Britzo to invest 100 crore to catalyse rural digitisation: Pradipto Ganguly
Co-founder and CEO of Britzo launched IVVO smartphone under the ‘Make in India’ program
Indian smartphone manufacturer Britzo has made a landmark move which intends to catalyse rural digitisation. Under the ‘Make in India’ program, Britzo has launched its smartphone IVVO in India. The company will launch its first 4G feature phone called Skipper along with two Android Go 4G smartphones belonging to its Storm series. The company’s portfolio of mobile phones has been priced between Rs. 649 to Rs. 5,999. The company has roped in actress Yami Gautam as the brand ambassador.
In conversation with exchange4media, Pradipto Ganguly, Co-founder and CEO, Britzo, discussed the long-term plans of taking Britzo to the global market and expanding their market reach by introducing different products.
The Indian smartphone manufacturer intends to invest Rs.100 crore towards the ‘Make in India’ initiative. Elaborating on this, Ganguly said, ‘For any manufacturer today, their own manufacturing unit gives them the edge. So keeping that in mind, we have come up with smart feature phones, something that has been forgotten by the people. People basically started with a feature phone and they went on to become smarter day by day. We intend to put up the manufacturing unit in the next 12-18 months subject to all government compliance, and we wish to set up a factory in Uttar Pradesh. We are ISO: 9001-2015 certified, we have also made sure that quality is not compromised. So that’s the amount we have kept aside for manufacturing.”
Discussing the business/revenue model, Ganguly explained, “We are completely offline and taking all the conventional routes. We have got incredible distributors and retailers for the state level. For the first year, we are focusing on two of our products - mobiles phones and LED televisions, which we’ll get into from the quarter of the year. Just to put it all together, we are aiming to have about Rs.1500 crore as revenue in the first financial year. We plan to capture 2 per cent of the market share and we are very realistic in our assumptions and targets.”
The Indian market is definitely huge and has much scope for marketers, but what stays up in building a right brand is the ‘right marketing strategy.’ Talking about their strategies to communicate with their consumer as a brand, Ganguly said, “We have a differentiator in terms of what we are offering to our consumers. We are not planning to spend a huge amount of money in ATL, because a phone that costs Rs 649 is typically watched by a consumer in the rural villages. We are looking forward to doing a lot of van activities, nukkad shows, etc. where we will communicate to our consumers in their language.”
“I was surprised to know that 470 million Indian households still access TV through the cable network. So we are partnering up with them too,” added Ganguly.
Conventional tie-ups for branding and advertising seem to fade away but are not vanishing. Does that mean Britzo will not appear on digital media? Ganguly said, “We would be aggressive on digital because the smartphone use in India basically comes from the youth and they are always on the internet. We would have a huge presence on social media.”
Discussing plans for the long run, Ganguly said, “This year we have confined ourselves to mobile phones and LEDs. Next year, we would get into smart connected devices, starting from air purifiers, and geysers, to electric kettles, all through to mobile phones.”
“We are also planning to take IVVO to SARC countries by next year,” he concluded Ganguly.
In conversation with exchange4media, Pradipto Ganguly, Co-founder and CEO, Britzo, discussed the long-term plans of taking Britzo to the global market and expanding their market reach by introducing different products.
The Indian smartphone manufacturer intends to invest Rs.100 crore towards the ‘Make in India’ initiative. Elaborating on this, Ganguly said, ‘For any manufacturer today, their own manufacturing unit gives them the edge. So keeping that in mind, we have come up with smart feature phones, something that has been forgotten by the people. People basically started with a feature phone and they went on to become smarter day by day. We intend to put up the manufacturing unit in the next 12-18 months subject to all government compliance, and we wish to set up a factory in Uttar Pradesh. We are ISO: 9001-2015 certified, we have also made sure that quality is not compromised. So that’s the amount we have kept aside for manufacturing.”
Discussing the business/revenue model, Ganguly explained, “We are completely offline and taking all the conventional routes. We have got incredible distributors and retailers for the state level. For the first year, we are focusing on two of our products - mobiles phones and LED televisions, which we’ll get into from the quarter of the year. Just to put it all together, we are aiming to have about Rs.1500 crore as revenue in the first financial year. We plan to capture 2 per cent of the market share and we are very realistic in our assumptions and targets.”
The Indian market is definitely huge and has much scope for marketers, but what stays up in building a right brand is the ‘right marketing strategy.’ Talking about their strategies to communicate with their consumer as a brand, Ganguly said, “We have a differentiator in terms of what we are offering to our consumers. We are not planning to spend a huge amount of money in ATL, because a phone that costs Rs 649 is typically watched by a consumer in the rural villages. We are looking forward to doing a lot of van activities, nukkad shows, etc. where we will communicate to our consumers in their language.”
“I was surprised to know that 470 million Indian households still access TV through the cable network. So we are partnering up with them too,” added Ganguly.
Conventional tie-ups for branding and advertising seem to fade away but are not vanishing. Does that mean Britzo will not appear on digital media? Ganguly said, “We would be aggressive on digital because the smartphone use in India basically comes from the youth and they are always on the internet. We would have a huge presence on social media.”
Discussing plans for the long run, Ganguly said, “This year we have confined ourselves to mobile phones and LEDs. Next year, we would get into smart connected devices, starting from air purifiers, and geysers, to electric kettles, all through to mobile phones.”
“We are also planning to take IVVO to SARC countries by next year,” he concluded Ganguly.
