"The goal is to become a relevant player in each country we are present"

Emmanuel Fromont

Sales and marketing VP/Packard Bell

Published  Friday, September 5, 2008

The spectacular Torres del Paine national park, in the far south of Chile, was the scene selected by Packard Bell to hold its Latin American Customer Event 2008, where the company gathered clients and distributors, particularly from Chile and Argentina, to show off the latest in technologies and products as well as its newest strategies.

To learn more about the French company's recent acquisition by Taiwanese computer manufacturer Acer, the new strategies and technologies, BNamericas spoke with Packard Bell's sales and marketing VP, Emmanuel Fromont.

BNamericas: How will the Acer acquisition impact Packard Bell's operations?

Fromont: We were very fortunate to be acquired by Acer. As the market continues its consolidation, we were looking to tie up with a leading player and I think Acer is a perfect match for us. So this will guarantee stability, the latest technology, R&D, competitiveness and stability in securing supplies - all those things that sometimes can be tough when you're not one of the leading players. So for Packard Bell I think it is a very important step to ensure the brand.

Acer will run a multi-brand strategy, so it will keep all the brands, namely Packard Bell and Gateway, and will target different niches of users. The idea is to have the different brands in different markets and try through design and communication to make sure that the brands target different end users.

BNamericas: There is also a geographical differentiation as Gateway is so strong in the US while you are strong in Europe...

Fromont: There is a geographic approach for sure and Packard Bell is going to be a very strong brand. We are actually launching the brand in Russia, the Ukraine and Saudi Arabia, so this [acquisition] has really been helping us a lot in pushing the brand in Europe and those markets.

We will continue to develop the brand here in Chile and in Argentina, with our NetNow partner in Chile. We've been working great for the past 14 years now and they are the ideal partner to address Argentina and other markets. I think we're going to strengthen that partnership and we will continue coming with more new products, lifestyle products.

BNamericas: Is that going to be Packard Bell's differentiation from the rest of the brands, lifestyle products?

Fromont: That will be the main value of the Packard Bell brand, lifestyle. This is the type of value we want to offer. That means we will attract people that are very sensitive to design and brand recognition; that is our main target.

BNamericas: How important is Latin America and Chile in particular for Packard Bell?

Fromont: It's very important, representing more than 5% of the total business. After the Western European countries, Chile is the number one country in terms of sales.

BNamericas: Does that include exports from Chile?

Fromont: No. Even Chile as a standalone is as strong as some European countries. Here [in Chile] our market share is high, the brand has been here for 15 years so there is a strong brand equity built in the market, the partnership has worked fine and we are going to leverage the brand in Argentina, that is going to be our focus in 2009.

BNamericas: What are the company's goals for the Argentine market?

Fromont: The goal is to go after market share and become a real player in Argentina, building the same brand equity as we have in Chile. We are going one [country] by one, so in 2009 the focus will be in Chile and Argentina, we have been a bit in Peru and in Colombia... our idea is to replicate the model in Chile and be a very strong brand in that market rather than spreading out too much [in other countries].

Our goal is to increase our market share here [in Argentina] and build strong brand equity, really positioning the brand where we want it to be positioned - something we have already achieved in Chile. We see lots of new products coming, we are pushing that lifestyle value and we want to replicate that in Argentina.

BNamericas: Several brands such as Dell and Sony are using the "build it yourself" strategy. What is Packard Bell doing in that area?

Fromont: We are playing with colors. We have different colors, white and black, white and green or white and chocolate. I think with the ability of NetNow and the retail partners in general we can let that choice be accessible to end users. We are going in the direction of satisfying the strong customer desire of having a personal notebook. That is a major trend we are seeing in the market.

The growth is fueled by two things: One is the accessibility of the technology to more people, so you can now reach first time users that could not afford technology before, and the second one is the notion that the notebook is not one per family but one per person. The kids want their own design; the mother and the father have different needs. With a multi-brand strategy, we can satisfy this need. Between two brands we should for sure have a PC for each person.

BNamericas: What about the trend of laptops surpassing sales of desktops?

Fromont: Solely in Chile, this market is becoming more and more like a Western Europe market where more laptops are sold compared to desktops. In the Packard Bell mix, almost 75% of our sales are notebooks in Chile. As a company, two thirds of our sales are notebooks.

BNamericas: What new technologies did you show at the customer event?

Fromont: We have a new line of notebooks and desktops, with Intel Centrino 2 [processors] and AMD technology. We are coming with a gaming notebook, in mid-September, a very high end, and super graphic product. And we're also going to launch a netbook [a special category of notebook that has reduced dimensions and is mainly used for basic functions]. We had one in Chile already for some time and we were successful with it, selling the amount we expected to sell. So I believe it is going to be a successful product.

As a company, we are surprised not to see more 17" notebooks in Chile, which is a very popular size in Europe.

BNamericas: But they are heavier...

Fromont: They are heavier but now the technology is evolving, and the extra weighing is not much and the comfort is very good in 17". This is a size that is becoming very popular in Europe.

BNamericas: What are your expectations for the Latin American market?

Fromont: For Chile we're expecting to continue growing our market share, and the same for Argentina. You will see us focusing more on strategic markets. As a part of the Acer group the brand needs to be a leading brand, there's no point in being a small player in the market, so you will see Acer picking up market for their brands.

The goal of the brand is to lead in every single market. Our position in Chile fits well, we are one of the dominant players and that is the strategy we will push in Argentina. The goal is to become a relevant player in each country we are present.

ABOUT THE COMPANY:Operating in Europe since 1991, Packard Bell is one of the biggest home PC brands in the region. Packard Bell's range of products includes desktops, notebooks, digital entertainment solutions such as MP3 players, home networking, GPS and storage devices.