Canon's Fortunate 40

New Delhi:
Along with the launch of Canon Image Express in April 2010, Canon India has decided to introduce a program called 'Fortune 40' for its partners. As part of the program, the company will choose its top 40 partners for running the company's business in 20 cities of India (excluding the metros). Canon believes that the move will comprehensively benefit all its selected partners.

The criteria for shortlisting the top 40 partners in each of the 20 cities will be based on the existing partner performances in the last one year. “We needed a multi-layered distribution system and Fortune 40 will enable us to do that. We have around 3,000 empowered Canon partners and a 100 premium Canon partners countrywide. Out of these, we will pick around 800 to 1,000 partners based on the amount of business they have earned for us in the last one year,” said Alok Bharadwaj, Sr VP, Canon India. He also believes that the Fortune 40 program will be beneficial to partners in many ways and will not just be pertaining to profitability.

“We can't expand unless we expand our primary distributor base. We believe, with the growth of Canon, the growth and development of our channel partners is equally important for us. Fortune 40 concept is all about mutual benefits. We will organize seminars for our partners which will educate them about issues like how to retain customers, how to increase the profitability of their business etc. B-class cities like Pune, Indore, Ludhiana and Chandigarh will be on our radar, along with the unexplored markets of C and D-class cities,” said VP Sajeevan, Director-Consumer System Products, Canon India.

The product line that the selected partners are likely to sell for Canon will mainly comprise of printers, scanners and multi-functions. Meanwhile, many existing Canon Premium Partners believe this move by the Japan-based company cannot fail in the long run. “The efforts made by Canon in the last four years are very visible now. HP had a marketshare of 80 percent till few years ago, but now Canon is a leading player in the market, as far as laser printers and multi-functions are concerned. The motive behind introducing Fortune 40 is going to the smaller areas and increase the company's marketshare in the times to come,” said Ajaya Kumar, CEO, Park Group, who is also a Canon Premium Partner.

“The communication with Canon people would be faster now. For partners, the sense of belonging would be much more than earlier. I am sure that the Fortune 40 program would be a hit in all the chosen cities,” said Sunil Gugale, CEO, United Peripherals, and a Canon Premium Partner in Pune.

In addition to this, Canon will also introduce new models of its existing IT product line in the first week of April. For the year 2010, the company has also earmarked a budget of Rs 125 crore for marketing and advertising purposes.