Easier to market computer chips in India

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), the computer chipmaker that nips at the heels of Intel, has a new plan for the Indian market, where it has been for 10 years. The “Future is Me” aims to connect with young technology enthusiasts. Will it work? Sunanda Poduwal spoke to David Kenyon, Corporate V-P, AMD, and Ravi Swaminathan, MD, AMD India.
How will the campaign help? Kenyon: India is one of the biggest markets. We have conducted such campaigns in other countries with significant success. Our India centres have been delivering world-class solutions. Now, we want to focus on building communities. And we are focusing on people under the age of 24 — that group forms roughly 54% of the population. Swaminathan: We have around a 1,000 engineers in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. In terms of growth in the PC and laptop markets, India ranks quite high. Now we need to focus creating a channel and connecting the customers. Hence, the ‘Future is Me’ campaign.
How different are various markets? Swaminathan: In mature markets, it’s all about the brand of the PC or Laptop. The processor is usually ignored. Indian market focuses a lot on the processor because many Indian consumers and technology enthusiasts believe that the processor is the heart of the computer. A big chunk of the Indian market practices DIY methods. So, marketing your product is necessary and easy.
Kenyon: Emerging markets have a larger youth base compared to developed economies. They are brand loyal yet experimental and the processor is an important concern. They care about the capabilities of the product and what their friends say.
AMD vs Intel. Kenyon: Intel is way bigger than us. But the benefit of being small is that you can pick your battles. That is why we are adopting different marketing strategies in different countries. For example, in China, the target is similar to India but the needs are different.
    We did a social media contest where participants were asked to create an avatar of an animal (animals are a big deal there). Sitting in the US we didn’t think it would work but we had 2 million impressions.
Swaminathan: Post the agreement between AMD and Intel (on marketing practices), a lot of products are coming into the market. So, the CPU market has changed significantly.
Is marketing technology tough? Kenyon: It is all about starting a dialogue. The most important thing is to establish a connect with the youth. That’s why the ‘Future is Me’ campaign. Once AMD becomes a recognised brand, people will start comparing it with other brands and experiment.