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Journalism of Courage
Surely this is a party that is either in despair or in deep dissent. That is probably the reaction of those who control the CII, to the delayed but highly visible outburst by the BJP last week. On the same day that the powerful party spokesman was raging against the CII, senior ministers were addressing other forums of the same organisation.
Confusion, a communication gap or public evidence of fissures? The party bosses probably believe that if businessmen behave the way they are supposed to, then the team of tycoons who head the CII and the professionals who support them, must be in panic by now.
Divided we stand
Aditya Birla is finally adding a little pizzazz to his branded apparel major, Madura Garments. The Birla Group has been slowly consolidating the garment business through overseas acquisitions. This leader in the men8217;s ready-to-wear segment is now in a neck-to-neck race with much older players such as Raymond, Bombay Dyeing, Arvind Mills and Siyarams. Birla is now working towards building distinct and crisper brand images for Allen Solly, Peter England, Van Heusen and Louis Philippe. It seems as though each brand will soon be a strategic business unit, and for this the company has created independent marketing teams. But Birla has to consider whether the time is right for such focused differentiation. So far, the strategy of 8216;divide and rule8217; appears to have been effective. But strategic business units are usually formed for distinct products in order to give them specialised focus. Taking four different brands and one large market, the manner in which the pie is cut into four distinct target segments, would be interesting to watch. Each marketing team would have a point to prove and soon, unless he watches out, there could be possibilities of brand warfare taking place even within the Birla stable.
Shah-e-Voltas
The white goods ship is rollicking. Who would have thought that the man sitting smugly in the driving seat of Lok Prakashan Ltd, Bahubali S. Shah would manage to jolt the Indian white goods market from its slumber? He has recently emerged from the shadows and has somehow succeeded in giving none other than the mighty Tatas a reason to panic. It so happened that the wily Shah caught the Tatas napping in the white goods trade.
As has been their past practice, they had not increased their stake in Voltas Ltd for quite some time. The opportunist in Shah spotted the prospects and acquired around 14, against Tatas8217; majority stake. This certainly points towards a possible take-over saga in the near future. Shah should consider himself warned that he should be well armed financially. Whether Shah has the muscle to take on the Tatas still remains to be seen. For their pockets are truly deep. The Tatas have meanwhile woken up and decided to make their presence felt in the company. Voltas has been restructuring its operations. It has exited all its non-core businesses and is now consolidating its core business. The company is also planning to don a fresh, younger look. Its newly launched, Vertis range is expected to bring in some desperately needed revenue. This new image is expected to pole vault Voltas back into the retail end of the white goods business with its air-conditioners. Shah, meanwhile, is contemplating getting onto the Board of Voltas. According to him, it is his presence that is responsible for the company8217;s shares currently being traded for a good price. Portraying himself as the knight in shining armour for the shareholders, Shah opines that the Tatas have long ignored the views of the shareholders. Forecasters have stated that the air conditioning industry is bound to pick up this summer. Whether it will cool Shah8217;s heels for a while is still unclear but it certainly leaves the others hot and bothered.
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
