Interview: Kaspersky and Tendulkar
By Bala Shah

Kaspersky Lab has been in the online security business for 14 years and has a client base of 200,000 companies. According to its 2010 financial results, Kaspersky’s global revenue grew by 38% compared to the previous year and exceeded US $500 million.  It employs 2,300 specialists to support 300 million plus clients.  In India, cricket god Sachin Tendulkar endorses Kaspersky.

To get a better idea of Sachin Tendulkar’s association with Kaspersky, we caught up with Director - Channel Sales, Kaspersky Lab (South Asia), Mr. Jagannath Patnaik

Techgoss (TG): How popular is your software in India?
Jagannath Patnaik: Over 300 million people worldwide are protected by Kaspersky Lab products and technologies. Kaspersky Lab’s corporate client-base exceeds 200,000 companies located around the globe, ranging from small and medium-sized businesses, all the way up to large governmental and commercial organizations.

In India, we are among the leaders in the consumer security space and growing fast in enterprise space.

TG: How did you'll think of the idea of going in partnership with one of India's greatest icons - cricketing as well as human being?
Jagannath Patnaik: Sachin Tendulkar personifies our core brand truths of Relentless Expertise, Always Ahead, Different, Optimised and Reassuring. We recognized the great synergy between our brand and Sachin Tendulkar, both being leaders and specialists in their own fields. Through this association, Kaspersky Lab aims to strengthen brand recall to meet the company’s ambitious growth plans. We believe that Kaspersky Lab will benefit from the tremendous credibility and influence of brand Sachin. We strongly believe that with Sachin as brand ambassador we intend to educate the users of using a licensed security software and reduce piracy in this segment.

Commenting on the relationship, Sachin Tendulkar himself, said, ''I am very happy to be associated with Kaspersky Lab - a leader in IT security. To be part of their major involvement in sponsorship of world-class sporting events such as motor sports, rugby, and now cricket, will indeed be wonderful. I myself have used Kaspersky products in the past to protect my personal computers and mobile devices, and am satisfied with the performance, security and speed. Just like in cricket, where you need quick reflexes, what I understand is that Kaspersky’s response time to threats is much quicker and faster than the others.”

TG: What is your ad strategy in India?
Jagannath Patnaik: We employ a clear mix of traditional and innovative methods to reach out to our prospective users. A healthy mix of above-the-line and below-the-line marketing strategies have helped us attain top-of-the-mind brand recall and popularity in India. We have invested in traditional advertising media, like Radio and TV; outdoor media, print media advertisements in IT magazines and leading channel magazines, partner and end-customer events, PR, marketing collaterals, including Point of Sale material. We use our IT Dealers and channels to promote our products across the country.

TG: What has the response been to India's cricket hero recommending Kaspersky to tens of millions of fans?
Jagannath Patnaik: We signed up Sachin Tendulkar on October 1, 2011. The quarter has still not completed but definitely, the recall value of our products has gone up a few notches higher with Sachin Tendulkar endorsing Kaspersky brand. Our Dealer network is excited about Sachin being associated with the Kaspersky brand that firmly establishes that we are serious players in the Indian market. The brand’s resonance in upcountry markets has gone up considerably. We have just introduced special edition Sachin Tendulkar boxes in the market and we believe that will give a fillip to our sales. We are expecting our research agency to compile the report for quarter 4 to understand the measurable impact of having Sachin as our brand ambassador.