting ad growth due to the 25 to 30 per cent unsold inventory of last season. Today, we are back to what we were 3-4 seasons ago, with a complete sell out of the inventory, with 11 key sponsors this season. IPL has now matured to a great tournament and is growing between 5 and 10 per cent every year. With 180 million viewers, it gives enough reason for advertisers wanting to come back.” Previous advertisers such as Samsung and Godrej are back this season, while new ones such as Panasonic, Honda cars, Asian Paints and Usha have jumped on board. Spot buys made by brands such as Coca Cola India, Airtel and Parle Agro (Frooti and Appy) have also helped in picking up significant inventory for the upcoming IPL season.

A senior media planner, who did not wish to be named, said, “MSM India is unlikely to grow its revenues by a huge margin, and is expected to have revenues at the same level as last year.” Last year, MSM is expected to have raked in ad revenues to the tune of Rs 700 crore.

While there are IPL loyalists such as Vodafone and PepsiCo (the presenting sponsors), other big spenders such as Hyundai have decided to stay away from the tournament despite associating with cricketing properties such as the ICC (International Cricket Council), the woman’s world cup recently.

Nalin Kapoor, Senior General Manager and Group Head Marketing, Hyundai Motor said, “We did buy airtime during IPL 4, but have not associated with the property since the fifth year. Today, we have a deal with the ICC on a global level and this includes the World Cup.”

Shripad Kulkarni, CEO, Percept Media, said, “Rationalising of rates by IPL will help get more advertising but, since the first quarter of this year ad spends have not been very encouraging, IPL revenues can increase only if TV advertising spends pick up.”Basabdutta Chowdhury, CEO, Platinum Media, (part of Madison Media Group) said, “Last year, the channel had unsold inventory and they had given bonus spots to brands. This year, they may sell their entire inventory and may also see higher subscription revenues.”