Simplicity begets success

Taking charge of a mobile reselling company which is on a roll is by no means an easy task, but Joakim Klingefjord, CEO of renna, has his task cut out, finds out Visvas Paul D Karra

Joakim Klingefjord, CEO of renna has his hand clearly on the telecom pulse of Oman when he says that this is an exciting time for renna as it continues to pioneer the mobile telecommunications landscape and set new industry benchmarks. And it is easy to see why this statement comes from Klingefjord because renna has been exceeding all its expectations of customers intake that crossed the 75,000 mark within six months of its launch in May 2009.

Backed up by his varied experience in the mobile telecommunications industry including 3G, Klingefjord brings forth a critical insight and enviable track record of strategic planning and implementation from diverse markets like Scandinavia, the ‘mother’ of telecom markets; Latin America; North America and Australia. Prior to joining renna, Joakim was in the team that launched 3G in Scandinavia under the brand name 3. In addition, Joakim has worked in the management team in Scandinavian mobile retailer chains.

Mobile mode
Prior to June 2008, the choices for mobile customers were limited to Oman Mobile, the government incumbent, and Nawras the private player. With the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRA) of Oman granting five new Class II licences for mobile resellers under the government’s liberalisation policy, things were never the same again. FRiENDi Mobile and renna were the first two resellers to launch their operations having made an agreement with Oman Mobile. Customers were immediately attracted to the resellers, thanks to their attractive pricing strategies with local and international call rates undergoing drastic
price reductions.

Meanwhile, renna positioned itself as a 100 per cent Omani company with simplicity as their slogan to attract Omanis and expatriates. The mobile reseller also introduced innovative features like instant messaging, after every call, informing about your remaining balance; and a facility to call someone even though you have no credit balance.

“We continue on the route we set initially for us as a mobile reseller by focusing on cost conscious Omanis and expatriates looking for call rates that were easy on the pocket with no hidden costs but with all the services that you expect from a mobile service provider,” says Klingefjord. The term ‘cost conscious’ has many demographics and many segments, he adds, while explaining that it could cut across several denominators but mainly those who communicate a lot using their mobiles to a large extent.
“Specific segments include housewives, youth, housemaids etc. They are all looking for cost efficient ways to communicate. The way to communicate could mean the way the product is available, the availability of recharge and the way we promote our services,” Klingefjord explains.

Stellar service
Klingefjord has been with renna since its inception and played an instrumental role in the operations of the company working closely with his predecessor Niklas Nielsen, who has since assumed a new responsibility as board advisor to focus on developing new business opportunities and regional expansion.

“With over 3.6 million users, the mobile market in Oman is exciting and has a huge potential and makes the environment extremely competitive. Therefore, understanding the needs and expectations of customers and establishing a strong customer-centric approach is essential to maximise service efficiency and business profitability,” says Klingefjord, when asked about his strategy for renna.

Klingefjord’s relatively short Middle East experience is compensated by virtue of him being a telecom man for over 20 years and he says even though his experience is limited geographically, the good thing is that the telecom industry is global with the same business mechanics.

Commenting on the Omani telecom sector, Klingefjord says this market is quite mature in terms of the number of active SIM cards but on the other hand, it is still in its infancy in terms of services deployed and used. Before the resellers arrived, it is clear that the competition was less but with more resellers entering the fray, it is going to be an interesting competition. Again being a branded reseller, you can make a business case out of a smaller customer base, Klingefjord says while adding that this way they will be able to focus on specific segments. Big network operators cannot cater to all the smaller business segments, and that is where the opportunities abound for resellers.

Scope for services
“Based on my experience in Latin America and other markets, one of the things about this market is that the penetration of new services is still low as compared. Many services are available but are not utilised fully. There are lots of things that can be done on the handsets like e-commerce, e-banking and many other things like that,” says the renna CEO while maintaining that a lot of local content services can be provided and a lot of interesting communities to communicate could be created using all available technologies including 3G.

Klingefjord is expected to fulfil the company’s commitment to the government, customers and other stakeholders to add value to Oman’s telecommunications industry through the creation of jobs and attractive price plans and services and drive the shareholder value. His perceptive leadership style and expertise in product management and service development will be leveraged to build a strong customer base and ensure continued and efficient local operations.

Countering the talk in the market that renna is not visible enough, Klingefjord points out that it is all about communicating and sharing the moment. Being a mobile reseller means that they do not have the big budgets, like the big network operators, to spend on newspaper advertisements. “Agreed that visibility is not there but we do communicate with our existing customers. We would like to be more ‘known’ than ‘visible’ through other means like buzz marketing where we have more people talk about our brand and products. At the end of the day we need to recoup our investments from our customers itself. Therefore, having a healthy customer base and building it up is important,” says Klingefjord.

According to him, Oman has one unique feature and that is people carry more than one SIM card. Customers do not necessarily throw the old SIM card away but they use it less frequently. And the challenge for all players is to become the first choice of the customer and that will happen when you have philosophy of being extremely transparent whether you are making national or international calls. And being transparent has been renna’s core philosophy all along, Klingefjord says.

Riding the competition
renna is standing pretty well and is all geared up for the future, which in this case translates into two more competition with the entry of two more mobile resellers, namely Mazoon Mobile (launched in December) and Samatel (expected in February).

One of the strong points of this confidence in Klingefjord is the fact that a mobile reseller like renna need not worry about a full network. Therefore, to recoup, their prime focus is on marketing and selling the wholesale minutes bought from the network operator. “We are at the moment very comfortable. We have a good network, we have services that are best in the Sultanate, prices that are unparalleled and cost effective. Yes, we will face two new competitors. But we have to see where they will position themselves, what sorts of services and packaging,” he says.

As the market becomes more dynamic with more promotions from all the operators, everyone (mobile companies) will have to respond and then everyone will know where they stand. Until then, Klingefjord is quite content with the reach of renna in the market.

 

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