The exclusive Samsung store in Karol Bagh is the second stop of the day for Pradeep, the Channelplay Area Manager for the Samsung VM project. With the sort of ease that comes from experience, he inspects the stickers (POSMs) on the TV—Samsung 65’, Crystal 4k UHD—cross-referencing the guidelines on his phone. Check, check, check.
A new month is starting. Pradeep heads to office in the second half. It is time to finalise the Permanent Journey Plan (PJP) for his team of nine Visual Merchandisers. Data around number of stores, frequency and specific priorities is analysed, and with the use of the seamless VM-tech platform, the optimal PJP emerges.
Finalising the PJP is not the only thing to be done in office. Pradeep runs some random quality checks on the in-store execution pictures uploaded by the VMs on the 1Channel app. Every now and then he picks up the phone to give inputs to the team about what could be better. Inputs on number of POSM deployed, their placement etc. It might all seem like nitpicking to a layperson but in the world of VM, it is absolutely core. The biggest reason why it makes sense for brands to outsource VM rather than expecting their sales teams to do the job. It is a specialist's job.
Channelplay VM programs have both scale—1.5 lakh+ calls, 50,000+ stores, 2,500+ towns and cities—and provenance—brands such as Godrej, Xiaomi, Reliance, Whirlpool—making it the ideal bet for any brand serious about visual merchandising.
“Fantastic coordination and execution by the entire VM team. Thank you for your efforts. Keep up the good work,” applauds Deputy GM of Marketing Operations at Samsung Electronics.
There's more value that Pradeep (and other Area Managers) bring to client brands. With much time spent in market they are invariably the first source of information for clients on competitor action.
“When brands approach us, we go all-in by planning the entire process thoroughly. The number of stores across various cities are identified, basis which we come up with a budget,” says Yasir Hussain, the head of Visual Merchandising at Channelplay.
Just say a ‘Hello’ and let’s get started.