As a music lover and someone who is passionate about technology products, I was hooked on the Saregama Carvaan when it first launched a few years ago, and I’ve been loving it ever since. It’s hard to describe the Carvaan in just one word – it’s a collection of 5,000 pre-loaded evergreen songs and radio programs from the past 50+ years, but it’s so much more than that. Not only does it have an FM radio and a Bluetooth speaker, but it also has a USB drive for adding additional songs, and it has a classic radio look and an excellent speaker. All of these features make the Carvaan a mouthful to describe, but despite all of its capabilities, it’s still an incredibly simple product that anyone can operate. Whether you’re a tech-savvy music lover or someone who just wants a straightforward way to listen to your favorite tunes, the Saregama Carvaan is definitely worth checking out.
Quote – “Carvaan is not just giving music but memories connected to music along with the convenience of listening to music”
Vikram Mehra CEO Saregama.
Wondering with Bluetooth speakers and Spotify, why do we need a specialized device?
You’re absolutely right – I’m sure the CEO and other members of the team thought long and hard about the target audience for the Saregama Carvaan before deciding to go ahead with the product. And you’re right – this product is primarily not for tech-savvy users. Instead, it’s aimed at a huge volume of people in India who want to listen to music in their own comfort, without any hassle of technology, subscriptions, or the internet. They want a product that just works out of the box, without any need for configuration. All they have to do is switch it on, and the music starts playing automatically on an auto-playlist. With the Saregama Carvaan, users can sit back, relax, and enjoy their favorite tunes, all while reminiscing about the memories associated with each song.
Why did Saregama come up with Carvaan?
The company HMV (first 100 Years), now Saregama (since 2000), has been there since 1901 and owns the rights to thousands of tracks in various Indian languages. Just to list a few here, 11,800 Hindi tracks, 8000 Punjabi tracks, 8000 Telugu tracks, 7000 Malayalam tracks, 3000 Kannada tracks, 26,000 Bengali tracks, 6000 Marathi tracks, 1400 Odia, 18,300 devotional tracks, and many more. On Spotify, you can access up to 100,000 tracks from Saregama!
Saregama has always had a massive collection of songs at its disposal, and the company saw an opportunity to channel that music to a new audience through the Saregama Carvaan. While many of these tracks are already available through streaming apps like Apple Music, YouTube, and Spotify, Saregama saw a huge untapped market in the middle-aged and older population who wanted a simple, easy-to-use device that didn’t require a mobile phone or internet connection. That’s why the company created the Saregama Carvaan, a device with 5,000 pre-loaded evergreen songs that has a classic radio look but also includes modern connectivity options. With a battery that makes it portable, an FM radio receiver, and a remote control to make it easy to operate, the Saregama Carvaan is a magic box that can transport you back in time and make you feel nostalgic. And best of all, no WiFi or internet connection is required to use it – just switch it on and start listening.
Unique Value Proposition – 5000 Classic Songs to make you nostalgic. No Subscription charges.
First, the song collection; second, the comfort of playing it with ease; and lastly, the classic radio looks. Nothing comes close to these three values.
No subscription model. In the era where every product went for subscription mode, Saregama did the opposite – They understood the core need of people and how they could use the product. A one-time fee for the product and unlimited playtime.
Product Journey
2016 – Launched Saregama Carvaan
2018 – Received numerous awards
2018/19 – Carvaan Mini & its variants – Portable mini-player for just 2000 ($25)
2019 – Carvaan 2.0 – Wi-Fi connectivity for 300 additional channels & Carvaan 2.0 Gold with Harman/Kardon speakers
2020 – Carvaan Karaoke – Sing songs along with the music
2020 – 2M Carvaan Units sold so far
2022 – Launched Carvaan Soundbar for Smart TVs
Cost – Around 6K INR for its popular model (< $100)
INR 5990, a price that many people could effort for a product that they are going to use for years ahead. It is a perfect gift for parents, grandparents, or anyone that age – It fits into the budget of many people.
The new Carvaan 2.0 with Wi-Fi connectivity, a method to download the latest content, and access to 300 audio channels cost around 7790 INR (~$100).
Carvaan 2.0 Gold which comes with Harman/Kardon speakers, cost 12,790 INR (~$170).
While the above products address typical Indian middle-class people, Saregama wants to grab a much broader mass and thus introduced Saregama Mini, costing just 2090 INR ($27). Looking at Amazon’s data, it has outnumbered people who bought the above products.
Overall, Saregama has sold around 2M units till Jan 2020. The cost and volume are impressive.
Customers
Middle / Old age (40-75) who listened to music for years on radio, tape recorder, CDs, and TV. A mass of non-tech-savvy users without the need for Internet connectivity. Language is not the barrier, as Saregama covers a wide language range.
Considering ~35% (Age 40-75) of 1.3B Indian Population = 455M people. A significant part of these are couples who may buy only a single unit, which makes 227M homes as the Total Addressable Market. Even if 5% (11M) of people go for it and buy it, Saregama will make around $1B.
Volume/Sale – 2M Caravan Units sold so far (Jan 2020).
2M Carvaan units sold till Jan 2020. The company is aiming for a 25M market (Just 10% of TAM)
Competition – None with a similar concept
There is no direct competition to Saregama Carvaan. The indirect competition is like Bluetooth speakers and smartphones with streaming apps. Saregama Carvaan is the only product for Non-tech-savvy users of the age group 40-75.
Go-To-Market
Online stores like Amazon and Flipkart. Retail electronic stores in every Indian city are selling Carvaan. It’s marketed online in the US, Canada, UK, and UAE.
Marketing
- YouTube runs in-built ads for Carvaan when you listen to any Saregama songs. They leveraged their existing userbase on YouTube to market it.
- TV Ads & Social Media Ads
- Mouth publicity as the product talks for itself
What more would I do as Product Manager for this product?
- Combo pack of Hindi & Marathi with 10K songs. Coming from Maharastra, I know people love both languages. Similar concepts for each region (Regional language + Hindi)
- Preload the songs into Smart TVs from Samsung, Sony, LG, and others. Convert the TV into a music system.
- Tie-up with Marshall’s Speakers. Excellent audio quality comes with all form factors that people can choose from. Plus, its classic looks of Marshall go well with classic songs.
- Integrate it into the PayTM soundbox that shop owners install to know if money was transferred. All shop-vendors can listen to music while selling their goods. These vendors will go for a better model for their home once they get used to the product.
- An iPod-Nano size device or a smart-watch with all preloaded songs for runners/walkers who don’t want to carry their smartphones. Alternatively, people could use this device to connect to their existing speakers and convert them to Carvaan. The current Carvaan Go is too bulky.
Mangesh is Product Leader
Full Bio here – https://mangesh.bhamre.in
