Emerson keen to boost Brand Recognition : By - Mr. Mandeep Gupta Country Manager – Channel Business, Emerson Network Power (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Power protection vendor, Emerson Network Power India, considers India to be a crucial market for the company and has detailed its vision for a brand strategy that it confidently predicts will enhance its position in the Indian market.

With reports of power outages becoming more frequent and ever-increasing demand being placed on the state-run utility providers, enterprises in India are trying hard to maintain business continuity and ensure their IT investments operate smoothly. Power protection vendor, Emerson Network Power, addresses the most basic ingredient of business continuity – electricity.

Emerson Network Power is one of the eight competency divisions of Emerson, globally representing some 33% of the total business revenue base, which in FY07 stood at US$22 billion.

Emerson Network Power is the global leader in enabling Business-Critical Continuity from grid to chip for telecommunication networks, data centres, healthcare and industrial facilities. Emerson Network Power provides innovative solutions and expertise in areas including AC and DC power and precision cooling systems, embedded computing and power, integrated racks and enclosures, power switching and controls, monitoring, and connectivity. All solutions are supported globally by local Emerson Network Power service technicians.

Emerson Network Power (India) Private Ltd., (formerly Tata Liebert Ltd.), a wholly- owned subsidiary of Emerson Electric, USA, has detailed its vision for a brand strategy that it confidently predicts will enhance its position in the Indian market. Given the company now has several brands under its roof, Emerson believes it is well positioned to take ongoing issues such as commoditization and aggressive market pricing in its stride.

Emerson Network Power India is made up of the following brands: Liebert, ASCO Power Technologies and Emerson Energy Systems. All its brands are aligned to offer the consumers a one-stop shop for his Network power needs, however demanding or complex they may be. Emerson Network Power India today is serving network-dependent data, telecommunications and Internet-related businesses with a full spectrum of reliable power and connectivity solutions

“Emerson’s marketing functions from its Head Office and takes care of all the marketing and branding activities across the nation. All our marketing campaigns are aligned with global campaigns and there are strict guidelines to present similar look and feel of our brands,” says Mr. Mandeep Gupta, Country Manager – Channel Business, Emerson Network Power (India) Pvt. Ltd. “We also encourage channel partners for marketing activities and provide them Marketing Development Funds to promote our brand. Our marketing is very specific and targeted to end-user, as per their needs. Emerson has positioned itself as end-to-end Business Critical Continuity Solution provider for any mission-critical application,” adds Mandeep.

Emerson Network embarks on new initiatives at regular intervals to expand its focus on the market. The initiative includesnew channel programmes, branding efforts and products designed to meet specific requirements of the customers.

New Channel Programmes and Branding
Emerson Network has launched channel programmes that include education, training and tools to help channel partners build sales momentum in the market. The sales and technical training offerings are designed to help channel partners serve the needs of the specific customers who often lack in-house technical expertise and, therefore, may rely heavily on channel partners to design, implement and support their power solutions.

The offerings include online sales training coursework and certification for partner sales professionals. “We have done lots of online activities such as online training programmes for partners, partner website, and the best one is Optimize IT“– An Online Data Centre Configurator for our Channel Partners to design data centre in a few easy steps and provide required BOM & Quotation to their customers with all technical details,” says Mandeep.

Further, to aid its channel partners’ sales and marketing efforts, Emerson has launched an extensive print advertising campaign to be executed worldwide in multiple IT trade publications targeting medium enterprises. “Emerson has done several activities such as advertising in leading trade media, events for all segments, road shows in smaller cities, product launches and direct marketing activities through our mailers and periodic marketing newsletters,” says Mandeep.

Emerson promises to continue its entire engagement programme and also focus on increasing and doing more business with Network Solution Partners (NSPs). “We will also introduce a whole new product basket for our channel partners such as cooling, monitoring, racks, surge suppression, etc.,” says Mandeep. “Emerson will also expand in upcountry market and have focussed VAR programmes to increase its reach deeper in the market. We have also come up with Data Centre policy for channel partners to work in several data centre projects,” adds Mandeep.

“We have also increased our partner strength and marketing expense by 30% and achieved tremendous response on personalised marketing. This includes online marketing, SMS-based marketing and schemes, road shows in B & C class cities, etc.,” says Mandeep.

New Products Optimized for the Medium Enterprise 
Emerson also has made available a new set of products that offer simplified functionality to specifically address the price/performance requirements of small and medium enterprises. The ITON range and the MT range launched by the company expand Emerson’s range of products from which channel partners can create cost-effective solutions for SMB customers.

Emerson Network Power (India) has seen CAGR of 30%. Today, the company has established itself as market leader in the Power Protection solutions and Precision Air Condition segment. Emerson Network Power India manufactures and markets Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems, Climate and Environmental systems, DC power systems, Automatic Transfer Switches (ATS), Racks, Monitoring Solutions and Enclosures for IT Server protection and power distribution units ––all supported by world-class professional services, catering to major industries such as the IT/ITeS, telecom, banking & finance, process control, biotech, healthcare, retail, infrastructure and government sectors “We have UPS solution of all kinds, i.e. up to 4,800 kVA, precision cooling, surge suppression, DC Power, Racks, Monitoring, Outdoor Shelters, Power Distribution Units, & Embedded Power Solution,” says Mandeep.

Leveraging the India Advantage 
Headquartered in Thane (MH), Emerson Network Power India has an extensive network of offices across India with more than 1,300 sales and service personnel deployed for prompt and quality service. Emerson’s reach in the market is further augmented by the presence of more than 1,100 resellers across India. The Emerson Design Engineering Centre at Pune (Maharashtra) is engaged in product development and engineering solutions for various Emerson divisions worldwide.

The centre, among others, is involved in global engineering and development related to motors, compressors, process control equipment and embedded software for appliances. Emerson Network Power (India) Pvt. Ltd. has provided solutions to customers all across India.

An ISO 9001& ISO 14001 certified company, Emerson Network Power India crossed a major quality milestone when it was accorded Level II recognition by the MAIT (Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology) in 1998. This is the highest-ever recognition accorded by MAIT in India to a company and the first in the manufacturing sector. In 1999, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) recognized the company for its strong commitment to Quality through a Certificate under the’CII–Exim Business Excellence Award.

Corporate social responsibility has become something of a buzzword, something that global companies can no longer afford to ignore. It is a proven fact that CSR programmes and any other activity, through which companies give back to the community, have a long-lasting positive impact on millions of people throughout the world, providing opportunities and transforming lives. It is, however, equally true and important to spell out that companies who run, or contribute towards, such programmes know that it makes good business sense to do so both for PR purposes and to open up new markets and create new potential customers.

The reason CSR makes good business sense, the reason it contributes to the bottom line, is because consumers care. Companies with a good CSR record are rewarded by customer loyalty: consumers are happy, the company performs well, and communities across the world benefit from CSR programmes.

Emerson has taken initiatives in this direction. “As an ethical company and Fortune’s most-trusted company, we carry the same legacy in India by doing various activities. We have corporate funds for charity activity and we are involved with few NGOs to help the society in a better way. We also conduct periodic blood donation camps at all our location through our employees. We have also committed to the environment and we keep doing various activities to reduce power and fuel consumption. Recently, Emerson conducted No-Car day in the southern region which was quite well received,” says Mandeep.

What sets Emerson apart from its competitors are the company’s products, channel policy and go-to-market strategy. “We are focussing not only on UPS and unlike our competitors, we are engaging them for several other products and also empowering them to sell high technology products and project management,” says Mandeep. “Our channel policy and go-to-market strategy is very unique in the industry. We have people who ensure there should not be any conflict of interest or any account management issues. “Also, when we appoint partners, we have long-term plans for them and we are the only company in this industry who have enjoyed loyalty of its partners for more than a decade and this has helped in the growth of their as well as our business, significantly,” adds Mandeep.

Future Plans India is a priority in Emerson’s scheme of things. The company is looking at India with a positive outlook and continues to invest in technology, processes and people. India will continue to be significant for the company, both as a growing market and as a quality source for human, material and engineering resources. The company will also get aggressive on increasing the market share in each key vertical. “We will focus on customer segment vertical wise and try to increase our market share in each key vertical. Also, we will continue the ease of doing business campaign through our channel partners and focus on data centre business,” says Mandeep.

Finally…
Emerson focusses on brand building, innovation, and sales execution as drivers for sustainable growth. Its commitment to brand building includes significant investment in consumer-oriented promotions, through advertising in leading trade media and market research. Its strong research and development capabilities help it to launch new innovative products and increase its product category share.

Though Emerson faces competition across all its product lines from regional, national and global companies, the company’s global infrastructure helps it to use resources efficiently around the world.The initiatives taken by the company has resulted in Emerson being named as Asia’s “Power Quality Vendor of the Year” at Frost & Sullivan’s prestigious 2008 Asia-Pacific Industrial Technologies Awards, presented in Singapore recently. Frost & Sullivan’s award write-up describes Emerson’s win as contributed by its relentless efforts and outstanding performance in 2007.

“Our customers are witnessing unprecedented change in the way they do business and the demands placed on them by their markets. This dynamism forms their IT&C infrastructure needs. Awards such as this acknowledge how well we as an industry, meet and exceed those expectations,” said Ajeet Singh, President, Emerson Network Power. “The Emerson Network Power brand is synonymous with ultra reliable solutions, global capabilities and exceptional local support. In addition to this, the unique depth and scale of our R&D and manufacturing in Asia and Emerson stands alone as a genuine single source for IT and telecom optimized solutions that include Power Quality, Cooling, Enclosures, Monitoring and Service.” “This award reflects the level of trust placed in Emerson by our customers over many decades. It also reflects the high commitment made by my staff in honouring that trust, listening to the market and planning ahead to meet their needs in the future,” said Singh.

The company has differentiated itself with its unparalleled product portfolio, lifecycle management solutions, strategic acquisitions in Asia and Energy Logic Symposium Series. These cumulative factors make Emerson Network Power the deserving recipient of the 2008 Frost & Sullivan Award for Company of the Year Award in the Asia-Pacific Power Quality market. The Frost & Sullivan Award for Company of the Year is presented each year to the company that has demonstrated unparalleled excellence within its industry. The award is based on numerous factors including the company’s business development, competitive strategy, customer satisfaction, and leadership.