“Innovation is the key to survival and success”

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Innovation is critical for success in the business of online gaming (in fact for the entire service industry), discovers Pallavi Srivastava in an exclusive interview.

4Ps B&M: How important is innovation for the gaming industry?
RS: The growth of the Indian gaming industry is hampered by low broadband penetration, small consumer base and strong competition from international players. Hence, continuous innovation is the key to survival and success. We need to continuously create innovative means to acquire customers, distribute content and create disruptive revenue models.

4Ps B&M: How did the idea of getting into gaming come about?
RS: India is all set to become one of the fastest growing digital economies in the world. We believe that with broadband inflection round the corner, India will be one of the biggest digital entertainment markets with online gaming being one of the key growth drivers of this market as it has happened in US, China and Korea. Finally, India has over 50% population below the age of 25. And for the youth, gaming has always been the stickiest form of entertainment.

4Ps B&M: What kind of innovations did Zapak focus on?
RS: Launching a gaming portal in the nascent Indian market was itself the biggest innovation. We innovated by creating a clutter breaking and wacky brand for the Indian youth and also by creating a new kind of content model in gaming for the Indian consumer. We created new form of advertising option in the Internet space and monetised the adver-gaming platform.

4Ps B&M: Importance of innovation in the company’s success?
RS: When Zapak entered the online gaming industry in India, the industry was sporadic. We had the vision to create a complete value chain in online gaming for the country and take it to the masses. Innovation was the key to reach out to our target group. We took the route of the wackiest and the most out-of-the-box ideas to get visibility and build the brand Zapak. This innovation helped us to create a brand that the youth in our country connects with and associates itself with today. In just two and a half years of operation, Zapak.com has over 6.5 million registered users and more than 250 brands associating with it, which is an achievement in itself.


4Ps B&M: What worked for the Indian market?
RS: Global quality, world-class content for the Indian consumer; a strong and vibrant youth brand that the consumer can relate to, a huge latent demand for gaming content, et al, were paramount to work and establish the brand in the Indian market.

4Ps B&M: Strategies undertaken by Zapak to create a brand for itself in this niche segment?
RS: As mentioned earlier, we got the best of content from all across the world for the Indian consumer. We created a robust and scalable technology platform with a lot of community features to attract and retain consumers. The focus was always on creating a whacky, clutter breaking youth brand. Zapak has been successful in achieving leadership in all components of the gaming value chain – content (Zapak.com, Crazy Kart), access (Zapak Gameplex – Gaming Cafes) and distribution (Zapak Games - Licensing & Merchandising of Gaming Products).

Pallavi Srivastava

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2009

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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