EMPOWERING CONSUMERS THROUGH MARKETING
—RYAN GOH VP & GM, APAC, Zebra Technologies
Marketing is an important aspect of IT business. If done properly, it not only gives business growth, but it also helps the end consumers. In an exclusive interview with us, Ryan Goh, VP & GM, APAC, Zebra Technologies, discusses the marketing dynamics of his organisation
What is your APAC play and how is Zebra approaching the different markets within APAC, including India?
With the rapid adoption of Internet of Things (IoT), driven primarily by an on-demand economy, both globally and in APAC, Zebra Technologies forges ahead beyond our 50th anniversary with great optimism and excitement. Digitisation is the new business mandate and we’ve only just begun.
India is an important market for Zebra Technologies and we see a lot of traction coming from the Indian government and healthcare verticals for our solutions on top of traditional verticals like retail, ecommerce and manufacturing. With India’s increased focus on digitising the retail, E-payments, healthcare and E-commerce sectors, we have also increased our focus on point of sale solutions and 2D barcode technology. Our global R&D centre in Bangalore also plays the vital role of innovating new technologies for our global business.
What are some of the key milestones you have achieved in the APAC market?
Zebra Technologies first entered Asia Pacific in 1996 when the retail and manufacturing sectors were key growth factors for emerging economies in the region by focusing on desktop and tabletop printers. Thanks to our visionary leaders, Zebra Technologies continued to invest in Asia Pacific during the 2008 financial crisis when other businesses adopted a “wait-andsee” approach, a move that propelled us ahead of our competition when the economy recovered.
Zebra Technologies currently has presence across 10 markets and has five R&D centres, including one in Bangalore where we are constantly innovating new technology with the help of close to 500 engineers. We also work with global brands in Asia Pacific including Watsons, DHL, Korean Air, CEAT, amongst many others. Today, Asia Pacific is the highest performing region for Zebra Technologies, with an impressive 12% organic year-on-year sales growth in Q4 2018.
What is your APAC, India channel strategy?
At Zebra Technologies, we understand the importance of working together to build great things and our channel partners are key players in our delivery of innovation and expertise. With over 10,000 partners across 100 countries, we work closely with our worldwide network of channel partners to develop valuable industry-tailored solutions that are regionally accessible. Each of our channel partners plays a critical role in empowering consumers; from developing new technologies to implementing them. Through these partnerships, we enable enterprises to push beyond industry expectations and perform at their best.
We further support our channel partners through partner programs like the Zebra PartnerConnect, which provides them with materials to guide selling, a flexible architecture, access to a combination of financial and non-financial benefits that promote selling, training and enablers to foster growth and build new capabilities and new certification opportunities that allows our partners to differentiate themselves in the marketplace.
India is a key market for APAC and we believe that it will generate the next wave of growth. The country already contributes significantly to Zebra’s APAC business but there are still plenty of untapped opportunities. In the days ahead, we plan to expand to the Tier 2 and 3 cities in India to accommodate with the growing demand for our products and solutions. We are increasing our presence both directly and through our channel partners. Currently, we work with more than 400 channel partners in India.
What are some of your key priorities for the APAC market?
Since entering the region in 1996, Asia Pacific has always held great promise for Zebra Technologies. Today, Asia Pacific continues to be a very important region for us and we anticipate strong growth owing to the rise of E-commerce, an increasingly connected workforce, and the confluence of Industry 4.0. Our Intelligent Enterprise Index study in 2018 further revealed an encouraging trend that the companies in Asia Pacific are moving the needle in the deployment and investment of the Internet of Things. We are currently making waves in the areas of retail, transport, healthcare, logistics and manufacturing and our momentum is set to continue in 2019 as we pride ourselves with the broadest product portfolio of any other solutions provider in the industry.