One cardinal rule in marketing is that you must get distribution before you start advertising. Why tell people about a product that they cannot find. That is a double whammy. You’re throwing away ad dollars and getting people vex as well. Some of them never return, even when you eventually make the product available.
So clearly Venky’s sponsorship of the T&T miracle makers had everything to do with their business in India and also their export markets in Africa, Europe and Asia and nothing to do with the T&T and wider Caribbean markets where they are yet to hang out their shingle. The ROI on this transaction so far is in the triple digits. Venky’s could not have got it much better. In a country where a cricketer is revered like a God, Venky’s won the toss and decided to bat for T&T.
So maybe without planning it, Venky’s is paying it forward for its eventual entry into these parts. After large markets are saturated companies turn to emerging markets. If and when they do eventually get here we will be rolling out the red carpet to welcome them. Trinidadians and Tobagonians are at our core very decent people. We don’t forget easily kindness especially from strangers. You see you expect your friend to be your friend. When a stranger gets you out of a spot of trouble then you’ve got a friend for life. And a spot of trouble we were in with Darren Ganga being the catalyst off the field to help us find our saviour, to add to his onfield steady, mature and inspirational leadership. Darren Ganga’s stock could not be higher and he and his team will have to be sure they are free on August 31 2010. They have a date at President’s House on that date. Expect as well that the State’s cheque writer will be called into action, as was the case when we went to Germany.
Venky’s may not be available in our Supermarkets. However, they now have a place in our hearts, like Crix, Angostura, Carib, KFC, Kiss and Stag to name a few iconic brands in T&T Not bad for a brand that we heard of for the first time only 10 days ago. And once you get into the hearts of T&T, it’s ok not to have distribution for a while.
