Brand sway

MARKETING: Another mobile handset player enters the fray, differentiated best by its brand name.

If it seems like everyone under the sun is talking mobile phones this summer, you're probably right. These handy little devices are everywhere, the obsession of a generation.

Just last month, the UK-based premium mobile maker Vertu entered the Indian market with phones with price tags starting at Rs 4.5 lakh. And now, another UK-based firm, Meridian Mobile, is ready to make its maiden foray with GSM phones for the style-conscious. And with an evocative brand name too: Fly.

The difference is that these handsets are within a far more affordable price range: around Rs 7,000-10,000 apiece. With three models on offer to begin with, Meridian Telecom hopes to sell 2,50,000 units in its first year of operation, which would help clocking a turnover of Rs 100 crore.

According to Rajiv Khanna, CEO, India, Meridian Mobile, the plan is to launch one model every month, taking the count to 15 phones by year-end. His marketing budget, at $2 million, sounds modest, especially in a market as fiercely contested as this.

But the idea, says Khanna, is to focus efforts on a well-chosen prospect "" the young sophisticate "" through a precision plan involving in-store brand signage, alliances with distributors and simple word-of-mouth.

Take distribution. "We are looking at over 5,000 retail counters by the end of first quarter, accounting for over 70 per cent of retail sales," says Khanna, who has got 60 distributors in the network already.

Retail presence is all very well. The question is whether the launch will, well, fly.

Given the mammoth market share within the grasp of the big names, it's reasonable to expect there is space for niche players that woo the individual looking to distinguish himself "" by using the phone as a fashion accessory. So BenQ, Pantech, Spice and now Fly might just be able to make a go of their products.

"Most of our future launches would be in the mid-level price segment (between Rs 5,000 and Rs 12,000)," says Khanna, adding that the game is to induce replacements. This means attracting people through "...design and multimedia features", he reckons.

Fly will also add a few smartphones, as they're called, to its portfolio by next year.

Internationally, Fly is reported to have set the youth segment aflutter. If the brand manages to capture youth imagination in India (a big if, so rivals need not fear anything till they see more of what it does), it may be able to make more than a small impression.