Chandrahas Panigrahi Category Manager, Consumer PC, HP India

HP promotes “Edutainment” for Children

HP Pavilion will bring the world-renowned kid’s show – the Noddy Show to India, live for the first time. The show titled “Noddy and the Treasure Map Adventure” will be performed live across key cities in India. To add flavour to Noddy’s visit to India, HP Pavilion, the presenting partner for the event, is launching special customized Noddy Pavilion desktops adorning Noddy skins. VARIndia speaks to Chandrahas Panigrahi, Category Manager, Consumer PC, HP India, to comprehend company’s plans for Noddy Desktops in India.away goodies worth Rs.1,800 with the Noddy desktops. The kit contains a water bottle, exam board, dart board, pencil box, school bag and a tiffin box; with Noddy prints all over the goodies.

How do you plan to promote the product in the market? 
A: Children are great influencers when it comes to shopping and usually influence their parents’ buying decisions because of their “Pester Power” and therefore to target this trait HP is planning a high decibel campaign focussed on children through media. For consumers walking into our stores or HP worlds, there is an active display of the product bundled with Noddy kits for children who want to buy Pavilion desktops.

How will you enable channel partner to sell this range? 
A: The Noddy desktops look so attractive that kids automatically get excited as soon as they see it. There is no need for any extra training for our channel partners as they already possess the relevant knowledge about the product. So now rather going to toy shops, children can walk into the HP World showrooms and choose their favourite Noddy desktops.

How many units do you plan to sell? 
A: We intend to sell at least 20% mix of our portfolio through Noddy Promotions.

What is the market share you are looking at for this series? 
A: So far, the response has been really positive towards the Noddy desktops. We are positive about the product’s success in the market. The desktops initially would be available in the four major cities Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata. Later, it would be available in other centres as well.

What are the verticals you are targeting for this range? 
A: As of now, we will be focussing on metros and later on we are looking at tier-II and tier-III cities in India. We are also looking at digital entertainment and lifestyle segments.

How will you provide the service support? 
A: We have grown on the back of our strength in the channel with the 360 service centres and 400 HP Experience Stores for our consumer range of products. We also have the strength of covering 700–750 cities directly or indirectly through our sales and service network.

What is your turnover now and what is the HP’s corporate image that it reflects to the customers? 
A: As the market leader in the Indian PC space, we have continuously worked towards positioning our HP Pavilion range to create relevant offerings appealing to the dynamic market. Therefore, in sync with providing the best-in-class edutainment for the family audience, we have unveiled these customized Noddy Pavilion desktops adorning Noddy skins to make computing fun for the entire family. HP being a market leader is the first one to introduce the concept of edutainment and you can expect many more innovative offerings from our side in the near future.

What kind of growth you want to observe in the next financial year? 
A: With PC penetration at 2%, India is a high growth opportunity market for us. The Indian domestic PC market shipped 1,000 PCs every hour in Q1 2008, as per the IDC Survey. We see a huge opportunity for PC growth in the Indian market rather than challenges. We look at connectivity as an enabler and not a hindrance. We need to look at how we penetrate the markets that we are not in and how we take advantage of the quest for connectivity that the Indian market represents. Indians epitomize aggressiveness and smartness. Giving Indians something of value that they can possess for a long period is a challenge and an opportunity at the same time for us. We focus on understanding the customer segments in India and how we will meet their needs.