‘I don’t think we’ve stubbed out competition’

By Rishi Vora

What was considered impossible has been made achievable through the likes of the affable Colors CEO, Rajesh Kamat. Since Kamat came into the scene, Colors has been the eye of the storm in the GEC scope, successfully breaking the rules and engraved traditions that were once pinned to the industry. His FMCG experience, plus the learnings from his former bosses – Sameer Nair and Peter Mukerjea, has only levelled his triumph. Both of whom he respects even today, despite having now outperformed them in the GEC ratrace. In this interview with impact, Kamat admits to using their tactics, ones which Nair used during his stint at Star. But by no means is Kamat resting on his laurels, he is now looking at widening the gap further between Colors and its competitors.
Read on to know more about the myth-breaker extraordinaire and now, impact Person of the Year 2009, as he takes us through his strategies, beliefs and personal achievements…



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‘Digital is the new marketing platform’

A heavyweight of the auto industry, Maruti Suzuki has quite a task at hand in maintaining its leadership position in the market. This is because of increasing competition and fast changing consumer dynamics. “Anybody who can identify these trends can be a winner in the market place,” says, Shashank Srivastava, Chief General Manager – Marketing, Maruti Suzuki Ltd. The company today occupies about 55 per cent market share and is a leader in the A1 and A2 car segment, and now A3 segment with the success of SX4. The launch of Tata Nano hasn’t affected the brand much because of low supplies. But other players are gearing up to give Maruti Suzuki a run for their money. Srivastava, who has been with the company since 1989 leaves no stone unturned from the time of positioning of the product to its brand scores.

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EFFIE AWARDS 2009:
Ogilvy India is ‘Agency of the Year’; JWT and Lowe Lintas follow

The Effie Awards 2009 concluded with Ogilvy India riding high on its Zoozoos and scoring an emphatic win over other agencies. The agency bagged a total of 13 metals - totalling 120 points as compared to its tally last year of nine metals and a score of 100 points. The closest that other agencies could get to Ogilvy’s tally were JWT with a total of 50 points, Lowe Lintas with 45 points and Mudra Group with 35 points.
The three Golds that Ogilvy bagged included one for Sprite’s ‘Seedhi Baat, No Bakwaas’, and two for Vodafone ‘Zoozoos – The story of an iconic campaign.’ It bagged five Silvers for Center fresh, Limca, Bajaj Pulsar, Vodafone’s ‘Happy to Help’ and ‘Zoozoos on your mobile’. It also bagged five Bronzes for Pond’s ‘The Cinderella effect’, Sakshi’s ‘Move to tomorrow’, Vodafone’s ‘Chhota Credit’ and ‘Happy to Help’ and for the Tata Sky + launch.

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