The extensive survey conducted by 360 Magazine, for its October 14th issue, to identify the top brands of the emerging market threw up some interesting insights into the buying trends in B & C city markets.
p____p The census, conducted over 100 cities, interviewed nearly 10,000 channel partners in small cities across the country.
p____p While the products sold might be one generation lower than those available in the metro market, the buyers here are an extremely conscious lot. The reason why they are probably still buying dial-up modems and not the broadband variety is because the broadband technology has still not reached them. Same goes with printers�inkjets, which are preferred to DMP printers. And the biggest surprise of all: branded PCs won over assembled computers.
p____p Value-for-money does influence the buying decision, but not at the cost of quality. Nearly all the 18 winners in the EMC Top Brand list are large national players. Brands to matter in up-country markets. Probably more than the metros, for it�s easier to get service support when you�re sitting at Nariman Point in Mumbai compared to when you�re located in an office tucked away in a by-lane in Vijaynagar near Ajmer or Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh.
p____p And for those companies that had the vision and determination to venture into the small city markets a few years back, it�s now time to reap the rewards. Nearly all our winners are companies that have a focused approach for products and partners in B & C city markets. These companies have proactively gone and developed hinterland markets at a time when the metros were still boasting of double-digit growth rates.
p____p And for this foresight, we say thank you by way of our EMC Top Brand listing.