Gentlemen, he has the technology

When Rajeev Karwal was brought in as managing director of Electrolux Kelvinator, he began by doing what he knew best -- aggressive brand marketing. "We have repositioned the brand and hope to consolidate this year," he says. "You shall see the company's turnaround complete by the end of next year." Two years ago, when Electrolux AB brought in Karwal to clean up the mess in its Indian operations, few were surprised. His stints at LG and Philips made him the obvious choice. He was undoubtedly the most sought-after marketer of consumer durables in India, with numerous marketing awards to his name. Karwal established virtually unknown Korean brand LG in India; today, LG is the market leader in most of the product categories in which it operates and is successfully capitalising on the legacy he established. Karwal, who was marketing LG products in Spain, had full faith in the brand's technology and, when he took over its marketing for India in 1998, he sought to build the same trust among Indian consumers. "At that time, the challenge was to expose the country to LG products," he recalls. "So we ramped up rapidly, leaving little time for the local rivals to react." Karwal used the common platform of 'health' to build the LG brand across categories. Thus, LG's television sets were easy on the eyes, microwave ovens were used for healthy cooking, refrigerators offered fresh and healthy food and its air-conditioners offered bacteria-free cooling. This positioning went down well with Indian mothers and housewives, whose biggest concern is the well-being of their families. At the same time, Karwal ensured that LG's distribution quickly followed the brand's message. "We built a military-like sales and marketing machinery and ensured that the two functions were integrated into one," says Karwal. He convinced Seoul to be liberal with contemporary technology for the feature-starved Indian consumers, backed up with high media spend to heighten the brand salience in the minds of consumers. All that worked wonders for LG -- and for Karwal. When he left LG for a more challenging assignment as the head of Philips' consumer electronics division in 2000, he left a vibrant brand, making life easier for his successor. At Philips, Karwal's diagnosis was poor distribution network and a fuddy-duddy image for a brand which was shocked by the onslaught of the new global players. In the two years he spent there, this 41-year-old marketing whiz turned the division around from US$8 million losses to $19 million in net income. "We didn't add much to the topline, but the bottomline needed urgent attention and that's what we did," he says. From four per cent share in the hi-fi audio segment in 1999, Philips galloped to over 50 per cent share by the end of 2001. Television sets, which were bleeding the division, saw share rise from four to seven per cent during the same period. More importantly, when Karwal decided to move on, he ensured that inventories were well within control and the Philips brand health in audio was robust. His first year at Electrolux Kelvinator, says Karwal, was challenging as he was forced to take harsh measures -- shutting down units, hiving off brands that were not adding value to the company and rightsizing staff strength, but he believes that will ensure a better future for the Swedish major in India. "We are having to make some mid-course corrections in our strategy but, by and large, we are on course," he says.