Memoirs.....Musings of a sales guy at heart.....

Episode 33...

Whyte&Mackay...3 years

Visa was an issue...I didnt want to go under UB DxB visa or AnEs visa...Didnt know till I joined, W&M had a guy on their pay based at DxB...this guy, an Australian, earlier was with the Heineken distributor and wasn't, obviously, happy that he is being made redundant....Alok Gupta spoke to him and finally he agreed but after a proper handover to me...his knowledge was confined only to Gulf and nothing beyond that....I was to join on 10th Sep 2007 and was to be inducted by him before that but he disappeared suddenly without a word and came to know from Simon of AnE that he had gone back to Australia....

I was asked to come to Glasgow for an induction and I was so excited to be part of this new beginning and was there to take charge...10th of Sep 2007.....

Reached W&M office at 0930 and I was the first one to be there...A decent sized office in the center of Glasgow, just walking distance from Hilton....

Alok introduced me to the team there...and almost everyone was a Scot there....Their accent is different and I always felt they sing the language and not speak(!)....also dialect...I found it very difficult to understand and actually I felt a translator was required....no jokes.....Met the head of HR....Val aka Valerie, very nice lady and told me that the next day I have to go to the distillery (Dalmore) for an induction with Richard Peterson....Richard was the master blender and distiller of W&M and inherited the skills from his Dad who was also a master blender. Richard is one of its kind...a true Scot and loved his profession....very friendly, open and ready to share everything he knew....Valerie, the HR lady gave me a car key and told me that I have to use the car to go to Dalmore which I think was around 3 hours of drive....I told her that am not comfortable to drive...she was quite taken a back...but got me booked by the morning train..Oh....didnt like one bit of my induction....absolutely clueless and unprofessional...In HO, no one to take me thru the strategy and also on whats expected of me....Alok spent some time with me but I found him involved in many things and was always on phone.....And added to that my trip next day to Dalmore by train.....completely different from the Diageo days....W&M was small and was more of trading....no strategy to build brands though they had huge potential in Dalmore, Jura and even WnM blended scotches....on the very second day, I felt like quitting the job...it was more out of frustration due to lack of proper induction...but Richard made my day with his indomitable style and the time spent with him was invaluable....every second...he also was known for his consumer interactive sessions - a la 'journey of taste'. Will talk about that later....

Induction got over in 2 days flat and came back to DxB.....it was an one man army for WnM....Diageo DxB was putting pressure on my to surrender my visa....I convinced Alok on the importance of our own office and visa and got his approval. Got hold of an advocate who assured me he would get an office space in Jebal Ali Free Zone (JAFZA). JAFZA has already become the most sought after place for business houses....Free zone is the place where you can set up a company without any local partnerships...if you set up a company in the city, you need to have a local (Emirati) as partner whereas in freezone is exempted...but Free zones had their own rules and space constraints...they also had virtual office licenses...this means, you would get a license to operate but without any office space but would enjoy all the facilities of the free zone...but I wanted the office....though Pernod Ricard had a full fledged office and warehouse there and also Flemingo, when we approached the authorities they hesitated to give license to a liquor company but we told them it is only a management office for the entire region and Africa and convinced them. The beauty of UAE was that they listen and they were always for increasing the revenue....JAFZA was known for its customer friendliness...we got the license from JAFZA but to get the visa I have to get out of Dubai (heard they changed this clause now)....So went to South Africa on a market visit - my first trip to SA....what a beautiful country but they instill so much of fear in you before you land about the crime in Jo'berg and Durban....W&M was operating thru a distributor based at Jo'berg...apart from this distributor we were also supplying directly to a super market chain....one exclusive brand called John Barr...a look alike of JW Red but much cheaper....But the volumes are not great....despite huge potential in this market. SA is driven by consumer pull and also the retail chain stores play a huge role as every chain has their own brands to push....but Diageo, PRG and some local companies enjoyed great business.....During my time, circa 2007 to 2010...Jameison was a very fast growing brand....JW Black was well established....but the policy was a bit complex as no whiskey other than-made from grain and  matured ones were allowed to be sold...Only Vodka made from grain was allowed without any restrictions....my trip was primarily to understand the market and also come out with a strategy.....I had to stay at Cape Town for a couple of more days as my Visa got delayed...finally got the visa from JAFZA....and W&M finally to set up office in Gulf....great milestone...

We got a small space....and created a feel good office. Recruited Ramana as office incharge to manage logistics....Got my wife and my home assistants visa also....The driver who was with me from my Diageo time left for Chennai to pursue other opportunities.....W&M got a different policy for vehicles and they got me a Merc (first time in my life) on a long lease basis....So all set and business has to start...I committed to Alok that I would double the business as I felt W&M brands has potential but there was no proper 'pitch' for the brands....also, I felt, I can use my relationship, crack some hard nuts and get entries...this didnt happen as W&M decided to increase the prices....

It all started in 2006....the scotch industry started witnessing shortage of Malt spirits....U need to understand the crux of this....As explained earlier there are different categories in Scotch 1) Blended (blend of matured-minimum ageing of 3 years to be called Scotch-grain and malt spirits 2)  Single malts (from one source...only matured malt spirit 3) Pure malt ( blends of different malts) and 4) Single Grain (single source of matured grain-but no takers for this). Take JW 12 yo...its a blend of few grain spirits and few malts....from different regions of Scotland....and every single spirit be it grain or malt, should have been aged (matured) for 12 years minimum....Forecasting and inventories play a major role. If the demand goes up suddenly, the inventories esp the raw materials would start depleting....and you have to plan 12 years in advance.....a very tough job indeed....Global demands have started growing especially for 12+ and single malts and the manufacturers realised that there would be raw material issue....Diageo known for their proactiveness and being the market leader fired the first solvo......they introduced JW Double Black without any age statement and priced it more than that of JW black 12 YO.....Its nothing but marketing gimmick as the consumers were made to pay more than the 12 YO for a product where there was no age statement but better presentation....Double Black was first launched in the DF sector and consumers fell for it....basically the great presentation and a stronger blend...The pricing was great...in between JW Gold 18 YO and JW Black 12 YO... Diageo also launched JW Gold Reserve slightly lower to JW Gold 18 YO.....Gold label 18YO was an amazing product and was quite popular in Indo China region.....as Diageo could not fulfil the demand due to depleting stocks of raw materials, they quietly replaced the 18 YO with this new variant.....Around early 2000, William Grants-another leading scotch manufacturer known for Glenfiddich,  opposed tooth and nail when Diageo launched Cardu pure malt, in Spain. Cardu was a popular single malt in Spain and one of the major malts in the JW Black blend....as Diageo foresaw issues with malts, they launched this variant but William Grant took the battle to Scotch whiskey manufacturers association and made Diageo to withdraw this variant.....sadly,William Grant didnt practice what they preached...today William Grant sells Monkey Shoulder which is a pure/blended malt whiskey....Also they have in their portfolio 'age not mentioned' malts...Moral responsibility takes a back seat when it comes to filling up the coffers....

So, there was shortage and hence all the manufacturers upped their prices and started focusing on variants....but the price increase by W&M didnt go off well with the customers as they felt that the Indian boss wanted more money as he paid exorbitantly to acquire W&M and hence upped the prices....also we were not a powerful player like Diageo or PRG and hence lost quite a few customers....

As always, I was inundated with all these issues but have to come out with some quick wins....

1) Knowing the demand for 1.13 lit pack of blended scotch, focussed on W&M in Northern Emirates and pushed its way thru with some biggies.....

2) Used all my good relationship with Dubai Duty Free and got almost all the Dalmore range, Jura and W&M blends.....And started heavy push for W&M blended scotch and got some big volumes.

3) AnE was under pressure from Diageo and hence told me clearly they wont be in a position to help with our portfolio....Took a call and changed the distribution to MMI....though it didnt go well with AnE....

4) Got entry in to Beirut Duty Free and our premium malts and W&M 40 YO started doing well there....W&M 40 YO blended scotch is one of the rarest and the best in its segment...I have never ever tasted anything even closer to that in my life yet....if you can get hold of one, pl try it...

5) Got the entry in to Alpha, Colombo duty free.

6) Used my contacts in Gulf and got some break throughs....but the entry level scotches were a big issue due to the price hike....

W&M was a trading company and hence never focussed on anything other than executing the customer orders. We had a good business going with RTM channel based at Jordan....the business was transacted by a Lebanese sitting in London....the customer was based at Amman....and W&M was giving unsecured credit....I realised this channel can compensate for my lost volumes from Kenya and some other parts of Africa and went after this customer. Made a trip to Amman and met up with the customer....wonderful gentleman but absolutely no English....managed to strike a conversation thru his secretary but he was not happy with our price increase. His volumes were primarily W&M 3 YO....I made it on cash in advance with a 2% CD...tough one but cracked and secured the money and incentivised the person who was based at UK....but it was never easy business and the RTM was dependent on lots of factors.....The stocks were shipped to Mersin in Turkey and from there found its way to the traders...the stocks never ever entered Jordan......Middle East is mystic.....one has to go deeper to understand the route to market to be successful.

Initially recruited Chris Pillay a South African as TMM for my region....but it didnt work out well....he stayed for some time and quit. Got Ashish Monga my ex colleague from Diageo India...he was working with some trading house in Nigeria and he grabbed the offer but took some time to understand the nuances......but for me a good support....

We were doing some business in Nigeria but again the customer was operating from UK....Indian origin...good guys but were not upto speed....we were also supplying to Israel thru a trading house based at UK....I found everything strange....but in hindsight, I should have left it the way it was instead of changing it.......

My mind set, I should admit here, was that of Diageo....having come from big volumes and highly respected background, the need to prove myself and with very little interference from HO.....I made few mistakes or miscalculations.....

There were changes in HO too....Ashwin Mallik who was the COO of USL North was posted at Glasgow as CEO of W&M....this upset Alok and he quit....Ashwin also didnt last long and was replaced by a Scot as the CEO and VJM appointed Nick Garland as head of Marketing and sales.....These guys were good but focussed on correcting lots of things in US and in Europe....W&M was also big in own labels business...this means they used to manufacture for super market chains, labels owned by the super stores, but with very thin margins.....and their supply prices of own brands were rock bottom in Europe and Nick's task was to correct them....Somehow I was holding the forte in my region by doing some unthinkable....

The NE customers were of great help to me....at the Barracuda outlet we put up a gondola, first time by W&M....our malts have started dong well across...Dalmore got some great visibility in DDF and was a major source of revenue for my region.

We opened up Lebanon domestic, Syria and Jordan.....All were small markets for us but we started getting some numbers from zero base. Richard came down to Lebanon for a master class and also did a couple of them in Dubai-one exclusively for DDF floor staff and one for the select consumers and customers in DxB...His shows were great hit...my friends in Diageo and PRG started noticing these and started wondering what we were up to....but W&M seriously didnt have any money as their revenues, that time, were from selling own labels and cheap scotch and also bulk to select customers.

One of the great customer for bulk scotch was Balgobain of Mauritius...We stopped supplies of bulk as the retention was nothing great and W&M wanted to focus on brands....but Mukesh Balgobain's daughter, a young and bubbly, Kareena didnt want to take 'no' for an answer....She called me when I was in DxB and initially with her Brit accent I thought some French customer from Mauritius....but it turned out to be Mauritians of Indian origin....they were buying our bulk and bottling their own brands but small timers....this was their bread winner and they needed it desperately. I went and met up with them in Mauritius and such wonderful family and people....but could not entertain their request on the old price and they reluctantly agreed to pay extra....I have to also do lots of convincing at HO....but needed the cash register ringing till we establish our premiums....We also had a local distributor for Mauritius but of no great shake....shifted the domestic portfolio to Mukesh....but they also could not do much...Its a small island but what a great place....Got our Dalmore listing at the Mauritius Duty Free.....

MMI, as our domestic distributor for DxB was not great at all....They had PRG and some great brands and were quite happy with incremental despite a very aggressive CEO....They were clueless and just stocking up without any focus on depletions.....

Used my relationship with ADNH, Abu Dhabi and got direct supplies for them....

We did some great in shop training for their staff....and we started getting some regular business from them.

Meanwhile, my ex contact from Diageo, a local Iraqi who was running the duty free based at Baghdad and supplying to the consulates and to permit holders of foreign nationals...He was claiming big about his business and I felt we should visit his operations at Baghdad and decided to visit Iraq.

Myself and Ashish travelled to Baghdad - Iraq....scary one though...We stuck a deal with him exclusively for his duty free operations only. The flight to Baghdad from Sharjah took around 2 hours and it carried mainly the business community. We were given great welcome by Ahmed and he really took care of us...we visited his warehouse, shop and also he provided us a bullet proof vehicle and we visited a club in Baghdad and a retail outlet....(it was foolish on our part as were told later that we were lucky and normally word spread and people get abducted...We visited the club around noon and left by air to the northern Iraq capital, Erbil by evening flight....This is called Khurdistans....and bordering Iran.....our guy whom I had mentioned in the earlier paragraph was quite strong in Erbil as he used this place for transporting to different parts. Erbil is like any European town completely in contrast to the war torn Baghdad.....really a beautiful city...The first supply to the Iraq duty free operator upset my domestic distributor and he opposed it tooth and nail. Our defence, that he would supply only to DF, failed to convince him....I too got carried away with the tall claims of this person from Baghdad and gave the distribution to him....one of my worst blunders.....we have to undergo lots of ordeal because of this including collecting our dues from him....finally the stocks have to be transferred to our old distributor.....

My gut failed me in this.....

Similar thing happened in South Africa too....We had a distributor for the entire country but he was just happy selling some very small quantity. We were approached thru an agent based at Cape Town to look at Midmar, a super stores chain based at Cape Town and having shops in Cape Town and Durban...belonged to a South African of Indian origin....George Naidoo....he was a practicing Hindu but like many South African Indian Hindus had a christian first name....took him to Glasgow and to Dalmore.....wanted him to get impressed.....but as it turned out, he was not easy to deal with.....I even took him to UB house in Bangalore....but didnt work out well....money was difficult to get and finally he have to exit.....

These were my two major blunders when I was in W&M.....I kicked myself for not thinking enough on the RTM channel of Iraq and also the South African business.....The lesson is that to be patient and give a clear perspective of what the company wants from the distributor and give them time to come on the same page....I was a bit impatient to achieve numbers.....Also hired a local guy for South Africa based at Jo'berg.....half his time went managing Midmar and getting the money....I was not getting excited with what I was doing.

VK Rekhi and Samy Lala met me in DxB during one of their visits, and asked me what I would do if I were made incharge of the USL Indian brands for UAE? This thought had come to me many a times during my stint but having access to the internal intricacies I didnt open my mouth...in fact this would have helped in many markets to get entry and push for W&M brands as the USL brands would have been leveraged for W&M....they asked me to come to Blr with a clear strategy....

I did lot of research, work, detailed discussions with the NE customers and presented a way forward for USL brands-they were suffering from the onslaught of ABD's OC whiskey that time..along with the all powerful Royal Stag, Imperial Blue and Blenders Pride....I strongly felt that we should split the portfolio and offer each one to the 3 main WS there in NE and adopt the same strategy for DxB domestic and Abu Dhabi....I presented my strategy to VKR in Blr but it didnt sail thru due to the intricacies involved....USL selling to UB Global and UB Global in turn selling to the NE customers. But a few years back Diageo India split the portfolio and broke the monopoly enjoyed by CeeCee for ages...(!)...this is not to undermine the efforts put in by CeeCee in the initial years but USL should have changed the strategy and followed the footsteps of PRG....

I was sort of getting bored with Dubai in general and W&M in particular.....Thought I should get back to India......Atul of Flemingo convinced me to join Flemingo as ED....in fact he wanted me to be based at DxB but I decided to shift to Bombay and be part of Flemingo.....The Iraq and South Africa blunders were also played a role in making me to look at leaving W&M and Dxb....more than anything else it was sheer boredom of doing just trading and nothing on brand building except the activations in the DF area.

We did quite well in Lebanon with our premium and also in Syria...but our distributor in Syria got in to some problem with the administration and shut his business....I visited Damascus a couple of times and what a place it is....winding alleys....and lovely night life with great bar and restaurants....it used to be fun in Damascus and so was Beirut....My domestic distributor of Beirut, bought a good quantity of our aged Dalmore and also W&M 40 YO....Guys if you ever see a bottle of W&M 40 YO anywhere pl try it...its real value for money.

So finally I took a call after accepting the job with Flemingo....Nick wasnt happy and he asked me to stay back but I was convinced that DxB life was enough....Also interestingly my wife didnt say a thing....probably she was missing our son so much and Bombay is closer to Goa than Dubai.....we had a great get together with all our friends before we left Dxb...in our villa...that was one 'halluva' party...I have lots of fond memories of DxB....some great friends....also from my trade...Mohandas from Truebell, Mani from ADNH, Ron from Gulf brands, Bahrain...Colm, Ramesh and Sharon of DDF......Ashish Monga and Ramana......

Dubai....a great place.....makes all those who come there, go back with better savings....that land has the touch of goddess of wealth......

I also applied for a trading license with Fujairah Free Zone and got a license....the idea that time was to keep my visa alive and that was one way I figured out.....

will catch you in the next episode.....