Ban brings change of plans

With cigarette companies now not being permitted to advertise or sponsor any kind of event whether sport or cultural, this will simply make things worse, especially for the tycoon who has been a constant sponsor of events especially those related to cricket, tennis, and golf.

The tobacco industry which spends more than Rs 250 crores per annum on advertisements was well-prepared for this decision as the bill had been cleared in 2001 but companies were given time as most had already signed ads before and needed time to fulfil those deals. With cigarette sales contributing to 87% of ITC’s total revenues, he can’t pretend it wont affect him but he is not one to be kept down. Deveshwar will soon be up and about, looking at newer methods for his future promotions, while reducing his company’s dependence on the cigarette business.

More land for Wipro

It’s strange how despite the US agitation against outsourcing to India, our Indian tycoons just keep getting luckier. The newest one to win an outsourcing deal is Azim Premji’s Wipro. The tycoon won’t own up but he is excited because it’s a deal with Aviva, one of the world’s largest insurance companies. Premji will provide a variety of IT services including application development, maintenance, package implementation and testing to Aviva. But this has not come easy, Premji was supposedly reviewed for a 6 month period before Aviva agreed to the deal. The tycoon’s relationship with customers like Allianz, Prudential etc along with his prior knowledge in the field of insurance got Aviva impressed.

Meanwhile his plans for Chennai are going strong with the tycoon trying to convince the Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to allow him to acquire more land at Sholinganallur near Chennai to expand his work area. He will in all probability be given the green signal since he explained how his plans would help employ 200 professionals now and 15,000 in five years time. This increase in personnel has been foreseen keeping in mind the fact that the tycoon expects his software exports to touch $100 mn soon. For the same reason, the tycoon also asked for 12 acres of additional land in Coimbatore. Here also the Tamil Nadu Government will agree as Premji has offered to provide support to their e-governance plans. The tycoon has proved yet again that he knows how to get what he wants, and more importantly, where he wants.

Ajanta pushes FMCG products

Ashok Patel already has success as his Ajanta Quartz business has a sales turnover of over Rs 120 crore. The unsatisfied tycoon recently launched his FMCG products. He is seriously going ahead with his skin, oral and hair care products. So while his Gujarat unit will be used for product exports, the new Himachal units will be utilised for his domestic FMCG products market.

In order to increase his hold in the northern markets as well as rural and neglected markets the tycoon recently introduced his FMCG products in Madhya Pradesh. Here he is targeting the rural market and consumers from lower income groups. The tycoon is now getting his products marketed there through door-to-door marketing as well as through stockists and distributors.

Since the tactics used by the tycoon for his FMCG products are the same used by him for Ajanta Quartz the tycoon hopes the same magic will work. With strong faith in his pricing policy and the modest margins he works with, his deal is a good offer to his consumers along with a strong advertising campaign in print and electronic media. So patel is rather confident of repeating his success.

Dilip Cherian runs public relations firm Perfect Relations. He is an economy watcher and tycoon tracker. Send your insider dope to dilipcherian@now-india.net.in