Siemens Indonesia: It's your life, live it in style

Siemens Indonesia, a German-based mobile telecommunications company, is taking a fresh new approach to doing business in the country. It is introducing the concept of lifestyle for consumer goods in marketing its mobile phones.

Siemens has targeted various segments of society, their lifestyles and what they need and want in a mobile phone, and then introduced different models that cater to these needs with various features. The look and feel of Siemens' mobile phones also are geared toward its target markets, with different colors, shapes and sizes that will appeal to people across the social spectrum.

This new approach to the Indonesian consumer is clearly paying dividends for Siemens, which has steadily gained ground in the tough competition for supremacy in not only the Indonesian mobile phone market, but also the Asia-Pacific and the world markets.

With the launch of its new SL45 handset in November 2000, Siemens has made a strong move in the local market. Robby Darmasetiawan, general manager of PT Dian Graha Elektrika, Siemens' distributor in Indonesia, said the sales of the new SL45 were expected to push Siemens' sales to 200,000 handsets in the current fiscal year.

In terms of its market position in Indonesia, this will place Siemens second in sales. This is quite an achievement for the company. Back in 1994, when Siemens first started using the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), the most widely used world standard, Siemens was placed fourth in terms of market share in the country. It maintained this position through much of the economic crisis.

Then beginning in 1999, Siemens moved to number three "because of product mix", according to Robby. As he says, "People need not only a model just like a brick, although in terms of engineering (it is great) ... Beginning in 1999, Siemens changed its way of thinking. It came with products that go to the demand of the market. Small model, different features."

This change has paid off not only in Indonesia, but also the world. According to Robby, in terms of world position Siemens has gone from number six to number four with a bullet. Again he attributes this to Siemens' new approach to designing and marketing its mobile phones. The company, according to him, now focuses on "lifestyle and emotion".

Siemens' motto Be inspired is no empty slogan. Robby says the company takes the message behind the motto very seriously.

The SL45: Siemens' flagship

What makes the SL45 so special? Aside from its sleek and compact design, this phone features several special features that make it so much more than a mobile phone. It comes with Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), allowing you to browse the Internet and receive e-mail.

It also comes with a built-in MP3 player, allowing you to record and play up to 45 minutes of CD-quality music on a 32 megabyte MultiMedia Card, which can be expanded to up to 128 megabytes for greater storage space. You can also store Microsoft Powerpoint, Excel and Word files on the card.

The SL45 also is a digital voice recorder on which you can record for up to five hours. This is, naturally, in addition to the standard features of advanced address book, calendar, calculator, currency converter and voice dialer. Certainly a lot of power all packaged in a stylish and compact handset that fits in the smallest of pockets.

Robby says: "The launch of the SL45 marks the entrance of Siemens into the infotainment era. The mobile phone will bring a new dimension to entertainment and is aimed at the young at heart."

It is new and it is exciting, and all part of Siemens' plan to appeal to the Indonesian consumers by offering them the features they need and the image they wish to project. "To grab a bigger market share in Indonesia, any producer must meet what consumers want. We have to follow their lifestyles and offer what they need," Robby says.

Lifestyle

How exactly does Siemens plan to accomplish its admirable goal of offering consumers what they want and what they need? The first step is for the company to build a solid relationship with consumers. Robby says: "We want to build a relationship with people, but we want the relationship to be based on friendship. We want to listen to them, to know what they need. As friends, you have to listen to the people to know what they need."

Part of this process was to conduct a survey in Indonesia to allow Siemens to get to know the different lifestyle segments in the market, and what the people in these segments were looking for in a mobile telephone.

From the survey, Siemens identified five levels of lifestyle in Indonesia. These five are: Ambitious, Performer, Cool Dynamic, Social-Centric and Traditionalist.

Robby provides more details of what the people in these segments want from their cellular phones. "First there is the Traditionalist, that's the first-time user ... who likes to have a nice phone but is budget-oriented.

"We have the Social-Centric and the Cool Dynamic. These are the middle level; housewives who want to have a phone they use to send SMS and young people who are active. We have the Performer, these are the businesspeople.

"And then at the top is the Ambitious. We produce mobile phones according to these lifestyles. The features should also touch their emotions."

As a result of its findings and its commitment to cater to individual lifestyles, Siemens has introduced a number of very exciting mobile phones. It came out with the light, easy and affordable A35 for the Traditionalist. This phone has dual-band technology, text messaging, telephone book, call lists, clock, changeable design panels and many other features that consumers have come to expect from quality phones.

The M35 is for the Cool Dynamic. It comes with WAP, has picture messaging, games, DJ ring tones, calling faces and other special features. Plus, to meet the physical demands of those consumers in this lifestyle group, this phone has improved water, shock and dust resistance.

The S35 is for the Performer, with WAP, currency converter and calculator, dual band for international flexibility, mobile office and voice memo, complete organizer functionality and voice dial, all packaged in a compact and smart-looking handset.

Superior Service

Robby says that what is most important is the "man behind the gun", meaning that Siemens stands behind its product and ensures that its customers get the best service possible.

This commitment to the customer influences the way Siemens sells its phones. Robby explains its unique approach to selling: "If you explain a feature, don't tell your customer the phone can do that, that, that. Take the other way ... explain the benefits of a feature, where your touch his emotions ...

"The principle is don't give the impression that you are selling, the customer must feel that they are buying something from us."

He gave an example that many of us can understand. Imagine you are running late and have to cancel a date, instead of just canceling, use your Siemens mobile phone to send a picture of flowers and a message that you are sorry for missing the date. You touch people's emotions.

The end result of this approach is that the customer benefits from improved service. "Customers wants good service and they want you to know their needs. You have to respect them ... everybody knows the customer is king. Besides having a good product, if you have lousy service you can forget it. Customer care and service and selling, they have to go hand in hand."

Siemens ensures this quality is maintained by holding training sessions for its distributors every three months and by sending its staff out into the field to see how the distributors are performing and correcting any problems that may exist. Besides selling, Siemens also has 13 workshops in Indonesia, and is strict in ensuring these workshops provide quality customer service.

A glimpse of the future

What can we expect from Siemens in the future? First it must be noted that Robby is high on the potential of the cellular market in Indonesia. He believes that by 2004, there will be more mobile subscribers in the country than fixed line subscribers. And he points to Indonesia's population of 210 million as promising good things not only for Siemens, but the cellular market as a whole.

According to Dian Graha Elektrika manager Farid Manan, "Mobile phones are becoming personalized phones and everybody would like to have one." With that in mind, he provided a peek at the new Siemens mobile phones and services that the Indonesian market can soon expect to enjoy.

Coming at the end of February is the S40, a refined phone that comes fully loaded. It comes with WAP, world-ranging triband, built-in data and fax modem, infrared interface, Microsoft Outlook synchronization and voice and conversations memo. It is a smart-looking and a smart phone.

And expected to hit the market sometime in July is Siemens' K45 series operating on the GPRS system. These 2.5 Generation phones will provide users with faster data transfer, 34 kilobytes per second from 9.6 kilobytes per second. This is all part of the growth in infotainment and mobile Internet.

Siemens' K45 phones will offer such advanced features as Formula 1 racing, so mobile phone users can compete against other phone users. You also will be able to transfer credit card and electricity bills to your mobile phone.

All these and other features will be made available by its strategic alliances with such companies as Toshiba, Sun and Yahoo. Siemens believes the way forward and the way to provide customers with the widest range of advanced features is through such alliances.

So, expect the K45 series to boast animal names such as eagle, panther and dolphin to reflect the different lifestyles of users, to be sleek and attractive in design, lightweight and able to fit in any pocket, while at the same time offering customers numerous advanced services that make these so much more than phones.

And can you imagine what Siemens will unveil when the Third Generation phones hit the market here sometime in 2002? To top these new phones it will have to be something extremely special.