A STUDY OF IMC & IMPACT OF ADVERTISING

ON RETAIL SHOPPERS

A PROJECT SUBMITTED IN

PART COMPLETION OF

POST GRADUATION DIPLOMA IN MANAGEMENT STUDIES

TO

THAKUR INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH

Submitted by
AKRUTI SHEWANI

Under the guidance of

PROF.YESHA MEHTA

TIMSR

FULL TIME BATCH 2014-16

Thakur Institute of Management Studies and Research

Kandivali East, Mumbai – 400 101
 A STUDY OF IMC & IMPACT OF ADVERTISING
ON RETAIL SHOPPERS

A PROJECT SUBMITTED IN

PART COMPLETION OF

POST GRADUATION DIPLOMA IN MANAGEMENT STUDIES

TO

THAKUR INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES & RESEARCH

Submitted by
AKRUTI SHEWANI

Under the guidance of

PROF.YESHA MEHTA

TIMSR

FULL TIME BATCH 2014-16

Thakur Institute of Management Studies and Research

Kandivali East, Mumbai – 400 101
 DECLARATION

I Akruti S Shewani student of Thakur Institute of Management Studies & Research of PGDM
(Semester IV) hearby declare that I have completed this project under the titled “A STUDY OF
IMC & IMPACT OF ADVERTISING ON RETAIL SHOPPERS” in the academic year
2015-2016 under the guidance of Prof. Yesha Mehta, Thakur Institute of management Studies &
Research.

All the details and analysis provided in the report hold true to the best of my knowledge.

The Information submitted is true and original to the best of my knowledge.

Signature of the Director Signature of the Mentor

DR. RAMAKUMAR AMBATIPUDI PROF. YESHA MEHTA

Signature of the Student

AKRUTI SHEWANI
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

―It is not possible to prepare a project report without the assistance & encouragement of other
people. This one is certainly no exception.‖

On the very outset of this report, I would like to extend my sincere & heartfelt obligation towards
all the personages who have helped me in this endeavor. Without their active guidance, help,
cooperation & encouragement, I would not have made headway in the project.

I would like to express my heart full gratitude to Prof. Yesha Mehta who guided me for my final
project. I am extremely thankful and pay my gratitude to my mentor and faculty for the valuable
guidance and support on completion of this project report.

I extend my gratitude to Thakur Institute of Management Studies & Research for giving me this
opportunity.

I also acknowledge with a deep sense of reverence, my gratitude towards my parents and
member of my family, who has always supported me morally as well as economically. At last
but not least gratitude goes to all of my friends who directly or indirectly helped me to complete
this project report.

Any omission in this brief acknowledgement does not mean lack of gratitude.
-Akruti Shewani
 Executive Summary
The study tells about the basis of the Integrated Marketing Communications in today‘s
competitive world. How IMC tools can be effective to drive out the potential customers from
major chunk of the population. The Indian retail market is in its nascent stage;
unorganized players accounted for 92 per cent of the market during 2015. There are over 15
million mom-and-pop stores Between FY09-13, organized retail in India witnessed a CAGR
of 19-20 per cent. Organized retail is expected to account for 24 per cent of the overall retail
market by 2020. The retail sector in India is emerging as one of the largest sectors in the
economy. By 2015, the total market size is estimated to be around US$ 600 billion, thereby
registering a CAGR of 7.45 per cent since 2000. Retail industry is expected to grow to US$ 1.3
trillion by 2020, registering a CAGR of 9.7 per cent between 2000-2020. The Indian retail
Industry in the single-brand segment has received Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity
inflows totalling US$ 344.9 million during April 2000–September 2015, according to the
Department of Industrial Policies and Promotion (DIPP). Major players in this sector are Adidas,
Amazon, Shoppers Stop, Arvind Limited etc. Buyer power and threat of rivalry is very high in
Retail Sector. Both these factors are formidable. This could be reason of consolidation in the
industry. Companies try to reduce threat of rivalry by merging or buying out rival companies.
The Government of India has taken various initiatives to improve the retail industry in India. The
Ministry of Urban Development has come out with a Smart National Common Mobility Card
(NCMC) model to enable seamless travel by metros and other transport systems across the
country, as well as retail purchases. IKEA, the world‘s largest furniture retailer, bought its first
piece of land in India in Hyderabad, the joint capital of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, for
building a retail store. IKEA‘s retail outlets have a standard design and each location entails an
investment of around Rs 500–600 crore (US$ 75–90 million). The Government of India has
accepted the changes proposed by Rajya Sabha select committee to the bill introducing Goods
and Services Tax (GST). Implementation of GST is expected to enable easier movement of
goods across the country, thereby improving retail operations for pan-India retailers
 List of Charts

Figure/Table Topic Page No.

1 Diagram for Communication Process 9
2 Advantages & Limitations 14
3 Figure Black & White Campaign 29
4 Research Methodology 36
 List of Content

Sr No. Particulars Page No.

1 IMC Introduction 1

1.1 Reasons for the growing importance of IMC in contemporary market 4

1.2 The Need for Integrated Marketing Communications 5

2 Process of IMC 9

2.1 IMC Tools 11

3 Statement of the Problem 23

3.1 Need of the Study 23

4 Case Studies 24

5 Literature Review 27

6 Research on the Various Shoppers Stop Campaigns and Their Effects on the 29
Audiences

7 Research Conducted On the Effectiveness of Brand Campaigns over the Years 33

by Shoppers Stop

7.1 Objectives of the study 33

7.2 Research Design 34

7.3 Sample Size 34

7.4 Sample Type 34

7.5 Data Collection 34

7.6 Research Methodology 35

7.7 Tools used for Analysis 36

7.8 Limitation Of Study 36

8 Research Results and Analysis 37

9 Key Findings & Recommendations 46

10 Conclusion 47

11 Bibliography 48

12 Annexure 49
STUDY OF IMC AND IMPACT OF ADVERTISING
ON RETAIL SHOPPERS
 Integrated Marketing Communication

1. Introduction

According to Philip Kotler, Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is ―The concept under
which a company carefully integrates and coordinates its many communications channels to
deliver a clear, consistent, and compelling message about the organization and its products”

According to The American Marketing Association, it is ―a planning process designed to assure

that all brand contacts received by a customer or prospect for a product, service, or
organization are relevant to that person and consistent over time.”

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is defined as customer centric, data driven method
of communicating with the customers. IMC is the coordination and integration of all marketing
communication tools, avenues, functions and sources within a company into a seamless program
that maximizes the impact on consumers and other end users at a minimal cost. This
management concept is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as
advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified
force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation.

The marketing of products and services and the ways in which communication takes place with
customers and consumers in advanced industrial nations has changed tremendously over the
last two decades. Technological revolutions and innovations such as the Internet and mobile
phones now affect many millions of people, yet were almost unheard of twenty years ago.
Control over information or power over information has apparently shifted from the hands of
manufacturers to the hands or minds of consumers. Consequently marketers have had to change
the ways they conduct their marketing communication activities toward a more holistic customer
oriented and potentially customer-controlled process. Often this process is termed ‗Integrated
Marketing Communications‘ (‗IMC‘ in its abbreviated and perhaps more recognizable form).

The IMC perspective requires that a company develop a total marketing communications
strategy that recognizes all of the ways a company can communicate with its customers.
IMC is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales
promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force, rather than
permitting each to work in isolation.

This concept includes many online and offline marketing channels. Online marketing channels
include any e-marketing campaigns or programs, from search engine optimization (SEO), pay-
per-click, and affiliate, and email, banner to latest web related channels for webinar, blog, RSS,
pod cast, and Internet TV. Offline marketing channels are traditional print (newspaper,
magazine), mail order, public relations, industry analyst relations billboard, radio, and television.

Many agencies respond to the call for synergy among the various promotional tools by acquiring
PR, Sales Promotion, and direct marketing companies and touting themselves as IMC agencies
that offer one stop shopping for all of their clients‘ promotional needs.

The Changing Communications Environment

Two major factors are changing the face of today‘s marketing communications:

First, as mass markets have fragmented, marketers are shifting away from mass marketing and
developing focused marketing programs, designed to build closer relationships with customers in
more narrowly defined micro markets.

Second, vast improvements in information technology are speeding the movement toward
segmented marketing. Today‘s information technology helps marketers to keep closer track of
customer needs—more information about consumers at the individual and household levels is
available than ever before. New technologies also provide new communications avenues for
reaching smaller customer segments with more tailored messages.
1.1 Reasons for the growing importance of IMC in contemporary market

The integrated marketing communications movement is also being driven by changes in the
ways companies market their products and services. A major reason for the growing importance
of the IMC approach is the ongoing revolution that is changing the rules of marketing.

These changes include:

 A shift from media advertising to other forms of promotions particularly consumer and trade
oriented sales promotion.
 A movement away from mass media and advertising toward more targeted communication
tools such as event marketing and sponsorship, direct mail, and the Internet.
 A shift in marketplace power from manufacturers to retailers resulting in retailers demanding
larger promotional fees and allowances from manufacturers.
 Technology has allowed for a rapid increase in database development and information
sharing. Marketers are using this information to improve market targeting.
 Greater accountability from advertising agencies and changes in agency compensation.
Companies are moving more toward incentive based systems of compensation.
 Rapid growth of the Internet. The interactive nature of the Internet has made it a vital part of
most companies‘ communications strategy
1.2 The Need for Integrated Marketing Communications

1. More Contact Points: It used to be that traditional mass media (radio, print, TV) was the way
to go when it comes to advertising a product, service or brand. While they still have their uses,
your customers now interact with your brand in so many ways beyond this. It is the aim of an
integrated marketing communications practitioner to cover all the contact points – including
customer service, store design, direct marketing, word-of-mouth marketing, internet, after
sales service, new media, etc.
2. More Specialized Media: It used to be that mass media was enough to cover any advertiser‘s
needs. But with ever-increasing ad clutter, shorter attention spans and greater resistance to
advertising, your customers now tend to be a lot more selective: they shut out the stuff they
feel they don‘t need, and go with the stuff that they want. So media now tends to zero in on a
particular niche market: you now have a cable channel just for kids- 24/7; totally unheard of at
my time. You‘ve seen magazines that cater to entrepreneurs, pet owners, budget travellers,
mothers and sports fans. Recently, we‘ve seen even more specialized media: you have
podcasts now that talk about starting up a successful small business, viral video clips of cats,
and blogs on cheap hotels and resorts in the Asia-Pacific.
3. More than ever, customers are king: The power has shifted from the manufacturers (those
who make a product) to the retailers (those who actually sell the product). We all know it: it‘s
easier to keep an existing customer happy than it is to win back a customer you lost. Retailers
now place greater emphasis on protecting their clientele- and take great pains in whipping up
the best possible experience for their patrons- before, during and after the sale.
4. Marketing in now more data-based: When a client blows US$10 million on a local TV ad
campaign does it know exactly how many people watched his ad? Out of those who did see
the ad, how many of them actually remembered it was all about? And of those who did
manage to remember what it was about, how many answered the call to action? More
advertisers are reluctant to shell out wads of cash for media buy- and rightly so. How do you
know you‘re getting your media investment back? Understandably, they want to see figures-
to see exactly how that quarterly ad campaign budget is spent, and ask themselves: is it really
worth all the time, money and effort? Particularly among small- to medium-scale enterprises,
you now have all kinds of marketing tools for any given promotional campaign. As business
 becomes more cutthroat, business owners who are also now more involved in the marketing
process hang on tightly to their media budgets- and let go after carefully choosing the right
mix of media- both traditional and non-traditional.
5. More widespread internet use: Thanks to the worldwide web, your customers can check out
what they want anytime they feel like it. Conversely, it also means that your business can also
exist outside your regular business hours, and therefore have the opportunity to keep selling
24/7. Every company should have an online presence now- and it doesn‘t have to be a static
brochure-type website. Company blogs give a more human face to your business, allowing
you to interact with your online audience. Innovative promotional activities can help bring in
new business. And you can expect your clientele to talk about you- particularly so if your
product, service or brand has made a tremendous impact on them- both in good and bad ways.

Traditional approach to marketing communication :

The shift from mass marketing to targeted marketing, with its corresponding use of a richer
mixture of communication channels and promotion tools, poses a problem for marketers.
Consumers are being exposed by the company via different promotional approaches such as
advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, or direct marketing in order to
deliver their message. Messages delivered all become part of a single message about the
company. Conflicting messages from these different sources result in confused company images
and brand positions. Often companies fail to integrate their various communications channels.
The result is a jumble of communications to consumers.

This the traditional approach to advertising and promotion where many of the marketing and
promotional functions were planned and managed separately with different budgets, different
views of the market, and different goals and objectives. The traditional approach to marketing
communications lacks coordination and consistency.
Contemporary approach to Integrated Marketing Communications:

The contemporary approach to advertising and promotion is referred to as Integrated Marketing

Communications. This approach seeks to have a company‘s entire marketing and promotional
activities project a consistent, unified image in the marketplace and calls for a centralized
messaging function so that everything a company says and does communicates a common theme
and positioning.

The marketing executive of HUL quoted ―IMC builds a strong brand identity in the marketplace
by tying together and reinforcing all your images and messages. IMC means that all your
corporate messages, positioning and images, and identity are coordinated across all [marketing
communications] venues. It means that your PR materials say the same thing as your direct mail
campaign, and your advertising has the same ‗look and feel‘ as your Web site.‖
2. PROCESS OF IMC
 Communication Process

IMC involves identifying the target audience and shaping a well-coordinated promotional
program to elicit the desired audience response. Too often, marketing communications focus on
overcoming immediate awareness, image, or preference problems in the target market. But this
approach to communication has limitations: It is too short term and too costly, and most
messages of this type fall on deaf ears.

Marketers are moving toward viewing communications as managing the customer relationship
over time, during the pre-selling, selling, consuming, and post consumption stages. Because
customers differ, communications programs need to be developed for specific segments, niches,
and even individuals. Given the new interactive communications technologies, companies must
ask not only ―How can we reach our customers?‖ but also ―How can we find ways to let our
customers reach us?‖ Therefore, the communications process should start with an audit of all the
potential interactions that target customers may have with the product and company.

For example, someone purchasing a new computer may talk with others, see television
commercials, read articles and ads in newspapers and magazines, and try out computers in the
store. Marketers must assess the influence that each of these communications experiences will
have at different stages of the buying process. This understanding will help them allocate their
communication dollars more efficiently and effectively.

To communicate effectively, marketers need to understand how communication works.

Communication involves the nine elements shown in two of these
elements are the major parties in a communication — the sender
and receiver. Another two are the major communication tools—the
message and the media. Four more are major communication
functions—encoding, decoding, response, and feedback. The last
element is noise in the system. Definitions of these elements are
applied to an ad for Hewlett-Packard color multifunction machines:

Figure 1 - Communication Process

The Communication Process

Sender: The party sending the message to another party. Senders are companies seeking to
transmit ideas to consumers, employees, other companies, retail outlets and others Here,
Hewlett-Packard.

Encoding: The process of putting thought into symbolic form. Encoding devices are the means
of transmitting information and include advertisements, PR efforts, sales verbal cues, promotions
and a wide variety of additional verbal and nonverbal indication sent out to receivers —HP‘s
advertising agency assembles words and illustrations into an advertisement that will convey the
intended message.

Message: The set of symbols that the sender transmits .The transmission devices are the media
and spokespersons that carry the message.—the actual HP multifunction machine ad.

Media: The communication channels through which the message moves from sender to
receiver—in this case, the specific magazines that HP selects.

Decoding: The process by which the receiver assigns meaning to the symbols encoded by the
sender Decoding occurs when the receivers (customers, retailers, etc.) receives the intended
message —a consumer reads the HP multifunction machine ad and interprets the words and
illustrations it contains.

Receiver: The party receiving the message sent by another party—the home office or business
customer who reads the HP multifunction machine ad.

Response: The reactions of the receiver after being exposed to the message—any of hundreds of
possible responses, such as the consumer is more aware of the attributes of HP multifunction
machines, actually buys an HP multifunction machine, or does nothing.

Feedback: The part of the receiver‘s response communicated back to the sender—HP research
shows that consumers are struck by and remember the ad, or consumers write or call HP praising
or criticizing the ad or HP‘s products.

Noise: The unplanned static or distortion during the communication process, which results in the
receiver‘s getting a different message than the one the sender sent. Noise takes many forms in
marketing, notably the clutter of an overabundance of messages in every available channel - the
consumer is distracted while reading the magazine.

2.1 IMC Tools

―Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or
services by an identified sponsor.‖

The nature and purpose of advertising differs from one industry to another and/or across
situations. Advertising can be targeted toward consumer and/or business markets.

Consumer advertising is classified as:

National advertising – done by large companies on a nationwide basis. Ads for well-known
brands and companies shown on television are an example.

Retail/Local advertising – done by retail and local merchants encouraging consumers to shop at a
specific store, use a local service, or patronize a particular establishment.

Primary versus selective demand advertising – primary demand advertising is designed to

stimulate demand for the general product class or industry. Selective-demand focuses on
creating demand for a specific company and/or its brands.

Advertising to business and professional markets

Newspap
er.
includes:
Televisio
Outdoor
n
Business to business advertising – advertising that
Adverti
targets individuals who buy or influence the purchase sing
Mediu
Magazin m Yellow
of industrial goods or services for their companies. es Pages.

Professional advertising – advertising targeted to Telemar

Specialty
Advertisi
keting
ng
professionals such doctors, lawyers, engineers, and
the like.

Trade advertising – targeted to marketing channel members such as wholesalers, distributors, and
retailers.
The most frequently used IMC tools are:

1. Television

o Television permits to reach large numbers of people on a national or regional level in a short
period of time
o Independent stations and cable offer new opportunities to pinpoint local audiences
o Television being an image-building and visual medium, it offers the ability to convey the
message with sight, sound and motion
o Message is temporary, and may require multiple exposure for the ad to rise above the clutter
o Limited length of exposure, as most ads are only thirty seconds long or less, which limits the
amount of information to communicate
o Relatively expensive in terms of creative, production and airtime costs
o In spite of the above weaknesses television has high brand recall value following are the few
amazing ads:

 Cadbury- ―Kuch meetha ho jaye‖

 Coke –―Thanda matlab coca cola‖
 Fevicol – ―Yeh fevicol ka mazboot jod hai tootega nahi‖
 Pepsi –―Yeh dil mange more‖

2. Newspapers
o Newspapers are one of the traditional mediums used by businesses, both big and small alike,
to advertise their businesses.
o Allows reaching a huge number of people in a given geographic area and can be as large as
necessary in order to communicate the message.
o There is flexibility in deciding the ad size and placement within the newspaper
o Targeting is possible through profiling readership and good level of market coverage.
o The ad has to compete against the clutter of other advertisers, including the giants ads run by
supermarkets and department stores as well as the ads of the competitors
o Short-life span, i.e. today‘s newspapers become tomorrow‘s rubbish.
3. Yellow Pages
o Yellow pages are used to promote and advertise the company business.
o Wide availability, as mostly everyone uses the Yellow Pages.
o Action-oriented, as the audience is actually looking for the ads.
o Responses are easily tracked and measured and Ads are reasonably inexpensive
o Pages can look cluttered, and your ad can easily get lost in the clutter
o The ad is placed together with all your competitors
o Limited creativity in the ads, given the need to follow a pre-determined format.
4.Radio

o Mass use of radio by audience, particularly in cars on the way to work and home
o High geographic and demographic reach
o Targeting is possible through selection of channel and programmed
o Free creative help is often available
o Audio communication only
o Radio is a background medium. Most listeners are doing something else while listening,
which means that your ad has to work hard to get their attention

5. Magazines
o Magazines are a more focused, albeit more expensive, alternative to newspaper advertising.
This medium allows reaching highly targeted audiences.
o Allows for better targeting of audience to choose magazine publications that cater to specific
audience or whose editorial content specializes in topics of interest to the audience.
o High reader involvement means that more attention will be paid to the advertisement
o Better quality paper permits better color reproduction and full-color ads and the smaller page
(generally 8 ½ by 11 inches) permits even small ads to stand out.
o There is limited flexibility in terms of ad placement and format.
6. Outdoor
o High repeat exposure to advert
o Relatively low cost
o Low levels of competition, in terms of advertising clutter
o Limited audience selectivity / targeting possible
o Static media, not suitable for product demonstrations & difficult to monitor.
o Potential for damage, via weather etc.

7. Specialty Advertising

o This kind of advertising entails the use of imprinted, useful, or decorative products called
advertising specialties, such as key chains, computer mouse, mugs, etc. These articles are
distributed for free; recipients need not purchase or make a contribution to receive these
items. Pepsi and Coca Cola often paint the entire shop with their logo; this is to remind the
consumer of their existence in that area.

Table 2 - Advantages & Limitations

8. Sales promotions
o Sales Promotion is the marketing activity that provides extra value or incentives to the sales
force, distributors, or ultimate consumers and can stimulate immediate sales. Sales promotion
is a short term incentive to attract the consumers.
o It is a key element in inducing trial or repurchase in many communication programs in which
advertising creates awareness and favourable attitudes but fails to spur action. The action
comes about due to the limited duration of the program so the consumer must act quickly.
The consumer may perceive this as a value for money purchase.

Sales promotion can be grouped into the following:

Consumer sales promotion methods encourage or stimulate consumers to patronize specific retail
stores or try particular products. These are used to get the consumer to try or to repurchase the
brand and to get the retail trade to carry and to ‗push‘ the brand.

1) Coupons: A coupon is a written price reduction used to encourage consumers to buy a

specific product. Coupons reduce a product‘s price and are used to prompt customers to try new
or established products, to increase sales volume quickly, to attract repeat purchasers, or to
introduce new packages sizes or features.

2) Demonstrations: Manufacturers offer them temporarily to encourage trial use and purchase
of the product or to show how the product works. They can be highly effective for promoting
certain types of products, such as appliances, cosmetics, and cleaning supplies.

3) Free samples: Marketers use free samples to stimulate trial of a product, to increase sales
volume in the early stages of a product‘s life cycle, or to obtain desirable distribution. Sampling
is the most expensive of all sales promotion methods because production and distribution – at
local events, by mail or door-to-door delivery, in stores, and on packages—entail very high costs.
Free samples are generally not appropriate for slow-turnover products. Despite high costs, use of
free samples is increasing.

4) Premiums: Premiums are items offered free or at minimum cost as a bonus for purchasing a
product. They are used to attract competitors‘ customers, introduce different sizes of established
products, add variety to other promotional efforts, and stimulate consumer loyalty. Premiums are
placed on or in packages and can also be distributed by retailers or through the mail.

5) Money refunds and rebates: With money refunds, consumers submit proof of purchase and
are mailed a specific amount of money. Usually, manufacturers demand multiple product
purchases before consumers qualify for refunds. With rebates, the customer is sent a specified
amount of money for making a single purchase. These methods used primarily to promote trail
use of a product, are relatively low in cost.

Trade sales promotion methods stimulate wholesalers and retailers to carry a producer‘s
products and to market these products more aggressively. Retails use promotions to clear their
inventory of slow moving, out of season, shelf-unstable products and pull the consumers to buy
the products. Price cuts, displays, frequent shopper programs and so on are few of the sales
promotions done by the retailers.

1) Trade Allowances: Trade Allowances offer cash payments for good display and promotion by
the retailers. Trade promotions are the incentives given to the retailers to get an edge over the
competitor‘s products. Many companies give franchisees support for good infrastructure,
display, shelf display.

2) Sales contests: A sales contest is designed to motivate distributors, retailers, and sales
personnel by recognizing outstanding achievements.

3) Trade shows: A trade show is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry
can showcase and demonstrate their latest products, service, study activities of rivals and
examine recent trends and opportunities.

4) Buy-Back Allowances: A buy-back allowance is a sum of money given to a reseller for each
unit bought after an initial deal is over. This method is a secondary incentive in which the total
amount of money that resellers receive is proportional to their purchases during an initial trade
deal, such as coupon offer. Buy-back allowance foster cooperation during an initial sales
promotion effort and stimulate repurchase afterwards. The main drawback of this method is
expense.
Direct marketing

o Direct marketing is a form of integrated marketing communications whereby an organization

communicates directly with target customers to generate a response and/or transaction.
o Direct marketing is the use of consumer direct channels to reach and deliver goods and
services to customers without using marketing middlemen. These channels include direct
mail, telemarketing, catalogue marketing, telemarketing, interactive TV, kiosks and Internet

Forms of Direct Marketing

1) Direct mail marketing: In Direct Mail Marketing not only letters/brochures are mailed to the
prospects, but free product samples, gifts and compliments are also mailed, depending on the
context

2) Direct response marketing:

a) Toll free numbers:

Toll free telephones serve as a useful tool of direct response marketing. Toll free telephones
help better ordering by the customer, better dialogue between the customers and the company,
and better service to the customers.

b) Teleshopping/Home Shopping:

Here the marketer hawks the product on air and the consumer watches it on TV and calls the
marketer to purchase the product.

The Early Entrants (TV Channels): DD, Zee TV, united Television

The Early Entrants (Four Teleshopping Networks): Dee‘s Home Shopping, Teleshopping
Network (TSN), United Teleshopping (UTS) – a division of UTV, Asian Sky Shop – a division
of Zee TV.

3) Telemarketing:
The marketer goes directly to the customer using telecom/IT facilities. Telemarketing facilitates
personalized contact. It enhances marketing productivity by providing screening and selection
facility through preparatory conversations with prospects. Telemarketing is less expensive
compared to most other forms of selling how does telemarketing work?

Telemarketing is usually done through specific campaigns. Contact is established with hundreds
of prospects in a campaign that normally runs through a few days. Several telesales are hired for
the tele calling operation. The call centre is the real operation theatre in telemarketing.

4) Mail order marketing/Catalogue marketing:

In this method, the consumers become aware of a product through information furnished to them
by the marketer through catalogues dispatched by mail. The entire process takes place by mail.
Interested customers respond by placing a mail order to the marketer.

Benefits of direct marketing:

For the customers:

 Convenient
 Introduces consumer to a larger section of merchandise
 Private and easy
 Wider selection of products

For the sellers:

 Helps in gathering information about the customers

 Powerful tools for building customer relationships
 Gives access to buyers globally
 Helps in reducing costs

9. Public relation
PR involves:

Media Relations: The act of involvement with the various media for the purpose of informing
the public of the department‘s mission, policies and practices in a positive, consistent and
credible manner. All contacts with the media should be regarded as opportunities to educate
both the media and the public they inform on correctional and criminal justice issues.

a. Press Conference: When the company has an important announcement to make, public
relation agencies organize interactive sessions between company spokespersons and the
press.
b. Press Release: Accurate and to-the-point press releases are prepared that showcase the
organization in the best possible light.
c. Interviews: Interviews are arranged with the media .this includes the radio interviews
also.
d. Product and Technology Reviews: When the objective is to build credibility for a
product or technology, the company submits story ideas to the appropriate magazines,
which undertake vigorous testing and present their findings in the form of reviews and
articles. These reviews act as ambassadors for the product.
e. Editorial Calendar Management: One of the critical functions of Media Relations is to
be abreast with the stories the magazines are working on. This knowledge helps us plan
your public relations strategy effectively.
f. Contributed Articles:
Articles written by clients on current issues, trends, technology, products and other
matters of interest are placed in strategic, focused publications. This positions the author
as a thought leader.
g. Video News Releases: The most elaborate form of news delivery to the television station
is the videotaped news release along with a written news release. This ready-to-use report
presents your product, service, or idea in a news feature style.
h. Corporate Communications: Corporate communications is the process of facilitating
information and knowledge exchanges with internal and key external groups and
individuals that have a direct relationship with an enterprise. Some of the types of
corporate communication are -
1. Website Design: The first step to image building is the development of the corporate
website.
2. Content Development: The right message the right audience presented in the right
manner. PR agencies are capable of delivering technical brochures, case studies, corporate
presentations, CEO profiles, backgrounders and fact sheets with succinct writing, right on
target, every time.
3. HR Initiatives Support: Every employee is a spokesperson of your company, and that
brand building begins with internal audiences.
4. Newsletter Design: Newsletters may be aimed at both internal and external audiences.
Internal newsletters typically report to employees on trends in the field of work, forthcoming
events, personnel changes, policy announcements and among others to make employees feel
that they are informed about company affairs, right up to the minute. External newsletters
inform the audience about political trends that could effect the organization, announcements
of new programmes and policies, products, case studies and on specific subjects of interest to
the audience.
5. Photo Shoots: A picture speaks a thousand words. PR agencies provide the best quality
product portfolio and CEO profiles to project the right image of the company.
6. CSR Activities: In order to maintain good relations between the organization and the
community, to project the company as a socially responsible corporate entity.
7. Organizing events: Corporate events are used to woo publics in both a formal and an
informal manner. A formal corporate event could include a manufacturer inviting employees
from all of its many distributors to visit its manufacturing plant for a training day. This has a
direct business payoff. A more informal event could include a day at the races or a short-
break abroad, where clients are wined and dined at the cost of a company, in order to
generate goodwill. This has an indirect business payoff.
8. Trade Fairs: Organized by trade bodies, these events are opportunities to position the
company in the respective industry and to examine its own competencies over that of its
competitors. Trade fairs are organized on a regular basis.
9. Seminars and Conferences: Seminars are organized by companies and government
bodies to discuss a particular trend in the industry. Topics are contemporary and are in
keeping with the theme of the seminar.
 10. Product Launches: This assists to build awareness of your product in your target
market.
11. Investor Relations : Investor relations is a set of activities which relate to the ways in
which a company discloses information required for regulatory compliance and good
investment judgment to bond and/or shareholders and the wider financial markets.

10. Point-of-Purchase:

Point-of-purchase (P-O-P) materials include outside signs, window displays, counter pieces,
display racks, and self-service cartons. These items, often supplied by products, attract attention,
inform customers and encourage retailers to carry particular products. Top of the mind awareness
is the basis of the reminder and point of purchase material. A retailer is likely is to use point-of-
purchase materials if they are attractive, informative, well-constructed, and in harmony with the
store. For e.g. sachets of shampoos hanging right in front of the shop and they hit the customers
on the face that could be taken as point of purchase material.

11. Word-of-mouth

Retailers cannot directly control what customers say to friends about their stores, services and
products. However, they should be aware of this channel of information because potential
customers often rely on what customers of a store say about it. Unfair treatment of one customer
can create an ever-widening web, as more people are told about that customer‘s experience.
Fortunately, fair treatment and real value are also discussed among customers, although positive
aspects may not have as much influence as negative ones do. The point is, customers are going to
talk about their experience with the service and product available at the store.

10. Packaging

Packaging as a silent sales man because:

  Packaging helps to promote the brand and adds value to the product.
 Packaging Acts to differentiate from other products
 Packaging also communicates brand value to the end costumers
 Shape colour and size relate to customer motivation.
 Packaging leads to impulsive buying
 Packaging attracts the customer and helps in selling it to the customer.
 Packaging can be one key factor of the decision making in order to buy the product.
 Acts as a medium for advertising and sales promotion messages
 Innovative packaging can confer competitive advantage.
The following are so distinctive and well known and are recognized from packaging

 Parachute bottles by Marico.

 Green attractive packaging of Vim bar by HUL
 Tetra packing for amul chass by Amul.
 Bottled packing of coca cola
 3. Statement of the Problem

Advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and
theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). Advertising plays a
vital role to influence the customers. Various Ad campaigns of different companies play a
major role to drive the attention of the customers in the cut-throat competition zone. If the
ad is capable enough to convey the message which an individual associate with himself,
half job is done to attract the customer. The critical part of making an advertising campaign
is determining a campaign theme as it sets the tone for the individual advertisements and other
forms of marketing communications that will be used. The campaign theme is the central
message that will be communicated in the promotional activities.

3.1 Need of the Study

Ad campaigns in business is a form of marketing communication used to encourage, persuade,

or manipulate an audience (viewers, readers or listeners; sometimes a specific group) to take or
continue to take some action. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior
with respect to a commercial offering. To achieve the communication goals effectively,
advertisers must recognize the attributes of ethical advertising which will give them positive
image in the market which will attract more customers.
 4. Case Studies

1) Retail Marketing Case Study - Shoppers Stop

The Challenge

Executives at the Shoppers Stop Group noticed their sales falling into the 80:20 pattern with
loyalty card customers despite being only 15% of the base contributing over 70% of the revenues
of Shoppers Stop.

The Group realized that since they have data on loyalty card holders, if they could understand
who the customer really is, what she buys, when she buys and why, they may be able to fine tune
their offerings to provide the customer a better experience and increase their share of wallet.

The Solution

Shoppers Stop conceptualized 'Project Drishti', a data

warehouse and mining project in 2007 and launched it
in 2008 way ahead of competition. The objective of
the project was to streamline data obtained from
customers across all its stores and loyalty programs and convert it into analytics that could be
used for decision making.

Project Drishti led to the Group being able to identify and understand their target segments
across various stores and programs and create meaningful targeted campaigns for their bigger
spenders. It also enabled the company to identify cases where multiple stores in the same city
were losing business to each other instead of external competitors.

While the sales increase and customer base expansion achieved by Shoppers Stop till date is
important, what is most important is the fact that Shoppers Stop has equipped itself with the
weapon for the future- "Customer Intelligence." Ad this weapon will keep it ahead of
competition till competitors do a catch up and build smarter intelligence.
2] Westside: The Indian Retailing Success Story

Before entering the Indian retailing segment, Westside conducted market research on retailing
trends in the domestic and international markets. It was observed that in India, garment retailers
generally stocked both store-owned brands and other brands in the ratio of 30:70, as it was easy
to attract customers for the established brands. However, many major international retailers
stocked only their own brands because of high returns, increased store loyalty and less restriction
in terms of display, price and promotion. Stocking of only store-owned brands for Indian
retailers posed certain problems, however. Though they offered high margins, retailers suffered
on account of poor economies of scale (until they established many outlets) and heavy
investment in brand building. While all major Indian retail chains stocked established brands,
Westside decided to push its own brand

Promoting Westside

Westside gave a high priority to marketing in order to increase brand awareness among
consumers. The company focused on two parameters - style and affordability - to communicate
to potential customer. The company realized that these were the two pillars based on which it
could make an impact on customers. The stores were positioned on the 'fashion at affordable
pricing' platform. The store level promotions were integrated with external communication
through advertising. In-store promotions were used to give the shopper a feeling of getting
greater value, to offer a good shopping experience. Westside's total advertisement spending was
8 per cent of its sales. Westside did its regular brand building through advertisements in the
media and also through its in-house promotions, which peaked during summer, Diwali and
Christmas. During the Diwali season in 2000, Westside launched a "Festival of Delights"
program which gave each shopper a scratch-and-win card the greatest challenge for Westside is
from the unorganized sector (98 per cent of India's retail garment industry operated in the
unorganized sector) and to a lesser extent, from similar organized players. According to
Chakrawarti, "The main job was to get people to visit organized stores such as Westside instead
of buying from unorganized players." The general perception in India is that organized retailers
are more expensive than unorganized ones.

Westside responded to this by connecting price to quality.

It had to make customers realize that they were getting the latest style at very good prices, and in
a comfortable environment. The other challenge for Westside will be to compete with other retail
fashion businesses in India (both India and foreign) such as Shoppers Stop, Wills Sport15,
Raymond's (Be)16, Globus17, Nike18, Crocodile19, Mango20 and Marks & Spencer 21.
 5. Literature Review

Shoppers Stop is one of the first retail chains started in India in 1991 by the Raheja Group. It
now boasts of 27 retail outlets across the country and is one of India's largest retail chains,
having expanded from apparel and accessories to home furnishings and books under the Home
Stop and Crossword Brands. Other Brands under the Shoppers Stop umbrella are MotherCare,
Desi Cafe, Brio, Nuance, Arcelia, Timezone and Hypercity.

Marketing and corporate communications are the main persuasive element the organization can
use to connect with its markets by communicating ideas and seeking to impart particular
perceptions of brands, products and services to customers, consumers and stakeholders.
Nevertheless, the increasingly wider variety of communication and promotional tools together
with the modern-day array of on- and off-line channels and media forms can widely disseminate
messages. Traditionally the literature distinguishes between two types of communication tools:
above and below-the-line, the former related to mass or conventional media, while the latter
involves communication tools in non-conventional media. Nowadays the ‗line‘ mentioned above
is fairly irrelevant. Yet these tools have been developed separately and in practice could lead to
uncoordinated implementation, this may not directly lead to contradictory communications.
Nevertheless a lack of strategic appreciation of communication is evident and this may be a key
barrier in achieving desired synergies to leverage stakeholder relationships in terms of brand
equity and financial performance. In this complex and dynamic context, the concept of
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) has emerged and since the mid-1990‘s it has come
to the fore and attracted considerable attention in the literature. To explain the need of analyzing
and exploring this concept, we should commence by examining the development of the
‗marketing‘ concept through its evolution from transactional and functional approaches to the
current focus on relationship marketing.

In 1964 McCarthy's ―4Ps model‖ simplified Borden's marketing mix by reducing the initial
twelve elements to only four variables that represented the instructional guidelines for most
marketing courses Marketing has evolved from a logic focused on transactions and products to
being focused upon the development of long-term relationships and the underlying improvement
of resources and competencies in order to create and sustain customer value. Similarly,
communication has been traditionally approached and managed from the functional perspective
with the clear aim of persuasion. Persuasion tends to be one-way and is identified with the
transactional marketing approach- to inform, persuade and remind. Yet, a relational approach to
communication is a wider concept that goes beyond persuasion and aims to build dialogue with
stakeholders in the attempt to achieve three main objectives: to inform, listen and respond. This
dialogue, if pursued, will lead to increased organizational brand value.

Schultz and Schultz consider that the planning, development and implementation of marketing
programs should be approached in a different and new way. According to these authors, such an
approach concerns the integration of a wide range of activities and functions that influence and
impact upon dynamic information flows between an organization and its stakeholders.
Nowadays, most marketing professionals are changing their approaches due to dramatic
alterations that are currently affecting markets, consumers/clients, technologies, media and the
ability to collect, manipulate and store data. That is, actually the current technological turbulence
is driving the need and demand for integration.
 6. Research on various Shoppers Stop Campaigns and their Effect on the
Consumers.

A) Time for a Change -

SHOPPERS STOP - BLACK & WHITE CAMPAIGN : TIME FOR A CHANGE?

Figure 3 - Black & White Campaign

When the first black and white print campaign of Shoppers Stop broke in 1993, it immediately
attracted my attention. It was so different from the other retail ads which were then prevalent in
the media. These ads looked less like retail store ads and more like designer wear ads.

What struck me about the campaign was:

• It was in black and white --- which until then was unthinkable for ads of retail stores.
• The merchandise was not shown in the ads.
• None of the ads showed the store.
• The ads relied primarily on the body copy to convey the advertising message rather than on
the visuals of the merchandise.
• Significantly Shoppers Stop was being promoted as a product or brand rather than as a store.
The campaign was so striking that it immediately prompted me do a story on it. It appeared in
‗Perspectives‘ the advertising and marketing supplement of ‗The Metropolis on Saturday‘ – a
Times of India publication. When I met the senior account executive, Contract Advertising (the
agency still handles the account), he noted that this was an effective way to stand out from the
clutter of numerous colour ads. He said ―It is the starkness; the playing around with black and
white and use of sharp contrasts which makes the ad stand out.‖
The campaign worked although the store was located in Andheri, a far flung suburb of Mumbai,
it attracted customers from Breach Candy and Cuffe Parade—south Mumbai‘s posh areas.

Although from a single store Shoppers Stop is now a chain of stores with a presence all over the
country, it continues with its black and white print campaign. Recently the Andheri store was
relaunched after a makeover and the relaunch was announced with a black and white print ad
featuring Anoushka Shankar apparently attired in a high end designer wear. However as a
consumer I felt something missing from the ad. I was eager to see the colours of Anoushka‘s
attire not just out of curiosity but to get a better idea of the product‘s quality.
After 17 years isn’t it time for a change? I would love to see some colour in the Shoppers
Stop ads. After all the world is in colour.
B) Get it started in here, says the new Shoppers Stop

Wanting consumers to stop and smell the flowers, Shoppers Stop has adopted the philosophical
route. The latest campaign doesn't push you out of your home and ask you to go shopping, but
urges you to start something altogether new

Shoppers & #BANNER1 & # Stop has undergone a rejuvenation: a new logo, a new base line,
and new uniforms for its staff, an anthem and a whole new philosophy.

Shoppers Stop as a brand has been growing since its inception in 1991. The kind of merchandise
that is on sale, too, has seen change. Starting with Indian brands, they brought in international
brands, now they've even pulled in luxury brands. The changes were brought about because it
was felt that the Shoppers Stop consumer has changed drastically, and so it was necessary to
change the way the brand is perceived.

Ravi Deshpande, chief creative officer, Contract Advertising, which is the brand's creative
agency, says, "The time has come to cut down the age of the brand, start connecting with the
youth, look more contemporary, and start looking more relevant to the times." He continues,
"We thought it required a brand idea that has a good and strong philosophical bent, where the
idea goes beyond the rationale."

The newly evolved brand idea prompts the consumer to do, to "start something new". Shoppers
Stop hadn't planned on changing its earlier baseline, 'Shopping. Think Beyond.' The 'Start
Something New' idea was suggested by Deshpande, who thought that "the earlier baseline was
quite nebulous".

Shopping is a treat. It makes you feel like a new person. Contract felt that this could be made
into an idea like "start something new", so that life is looked at completely differently, something
as different as responding to the environment and its issues, saving trees, recycling, being a child
again, or just doing nothing. All of this with a fashionable twist to it. The print ads bring the idea
out in sharp relief.
The TV commercial for the first campaign for Shoppers Stop, 'Feel the Experience while You
Shop', was shot by Deshpande himself. He couldn't shoot the latest TVC because of other
commitments. The brand has largely depended upon print and outdoor to carry forward this
premise and this campaign, with its two TVCs, is coming out around nine years after the first
TVC for the brand was aired.

In the context of the TVC, Contract has tried to look at simple things. "When you remind people
about the nicer things in life, they feel grateful towards the brand," says Deshpande. The idea
was to take those insights and make them part of the film. In the print ad, the brand looks at a
planet friendly idea while still endorsing high fashion. The print and TV campaigns are in black
ad white as is the tradition at Shoppers Stop.

Of the two TVCs, the first one, shot in and around Bangkok by Australian director Jeff
Balsmeyer, relives the moments of childhood that we let go of once we're adults. Moments like
running after a butterfly; tossing flat stones in a lake; climbing trees and dancing on a crowded
road without embarrassment. The shot ends by asking the viewer, 'When was the last time you
were a child?'

The second TVC, which has an original composition written and sung by Malobi Dasgupta,
writer at Contract, has a family enjoying themselves on a beach. Without a worry, without a care
in the world. Living the beautiful things in life, doing nothing. The ad ends saying, 'Enjoy Doing
Nothing'.

The ads don't exactly tell you to go out and shop, but they have an underlying subtle message.
"Shoppers Stop can now afford to say something big and powerful that will grow to become a
philosophy, much like Nike and how it is much beyond just shoes," says Deshpande.

The print ads, too, take the 'Start Something New' baseline a little further. Saving the
environment and yet being stylish is the underlying theme. One of the print ads says, 'Wear a
short skirt. Hitchhike. Conserve fuel.' The print ads were shot in Cape Town, South Africa, with
seems to be a favourite destination these days with the ad fraternity.

The TVCs have been produced by MAD Films. The creative team involved in the copywriting
and art direction include Malobi Dasgupta, Kapil Sawant, Raj Nair and Mangesh Rane, along
with Deshpande. The music has been scored by Zubin.
7. Research Conducted On the Effectiveness of Brand Campaigns over the Years by
Shoppers Stop

In order to understand the awareness and likeability of the audiences towards the Shoppers Stop
Campaigns, a small study was conducted amongst its target group – the youth.

7.1 Objectives of the study

1. To know the preference of the consumers regarding the Retailer.

2. To know whether Ad campaigns are effective for Retail Companies.
3. To know the most important elements of the Shoppers Stop campaigns over the years.
4. To find the most effective ad campaign that Shoppers Stop has launched.
5. To find out whether these campaigns have successfully reached and been understood by
the audience.
7.2 Research Design:

Sample Design – Primary research was conducted to find out the target audiences‘ responses
regarding the objectives stated earlier. This will help us to find out the variety of choices and the
preferences of the people regarding their views and thoughts about the brand ―SHOPPERS
STOP‖.

7.3 Sample Size

A sample size of 50 individuals was selected, comprising of both males and females. Most of the
sample elements were students, in the age group of 20-40 years.

7.4 Sample Type

Probability sampling, where in simple random sampling was the method used.

7.5 Data Collection

Questionnaire Method was applied for collecting data from the respondents and was tabulated
for statistical tools and analysis.
7.6 Research Methodology

Diagram 4 - Research Methodology

The Exploratory research design I have selected is

 The Case Study method

 Interview.

The basic objective of the case study method is to explore & obtain clarity on the problem
situation. The research design will help to gather preliminary information that will help define
the problem.

The basic objective of the interview provides valuable insights obtained from consumers which
might be based on their experience. Both the types of the research design aim to understand the
Study of IMC & its effects on Brands to know about the consumer‘s preference.
7.7 Tools used for Analysis

As no study cab be successfully completed without proper tools and techniques, same was with
my project. For better presentation & right explanation we used tools of statistics & computer
very frequently. Basic tools used for the study were:-

 Bar charts
 Pie charts
 Other charts

7.8 Limitation of Study

 It was difficult to convince the respondents that their feedback was only for statistical
purposes and not for other purposes.
 The respondents were reluctant to fill up the questionnaire which can give their false
feedback towards questionnaire.
 The sample size taken for the research work is only 50 which may not represent the
whole population
 Study was purely based on questionnaire.
 The research was based on primary data collection so there may be chances of human
errors and biasness.
8. Research Results and Analysis

1) Gender

Male 19 - 37%
Female 33 - 63%

2) Age

15 to 20 1 2%
21 to 30 43 83%
31 to 35 6 15%
35 to 40 2 1%

As we see can in the above mention graph that most of the service users are youth in the age
group between 21 to 40 years. This reflects that the usage of Retailers is more and predominant
amongst the youth.

3) What is the highest level of education you have completed?

HSC 2 4%
Graduation 17 33%
Post-Graduation 33 63%
Other 0 0%

4) What is your Occupation?

Student 29 57%
Business 1 2%
Job 20 39%
Housewife 1 2%
Other 0 0%
5)

From the above graph, we come to know that nearly 67% of the sample uses Shoppers Stop to
Shop, followed by Lifestyle. Other brands are far behind with a mere 8% using its retail services
out of the entire sample.

6)
The analysis above shows that the ―Start Something New‖ campaign by Shoppers Stop is the
favourite among the sample, followed by Lifestyle‘s Style Play. Also, Shoppers Stop needs to
work harder when compared to competitors regarding its advertising campaigns.

7)

As we can see from the above pie chart, the ideas/concepts that run behind the campaign are the
most liked elements of the whole campaign launched by Shoppers Stop. These are followed by
the attractive lines in the campaign, like “Why take causal dressing casually? It’s time to
change.
8)

After doing analysis of the responses of the likeability towards each campaign, we can conclude
that the recent population control campaign taken up by the organization has proven to be the
best campaign, followed by the language no barrier and the crime awareness campaign. The
campaigns ―Fitness‖ and ―Conservation of resources‖ did work favorably for them. Thus, we can
say that their innovative ways of creating social awareness always works for them.
9)

As we can see in the pie that celebrity endorsement is extremely important to the consumers just
to recall & associate the celebrity with the rand but consumers mostly want good offers and
better value of their service while choosing merchandise.
10)

The Major Purpose that the campaign served was it resulted in Brand Recall followed by brand
visibility which in turn played an another important role, the difference from competitors is very
minimal so the company needs to keep innovating.
11)

Although widely appreciated, these advertising campaigns have influenced the perceptions of the
audiences towards the brand Shoppers Stop. This is because audiences give a lot of importance
to the Ad campaign & catchy punch lines used in Branding.
When asked the respondents about the purpose the campaigns serves to the brand, most of them
said brand recall and distinguish from competitors, social causes, Idea campaigns can focus on
their value added services to attract more number of consumers.
12)

Celebretity endorement is somewhat important to influence the perception of the consumer for a
retail brand the analysis predicts that in case of shoppers stop, whereas the figure states that the
difference between extremely important and somewhat important is just 2 percent.
13)

In the above Pie diagram it shows that Quality of service states to have the maximum
importance, consumer chooses a brand depending on the quality of services it attains from that
retailer. Also the brand endorser is another important factor to influence the buying of a
consumer.
 9. Key Findings & Recommendations

1. The concepts of Shoppers Stop Campaigns have a strong liking in the audiences.
2. The campaigns are helping Shoppers Stop distinguish itself from the competitors, rather than
attracting more customers.
3. In spite of being armed with witty and different campaigns, Shoppers Stop campaigns are
liked among the consumers.
4. Thus, along with focusing on social causes, the campaigns should also provide the audience
with information regarding its discount offers, how much less per month will the customer
shell out when compared to the actuals.
5. Their social cause‘s advertisements have the highest recall, thus they should continue having
some or the other message in their ads.
6. Moreover, Shoppers Stop also wins out to its competitor‘s i.e., Lifestyle & Westside in
regards to the Value added services and other important factors.
7. Shoppers Stop are tuff competition for Lifestyle & Westside in terms of Ad campaign
because their Ad campaigning is also more catchy and interesting.
8. Also Shoppers Stop have strong customer base across pan India and needs on its additional
services and keep innovating from time to time.
Conclusion

Although advertising is a means of providing information to consumers, there are important

differences between categories. In some categories at least advertising may also be a means of
altering quality perceptions. This conclusion suggest that a long enough time series on
advertising expenditures, perceived quality, and brand awareness may prove ideal to identify and
quantify the various effects of advertising for a specific category (or even for specific brand) in
isolation. At the same time, however, competitive environment plays a major role, and cannot be
adequately captured without a broad enough cross section.
 11) Bibliography

 Integrated Marketing Communications – Belch & Belch

 The new marketing paradigm: integrated marketing communications - Don E.

Schultz, Stanley I. Tannenbaum, Robert F. Lauterborn

 Marketing communications: an integrated approach - Paul Russell Smith, Jonathan

Taylor

 www.lifestyle.com

 www.shoppersstop.com

 www.exchange4media.com
 Annexure

1] Name

2] Age

3] Highest Education

4] Occupation

5] In the past 6 months which of the following Retail stores have you shopped at?

o Shoppers Stop
o Lifestyle
o Westside
o Others: _________

6] Which of the advertising campaigns have you liked the most?

o Shoppers Stop – Start Something New

o Lifestyle - Style Play
o Westside - Endless Possibilities
o Others

7] What about the Shoppers Stop marketing campaign you like most?

o Sonam Kapoor
o Jingle
o Start Something New
o Women Oriented Theme

8] Rate on a scale of 1-4, the following campaigns according to their likeability. (1 – Excellent, 2
– good, 3 -Average, 4 – Bad)
 Excellent Good Average Bad
Conservation of
Resources
Women Oriented

Fitness
Society

9] Choose which of the following adjectives do you associate the Shoppers Stop campaigns
with?

Witty Thoughtful Different Social

Conservation of
Resources
Women Oriented
Fitness
Society

10] How important is celebrity endorsing to influence your preference towards a brand?

a. Extremely Important
b. Somewhat important
c. Somewhat unimportant
d. Extremely unimportant

11] How important a part is Sonam Kapoor & Shruti Hassan in the Shoppers Stop Private label
campaings?

o Extremely Important
o Somewhat important
o Somewhat unimportant
o Extremely unimportant
12] Which purpose do you think have the campaigns served the most?

o Brand Recall
o Brand Visibility
o More customers
o Distinguish from competitors

13] Have any of these campaigns influenced your perception towards Shoppers Stop?

a. Yes
b. No