Shombit Sengupta, International Management Consultant,and Founder & Creative Strategist, Shining Emotional Surplus
<p align=justify>“We are into corporate transformation programmes. It is different from management consulting. In any consultancy you have to provide a growth vision, and define some tangible deliverables. At Shining, we are in the specialist platform. Our specialisation is in growth and we target the growth area.”
“We are into corporate transformation programmes. It is different from management consulting. In any consultancy you have to provide a growth vision, and define some tangible deliverables. At Shining, we are in the specialist platform. Our specialisation is in growth and we target the growth area.”
In conversation with Gokul Krishnamurthy of exchange4media, Shombit Sengupta, International Management Consultant, and Founder & Creative Strategist, Shining Emotional Surplus, speaks about his firm. Sengupta left India 30 years ago and founded his company, Shining, in Paris in 1984.
He has provided management and brand consulting and retail strategy services to several hundred corporations worldwide, and has worked on 1200 brands across Europe, North and South America, Japan and India. Excerpts:
Q. Do you think Indian brands are in a position to make their mark internationally?
A lot of Indian companies are present outside. I don’t think Indian brands are getting too much appreciation out of India. I was in Dubai recently and found many Indian brands there, but they are lagging behind. Branding culture is very American and European. Indians should learn that. The Japanese have learnt that very strongly.
Q. Can you tell us something about your current work?
A lot of work is happening. The details of most of the work are confidential. Some new things are happening. In a couple of months we will be able to speak about them. Now, it is too early to say but it will be a big thing in the market.
Q. There are some retail outlets, like some of the textile giants in South India, where loyalty is passed on even across generations?
These are different. These are specialist shops. You will not find those on every street corner. These kinds of shop you cannot run throughout the country. I am talking of the organised retail. Retail as a conducive, process-driven business is lagging. Multi-brand outlets are good, but the choice of the place is a big factor.
Q. Is there any resistance to your ideas from Indian companies?
The culture is changing now. But most Indian companies need a big change in their way of thinking and doing things. The Indian customers have become very demanding. We do not have any complaints. All companies are becoming increasingly professional. You have to identify for them the real problem.
Q. You have done a lot of work on rejuvenating existing brands. How’s your experience on that?
Repackaging is the container but positioning is the science. When you are changing, if the content is not acting for the consumer’s benefit, what is the meaning of change? Repackaging and such things are very vulgarly used, and changing the packaging and all doesn’t make any sense but what content you are building, what is the substance, what is the benefit to consumers is the main thing.
Q. You have been doing a lot of work in the retail space. How has retailing in India changed in the last five years?
In Indian retailing, forget change. Nobody has understood the retail business in the country. Most of the retail business is run like real estate business. In a country like India where you have multiplicity of product proliferation in every street corner, what retail offers is not unique. If what it offers is not unparalleled in the catchment areas, retail cannot work. I am not sure whether malls will have a big success in India. Indian culture is not like ‘I like this shop, I will go there regularly.’ Consumer fidelity is very poor. It is very simple, actually. On the road, you will not find two women wearing the same sari. Mentally, we are different.
Q. How do you see your P&P tool adding value to the retail model?
Our case studies are relevant to the psychological, sociological, historical aspects of the customer. It is very relevant to retail. A manufacturing company has some advantages because they can sell one product through different distribution. When you are in retail, people have to come to you. You need to discover their needs more. And if people don’t come on one day, the money that you are losing - you will not recover that.
Q. Would you say Indian customers are more impulsive buyers in comparison to the West?
Very much. Also, because of factors like the weather, people like to go to the malls and other places. But, they may not spend money. I am not sure about the malls and how much time and money they are spending to understand the catchment customer.
Q. Do you think the shopping malls inside entertainment arenas can do better than stand-alone malls?
I don’t know, really. In Europe, we have seen the multiplexes were not a big success. There has to be specific one for the Indian customers. I am not saying this is not the market for doing that, but there has to be customisation according to Indian market of multi-cultures, multi-civilisations, mixture of different people and how do you create the retailing for them.
Q. How long will it take to work out a success formula for Indian retailers?
I think they will understand after having a little bit of failures. Now, they are in the mode of building with the view that as soon as they start the thing, returns will come out. That is not the truth. A lot people have tried. We have seen they are selling out even in some cases. I don’t want to mention the names but there are different retail players with big visions for the retail, who I am not sure still have really understood the consumer psychology – how to make the retail for the consumer.
Q. Which are the categories that have a lot of scope for improvement?
FMCG and apparel markets. These are all very big markets but still not happening in a big way as they should be because the differentiation is very less.
Q. What does Shining offer to its clients?
We are into corporate transformation programmes. It is different from management consulting. In any consultancy you have to provide a growth vision, and define some tangible deliverables. At Shining, we are in the specialist platform. Our specialisation is in growth and we target the growth area. The way we work is like when you are in an operation theatre. You apply some good medicine resulting in a quantum jump, a consistent, sustainable growth for the company. We don’t have any other thing to appeal to any customer.
Q. From your experience, is the Indian market more price sensitive when compared to the developed markets?
Yes, but not necessarily. Look at some automobiles, which have come. Innova has been priced at Rs 8 lakh or so and it is working. When the quality is perceptible, price is not a big factor, but when quality is not perceptible, price is a big factor. Indian people are more sensitive. You have to exuberantly show that your quality is higher.
Q. Are you saying that not enough research is being done?
I don’t think so. The kind of qualitative research they need to do, that I am not sure at all. If they really do in-depth consumer research they will find a lot. We gather from our different research findings that there are people who go to malls at four in the afternoon just to spend time.
Q. Is there any one brand / company that you would like to work with?
I cannot say that. That would be very arrogant. How can I neglect others? Everybody, as long as they are good business people who want to grow, and who have a vision.
Q. Do you think people are investing enough?
I think people are investing in areas where they should not. They are investing too much on gorgeous real estate and on the show off. All these things where investment should be there, but it should be reduced. Investments are looking like more real estate investments.
Q. How do we explain the regional, lesser-known players doing well in the market?
When we say they are doing well, they may be generating revenue. But what profit they get we don’t know. What kind of infrastructure they have, do they have the sustainability, and do they have the vision?
