INTRODUCTION

Water is the most important liquid in the world. Without water, there would be no life, at
least not the way we know it. In today's living condition, the need for Pure Drinking
Water is becoming the issue for the common man.

Eighty percent of the human metabolism consists of water. This is the reason why 90% of
human diseases are water borne. There are 3 types of water impurities, which are root
cause of water borne diseases.

1. Microbiological-Bacteria / virus.

2. Dissolved impurities - chemical.

3. Imbalance of Mineral Content.

There are rapid changes that are taking place in our environment since long and the air
and the water pollution is on an increase. The main source of drinking water is river and
downstream which have also not been able to escape the pollution.

When a consumer became aware of the problems caused by water pollution the market
saw an advent of ceramic water filters, which filters the dust and suspended particles but
dissolved impurities and microbiological impurities are not cleared out. The mineral
balance is also not maintained.

1980's witnessed more changes by a tap attachment wherein Iodine resin is used to filter
the water. It deactivates microbiological impurities to an extent but has side effects due to
iodine and does not take care of dissolved impurities mineral balance.

Late 1980's witnessed Ultra Violet based purifier, which filters dust and deactivates
bacteria to a great extent. It maintains the odour and colour of water but does not clear
out the dissolved impurities and mineral particles. Thus came advent of mineral water.

Historically, the need for purified water within Indian homes had been kept down to a
minimum. Essentially, there were three types of water that was used for different
purposes. The first type was used for rinsing. The second type, which was used for
cooking, was cleaner and kept covered. The third type was the cleanest – drinking water
– and was very often boiled before use.
Since an average family needed a small quantity, not more than five or six litres a day,
boiled and filtered water had been a convenient solution for some time. The fallouts were
obvious. “It was very difficult to convince the people that purification system was worth
the price. There was no visible way to demonstrate the benefit,” The otherwise somnolent

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market began to change once companies like Eureka Forbes targeted the office segment,
while the mineral water players went after travelers. Ion Exchange was the only company
which had any measure of success in entering homes with Zero-B. But clean drinking
water returned on the national agenda a little later.
Around 1989, drinking water became an issue again.
“Around early 1990sTime did a story on India as a key emerging market and that was the
trigger for all the players eyeing this market."

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 INTRODUCTION TO MINERAL WATER INDUSTRY
CURRENT SCENERIO

The best beverage for India in the new millennium seems to be water. In recent years, the
bottled driving water market has been witnessing high-decibel levels of activity, with a
host of new entrants swelling the clutter. With over 200 players jostling to be the thirst
quenching favourite of the Indian consumer, the business is growing at a rate of over 50
per cent annually. The country's bottled water business is estimated to be around ₹1, 100
crore, of which the branded market accounts for ₹700 crore and about 700 million litres
in volume.

In India, the core proposition of bottled drinking water lies in hygiene, as the quality of
tap water is bad and is rapidly deteriorating. This is in stark contrast with the West where
'mineral water' indicates the attendant minerals present in the water. Mineral water in
Western countries is obtained from natural springs and is, generally, named after those
springs. Most of the bottled water passed off as mineral water in India, however, is
filtered, boiled or purified by other means such as reverse osmosis. A better description
of bottled drinking water sold in India therefore, would be 'purified bottled water.

The growth of the category indicates the need for this 'mineral water' and the fact that
heavyweights are eyeing the segment points to the potential that is seen in this market.
Coke's Kinley, Pepsi's Aquafina, Brittania, Nestle, Kingfisher, Auswater-are keen on
raising their stakes in the ₹ 700 crore, 700 million litre market. The entry of Danone’s
brand, Evian, the high-priced mineral water from the French Alps, shows the perceived
potential India presents in this product category. Clearly targeted at the premium segment
of consumers, the brand is being distributed in the country by Britannia Industries.
Currently, Evian has more of an institutional presence (five star hotels) than on the retail
shelves, with a 1-litre bottle being priced a hefty ₹ 80.

The market today has grown to more than Rs15bn. The organised sector -- branded
mineral water -- has only ₹7bn of market share. The rest is accounted for by the
unorganized sector which is dominated by small regional players. The market is still
growing – at a rate greater than 80% per annum.
Today there are more than 200 brands, out of which 10 of them are from top companies.

In the branded segment, Parle’s' Bisleri 'is the market leader with a share of more than
45%. Parle Agro’s' Bailey' comes a close second with market share of 15%. Other
major players in the market are' Yes 'of Kotharis, 'Ganga' of T-Series, 'Himalayan,'
Hello', Prime,' Florida' etc.

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MISSION OF BISLERI

To provide the highest quality product, keeping in mind all aspects including freshness,
purity and safety, and making it easily available to the consumer at a very affordable
price”.

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MARKETING MIX

The four Ps are:

In order to achieve your marketing objectives you need to have a strategy that includes
different elements - the various parts of the marketing mix. Calling it a mix reminds you
to try and get the balance right between the different elements. It is easy to assume that
one part of the mix is wrong, when in fact it is another.

For example, if take-up of a newly-priced service is poor, it could be that the answer is to
change the service, or to deliver it in a way that is more convenient to the user, or to
improve the quality of the promotion (rather than to cut the price).

the four P's of the marketing mix:

 Product: Defining the characteristics of your product or service to meet the

customers' needs.
 Price: Deciding on a pricing strategy. Even if you decide not to charge for a
service, it is useful to realise that this is still a pricing strategy. Identifying the
total cost to the user (which is likely to be higher than the charge you make) is a
part of the price element.

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  Promotion: This includes advertising, personal selling (eg attending exhibitions),
sales promotions (eg special offers), and atmospherics (creating the right
impression through the working environment). Public Relations is included within
Promotion by many marketing people (though PR people tend to see it as a
separate discipline).
 Place or distribution: Looking at location (eg of a library) and where a service is
delivered (e.g. are search results delivered to the user's desktop, office, pigeonhole
- or do they have to collect them).

There are two ways to impress bluffers.

You can extend the number of P's - the two which are usually seen as useful additions for
services (including information services) are:

 People: Good information services are not likely to be delivered by people who
are unskilled or demotivated;
 Process: The way in which the user gets hold of the service (eg the way in which
a document or a search can be ordered).

The second way to show your marketing knowledge is to dismiss the P's as being as old
fashioned as the 1980s

For example, there are the C's developed by Robert Lauterborn (1) and put forward by
Philip Kotler:

 Place becomes Convenience

 Price becomes Cost to the user
 Promotion becomes Communication
 Product becomes Customer needs and wants

These C's reflect a more client-oriented marketing philosophy. They provide useful
reminders - for example that you need to bear in mind the convenience of the client when
deciding where to offer a service. Some would argue that the marketing mix is too
product-oriented, and that modern marketing should not focus on it. However, it does
provide a handy framework for marketing analysis. The C's are also not nearly so
memorable as the P-words, and marketing

texts still tend to use the latter to describe the elements of the mix.

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1. To study the marketing strategies adopted by Bisleri
2. To study the advertising effectiveness Bisleri on customer
3. To analyze the awareness of consumer regarding Bisleri.
4. To understand the reason behind the purchase of Bisleri product
5. Another objectives of study was to perform Competitive analysis between Bisleri
and its competitors.

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SCOPE OF STUDY
 To conduct this research the target population was the break down service users,
who are using break down service.
 Targeted geographic area of Delhi/NCR. Sample size of 100 persons was taken.
 To these 100 people a questionnaire was given, the questionnaire was a
combination of both open ended and closed ended questions.
 The date during which questionnaires were filled.
 Some dealers were also interviewed to know their prospective. Interviews with
the managers of break down service providers were also conducted.
 Finally the collected data and information was analysed and compiled to arrive at
the conclusion and recommendations given.

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MARKETING MIX
Marketing is an ongoing process of planning and executing the marketing mix (Product,
Price, Place, Promotion) for products, services or ideas to create exchange between
individuals and organizations.

Marketing tends to be seen as a creative industry, which includes advertising, distribution

and selling. It is also concerned with anticipating the customers' future needs and wants,
which are often discovered through market research.

Essentially, marketing is the process of creating or directing an organization to be

successful in selling a product or service that people not only desire, but are willing to
buy.

Therefore good marketing must be able to create a "proposition" or set of benefits for the
end customer that delivers value through products or services.

Its specialist areas include:

 advertising and branding

 communications
 database marketing
 direct marketing
 event organization
 field marketing
 global marketing
 international marketing
 internet marketing
 industrial marketing
 market research
 public relations

A market-focused, or customer-focused, organization first determines what its potential

customer’s desire, and then builds the product or service. Marketing theory and practice
is justified in the belief that customers use a product or service because they have a need,
or because it provides a perceived benefit.

Two major factors of marketing are the recruitment of new customers (acquisition) and
the retention and expansion of relationships with existing customers (base management).
Once a marketer has converted the prospective buyer, base management marketing takes
over. The process for base management shifts the marketer to building a relationship,
nurturing the links, enhancing the benefits that sold the buyer in the first place, and

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improving the product/service continuously to protect the business from competitive
encroachments.

For a marketing plan to be successful, the mix of the four "Ps" must reflect the wants and
desires of the consumers or Shoppers in the target market. Trying to convince a market
segment to buy something they don't want is extremely expensive and seldom successful.
Marketers depend on insights from marketing research, both formal and informal, to
determine what consumers want and what they are willing to pay for. Marketers hope that
this process will give them a sustainable competitive advantage. Marketing management
is the practical application of this process. The offer is also an important addition to the
4P's theory.

When marketing their products firms need to create a successful mix of:

 the right product

 sold at the right price

 in the right place

 using the most suitable promotion.

To create the right marketing mix, businesses have to meet the following conditions:

 The product has to have the right features - for example, it must look good and
work well.

 The price must be right. Consumer will need to buy in large numbers to produce a
healthy profit.

 The goods must be in the right place at the right time. Making sure that the goods
arrive when and where they are wanted is an important operation.

The target group needs to be made aware of the existence and availability of the product
through promotion. Successful promotion helps a firm to spread costs over a larger
output.

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Marketing Mix
The marketing mix principles (also known as the 4 p’s.) are used by business as tools to
assist them in pursuing their objectives. The marketing mix principles are controllable
variables, which have to be carefully managed and must meet the needs of the defined
target group. The marketing mix is a part of the organizations planning process and
consists of analyzing the defined:

 How will you design, package and add value to the product. Product strategies.
 What pricing strategy is appropiate to use Price strategies.
 Where will the firm locate? Place strategies.
 How will the firm promote its product Promotion strategies.

Introducing the marketing mix

 Product - An object or a service that is mass produced or manufactured on a large scale

with a specific volume of units.
 Price – The price is the amount a customer pays for the product. It is determined by a
number of factors including market share, competition, material costs, product identity
and the customer's perceived value of the product. The business may increase or decrease
the price of product if other stores have the same product.
 Place – Place represents the location where a product can be purchased. It is often
referred to as the distribution channel. It can include any physical store as well as virtual
stores on the Internet.
 Promotion – Promotion represents all of the communications that a marketer may use in
the marketplace. Promotion has four distinct elements - advertising, public relations,
word of mouth and point of sale. A certain amount of crossover occurs when promotion
uses the four principle elements together, which is common in film promotion.
Advertising covers any communication that is paid for, from television and cinema

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 commercials, radio and Internet adverts through print media and billboards. One of the
most notable means of promotion today is the Promotional Product, as in useful items
distributed to targeted audiences with no obligation attached. This category has grown
each year for the past decade while most other forms have suffered. It is the only form of
advertising that targets all five senses and has the recipient thanking the giver.
Public relations are where the communication is not directly paid for and includes
press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions, conferences, seminars or trade fairs
and events. Word of mouth is any apparently informal communication about the
product by ordinary individuals, satisfied customers or people specifically
engaged to create word of mouth momentum. Sales staff often plays an important
role in word of mouth and Public Relations (see Product above).

These four elements are often referred to as the marketing mix, which a marketer can use
to craft a marketing plan. The four Ps model is most useful when marketing low value
consumer products. Industrial products, services, high value consumer products require
adjustments to this model. Services marketing must account for the unique nature of
services. Industrial or B2B marketing must account for the long term contractual
agreements that are typical in supply chain transactions. Relationship marketing attempts
to do this by looking at marketing from a long term relationship perspective rather than
individual transactions.

Seven Ps

As well as the standard four P's (Product, Pricing, Promotion and Place), services
marketing calls upon an extra three, totaling seven and known together as the extended
marketing mix. These are:

 People: Any person coming into contact with customers can have an impact on
overall satisfaction. Whether as part of a supporting service to a product or
involved in a total service, people are particularly important because, in the
customer's eyes, they are generally inseparable from the total service . As a result
of this, they must be appropriately trained, well-motivated and the right type of
person.
 Process: This is the process(es) involved in providing a service and the
behaviour of people, which can be crucial to customer satisfaction.
 Physical evidence: Unlike a product, a service cannot be experienced before it is
delivered, which makes it intangible. This, therefore, means that potential
customers could perceive greater risk when deciding whether to use a service. To
reduce the feeling of risk, thus improving the chance for success, it is often vital
to offer potential customers the chance to see what a service would be like.

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 COMPANY PROFILE

The origins of Bisleri lie in Italy, and the brand owes its name to founder Felice Bisleri, an Italian
entrepreneur. In India, Bisleri set up a plant in Mumbai for bottling and marketing mineral water,
which was first of its kind in India. However, it did not quite work. Among other reasons, the fact
that the Indian consumer was unprepared to accept bottled mineral water was responsible for its
failure. Consumer mindsets were more geared towards boiling water at home.

In 1969, Parle bought over the' Bisleri' brand. In those days Bisleri water was available in glass
bottles. Parle's taking charge of Bisleri did not make a dramatic difference to the brand's fortunes
immediately. While it did gain in terms of visibility and reach (piggybacking on Parle's existing
distribution network), efforts to expand the bottled water market were not exactly painstaking.
Parle at that particular time was interested in making soda water and not mineral water. There
were just minor initiatives on part of the company for making mineral water as it was not
considered to be a very profitable business at that time a people still considered boiling water to
be a safer bet than mineral water. Moreover they were not ready to pay for a commodity like
water which was so abundantly available.
In 1972-73 Parle changed the packaging of its bottled water to plastic bottles and that
significantly made a difference in the sales. The buyers, then, were mainly the upper class - the
trendy people.
In 1993, Coca-Cola bought parle’s soft drink brands- thums-up, limca etc. While Coca-Cola
actually bought over Parle's beverages, it agreed to a settlement that allowed the multinational to
bottle and distribute Bisleri soda for a time frame of five years. The charge of Bisleri water,
however, remained with Parle. The upsurge in the sales of Bisleri started from this point as Parle
sold off its stable of brands to Coca-Cola. This was the time when its started concentrating on
making Bisleri a success in the domestic mineral water market. The reason why Parle chose to
retain the Bisleri name was that Parle saw a fairly lucrative business of mineral water in Bisleri's
equity.
The real shift in company’s policy towards mineral water industry came in 1998, although the
conscious efforts had already been started in 1994. This change was primarily because of the fact
that the people, at this time, had started becoming more health conscious.

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 PRODUCT PROFILE

“It’s a compliment being generic to the category, but it’s not very good when consumers
think any mineral water brand is Bisleri”

Bisleri, a product established in India by Ramesh Chauhan, Chairman of Parle Aqua

Minerals has become a generic brand. Bisleri was the first marketed bottled water in a
totally virgin market. The brand has become synonymous with mineral water;
consumers accept any brand offered by the retailer when they ask for Bisleri.
So far Ramesh Chauhan’s Bisleri enjoys the largest market share of 56% in the Rs1100
crore mineral water market and is growing at the rate of 180% per annum. Annual sales
of Bisleri have touched Rs400 crores. In seventies, 'Bisleri' was the only mineral water
which had national presence and the sale was to the tune of approximately one hundred
thousand cases valued at about Rs.60 lacs.

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 MANUFACTURING

A quick look at Bisleri's manufacturing reach indicates that it is represented across the
country – North accounts for 35% of sales for the industry, West accounts for 30%, South
20% and the East 15%.In order to be available in untapped areas Bisleri has setup 16
plants located all over the country - three-fourths of which are company owned. The
balance are run by franchisees. Bisleri has 5 plants in the North, 5 in the West- two of
which were setup in the last year at Ahemdabad and Surat, 4 in the South and 2 in the
East. The company has bottling units located in Chennai, Bangalore, Goa, Calcutta,
Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Indore and Nepal. The new plants are
being set up in states like Kerala, Orissa, Bihar and North Eastern States, which hitherto
have been unexplored by the company. It is also changing its production strategy and
shifting to a 10-hr production schedule with sudden increase in demand planned to be
met by additional production.

Bisleri has planned to expand its operations by investing ₹60 crore in the upgradation of
facilities. The 120-bottles per minute (BPM) capacity of the 16 units across the country
will be increased to 240 BPM.

Conscious of the environmental implications of its PET bottles, the company is to set up
recycling plants at Delhi and Chennai, each with an outlay of Rs.50m. These will process
500 kg of PET per hour. The processed material will be an input for polyester yarn
manufacturers. In centers other than Delhi and Chennai, the company will set up crushing
units to crush the used PET bottles.
The company's expansion plans will see its water bottling capacity go up from the present
400 million litres to 500 million litres. Parle Bisleri Limited (PBL) is planning to invest
Rs 200 crore to increase its bottling capacity and double its turnover. The expansion will
also increase the number of company's bottling

plants from 16 at present, to 25. The company will set up all the new plants as green field
plants. It doesn’t have any intentions to acquire any existing plants.

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 DISTRIBUTION

It's obvious that availability holds the key to the market. For any product to be successful the
distribution system has to be really good. Large tracts of the country have not been explored by
the national brands,which explains the proliferation of smaller brands.

Bisleri’s strategy is to build a direct distribution system at an all-India level. Currently,

Bisleri has around 80000 retail outlets in the country with about 12000 each in the Metros
of Delhi and Mumbai. It is intended to increase this number to 10 lakh outlets in order to
expand brand’s reach.

That means serious investments in company-owned trucks and carts. Parle hopes to double its
existing fleet of 1000 trucks. This would make it the largest fleet owner in the country.

In order to service the home segment, the 5 litre packs are being pushed through the route of
“Fat Dealers”( wholesale dealers) who are retailers as well as stockist and serve as supply
points from where customer can pick the required quota. The customer can call the fat dealer
and place order for home delivery of the 5 litre pack. 180 of these dealers are already functional,
and more are in the process of being appointed. "The idea is to make Bisleri all-
pervasive,".
The company plans to have its own distribution network in places where it has its own plants.
Franchisees would manage the distribution in their respective areas of operation.

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 PACKAGING

Variety is spice of life. Today for any business organisation to be successful it has to provide its
customers with the differentiated product that is a value buy for them. In order to cater to the
changing needs of the customers the business has to continuously come out with the variants of
the product so that it can target the maximum segments.

Today, Acqua Minerals offers a variety of packaging options:150 ml, 300 ml, 500 ml, 1 litre, 2
litre, 5 litre, and 20 litre. The 5-litre bottles account for 35 per cent of sales showing a growing
health concern among the Indian society. 1 litre bottles account for 30 percent of the share,
whereas the 500 ml bottles taking up 15 per cent. The remaining sizes share the rest of the
contribution.

The 2 litres bottles were introduced to slowly and steadily replace the conventional 1 litre bottles.
This would give them an advantage over others. The 500-ml category was re-focused as a trendy
product, targeted at the teenage crowd and for the roadside consumers.

Acqua Minerals is currently a supplier to Indian Airlines with 125-ml cups. The five-litre packs,
launched in December 1999 in Goa, are currently available in six cities, including Delhi, Bombay
and Bangalore, and sell over 5,000 bottles a day.

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Following is a quick overview of the various packaging options
provided by bisleri along with the target consumers:
Size of the bottle Price per bottle Target consumer
500 ml Rs. 7 Teenagers, college students and roadside consumers.
Also aimed to supply to the Indian Railways.
1 litre Rs. 10 General consumers and travelers.
1.2 litres Rs. 12 Consumers demanding a little more water at just a little
more price.
2 litres Rs. 18 Small offices, shopkeepers, households
5 litres Rs. 20 Households, institutes, offices, retail shops, showrooms
20 litres Rs. 40 Households, institutes, offices, schools and colleges

 In addition to the above mentioned sizes, Bisleri also provides 150 ml cups – for Indian
Airlines travellers, and 300 ml cups – for marriages and parties.

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The following pie chart clearly shows the sales wise distribution of the
various pack sizes:

% share of pack sizes in sales

500 ml

10 1 litre
15
35 30 2 litres

5 litres
10
others

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 CHALLENGES IN FRONT OF THE BISLERI
The company had the share of more than 50% of the national market. But now the share
of the company is going down, in the pie of the national market. Until recently there was
competition with only the unorganized sector. Now, having drowned out by the small-
scale emulators with a 40% share of the national market, company now is limbering up
for another contest – from the multinationals.
Other than the financial constraints up to an extent, the company has to focus on the marketing
management of the product. In light of the challenge in front of the company and its current
strengths and position, we have incorporated the marketing mix to counter the marketing
strategies of the competitors by developing its own marketing strategies.

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MARKETING MIX OF BISLERI
The set of controllable tactical tools- product, price, promotion, and place (4 Ps) that the firm
blends to produce the response it wants, in the target markets.

The 4Ps

PRODUCT
The main product of the company is the mineral water by the name of Bisleri Mineral water.
Other than mineral water the company has also the soda water under its brand name called the
Bisleri Soda Water. The concept of bottled mineral water was introduced in India, first by Bisleri,
and that is the reason, it has become a generic name for the mineral water. Bisleri has become a
perfect synonym of the mineral water for the Indian consumers.

The main challenge facing the company or any other player in this mineral water
industry is that there is no scope of invention and innovation in the product, which
can be added as the additional benefits of the product.
It is just water after all. This is what the Indian customers think of the bottled water. If
we are talking about a product like television we can think that the innovations could provide
extra benefits derived from the product. For example other than its core usage the product can
provide for Internet facilities using conversion.

VARIANTS OF THE PRODUCT

The company is offering wide variants of the product. These include the different
quantities available of the product. Starting from the Jumbo pack (18 lt. Jar) to the 500
ml. Bottles. In between, it also has 1 lt., 2 lt. and 5 lt. Packs.

In terms of another variant the company has also come up with small glasses of 300ml.
that are priced at Rs.3. per glass. The company has introduced these glasses for the social
occasions like marriages and get together. This again is very competitive in the price field
and also the customer is getting a convenient product with the benefit of purity at such a
low price. Now the customers would not have to drink impure water served in unhygienic
glasses.

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PACKAGING
The packaging of the product is an important factor in the marketing of the product. The
packaging of the product was absolutely accepted by the customers till now. But it has been along
time the company has changed the packaging of 1ltr. mineral water bottle.

One of the competitors of the company, Pepsi, has mineral water by the name of
‘Aquafina’. The packaging of the Aquafina is creating the need for the company to change
its packaging and make it look sturdier. The brand Aquafina has been targeted towards the
youth and that is why they have made the bottle look more hip. Bisleri would have to give a
new look to its product to stopping Aquafina from snatching its market share.

To conclude: Looking at the facts above the company according to me should pay
attention on the packaging of the product so that it is able to attract more customers.

Second, the company should go for Brand Extension. The company should take the benefit of
the brand name it has created over a long period of time. It can introduce new products in
the category of beverages.

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PLACE
Place stands for the company activities that make the product available to the target customers.
To make the product available to the target consumers a good distribution network has to be there
to support the good quality of the product. Here in the case of the mineral water industry the
distribution network is the important factor in being competitive and the catch lies in making
water available to maximum number of places in the country.

DISTRIBUTION NETWORK:
The small-scale players built their sales by piggybacking on the generic category built up by
Bisleri. It’s a battle that Bisleri can win by sheer distribution muscle. One of the reason why
Bisleri is running strong in this industry is its strong distribution network built over the
Further, Bisleri plans to increase its distribution
years since its inception.
network over the southern and eastern region, where it is behind
popular brands like Team in Tamil Nadu and in Andhra Pradesh.

Conclusion : It is very important for the companies to understand that winners would be
Therefore the companies should
those who will endure a strong regional presence.
take some immediate actions to make presence in the whole country and
more important is every hook and corner of the states where they are
present today.

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PRICE
AN ECONOMIC FACTOR AFFECTING THE BUYER’S BEHAVIOUR

Price is the sum of values that consumer exchange for the benefits of having or using the product
or service. Price is the only element in the marketing mix that produces revenue. All other
elements represent costs.

In India, where the majority of the population comprise of the middle-income group and
lower income groups it is not hard to understand that pricing is one of the most important
factor in the buying decisions.

Bisleri has met the expectations of the consumers in terms of pricing the product and also making
the product available in variations of litres, making Bisleri both convenient and affordable. The
company is following a very aggressive pricing. Its product is available at a very reasonable
price. Company charges Re.1for every 100ml. This strategy by the company is very effective
in the Indian context where the consumers are highly price conscious. The company has come
up with another variant of the product. It is 1.2 lt. Bottle that is priced at Rs.12 keeping the
price fixed at Re.1 per 100 ml. The company has an edge over its competitor Aquafina
recently launched by Pepsi that has priced its product at Rs.10 for 750 ml.

Conclusion: To conclude from the facts that the pricing strategy of the company is very
competitive and therefore the company is giving value to the customers for money.

PROMOTION
Modern marketing calls for more than just developing a good product, pricing it attractively, and
making it available to the target customers, companies must also communicate with their
customers, and what they communicate should not be left to chance.

A Company’s total marketing communications program- called its Promotion Mix consists
of specific blend of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, and public relations tools
that the company uses to pursue its advertising and marketing objectives.

PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITY

Advertising Campaign of Bisleri before Launch of Acquafina & Kinley

Every brand needs a good ad campaign to establish itself in the market. So it becomes very
imperative to look at various ad campaigns that Bisleri undertook to build itself as a brand.

24
 Bisleri started its game-plan with the punch-line of ‘Pure and Safe’ and used the same
catch-line for advertising. But with the advent of many new players, all claiming the purity,
it became very imperative for Bisleri to differentiate its product so as to stand out in the
market. Bisleri found the answer in ‘sealed cap bottles’. It claimed 100% purity.

While the bottles of the other brands, it claimed, could be refilled with ordinary, or even
germinated water, Bisleri’s seal capped bottles ensured the consumer of purity of water and
single-used ness of the bottles.

The ad showed a milk-man and a child showering their buffaloes and filling the ‘so-called’
mineral water bottles with the same water and packing them with the simple polythene seal
and the consumer not knowing about the ‘purity’ of the water he is drinking. Next clip
shows the Bisleri bottles being sealed with plastic caps and ensuring the purity of water.
The ad did work for Bisleri and it got its much needed product differentiation.

In 2000, some giant brands like Pepsi and coca-cola entered the mineral water industry
with a big bang. Bisleri now had a big threat of maintaining its market cap. While Coca-cola
introducing its brand ‘Kinley’ as a health care product, Pepsi projected ‘Aquafina’ as something
as pure as ‘Your own body’.
Pepsi targeted the young generation and introduced Aquafina as a fancy product to carry.
The ad campaign of Aquafina emphasized as ‘70% of your body is water’ and thus give your
body the purest water. The ad showed young vibrant models and created the atmosphere of
youthfulness. Water, Pepsi claimed, was no longer a simple beverage, but was something
highly fashionable. They complimented it by giving their bottles an attractive look. This
soon caught the eye of the consumer. All these factors made Pepsi the biggest upcoming
competitor of Bisleri .

Where as Kinley lagged behind the race, showing a doctor advising a family to take Kinley
for pure water – not a very attractive ad campaign.

‘Feel-Young’ fever had to even bolder steps. They first

Bisleri, to counter-attack the new
changed their base-line from ‘Pure and Safe’ to ‘Play Safe’. They tried a brand new ad
campaign to catch the fancy of consumer.

The new ad showed a young romantic couple on a marooned island, when the girl
seductively attracts the guy and he follows her in trance. The moment he gets hold of her,
she whispers something in his ears. The next few shots show the guy looking for something
in frenzy…can not find it….rushes towards the chemist’s shop….buys ‘something’ (keeping
the audience in suspense…or rather implicitly pointing for ‘……’). The girl opens it
and….POOF….takes out a bottle of Bisleri and quenches her thirst. Caption: “Play Safe”.
This campaign was to catch the attention of youth and a new Indian society which is
supposed to be ‘not-so-prudish’. Thus Bisleri has taken a very bold step. The T.V. ads have
been complimented by print ads also. The campaign is reported to be doing pretty well.

25
Advertisement Campaign of Competitors:
A drop-dead gorgeous body flexes its muscles on the screen. This starkly arresting black and
white image is then splashed with water. A voice-over informs you that 70 per cent of your body
is water. Why not give it the purest ... Aquafina Bottled water from Pepsi.

This kind of advertisement campaign used by the competitors is giving the company a tough
time. The competitor, Pepsi, is utilizing the brand image built by it and is again targeting the
“Generation X” maintaining the company image.
It’s an unusual ad for this category. Till now, most marketers have focussed on educating the
consumer on how bottled water is a safer option, with the lead, of course, taken by the popular
national brand Bisleri.

But Pepsi chose to junk this approach, and it could well afford to. Bisleri, after all, had
already done most of the hard work needed to build the bottled water category. What
Pepsi needed was to establish its brand in this crowded, fragmented market. Our task was
made easier because Bisleri had concentrated on educating the consumer, instead of
building its own brand values,” says Rohit Ohri, vice president and client services
director, Hindustan Thompson Associates Limited (HTA).
"We wanted the imagery to position Aquafina as a youthful, premium and fun brand,” says
Vibha Rishi, executive director, Pepsi. The idea, she says, was not to objectify bodies so that one
could drool over them. “Instead, we are talking about your body and the need for each one to
take care of his or her body.” The ad copy, which spoke of the water content in our bodies, was
actually trying to establish how important water was to our well- being and how we need to
continuously replenish it.

While the thinking was clear that the imagery had to be built in and around purity, HTA did toy
with a couple of other ideas and situations. Initially, the idea was to focus more strongly on the
fun aspect and create a story line complete with a smart idea and a twist at the end. “But we gave
it up because we felt that the story might take the mind away from the purity aspect that
was a must to highlight,” says Ohri.

So HTA adopted a minimalist approach and created a film with little clutter and no props, which
tried to capture the emotion of “feeling good about yourself”. While the film and the imagery
are completely the work of HTA, the strategic thinking comes from the Mother Company in the
US.

Aquafina, in fact, is the largest-selling bottled water brand in the US with a 12 per cent
market share, and India is the first country outside of the US where Aquafina is being
bottled.

26
Even in the US, the ad talks of the percentage of water in our bodies, but the handling is a little
more serious. For example, the film will show an emotional moment where someone starts
crying, and then you will hear the voice-over, “85 per cent of your eyes are water.” “There
is no internal law that forces us to follow the international positioning. But seeing the
quality of thinking that has gone into this, we decided to stay with this positioning, though
the statements here are quite different,” explains Rishi.

Aquafina, like all offerings that come from the Pepsi stable, also imbibes the core values of the
mother brand. It addresses the Pepsi-user base, largely the youth, and like Pepsi it is also
being positioned as a hip brand. But Aquafina is a lot that Pepsi is not. It is a little bit older,
mature and affluent, and not as mass based as Pepsi.

Pepsi’s role in the communication is that it is the source of credibility for the product and, of
course, establishes the youthfulness of the brand. “But Aquafina is a brand in its own right and
with each piece of communication, its personality will emerge” feels Ohri.

But while Aquafina is being given a distinct identity, it is also being targeted at the Pepsi
consumer and is addressing their need for safe and reliable drinking water. Will this not
cannibalize Pepsi sales? “Water does eat into the cola market,” agrees Rishi, “but we can’t
build a business for Pepsi based on people’s lack of access to safe drinking water.

How can any business be built on deprivation?" Both will have to co-exist and carve a market out
for themselves. And while Pepsi targets the 18-25 year olds, Aquafina also includes the 30-
somethings together with the college crowd. Like Pepsi, Aquafina too is looking to command a
premium without being unaffordable.

The swirl shaped PET bottle resembles the Pepsi family and is sturdier and more hip than
most others in the category that take their design cues, it seems, from the one liter refined
oil bottles in the market. The decision to break the norm and come up with a 750 ml pack size
was more driven by the fact that water is fundamentally consumed on the go and the 750 ml size
is easy to carry around.

“It is ideal for an half-an-hour in the sun, one liter gets too bulky,” says Rishi. Pepsi’s
future plans at the moment don’t include coming up with size variants. They have also ruled
out the possibility of catering to the bulk market, which actually constitutes 30 per cent of the
total bottled water market that stands at 70 million liters annually, and is growing anywhere
between 30 and 50 per cent.

27
Pepsi, obviously, is looking for a big slice of this burgeoning market, but as Subroto
Chattopadhyay, executive vice president, marketing, Pepsi, says, “We have a building blocks
approach, first we have to build the brand, and then the volumes.

Bisleri is tackling the situation by building the brand on the purity plank. Akin to brand building
in soft drinks, an aggressive print-and-TV campaign is being backed by hoarding, point-of-sale
material, and every interface with the consumer is being used as an opportunity to reinforce the
message. For instance, all the vehicles used for supply have been painted in bright blue, bear the
Bisleri logo and sport catchy baselines like “Play Safe”.

28
ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

While designing the advertisement campaign, it is necessary to keep in mind the opinion
leaders. Youth are the opinion leaders of the present time. And thus it becomes necessary to
design the campaign keeping the youth in mind. The opinion leaders would further trickle
down the message to the less active members of the society.

This is exactly what Bisleri is doing. Bisleri has started an advertisement campaign
stressing the point of purity and flaunting the patent right the company has over the
breakaway seal. The company has tried to put the message across louder, by using the
ad campaign that catches the eye of everyone, specially the youth. Otherwise, we find
no reason of making an advertisement of mineral water look like an advertisement
of condoms.

MESSAGE CONTENT OF THE CAMPAIGN:

Bisleri that was looking for a differentiator decided to make the breakaway seal the symbol
of purity. The tamper-proof seal was developed, around which the communication was
woven. The campaign stresses the safety provided by the breakaway seal by illustrating the
ease with which conventionally sealed bottles can be refilled and recycled.

The objective with the campaign would have been to highlight the tamper-proof seal and create
doubt in the consumer’s mind of the purity of the other brands. That is, Bisleri is the only
one that guarantees purity and keeps you Safe

Conclusion: New advertisement campaign of Bisleri is eye catching. This is what

the company should do. And also the company should make the message clearer to
the customers that it has the patent right over the breakaway seal.
Apart from a high dose of investments on expanding bottling capacities and an ad budget that’s
risen six-fold over last year, if Bisleri wants to penetrate every possible segment of the
market, it can do that by introducing more pack sizes and establishing the brand strongly
with trendy new packaging.

Apart from creating consumer pull with campaign, the company, to increase its sales would have
to do the sales push as well. For that it would have to give the retailers and other stockiest
high trade margins and incentives for keeping the product. This is very important in case of
this product because consumers would take up what is available to them at ease and whatever
retailer is giving. Bisleri has introduced attractive schemes to push the 5ltr. bottles and
margins are as high as Rs 8. Detractors feel that, in the long run, retailers will not push this.

29
They say it’s a kind of dart board game. You have to throw again and again till you hit
bull’s eye.

30
3 Cs
CONSUMER:
The central question the company has to understand is: How do consumer respond to
various marketing stimuli the company might use? The company that really understands
how customers will respond to different product features, prices and advertising appeals
has a great advantage over its competitors. The question can be further broken down
to: Who buys? When do they buy? Where do they buy? Why do they buy?

Who buys?
In the survey conducted by us, we found that the middle income and the upper income groups are
the users of the bottled water. The lower income group is still dependent on the water from wells
and hand pumps. In the middle-income group also, people buy bottled water while travelling.

Among the various income groups, there comprise the students, the office going
executive ,tourists and the retired people. So the company should go in for strategies to
target customer segments based on appeal, prices, convenient packaging and other
characteristics conforming to the customer segment the company is targeting.
When do they buy?
In the survey we found that the middle-income group buys mineral water while travelling. At
home or at the work place they mainly use water filters that are installed. Or, they use large pack
of bottled water like the jumbo pack (18 lt.) by Bisleri. The upper income group uses mineral
water only. So, they constitute a large part of the total market.

Where do they buy from?

the bottled water users buy the water

According to the survey conducted by us,
from retail outlets and also through tie ups with dealers. Large
consumers of bottled water like Hotels, institutions, corporate order
their water requirements through dealers.
The small time but frequent consumer buys bottled water from retail outlets.

Why do they buy?

For obvious reasons, soaring mercury levels are directly proportional to consumption of purified
bottled water. The basic reason consumers ask for bottled water is the safety. With the

31
growing health hazards in the country and as the people are becoming more health
conscious they are switching over to bottled water. This is the reason that the industry is
growing at fast pace. The other reason after this is, that the bottled water is convenient to
carry. They can throw the bottles after use unlike when they carry water from home.

Consumer Concerns and Perceptions

The thinking here is that with consumer perceptions about mineral water changing, the brand
Bisleri has to Reinvent itself. Earlier, mineral water used to stand for water enriched with
certain minerals and was picked up by health-conscious consumers. This no longer holds.
Mineral water has come to mean just that—water. Albeit safe drinking water that is
conveniently available. The consumer does not really care if the water contains minerals.
The most important consideration is purity of the product.

What the company is doing to take care of the consumer’s concern.

Tampering of seals:

Around 76 per cent of consumption happens in transit. Consumer research conducted by us

revealed that the overriding concern for this set of buyers is the tampering of the seal. Many have
witnessed used bottles being refilled at railway stations. So when a consumer buys mineral water,
he would like to be assured that the water has not been tampered with. Bisleri has rightly
introduced the concept of the breakaway seal to reinforce the purity of Bisleri mineral water and
given a surety to its consumers that what they are consuming is SAFE.

Taste of the mineral water:

Many consumers want the mineral water to taste more like “Water”. The consumer research
done by us revealed that consumers preferred Bisleri because of its natural taste.

32
 COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
COMPETITION:
The mineral water market is set to explode and hit the Rs.2,000-crore mark in the next couple of
years. This is drawing the big guns attention. First Britannia launched Evian. And recently,
soft drinks giant Pepsi entered the fray with Aquafina. Now, Nestle too is reportedly
planning a foray. Meanwhile, Parle Agro’s Bailley has been growing steadily. Small local
players too are breathing down Bisleri’s neck riding on better trade margins and intensive
distribution (in their respective areas of operation).

33
 The competition facing Bisleri can be categorized into a few
brand names like

 Parle Bailey
 Hello
 Pepsi Aquafina
 Coca Cola Kinley

With Parle’s Bailey being the main competitor and second in market share in the organized
market, Bisleri faces tremendous competition from the unorganized sector.

Aquafina

The advantage for Aquafina is that though there are over 300 labels of bottled water in the Indian
market, few can be called brands. It is necessary to remember that every product with a name
is not a brand, even Bisleri has become generic to this category.

It does not have any emotional values attached to it. So there was no difficulty for Pepsi
in creating space in such a market which is completely different from the soft drinks
market, where it will be very difficult for any new player to find a slot. So the creative
team at HTA virtually had an empty canvas to work on. And it came up with a
campaign that did have people talking. First, a series of teasers, followed by a film
that showed healthy bodies and youthful people and, of course, lots of water.

Although Aquafina is only available in a 1 litre pet bottle, priced at Rs.10, is competitive.
And it is safe. In addition to the tamper proof seal, there is a reliable method of checking
whether the bottle has been refilled. The date of manufacturing has been written on the cap as
well as on the bottle. Thus a person who is refilling it would have to find a matching cap and
bottle, the probability of which is very low.

Coca Cola Kinley

Coca-Cola joined the race by announcing the imminent launch of its own brand of water and, in
the process, putting to rest rumors of its so-called takeover of Bisleri. Kinley is targetting
institutions.

34
Parle Agro’s Bailey

Bailey the brand that is owned by Ramesh Chauhan’s brother Prakash Chauhan is very
popular in the southern part of India. Southern part of India accounts for 20% of the sale of the
whole water market industry. Bisleri would have a tough competition from Bailey since the
company plans to spread its presence in that part of the country. Another thing that makes the
competition difficult for the company is the price at which it’s competitor is offering the
product. Like Bisleri it also gives the 1 lt. For Rs.10. The only strength point of the company
which it can capitalize is it’s generic name. And also the company would have to enter that
market with a strong distribution base. We know the fact that Bailley has grown at a rapid pace
using the route of franchising which Bisleri has not adopted as yet. This is another point which
the company would have to take care of to face the competition.

35
STRATEGIES THAT BISLERI SHOULD FOLLOW IN ORDER TO
RETAIN ITS MARKET SHARE:
1.The soft target:

Selling bottled water requires constantly expanding the market. The company should also target
the market for soft drinks. All the soft drinks addresses three issues: fun, thirst and refreshment
followed by status to some degree. The thirst and the status value of the mineral water is well
accepted. There is very little the mineral water brands can do to add the fun element around
the product. Again here, it becomes important for the company to have a good distribution
network. It should be understood that if the mineral water is easily available everywhere then it
can be said with confidence that it would be able to replace the soft drinks as thirst quencher. If
we try and look at the reasons that why consumers buy soft drinks as thirst quenchers: we would
find the answer as that either water is not available or if it is available then safety is not assured.
Therefore backed by a good distribution network mineral water industry can grow at a
rapid rate.

1. Getting in shape:
The another improvement the company needs is in terms of packaging. It is often seen that
the youth are the opinion leaders, therefore it becomes very important for any consumer
product to make a mark in that generation, if it really wants to grow. The company for that,
would have to come with packaging that is more sturdy and portrays itself as a hep brand.

2. Distribution network:
The need for improving the distribution network is not only when the company wants to
target the soft drinks market. If it wants to enter every part of the country and would face
competition from competitors like Bailley it becomes a prerequisite for the company to have
a strong distribution network. take the example of Bailley, it can be seen that this company
has grown rapidly in the past and is still on that trend. One of the important reason for this
rapid growth is franchising.

THREATS

Bisleri will be taking the packs back and refilling them. But the packs cannot be sterilized since
the material used is PET and cannot withstand high temperature. So how can they ensure
purity?”

Strategy to counter threats

Bottles are subjected to chlorine washes, hot water washes and ozone washes before refilling
the bottles.

36
The company is betting on the home segment. It is often seen that customers are not satisfied with
filters and water purifiers. The reason being that filters and water purifiers also need to be
cleaned periodically and still do not guarantee absolutely clean water. In order to service this
segment, the five liter packs are being pushed through the route of fat dealers (wholesale dealers)
who are retailers as well as stockiest and serve as supply points from where customers can pick
up the required quota. In future, consumers will be able to call the fat dealer and place orders for
home delivery of the five-liter pack.. This is a high turnover, low-margin retailer who does
not keep a store but serves a similar purpose with other items such as rice .

OPPORTUNITIES
So far, company has not used the franchising route very aggressively unlike Parle Agro’s Bailley
which has grown very fast using this route. He has around six franchisees in Mumbai, Delhi,
Chennai, Bangalore, Goa and Rajasthan. They shunned this route so far because in most areas
where they had no presence, it was imperative that they did it themselves. Now for further
expansion they can afford to use the franchisee route.”

Price or competition

Pricing is the next most important consideration for the consumer. they have crashed the
prices of the one liter and 500 ml offerings. “At Rs.5, that is half the price of the one liter
pack, the 500 ml pack is a steal,” says Company.

But what about the smaller pack eating into the one-liter sales? Answers Company,
“Interestingly, the smaller pack has pushed up the one liter sales. There has been a very
good rub-off.” Schemes for retailers for a combination of both packages are on create the push.
However, one liter packs which accounted for 50 per cent of the company’s turnover has come
down to 30 per cent. The two-liter packs, which have practically disappeared from the
shelves, have come down from 20 per cent to five per cent. The growth has come from the 500
ml and the five-liter category, which account for 15 per cent and 36 per cent of turnover
respectively.

Earlier, Bisleri was selling at a premium of Rs.12 for the same size. But beginning last year,
it has been selling its one- liter bottles at Rs.10 each. Aqua Minerals attributes the Price
slashing to retailer margins being on the higher side earlier.

37
The competitive Rs.10-price tag has been working well for the brand. Points out Chauhan, “Our
sales prove that the Indian consumer is getting smarter by the day. If he can buy a high-
quality product for the same price, why will he opt for an inferior brand?” For frequent
consumers, Bisleri introduced a half-liter bottle priced at Rs.5 some six months back.
There’s also a two-liter bottle for Rs.18.

In what could be a masterstroke, Aqua Minerals is testing out the possibility of mass
marketing 20-litre Bisleri bottles for an MRP of Rs.40. That works out to Rs.2 a liter. If the
logistics, manufacturing and distribution do fall in place, it could change the face of the purified
water market for keeps. In the current scenario, mineral water is picked up more by travelers, less
by households. With its big capacity jar, Aqua Minerals wants to change that. “they are
trying to break the home market with the 20-litre jar,” company discloses.

38
 PURIFICATION PROCESS
Bisleri is producing by painstakingly rigorous process. Source water is put through- 7 –stage
Purification process. It is then packaged in tamper proof packs with the unique "breakaway seal"
And all is done in completely automated plants to ensure it reaches you perfectly pure and safe.
The process is Natural spring water is drawn from deep wells then

l. CHLORINATION-Kills microorganisms, removes organic matter.

2. SAND FIL TER---Removes suspended matter and turbidity.

3. CARBON FILTER-Removes residual chlorines and odors

4. ULTRAFICATION-Removes bacteria and make water sparkling clean

5. MICRON FILTERS---Additional safety measures of filtration

6. REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM---Controls total dissolved solids (TDS).

7. 0Z0NATION-Ensures water remains bacteria -free for longer shelf life.

39
 FUTURE PLANS

Bisleri was the first to market bottled water in totally virgin markets and naturally people
associate the brand with bottled water .now Bisleri is perhaps already 10 steps ahead of its
competitors and will endeavours to widen its gap in the times to come, some of the future plans of
the Bisleri

1. New pack sizes in bottles and cups.

2. Increase the distribution network with an investment of over 200 crores.
3. Strengthen presence in traditionally weak areas by setting up 12 new bottling facilities at
the cost of Rs 150 crores.
4. Bisleri planning to diversify into fruit juice business. It has already set up a fruit -juice
plant in Chittor AP.
5. The company plans to go in the neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bhutan.
6. The company planning to open the Bisleri retail outlets ---these ere the shops where only
Bisleri will be sold.

40
 SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS:

 Bisleri is the first in the segment has built up a brand name.

 A generic product.
 Have spread Distribution network all over India

WEAKNESS:
 Less margins of retailers or distributors, so they avoid it.
 High cost of production than the competitors.

OPPORTUNITIES:
 In flavoured water segment.
 In neighbouring countries.

THREATS:
 Local players entering in to the market & selling at a very low price.
 Duplicity resulting in bringing down the Brand name.
 Heavy market potential in this segment invite the big players and the competition
increases.

41
RESEARCH METHODOLGY

 A Research Methodology defines the purpose of the research, how it proceeds,

how to measure progress and what constitute success with respect to the
objectives determined for carrying out the research study.

The appropriate research design formulated is detailed below.

 Exploratory Research: This kind of research has the primary objective of

development of insights into the problem. It studies the main area where the
problem lies and also tries to evaluate some appropriate courses of action.
 The research methodology for the present study has been adopted to reflect these
realties and help reach the logical conclusion in an objective and scientific
manner.

The present study contemplated an exploratory research

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

The following are the main objectives of my Research study:-

2. To make a brand analysis of Bisleri as a brand.

3. To conduct a market survey of Bisleri.
4. The affects on Bisleri sale, profit and market share after the launch of
‘Acquafina’ by Pepsi and ‘Kinley’ by Bisleri.
5. To find out the current position of Acquafina, Hello and Kinley mineral water.
6. Threats caused by Aquafina, Kinley and Hello to Bisleri.
7. Strategies and measures adopted by Bisleri to counter the competition by
Hello & Kinley.

42
NATURE OF DATA

Primary Data: Data which is collected through direct interviews and by

raising questionnaires to retailers.

Secondary Data: Secondary data that is already available and published.

Various internet sites, newspaper, magazines like A&M
were searched in order to find information useful for
completion of this project.

It could be internal and external source of data.

Internal source: Which originates from the specific field or area where research is
carried out e.g. publish broachers, official reports etc.

External source: This originates outside the field of study like books, periodicals,
journals, newspapers and the Internet.

DATA COLLECTION

Primary Data: The primary data has been collected by conducting a survey in the
following areas.

1. Rajendra place
2. Naraina Industrial area

3. Karolbagh market

4. Janak puri district center

SAMPLE DESIGN
Sampling unit: Residents & Retailers in the above mentioned
areas.

Sample size: 100 persons

43
SAMPLING PROCEDURE
Simple Random Sampling to select the sample

DATA COLLECTION
Sources of data: 1) Primary Data which included the input received
from directly the residents through Interview.

2) Secondary data from the Industry manual, policy

manuals, books and internet etc.

Method of collecting data: Interview method

44
FINDINGS OF RESEARCH

1. Out of 100 retailers, everyone stored mineral water and basically these shops were
centrally located to the market and were basically general store, confectionery shop and small
kirana shop.

The survey revealed that almost every shop stored mineral water, therefore it can be
interpreted that mineral water in current market scenario is on general demand and
retailer enjoy selling it, as the get good margin out of it.

2. Brand of mineral water kept by the retailers

The survey revealed that out of 100 retailers surveyed, all over Delhi, 70% of the
retailers kept Bailey's mineral water, 25% Kinley, 30% Aquafina, 40% Yes and 50%
the retailer kept Hello mineral water.
However it can be noted that retailers prefer Bisleri mineral water which has got a share of
70% this is so because people or customer recalls mineral water with the brand name of
Bisleri. The new entrants basically Aquafina and Kinley is been kept by 30% and 26%
of the retailers and they consider that this product will soon capture market share as
the brand name will speak its quality.
Pie chart showing percentage of different mineral water being kept by the retailers

45% 70%
50%
50%
40% 30%
26%

Bisleri Bailley's Aquafina Kinley

45
3. Weekly sales of mineral water from the outlet
Out of 100 shopkeepers surveyed all over Delhi, the weekly sales of the mineral water
averaged approx 225 bottles of 1 lit. each which means that a total number of bottles case or
cases sold from the single outlet averaged around 15 cases. Out of this Bisleri mineral water is
sold most i .e. approx. 45% of the cases sold from the single outlet belongs to Bisleri mineral
water, whereas Kinley acquired average of 7-8% of the total sale. Aquafina sale constitute
of 10%, Bailey's sale on an average constitute of 20% of the total sale. However other
mineral water sales comprised of 18% of the total sale.
Thus from the above analysis it is very clear that Bisleri still holds on dominant position in the
mineral water market, but at the same time new entrants like Aquafina and Kinley with market
share of 10% and 8% respectively may pose threat to Bisleri in the long run.
Piechart showing percentage sales of following mineral water in a week

17%

45%
20%

8% 10%

Bisleri Aquafina Kinley Hello Others

46
4. Frequency of distribution visit
Distribution is an important parameters which holds on key position for any fast-moving
consumer goods as the sale of this particular type of product highly depend on distribution
network and its availability, also frequency of distribution is taken into consideration for the sale
of this kind of product. Therefore it can be interpreted that sale of any product depend on its
distribution and thus we can say that distribution and sales are interrelated.
The total number of retailers covered for the purpose of my analysis is 100, and out of this
almost every shop considered gets the mineral water of each brand on a regular basis i.e. on
a daily basis, therefore linkage is always there with the company regarding the demand for
mineral water. This is good sign for an almost all the company as they are in regular touch
with the retailers.
Bargraph showing frequency of distributor visit to retailers
100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10% 0% 0% 0%0% 0%0% 0%
0% 0% 0% 0%0%
0%
Bisleri Aquafina Kinley Bailey's Hello Others

Daily Alternatively Weekly

47
5. Analysis regarding information about the scheme
The consent regarding the prior information about the schemes from the retailers show
varying percentage

BRAND Yes No

Bisleri 56% 44%

Aquafina 60% 40%

Kinley 63% 37%

Bailey's 57% 43%

Hello 70% 30%

Others 40% 60%

70%

60%

50% Yes
No
40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Bisleri Aquafina Kinley Bailey's Others Hello

Retailers are very sensitive regarding the schemes. They prefer that product which gives them
more margins and for this they depend mainly on schemes provide by the company.
However, from the analysis it was found out that retailers prior information regarding the
schemes is maximum in case of Kinley that is 63% of retailer gave consent regarding the
prior information on of the scheme in the case of Kinley whereas rest of the 37% are not
informed about the scheme. Followed by Aquafina, 60%, Yes ad 40% No, then Bailey’s
57% yes and 43% NO, and Information regarding Bisleri scheme is 56% Yes and 44% No.
Thus it can be interpreted that, new entrants like Aquafina, Kinley are on aggressive path
in order to increase their market share and at the same time its creating effect on the sale of
Bisleri by giving incentive of schemes which the retailers prefers a lot and like to keep their
product.

48
 6. Availability of the various mineral water among retailers shows varying percentage

Easily Get but not often Does not get

Bisleri 73% 18% 9%

Aquafina 75% 15% 10%

Kinley 60% 15% 10%

Bailey's 70% 20% 10%

Hello 65% 20% 15%

Others 60% 20% 20%

From the data, it can be interpreted that availability of Bisleri mineral water among the retailers is
73% of retailers gets the product easily, whereas 18% of them feels that they do not get the
product offer and rest of the 9% retailers feels that they do not get this product at all. Thus
it can be said that, distribution system of Bisleri is good and should try to maintain this
pattern in order to compete with Kinley and Aquafina which have strong distribution
network due to their soft drink link.
However, in the case of Aquafina 65% of retailers gets the product regularly, 18%f get the
product on an irregular basis whereas rest of the 15% retailer do, not get the product at all,
therefore Aquafina should use its full distribution network of Pepsi in order to capture
large chunk of market size.
In the case of Kinley 60% retailers get the product easily whereas 15% of the retailers get
this mineral water on an irregular basis and rest of the 25% retailers do not get the product
at all.
In the case of Hello 65% retailers get the product easily whereas 20% of the retailers get
this mineral water on an irregular basis and rest of the 15% retailers do not get the product
at all.
Therefore Coca-Cola should do something with its distribution network in order to capture
more market share as it does not need to create it separate distribution network for mineral
water, this is because they have already strong presence in the market due to its soft drink link.
Thus it can pose major threat to Bisleri in a long run, if its potential is used at full capacity.

 Bisleri’s has strong presence in the market as it can be seen from the table that 70% of retailers
gets the product easily. 20% retailers gets the mineral water on an irregular basis, whereas
rest of the 10% retailers feels that they do not get the product at all.

49
 Other mineral water accounts 60% in case of easy availability, 20% feels that they do not
get the mineral water in a regular basis and rest of the 20% retailers feels that they do not
get the product all.

50
7. Analysis regarding the sale of Bisleri and other mineral water prior to the launch of
Kinely and Aquafina
The total number of outlet covered for this purpose is 100; and coverage sale of mineral water
from a single outlet is approximately 15 cases of 1 lit. Each. Prior to the launch of Aquafina and
Kinley, the market size of each of the mineral water is as follows:

Bisleri 8/15 53%

Bailey’s 3/15 20%

Others 4/15 27%

Piechart showing market share of Bisleri, Hello, Bailey’s and prior to the launch of
Aquafina and Kinley

20%
46%
14%

20%

Bisleri Bailey's Hello Others

If we compare this data from the analysis of third question data, then we will find that sale of
Bisleri has gone down by 8-10% after the launch of Aquafina and Kinley Thus we say that
new entrants like Aquafina and Kinley which has very strong brand name attached to its
tag ad with strong distribution network and aggressive promotional strategy can push away
Bisleri ad may pose threat to it by capturing larger chunk of market size.

51
8. Analysis regarding the forecast of demand in the near future
The analysis regarding the forecast of demand of particular brand is derived out by taking an
average of 100 retailers ranking. The percentages of demand for the particular brand of mineral
water in the near future are as follows:

Bisleri 3/5 60%

Aquafina 4/5 80%

Kinley 4.5/5 90%

Bailey’s 2.5/5 50%

Hello 2.5/5 50%

Others 2/5 40%

52
Pie chart showing % of demand for the particular brand of mineral water in the near
future

40% 60%
50%

80%
50%
90%

Bisleri Aquafina Kinley Bailey's Hello Others

The demand for the Bisleri mineral water will be little higher than the medium i.e. it will
have approx. 60% of the demand, whereas Aquafina demand will be high suggesting that its
demand will go up to 80%, Kinley is predicted to be higher in demand due to its pricing,
quality and brand image, the average of 100 retailers feels that, it will have 4.5 (on a scale of
5,) demand i.e. its demand will be approx. 90% in the near future. Bailey's demand will be
somewhere around 50% as its average is coming out to be approx. 2.5 on a scale of 5,
whereas other mineral water demand is predicted only 40%.
Thus its very clear from the chart that in near future demand for new entrants like Kinley and
Aquafina will be very high and this may lead to major threat to Bisleri and other mineral water.

53
 9. Analysis of the particular brand that retailers are satisfied with regard to the following
parameters

Margins

Satisfied Not satisfied

Bisleri 37% 63%

Aquafina 73% 27%

Kinley 78% 22%

Bailey's 80% 20%

Hello 67% 33%

Others 80% 20%

Margin is key factor due to which the retailers keep the product their product is being able to
push away to further to the final consumer.

 The survey conducted among 100 retailers convey that only 37% of the retailers are satisfied
with the margin of Bisleri mineral water as they feel that the margin provided by them is
minimum as compared to other mineral water. They only get a margin of Rs. 1 in a 1 lit. of
bottle, whereas in other mineral water they get the margin of Rs. 1.50 to Rs 2. 0.

 They enjoy keeping local brand as they get maximum margin on them. in the case of
Aquafina they get a margin of Rs. 1.50 and Rs. 2 in the case of Kinley and Bailey's.
Therefore rest of 63% retailers are not satisfied in this particular point.

54
Aquafina
In the case of Aquafina, 73% of the retailers feels that margin that they are getting is good enough
and rest of the 27% retailers are not satisfied with the margin.

Kinley

In the case of Kinley, 78% of the retailers are satisfied with the margin level whereas 22%
retailers are not happy about the margin level.

Bailey's
Bailey's stands parallel with Bisleri with a 80% of satisfaction level from the retailers and rest of
the 20% retailers, does not feel good about margin level.
This is again on positive point for Bailey's to compete in the market and increase its market size.
Hello

In the case of Hello, 67% of the retailers feels that margin that they are getting is good enough
and rest of the 33% retailers are not satisfied with the margin.

Others

Other mineral water like Hello, Yes, Ganga, gives good margin to the retailers and therefore 80%
of retailers enjoy its margin level where 20% are still not happy about it.

55
Graph showing % satisfaction level in terms of margin

Satisfied Not satisfied

Bisleri 37% 63%

Aquafina 73% 27%

Kinley 78% 22%

Bailey's 80% 20%

Hello 60% 40%

Others 80% 20%

78% 80% 80%

80% 73%
70% 63% 60%
60%

50%
40%
40% 37%

30% 27%
22% 20% 20%
20%

10%

0%
Bisleri Aquafina Kinley Bailey's Hello Others

Satisfied Not satisfied

Satisfaction level of the retailers with regard to stock pressure

Out of 100 retailers surveyed almost cent percent retailers are satisfied with stock pressure
of the various brand. Therefore this is not a major issue that has to be dealt with great concern.
Instead the all of this brand should force the retails to keep to thrive product in order to increase
their sale level.

56
Satisfaction level of the retailers with regard to replacement policy
The satisfaction level regarding the replacement policy is cent percent among the major
competitors i.e. Bisleri, Aquafina, Kinley, Hello and Bailey's. where as 30% of the retailers
are satisfied with the replacement policy of other mineral water (Ganga, Glacier Yes, etc.)
and rest of 70% has not shown their consent regard the replacement policy.
Thus his parameter too, does not need to be taken care off by the major competitor and should
carry on like this in order to meet the challenges in the near future.

Satisfaction level of the retailers with regard to the quality of the product

Bisleri 65%

Aquafina 95%

Kinley 80%

Bailey's 60%

Hello 70%

Others 40%

57
Pie-chart showing satisfaction level among the retailers regarding quality of the product
from the various players

40% 65%

70%

95%
60%
80%

Bisleri Aquafina Kinley Bailey's Hello Others

After calculating % of retailers satisfied with the quality of mineral water, it was found out that
the Aquafina is leading ahead with its competitors, as 95% of retailers feels that quality of this
particular brand is much better than the other mineral water, followed by Kinley, where 80%
retailers are satisfied by its quality then the Hello 70%, followed by Bisleri 65%, Bailey's
60% and other mineral water 40%.

This shows that the quality of new entrants like Aquafina and Kinley is much better; thus it can
give tough competition to the retailers in the particular parameter.

Therefore Bisleri and Bailey's should do something in terms of its quality in order to
maintain its existing market share.

58
 Analysis of satisfaction level among the retailers with regard to brand name

Bisleri 70%

Aquafina 95%

Kinley 90%

Bailey's 30%

Hello 60%

Others 13%a

Out of 100 retailers covered all over Delhi, it was found out that, Bisleri has got strong brand
image in terms of mineral water. Infact mineral water has become generic with a brand
name of Bisleri. 70% of the retailers are satisfied with the brand image of Bisleri whereas
30% are not.
In the case of Aquafina 95% of the retailers are satisfied with the brand image of Aquafina,
which is considered to be very good and thus it can give major threat to other mineral water
by aggressive promotional strategy. With this type of brand image it can capture larger chunk
of market size from the pie.

 Kinely too enjoy strong brand image as 90% retailers feels that being on Coca-Cola product,
the brand value is more and therefore they find it easy to sell this particular product.

 Bailey's brand name infront of competitors like Aquafina, Kinely and Bisleri is not that much;
therefore only 30% of the retailers are satisfied with its brand name.

 Hello brand name infront of competitors like Aquafina, Kinely and Bisleri is not that much;
therefore only 60% of the retailers are satisfied with its brand name.

 Other mineral water like, Glacier, Yes, Ganga etc. does not have strong brand image. It can
be seen from the table that only 13% of the retailers are satisfied with its brand image rest
of them does not.
Therefore it can be concluded by saying that brand image of Aquafina, Hello, Kinley and
Bisleri is very high and if properly milked can lead to increase in the market share.
Pie-chart showing combined satisfaction level of brand name among the retailers

59
 13% 70%
60%

30%

95%
90%

Bisleri Aquafina Kinley Bailey's Hello Others

Analysis regarding the price of mineral water among the retailers

High Reasonable

Bisleri 10% 90%

Aquafina 70% 30%

Kinley 5% 95%

Bailey's 20% 80%

Hello 15% 85%

Others 10% 90%

60
 Graph showing % of retailer’s perception regarding the price of following mineral water

100% 90% 95% 90%

90% 80% 85%
80% 70%
70%
60%
50%
40% 30%
30% 20%
20% 15%
10% 10%
10% 5%
0%
Bisleri Aquafina Kinley Bailey's Hello Others
High

From the data it’s very clear that the price of Bisleri mineral water is reasonable. As it can be
seen that almost 90% retailers feels the price of Bisleri mineral water is reasonable whereas 10%
feels price to be high, therefore Bisleri should stick with the same pricing policy and try to
expand its market size.

 Aquafina price was felt high by the retailers as 70% fo the retailers say that 750 ml of water
costs Rs. 10 which is comparatively higher than the other mineral water, therefore it caters to
different sector and as a result its sales is not able to increase inspite of the fact that it has best
quality and to support this they are very aggressive in advertising, therefore if they look on the
parameter and try to do something, then definitely they will have an edge over their
competitors.

 Kinley 1 lit. bottle cost Rs.10 and 500 ml bottle is costing Rs.4 which the retailers feels that
its price is reasonable by showing their consent. Almost 95% retailers feels that the price is
reasonable and rest of 5% still consider its price as high.
However it can be interpreted out from this that if they follow this strategy of price then large
market size as they have strong brand image of Coca-Cola attached with these tag, which
will help them to capture larger market share.

 Bailey's pricing is considered to be reasonable as 80% of the retailers rated in this column
to support these point, whereas rest of the 20% does not feel so.

 Hello pricing is considered to be reasonable as 85% of the retailers rated in this column to
support these point, whereas rest of the 15% does not feel so.

 Other mineral water like Ganga, Yes, etc. has been rated as reasonable on its pricing policy.

61
12. Analysis regarding role of advertisement in increasing market share of following mineral
water

Yes No

Bisleri 60% 40%

Aquafina 92% 8%

Kinley 72% 28%

Bailey's 30% 70%

Hello 46% 54%

Others 10% 90%

Advertisement in today's competing environment plays an important role in increasing

market size of any particular product.

It can be interpreted from the given table that advertisement has played a major role in the case of
Bisleri to maintain the current market size and compete in this competitive environment. 60% of
the retailers feels that advertisement of Bisleri has played major role in maintaining its current
market size whereas 40% does not think so.

 In the case of Aquafina, retailers feel that advertisement for this particular product has
helped it to grow and capture the market size and with this aggressive advertisement
strategy, it is expected that in market share will increase in near future. 92% of the
retailers feels that due to its advertisement, this particular product is being accepted in the
market, whereas rest of the 8% have varying reasons.

30% retailers feels that Bailey's sale is due to the advertisement whereas 70% of the
retailers does not feel so. therefore if Bailey's want to increase its market share then it
should do something in this field also.

46% retailers feels that Hello sale is due to the advertisement whereas 54% of the retailers
does not feel so. therefore if Bailey's want to increase its market share then it should do
something in this field also

62
Other mineral water like Kinley too is banging on its add ad promotional strategy to capture
larger chunk of market size. Its very clear from the data that approx.

70% retailers feels that sale of Kinley is due to its aggressive advertisement, whereas rest of
them does not feel so (Ganga, Yes, Glacier, etc) does not follow aggressive advertisement,
10% of the retailers say that advertisement has played a role in increasing the market share
whereas 90% does not feel so. Therefore to conclude, it can be said that advertisement has
major role to play in the near future when the mineral water war has begun from the major
giant players like Pepsi, Coke and Bisleri.

63
 RECOMMENDATIONS

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Advertisement to build the brand image that will provide the required ground to establish
the authenticity to the product.

2. Flavoured water without sugar and artificial ingredients could be introduced so that the
consumers also has a healthy substitute to the softdrinks.
3. Bulk water delivery to home at no additional cost.
4. Company like Acquafina & Kinley should come up with other big bottles variant.
5. POP (Point of Purchase) displaying the cost of water at Rs. 2 per mlt as the perception of
the people is that mineral water cost Rs. 10 per Lt.
6. Awareness programs at health club , schools & Nursing homes.
7. To win over the consumer belief and faith over the genuity of the product.
8. Display of hot and cold dispensers and bottles at places like hotels, clubs and airports
where upper class group visits as they are the potential customers. Place like departmental
stores, petrol pumps and super bazaars can also be considered.
9. Mineral water in polybags like milk be more convenient to the consumers.
10. The company should organise camps at various part of the city also road show to bring
about the difference between mineral water and filter/purified water and to tell the
people how mineral water is more hygienic than filtered water/purified water.
11. To aware people the cost benefit analysis to the customer of how the mineral water would
cost less and benefit more, because people using purifier system cost too much.
12. From the study it has been found that majority of the people does not have any brand
preference. The company should establish brand image in mineral water with the help of
advertisement & better service to the customers.
13. To win over the consumer faith over the genuinety of the product the company should
have redressal forums where people can convey their grievance.
14. Water storing fridges should be provided to retailers by big brands.
15. 'Buy two bottles get one' like offers can also be introduced by big brands.
16. Pirated or copied variants of branded water to be stopped.
17. Plastic quality of bottle can be improved as specially middle class segment don't want to
throw plastic bottles after water consumption and like the same bottle to be used in future
or domestic purposes.

64
The redressal forum should be located zone wise and the company should see the zonal head
reports every day regarding the grievances of the customers. The company should make
proper arrangements to get away with the grievances of the consumers as soon as possible.

65
CONCLUSION

66
 CONCLUSION

The players who will endure will be those who have a strong regional presence. Take the case of
Team, which enjoys immense popularity in TamilNadu. Similar brands with a regional
presence are Siruvani, and Koday. Thus, new players will be looking for a distinct
positioning. One such brand is Pepsi’s Aquafina, the largest selling bottled water brand in
the US. After its successful test launch in Mumbai and Bangalore, Aquafina was released in
Chennai, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Pune. Pepsi has invested over Rs.5 crore in the new
Aquafina water project in Maharashtra, which is the only Aquafina plant outside the US.

According to the executive vice president, corporate communications, Pepsi Foods Ltd.
“Aquafina will be helped by Pepsi’s network. Moreover, Aquafina will be served absolutely
chilled.” That makes sense too, since surveys have indicated that an overwhelming majority of
the bottled water that is consumed in India is by people who are travelling.

With the big players, who have the support of the financial muscle and a large consumer
base in other categories with them, like Pepsi, Britannia, Nestle and Coke — the battle is
the tougher arena of brand building. All the multinationals are looking at high-octane
advertising targeting specific consumer segments. Sensing troubled waters ahead,

67
Bisleri is busy working on a strategy to soak up the competition and protect his water
kingdom.

At the end I would like to say that being a market leader Bisleri have to adopt few things as
follows because previously it was working under an environment which was equivalent to
monopoly. Because he was the initiator in water trade business, but as the changing rules of
business and market, one has to adopt & implement different & effective strategies at the right
time to attain a position in this competitive world.

I would recommend the few things to the company.

 Develop new marketing strategies due to raising competition in water trade.

 Give more margins to the retailers and distributors so that they eagerly participate in
increasing the company revenue by rising sales.
 Reducing the cost of production by finding, changing & adopting new advance technologies.
 Should respond to the competitors when they give something new to the consumer by giving
the same or better.
 Should give more stress & attention to the media and advertising.
 Should give proper service to the existing consumers.
 Reducing the delivery time and the water will be refilled within half an hour of the phone
call.
 Awareness programmes about the hygiene water in schools & colleges.
 Displays of hot & cold dispensers and bottles at places like airports ,metro stations..
 The company should organize camps at various parts of the city, Also road how to bring
about the difference between mineral water and purified water.

68