India is the most competitive market and it is good for business: Jeremy Rowe

Dulux, the Decorative Paints brand from Akzo Nobel is betting high on India, with its key focus on innovation, digital, and market presence along with making good connections with consumers, retailer and painters. The company is looking at medium to long term potential of the Indian market. Also, to beat the heat of the completion posed by the players like Asian Paints and Nerolac, it is going to offer innovative products introduced in other western markets. Thus, while revealing about company’s Indian strategies, Jeremy Rowe, MD, Decorative Paints, South East, South Asia and Middle East, Akzo Nobel spoke to Indianretailer.com on the sidelines of its Life in a new light event happened recently in Mumbai.

What are your strategies for the Indian and Asian market?
Asia is a very important part for Akoz Nobel’s global business and also for our Decorative Paints business. We are fortunate to be present in almost every country in Asia and Middle-East. Asia is already a significant part of our business and in that India is very important as well. It is the third biggest market in the world after US and China. Going forward it could be the biggest one for us. We have a strategy to grow our business which is mainly through innovation in colors for consumers and professionals.

What are your retail strategies for the Indian market?
I think every country has its different nuances and challenges and key thing for any company like us is that we have global presence along with local presence while making very good connection with consumers, retailer and painters in the local environment so is been the way we approach the market. Paint is the pretty local business like people shops for fashion in the local shops.

While Asian Paints and Nerolac is marketing aggressively, how do you see the competition ahead?
India is the most competitive market and it is good for the business. The market forces are always up in a way to find new ways to do things. Dulux Visualises the global innovation, it only visualises works in video in real time and we can end up offering it to the consumers in India. So, we can do thing differently than other companies.

For Dulux, how has Indian market grown in the last five years?
In the last few years we have seen very good growth rates in the paint market in India and we think future is even more exciting with great prospective. We look at the medium to long term potential of this market. It has got all the right factors for being a really strong paint market in the future.

What are the key initiatives that the company will be taking to become a market leader?
We are focusing on innovation, digital, market presence and as the things come to provision, we will tell you about it because we keep innovation under the wraps.

Where do you see Dulux in India by 2020?
We will be at a great position. At this moment we don’t see our self at a particular target which we can bet upon.