Adukia: After Sales Service Key to Business Devt 

The Director, Business to Consumer Sales and Marketing, Canon Central and North Africa, Mr. Somesh Adukia, spoke with Emma Okonji in Dubai on the relevance of after sales service for businesses and the company’s efforts to address issues associated with film production and consumption, broadcast, as well as security across the African region. Excerpts:

 

 

Canon participated actively in the 2018 CABSAT exhibition and conference, which held in Dubai recently. How will you describe the experience as an organisation?

 

The Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA) was established in 2016 to have a dedicated market in Africa and we have been participating in the CABSAT exhibition since the creation of CCNA. Last year we experienced a lot of visitors from African countries at the CABSAT exhibition, and based on our learning last year, we decided to raise a team that will attract the visiting Africans to our stand, which was located at a prime area of the exhibition hall, and covered a large expanse of space that every participant took note of it at first sight. 

Through CABSAT  we are showcasing to the entire world, our range of products that cut across broadcast, security, cinematography and film production cameras. We have made three workflow situations that are suitable for different verticals such as film makers, news agencies and security companies. We plan to meet the needs of the African market through our digital technology cameras.

Our plan is to introduce Canon to the African market as the preferred brand, not only in cameras, but also in security, film production and broadcast. 

 

 

What were the specific solutions that Canon showcased at CABSAT 2018?

 

Various ranges of modern and latest cameras from Canon were showcased at CABSAT 2018. The truth is that any camera can be used by different verticals. We have the M series of cameras which is specifically designed to meet the request of security companies. It comes with low light condition and best used in area where the light effect is low, when being used for investigative monitoring like terrorists attacks among others. News agencies, broadcasters and filmmakers use cameras for their operations, but in different capacities and we have different camera capacities for different verticals and purposes. We also have different software application solutions that run in the same camera to meet the needs of different verticals. 

 

 

Nigeria has issues with security. Does Canon have specialised cameras that could monitor and address insecurity issues in the country?

 

Yes, we have specialised cameras designed to address insecurity in the country at any level. We are headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirate (UAE) but we have underground team in Nigeria that are developing the Canon video business and so we are in touch with the Nigerian government and leading security companies in Nigeria. We recently made presentations to the federal government and we are waiting for the final approval from the Nigerian government. 

Our cameras can remotely capture a scene from a far distance without those being captured  having  the slightest knowledge that they are being captured. Our cameras can capture obnoxious activities even in the dark. So even with low light condition our security cameras can capture sharp images.  

 

 

Aside security cameras, Canon has taken a great initiative to inspire filmmakers in the African region. What is your interest in this initiative?

 

Canon is a world-wide brand leader as far as imaging is concerned.  And in the last four years, we have ventured into cinema range of cameras. So we use the CABSAT exhibition to inspire prospective filmmakers in the African region by giving them the opportunity to use our products for film production. We do not restrict ourselves to only CABSAT exhibition because we also take further steps to go into the markets and also participate in other exhibitions across Africa. Our desire is to engage filmmakers in Nigeria and other African countries, with a view to offering them our products and services. 

 

 

So how will Canon help use technology to enhance film production among Nollywood actors and actresses?

 

Nigeria is a good learning experience for the Canon team and we have been encouraging Nollywood by offering them the best of our technology products that will help them have better film production. For example, we have the C series of Canon camera like the C100, C200, C300, and the C700 that are specifically built for film production and have been very useful to Nollywood film producers. The Nolllywood industry in Nigeria is a very big industry and through our engagement with them, we have been able to introduce to them the best of digital technology cameras that will give them a lot of ease in film production. We have conducted workshops and trainings for them and have collaborated with them in several ways on how best they could migrate from the use of video cameras to cinema cameras, which brings a lot of ease to film production. We provide demo template for Nollywood and when they find it useful. They will place their final orders from Canon. 

 

 

The Canon range  of cameras come with high standard technology. How can the techniques of the cameras be easily understood and used by filmmakers?

 

Canon products are designed in such a way that professionals can easily handle it. We have tried to remove all complexities from our products and kept them simple to handle. As far as competition is concerned, Canon products are the best products to handle with ease. But in order to make it easy for end-users who are handling our products for the first time, we provide some form of training for them on how best to handle and manage our digital cameras. We now have different Canon academy where we train people on how best to use our products. 

 

 

What is your consideration for after-sales service?

 

After sales service is key to any business and Canon understands this perfectly and provides after-sales service for all our products. We have identified the right kind of after-sales service in different countries in Africa. In Nigeria, we have service centres that are managed by trained Canon certified engineers, and we have also partnered other technology companies to offer training services in the Nigerian market. The after-sales service support is key for us, because of the audience that we serve who are professionals that are into serious business of film production and security and cannot afford to have downtime in their operations. 

 

 

What is the lifespan of Canon range of digital cameras?

 

The lifespan of a product differs from country to country. In some counties, it ranges between three to four years, and in other countries, the lifespan differs, the reason being that different countries have different culture and likes for latest products. Besides,  most of the people in most counties like to switch to newer technology products as soon as they are released into the market. In Africa, for example, the lifespan and period of usage of digital products, is usually higher than developed countries of the world this is because their taste for new products varies. 

 

 

The challenges of consumers of technology products differ from country to country. How is Canon able to address some of these challenges?

 

CCNA  was established in 2016 and since then we take our time to conduct surveys across various markets to find out what their challenges are, and that has helped us to understand the different challenges of consumers in different counties. We take such challenges to our office, where we analyse them and come up with the best of solutions that will address them and this strategy has been working well for CCNA. In Nigeria for instance, our survey made us to understand that our customers in that country lacks enough service centre facilities. When we first visited Nigeria in 2015, we actually discovered there was no service centre from Canon in Nigeria. We also discovered that Canon did not have the right kind of distributors in Nigeria and our products where entering the market from different parts of the globe. Based on our learning experience about the Nigerian market, we quickly established authorised distribution network, and as I speak, Canon has two authorised distribution network in the country that are taking Canon products from CCNA and distributing the products across the country. Aside that, we established Canon service centres in some cities in Nigeria like Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt. Currently we have five service centres in Lagos, two in Abuja and one in Port Harcourt. 

 

 

What can you say about Canon warranty?

 

We have established Canon local offices across Africa, in Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Algeria and Ivory Coast, and we have dedicated warranty for these markets.