Marketing Strategy for getting Defence deals of India

The purchase of a high involvement product is fairly different from the purchase of a low involvement product. Marketing strategies talk about post purchase dissonance for individual customers but rarely about the dissonance when the customer is a Nation. Incidentally, no government would display any post purchase dissonance due to the fear of facing the nation’s wrath. So a big ticket deal by a developing country does not end up being the dream script of movie writers.

In India, defense deals become a topic of mass consumption only when there are stories of kickbacks associated with them. For the billion plus of Indian population, the wedding at a politician’s residence is a more popular read than a multi billion deal concerning the security of the nation. Many defense equipment manufacturers have been lobbying along with their respective governments to persuade Indian government to buy their products.

In a product as sophisticated as a defense equipment and a deal so complex, is it actually possible to influence the decision makers? Well, I cannot comment on other nations but it is possible in India. A media campaign can create enough fury and flurry of responses to ensure that a Jessica Lal murder case is reopened. A Tata Nano can make the nation feel proud and sell without advertisements. The catch lies in connecting with the ordinary citizens of the Indian Democracy-they react, comment,decide and deliver. Well, India does not take a referendum on defense issues, but once a topic connects emotionally to Indians and comes in media glare, it becomes very difficult for the decision makers to take a decision favoring some Company or nation. Surprising but true, appealing to the emotions of the Indian citizens is the key to strike the defense deals in India.

This brings us to one of the biggest defense deals in the world .The sale of Medium Multi Role Combat Aircraft(MMRCA) to India in a deal which can go up to US $ 10.5 billion. The decision makers in this MMRCA deal are the bureaucrats, Indian Air Force and finally the government of India. So is it possible to influence them by marketing? I believe if the Aircraft manufactures want a fair chance, they need to re think their strategies. India defies conventional wisdom when it comes to many a things.So who is the aircraft manufacturer that should be actually worried? The manufactures like Saab from Sweden who is pitched against the likes of Lockheed Martin, backed by the US government.

I will take the case od Saab Company to develop my strategy.The timing could have never been better for Saab. As the deal gets into the ‘Slog overs’ it is the ideal time to fire the final salvo. But guess what, the likes of Saab have to take the battle to the living rooms of India, something unheard of with defense deals. For an average Indian, a MMRCA is like a commodity, he wouldn’t know much about a twin engine or single engine aircraft. But if this uninterested Indian can be influenced, Saab will definitely have a fair chance in the game.

Let me discuss how Saab can plan its marketing and business strategy for clinching the MMRCA deal. Among all the competitors, Saab is a small fry which is facing financial difficulties. Among the six types of aircraft in consideration, only a deal with one of the two-Gripen and F-16 IN can leave India with a consumer surplus against the sanctioned budget of US $10.5 Billion. Amongst all countries in the race, Sweden is the least aggressive ones in selling its case. Indian government may be sensitized into diversifying its risk given that Boeing is now being awarded the contract of C-130 aircrafts. No other defense equipment excites Indians the way a fighter aircraft does. Fighter aircrafts stir emotions in the rich and masses alike in India. I recommend the following objectives of the marketing strategy for Saab-

a) The campaign should portray the legacy of European companies which produces the world’s most coveted automobiles even though they may not be the biggest automobile makers in the world. It should depict Saab as a class apart and how it produces legendary brands which have no correlation with its balance sheet size.

b) Saab should focus on the fact that it wants to offer its best to India and how a relationship with Saab is for a lifetime(Unlike that with US which is susceptible to future sanctions and arm twisting)

c) The campaigns should focus on Saab being portrayed as an underdog amongst the bigger names.

The stepwise plan to implement these objectives -

                                                 Displayed at a bus stop in Delhi

2. Online presence: A new website should be opened up, which should talk about the highlights of Saab’s offer for the deal without going into great deal of technicalities and financials. The website should talk about Saab’s strong lineage and how the present training of pilots in India prepares them for single engine aircrafts. Without mentioning it explicitly, the website should bring out that unlike deals with the US, which can be easily be manipulated by the US and can get into a limbo as a result of US sanctions, Saab offers a partnership for a lifetime. It should also draw attention to the fact that Saab has agreed to transfer of technology with India unlike other players. A contest can be launched, open to students in India. Winners of the contest will be given free ticket to come to Delhi and special passes for the Gripen exhibition.


3. Exhibition: Saab should arrange for a month long display of an actual Gripen aircraft in New Delhi in a prominent exhibition ground, starting 15 days before the actual trial and lasting for a total of one month. In case Saab does not get permission to land and display an actual aircraft, it should attempt to transport a real/full size model to India, even if it involves re assembly of an actual aircraft in India. An event management company should be hired. The Gripen should be made available for display to selected public which include all government officers, bureaucrats, media houses and Defense personnel. They should be given exclusive visitor rights during first 7 days and special slot of 2 hours for the following 3 weeks.

In the remaining 3 weeks, students of premier colleges and schools should be allowed to come for the exhibition after selection through a lucky draw. The journey of Saab and its facilities should be displayed by screening of movie/picture corridor. The visitors should be educated about the world class stature of Saab and Saab’s proposal for the deal. All visitors to the exhibition should be given free gifts like posters/key chains. Needless to say, the exhibition should be covered explicitly by tie up with media and most of the publicity should be generated through public relations and not advertisements. All the clippings of the exhibition should be displayed on Saab’s website and actively advertised on internet on facebook , You tube etc.

4. Public Relations: Ex defence officers of Indian Air Force should be hired to give opinion on the deal on major news channel. These programs are normally automatically aired on the News channel as the day of the deal allocation comes closer. National and regional magazines and Newspapers should be selected to ensure that Saab’s case is published in them.


5. Bollywood magic: Another way of achieving high degree of media publicity is to associate the leading Hindi movie actors of India with Saab’s Gripen. These actors have a cult like following in India. Any news reports which talk about both these association will generate lot of public relations automatically.

6. Competition: There is a strong possibility of the other Aircraft Companies to come up with similar marketing campaigns. Saab should plan the campaign discreetly so that it can have a free run of as many days as possible before other Companies come up with their campaigns. Saab should adequately plan for any negative advertisement campaigns which might come up. Equally important is to ensure that the planned marketing strategy till the exhibition should be successfully implemented lest the government of India comes up with a directive prohibiting advertisements by parties to the defense deals.

All this will entail an expenditure of US $ 25-50 million which can be justified. The Sweden government cannot match the political might of America in lobbying for Saab. The only way Saab can try to clinch this deal is to establish a rapport with the Indian public especially in New Delhi. The campaign will definitely affect the decision makers of the deal but more importantly, it will provide an equal chance to Gripen to get selected.

It is said that When in Rome do what Romans do.Customers be it individuals or Nations need to be influenced into buying a product.Be it for consumables or defence purchases,Branding and effective marketing can make the difference.

State machineries : How concerned are they for our security?

Health ministry

In the US, H1N1 Flu has taken alarming percentage. US is among the few countries for which travel advisory is given to passengers travelling abroad. India has got many deaths from H1N1 flu. THE MAJORITY OF THESE CASES HAVE COME UP BECAUSE OF PEOPLE WHO WERE AFFECTED WITH H1N1 FLU COMING FROM US.

The Indian health ministry says it does effective screening of passengers coming from abroad. To identify whether a person is suffering from H1N1 Flu, his blood sample needs to be taken and checked for which results are available after few days. It is not possible to do so for the large no of passengers coming from abroad. The only thing which the health ministry personnel do at the airport is wear masks and accept a passenger’s self declaration to identify a person who had/may have H1N1 flu. It is very likely the person himself will be unaware of these symptoms and even if he does know, he will hide it from the officials (This actually led to affected patients escaping from health officials and led to spreading of this disease in such major proportion in India).

If the health officials follow these steps, we have a more realistic chance of H1N1 not becoming a epidemic In India-

1. Conduct blood tests of all foreigners coming from abroad(No such test is taken when these foreigners travel from their native countries that is an affected person can easily pass from his/her country.

2. Do the same procedures for all Indians who have spent say greater than three month’s stay in any of the affected countries These people have a greater chance of being affected.

3. Have Infra red sensors installed which detect any abnormality in body temperature.If a passenger shows this symptoms get his blood test done despite what is written on his self – declaration form.

4. Create greater awareness at the airport to the passengers travelling to affected countries by means of posters, travel advisories being displayed prominently in Airport.

5. Last but not the least the health officials should understand the bigger picture in case the disease breaks as an epidemic and not treat this as mere routine.

CISF

At the airport CISF works very diligently. But there focus is on dangerous items being carried on board the aircraft. Little do they realize that any accident in the Airport premises will cause greater damage of life and material as compared to that in the aircraft. CISF does not do any checking of baggage when a person enters the airport. CISF allows any passenger to enter the airport only around 2 hours of departure of domestic flight or little earlier only if the airlines baggage counter inside the airport is open.

They presume that by allowing people to go inside the airport in this time frame will ensure that the passengers will pass their baggage at the X-ray machines immediately and the risk to the airport can be minimized.

They do not realize that any unscrupulous person can choose to go inside and not pass his baggage in the X-ray machine and leave the building leaving his bag behind. This eventuality can happen whether you leave a person 2 or 5 hours inside the airport. However due to this outlook of CISF many a times bonafide passengers who are in transit have to suffer as they are kept waiting for airline counters inside airport to open.

For solving any problem, its root needs to be identified. By just following superficial solutions we might just be putting it under the carpet for some time. The government machinery needs to back up their efforts with foresight and planned actions.

Indira Gandhi International Airport: State of Art or Misery

On my return from US, I landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport at New Delhi developed by GMR.I was pleasantly surprised to see clean lobbies with user friendly services like children’s play area, laptop stations, information centers etc. Indeed GMR group did spend some time and money in designing the airport.
However I felt that the Airport lacked the vision for future in certain areas and also lacked in some of its maintenance and coordination activities.

1. The airport did not have separate toilet earmarked and designed for the handicapped as is the basic norm in all worldwide airports.

2. The laptop stations plug points were non functional and worse the airport authorities were not even aware of it.

3. The conveyor belts did not display the luggage from which flight was moving on them.

4. The drinking water outlets were very few and there were hardly any overhead signboards indicating their location in the airport.

5. As a transit passenger when I moved to domestic terminal in night 12 o clock, I was denied entry into the airport by CISF. They had instructions from their boss(not the Airport manager) for not allowing passengers of a particular flight inside till the airline counter for check in inside the airport was not open .THE CISF could not risk passengers to hang in the airport without their baggage checked in.. On inquiring with the Airport manager I found that he has instructed all Airlines to man their counters for 24 hours. But since the airlines were not following laid down rules he will try to reinforce those orders. Owing to this 100 passengers , for almost 1.30 hours kept standing(little provision to sit} outside the Airport in the cold when we had valid tickets for travel. This is how a customer gets treated when he is even charged a USER DEVELOPMENT FEE!

6. The phone booths can be used with the help of a booth operator. There is no provision of inserting coins and calling up on your own independently of the operator. This is the state at all places where phone booths are there in airport.

7. The airport had no provision for metro/shuttles to reach till the Airport door.(This obviously requires collaboration from various departments) Imagine the plight of sportsmen and others who would land at the airport for common wealth games in 2010 and have to carry their kits to the buses parked in a distant parking spot. The best airports in the world have public transport like shuttles/metro dropping and picking customers from the airport door.

Since the Airport has a feedback mechanism(I used it too)I am hoping things will improve there..atleast those in their control.