A long and very eventful journey has seen TCS grow into its present dynamic manifestation that defines its ambitions and parameters in terms of the limitless global village. CONNECT caught up with the Chairman of TRANZUM long distance via the Internet, and gained an insight  for its readership on the thinking that has gone into this reinvention of the business.  

CONNECT: What were the strategic considerations that led to the name TRANZUM?
Khalid N. Awan: As we evolve into a multi-services group trading globally, we needed a common identity and a name.

C: How do you envision TRANZUM adding value to the existing business units?
KNA: Firstly a common identity would demonstrate relationship between various entities comprising the Group, who now have a family name. Customers would thus become aware of Group''s overall capabilities. Internally it enables the TRANZUM Group to centralize core management functions such as Information Technology Support, Human Resource, and Marketing Services.

C: Given its very high brand recognition developed over the last 23 years, TCS will remain the prime identification of TRANZUM in the foreseeable future. Why did you not leverage an existing strength and establish the TCS GROUP instead of opting for a brand new name that will require considerable investment before its brand value can be developed?
KNA: Yes, TCS is a strong brand in this market, and would therefore remain our flagship company in Pakistan. However, when trading globally in services other than courier and logistics, we needed to have names and distinct identities for our new services. This is necessary not only for marketing purposes but also for each company to have its separate focus and customer orientation, a case in point: the needs of a courier services customer are different from the needs of a travel services customer. Accordingly staff training and procedures have to be different.

We have thus organized ourselves as follows: TCS providing courier and logistics services; FLYING WAREHOUSE - customized airfreight solutions; ROAD TRANSPORT - warehousing and distribution; SENTIMENTS EXPRESS - Gifts, Greetings and mail-order services; INTIANA - Travel and Tours; OCTARA - Training, Events and Publications; INFOTHON - web based e-commerce services.

Born as separate business units within TCS, three of the above have so far matured into independent companies, and these companies, either through our own entities or global alliances, are capable of serving customers anywhere in the world.

Some of our customers in Pakistan have already experienced the benefits of this global reach and resourcefulness. For example, the Management Association of Pakistan (MAP) Convention organized by OCTARA is a world-class event surpassing previous standards in terms of speakers and sponsorships. Drawing upon our resourcefulness and experience gained in organizing similar events abroad, OCTARA has attracted world-class speakers and sponsors like CNN and Boeing - for the first time in Pakistan. Likewise customers in developed markets such as North America have also experienced our unique customizations. TCS earned an award recently from the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario for providing an innovative and cost-efficient delivery solution to the aboriginal populations inhabiting the remote territories.

The reason for opting for a new name -TRANZUM, is that we needed a name to define our group of companies, and this name had to be pronounceable internationally, compatible across cultures, not yet patented anywhere, and most importantly, in today''s global economy have a dot.com domain available. Similarly all other names like Intiana, Flying Warehouse, Octara, and Infothon had to qualify these criteria. The naming exercise was therefore