The International Management Institute (IMI), Delhi in its endeavor to induce the thought process among its future managers by bringing them face to face with the names running the show in the industry today organized a talk by Perfetti Van Melle Managing Director Mr Stefano Pelle.

(Mr Pelle joined Perfetti India in 1998 and is slated to take over the reins as Vice-President Chief Operating Officer for South Asian and Russian units of Perfetti in September 2005.)

Mr Pelle gave the students an insight into the launch, development and sustenance of a product through innovative marketing.

The talk began with the advent of Perfetti’s flagship product Big Babool into the Indian market and its creating a niche for itself as a nationwide brand, slowly eating into the share of its low quality Indian competitors. He also discussed the strategies adopted by the company to penetrate the Indian market, such as introducing the Mono-pack instead of the usual Five-pack, besides giving advertising campaigns an Indian flavor in order to increase brand visibility. He also indicated the importance of India as a big market for Perfetti products holding exciting future prospects.

The talk gave the budding marketing whiz kids of IMI Delhi an insight into the functioning of a consumer oriented firm with flexible marketing strategies to cater to changing times. Mr Pelle also illustrated the effect of Perfetti’s competitors and the concept of add-ons like Tattoos which boosted sales of the bubblegum industry in a major way. He gave the students an insight into strategic business decisions of introducing new radical products like Spyro and Squeeze, which were meant for students. One of the top priorities on the minds of tomorrow’s marketing managers is the need to stay one step ahead of the competitor. In this regard, Stefano Pelle’s talk focussed on the need for constant and sustainable innovation in the competitive market environment. Perfetti has always prided itself for its policy of production development and diversification that guarantees continuous innovation, he said. Innovation today, he stressed, includes all the elements of the marketing mix – product innovation, packaging and promotions. It extends beyond the traditional lines into innovation in the distribution network, in advertising, and most of all in satisfying and often anticipating the diverse demands of the consumer.
Mr Pelle was very forthcoming and took great interest in the questions put forward by the students. Through an interactive and candid session, he helped map the road to building brands through successful innovation. Big Babool was studied as a representative case in enhancing brand value and market share through continuous efforts to innovate on various levels.

An MBA with his masters in Marketing from the Luiss University of Rome, Mr Pelle’s straightforward manner and appealing sense of humour helped make the talk one of the most successful ones this year.