THT_Perspectives

May 8, 2016

The coolest air conditioners

Summer brings a ray of hope for brands hoping to increase sales and grow the market

 

Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu

The rise in temperature and the persistent hot weather has scurried consumers to look for cooling solutions. Air conditioner ( AC) brands are hoping to see an increase in sales as we proceed further into summer. Though most companies’ yearly target is a 20 to 30 per cent increase in sales, the target is hard to meet in a market like Nepal due to insufficient power supply. However, domestic and international air conditioner brands like CG, LG and TCL are continuously working on maintaining their brand name and pushing sales in a constant effort to grow the domestic market.

Customer comes first

Bishnu Gyawali, Senior Sales Manager, CG Electronics says, “ The overall market share covered by our brand is around 15 to 20 per cent in Nepal.” According to him, the brand’s unique selling point is its quality maintenance with affordable price range. CG as a brand believes in customer retention hence, every year they come up with different schemes to facilitate customers.

For this summer, they are offering free installation scheme on purchase of every AC. The products range from Rs 50,000 to Rs 90,000. After the Capital, Pokhara is the second target market for high sales of AC. According to Gyawali, for a brand to sustain in the market quality maintenance, promotion of the product, customer satisfaction and fulfilment of commitment is very important. He informs, “ We have strong distribution channels making our product visible in different outlets that create demand for our brand.” This visibility leads to publicity and publicity leads to brand recognition.

Environment friendly

Lalit Mishra, Senior Manager- Sales and Marketing, EOL Pvt Ltd, authorised distributor of TCL, says, “ Our ACs use titan gold technology that ensure eight years of satisfaction and our products come at an affordable price.” For a brand to establish itself in the market, a good marketing strategy is a must. TCL also focuses on raising awareness among customers to use eco- friendly air conditioners. He informs, “ Quality product, after sales service and competitive pricing is important for a brand to sustain in the market.”

According to Mishra, TCL never compromises when it comes to providing the best products. They focus on need and preference of the customers. He informs that customer satisfaction is their first priority. Currently TCL ACs enjoys eight per cent market share and aims to achieve 15 per cent market share in coming years. The company is also working on different summer campaigns like free installations on the purchase of AC. TCL ACs range between Rs 52,100 to Rs 98,800 and their Cassette AC at Rs 214,000.

Energy saving 

Purushottam Bhandari, National Sales Head, LG, says, “ LG ACs use energy saving mode which consumes less electricity and is environment friendly, this technology differentiates our brand from others.” One year warranty is provided with free installation to the customers, he informs. LG also uses unique skew fan and BLDC motor technology in AC which eliminates unnecessary noise giving great experience. “ Compared to other brands of ACs LG inverter ensures 36 per cent less consumption of electricity,” he informs.

According to Bhandari, LG relates to its tagline ‘ Life is good’ by fulfilling their promises in terms of providing innovative and quality product to customers by making their life easier and better. When it comes to durability LG air conditioners ensures a 10 year lifespan. It focuses on creating brand value of the product by constantly using new technologies like energy saving solutions, dual protection filter and volt care technology — low voltage starter and high voltage safe. This technology protects AC’s from low- high voltage variation. LG AC’s price starts from Rs 64,000 onwards.

Brand story of Sunglasses (Cross brand story) : THT_Perspectives

 The Himalayan Times_PERSPECTIVES

  May 22, 2016

 All eyes on summer style

 All eyes on summer style Branded shades look to bask in the summer sunlight

Soni Rai
Kathmandu

Hot temperature, colourful umbrellas and cool shades show the summer in. Sunglasses never go out of style; they only define it.There are hordes of these cool products in the market but there’s something special about the branded ones. People inadvertently opt for branded sunglasses for quality, style and features which make it a style statement.

In Nepal, Santonza Trade Concern Pvt Ltd, authorised distributor of eyewear brands like Ray- Ban, Vogue, Oakley, Prada, Giorgio Armani, Bvlgari et cetera brings international brands to the Nepal market. Anthropose a Nepali brand of sunglasses is also rising in popularity and heating up the competition among brands in Nepal. It caters to both men and women. Each brand is unique in the style factor they provide and hence use different branding and marketing strategies to promote themselves.

It’s in the name

 Ashok Agarwal, Managing Director, Santonza Trade Concern says, “ We have around 28 international brands of sunglasses and the highest demand is always for Ray- Ban followed by Vogue and Oakley.” He adds that 80 per cent of the market is dominated by Ray- Ban while the remaining 20 per cent catered to by Vogue, Oakley and Prada. Local customers are more loyal to Ray- Ban because of its variety in lens colours, optimum visual clarity and assurance of 100 per cent UV protection. Ray- Ban uses polarised glass for protection against the glare of the sun. Some of the most iconic models from Ray- Ban are Aviator Classic, Clubmaster Classic and Round metal sunglasses. The starting price of Ray- Ban shades are from Rs 6,000 and go upwards of Rs 20,000.

According to Agarwal, with Vogue sunglasses, customer can find the use of cool colours with metal and enamel details that come with sun blaze frames and iconic looks. Oakley eyewear is best known for its lens technology using high definition optics. This brand uses Prizm lens technology, Plutonite lenses which provide UV protection and safety from harmful blue light up to 400 nm. The starting price for Vogue and Oakley sunglasses is Rs 20,000 onwards. He also shares that every week the company is selling three to four units of sunglasses other than Ray- Ban.

All about the customers

 This increase in the trend of opting for branded products can also be credited to pocket friendly price tags. “ We always try to keep the price range of sunglasses a bit lower than the pricing in Hong Kong, Dubai and Thailand as a marketing strategy,” says Agarwal. That said, customers do not hesitate to pay a hefty amount either given the brand name and the reliability it promises. Dealing with many renowned eyewear brands the company focuses on good customer service. They give 10 per cent discount on every purchase and present attractive offers to customers. He further explains, “ We sell 15,000 units of sunglasses annually although our target is to sell 50,000 units. It’s hard to achieve the set target because of counterfeit products easily available in the market.”

 Ethics in style 

Suraj Shrestha, CEO of Anthropose says, “ Our brand is a confident, capable and a self- sufficient sunglasses brand which aims to create its own resources to achieve its objective that is to solve social problems.” The tagline ‘ Get. Give.Change.’ is a representation of the core mission of the brand. “ When you GET a pair of Anthropose sunglasses, you GIVE a gift of vision to someone in need and you CHANGE the life of a person, then a community and a nation as its wider impact,” he informs. According to Shrestha, for every 10 pairs of sunglasses sold, Anthropose provides a free cataract surgery in rural Nepal.

He further shares, “ The Anthropose sunglasses are made of high quality materials from the body to the lenses.” Adding that having a social mission tied to the core motive of the business sets the brand apart from others. Currently, all the sunglasses are manufactured in China. However, the brand’s long- term plan is to soon start manufacturing in Nepal.

Anthropose sells its products online and focuses on delivering smooth customer service. They also connect with customers through different events, trade shows and campaigns. “ We are a big believer in digital inbound marketing. Hence, our marketing strategies comprise more of content based marketing supported by paid advertisements on the digital frontier,” says Shrestha. Besides that the brand relies on in- person interactive marketing for branding and promotion of the product.

Shrestha says, “ Our sunglasses frames are made of high quality cellulose acetate and stainless steel and lenses are made of premium quality light – weight CR- 39 lenses to assure clarity and protection.” He adds that all the models of sunglasses are UVA/ UVB protected, polarised for glarereduction and has anti- scratch coating. He informs, “ From the product to the pricing, customer service to after sales, sales channel to delivery experience, and from inquiry to any complaints, our brand always strive for distinction.” The sunglasses range from Rs 4,799 to Rs 6,199