The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Innovation is important for promoting brands, says Mallya

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 17, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Innovation is important for promoting brands, says Mallya

Staff Reporter

Come up with products that competitors cannot replicate, companies told

ABOUT BRANDS: Chairman of the United Breweries group Vijay Mallya (left) and Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry Kris Gopalakrishnan at the India Innovation Summit in Bangalore on Friday. — Photo: K. Gopinathan

Bangalore: To be innovative, be yourself. This was the suggestion given by Chairman of the United Breweries group Vijay Mallya to delegates at the two-day India Innovation Summit 2006 which started here on Friday.

He said that for the liquor industry, innovation was necessity. He had built Kingfisher beer into a brand for the youth and associated with a lifestyle after understanding the market, he added. About Kingfisher Airlines, Mr. Mallya said the key to popularising a brand was to offer an innovative product that the competition could not replicate. Kingfisher implemented this concept by going in for an inbuilt entertainment system for every seat in its aircraft, he added.

The aviation industry, he said, was set to grow at a rate of 20 per cent annually as people seemed to be more inclined to spend on air travel than ever before.

Chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry Kris Gopalakrishnan said companies generated ideas, but it was difficult to implement most of them. The aim of the summit was to provide a forum for budding innovators to interact with leading professionals from various industries, he added.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka