Kaspersky’s growth is attributed to Its Channel

N. Jagannath Patnaik,
Director, Channel Sales, South Asia,
Kaspersky Lab

Everyone, from home computer users and small companies to large corporations and governments, has the right to be free from cybersecurity fears. Keeping this in mind, the security company Kaspersky Lab has been continuously working hard to offer efficient protection against all cyber-threats from malware, spams, hackers, DDoS attacks and different cyber-espionage tools, giving users the peace of mind to focus on their work, without worrying about data security.

Recently, N. Jagannath Patnaik, Director, Channel Sales, South Asia, Kaspersky Lab, spoke to VARINDIA about the company’s market position, its channel & retail strategy and road map ahead. Edited excerpts…

Name some of your security offerings and tell us what are the USPs of your security solutions?

Kaspersky Internet Security 2014, our flagship product for home users, delivers premium PC protection from all Internet threats, and it ensures the security of your identity and financial data while online banking and shopping. Kaspersky PURE Total Security is an integrated solution for optimized home network protection. Another popular solution from the company’s consumer product range is Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2014, which includes proven antivirus technologies that provide highly effective basic protection to millions of users across the globe.

Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac provides advanced protection against cyber-threats for Apple computers – without impacting on the performance. Kaspersky Internet Security for Android delivers premium protection for Android smartphones and tablets, combining everything you need to protect Android devices and the data stored on them from theft, loss, computer viruses and real-time Internet threats.

We will be soon launching Kaspersky Internet Security – Multi-Device. Kaspersky Internet Security, which combines Kaspersky Internet Security 2014, Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac and Kaspersky Internet Security for Android into one product with a single activation code.

Shed some light on your channel and retail strategy.  How many Channel partners do you have at present?

We are among the top two vendors in the consumer AV segment. We are a channel-centric company and our growth in India and worldwide can be mainly attributed to our channels.  In principle, we work closely with our channel partners. In the last three years, our channel base in India has grown beyond 3,000 resellers. We have a network of 33 Platinum Partners and 200+ Gold Partners in India.

We have launched aggressive schemes for the channel segments. One such offer which is  currently going on is “Buy and Fly” offer wherein on the completion of a certain set of pre-defined targets the channel partners get a chance to fly to their dream destinations like Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, etc. For the Silver Partners, we have “Bill More and Win More” initiative in which the partners were rewarded for their efforts in promoting Kaspersky Internet Security and Kaspersky Antivirus.

Over the previous 12 months, Kaspersky has spent aggressively on marketing, with Sachin Tendulkar as the brand ambassador. What has been the impact on the brand and overall sales?

There has been a positive impact on the sales as well as brand recall after associating with Sachin Tendulkar. The association has helped us in many ways, but the following two points are important:

• Emotional Attachment: In the current scenario, it is essential to connect emotionally with customers of all demographics and psychographics. With “Sachin Tendulkar and Safeguarding Me” campaign, we have been able to achieve this easily.

• Brand Positioning: Sachin has been in the top position in Cricket rating (Batsmen) for a long time. Same is the case with Kaspersky Lab. So, lour association with Sachin has helped us in positioning ourselves as leaders and one of the top brands in the Indian AV market. 

What can we expect you to roll out in the next few months?

As mentioned earlier, we will be launching Kaspersky Internet Security Multi-Device very soon. Kaspersky Internet Security Multi-Device is an easy, one-licence security solution to protect your PCs, Macs and Android smartphones and tablets.

Besides this, we will also be rolling out the 3-year pack of Kaspersky Internet Security and Kaspersky Antivirus in the market. 

satinder@varindia.com