“PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY OF MARUTI SUZUKI”

Submitted by: Chirag Agarwal

Class: BBA 6A

Marketing Management

Name of the Mentor – Dr. Debasis Ray

ILEAD

(Affiliated To WBUT)
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Any fruitful work is incomplete without a word of thanks to those involved directly or indirectly in its

completion. With my sincere gratitude I would like to thanks everyone who has supported me in my

project.

I would like to thank Prof. (Dr.) Debasis Ray to provide us with opportunity to work and expand our

knowledge.

The help received from something without which the project would not have been complete. Their insight

as well as guidance helped me to understand the essentials of the Project. I would like to thank them for

their support.

I would also like to place on record my sense of gratitude to my parents and friends for their support and

encouragement, which has always guided me my entire endeavored.

 TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

This is to certify that Chirag Agarwal, a student of BBA (Hons.), 3rd Year, of
ILEAD has successfully completed the project on “A study on the Marketing
and Promotional Strategy of Maruti Suzuki” under the supervision and
guidance of Dr. Debasis Ray. The project being submitted is genuine and
original work to the best of my knowledge.

_____________________

Dr. Debasis Ray

Ilead
Kolkata
 PREFACE

Promotion is one of the four aspects of promotional mix. (The other three parts of the promotional mix

are advertising, personal selling, and publicity/public relations.) Media and non-media marketing

communication are employed for a pre-determined, limited time to increase consumer demand, stimulate

market demand or improve product availability

Many of the examples above are focused upon consumers. Don't forget that promotions can be aimed

at wholesalers and distributors as well. These are known as Promotions. Examples here might

include joint promotions between a manufacturer and a distributor, sales promotion leaflets and other

materials (such as car), and incentives for distributor sales people and their retail clients.
 TABLE OF CONTENT

SL NO. TOPIC

1. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

2. CERTIFICATE

3. PREFACE

4. INTRODUCTION & PROMOTION KEY CONCEPTS

5. SALES PROMOTION

6. PROMOTION TECHNIQUES

7. POLITICAL ISSUES & PROMOTIONAL MIX

8. COMPANY PROFILE, HISTORY AND CHRONOLOGY OF MARUTI SUZUKI

9. PRODUCTS & SERVICES AND SWOT ANALYSIS

10. SALES & SERVICE NETWORK, PROMOTION AND CRM ACTIVITIES, AFTER SALES
SERVICE
11. CONCLUSION

12. BIBLIOGRAPHY
 INTRODUCTION

Sales promotion is any initiative undertaken by an organization to promote an increase in sales, usage

or trial of a product or service (i.e. initiatives that are not covered by the other elements of the

marketing communications or promotions mix). Sales promotions are varied. Often they are original

and creative, and hence a comprehensive list of all available techniques is virtually impossible (since

original sales promotions are launched daily!). Here are some examples of popular sales promotions

activities:

(a) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) incentives such as bonus points or money off

coupons. There are many examples of CRM, from banks to supermarkets.

(b) New media - Websites and mobile phones that support a sales promotion. For example, in the

United Kingdom, Nestle printed individual codes on KIT-KAT packaging, whereby a consumer would

enter the code into a dynamic website to see if they had won a prize. Consumers could also text codes

via their mobile phones to the same effect.

(c) Merchandising additions such as dump bins, point-of-sale materials and product demonstrations.

(d) Free gifts e.g. Subway gave away a card with six spaces for stickers with each sandwich

purchase. Once the card was full the consumer was given a free sandwich.

(e) Discounted prices e.g. Budget airline such as EasyJet and Ryanair, e-mail their customers with

the latest low-price deals once new flights are released, or additional destinations are announced.

(f) Free samples (aka. sampling) e.g. tasting of food and drink at sampling points in supermarkets.

For example Red Bull (a caffeinated fizzy drink) was given away to potential consumers at

1supermarkets, in high streets and at petrol stations (by a promotions team).

(g) Competitions and prize draws, in newspapers, magazines, on the TV and radio, on The Internet,

and on packs.

(h) Cause-related and fair-trade products that raise money for charities, and the less well-off farmers

and producers, are becoming more popular.

(i) Finance deals - for example, 0% finance over 3 years on selected vehicles.

Many of the examples above are focused upon consumers. Don't forget that promotions can be aimed

at wholesalers and distributors as well. These are known as Trade Sales Promotions. Examples

here might include joint promotions between a manufacturer and a distributor, sales promotion leaflets

and other materials (such as car), and incentives for distributor sales people and their retail clients.
 PROMOTION

Key concepts
Product / Pricing / Promotion
Distribution / Service / Retail
Brand management
Account-based marketing
Marketing ethics
Marketing effectiveness
Market segmentation
Marketing management
Market dominance
Promotional content
Advertising / Branding
Direct marketing / Personal Sales
Product placement / Public relations
Publicity / Sales promotion
Promotional media
Printing / Publication / Broadcasting
Out-of-home / Internet marketing
Word of mouth
Sales promotion is one of the four aspects of promotional mix. (The other three parts of the promotional

mix are advertising, personal selling, and publicity/public relations.) Media and non-media marketing

communication are employed for a pre-determined, limited time to increase consumer demand, stimulate

market demand or improve product availability. Examples include:

 contests

 point of purchase displays

 rebates

 free travel, such as free flights

Sales promotions can be directed at either the customer, sales staff, or distribution channel members

(such as retailers). Sales promotions targeted at the consumer are called consumer sales promotions.

Sales promotions targeted at retailers and wholesale are called trade sales promotions. Some sale

promotions, particularly ones with unusual methods, are considered gimmick by many.
 Consumer sales promotion techniques

 Price deal: A temporary reduction in the price, such as happy hour

 Loyal Reward Program: Consumers collect points, miles, or credits for purchases and redeem them

for rewards. Two famous examples are Pepsi Stuff and Advantage.

 Cents-off deal: Offers a brand at a lower price. Price reduction may be a percentage marked on

the package.

 Price-pack deal: The packaging offers a consumer a certain percentage more of the product for the

same price (for example, 25 percent extra).

 Coupons: coupons have become a standard mechanism for sales promotions.

 On-shelf couponing: Coupons are present at the shelf where the product is available.

 On-line couponing: Coupons are available on line. Consumers print them out and take them to the

store.

 Online interactive promotion game: Consumers play an interactive game associated with the

promoted product. See an example of the Interactive Internet Ad for tomato ketchup.
  Rebates: Consumers are offered money back if the receipt and barcode are mailed to the producer.

 Contests/sweepstakes/games: The consumer is automatically entered into the event by purchasing

the product.

Trade sales promotion techniques

 Trade allowances: short term incentive offered to induce a retailer to stock up on a product.
 Dealer loader: An incentive given to induce a retailer to purchase and display a product.
 Trade contest: A contest to reward retailers that sell the most product.
 Point-of-purchase displays: Extra sales tools given to retailers to boost sales.
 Training programs: dealer employees are trained in selling the product.
 Push money: also known as "spiffs". An extra commission paid to retail employees to push
products.

Trade discounts (also called functional discounts): These are payments to distribution channel members

for performing some function.

 POLITICAL ISSUES

Sales promotions have traditionally been heavily regulated in many advanced industrial nations, with the

notable exception of the United States. For example, the United Kingdom formerly operated under a

resale price maintenance regime in which manufacturers could legally dictate the minimum resale price

for virtually all goods; this practice was abolished in 1964.

PROMOTIONAL MIX

There are four main aspects of a promotional mix. These are:

1 Advertising- Any paid presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified

sponsor. Examples: Print ads, radio, television, billboard, direct mail, brochures and catalogs, signs, in-

store displays, posters, motion pictures, Web pages, banner ads, and emails.

2 Personal Selling - A process of helping and persuading one or more prospects to purchase a good or

service or to act on any idea through the use of an oral presentation. Examples: Sales presentations,
sales meetings, sales training and incentive programs for intermediary salespeople, samples, and

telemarketing.

3 Promotions- Incentives designed to stimulate the purchase or sale of a product, usually in the short

term. Examples: Coupons, sweepstakes, contests, product samples, rebates, tie-ins, self-liquidating

premiums, trade shows, trade-ins, and exhibitions.

4 Public relations - Paid intimate stimulation of supply for a product, service, or business unit by planting

significant news about it or a favorable presentation of it in the media. Examples: Newspaper and

magazine articles/reports, TVs and radio presentations, charitable contributions, speeches, issue

advertising, and seminars.

Direct Marketing is often listed as a the fifth part of the marketing mix

Sponsorship is sometimes added as a sixth aspect.

 COMPANY PROFILE

Maruti Suzuki

Type Public
Traded as  BSE: 532500
 NSE: MARUTI
 BSE SENSEX Constituent
Industry Automotive
Founded 1981; 38 years ago
Headquarters New Delhi, India
Area served India
Key people  R. C. Bhargava (Chairman)
 Kenichi Ayukawa (Managing Director & CEO)
Products Automobiles
Production output 1,568,603 units (2017)
Revenue ₹796,060 million(US$11 billion) (2017)
Operating income ₹101,272 million(US$1.4 billion) (2017)
Net income ₹77,326 million(US$1.1 billion) (2017)
Total assets ₹519,605 million(US$7.2 billion) (2017)
Total equity ₹370,905 million(US$5.2 billion) (2017)
Number of 40000 (2018)
employees
Parent  Suzuki Motor Corporation (56.21%)
 Public (43.79%)
Website www.marutisuzuki.com
Maruti Suzuki India Limited, formerly known as Maruti Udyog Limited, is an automobile manufacturer in India. It is a 56.21% owned

subsidiary of the Japanese car and motorcycle manufacturer Suzuki Motor Corporation. As of July 2018, it had a market share of

53% of the Indian passenger car market. Maruti Suzuki manufactures and sells popular cars such as the Ciaz, Ertiga, Wagon

R, Alto K10, Swift, Celerio, Swift Dzire, Baleno and Baleno RS, Omni, Alto 800, Eeco, Ignis, S-Cross. The company is

headquartered at New Delhi. In May 2015, the company produced its fifteen millionth vehicle in India, a Swift Dzire.

History

Maruti was established in February 1981 with production starting in 1983 with the Maruti 700 Which is
100 % Indian Made & The Second Model is Maruti 800 DX based on the Suzuki SS80 Which is
imported From Japan Car Manufacturer SUZUKI As of May 2007, the Government of India, through
Ministry of Disinvestment, sold its complete share to Indian financial institutions and no longer has any
stake in Maruti Udyog.

Chronology
Under the name Maruti
"Surya Ram Maruti Technical Services Private Ltd" (MTSPL), a private company, was launched in 1970
to provide technical know-how for the design, manufacture and assembly of "a wholly indigenous motor
car". Under the Companies Act, "Maruti Limited" was incorporated in June 1971. Maruti Limited went
into liquidation in 1977. Further, Maruti Udyog Ltd was incorporated through the efforts of Dr. V
Krishnamurthy.
Affiliation with Suzuki
In 1982, a license and joint venture agreement (JVA) was signed between Maruti Udyog Ltd,
and Suzuki of Japan. At first, Maruti Suzuki was mainly an importer of cars. In India's closed market,
Maruti received the right to import 40,000 fully built-up Suzuki in the first two years, and even after that
the early goal was to use only 33% indigenous parts. This upset the local manufacturers considerably.
There were also some concerns that the Indian market was too small to absorb the comparatively large
production planned by Maruti Suzuki, with the government even considering adjusting the petrol tax
and lowering the excise duty in order to boost sales. At First Maruti introduced Maruti 700 which is
Indian Made Later Maruti Tied Up with Japan Car Manufacturer SUZUKI & Imported SUZUKI SS80 &
Sold In Indian market With the Name MARUTI SUZUKI 800DX in 1983, this Maruti 800 Its India's first
Hatchback car.
In 1985, the Suzuki SJ410-based Gypsy, a 970 cc 4WD off-road vehicle, was launched. In 1986, the
original 800 was replaced by an all-new model of the 796 cc hatchback Suzuki Alto and the 100,000th
vehicle was produced by the company. In 1987, the company started exporting to the West, when a lot
of 500 cars were sent to Hungary. By 1988, the capacity of the Gurgaon plant was increased to
100,000 units per annum.
Products and services

Current models
Model Launched Category Image

Omni 1984–present Minivan

WagonR 1999–present Hatchback

Swift 2005–present Hatchback

DZire 2008–present Sedan

 Eeco 2009–present Minivan

Alto 800 2014-present Hatchback

Alto K10 2010–present Hatchback

Ertiga 2012–present Mini MPV

Alto 800 2012–present Hatchback

Celerio 2014–present Hatchback

 Ciaz 2014–present Sedan

Baleno 2015–present Hatchback

S-Cross 2015–present Mini SUV

Vitara Brezza 2016–present Mini SUV

Ignis 2017–2019 Hatchback

CelerioX 2017–present Hatchback

Discontinued models

Model Launched Discontinued Category Image

800 1983 2010 Hatchback

Gypsy E 1985 2000 Mini SUV

1000 1990 2000 Sedan

Zen 1993 2003 Hatchback

Esteem 1994 2010 Sedan

Baleno 1999 2007 Sedan

Alto 2000 2012 Hatchback

Versa 2001 2010 Minivan

Grand Vitara XL7 2003 2007 Mini SUV

Grand Vitara 2007 2015 Mini SUV

Zen Estilo 2007 2013 Hatchback

A-star 2008 2014 Hatchback

SX4 2008 2014 Sedan

Swift Dzire 2008 2017 Sedan

Ritz 2008 2016 Hatchback

Kizashi 2011 2014 Sedan

Gypsy King 1985 2018 Mini SUV

 Sales and Service Network

Maruti Suzuki has 1,820 sales outlets across 1,471 cities in India. The company aims to double its
sales network to 4,000 outlets by 2020. It has 3,145 service stations across 1,506 cities throughout
India. Maruti's dealership network is larger than that of Hyundai, Mahindra, Honda, Tata, Toyota and
Ford combined. Service is a major revenue generator of the company. Most of the service stations are
managed on franchise basis, where Maruti Suzuki trains the local staff. Other automobile companies
have not been able to match this benchmark set by Maruti Suzuki. The Express Service stations help
many stranded vehicles on the highways by sending across their repair man to the vehicle.
NEXA
In 2015 Maruti Suzuki launched NEXA, a new dealership format for its premium cars.
Maruti currently sells the Baleno, Baleno RS, S-Cross, Ciaz and Ignis through NEXA outlets. S-Cross
was the first car to be sold through NEXA outlets. Several new models will be added to both channels
as part of the Company's medium term goal of 2 million annual sales by 2020.

Awards and recognition

The Brand Trust Report published by Trust Research Advisory, a brand analytics company, has ranked
Maruti Suzuki in the thirty seventh position in 2013 and eleventh position in 2014 among the most
trusted brands of India.
Viewers' Choice Car of the Year published by CNBC-TV18 OVERDRIVE, Overdrive is India’s No.1
Auto Publication for Cars and Bikes in India, has awarded Maruti Suzuki Baleno the Viewers' Choice
Car of the Year 2016
 Market Share

• THE LATEST STATISTICS SAY THAT MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA PVT LTD. HAS
A WHOOPING 35% IN THE PASSENGER CAR SEGMENT.

• THE MARKET SHARE OF MARUTI IS INCREASING AS THE OVERALL

INDUSTRY IS SUFFERING FROM THE BAD ECONOMIC CONDITIONS.

• THE ENTRY LEVEL SMALL CAR ALTO IS THE BEST SELLING CAR IN ALL
SEGMENTS SINCE LAST SEVEREL YEARS AND SELLS AROUND 18000
UNITS EVERY MONTH.

• THE SECOND, THIRD AND THE FOURTH HIGHEST SELLING CARS ARE
WAGONR, SWIFT AND DEZIRE. ALL THESE ARE PRODUCTS OF MARUTI
INDIA PVT LTD.

• THE COMPANY SELLS ABOUT A MILLION UNITS PER ANNUM.

 SALES AND SERVICE NETWORK

• MARUTI INDIA UNDOUBTEDLY HAS THE BEST SALES AND SERVICE

NETWORK IN THE INDUSTRY.

• IT HAS 802 SALES OUTLETS IN 555 CITIES AND 2740

SERVICE WORKSHOPS IN 1335 CITIES. THE SERVICE NETWORK OF

THE MARUTI SUZUKI INCLUDES DEALER WORKSHOPS, AUTHORIZED
SERVICE STATIONS AND MARUTI SERVICE ZONES WHICH SUMS UP TO
3013.

• Over 33000 personnel are engaged in the service centers of the company.

• The company is all set to double the sales network by the end of 2015.
 Sales Promotion and CRM Activities

1. CONSUMER PROMOTION ACTIVITIES

• Price Packs.
• Price packs are the general offers to customers of savings off the regular price
of the products.

Maruti, in spite of achieving magical figures every year consistently offer price
packs. GIFT CHEQUES AND EXCHANGE BONUSES ARE ALWAYS OFFERED
ON EVERY MARUTI CAR ALL ROUND THE YEAR.

• Premiums and Gifts.

Maruti Suzuki offers accessories like alloy wheels, body cover, carpets, door visors,
fog lamps, stereo systems, seat covers and other car care products as gifts with the
higher end product

• FREQUENCY PROGRAMS.
Frequency programs are to reward the loyal customers of the company. Maruti has a
loyalty discount in which the company offers 2-3% discount on the product if the buyer
is already an owner of a Maruti car. A special corporate discount is offered to
employees of certain companies on the cars.
  FREE TEST DRIVES.

The test drives are free of cost and is the best way of demonstrating a product where
the potential buyer himself drives the vehicle and decides whether or not to buy the
car.
The company provides a test drive on a telephone request at the buyer’s home. So
the buyers don’t even have to go to the sales outlet for the drive but the company
guys come to the buyers place.

 PRODUCT WARRANTIES.
The warranties of the products are as high as up to 40,000 km.
This considerably reduces the cost of owning a Maruti making it the perfect car for the
middle class masses which is the target market of most of the cars of the company.

• POINT OF PURCHASE DISPLAYS.

Displays and demonstrations are of the most importance for the company. The
company is bothered about this particular parameter to such an extent that the
dealerships are given only after the minimum space requirements and the location
requirements are fulfilled by the applicants.
2. TRADE PROMOTION ACTIVITIES.

Price off
• Price off is a straight discount off the list price or the landing price offered to the
retailers.
• Maruti offers a discount on achieving certain targets to its dealers. The exact
information on this is with the dealers and the company but the TODs are definitely
offered

3. BUSINESS AND SALES FORCE PROMOTION ACTIVITIES

• AUTO SHOWS.
Maruti is a consistent participator in the world famous auto shows like AUTOEXPO
and Geneva motor show. Most of its products and new launches are mainly in
these mega events in and out of India alike.

• SALES CONTEST
• Sales contest aims at inducing the dealers to increase their sales over a stated
period, with prizes going to those who succeed.
• THE DEALER OF THE YEAR AWARD is given by Maruti depending on the sales
and service done the dealers. Other prizes like cash discounts and foreign trips
are common in the company dealers.
 Major Sponsorships

• The first sponsor of the advertiser funded film MERE DAD KI

MARUTI.

• Sponsors many road safety award for students and policemen.

• MARUTI ALSO SPONSORED THE ONLINE CRICKET LEAGUE NAMED

MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA LEAGUE WHICH GENERATED 3.20 LAKH CLICKS.

• Sponsored the 6TH INDIAN PREMIER LEAGUE and reached 7 million audience
 CRM ACTIVITIES

MARUTI DRIVING SCHOOL.

Today there are over 300 MDSs nationwide, and the company has already created 5
lakh better, more confident drivers.

AT HOME TEST DRIVE

The customer just has to give a call to the dealer and the dealer will arrange for a test drive
from your home.

ME AND MY MARUTI
This is a program where the company gives free tips to the owners of their cars about the day
to day driving, maintenance and troubleshooting in case something goes wrong with the car.

THE EXPERIENCE AT THE DEALERSHIP

The company sees to it that the customer is treated properly and due attention is given
to their queries.
They also offer advisory service in case a customer is not very
Sure about which car to buy. It is a good experience to buy at Maruti showrooms.
 After Sales Service

• Maruti has backed the BEST SERVICE PROVIDER AWARD the 14th time this year. And it is not
very surprising.
• With this tremendous penetration into the country and over 3000 service stations, it is undoubtedly
the best service provider with a daily servicing of more than 40000 cars.

• Maruti has the MOST COST EFFECTIVE genuine spare parts available at all the service stations
and also special spare part authorized dealers. So finding a spare part of a Maruti car is not a
trouble at all. With AFTER SALES SERVICE being one of the major concerns of the middle class
people, Maruti earns great points and the effect is seen in its sales.
 Conclusion

Maruti Suzuki India Pvt Ltd. is the biggest manufacturer of passenger cars and holds a market share of

over 35% in the Indian market and an average export of 1lakh units per annum. This consistent success

and sust0ainability is achieved by its fool-proof sales strategy, which not only involves customers but

also the dealers of the company. The CRM of the company also is commendable and undoubtedly adds

to the growth of the company.

 Bibliography

1. https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-strategy-of-maruti-suzuki/

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maruti_Suzuki

3. https://www.mbaskool.com/marketing-mix/products/16974-maruti-suzuki.html

4. http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Marketing/MKTG230.htm

5. https://www.google.com/search?q=maruti+suzuki+promotion+strategy&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ve
d=0ahUKEwiP_8yFtKLhAhUVU30KHdVtAUIQ_AUIDygC&biw=1536&bih=722