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Motorola to segment cellphone market with new range 

Kumarkaushalam  
New Delhi, March 3: There's something that has shaken you up from slumber -- a discreet vibrating ring and a flash of red lights on your screen. It's your boss calling, you realise instantly -- thanks to Motorola's latest offering of the v2088 cellular phone. With an option of green, yellow and red lights on the display screen and keypad, the v2088 allows the user to identify the callers by assigning different colours to different caller groups or individuals in his phone-based memory.

So you may have your friends in yellow mode, clients in green and boss in, -- well, that's obvious.

The v2088 is one of the first launches in the domestic market after a massive Global Segmentation study, which was conducted by the UK-based St James Associates across 23 countries, including India, in the first half of 1999. The market survey revealed that there were four distinct segments, which act as triggers for cellphone users. They are:

  • The Accompli segment: It represents consumers who are technology savvy and opt for the most contemporary technology with advanced features. This consumer is well ahead of the times and needs a cellphone, which can facilitate a mobile communication via Internet, fax etc.

  • Timeport: Consumers in this category are looking for maximising their productivity in a work-related environment.

  • V.dot: This is characteristic of those users who see cellphone as a status symbol. For them the phone is an expression of attitude and lifestyle.

  • Talkabout: Consumers need cellphone due to certain social perspectives. They value social bonding and familial security. Which comes from keeping connected to children and family members.

    While the products in the Accomply and Talkabout would be unveiled -- in line with Motorola's global product strategy for the year 2000 -- the Rs 13,495 v2088 has been offered in the V.dot segment. Also, as per the new segmentation approach, Motorola India Ltd's L708--the world's only tri-band cellphone--has been positioned as `Ultimate in International Roaming' in the Timeport segment.

    Calling the consumer
    To boost the sales of the v2088, Motorola India Ltd is kicking off a blitz beginning March 4, 2000 in Delhi and Mumbai. Spread over two phases, the road shows, organised by the event management company Candid Marketing Services Ltd, will culminate on March 16-18 in Mumbai.

    In conjunction with service providers in Mumbai and Delhi, Motorola's road shows will wind through hight-traffic areas and commercial offices in Delhi and Mumbai.

    Already, Motoroala has begun splashing v.Dot message --Have it Your Way -- in the marketplace with a slew of collaterals. Its target: bus shelters and high-rise towers. In Mumbai, double decker buses have been painted in Motorola colours. The on-ground initiative is also being complemented by a print campaign, created by McCann Ericsson.

    Delhi and Mumbai accounts for around 40 per cent of cellular phone sales. The focus on Delhi amd Mumbai markets follows from a study conducted by Softres TailorModes in December 1999. Says Ajay Sachdeva, head of marketing, personal Communications Sector, Motorola India Ltd: ``We have intensified our interaction with customers in line with our periodic Market Dynmaic studies.

    ``The first study was carried out in February 1999 and the second in August 1999. Sachdeva says that using the February 1999 study as a benchmark, Motorola is seeing favourable shifts in consumer perceptions and attitudes.Meanwhile, continuing to pursue a two-fold distribution strategy of working with service operators for bundling handsets with service packages and targeting the replacement market, Motorola India is appointing three distributors in Ahmedabad, Pune, and Chennai. This is in addition to its existing five distributors in the markets of Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Calcutta and Hyderabad.

    Says U. Narendra Nayak, country operations manager - India, personal communications sector, Motorola India: ``We intend to to cover all the key markets of the state through state capitals, and hope to double our reach from the existing 1,000 outlets -- out of the estimated 2,500-3,000 cellular outlets across the country.''

    For handset sales, Motorola India will focus on speciality telecom retail outlets while for accessories it plans to broaden its channel reach to include non-telecom outlets and youth-hangouts.

    Motorola is expecting an addition of a million cellular subscriber in the year 2000 as compared to over five lakh subscribers in 1999. The upgrade market is estimated to be around 15 per cent of the existing 1.5 million subscribers.

    Copyright © 2000 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.

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