About the Speaker :: Mr. Rajesh Jain, Vice President Sales at Daikin Air Conditioning India Pvt. Ltd.
Worked as General Manager, Marketing at Voltas Limited
Worked as Customer Business Unit Head, Consumer Electronics at BPL Ltd
Worked as General Manager at Carrier Aircon Limited
As part of IIM Raipur Corporate Interaction program, Mr. Rajesh Jain, Vice President (Sales), Daikin, visited the campus on 13th September 2011. He briefed students about their marketing strategy in India. Daikin, a Japanese brand headquartered in Osaka is the global leader in air conditioner market. He initially informed about how acquisition of Italian brand McQuay have helped Daikin strengthen their presence in Chillers market.
Limiting his marketing discussion to Asia Oceana market, he cited the example of Singapore where in spite of stiff competition; Daikin has been able to capture a high market share of 40% due to its high quality promise. He informed that to increase their lead at the top they are concentrating on three major markets – China, Brazil and India where air conditioning industry as well as economy is in growth phase.
Coming onto Indian discussion, he talked about the 40 acre state of art plant at Neemrana Rajasthan, the only Daikin plant in India. He informed that Daikin is one of the very few brands which develop all kinds of air conditioning systems including Chiller systems for grand buildings. He cited the example of prominent Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai where it has been implemented. In India, he cited examples of EON free zone in Pune, Mumbai high court and Infosys building where Daikin VRV systems have been implemented. He also informed that EON free zone in Pune is the first water cooled building with LEED Platinum certification. He told that although the share of Daikin in Indian residential air conditioning segment is only 11% but in VRV segment it has strong presence with 60% market share.
Daikin as a brand has been present in India since last 10 years but the marketing operations have gained momentum in last one and half year. Earlier Daikin had a niche segment in high class customers and corporate offices but now they are targeting the growing middle class who demand high value for their money. He informed that in a developing country like India it is very difficult to sustain on high end customers only. They have changed their advertisement campaigns to specifically target middle class families comprising of husband, wife and two children. Along with it they are highlighting the minimum noise levels of their air conditioning systems. The number of dealers has increased from 300 to 800 in last 18 months most of whom now provide 0% finance. As part of promotional campaigns they have the largest billboard of India in Gurgaon on Delhi-Jaipur highway. Apart from this they are using radio cabs and residential colony gates for advertisement boards. They were one of the sponsors of cricket world cup 2011 and they also organized a promotional event in Mumbai in partnership with Economic Times. They also held VRV awareness seminars in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. Some other means of marketing for them have been their newsletter and media clips. Mr. Rajesh while answering the questions of students insisted that they are not going to lose focus on the premium segment and they will regularly be coming out with cutting edge technology products.
