The first edition of TVNews4u.com’s platform for ‘The Brand Stories’ kicked off with Prince Jewellery’s Princeson Jose, Premier & Co.’s Sivanesan, City Union Bank COO Venkata Subramanian, Vasanth & Co.’s Vasanthakumar and JayantilalChallani of Challani Jewellers.
Three enterprising brand owners from South India and the COO of City Union Bank were part of an interactive opening session moderated by RJ Balaji Venugopal, at the first edition of TVNews4u.com Straight Talk – The Brand Stories hosted in Chennai on 30 November 2018.
Among them was Sivanesan, Chairman, Premier & Co., a kitchenware major that owns the eponymous Premier brand, among others. When asked of the mantra for brand building, he noted, “Relentless focus on quality, and the motto: ‘We don’t want to cheat the consumer’.”
Customer focus was the overriding theme of the day-long seminar that featured Bharat Matrimony’s Murugavel Janakiraman, Cavin Kare’s CK Ranganathan and his son Manuranjith Ranganathan who has turned enteroreneur with CK’s Bakery in an interactive chat, panel discussions and more.
City Union Bank, born in 1904 as The Kumbakonam Bank, is unique because of its culture, explained Venkata Subramanian, COO, City Union Bank. He said, “The difference between other banks and City Union Bank is the culture. All the staff of the bank are shareholders, they have 7 to 8 percent stake. Every employee is motivated, and customer service becomes the differentiator.”
Prince Jewellery’s first ad campaign was in 1989, advertising ‘Titan Watches at Prince Jewellery’, because of regulatory constraints. “At the time, precious metals advertising was not allowed. We also later created colour ads, which made the brand stand out,” revealed Princeson Jose, MD.
“Every jeweller sells gold. We don’t sell gold, we sell the designs. That is what draws customers to us,” said Jayantlal J Challani, MD, Challani Jewellers, a jewellery store that has done business for over 50 years in Chennai.
A pioneer of retailing household appliances in Tamil Nadu, Vasanth & Co. founder and sitting Tamil Nadu MLA H Vasantha kumar, underlined the need for empathy and respect for every customer walking into the store.
He explained, “Not every customer is wealthy. We need to respect the small customer, who has saved money over 10 or 20 months to come and buy a TV (for instance). He has to believe that Vasantha kumar will give him a good product. And we must value his money more than that of the large customers. It is more gratifying to satisfy that small customer.”
