‘The consumer is demanding higher quality products even in non-metros’: Hiroshi Takashina, MD, Nikon India

With a marketing budget of Rs 150 crore in 2013-‘14, Nikon India is targeting revenues of Rs 1,150 crore in the year. Hiroshi Takashina, managing director, Nikon India, explains the areas of investment: strengthening the distribution network and channel structure; ads across TV, digital, radio, OOH and print; bolstering its service support network; Nikon school workshops; and Nikon professional services.

Nikon is one of the late entrants when it comes to the Indian market. Tell us about some challenges that you faced and how did you deal with them?

Nikon India was established in 2007, with the foundation built on two basic principles: (i) trustworthiness and (ii) creativity and passion to always deliver beyond expectations. We believe that we entered the India market at the right time and with our focused efforts the company has gained a significant market share. The company’s growth in India has been very healthy and it has already established proper service and sales channels with five Nikon-owned service centres, 25 authorised service centres, 57 Nikon collection centres and an over-3000 dealer base for complete service and support of Nikon customers.

Tell us about the Indian camera market – how is the consumer evolving? And how is Nikon addressing the Indian consumer?

India is clearly the most prospective market for Nikon. The adoption rate of digital cameras in India is rising steadily due to rapid growth of consumerism and is anticipated to witness a dynamic growth in the near future. We are constantly upgrading the technology to meet the growing demand of consumers for products with advanced features. We have brought in many technologies which were world firsts - like Nikon D90, which is equipped with D-Movie function for recording movies with a digital SLR camera.

Looking at the diversity of our country, and to meet the requirements of the growing customer base, we have introduced regional language menu option. Most of the new models of our Coolpix range have a menu of five regional languages: Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil and Telugu. We are the only manufacturer who has incorporated five regional languages in our camera menu, which clearly showcases our commitment to Indian market.

With a view to promoting photography as a culture in India, Nikon started the Nikon School in India in September 2010.Through the Nikon School, the company has offered specialised services and expert guidance to both amateurs as well as photography enthusiasts by providing tips, expert guidance and insights on photography. An online portal www.Nikonschool.in has been recently launched for all photo enthusiasts to indulge in an exceptional photography experience. Additionally, Nikon has recently launched a new image sharing and storage service, ‘Nikon Image Space’.

With such intense competition in the market, what is Nikon doing to not go missing in the clutter?

It’s good to have a vigorous competition as it helps us strategising products at competitive pricing, expansions, product development etc. In today’s time, we are witnessing a growth of greater and high performance cameras in the Indian market and our newest offering is designed specifically to meet the growing demand for best in class DSLRs.

Talking in terms of revenue, what is the overall contribution of Indian market towards Nikon’s global revenue?

Indian market is expected to contribute to 5 per cent  of Nikon’s global revenue by March 2016. For the fiscal 2012-‘13, India contributed close to 2 per cent to the global sales turnover. Additionally, Nikon India has crossed Rs 1,000 crore milestone in sales turnover for the first time. The company hopes to increase revenue to around Rs 1,150 crore during 2013-‘14 on the back of the new product range. Nikon India has seen a fruitful growth in past, and we are hopeful to maintain a steady growth going forward as well.

What is the overall advertising spend for Nikon? How has it changed over the years?

Nikon India has been investing in the Indian market for advertising and promotion progressively. Our marketing budget in India, for the year 2013-‘14 is around Rs 150 crore. And we hope to reach out more customers with our brand ambassador Priyanka Chopra.

Are there any expansions planned? If yes, which are the new markets that you are targeting?

While Tier 1 markets have been the primary growth drivers for Nikon too, in the last couple of years we have seen a huge spike in demand from the Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets for both the D-SLR, Nikon 1 as well as compact cameras. The consumer has evolved and is demanding higher quality products even in the non-metro cities. The reason for such trend change has been the quest for a better photography experience because of high consumer knowledge, due to access and exposure to various information sources.