From lab to till

Morepen is signalling more than a mere shifting more than its headquarters as it gets work started on its giant office complex. The slogan o...

Morepen is signalling more than a mere shifting more than its headquarters as it gets work started on its giant office complex. The slogan of 8216;Going to Gurgaon8217; is now regarded in corporate circles, as more than a signal of being hungry for more space. Morepen is sending the message that its getting lean, mean and ready to handle explosive growth. Sushil Suri, the tycoon at the top of Morepen is now also fired up by top quality management talent he has managed to lure away from the Dabur stable. This infusion has coincided with major moves that Suri needed to make, to justify the money he had collected from investors.

Acquiring fancy new office digs is probably the cheapest of Suri8217;s recent acquisitions, besides talent of course. Morepen has recently exhibited a rather active appetite for acquisitions8212;be it brands like Burnol or chain drug stores like Lifespring. With the cash from his successful IPO, Morepen Suri seems to be crafting a strategy that will give his company control of a chain that stretches from the laboratory to the dispensary. Now where else have we heard of that philosophy?

Warning shot or random note

Corporate India quite obviously knoweth not the fury of a woman scorned. And certainly not a woman who has routinely taken on the likes of Vajpayee. The Ambani boys busy with getting the nitty-gritty of a post Dhirubhai work order in place certainly were caught totally blind-sided by Amma8217;s vicious tirade against them. Piqued at not being frontlined at Kalams swearing in, Jayalalithas angst is understandable. But why has she chosen to take a frontal shot at the big boys of Mumbai? Nobodys talking yet because officially the Ambanis are still in the mum8217;s-the-word mode. Whispers that are now out on the grapevine suggest that Amma8217;s outburst may have something to do with the latest round of corporate warfare in the deep South. One of the tycoons who is a big time bankroller of the Lady, and who suffered from some aggressive moves by the petrochemicals division of Reliance. That8217;s may explain the target, but certainly not the timing of the outburst. But paranoia is the specialty of both sides in this battle. And getting 8216;Battleship Amma8217; to fire a warning salvo across your prow may be just one way of letting you know that you have been warned.

David marches ahead!

Sureshchand Agarwal, the man in charge of the Rs 100 crore Kunvar Ajay Group is a man on the move. His strategy seems to be to bring in multiple brands, then go in for earthy advertising and build a good distribution network that can commonly work for all. So now his foray into tea will be worth watching.

His Dandi namak and Friendly Wash detergent have got somewhat respectable brand recognition levels despite, what some dismiss, as a spate of rather unintelligible advertisements. Earlier it was only Kunvar Ajay sarees and dress materials, that followed the Agarwal advertising mantra. Not surprising since it is Agarwal, who has always handled the advertising of his brands himself, right from concept to production. And Agarwal8217;s expectations are soaring high when it comes to branded tea. It looks as though it is the large-sized unbranded tea drinkers whom he wishes to target, and not the suave brand conscious customer. So, the tea market certainly promises some brewing in the months to come. And this is one David who seems to be here to stay.

Dilip Cherian, runs a public affairs firm Perfect Relations. He is an economy watcher and tycoon tracker. None of the people he writes about are his clients. Your insider tales are welcome at dilipcheriannow-india.net.in