BPL to pump in Rs 120 crore into marketing

agencyfaqs! News Bureau

NEW DELHI, October 14

Home-grown consumer electronics major BPL plans to launch a mammoth marketing exercise this year. And it has earmarked a whopping Rs 120 crore for the task, the bulk of which will be spent in beefing up CTV sales.

The reason is simple. There has been a sharp drop in CTV sales in the first half of the current fiscal unlike the last two years, which witnessed strong growth in volumes, up to nearly 40 per cent.

During 1999-2000, the cricket World Cup gave a boost to the CTV sales to a large extent, and BPL sold more than one million CTVs during the same period. This year, however, even the Olympics failed to shore up industry volumes.

As the CTV market has become extremely competitive, BPL is now looking at a multiple brand strategy and an aggressive promotional exercise. The company is pinning its hopes on two of its frontline brands. At the top end, BPL has Digital BPL, a competitor for Sony and Panasonic, and to fend of the price warriors like Sansui and Akai, it has Evelux.

"This brand segmentation has become important as the market has become fragmented with the entry of a plethora of brands - both domestic and foreign," said a company official. Evelux is aimed at enhancing market penetration and Digital BPL is aimed at raising the value of the mother brand, he explained. The company doesn't plan to launch another CTV brand in the next two years, he added.

The official also said that the company is taking other initiatives to maintain its competitive advantage and market leadership - "with an eye on superior delivery and customer relationship management". The key initiatives are Net-enabling of the company and deeper penetration of the export markets.

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