Commerce Lab - Practical Question Bank

FACULTY OF COMMERCE, OSMANIA UNIVERSITY

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B.Com (All Streams) III Year W.E.F.2010-11

RETAIL MARKETING AND CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

Record

Skill Test

Total Marks

: 10

: 20

: 30

1. Starbucks, the well known coffee chain in America wants to set up a coffee chain in

India. It has hired you as a consultant. How would you go about designing a retail chain

for Starbucks?

2. Big Bazaar wishes to develop customer loyalty programme. They have approached you

to design one such programme. Develop a unique frequent shopper programme for the

store.

3. You have been hired by a five star deluxe hotel in Goa. This hotel has been

experiencing uneven demand for its facilities. The management has asked you to develop

a marketing plan to even out this demand.

4. Shaadi.com has been wondering how it can bring back customers to its web site. This

is especially because once the objective of the customer to find a match has been achieved;

the customer has no reason to return. The advertising revenues of shaadi.com are linked

to number of customers the site is able to attract and retain. What strategy should this

website adopt?

5. One of the leading telecom companies is thinking of designing a customer loyalty

programme on the lines of the frequent flier programme of the best airlines in the country.

Design the programme for the company.

6. What strategies would you use to fight competition in the passenger car segment?

7. A manufacturer of toiletries is interested in estimating the demand for herbal shampoo

in urban centres of India. What factors will you consider in estimating this demand?

8. A leading consumer company wishes to diversity into food products and has identified

potato, corn and cheese snack foods for urban markets. None of the products are new to

these markets, yet the newness in the proposed products is the state-of-the art technology,

which will ensure consistent quality of the finished product. The major competition to this

firm are unorganised small firms and major l giants like Pepsi Foods. Assume that you

are the product manager of this firm. Evolve a marketing strategy for a successful launch

of the snack foods line.

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9. A company in the consumer durable industry has just added an electronic cordless

broom to its product line and has approached you for its positioning. The product is

targeted at middle income households and is priced at Rs.2,200. The company is a leader

in its other product lines. Work out a positioning strategy and its rationale for this

wonder product.

10. Write a report on promotion strategy of Maruti Udyog in respect of its Swift Dezire car.

11. Write a report on promotion strategy of Boost through cricket players.

12. In recent years, discount sales have been on the rise and several discount stores have

come up in the country. Regular discount sales are also organised by firms and retail

stores around festive seasons. Yet, there are many designer brands who do not have such

discount sales and yet record large sales turnover. Why?

13. A company wishes to launch new toothpaste which can effectively prevent cavities and

tooth decay. But the toothpaste market is highly crowded with multiple brands. Assume

you were to evolve a marketing communication strategy. Which appeal will you use and

why?

14. What types of consumer response should the marketer aim at in the communication

strategies for the Life insurance?

15. What types of consumer response should the marketer aim at in the communication

strategies for the Cellular phones?

16. What types of consumer response should the marketer aim at in the communication

strategies for the Personal computers?

17. It is said that advertising is a waste of scarce resources in a developing country like

India. Do you agree? Substantiate your arguments with appropriate examples.

18. Internet is a powerful medium. Evolve a plan to set up a grocery and food mall on the

net.

19. In the Indian contest, which are the most appropriate media for reaching out to target

markets.

20. Write a report on use of Credit card for marketing of products.

21.Large mail order businesses, like Sears have succeeded by building brands even

though Otto Burlington’s, which opened shop in India, has not been as successful. It

offered branded products like Pepe, Benetton and Philips for credibility, even though

there is more margins in non-branded items. Why do you think Burlington’s has not

been so successful? If you were to take over this company, what would you do to bring a

turnaround?
22.A consumer durable company is contemplating to introduce some guarantee for its

product. In this contest, it wonders whether it should introduce product performance

guarantee, service guarantee or money back guarantee. What recommendation would

you like to give? What are the factors the company needs to consider in taking the

decision?

23. One of the leading banks has set up a call centre to respond to the service calls of its

customers. Its hope was that customer satisfaction will increase. However, a recent

survey showed a decline in customer satisfaction. The call centre personnel were found to

be rude non-responsive and ones who did not understand the product and the customer.

What advise will you give to the bank to enhance its customer service?

24. A telecom company was faced with the problem of customer churn which was higher

then the industry average. An analysis showed that the customers were dissatisfied with

the service provided by its various customer service centre. What strategy would you

suggest to reduce the churn in this telecom company?

25.The synergy between telephone, computer and other technologies have provided

the customer with great choice and access; however, organisations need to balance the

remoteness brought about by technology and the need for the customer to feel a valued

individual. What steps would you take a s a manager to bridge this gap.

26. Internet is a powerful medium. Evolve a plan to set up a grocery and food mall on the

net.
27.Cellular phones today have become an essential accessory for the urban Indian

consumer. It is going to be the same in rural India a s India adds almost 1.5 million

subscribers each year to its mobile phone users. Cellular phone service today has become

a commodity as almost all service providers offer the same features, benefits and packages

on the basis of price. In this scenario one of the cellular phone companies has hired you

to advise them on enhancing customer experience which in turn can help a firm gain

competitive edge. What shall be your’experience enhancing’ plan?

28.Mother Dairy is a strong and dominant player in packaged milk and milk products

in northern India, particularly Delhi. Recently it decided to expand its operations to

other metro cities like Mumbai and Hyderabad. It faces competition in all these cities,

including Delhi. This competition is largely from a number of unorganised dairies. The

only organised sector firm in this sector is Amul, which is strong in western India. Other

major players are Mahananda (in Maharashtra) and Nestle. The unorganised sector’s

milkman delivers fresh milk at the doorsteps of the customer. His value proposition is

freshness and directly from the source. Mother Dairy’s proposition, on the other hand,

is that it offers fresh milk which is pasteurised, hygienic whose composition is different,

depending on the fat content. Mother Dairy wants to penetrate the new markets and

create loyalty amongst its existing and potential buyers. What strategy should Mother

Dairy adopt?

29.A leading American fast food company, which specialised in sandwiches and coffee,

wishes to enter the Indian market. Having engaged you as consultant to scan the
competition for them and identify existing opportunities, what products and firms would

you consider as its competitors? What scanning techniques would you apply to analyse

competition and submit report?

30.Organisations are making use of customers’ cell phone numbers for maintaining

relationship with customers. Bring out a case of such marketer you have experienced.

31. Samsung recently introduced a range of their home appliances in the Indian market.

It launches its range of refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens, televisions

and also cellular phone handsets. These are positioned at the urban professionals in the

middle and higher income groups. Its major competitors are LG, BPL, Philips, Sony,

Panasonic, Clectrolux and Whirlpool. The company has the objective to achieve a market

penetration ratio of 25 percent in next year and eventually be a market leader in each of

the products. Analyse the market opportunity for Samsung and evolve a marketing plan

for achieving this goal.

32. ne of the erstwhile leaders in consumer electronics has hired your services

as a marketing consultant to advice on possible diversification; some of these are

manufacturing and marketing dish antennas, creating a new entertainme3nt company, or

entering into feature film production. Evaluate these new product opportunities and give

your recommendations to the company with proper justification.

33.The Internet gaming industry was worth over Rs.100 crores. There were 36 million

mobile subscribers in India and by the end of 2010.It was expected to be 100 million.
According to some estimates, the mobile market of India was expected to grow at a

compound average rate of 40 percent until 2012. One of the major players in this market

is India Games which is keen to develop a marketing strategy which will make it a leader

across the competition in this market. Develop a competitive marketing plan for India

Games which will help the firm achieve its goal.

34.What issues will you consider in designing a questionnaire for assessing distribution

equity of a well known national brand of toilet soap? Design a questionnaire to measure

distribution equity.

35. If you are the purchase manager of an engineering company and you are required to

buy consumables, spare parts, and machine to0ols, how would you use the Internet for

buying these items and how would you evaluate the credibility of a vendor on the website?

36. General Motors has just launched a new model, the Opel Corsa, It is contemplating on

basing its marketing strategies on consumer lifestyles. Evolve a marketing strategy that

will help Opel Corsa succeed in the Indian market.

37. Psychographic analysis of Esteem buyers reveals that they are professionals, outgoing,

caring, high achievers who revel in consuming the best products and services. They have

one or two children. This is different from Maruti 800 buyers who are younger in age,

just starting their careers, newly married, pop music lovers, and ambitious. How would

information like this be useful to Maruti dealer?

38. Critically evaluate the market segments for Titan, Rado and Rolex brand of watches.

What are the value propositions of each of these brands for different market segments?

39. Prepare a report on distribution channel used by Enadu telugu daily.

40. Prepare a report on Mass marketing of milk by Mother Dairy.

41. If you were the marketing manager of a cellular phone company, what steps would you

take to diffuse a new product in the Indian market?

42. A leading European departmental store is all set to enter the Indian market. You have

be retained as an advertising consultant. Evolve an advertising strategy for this store.

You may spell out your assumptions and clearly mention objectives, copy plat form, and

media choices.

43. A new brand of cell phone has to be launched by a leading electronic firm. After an

in depth analysis of the market, the firm decided to position it as an aspiration product

for the new age young professionals. You have been hired to develop a communication

strategy which will help the company achieve the desired penetration of 15 per cent in the

first year itself. Work out the communication plan for the launch.

44. Design a sales promotion plan for a web based news magazine.

45. Prepare a chart showing the steps to be taken to build customer relationship.
46.In a recent annual marketing conference of a leading consumer entertainment

electronics firm, dealers walked out over the issue of margins offered by the company and

investments required by it in its product mix. They complained of low distribution equity.

If you were the manager, how will you handle this situation?

47. The Indian market is in a growth phase, yet the profit margins are declining but costs

to serve a customer are increasing every day. ‘Given this situation many retail stores seem

to be closing their shops in the malls of Gurgaon. If you were to advise Pizza Hut, which

is one such retail outlet, what advice will you give? What advice will you give to mall

management?

48. The cable television industry is a relatively new industry in the country. It has been

growing at a high rate but is beset with several environmental problems. A leading news

magazine has decided to diversity into cable and satellite television and has appointed

you as its marketing manager. How will you position your products? Whom would you

target ? What marketing strategy will you like to evolve to gain a foot hold in the market?

49. Quote a practical case of a customer satisfaction you have known through some source.

50. As a responsible marketing head of an upcoming player in the airlines industry, do you

think there is an advantage in competing on personal service rather than price? Also, how

can you personalise your service to improve customer service?

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