But it will take much more than a few tough rivals, nonplussed consumers and a late-mover disadvantage to dissuade Behl from the task at hand. Surbhi Chawla meets up with Ambani jr.’s key man...
The first thing that you notice when you meet Sanjay Behl, CEO, BIG TV is his height. At 6 feet plus, and fair as fair can be, his personality dwarfs the room that we sit in. Behl’s marketing charisma however has nothing remotely dwarfish about it. But we are not the first guys to discover that. Anil Ambani discovered it (much to his advantage) almost five years ago when he plucked this marketing wizard out of Nokia and made him the branding centre point of his maiden consumer facing business – RCOM. Behl’s stature within Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) soared when RCOM surged ahead of its rivals in the mobile telephony segment, within striking distance of market leader Airtel. So when Arun Kumar Kapoor, the then CEO of ADAG’s Big TV (the DTH arm of ADAG) jumped ship, Ambani predictably zeroed in on Sanjay Behl to step in as CEO.
High on his success with RCOM, Behl was only too happy to tap into his experiences with the mobile telephony venture to make the DTH business a viable proposition for Ambani junior. Just two months into his new role and Behl is really making serious strategic inroads. “Our experience in enriching the mobile screens of over 80 million customers through popular, interactive and utility value-added-services makes us confident of creating similar excitement, never seen before on millions of TV screens in India,” he says, with barely unsuppressed enthusiasm.
But, Behl’s task is both easy and difficult at the same time. Easy because the DTH industry in India is still in a nascent stage with just 13 million subscribers (while there are more than 403 mobile subscribers) and with growth pegged at 18% q-o-q, there is immense space for Behl to make a play for potential consumers. But the difficulty comes from the persistent non-acceptance for DTH by the masses. A key reason for that is that consumers have not really realised the value proposition that DTH seeks to offer and so see no need for change. Big TV’s obvious late entry into the segment, where Dish TV and Tata Sky have already taken the lead, is another disadvantage.
Recite any number of difficulties and challenges ahead, but it is tough to dampen Behl’s gung-ho attitude. In fact, Behl is confident of changing perceptions about the generic nature of this industry (with pricing being the key differentiation between players till now) by creating BIG differentiations for BIG TV’s offerings. Says Behl, “Value proposition would always be the key differentiators in a customer centric entertainment market.”
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Management guru Arindam Chaudhuri’s latest blockbuster book, Discover The Diamond In You
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The first thing that you notice when you meet Sanjay Behl, CEO, BIG TV is his height. At 6 feet plus, and fair as fair can be, his personality dwarfs the room that we sit in. Behl’s marketing charisma however has nothing remotely dwarfish about it. But we are not the first guys to discover that. Anil Ambani discovered it (much to his advantage) almost five years ago when he plucked this marketing wizard out of Nokia and made him the branding centre point of his maiden consumer facing business – RCOM. Behl’s stature within Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) soared when RCOM surged ahead of its rivals in the mobile telephony segment, within striking distance of market leader Airtel. So when Arun Kumar Kapoor, the then CEO of ADAG’s Big TV (the DTH arm of ADAG) jumped ship, Ambani predictably zeroed in on Sanjay Behl to step in as CEO.
High on his success with RCOM, Behl was only too happy to tap into his experiences with the mobile telephony venture to make the DTH business a viable proposition for Ambani junior. Just two months into his new role and Behl is really making serious strategic inroads. “Our experience in enriching the mobile screens of over 80 million customers through popular, interactive and utility value-added-services makes us confident of creating similar excitement, never seen before on millions of TV screens in India,” he says, with barely unsuppressed enthusiasm.
But, Behl’s task is both easy and difficult at the same time. Easy because the DTH industry in India is still in a nascent stage with just 13 million subscribers (while there are more than 403 mobile subscribers) and with growth pegged at 18% q-o-q, there is immense space for Behl to make a play for potential consumers. But the difficulty comes from the persistent non-acceptance for DTH by the masses. A key reason for that is that consumers have not really realised the value proposition that DTH seeks to offer and so see no need for change. Big TV’s obvious late entry into the segment, where Dish TV and Tata Sky have already taken the lead, is another disadvantage.
Recite any number of difficulties and challenges ahead, but it is tough to dampen Behl’s gung-ho attitude. In fact, Behl is confident of changing perceptions about the generic nature of this industry (with pricing being the key differentiation between players till now) by creating BIG differentiations for BIG TV’s offerings. Says Behl, “Value proposition would always be the key differentiators in a customer centric entertainment market.”
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Management guru Arindam Chaudhuri’s latest blockbuster book, Discover The Diamond In You
IIPM fights meltdown, places 2300 students By Education Mail Bureau
Delhi/ NCR B- Schools get better By Swati Sharma
Events at IIPM
Detail of all IIPM branches
IIPM set to beat economic slowdown
IIPM - Admission Procedure
IIPM, GURGAON
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