- Arindam Saha, Marketing Head at ASUS India
in an exclusive interview with ITVoice, Arindam Saha, Marketing Head at ASUS India., reveals his strategies forbusiness in India.
Vikas Gupta :- What will be your growth strategy in India for this financial year?
Mr. Arindam Saha :- FY2015 has been a very interesting year for us. Not only have we launched some interesting products with a lot of industry-firsts to our credit but have also managed to moved closer to our aim of garnering a 5% share in the growing Indian smartphone and tablet market. The year also saw us announce our participation in the “Make in India” campaign by manufacturing ASUS ZenFone 2 Laser at a facility in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh. This will help us meet the growing demand for luxury handsets in the country at an economical price.
Vikas Gupta :- What kind of verticals are you targeting for your products within India?
Mr. Arindam Saha :- Our smartphones target different sets of target audiences. From students to professionals, enthusiasts and businessmen, our products cater to every segment in their own unique ways. All our products follow the common motto of offering features of a high-end product in a beautiful design at an economical price.
Vikas Gupta :- Please tell us about your channel strategies and service network !
Mr. Arindam Saha :- Both the online and offline channels are extremely important for us. Our products are available to customers on almost every major e-commerce portal and also through a robust network of 120 ASUS Exclusive Stores across the country. We understand that the real test of a brand starts after it has sold its products to a user. Providing good quality and timely service is as important as ensuring easy availability. Hence, we provide hassle-free service for our products at more than 140 centres in the country.
Vikas Gupta :- What are the initiatives taken to popularize Asus products?
Mr. Arindam Saha :- At ASUS, we ensure that we keep our customers continuously engaged and informed about the solutions that we offer. Earlier this year, we organized the first ever edition of Zen Festival where we launched a variety of products, encompassing phones, tablets as well as accessories. This was our ‘first global product launch in India.’ Through these innovations, we have managed to combine features and design sensibilities of a high-end smartphone at an economic price. 30K pre-orders were received for our line-up across India with one of our most popular smartphones, ZenFone 2 Laser, going out-of-stock on the 3rd day of it being available for pre-order itself.
On the global front, we unveiled our latest innovations in mobile, lifestyle, gaming and home computing technology at IFA 2015, the leading trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances. In addition, we regularly announce festive offers for our consumers, the most recent being the Diwali ‘Har Pal Happiness’ offer and the ‘More with Morya’ offer for Ganesh Chaturthi.
Vikas Gupta :- What kind of strategy have you planned to position Max Mobile product successfully in the market?
Mr. Arindam Saha :- ASUS ZenFone Max is a highly anticipated product and we will wait till a suitable time to make further announcements on this front.
Vikas Gupta :- How did you build a strong customer base in spite of the fact that other major player dominating the Indian market?
Mr. Arindam Saha :- Our customers love our products because we offer them latest cutting-edge technology before any other brand in an appealing form factor at an economical price as compared to other major brands. For instance, we were the first to offer a smartphone (ZenFone 2) with 4GB RAM capability without pricing it exorbitantly. Similarly, we take pride in introducing our customers to the PixelMaster Camera technology, an in-house developed imaging system that combines exclusive algorithms, powerful ASUS devices and special optics to deliver incredible image quality. Such innovations and more have helped us showcase our innovative technology and win the acceptance of our audience.
Vikas Gupta :- How do you plan to handle your competitors, which are also catering to the same market segment?
Mr. Arindam Saha :- As mentioned before, we rely on our in-house research to introduce technology to our users before anyone else in sleek and classy designs at affordable prices. Our fans have felt the difference between our products and others available in the market, shown their appreciation which is visible in the market growth that we have seen over the past year.
Vikas Gupta :- Any specific target segment you are focusing on? What is your USP?
Mr. Arindam Saha :- Our products are targeted at consumers across segments, right from students to business professionals. Through our motto of offering luxury products at affordable rates, we ensure that there we cater efficiently to their requirements without compromising on the quality.
Our range of products are known for the sleek, elegant and classy design. Moreover, ASUS smartphones feature some of the best in-house developed technology that enhances the whole mobile photography experience. Some of these innovations are:
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PixelMaster Camera technology: One of the other mobile innovation, that we take pride in is the Pixel Master technology. This technology innovation is an in-house developed imaging system that combines exclusive algorithms, powerful ASUS devices and special optics to deliver incredible image quality.
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ASUS TruVivid Technology: Our Zenfones come incorporated with an in-house developed ASUS TruVivid technology that transforms the conventional four layer design, which includes a cover glass of Super anti-scratch Corning Gorilla Glass 3 or 4, touch panel (that delivers Super-fast 60ms touch response time), air gap, LCD module, into a two-layer design with one-glass lamination, rendering stunning, crystal clear, incredible and sharp pictures
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ASUS Splendid with Anti-Bluray Mode: A unique software that lets Zenfone users to adjust colour temperatures, hues and the brightness of an image. The feature also has default settings that lets users choose normal mode, bluelight filter mode and vivid mode. Features such as the bluelight filter mode, eliminates 30% of the bluray in order to ease the stress on the photographers’ eyes, without compromising on the vivid display
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The Zen UI: Another prominent breakthrough for ASUS has been the development of its unique user interface- “ZenUI”. The foundation for this feature is the idea of providing a better experience for the user in terms of freedom, connection, and expression. The ZenUI has more than 1,000 features that further expand the standard Android interface experience
