PROJECT

On
MARKETING STRATEGY OF BIG BAZAAR

Submitted By:-
Group – IV, MBA I (A)
Aseem Goel(060)
INTRODUCTION

Indian retail sector is witnessing one of the most hectic marketing activities
of all times. The companies are fighting for mind share and heart share
which can finally be converted to market share. There is always a ‘first
mover advantage’ in an upcoming sector. In India, that advantage goes to
“Big Bazaar.” It has brought about many changes in the buying habits of
people. It has created formats which provide all items under one roof at low
rates, or so it claims. In this project, we will study its marketing strategies.
Big Bazaar’s main competitors are other business houses which are
planning to enter the market as well as long established ‘Kirana’ stores
which feel threatened by huge retail chains.

BIG BAZAAR
FOR THE GREAT INDIAN MIDDLE CLASS

Kishore Biyani led the company’s foray into organized retail with the
opening up of the Big Bazaar in the year 2001.
It is a unit of Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd and caters to the Great Indian
Middle Class. It was started as a hypermarket format in Mumbai with
approx. 50,000 sqft of space. Its values and missions are to be the best in
Value Retailing by providing the cheapest prices and hence goes the tag-
line

“Is se sasta aur achcha kahin nahin”

It sells variety of merchandise at affordable rates, the prices of which it

claims are lowest in the city. Usually the items are clubbed together for
offers as on the lines of Wal-mart and Carrefour and it also offers weekend
discounts. It currently operates out of more than 100 stores and top 25
stores register a cumulative footfall of 30 lakh a month on an average.

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4Ps OF MARKETING
"Marketing" is the promotion of products, especially advertising and branding.
Marketing practice tends to be seen as a creative industry, which includes
advertising, distribution and selling.
Marketing mix is a deciding factor in formulating marketing techniques for the
success of a particular brand, commodity or company. The components of
marketing mix are:
• Product
• Price
• Promotion
• Place

PRODUCT:
Big Bazaar offers the maximum variety for each category of product. The
product is the same in every store in the city but the brand options are more
in Big Bazaar. Also, the quantity for each product is not limited to large packs
only. The commodities sold by the retail chain also includes its “own products”
which get a ready distribution network. The own products of Big Bazaar
include My World fashion magazine which is not available anywhere else. So
costs are low for such products.

PRICE:
Price is the critical point in a competitive industry. Big Bazaar works on a low
cost model. It considers its discounted price as its USP. There is an average
discount of 7-8% on all items in respect to their MRP. Prices of products are
low because it is able to secure stock directly from the manufacturer. There
are huge synergies in terms of bulk purchasing, central warehousing and
transportation. These all factors help the retailer to keep low prices.

PLACE:
Place means the location of the business. Big Bazaar has always worked on
low-cost locations. It targets semi-urban population with its placement. Its
strategy is to find a cheap location and it never goes for hot spots in the city.
It relied on promotional activities to make up for unattractive locations.
Another strategy used by Big Bazaar to overcome location disadvantage is use
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of internet. It has launched a merchandise retailing website
www.futurebazaar.com which targets high-end customers ready to use credit
cards. The promotion of this website is done through advertisement on
Google. The website is put as sponsored link.

PROMOTION:
Big Bazaar has huge promotion budgets. The biggest idea behind all
advertisements is to make people do bulk shopping. There are 2 types of
promotional strategies of big bazaar. One is the holistic advertisement which
promotes the brand and creates awareness among people. It is not targeted
at promoting each store but only creates an image of Big Bazaar as low-cost
shopping option. The store has advertised through TV, road shows and also
started reality show-typed promotional campaign “The Big Bazaar Challenge.”
Promotions like “Sabse Sasta Din” are a very successful strategy to get
footfall. In this products across categories such as apparels, furniture,
electronics, utensils and food products at the lowest possible prices, coupled
with attractive promotional schemes. Some of the most attractive offers being
a 20-litre branded microwave oven with grill for Rs 2,499, jeans and trousers
for Rs 199 and HCL laptops for Rs 22,990.
Other type of promotion is the particular store oriented promotion which
includes speaking on the loudspeaker in nearby blocks. Leaflets are given in
local newspaper. There are promotional efforts even inside the store. Buy 2
Get 1 Free type of promotions are very common. Original prices are cut down
and new prices are shown, of which customer takes quick notice. There are
loyalty schemes which reward regular clients. Promotion is also done through
co-branded credit cards with ICICI bank.

Big Bazaar’s New Marketing Strategy:

Big Bazaar has launched new marketing strategy which is based on
Guerrilla Marketing. Guerrilla marketing warfare strategies are a type of
marketing warfare strategy designed to wear-down the enemy by a long
series of minor attacks, using principles of surprise and hit-and-run tactics.
Attack, retreat, hide, then do it again, and again, until the competitor moves
on to other markets. Herein guerrilla force is divided into small groups that
selectively attack the target at its weak points. In the world of cut throat
competition, corporate use extension of the same strategy in marketing.
Corporate like Coke, Pepsi, etc have been using the same for quite some
time now and the latest entrant is our very own ‘Future Group’- Big Bazaar,
Pantaloons, Future Bazaar, eZone are all part of this group and they are
taking on the biggies like Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, and Tata’s Westside.

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In order to do the same, Future Group have come up with 3 catchy/cocky
and cheeky ad campaigns which surely do catch our eyes and surely one
can’t resist appreciating the same.

Keep West-aSide. Make a smart choice!

Shoppers! Stop. Make a smart choice!

Change Your Lifestyle. Make a smart choice!

Future Expectations:
Big Bazaar is planning to have 300 hypermarkets in the country by 2010-
11. The company may also increase its annual turnover to Rs. 13,000 crore
by 2010-11, up from Rs. 3,600 crore last fiscal on the back of its expansion.
The company has also gone on record saying that it would have another 35
stores by the end of its fiscal in June 2009 to take the total number to 135.
To achieve this they are targeting a turnover of Rs. 5,000 crore in the
current fiscal year and have formulated plans for reaching a figure of Rs.
13,000 crore by 2010-11 fiscal.
For the expansion, the company would be looking at both the metros and
Tier I cities, besides Tier II cities & smaller cities.
The marketing strategy seems to be perfectly on track as the Big Bazaar
hypermarkets had a footfall of 11 crore last fiscal and the company is
aiming for an increase in the numbers up to 14 crore this year. The average
size of a Big Bazaar hypermarket is 30,000 sq ft to one lakh sq ft.

Advertising:
The departmental store chain Big Bazaar has launched a commercial
sometime back to promote 'The Great Exchange Offer'. The commercial
portrays how customers can exchange any old and broken items (junk) and
get new products at a discounted price from Big Bazaar.
The 30 seconds film unfolds through the eyes of a cabbie in a busy city
street, he is intrigued by the disruptive visual of a well-dressed office
executive carrying a bundle of old newspaper and walking through a
crowded place.
The cabby then notices a young office going lady in western wear carrying a
rusty bucket filled with broken utensils, the cabbie is absolutely confounded
but continues to follow her with a broken tyre in his hand and comes across
another absurd situation of a highly placed executive in a chauffeur driven
car with a broken commode on the top of the car.
Penultimate situation reveals everybody is heading towards Big Bazaar for
the exchange offer; the cabbie comes out of the store happy and excited
after getting an amazing deal for his junk tyre.
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Moving images are interspersed with supers that hi-light the amazing prices
a consumer can get for his junk. The sound track uses a typical kabada
guy's shout as he walks through City Street calling for junk.
The month of January and February is generally a low-key affair in terms of
customer footfalls and revenue generation. Innovative, out of the box
promotions is one of the effective ways to draw customer attention and
shore up the revenue. Historically Exchange schemes have been used to
induce better sales, it also has a strong appeal with the Indian mindset of
getting value even for their junk, states an official release from Big Bazaar.

Brand Ambassador:
A brand ambassador is a celebrity (or an attractive or interesting person)
used to help advertise a product or services.
Big Bazaar, has roped in cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the Brand
Ambassador for its new range of fashion apparel. Dhoni would feature in a
series of advertisements across all media. Dhoni and Big Bazaar have a lot
of synergies as the Indian one-day international team’s captain stands for
the aspirations of youths, while Big Bazaar is looked up to by millions of
Indians to fulfill their aspirations.

In this way, Big Bazaar make full use of the marketing mix for a new venture
which earlier belongs to the unorganized retail sector i.e. kirana stores.
Application of the best marketing practices helps Big Bazaar in a great way.