The brand, that has been a certified Superbrand, is more known for Vandana Luthra than for the various businesses her beauty enterprise spawns. Can Vandana change this paradox? But hey, is it really an issue? Angushman Paul takes up the weighty issue...
On another front, to perhaps counter Shahnaz Hussein’s worldwide ‘Customer Relationship Management’ system, Vandana has appointed one of the world’s largest specialized below-the-line marketing services agencies, 141 Sercon, a contract to manage the VLCC call centre operations. Aegis Communication (from the well-known Essar Group) is the BPO providing primary services for the venture. Interestingly, Marico with its brand ‘Kaya’ is also planning to start a similar call center model through KPO.
Analysts claims that in the beauty and healthcare business, its essential to give a personal touch in services and therefore, the CRM system and call centers help. But that spawns a critical debate. Why has Vandana taken so much time to undertake these strategies, despite being one of the first movers in this segment? And why now, at a time of economic slowdown when competition in the beauty and wellness business is thickening up like anything? Aren’t her finances being run extremely dry because of such plans?
Vandana is unperturbed on such an argument, “Our USP is totally different from any other brand and our target audience is also different – we cater to many institutional buyers with our various services.” Institutional buyers are one big focus, more due to the recent change in the attitude of corporations that have become more focused on the wellness and health maintenance of its top managers.
But how important does she consider the creation of a sustainable brand, our primary question? “My mother ran a dancing school and she was very popular among her students, but she never though of branding her school, and today, nobody knows about her school. So, from personal experience, I knew that for long run sustainability, one needs to create a brand,” accepts Vandana. And she’s added corporate transparency to that promise, with Ernst & Young being the official auditor for VLCC (which is the only company in the industry undertaking such measures), a learning she obtained from her father’s work experiences at Siemens.
But strategically, does VLCC really have it in itself to one day become a glorious Fortune 500 company? Many decades ago, in 1946, a young woman called Josephine Esther Mentzer asked the same question for her company that offered four simple beauty and care solutions. She realised that the key to success was purely brand building. Today her company, named after her husband, is the world’s largest purely beauty care and cosmetics company, selling a mind numbing $7 billion worth products to women and men globally. Ranked 352 in the Fortune 500 list of 2009, Estée Lauder is known for the quality of its brand universally. Vandana, if she can, so can you... but all in good time...
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM fights meltdown, places 2300 students By Education Mail Bureau
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better By Swati Sharma
2300 IIPM students get jobs
Detail of all IIPM branches
IIPM set to beat economic slowdown
IIPM Admission Detail
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
On another front, to perhaps counter Shahnaz Hussein’s worldwide ‘Customer Relationship Management’ system, Vandana has appointed one of the world’s largest specialized below-the-line marketing services agencies, 141 Sercon, a contract to manage the VLCC call centre operations. Aegis Communication (from the well-known Essar Group) is the BPO providing primary services for the venture. Interestingly, Marico with its brand ‘Kaya’ is also planning to start a similar call center model through KPO.
Analysts claims that in the beauty and healthcare business, its essential to give a personal touch in services and therefore, the CRM system and call centers help. But that spawns a critical debate. Why has Vandana taken so much time to undertake these strategies, despite being one of the first movers in this segment? And why now, at a time of economic slowdown when competition in the beauty and wellness business is thickening up like anything? Aren’t her finances being run extremely dry because of such plans?
Vandana is unperturbed on such an argument, “Our USP is totally different from any other brand and our target audience is also different – we cater to many institutional buyers with our various services.” Institutional buyers are one big focus, more due to the recent change in the attitude of corporations that have become more focused on the wellness and health maintenance of its top managers.
But how important does she consider the creation of a sustainable brand, our primary question? “My mother ran a dancing school and she was very popular among her students, but she never though of branding her school, and today, nobody knows about her school. So, from personal experience, I knew that for long run sustainability, one needs to create a brand,” accepts Vandana. And she’s added corporate transparency to that promise, with Ernst & Young being the official auditor for VLCC (which is the only company in the industry undertaking such measures), a learning she obtained from her father’s work experiences at Siemens.
But strategically, does VLCC really have it in itself to one day become a glorious Fortune 500 company? Many decades ago, in 1946, a young woman called Josephine Esther Mentzer asked the same question for her company that offered four simple beauty and care solutions. She realised that the key to success was purely brand building. Today her company, named after her husband, is the world’s largest purely beauty care and cosmetics company, selling a mind numbing $7 billion worth products to women and men globally. Ranked 352 in the Fortune 500 list of 2009, Estée Lauder is known for the quality of its brand universally. Vandana, if she can, so can you... but all in good time...
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM fights meltdown, places 2300 students By Education Mail Bureau
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better By Swati Sharma
2300 IIPM students get jobs
Detail of all IIPM branches
IIPM set to beat economic slowdown
IIPM Admission Detail
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
