Indian IT brands faces stiff challenges against MNCs brand who are global leader and have ample of resources. Sometimes it becomes very difficult for Indian brands to sustain in this so competitive market. But Zebronics, the leading Indian brand, has conquered all those challenges and successfully established their feet in Indian market. The brand offers innovative, high quality and affordable products to large set of customer base across India. The brand also completed 20 successful years in the market. Channel partners played big role in achieving this milestone as they got continuous support form partners. On top, the customers’ loyalty and trust made this brand, India’s Best Peripheral Brand and the company has maintained their leadership position in the market since last so many years. Rajesh Doshi, Director, Zebronics India Pvt. Ltd. shared his overall journey so far and also revealed his upcoming channel plans with DT.
DT: What have been the crucial milestone of your company during year 2017?
Mr. Rajesh: We believe in the ideology of ‘Always Ahead’; this very same ideology has helped us won ‘Brand of the year’ in speaker category along with several other awards this year, taking our awards tally to 70.Our crucial milestone was that our brand has completed its 20th year successfully with its presence in the market. We have also signed Bollywood Celebrity Hrithik Roshan as a brand ambassador for Zebronics which fit our brand's persona, performance and style. 2017 was a year where we launched our premium gaming range which included products like chassis, keyboards and headphones. We also launched mobile accessories like a variety of power banks with fast charge, Type C, 6 in 1 power bank, wireless headphones, headsets, and a vast variety of charging cables. In the speakers segment we launched quite a many products like wireless portable speakers, Hard rock series and DJ speakers has been very well received by the market.Our gifting range has grown vast with new products especially for corporates.
DT: What were the major challenge for your company? How do you fought those challenges?
Mr. Rajesh: The challenges that we face are a thin profit margin in IT peripherals, but due to consumers trust & loyalty in brand for 20 years, Zebronics has advantage over opportunistic brands. IT peripherals segment is stagnant now, which is a major challenge that we’re trying to work with. The newer segments like surveillance, have different set of challenges as there are big MNC brands and many unorganized regional players in the market. There are very few Indian brands at national level. Here Zebronics would carve its own niche as the scope is huge, though it may take time. Value for money good quality products and service would be our strength. Hurdles and challenges are part of every success story, and we are no different. Building the brand was a huge challenge for us, without much of ATL activities. A lot of innovative planning had to be done for the brand to become popular. An immense team support has helped us position ourselves as a trusted brand.
DT: How do you support Government of India's 'Make-in-India' program?
Mr. Rajesh: Make in India will help, not only build a product but to create multiple job opportunities in every sector even small to medium scale industries will see a huge impact of this vision in the near future. We feel that manufacturing will see a lot of momentum in India with the increase of manufacturing costs in China and with also its currency appreciating, we look forward to the opportunities of Make in India, which is central government vision of making India self-sustainable. There is a good momentum in the Make In India movement but we feel that we’ll see progress when the government helps building a good supply chain for small and medium level manufacturers, by offering them some special benefits, which is not yet seen in the market. Many of our speakers and power bank models are Make in India products and we plan to have a wider range in 2018.
DT: How GST changed your business affair in year 2017?
Mr. Rajesh: We were one of the first IT companies that was fully prepared right from the first day of GST implementation, it was result of in-house preparation of a few months to make sure we are fully function on day one.Initially the market was on hold awaiting a reaction but after the initial hiccup after everything was put into place it went on smoothly. This being the biggest tax reform after independence, no doubts there were challenges but government machinery has been very supportive in fixing the queries.In the long run we are confident that this healthy reform will be beneficial to all who practice fair trade.
DT: What's your channel strength currently in India?
Mr. Rajesh: We have 31 offices and 50000+ of loyal direct and indirect channel partners, resellers making sure than Zebronics products are available in every nook and corner of the country. Our vision is to have a diverse range of products which has suitable premium products for enthusiasts as well value for money products for price conscious consumer without any compromise in quality.Our distribution and channel strategies are customized according to the region. B, C and D tier cities are one of our most important markets. We are trying to increase our footprint even further in these cities.
DT: How do you assure your customer excellent service support?
Mr. Rajesh: We have 128+ service centers. For certain products we provide on-site service through our toll free no. We regularly upgrade and add new service centers. We are constantly gathering feedback from customer and partner to improve the experience. We strongly feel it's one of the major reason that our brand has come so far with customer satisfaction and trust. Having said that service is one area that requires continuous analysis and improvement to meet customers’ satisfaction.
DT: What will be your key Go-To-Market Strategy for year 2018?
Mr. Rajesh: As always our goal has remained to give best quality products at pocket friendly prices which is backed by performance and style that comes with a warranty. Zebronics EQR mantra, excellence-quality-reliability is our biggest strength. We will be also launching many new products this year, giving the consumers more options to choose from.
DT: What will be major products you will be launching in year 2018?
Mr. Rajesh: Our focus this year would be on the sound systems, we have put in huge efforts in the speaker segment since many years, but it was in 2017 that the brand has been recognized pan India by the customers and has been accepted very well. We have launched new models in all these categories and different product sizes by trying to cater to the needs of one and all. We are the only Indian brand to have launched the premium range of products like the chassis, headphone and mechanical keyboard that can be compared to the MNC brands and in the process, the customer will benefit as many more products are expected in this segment soon.Last but not the least we will be fully focused in the CCTV segment and expand our footprints with new products as the market demands.
