Branching out

ZOOMING IN

BPO COMPANY Tecnovate is in the throes of a giant transformation. The two-year-old company started life as an in-house BPO company for European online travel agency e-bookers.com.

Now it's taking on new customers in utilities, retail and telecom and it's scouting for opportunities in banking and financial services.

That's not all. Tecnovate is stretching itself in new directions and is about to transform itself from a mere BPO company to one that also offers software services for its new clients. It has just opened a marketing office in New Jersey and has hired new senior staffers who will aid the company in its transformation. The new managers are expected to act as rainmakers and drive new business.

But, as it changes focus, Tecnovate is experimenting in more ways than one. Most importantly, it's in rapid expansion mode but it isn't on a hiring spree.

Instead, it's attempting to hold costs down and is billing customers by the amount of work done and not the number of bodies thrown at a job. That's a novel approach in an industry where headcount mattered more than anything else.

Besides that it has already moved in another direction by starting Travelguru which offers IATA-certified courses for youngsters who want to get a break in the travel industry. Travelguru is a good recruitment ground as and when it decides to ramp up hiring once again.

Highflying advertisers

IN THE 21st century it sometimes seems that there isn't an empty space that hasn't been invaded by the Men "" and Women "" in Black from the world of advertising. That feeling was reinforced for some passengers on the country's newest airline Air Deccan who got a shock to find that on some flights the detachable seat head rests had Chevrolet Tavera logos on them.

If that wasn't enough, any passenger who picked up the airline's inflight magazine quickly discovered that they couldn't escape the Tavera that easily. The magazine Simplifly even had a cover story about the Tavera.

Air Deccan is taking the idea of innovative marketing further. Simplifly had an offer to corporate fliers to consider advertising on the plane's exterior.

Companies can use the plane exterior, for a fee, to splash their corporate logos or colours either on the full plane or parts of it. The big question is whether the companies will bite and whether this will add frills to the company's bottomline.

Of course, Air Deccan isn't the only organisation which has jumped into the business of cross-promotions. The coffee parlours like Barista and Cafe Coffee Day have recently been hosting all manner of promotions. One such promotion recently was for the Himalaya Drug Company's honey products.

And several airlines around the world have been offering their exteriors to anyone willing to pay their right price. But passengers may be forgiven for thinking they would like to fly to somewhere in the world where they won't be followed by blaring advertising messages.

Shopping for tourists

SINGAPORE IS pulling out all the stops in the battle to win tourists "" and high-spending Indian ones in particular. It has extended its annual mega sale for a record eight weeks. As a result it's hoping that a record 50,000 Indians will visit the island while the sale is on.

Why is Singapore so hot on Indian tourists? According to statistics available with Singapore Tourism Board (STB) Indians spend more than anyone else. In 2002, their average spend was $1,482 (for a period of nearly a week) and 82 per cent of what they spent overall went into shopping.

The Singaporeans are throwing in shopping coupons and a plethora of other gift schemes in a bid to win tourists. For those who like exotic treats there's even an offer of a free hot chocolate milk bath from Spa Haven, a spa centre. The spa is also offering something else that's mysteriously called the Chocoholics Anonymous Spa Ritual.

"The idea is to make shopping an absolute delight for the Indians. Our aim is to ensure quality, variety and price worthiness to Indians who we're targeting as tourists," says Edward Chew, manager, International group, Singapore Tourism Board. With all that chocolate and more on offer can they fail.

Additional reporting: Arti Sharma and Abhilasha Ojha