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Sri Lanka’s EZY Racing to become Rs. 100 mln venture by 2015
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/111009/BusinessTimes/bt35.html
Sri Lanka’s EZY Racing to become Rs. 100 mln venture by 2015
By Jagdish Hathiramani
A Sri Lankan computer manufacturer which entered into local racing in 2009 solely as a sponsor to promote its computers recently revealed plans to become the top domestic team by 2015 and grow its racing subsidiary into at least a Rs. 100 million a year venture by that date.
Speaking at the announcement of a five-year, Rs. 40 million partnership with Singaporean clothing brand Crocodile, represented in Sri Lanka by shirt maker Emerald, EZY Racing Team Principal Shafraz Hamzadeen recounted how EZY Racing’s parent, EZY Holdings, initially entered competitive domestic racing and that, even before EZY’s computers were launched locally, EZY computers staff were fielding close to two calls a day from the racing fraternity and related people. He also noted this had translated into big business as the racing enthusiasts were generally affluent and this had led to even more potential customers downstream.
Mr. Hamzadeen also revealed that EZY Racing was set up in March 2010 with a lot of investment in the essential infrastructure necessary for creating a sustainable racing team, including drivers, fitness, structure, etc. Currently, EZY Racing has five drivers and two special guest drivers, and a team of 50 dedicated professionals. It also emerged that it costs Rs. 12 million a year to run the team, with 60% to 70% of required resources coming from partnerships. However, Mr. Hamzadeen noted that this was not inclusive of costs such as repairs, tuning, etc. for which EZY Racing has partners performing these services free of charge. Also indicated, in 2011, EZY Racing was at the winners’ podium in every race it had participated in. And, from 2014 onwards, the team will start to aggressively compete in international racing circuits such as India, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Further, Mr. Hamzadeen also noted that, currently, EZY Racing owned 40% of its cars with their ultimate goal being to fully own all the vehicles. He also noted that the team expected to enter motorbikes in 2012 as well as adding three additional drivers and take their vehicle numbers up to 10. He also revealed that eventually he planned to add replacement vehicles. Additionally noting that his Rs. 100 million venture estimates for 2015 was “pessimistic,” he added that the ideal was to actually gather Rs. 130 million to Rs. 140 million a year after 2015 with 70% coming from partners and 30% anticipated to come from a suspension manufacturing company EZY Racing hopes to tie up with. He also signalled that, in 2015, Rs. 60 million would become continuous investment into vehicles and the balance would be profit which could be used to grow, pay back investors, etc., especially since there were ideas currently being considered to raise equity for near term growth requirements.
Mr. Hamzadeen also noted that this venture was already proving to be sustainable as, in 2011, Rs. 30 million was raised from partnerships and this had already over-achieved the team’s expenses. He further identified 2014 as being the next stage for significant team growth.
Speaking about EZY Racing’s recently minted partnership with Singapore’s Crocodile clothes, he revealed that, initially, some of the Rs. 40 million would be used to create clothes for drivers and merchandising to ‘glamourise’ the sport locally and create more mass appeal. He also noted that, at a later stage, this money would also be used for investments in the team.
Identifying some of the efforts taken to popularise motor racing in Sri Lanka, Mr. Hamzadeen highlighted EZY Racing’s recent motorbike stunt show at the recent, 2011 Colombo Motor Show. He also noted that his team was the only racing team at the show and thus had access to 70,000 visitors, many of whom visited EZY Racing’s 14 stalls. He also announced that a pilot programme of the team, Pit Pass, which is set to only fully roll out in January 2012, had also signed up 10,000 members at the Motor Show. These Pit Pass members would soon be able to access a range of benefits including discounts at Crocodile stores and other partners. He also added that the team also had 10,000 Facebook fans.
Mr. Hamzadeen further suggested that these integrated marketing plans added greater value for partners as well as helping popularise the sport, while also indicating that Crocodile would be issuing six limited EZY Racing team shirts for purchase by fans in conjunction with six races which would occur this year, including Foxhill and the Colombo Night Race (slated for December 2011). A concept that was in line with an earlier initiative which had EZY computers launching a laptop called the ER3, in commemoration of the championship winning EZY Racing ER3 car.
Meanwhile, also present at the occasion, Ceylon Motor Sports Club (CMSC) President Niroshan Pereira revealed that it costs an individual car anywhere between Rs. 400,000 a year, for a Mini, to Rs. 10 million a year to compete in Sri Lanka’s more than 26 races as there are races virtually every week. He also noted that trends were proving to be in favour of more corporate style racing teams as opposed to individuals who could not hold down sponsors. He also suggested that, while Sri Lanka would never be able to field a Formula One team, the country could, in 15 or more years, field a driver. However, he did note that local teams were very close to getting to the next stage of competing in the Asia Pacific tracks.
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‘Father of Marketing’ Kotler says Sri Lanka ready to take off
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/110612/BusinessTimes/bt10.html
‘Father of Marketing’ Kotler says Sri Lanka ready to take off
By Jagdish Hathiramani
Sri Lanka saw a visit last week from the academic who jointly wrote the seminal textbook for marketing courses worldwide, Prof. Philip Kotler. A globally recognised celebrity bestowed with the honorific “Father of Marketing” due to his over half a century in and numerous contributions to the field, Prof. Kotler suggested that all signs pointed to Sri Lanka getting ready to take off, if not already having done so. However, he cautioned that the country should favour managed growth, with the need to protect its resources against depletion as well as having a long range plan.
Making these comments as part of his “Marketing 3.0” June 6 morning presentation, organised by the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing, which was filled to its 500-plus seating capacity even with tickets priced at Rs. 25,000 each; Prof. Kotler also suggested that Sri Lanka should strive to be world class, recommending the island follow Singapore’s example, that regional power had focused on people as its main resource and made itself into a globally recognised services hub.
As such, Prof. Kotler indicated Sri Lanka should aim for the creation of a hub in education, and even attempt to attract foreign students; be a hub for healthcare, especially medical tourism where low cost, high quality products in developing countries such as this one were a major draw for people from more developed countries; as well as also becoming a dynamic financial centre. He also briefly touched on energy and aviation, indicating that there were opportunities in spearheading these areas in line with existing government proposals.
Insinuating a shift in favour of appointing Chief Marketing Officers (previously the Vice President of Marketing job title) and thus bringing marketing into strategy creation in companies, he elaborated that marketing should not just be a service centre but should also drive strategy. In line with this, he also professed a need for marketing certification, admitting that the American Marketing Association was just now recognising the need for certification, while there was already a Chartered Institute of Marketing qualification in the UK.
He also noted that, even today, many companies think marketing only means communication and ignored the need for a person like Steve Jobs whose sole focus is imagining and creating what’s next. Prof. Kotler also revealed that his new book would be called “Winning at Innovation,” in which he would outline the ‘A to F model of marketing’ that encompasses an Activator, who creates ideas; a Browser, or researcher, who checks the feasibility of an idea and what can be done with it; a Creator, who fine tunes the ideas and imagines different skills and concepts associated with the idea; a Developer, an engineer, who puts the physical product together; and an Executor and a Financial function.
Continuing he took a lighthearted swipe at the finance function in a company saying that it neither created nor added to the value chain. However, he strongly recommended every marketer become adept in finance, saying this was an area that was often neglected to their own detriment since a business head was needed for every marketing initiative.
He also expressed the need to foster what he termed “selfish” measures which included poverty alleviation and inclusion initiatives because the current middle class was no longer buying enough to sustain growth by companies and so those who were currently poor had to, eventually, be lifted into middle class status and become the next generation of consumers.
Prof. Kotler’s “Marketing 3.0” presentation also featured several other lessons relevant to today’s marketer, including globalisation being an unstoppable force but, not only a threat, also an opportunity.
Also, companies should be aware of “hubris” and grow carefully to “live” a long time. He also pointed to a 2009 survey which stated that only 16% of respondents respected the integrity of business executive, with car salesmen and advertising executives being the least admired of all. This was caused by scandals such as Enron, Tyco, World Com and Goldman Sachs as well as fraudsters such as Bernie Madoff, as well as CEOs being paid 350 times an average workers salary, anti-capitalist forces and recessions and other events that caused people to fall behind.
He also noted that marketing should never start with the premise of maximising shareholder profits but, instead, advocate the stakeholder theory where employees, consumers, communities and shareholders would all be required to benefit. Additionally, he also emphasised a need for both downstream and upstream marketing, saying a company should have two marketing departments: one to focus on today’s products and the other to conceptualise and realise tomorrow’s.
The presentation also highlighted the need to evolve to “Marketing 3.0” or values-driven marketing which takes into account new thinking that encompasses the triple bottom line of people, profit and planet, as well as bringing in new wave technology, a community focus and the spiritual dimension of consumers and their ideas of practicing compassion, sustainability and making a difference.
In addition, also expressed was a need for an innovation strategy overseen by a high level executive within the company, along with CEO’s participation, which ties in a portfolio of innovation-geared projects in conjunction with funds for training, incentives and rewards as well as a plan of action and deadlines, etc.
Further noted, the essential nature of customer research and especially going out into the field to observe customers, in-store shopping behaviour, etc. Also revealed, marketers have lessening influence in shaping brand image, mainly due to social media, and there is a need to own a word such as Mercedes, BMW, Disney, Nike, Wal Mart, etc., with great brands evolving into more than just names and becoming triggers for words or associations (features and benefits).
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Marketing guru Prof. Kotler moots growth preserving resources
Marketing guru Prof. Kotler moots growth preserving resources
Wednesday, 08 June 2011 07:57
Prof. Philip Kotler, the 80-plus year old “Father of Marketing”, ended a 4-day, whirlwind visit to the island on Tuesday which saw him meet the country’s President, make a presentation to public sector leaders, fly over local tourist “treasures” in a helicopter and make two sold-out presentations (over 500 plus seats each) on Monday morning and evening.
The sessions were for Sri Lanka’s marketers and Chief Executives, at Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 45,000, respectively, amidst a multitude of other activities including presentations by sponsors of his visit and organisations such as Sri Lanka Tourism.
While in Colombo, Prof. Kotler suggested that all signs pointed to Sri Lanka getting ready to take off, if it had not already done so. He also cautioned that the country should favour managed growth, with the need to protect resources against depletion as well as having a long range plan.
He also suggested that Sri Lanka should strive to be world class, recommending the island follow Singapore’s example, that regional power had focused on people as its main resource and leveraged this competency into its current status as a globally recognised services hub.
As such, Prof. Kotler indicated Sri Lanka should aim for the creation of a hub in education, and even attempt to attract foreign students; be a hub for healthcare, especially medical tourism where low cost, high quality products in developing countries such as this one were a major draw for people from more developed countries; as well as also becoming a dynamic financial centre. He also briefly touched on energy and aviation, indicating that there were opportunities in spearheading these areas in line with existing government proposals.
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Sri Lankans favour Indian Govt. over USA, China
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/110130/BusinessTimes/bt24.html
Recent analysis by international researcher Gallup suggests that Sri Lankans are more approving of the job performance of the ‘leadership’ (political leaders) of India over those of China or USA. This was indicated by 44% approval for India out of 1,000 face-to-face interviews conducted between April and August 2010 with respondents aged 15 years and over, whereas only 10% disapproved of the job performance of India. 46% of the Sri Lankans interviewed either refused to answer or said they did not know.
In comparison, the same sample of Sri Lankans indicated 34% approval of China’s performance, with 7% answering in the negative. However, the majority (59%) said they either did not know or refused to comment. At the same time, only 30% approved of USA’s performance with 17% disapproving. The balance being unwilling to comment.
Gallup has also surmised that, overall, its analysis shows USA’s leadership to be more popular in Asia than either China’s or India’s, demonstrable by more that half of countries surveyed indicating approval for it. This also closely follows previous findings, again by Gallup, encompassing 2008, 2009 and 2010 which point to approval gains for USA in Asia in 10 of 18 countries surveyed. Sri Lanka was one of those where approval had dropped to 30% in 2010, from 36% in 2008 and 2009. These older results were also the first to reveal that Pakistan and Afghanistan were the only countries surveyed where the majority expressed disapproval of USA’s politics.
Also emerging was that India’s establishment enjoyed a 57% job performance approval according to the 6,000 adults surveyed in India, a number which has a + or – 1.7% sampling error applicable to it. On the other hand, 33% of Indians accessed for their comments expressed disapproval, while the balance did not comment.
Indians polled were also shown to be the least approving of the job performance of the governments of both China (8%) and USA (18%). However, this sentiment was somewhat tempered by the fact that 72%, for USA, and 77%, for China, of those surveyed were unwilling to comment. Comparably, Sri Lankans fared little better with 54%, 59% and 46% not commenting on USA, China and India, respectively.
Referencing a Gallup survey conducted in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong to determine the approval for USA’s government in Asia; findings also showed Sri Lanka’s sentiments of India to be shared by both Afghanistan and Nepal. On the other hand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Pakistan were seen to favour China’s political leadership.
In fact, the Gallup’s results seemed to suggest that proximity to China and India correlated with the degree of approval for each country. An exception to this was the case of Pakistan, where approval for both India and USA was low.
Pakistan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Mongolia, Taiwan and the Philippines, in that order, had the highest approvals for the job performance of China’s leadership in terms of percentage while India, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, respectively, ranked the highest in their favouring India’s leadership. Meanwhile, USA’s leadership performance approval in order of rankings showed Singapore as the highest followed by Australia, the Philippines and New Zealand.
Overall, Gallup’s findings also indicated that fully one-third of Asians surveyed did not have an opinion about China’s leaders, while almost half did not wish to comment on India’s; all of which tends underscore Gallup’s contention that many Asians do not have opinions about China or India.
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Microimage HR suite to mark 10 years in January
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/101226/BusinessTimes/bt13.html
Sri Lankan web-based HR provider Microimage recently announced that it would be celebrating 10 years in the human capital management space by hosting a special event for customers, partners and industry personnel in January 2011. This event also commemorates the hallmark launch of its first 100% web-based HR software product in Sri Lanka, a departure from the company’s previous payroll-centric offerings at the time.
This product, Microimage HCM, has to date released four versions with its newest designated as HCM8. Further, this new version offers “ten modules including HR Profile Manager & Administrator, Organization Planning & Development, Recruitment, Performance Management, Learning Management, Time & Attendance, Payroll Administration, Multi Mode Employee Self Service and Business Intelligence.”
According to the company’s Chief Executive, Harsha Purasinghe, Microimage has “grown from a virtually unknown player in the local market to a leading HCM technology provider in the region.” It also emerged that HCM8 is deployed across “Sri Lanka, Maldives, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Saudi Arabia” for clients including “Dialog Axiata, Wataniya Telecom, Commercial Bank, DFCC Bank, HSBC, Eagle Insurance, Al Rajhi Takaful of KSA, Bank of Maldives, Cargills Ceylon Limited, CIC Group, Expo Lanka Group, Expo Freight India, Delmege Forsyth, BOI, Trelleborg, and the Robinsons Group Singapore.”
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Eagle Logistics turns five
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/101003/BusinessTimes/bt36.html
Sri Lankan freight forwarder Eagle Logistics recently announced that it was celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2010. The company was started in 2005 with three employees and has since grown to encompass 45 employees in offices in Colombo and Katunayake.
Indicating that it is an “import logistics provider involved with many corporate customers in Sri Lanka”, the company says it offers air and sea freight and customs brokerage services and its plans for the next two years are to expand into warehousing. The company also notes it is the local representative for BDP International.
According to Eagle Logistics Managing Director Asanga Weerackody, “our strength is staff and not just staff but young staff. 95% of our staff members are under 27 years of age and most of them started their career in this company 5 years ago and today they are managing the entire business…
I have seen many other developed countries such as Singapore, Malaysia who use their young blood for the front office operations and it is working very well and we try to adopt the same system at our office as well”.
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Warranties:Biggest problem for local PC buyers
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/100905/BusinessTimes/bt10.html
Warranties:Biggest problem for local PC buyers
By Jagdish Hathiramani
Warranties that apply to personal computers (PCs) are the biggest problem faced by Sri Lankan buyers today, according to Network Communications Chief Operating Officer Larry Adams, As such, he guaranteed the new Suzuki-branded netbooks and laptops launched by his company recently, and already available in stores, will be swapped out in two to three days time should a problem occur.
This will also apply over the entire duration of Suzuki’s one-year warranty period. He also said that this was in contrast to the actions of others taking as much as two weeks, or even a month, to fix problems which had emerged during the warranty period.
Launched in Sri Lanka with fully loaded (card reader, webcam, etc.) netbook and laptop models, which are also available in a number of colours; Suzuki-branded computers currently include the Intel Atom processor-based netbook range, at Rs. 37,000 upwards, as well as the Intel Core 3i processor laptop range, priced at Rs. 59,900 upwards. Both of which company representatives say are the most inexpensive branded products in their segment in the local market. Additionally, according to Mr. Adams, prices of PCs are expected to fall even further; as evidenced by the prices of desktops, which have already decreased.
Further, according to Andy Ng, the Sales Manager for Singapore-headquartered Suzuki Technologies; Sri Lanka was chosen as the company’s second foray (Nepal was the first) in South Asia because of its status as a gateway for expanding into neighbouring countries such as India. He also noted that the next step for the local market was the launch of a Suzuki concept store and after sales service centre in Colombo in three to four months.
Meanwhile, according to Network Communications’ Product Manager for Suzuki, Damitha Hagoda, Suzuki’s biggest threat in the local market would be the current dominance of Taiwanese manufactured Acer. This is in contrast to the overall Asian market where Suzuki’s stiffest competition is China-based Lenovo and USA’s Dell. However, he indicated that he is confident that the brand would achieve a 20% market share in its niche by the year’s end. He also revealed that 100 units had already sold within the last month. Additionally, according to Mr. Adams, Suzuki is also close to having its island-wide distribution up and running with 150+ dealers already having been appointed and now just needing to be trained on the product to be ready.
Further, Mr. Hagoda also indicated that target markets for Suzuki were currently school-going ages, this is due to only Intel Atom and Intel Core 3i processor portables being available currently. However, this group would soon expand to include business clientele as new shipments of Core 5i products start to arrive before long. He also noted that a key feature of the Suzuki range of portable computers was its high definition LED display which showed a greater range of colours, where black appears as black instead of dark gray. This is a problem with the more commonplace LCD displays available today.
He also revealed that Network Communications had attained its current status as a high market share holder in the computer and accessories market due to an ongoing relationship with the recently listed PC House, a company which distributes Network Communications’ own Ultrasonic branded computer range.
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