A strong footing in India is what Wynncom is looking at

Rakesh Malhotra,
Founder & Chairman'
Wynn Telecom Ltd.

Do tell us something about Wynn Telecom and the brand Wynncom? 
Wynn Telecom is a part of the SAR Group, which includes other companies like Luminous Power Technologies, Luminous Teleinfra and Luminous Engineering, and its handsets are marketed under the brand name of Wynncom. So, SAR Group can be said to be the parent entity. Initially starting with 7 dual-Sim handsets, Wynncom is looking at enhancing its portfolio by investing more on technology-driven phones. Our present handsets are priced between Rs.1,400 and Rs.5,000. We generally get our handsets manufactured in China, but are planning to set up a manufacturing unit in Himachal Pradesh by August 2011. Wynncom is the only handset brand in India to have possibly launched its 7 dual-Sim handsets pan-India in a single day. 

What could be the objective behind signing two Brand Ambassadors by Wynncom?

The consumer segment which we are trying to cater to is diverse. Our core target audience generally belongs to the tier III, IV and tier V towns. The young and the aspiring middle class is the segment that we are looking at in these markets. There are the people who have a better connect with Saif, while there are some who associate really well with Bipasha. Saif has that royalty factor intact and this aristocracy helps us in a big way to position our phones. Bipasha, on the other hand, comes with a lot of style and attitude and these attributes blend really well with our phones. We are trying to find out a way to manage both of them together in order to create a large-scale mass connect.

How do you wish to place yourself in a market already dominated by a number of handset players?

Any consumer business, whether it is a small corporate or a big player, happens to lose market share at some point of time or the other. Budding players like us generally ride on such opportunities and try to build a space for themselves. Moreover, rural India always wants to go for something which is Indian, while it is not so with the urban youth. So, we are part of this rural market to start with where eventually you will find the masses using our phones and our brand gets elevated to a different level. However, there also comes the question of differentiation when it comes to numerous players operating in the same space. From our perspective, we will differentiate our phones with a high content of VAS and services over time. Technology will be our core driver and we are taking an investment-led approach to our business 

What kind of market strategies are you looking at, besides signing the two Brand Ambassadors?

Since we have been in the field of marketing and distribution for 20 years, we know the market very well. We are building a distribution chain based on the relationship and credibility that Luminuous has created for itself on the distributor network. We have set up 300 service centres even before the launching of our first phone. We have around 400-plus distributors working for us all around the country. We have launched pan-India in one day and we have been able to do all this only because of the Luminuous effect. 

In the wake of the 3G auctions, is Wynncom coming out with any 3G handsets?

We are planning to bring out some 3G-compatible handsets in September, but as of now we do not have any such phones in our portfolio. 3G network will start rolling out only by October and so we would have these devices ready by then.

What kind of VAS services are your phones bundled with?