As a group of wide-eyed colleagues pass by during his photo-shoot, Ajay Mohan can’t help but joke: “See how difficult my job is.”
The vice-president of marketing for Hewlett-Packard’s personal systems group (HP PSG), Asia-Pacific and Japan, is, quite obviously, a busy man. When he isn’t striking poses for photo-shoots, the Indian national is visiting vendors, arranging product displays, travelling and doing some marketing - all at the same time.
The vice-president of marketing for Hewlett-Packard’s personal systems group (HP PSG), Asia-Pacific and Japan, is, quite obviously, a busy man. When he isn’t striking poses for photo-shoots, the Indian national is visiting vendors, arranging product displays, travelling and doing some marketing - all at the same time.
That may explain his penchant for addictive stimulants. “I love coffee,” he reveals on the way to the Spinelli’s joint inside HP’s regional headquarters in Singapore. The baristas know his order immediately. “On a good day, I will have half a dozen cups.”
Three months into his new position, he takes pride in being the kind of marketer who cannot resist passing a critical eye over every point of contact between his brand and consumers. That trait comes from years at the coal-face at HP. He started his career there in 1998 after a five-year stint in advertising at Hindustan Thompson Associates, where client servicing drew him to his current vocation. “I was influencing a lot of the creative work, but I wasn’t helping businesses make the right marketing decisions,” he recalls.
At HP’s India office, he served as channel marketing manager for PC and storage products. It was then that he started spotting holes in the way IT products are traditionally marketed, and thought of ways to fill them. “I helped set up call centres. When we advertise, the customer should be able to call us immediately, then be directed to a retailer where he can find our products.”
But it was not until he left India that Mohan developed a knack for achieving growth in more developed markets. He took on a regional business development role in Singapore, where he helped launch a programme called ‘Dial-a-cartridge’. That saw HP put stickers onto its printers bearing a number to call so that consumers could order print cartridges when they ran out of ink.
He consolidated that with a move to Germany, where he was given a brief to bring best practices from Asia in a discipline the region is not famed for outside Korea and Japan: how to sell products online. As director of business development, then director of sales and market management, he drove sales of US$1.7 billion for HP’s imaging and printing supplies.
Now back in Asia with HP PSG, Mohan seems bemused by a question about his challenges and the competition. “You’re asking me to look backwards. I only see opportunities. Challenges are what I give other people.”
Even impending economic gloom does not really worry Mohan. HP has already taken pragmatic measures, he says - though he insists this won’t mean his marketing budget will suffer. He prefers to speak about making his customers’ experiences special. “Our design centres are located in Asia for Asia. We don’t design our wares in Palo Alto. Our old tag line ‘HP invent’ is something we have continued to do.”
This shows in his approach to marketing. “For young people, we’re running programmes to help them relate to our products. Youths don’t use our products to make Excel spreadsheets. They use them to create music and films.”
And games, too. HP’s collaboration with Electronic Arts for the hugely popular Spore game is one way in which Mohan tries to stay connected with his younger target audience. A region-wide contest will see HP technology used by contestants to create their own creature for the Spore game. It’s a reflection of Mohan’s belief in creating communities. Earlier this year, HP launched its global youth campaign ‘My computer, my stage’ in China, inviting artists to showcase their computing skills in a talent contest. The initiative drew more than three million impressions and 36,000 entries. “We brought all media together, culminating in a live talent contest,” says Mohan, adding that HP’s awareness went up 27 per cent.
That approach also goes for the “symbiosis” of agency relationships. “They are not outsiders. Nor are they vendors. They are part of an orchestra. If the agency side or my side is not playing in time, I know which side is not delivering.”
With HP’s Asia-Pacific revenues up by 16 per cent in the second quarter of 2008, Mohan’s team is singing from the same songsheet.
Ajay Mohan’s CV
2008 Vice-president, marketing, HP personal systems group, Asia-Pacific and Japan
2007 Director, consumer sales and market management, HP imaging and printing supplies, Europe, Middle East, Africa
2005 Director, business development, HP imaging and printing supplies, Europe, Middle East, Africa
2002 Manager, business development, HP imaging and printing supplies, Singapore
1998 Channels marketing manager, HP, India
