His choice of the partnership arrangement does mesh well with a skimming market entry. Moreover, there are currently many companies in the market, although most are involved with the older candle technology. As India upgrades its electrical delivery, and as more and more good-paying jobs are lured to the nation driving up personal income and the desire -- not to mention need -- for personal convenience in accomplishing the tasks of life, then candle technology is likely to be as popular as the hand-cranked wringer washing machine. In short, setting Blair up to compete with the has-beens in the marketplace seems shortsighted and ultimately doomed. It would depend on getting into and out of the market at exactly the right moment. On the other hand, buying a company, as noted, would give Blair other product lines in the event that their water purifier market entry did not achieve its goals. In addition, it would also give it both the manufacturing and marketing substance to enter the market in a penetration manner. The largest company in the market is Singer, a company that makes a formidable opponent, especially in terms of its advanced technologies and marketing muscle, not to mention its name. In fact, Singer's strong brand identification is another reason for Blair to purchase a company that already has reasonable brand identification in India.

Chatterjee's decision to revise his original plan to begin with rural areas and then move into the cities was the correct one. It is not only distribution in any LCD that is the problem to outlying districts; those areas also offer bigger promotional and, in cases such as technology, educational challenges than the cities. For that reason alone, beginning with a major rollout in major cities is a better plan. Singer will make a powerful entry into the Indian market; Blair can, if it is clever, ride Singer's coattails into the market. Blair can allow Singer's market...

Chatterjee had noted that if the quality was better, Indian consumers were willing to pay for foreign technologies. While the recommendation is for an Indian company to produce the purifiers, there is not reason not to use the fact that an Indian company has acquired the American technology. Singer will certainly do it. The rationale for buying a company (beyond the ultimate profit safeguards, or at least 'stop loss' aspects) is to be able to both trade on Indian-ness and have staying power in the market. In addition, as the market matures, there will be many small companies that cannot compete with giant Singer; an Indian company that begins by positioning itself as number two to Singer, and adding another element (perhaps a slightly lower price for similar value, etc.), is likely to retain that spot as the weaker companies fall away.
For all these reasons, Blair Company should purchase an Indian company and adopt a penetration marketing stance. It is possible that Blair should consider one more change: all the other modern water filters have 'water' names, such as Aquarius. In fact, that name has the double marketing advantage of a water connection, and an astrological one that could be very appealing to Indians. Delight sounds like a candy bar. It conveys none of the technology, and, frankly, people do not want their water to delight them; they want their food or wine or home furnishings to delight them. Appliances should operate in their lives so seamlessly that 'delight' is not an issue. In the case of Blair's water purification system, a name change is called for, one that will position the product as a technologically advanced, trouble-free way to ensure that the water for use in the consumer's household, after purchasing a Blair unit, is the same as that in developed nations, and that the consumer need do nothing to make it so except buy and install a Blair purification unit.