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 A management graduate, she worked for 4 years with K. Raheja Constructions and another four with Mahindra Gesco, the real estate division of Mahindras in the Marketing Department. She thus honed her marketing skills with a corporate background before joining her husband Yatin Patil and co-founding the family-owned wine producing company. The experience came very handy in taking the company to a sale of 10,000 cases last year. ‘It really taught me the essence and the finer nuances of marketing- that the product being a given, the key really lies in linking it to the basic need of the consumer,’ she says.
Giving full credit of conceptualizing the winery to Yatin, she says, ‘getting into the wine sector was really my husband’s idea. But when he decided to start the winery I had no qualms about turning an entrepreneur,’ she says. She has solidly supported her husband in building the Reveilo Brand and handles the entire marketing & sales operation. Both Yatin and Kiran had left their respective corporate jobs to pursue their entrepreneurial dream and vision to evolve the family’s agriculture heritage of around 200 acres into a brand. With the Indian wine Industry and the market on its ascendancy, forward integration in terms of setting up a winery only proved to be a prudent decision. ‘We owe a lot to the Italian technology and know- how. We tied up with an Italian group for its technical collaboration and wine making aspect. We were the first ones to launch the Italian Varietals- Grillo, Nero D’ Avola and Sangiovese 5 years ago,’ she says.
They synergize in managing the entire set-up, where Kiran handles the entire sales and marketing function and is responsible for the micro management. This includes formulating marketing and sales strategies, conceptualizing successful launch of new products, advertisement and promotion plan for creating brand equity, accelerating growth and ultimately achieving desired sales goals for the brand Reveilo in the market.
Kiran is a totally hands-on person, and her forte lies in a systematic and meticulous approach to any particular facet. Consistency and Persistence are her driving forces and the cornerstone of her performance. She is absolutely passionate and single-minded about making Reveilo one of the premium wine brands in the global market. Along the journey, Reveilo wines have received critical acclaim and accolades, bagging an impressive 33 awards in the past decade. The winery has not participated in any international competitions. Being a woman actively involved in the operations and directly promoting the product, she has also made a dent in the values of middle class people, especially women drinking wine and making it more acceptable in society.
“We were aware that the untraveled path that Reveilo had chosen was not going to be easy and there would be obstacles like perception of wine as an alcoholic product in the Indian society, inter-state taxation, inconvenient licensing and label registration procedures, accounts receivables etc. On the marketing front also, this sector offers a lot of challenges (direct advertising being banned). Combating those challenges and creating opportunities proves to be a great stimulus,’ she says when she is seen pouring wine at various shows and tastings.
‘Our focus this year is to increase substantially beyond the 10,000 cases we already achieved last year. I would like to influence the course of the industry towards quality production, as well as generate increased confidence in the mind of consumers in the locally manufactured products,’ she says. As a strategy to achieve that objective, the company has tied up with the Torres- Thapar Joint venture Prestige Wines and Spirits Pvt Ltd, which indicates the confidence Torres had shown in the Reveilo Brand.
Sumit Sehgal, Director of Prestige Wines, dealt with Kiran at length during the negotiation late last year to become the sole distributors for Reveilo Wines in India from this fiscal year. He says, ‘Kiran is a passionate person who knows her wines. Her meticulous work can be felt in the way their wines are packaged & marketed. Her enthusiasm towards the subject is evident from the fact that she makes a point to be present at virtually all events, exhibitions & tastings done by Reveilo wherever humanly possible.’ Seeing a woman with middle class grounded values at such events perhaps also helps change the perception of even men with conservative values.
For leaving cushy corporate positions and immersing herself in creating the brand image of Reveilo despite the financial hardships during the recession and also being a face to help change the perceptions of people with middle class values, we welcome Kiran Patil to the Top Ten WOW of India, once again.
Subhash Arora
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