The company has put together an aggressive digital strategy for marketing its enterprise products in India
Indian consumers, especially those who used to work in the Gulf countries during the 1980s and 1990s, will have fond memories of their imported National branded appliances – VCRs, washing machines, air-conditioners and other home appliances. The National brand is no more and it is now just Panasonic. In the early days, the Panasonic brand could only be used in North American markets (US and Canada), while the rest of the world used the National brand. Between 1935 and 2008 the parent company was known as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd. In 2008 it was renamed to Panasonic Corporation. Today, the Panasonic brand (and other group brands such as Technics) are used in all global markets, including India. In fact, Panasonic has for long been selling various consumer appliances and electronics devices in India, and it now wants to focus on the enterprise sector through its Panasonic Business brand. It is taking to social media and microsites in a big way for its digital marketing campaigns. It is also doing many roadshows around the country.
Ajay Madan, Senior General Manager, Systems Solution Division (SSD), Panasonic India Pvt. Ltd
Ajay Madan, Senior General Manager, Systems Solution Division (SSD), Panasonic India Pvt. Ltd, said: “The Panasonic brand has been in India for more than 15 years. Panasonic launches new products periodically. For instance, it has recently launched a refreshed range of LED lighting products in India. And under the Panasonic Business sub-brand it launched PBX, high definition visual communications systems, security cameras, projectors, printers, fax machines, commercial displays, electronic whiteboards, Toughbook & Toughpad devices, and video door phones.”
The microsite approach
Rather than cluttering its website with all its products, Panasonic believes in having dedicated microsites for these. The main Panasonic website is a portal to these microsites. This is an international strategy that Panasonic is now implementing in India.
It created dedicated microsites for various products and these are integrated with the home page on the Panasonic India website. There is also a microsite for enterprise products.
“This enterprise/business microsite focuses only on our enterprise products and the application of these products in different verticals,” said Ajay. “People who are interested only in our enterprise products can go directly to the microsite rather than searching product-wise.”
The video conferencing microsite was recently launched and it showcases a range of HD Communications systems. There are dedicated microsites for its projectors and Toughbook branded laptops too. Panasonic is also planning a microsite for its communication servers.
Panasonic HD Visual Communications solution
Digital marketing campaigns
Ajay acknowledges that digital marketing is important for reaching out to enterprise customers. So it has taken to social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for its digital marketing campaigns.
“Our Panasonic Facebook page had dedicated a full day towards the Infocomm event (in Mumbai), showcasing our different solutions. We also did a TVC for our video door phone in April and then complemented it with a social media campaign on our YouTube and Facebook channels,” said Ajay.
Panasonic India regularly takes to Twitter to post updates about its events and roadshows. The @toughbook page is quite popular on Twitter. In addition, there are Toughbook videos and reviews on YouTube.
Hitting the road
Apart from digital channels, Panasonic also believes in customer engagement through live events. It conducted (and continues to conduct) roadshows around India, where customers can see and experience its products. Last year it did a series of roadshows for its video door phone and printers across major cities such as Noida, Gurgaon, Mumbai etc.
“We promoted these video door phones to the flat owners staying in upmarket areas like Powai in Mumbai. We tried to highlight the importance of using these door phones for home security,” said Ajay.
Panasonic also does roadshows for its laser all-in-one printers targeted at the enterprise. These are done in corporate IT parks.
Ajay informed that Panasonic also participates in industry events, conferences, and B2B exhibitions.
It uses the Panasonic Business logo to differentiate itself from its consumer business. It is targeting corporate enterprises, healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality, real estate, education and government & PSU for its enterprise products. Government will be a major focus for Panasonic Business this year and it is about to register its products in DGS&G.
Panasonic is targeting a revenue of Rs 7,000 crore from the Indian market, and 20% of this will come from its enterprise business.