Centrally located in Kolkata, established in 1984 as a letterpress unit by Ashok Poddar’s father Gyan Chand Poddar, Rajlaxmi Marketing (RMPL) is a creative single-stop print service provider to their customers. The unit services photographers, artists, print buyers, and corporates. In terms of technology, they are equipped with offset, silkscreen, inkjet, electrophotography and a host of print-finishing kits.

In the good old days, photo printing and offset used to be in two water-tight compartments. But no more. The divide has disappeared and Rajlaxmi Marketing is a good example of how a print business can address the needs of photographers, artists, and buyers of general commercial print with consummate ease. According to Ashok Poddar, who forayed into the family business in 1992 followed by his two younger brothers, Anil and Sanjay says, “RMPL is not just a print service provider. We try to meet the requirements of a corporate for all their print, publicity and marketing collateral needs.” He adds “Corporate gifting is also our focussed business for which we have a separate unit that manufactures soft luggage and sources a host of premium gifting products from several vendors.”

Adds Ashok Poddar, “Even in the current digital world, the volume of calendars and diaries, even though it has shrunk, is still sizable. The number of units that a corporate procures from us for their branding and promotion purposes is significant.”

Today, RMPL specialises in photo book printing and museum-grade archival printing for photographers and artists. For the corporate segment, they offer products like signage, point-of-purchase and point-of-sale advertising material, indoor and outdoor branding solutions, customised wallpaper and various print prototypes under commercial printing. Also, they manufacture a variety of planners and notebooks which are sold by their sister concern for online sales directly to end users.

According to Poddar, “For our kind of business to grow, it is essential to have a full-fledged graphic design unit in-house with a team that clearly understands the needs of the customer and then takes that concept to the next stage in order to arrive at a host of solutions. This not only helps us in prototyping but also to act as a design house for mid and small-sized corporate. Customers these days want an end-to-end solution.”

It was because of RMPL’s in-house designers that they could get access to the photographer and artist community. Poddar believes that the opportunity in this segment is huge and they have just touched the tip of the iceberg.

In the photography segment, museum-grade archival printing and photo books are major products for RMPL.

While their Epson Stylus Pro 9900 caters to the fine art print market, their Konica Minolta Accurio Press C3070P produces 250-300 photobooks in a month. These are products like family albums, birthday books, travel albums and coffee table books. These days, even a corporate, opts for photo books which are event-specific. Book sizes range from 12x18 inches to A4. They make full use of the banner printing option available on this digital press for dust jackets, and calendars. Ashok Poddar believes that the numbers could grow several times more if greater awareness for photo books can be created. A team of seven salespeople, out of a staff of 50, makes it a point to promote photo books during every client presentation.

Though their list of corporate customers includes well-known corporates across India, keeping in view the large number of SKUs that they carry, and the variety of customers they cater to, the minimum ticket size for a customer could be as low as Rs 5000/-. In terms of media for printing, their list is long but for the photo segment, their primary source is TechNova and Felix Schoeller. The products they opt for: museum-grade inkjet paper, photo paper, non-tear media and canvas. For other requirements the manufacturers are LG, 3M, Avery and a host of others. “Having a variety of substrates is critical for our business. We are overstocked in this area,” mentioned Ashok Poddar.

“Business has been growing steadily. Our focus is: dgital print. But along with our customer base, we offer a range of products. Our USP is end-to-end solutions, and being obsessed with quality and customer service. Other than that we are proactive on the marketing front. We  directly reach out to prospective customers. This has helped us a lot. However difficult a project is, we never say no to our customers,” said Ashok Poddar. He adds, “Furthermore, we are trying to go green in every way possible. It is not only good for our environment and customers. Also adhering to green practise is great for our team members who remain on the shopfloor for hours together day after day.”

When asked about competition, Ashok Poddar mentions, “Competition helps us to excel in what we do. Our customers come approach RMPL for a range of customisation and service that we provide. We are always looking out for new products and opportunities for our customers. The customers  know this, so they come back to us all the time asking our team ‘aur naya kya’ – what else is new?” 

He adds, “There are challenges  – getting trained people, shifting of substantial number of jobs to the digital platform by customers, and the longer selling cycle that is required to close sales when competition undercuts but having said that, we are grateful that we are in the print business.  In a market like India, there will be a requirement for print, except the technology will shift based on how the product is created and consumed.”

Ashok’s father, lovingly addressed as Babuji by the RMPL team, who is 77 years, makes it a point to be in the office daily. Though he is not involved in the day-to-day activities now, he finds time to motivate the staff. “Babuji’s blessings, and mentoring of being humble and service-oriented is what has brought us here and will see us through the future too”.
Going to the movies along with a merry band of family-friends, shopping, plus two vacations every year and being an Apple gizmo collector are a few of Ashok Poddar’s favourite things.

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(Vimal Parmar is an independent marketing consultant and digital print evangelist)