We are not looking at Canon and HP as our competitors

Indian consumers are more aware of brands such as Canon and HP in the

printing business. Where does Brother International fit?



We have been rearing to enter this market. HP and Canon are up there and we

are a challenger. We are increasing our brand awareness with the help of

advertising and are not looking at Canon and HP as our competitors. Soon, we

will come out with a television commercial and other advertising initiatives to

take this process further. We are focusing on our own category. We would like to

be the number one player in our own category.

How do you look after your partners?



Today, channel partners are smarter, more exposed and knowledgeable. When we

approach them, we have to explain the commercial sense. Second, we provide

better margins and comfort level in handling products. Third is the after sales

support we offer. We also sell our consumables to those who sell our hardware so

that they get good revenue. Our main aim is to engage the customer again and

again. The approach has always been to offer constant and proper support.

Toshikazu Koike, president & representative director, Brother International

What plans does Brother International have for its channel partners in

India?



We have a short-term engagement with channel partners and follow up on a

q-o-q basis. Then we have the longer-term engagement with our partners, where we

create a pool of loyal channel partners with whom we engage for a longer period.

Our partners are less than HP, but have been by our side for the last fifteen

years. We are not focused on quantity but on quality.

How do you tackle the logistics and infrastructure challenges that our

country presents?



If you compare India to other countries, logistics is a big challenge. We

have four national distributors who take care of the logistics. It does not make

sense for us to put logistics facility in fifty locations. In terms of

documentations such as road permits, these are issues common for everyone. We

hope these things would change in the next few years.

Prasad Ramasubramanian/CyberMedia News



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