Philips sets up lounges across India

Philips India is working on augmenting its presence in the Indian retail scenario and to this end, the company has rolled out 45 exclusive experience zones in the Delhi and NCR area. These zones, christened Philips Lounges, are being set up in the traditional and modern retail stores and will be a permanent feature in these stores.

Vivek Sharma, chief marketing officer, Philips India, says, “The initiative has been launched in keeping with one of our research insights that up to 40 per cent of brand conversions take place at the retail stores. Given this, we are working on strengthening our presence and capabilities in the retail sector.”

The entire project is also supported by local area marketing initiatives to increase footfalls for the zones. These initiatives, local outdoors relating to the zones and consumers’ offers will not just help the Philips Lounges but will also increase traffic for the retail stores.

Sharma adds, “Apart from giving that touch and feel to our customers, which has become very important in this marketing age, these lounges will also help in sustaining the brand in their minds. Also, it will provide us with an added benefit of better ROI (return on investment) on our marketing spends. Also, our local marketing initiatives will help in enhancing our relationship with the stores by generating increased traffic for them as well.”

While Sharma refused to share details on the cost involved in setting up these lounges, he says that apart from the rent (which varies according to factors such as area and relationship shared), the other costs that came up during the execution were creating the structure of the centres, rolling out marketing initiatives for generating footfalls and training the salespeople and promoters for these zones.