Mr Gopal Jeyaraj-Head India and SAARC Anker Innovations
In an exclusive interview with Mobility India, Mr. Jeyaraj share key features of Brand Anker and its portfolio
Overall, I have been engaged with the field of mobiles and peripherals for the past 13 years, and have taken different roles and responsibilities. With Anker, my association started in the Year 2016, wherein I undertook the responsibility of India and Central Asian Markets. The journey with the brand has been very exciting. Truly, am delighted to be part of its operations, committed to delivering robust smart solutions via our varied product line. The experience has been quite insightful and has widen my horizons, across Global landscape. Anker is all about delivering smart tech based solutions to make human mobility a constant affair, and each of its offering transcends the same philosophy. Unlike the brands entering India which have been entangled in the price war, Anker has established its niche with Quality and superior technology.
How it all started?
In the initial period, my association with Anker was only around Distribution of their products. However around 2017 the association extended to managing the Indian subcontinent. With the support of our partners and distribution channels, we pervaded the Indian market with our niche 5 brands. These spanned from Anker (smart charging products), Soundcore (smart audio products), Nebula (smart portable projectors), Eufy (smart home appliances and security products) and Roav (smart car products). With Anker Innovations, we are all set to disrupt the Indian Markets.
Mobile accessories market do have a huge opportunity but more and more brands are coming and playing in this category, How Anker has placed itself and what are the key features of Brand Anker and its portfolio?
Everybody has a smartphone today and to harness its smart features, the need for mobile peripherals will always be on a continuous rise. Indian market is witnessing a huge boom and the scope of opportunities has extended to be limitless. There is a plethora of other brands sweeping this segment with their set of solutions and expertise. However, Anker prides on its durability, quality and premium built.
We are not intimidated by our competitors; we are confident about our technological prowess cultivated through our proficient research and development. Moreover, our technologies are distinct as they are developed by our own team, giving us the technical edge over others. Our confidence in the brand can also be assessed via our 18 months’ replacement warranty that we offer with all our audio and charging products. Our positioning in the market has been premium however at price points, which justifies the BUY.
What will be Anker’s go to market strategy on offline and online basis?
Anker is a very channel friendly brand. We trust in having balanced approach between the Online and Offline Markets. Our motto is to build the right pricing for our products, making it affordable but not negotiated on the Technology. Parallel, it is also imperative for us, to take care of the pricing margins of the retailers. With much cost of production involved in making these products, attention to ROI will be our area of focus to work upon. While engaging with both the channels, we are conscious of maintaining price hygiene as well as making sure there is least online/offline conflict in the picture.
Tell us about Anker’s product portfolio?
Ankers product portfolio is a manifestation of smart living with products catering to smart charging (ANKER ), smart audio products(SOUNDCORE), smart portable projectors(NEBULA), smart home appliances (EUFY) and smart car products(ROAV). We have launched all five brands among the respective channels with the aim to maximize its presence across the Indian landscape. These are all-encompassing smarter solutions engineered to make life worthy of living in style. We will ensure our products touches as many lives as possible in the India market.
What are your targets for 2019?
We are an aspiring team working diligently and ambitiously to get closer to our dream of taking over the peripheral market of mobiles in India. We want to establish ourselves as the sole smart solution provider in the Indian landscape primarily, and across the globe too in later stages of our involvement. We aim for becoming the most trusted and popular brand known in the industry for its exclusive smart life products. Dedicated to constantly keep maneuvering our technical innovations, we intend to keep coming up with smarter lifestyle machines with more upgraded and advanced features. In 2019, we essentially aim to create larger channels across India with as many as retail outlets available, aspiring for three times the growth from there on.