Domenico Gargarella

Toshiba’s new African RGM believes in a strategy led by clients, not price

After 12 years of employment at Toshiba, Domenico Gargarella has been appointed the regional GM for Africa. Gargarella has a history of working in emerging markets, firstly as marketing director, and later as commercial director in the EMEA region.

With this experience comes knowledge of the consumer, and he has exciting plans for the future growth of the Toshiba brand in SA. He is an optimist by nature, and believes “South Africa has lots of potential for future growth.

“Nowadays, especially with [the recession] in Europe, I would say this is a very good opportunity also for South Africa and the African region to pop out and step out,” he says. Despite setbacks such as the high demand for electricity, he says the situation in Africa is promising – power cuts should be viewed positively, as a sign of progress and development.

Strategy

It is a different market in South Africa, and the “beauty in Africa is that technology came a bit later, which means we have the latest technology”, he says. Gargarella’s strategy for Toshiba in Africa is not coming from the market, but rather from the user, “what the customer wants from Toshiba”.

He says Toshiba is not looking to compete with other computer companies in terms of pricing, but rather wants to create trust in the brand and improve customer experience. “Toshiba wants to offer reliability and quality of product,” and he says the company’s objective is “to give [the] latest, up-to-date technology, and make sure the consumer’s money is well spent.”

He adds: “I strongly believe the future of all the industries is based on what you can create, to establish a long-term, sustainable business,” which shouldn’t solely be based on sales, but customer satisfaction. He plans on achieving this through removing old inventory, so the company has machines with the latest Intel CPUs, and by refreshing the product line. The process is not complete, he says, but is well beyond the point of the drawing board. “Toshiba is an engineering company, and quality and reliability are in the DNA of the company.” Toshiba is investing in design because the computer is a commodity, and “is becoming a personal companion that reflects the personality of the owner”.

Gargarella argues that the fundamentals to a great company rely on having talented individuals who are “intelligent, passionate and honest”.

He notes: “If we strongly believe in what we do, and we are committed in executing our plan properly, and we don’t change one day after the other, [good] results will come.” Toshiba is in the process of relocating to new premises in Sandton central, and is scouting for new blood to add to the growth planned at the computer systems group. Toshiba is on a massive hiring drive and plans to grow exponentially, he says.

Innovative technology

Having been a technology journalist, Gargarella is a self-proclaimed technology addict. He is very excited about the new technology being unveiled in South Africa for local release. He says this innovation is the result of Toshiba’s investment into research and development at their Kawasaki campus, which is in charge of R&D for voice recognition and visual technologies, including face tracking and recognition technology.

Toshiba has also recently revealed the 3D glasses-free television, claiming to be the first in the market to introduce this technology. This is the result of several technologies merging to create this effect, he explains.

“The technology which will enable the user to have a 3D effect without wearing the glasses is possible because the Webcam tracks the movement of the eyes of the user, and their position; based on that, there are micro-elements which change the way in which the image is perceived from the eyes of the user,” he says.

Prior to this type of technology, the problem with the introduction of 3D to consumers is that people are forced to wear glasses. Gargarella says the level has been reached in which 3D technology is an extension of the person. “You no longer have to serve the technology [by wearing the glasses], the technology serves humankind.”

He confesses his favourite technology is his Toshiba R-800 laptop and backpack, which he travels with the world over. He appreciates the quality of the Toshiba products as he regards it being due to the Japanese approach of constant improvement, and removing people from their comfort zones. With Gargarella at the helm of Toshiba Africa, exciting changes should be expected in the future for consumers.