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Case 1: Auto Concepts

Nick Thomas is the CEO of Auto Concepts, a division of a large U.S. automobile manufacturer that has
multiple divisions representing several auto and truck brands. This company has been slowly losing market
share to competitors. Auto Concepts was created to develop totally new vehicle models that are more in
tune with today’s changing automobile market. A primary consideration in its development efforts is the
U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which advocates the
use of alternative fuels such as propane, natural gas, hydrogen, ethanol, electricity, and biodiesel. It notes
the key benefits of fuel economy, which include saving money, reducing oil dependence, slowing adverse
climate change, and increasing energy sustainability. At the same time, it is believed that the Internet of
Things, with its capabilities of safe mobile connections, self- or assisted-driving, infotainment, on-board
diagnostics, and more will be a prominent part of future vehicles. Nick Thomas knows he must come up
with some innovations in automobile design and engineering, but he is not certain in which direction he
should guide his division. Nick realizes that he needs to find out what consumers’ attitudes are toward
global warming and taking personal responsibility for fuel economy. This knowledge will help him
determine a direction for the company in terms of automobile design. Nick also needs more data on
consumer preferences. Will they want to stay with today’s standard gasoline compacts, all electric or
hybrid electric models, or might they be interested in radically different models that promise much higher
fuel economy?

Questions

i. In the development of new automobile models, which of the following should Nick be primarily
concerned with, and why?

a. Engineering and production feasibility


b. The brand image of his division’s parent U.S.
automobile manufacturer
c. Technological innovation
d. Consumer preferences

ii. Should Nick Thomas use marketing research? Justify.

Case 2: Memos from a Researcher

John Daniel, a researcher at Georgia Metro Research, made the following notes about several of his clients
to you, a newly hired trainee who has just graduated from college: Client A is a consumer packaged goods
manufacturer with a well-established brand name. The client has focused on manufacturing and
distribution for years, while the marketing program has been set on “auto pilot.” All had been working
fine, but there was a hint of emerging problems when, in the preceding year, market share fell slightly.
Now, our client has reviewed the current market share report and noticed that over the previous 12 months,
the company’s share has gradually eroded 15%. When market share falls, clients are eager to learn why

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and to take corrective action. In these situations, we know the problem is that we don’t know what the
problem is. There are many possible causes for this slippage, so we need to determine the most appropriate
research design. Second, Client B is a manufacturer of baked goods products sold in grocery stores
throughout the country. Marketing is divided into five regional divisions within the United States. The five
divisions have had total autonomy over their advertising, though all of them have used TV advertising
almost exclusively. Each division has tried several different TV ad campaigns, some of which were thought
to be successful and others less so, but no one had ever formally evaluated the ad expenditures. A new
marketing VP now wants to evaluate the advertising. She’s interested in knowing not only the sales of the
client’s products sold during the different campaigns, but also what happened to sales of competitors’
brands. In this case, the client needs us to describe sales by SKU in the client’s product category for each
TV market, and for each time period associated with each ad campaign. What research design do you
recommend? Finally, Client C is in a very competitive category with equal market share of the top three
brands. This client is convinced that it has changed every marketing-mix variable possible except for
package design. Since the three competitive brands are typically displayed side-by-side, Client C wants us
to determine what factors of package design (e.g., size, shape, colour, texture) cause an increase in
awareness, preference for, and intention to buy the brand. What do you recommend for the appropriate
research design?

Questions

i. Describe what research design you would recommend for each client.

ii. For each research design you selected for the three clients, discuss why you believe your choice of
design is the correct choice.

Case 3: The Men’s Market for Athleisures


Founded in 1998, Lululemon Athletica, the Canada-based maker of stylish, upscale workout clothes, had
grown very quickly. A pioneer of the “athleisure” trend for women—that is, wearing casual clothing
outside of the gym—Lululemon had been best known for its yoga pants. Lululemon had a thriving online
business, as well as physical stores in the United States, Canada, Japan, and Australia. Although
Lululemon’s core strength had been its women’s clothing, the company also sold men’s clothing.
Lululemon’s sales had grown rapidly, but the company faced some important challenges. First, other
activewear companies, such as Nike Inc. and Under Armour Inc., had begun to directly compete with
Lululemon in the athleisure market. Also, Lululemon had difficulty recovering from a 2013 controversy,
in which the company had to recall a large number of black yoga pants because they were too transparent.
Chip Wilson, CEO of Lululemon, compounded the problem by offering the explanation that “frankly some
women’s bodies just don’t actually work for it.” Mr. Wilson resigned from Lululemon, and the company
continued to grow under new leadership. Lululemon has been pursuing the strategy of growing its male
market. Despite Lululemon’s association with women’s clothing, men’s clothing has had strong profits
and some loyal customers. Your task is to consider what secondary sources can be used to examine
Lululemon’s current strength and potential in the men’s athleisure market. Should Lululemon invest more
resources into its men’s market?

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Questions

i. What internal secondary sources does Lululemon already have that the company could use to gain
insights into its men’s market? Be sure to consider supplier records, retail store records, website
information, and sales force records.

ii. Which external published sources and data aggregators have useful information about Lululemon’s
current position and the potential for the men’s athleisure market? In your investigation, include the
following:
a. Business publications (e.g., The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The Economist, etc.)
b. Trade and professional association information (e.g., www.athleticbusiness.com, www.wewear.org,
etc.)
c. Academic journals (search using your library’s database of business journals)
d. Industry information

iii. Where does Lululemon currently have men’s only stores? Use the American Community Survey to
identify a promising metropolitan statistical area (MSA) for Lululemon to locate its next men’s only store.
Justify your decision.

iv. Conduct an investigation of social media to examine user-generated content related to Lululemon.
a. What are the trending topics on social media related to Lululemon? (Use a free social media aggregator,
such as Addictomatic or Twazzup, to investigate.)
b. What is the sentiment of the comments related to Lululemon? Compare the sentiment ratio of Lululemon
to two of its competitors. What does that mean?
c. What other sources of user-generated content can you find on social media? Do consumer perceptions
appear to be supportive of the sale of Lululemon’s men’s clothing? Explain.

v. Integrate your information from the preceding questions to determine whether or not Lululemon should
invest more heavily in its men’s market. Justify your response using information from your search of
secondary data.

Case 4: Mumuni Advertising Agency

Based in Chicago, Mumuni USA is an advertising agency that specializes in content marketing, which
involves developing and distributing online material that generates interest in products and services. The
content created by Mumuni includes social media posts and videos. The agency has been very successful
in developing content that fits seamlessly into people’s web browsing sessions. For example, one video
that Mumuni created for a client, featuring snowboarders drinking hot chocolate after a day on the slopes,
generated over 100,000 views.
Mumuni USA has been carefully observing the rise of voice-activated technology. People increasingly use
the voice-activated assistants on their phones, such as Apple’s Siri and the Google Assistant, to access
information. In addition, sales of voice-activated smart speakers for homes, such as Amazon’s Alexa and
Google Home, have increased substantially. These smart assistants are predicted to have an enormous
effect on people’s web browsing behaviour. One study predicts that at least one-third of web-browsing
sessions will be conducted without a screen in just a few years. Mumuni believes that their agency may
need to alter the delivery of their marketing content to adapt to the increased use of voice-activated

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assistants. The agency wants to be sure that their content continues to reach audiences even when they are
requesting information by voice. Mumuni wants to understand exactly how people use voice-activated
assistants, including where they are when they request information and what the top reasons are that people
use voice-activated speakers. Consequently, Mumuni’s marketing research department is preparing a
proposal to study voice-activated technology.

Questions

i. Develop a problem statement and research objectives for this marketing research study.

ii. Research social media websites to learn how consumers feel about voice-activated technology and how
they are using it. Based on your investigation of social media websites, develop three themes that relate to
the research objectives of this study. Each of the themes should be illustrated with at least two
substantiating examples (posts, tweets, photos, videos, etc.) from social media. (Hint: informative social
media content may include reviews of voice-activated speakers, videos created by consumers that show
how they are using voice-activated technology in their homes, and forums with discussions of voice-
activated assistants.)

iii. Propose two different types of qualitative research to address the marketing research objectives. Explain
why each of these qualitative methods is appropriate to study this problem.

Case 5: Advantage Research, Inc.

Joe Spivey is president of Advantage Research, Inc. The firm specializes in customized research for
clients in a variety of industries via computer-assisted mall interviews in five of the largest malls in the
United States. It operates a computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI) facility with 100 calling
stations. Housed in this facility is an interactive voice response (IVR) capability. Its Advantage Online
division specializes in online surveys and has recruited over 200,000 panel members residing in North
America. There is a database with over 250 pieces of information (demographic, lifestyle, possessions,
etc.) gathered and stored for every Advantage Online panel member. If necessary, Joe will subcontract
the services of other research firms in order to provide his client with the most appropriate data
collection method. In a daily meeting with his project directors, Joe discusses each client’s special
situation. Here is a summary of the major points of today’s three client discussions.

Client 1: A furniture tools manufacturer has created what it considers to be the perfect ergonomic desk
and chair set. The chair has a high back made of breathable mesh, with lumbar support and adjustable
arms and seat. The desk has an adjustable height, including stand-up with adjustable keyboard station
and moveable monitor mount. After extensive testing of the desk and chair set and conducting several
focus groups with company purchasing agents, the client is now ready for more information on sales
presentation methods. The project director and the client have developed several different sales
presentation formats. The client wishes to have some market evaluation of these presentations before
launching a nationwide training program of the company’s
125-person sales force.

Client 2: A regional bakery markets several brands of cookies and crackers to supermarkets throughout
California, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico. The product category is very competitive, and

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competitors use a great deal of newspaper and television advertising, with the most progressive
competitors moving into social media advertising. The bakery’s vice president of marketing desires more
analytics to use in making promotional decisions for the firm. She has lamented that while she spends
several million dollars a year on promotions in the four states, she has no way to evaluate the
effectiveness of these expenditures. Advantage Research’s project director has recommended a study
that will establish baseline measures of top-of-mind brand awareness (called TOMA, this measure of
awareness is achieved by asking respondents to name the first three brands that come to mind when
thinking of a product or service category, such as “cookies”), attitudes, and preferences.

Client 3: An inventor has developed a new device that sanitizes a toothbrush each time the brush is used.
The device uses steam to sanitize the brush, and lab tests have shown the mechanism to be very effective
at killing virtually all germs and viruses. There is an app that communicates with the toothbrush
sanitizer, tracking its use and effectiveness, and notifies the user when it is time to replace the cleaning
filters and fluids. The inventor has approached a large manufacturer that has expressed interest in buying
the rights to this device. However, the manufacturer first wants to know if people have any concerns
with toothbrush sanitization, and whether or not they would be willing to purchase a countertop, plug-in
device with app to keep their toothbrush sterile.
The project director states that the manufacturer is interested in a survey that covers the United States
and Canada using a sample size of 3,000 representative respondents. The inventor is anxious to supply
this information very quickly before the manufacturer loses interest in the idea.

Questions

i. For each client’s survey, identify data collection methods and specify what you think are the strongest
and weakest aspects of using that data collection method for the client’s survey situation.

ii. Based on your analysis from the preceding question, and taking into consideration any other relevant
aspects, decide which is the best data collection method for each client’s survey. Defend your choice in
each
case.

iii. Assume that you are the project director recommending the data collection method you have chosen
for each client’s survey in the preceding question, but during the next daily meeting, Joe and the other
project directors vote your recommendations down. What is the next best data collection method in your
mind for each client’s survey? Defend your choice in each case.

Case 6: Extreme Exposure Rock Climbing Centre Faces The Krag

For the past five years, Extreme Exposure Rock Climbing Centre has enjoyed a monopoly. Located in
Sacramento, California, Extreme Exposure is the dream of Kyle Anderson, a former extreme sports
participant who had to “retire” due to repeated injuries. Kyle has worked hard to make Extreme Exposure
the best rock climbing facility in the Northwest United States. Key features of Extreme Exposure include
6,500 square feet of simulated rock walls, with about 100 different routes covering up to a maximum of
50 vertical feet. Also, Extreme Exposure’s design allows members to engage in the four major climbing
styles: top roping, where the climber is secured by a rope anchored at the top; lead climbing, where the

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climber wears a rope that he or she fixes to clips in the wall while ascending; bouldering, where the
climber has no rope but stays near ground; and rappelling, where a person descends a rock wall by sliding
down a rope. Climbers can purchase either monthly or yearly memberships, and shoes and harnesses can
be rented inexpensively. Helmets are required for all climbers, and are available free of charge. In addition
to individual and group climbing classes, Extreme Exposure’s offerings include birthday parties, a kids’
summer camp, and corporate team-building classes. Kyle reads in a local newspaper that another rock
climbing centre, called The Krag, will be built in Sacramento within the next six months. Kyle notes the
following unique features that will differentiate The Krag from Extreme Exposure: (1) The Krag will have
climbs up to a maximum of 60 vertical feet; (2) it will have a climber certification program; (3) it will
offer day trips to outdoor rock climbing areas; (4) there will be group overnight trips to climb in the
Canadian Rockies; and (5) The Krag’s annual membership fee will be about 20% lower than Extreme
Exposure’s. Kyle chats with Dianne, an Extreme Exposure member who works in marketing, during a
break in one of her climbing visits. Dianne summarizes what she believes Kyle needs to find out about his
current members in order to stay competitive, and her list follows.

Objective 1: What are the demographic (age, income, gender, education, marital status, type of dwelling)
and rock climbing profiles (meaning what types of climbing do they typically engage in, and how often)
of Extreme Exposure’s members?

Objective 2: How do members rate Extreme Exposure’s various climbing facilities? For the one type of
climbing that the member participates in the most, how does he/she rate Extreme Exposure’s facilities for
this type of climbing as to: (1) availability when he/she wants it; (2) difficulty of the climbing; (3) variety
of climbing routes; (4) friendliness and helpfulness of Extreme Exposure employees; (5) age and condition
of the equipment; and (6) overall satisfaction?

Objective 3: Are members interested in outdoor climbing experiences and if so, how interested are they
in (a) full-day or half-day trips to outdoor rock climbing areas; (b) group overnight trips to the Canadian
Rockies; (c) single (you alone), couple (you and a friend), and/or family (you with spouse or friend and
kids) rock climbing adventures with a personal guide; and (d) a climber certification program that would
require at least 5 outdoor climbing sessions?

Objective 4: What are members’ opinions regarding the Extreme Exposure membership fee that they pay?

Objective 5: Will members consider leaving Extreme Exposure to join a new rock climbing centre with
(1) a maximum climb 10 feet higher than Extreme Exposure’s, or (2) an annual membership fee 20% lower
than Extreme Exposure’s, or (3) both?

Objective 6: What is the “rock climbing lifestyle” profile of respondents? To what extent do they: (1) Go
rock climbing regularly? (2) Like challenging rock climbing experiences? (3) Prefer to climb with friends?
(4) Always use the same rock climbing facility? and (5) Spend excessive amounts of money on rock
climbing gear?
Dianne points out that Extreme Exposure’s membership records include members’ email addresses, so an
online questionnaire is available as a data collection method. She suggests that Kyle offer an attractive
prize, such as a gift certificate for $250 worth of climbing gear or trips, to be drawn at random from among
members who participate in the survey by a certain date.

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Question

i. For each research objective, name the relevant construct and indicate how it should be measured. That
is, design the question(s) and appropriate response scales for each objective. Then, design a complete
online questionnaire for this research project.

Case 7: Target: Deciding on the Number of Telephone Numbers

Target is a major retail store chain specializing in good quality merchandise and good values for its
customers. Currently Target operates about 1,700 stores, including more than 200 “Super Targets” in major
metropolitan areas in 48 states. One of the core marketing strategies employed by Target is to ensure that
shoppers have a special experience every time they shop at Target. This special shopping experience is
enhanced by Target’s “intuitive” department arrangements. For example, toys are next to sporting goods.
Another shopping experience feature is the “racetrack” or extra wide centre aisle that helps shoppers
navigate the store easily and quickly. A third feature is the aesthetic appearance of its shelves, product
displays, and seasonal specials. Naturally, Target continuously monitors the opinions and satisfaction
levels of its customers, because competitors are constantly trying to outperform Target and customer
preferences can change. Target management has committed to an annual survey of 1,000 customers to
provide a constant tracking and forecasting system of customers’ opinions. The survey will include
customers of Target’s competitors such as Walmart, Kmart, and Sears. In other words, the population
under study is made up of consumers who shop in mass merchandise stores in Target’s geographic markets.
The marketing research project director has decided to use a telephone survey conducted by a national data
collection company, and he is currently working with Survey Sampling, Inc. (SSI) to purchase the
telephone numbers of consumers residing in Target’s metropolitan target markets. SSI personnel have
informed him of the basic formula they use to determine the number of telephone numbers needed. The
formula is as follows:

Telephone numbers needed = completed interviews / (working phone rate * incidence * completion
rate) where working phone rate = percent of telephone numbers that are “live”incidence =
percentage of those reached that will take part in the survey

completion rate = percentage of those willing to take part in the survey that will actually complete
the survey

As a matter of convenience, Target identifies four different regions that are roughly equal in sales volume:
North, South, East, and West.

Questions

i. With a desired final sample size of 250 for each region, what is the lowest total number of telephone
numbers that should be purchased for each region?

ii. With a desired final sample size of 250 for each region, what is the highest total number of telephone
numbers that should be purchased for each region?

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iii. What is the lowest and highest total number of telephone numbers that should be purchased for the
entire survey?

Case 8: L’Experience Restaurant Survey Descriptive and Inference Analysis

In addition to the Auto Concepts survey, Cory Rogers of CMG Research was working with Jeff Dean,
who believed that there was an opportunity to build an upscale restaurant, possibly to be called
L’Experience (“The Experience” in French) somewhere in their metropolitan area. The proposed
restaurant was described as follows:

A restaurant with sophisticated décor offering very personal service in a spacious, semi-private
atmosphere, featuring both traditional and unusual menu items prepared by a chef with an international
reputation. The atmosphere, food, and service at this restaurant meet the standards of fine dining
restaurants. Menu items are priced separately “à la carte,” and the prices are what one would expect for a
restaurant meeting the highest standards.

Cory’s team had designed an online questionnaire and gathered a representative sample. The code book
for the SPSS dataset follows.

Questions Codes Labels


Do you eat at an upscale 1,2 Yes, No (If No, terminate the
restaurant at least once every survey)
two weeks?
How many total dollars do Actual dollars No labels
you spend per month in
restaurants (for your meals
only)?
How likely would it be for 1,2,3,4,5 Very unlikely, . . . , Very
you to patronize this likely
proposed new upscale
restaurant?
What would you expect an Actual dollars No Labels
average evening meal entrée
item alone to be priced in
the proposed new
restaurant? (If not “very
unlikely” in previous
question)

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Would you describe yourself 1,2 Yes, No
as one who listens to radio?
(If yes) To which type of 1,2,3,4,5 Country, Easy listening,
radio programming do you Rock, Talk/news, No
most often listen? preference
Would you describe yourself 1,2 Yes, No
as a viewer of TV local
news?
(If yes) Which newscast do 1,2,3,4 7:00 a.m., Noon, 6:00 p.m.,
you watch most frequently? 10:00 p.m.
Do you read or view the 1,2 Yes, No
local newspaper on a daily
basis?

(If yes) Which section of the 1,2,3,4,5 Editorial, Business, Local,


local newspaper would you Classifieds,
say you look at most Life-Health-Entertainment
frequently?

Do you subscribe to City 1,2 Yes, No


Magazine?
How often in a typical 0,1,2,3,4 Never, 1–2 times, 3–4 times,
month do you use online 5–7 times, more than 7 times
reviews to choose products
and services?
In this proposed new 1,2,3,4,5 Very strongly not prefer,
restaurant, to what degree Somewhat not prefer,
would Neither prefer nor not
you prefer: prefer, Somewhat prefer,
• Waterfront view Very strongly prefer
• Drive less than 30 minutes
• Formal wait staff attire
• Unusual desserts
• Large variety of entrées
• Unusual entrées
• Simple décor
• Elegant décor
• Classical background
music
• Top forty background
music

Age Number of years No labels


What is your highest level of 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 Less than high school, Some
education? high school, High school
graduate, Some college,
Associate degree,
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Bachelor’s degree, Master’s
degree, Doctorate
degree
What is your marital status? 1,2,3 Single, Married, Other
Including children under 18 Number of children No labels
living with you, what is your
family size?
Please check the letter that 1,2,3,4 A (01 & 02), B (03, 04, &
includes the ZIP code in 05), C (07, 08, & 09), D (10,
which you live (designated 11 & 12)
by letter by combining
ZIPs using the last two
digits).
Which of the following 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 Under $50,000; $50,000 to
categories best describes $74,999; $75,000 to
your before-tax household $99,999; $100,000 to
income? $149,999; $150,000 to
$199,999; $200,000 to
$249,999; $250,000 and
above
What is your gender? 1,2 Male, Female

Cory had other marketing research projects and meetings scheduled with present and prospective clients,
so he called in his marketing intern, Christine Yu. Christine was a senior marketing major at Able State
University, and she had taken marketing research in the previous semester. Cory said, “Christine, it is time
to do some analysis on the survey we did for Jeff Dean. For now, let’s just get a feel for what the data look
like. I’ll leave it up to your judgment as to what basic analysis to run. Let’s meet tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.
and see what you have found.” Your task is to take the role of Christine Yu, marketing intern. The file
name is L_Exp.sav and it is in SPSS data file format.

Questions

i. Determine what variables are categorical (either nominal or ordinal scales), perform the appropriate
descriptive analysis, and interpret it.

ii. Determine what questions are scale variables (either interval or ratio scales), perform the appropriate
descriptive analysis, and interpret it.

iii. What are the population estimates for each of the following?

a. Preference for “easy listening” radio programming


b. Viewing of 10 p.m. local news on TV
c. Subscribe to City Magazine
d. Average age of heads of households
e. Average total dollars spent per month in restaurants

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iv. Because this restaurant will be upscale, it will appeal to high-income consumers. The investors hope
that 15% of the households represented in the survey have an income level of $200,000 or higher. Test
this hypothesis.

v. With respect to those who are “very likely” to patronize L’Experience restaurant, Jeff believes that they
will either “very strongly” or “somewhat” prefer each of the following: (a) wait staff with formal attire;
(b) unusual desserts; (c) large variety of entrées; (d) unusual entrées; (e) elegant décor; and (f) classical
background music. Does the survey support or refute Jeff’s hypotheses? Interpret your findings.

Case 9: Sporting Goods Store

A researcher is investigating different types of customers for a sporting goods store. In a survey,
respondents are asked to use their exercise tracker devices (Fitbit, Altra, iWatch, etc.) to indicate how
much they exercised last week using categories of “Less than 1hour,” “Between 1 and 2 hours,” “Between
2 and 3 hours,” and so on. These respondents have also rated the performance of the sporting goods store
across 12 different characteristics, such as good value for the price, convenience of location, helpfulness
of the sales clerks, and so on. The researcher used a 7-point rating scale for these 12 characteristics where
1 = Poor performance to 7 = Excellent performance.

Question

i. How can the researcher investigate differences in the ratings based on the amount of exercise reported
by the respondents?

Case 10: The Impact of Team Association on Attendees’ Product Knowledge


and Purchase Intentions in IPL

The following are the Hypotheses for the above case.

H1: Attendees’ perception of team-sponsor congruence will have a positive effect on their sponsor product
knowledge

H2: Attendees’ team identification will have a positive effect on their sponsor product knowledge

H3: Attendees’ team involvement will have a positive effect on their sponsor product knowledge

H4: Attendees’ knowledge of the sponsor’s product will positively influence their image of the sponsor’s
brand

H5: Attendees’ image of the sponsor’s product will positively influence their intentions to purchase the
sponsor’s brand

H6: Attendees’ knowledge of the sponsor’s product will positively influence their intentions to purchase
the product of the sponsor
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Constructs Questionnaire items are

Team-Sponsor Congruence (Strongly disagree 1 to Strongly agree 7)

TSC1. The image of the team and the image of the sponsor are similar.
TSC2. The sponsor and the team fit well together.
TSC3. It makes sense to me that this company sponsors this team.
Team Identification (Strongly disagree 1 to Strongly agree 7)

TID1. The Mumbai Teams team is important for me.


TID2. I like to engage with Mumbai Indian team in IPL.
TID3. Mumbai Indian team means a lot to me.

Team Involvement (Strongly disagree 1 to Strongly agree 7)

TINV1. When someone criticizes the Mumbai Indian team, it feels like personal insult to me.
TINV2. I am very interested in what others think about the Mumbai Indians team.
TINV3. When I talk about the Mumbai Indians, I prefer saying “WE” rather than “THEY”
TINV4. The Mumbai Indians team successes are my successes.
TINV5. When someone praises Mumbai Indians team, it feels like a personal compliment to me.

Knowledge of Sponsor Brand (Strongly disagree 1 to Strongly agree 7)

KSB1. I have experience with the sponsor of Mumbai Indians team in IPL
KSB2. I know the kind of products and services offered by the sponsor of Mumbai Indians Teams in IPL

Sponsor Image (1 to 7 Likert Scale)

SI1. Passive……Active
SI2. Colourless…..Colourful
SI3. Uncool……Cool
SI4. Outdated…..Trendy
SI5. Mature……Youthful

Purchase Intention (1 to 7 Likert Scale)

PI1. Unlikely……Likely
PI2. Impossible……Possible
PI3. Improbable……Probable

Question

i. Conduct a survey with the above questions among 200 cricket enthusiasts and verify the reliability and
validity of the constructs considered for the case study using statistical measures in SPSS.

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Case 11: National Football League: The king of Profession Sports

The National Football League (www.nfI.com) is considered the king of all professional sports in the
United States. It was formed by 11 teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association and
adopted the name National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of 32 teams from
American cities and regions, divided evenly into two conferences (AFC and NFC), with four, four-team
divisions. The NFL governs motes the game, sets and enforces rules, and regulates team ownership. It
generates revenue mostly through sponsorships, licensing of merchandise, and selling national
broadcasting rights. It has been extremely successful because it is advertiser-friendly. The teams operate
as separate businesses but share a percentage of their revenue. NFL revenues reached an all-time high of
around 14 billion in 2016.
Players are tough, strong, and fiercely competitive on the field, but remove their helmets and a softer
side emerges. Marketing research has documented the positive impact of cause-related marketing on
corporate image. The NFL has a strong tradition of public service and is an active contributor to various
social causes. Bettering communities and helping others ties into the basic team concept and is an
extension of the NFL's philosophy. NFL players strongly believe and encourage others to get involved,
whether it is with time or money or anything else-even the smallest of gestures can make a big difference
to someone else.
Focus groups and surveys have shown that community involvement is particularly important for an
organization that depends on the community for support. The NFL has a rich history of giving, and each
team has its own community relations initiatives. The fact that there are around
1,600 players in the league indicates the far-reaching capabilities of this powerful organization.
According to Executive Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs Joe Browne, the NFL
views its public service activities as giving something back to its customers-the fans who attend the
games and watch them on TV. The NFL has worked with a number of non-profit and charitable
organizations over the years, with each team taking on a different issue, such as the Philadelphia Eagles
building community playgrounds. Each year the Eagles take time off from the world of sports and
business and build a playground in the Philadelphia area. The New England Patriots help deliver
Thanksgiving dinners to those in need, and the Pittsburgh Steelers visit the elderly-football players
reaching out to make a difference.
Back in 1974, the league formed a partnership with the United Way, a national network of more than
1,300 locally governed organizations that work to create lasting positive changes in communities and
people's lives. This partnership is in existence even today and has encouraged fans to give back to
society. Consequently, fundraising for United Way has soared from $800 million to $4 billion. The
relationship between United Way and the NFL has blossomed into a charitable enterprise that touches 30
million people each year by providing funds and programs to the needy.
The NFL's ongoing ad campaigns remind fans that football players are regular guys who want to do good
in the community where they work and live. The effectiveness of these ad campaigns is evaluated by
undertaking surveys that measure people's awareness, perceptions, preferences, intentions, and behaviors
toward the NFL and comparing them against benchmarks.
13
Based on marketing research, the NFL's marketing strategy has two pillars: football and community.
Football is its product, something that NFL does best. Community means giving back to the community
in exchange for all its support and love. The support of the community is tremendous, with 18 million
tickets sold each season and more than 120 million people watching NFL games on TV each week. Then
there is the huge impact of the Super Bowl-an event that has been the top-rated show each year, seen by
more viewers than any other program, an exposure that has proven to be an effective messaging medium.
The tremendous reach and power of TV commercials helped the NFL's "join the team" initiative get a
spectacular start with thousands of eager fans calling up NFL teams across the country ready to join the
team. NFL believes that charity and being a good corporate citizen are essential to achieve success in
business. This makes the entire entity stronger. By giving back to its customers, the NFL shows that it
cares about them.
The NFL's impact on the community extends way beyond the games played on Sundays and Monday
nights, because there is a special bond that fans feel with each of the teams in the league. Consumer
perception and attitudinal surveys have consistently shown that the NFL is held in high regard, and the
league tries hard to maintain these positive perceptions. It realizes that at the end of the day, the NFL is
an energy, a symbol that represents American tradition, which if not maintained would wither away.
Joe Browne describes people's relationship with the NFL as a love affair in which the NFL and the teams
have to give this love back to the people for supporting them so well. That's what the NFL does through
its various programs, such as NFL charities, the NFL football fund, and the disaster relief fund that the
NFL established after 9/11 to give back to the families of those killed in New York and Washington.
There is charity on the field, too; each time a player is fined, the money is used to help fund various
causes. Fans can get into the game by going to the auctions section on the NFL Web site, because all of
the proceeds go to players' charities. According to Director of Community Affairs Beth Colleton, NFL
stands for quality, tradition, and integrity-all of which come together to define Americana. The NFL
captures the American energy like no other-an energy that continues to ignite goodwill with each passing
season.
Conclusion

The NFL has used marketing research to foster immense goodwill and influence to make a difference to
the community. The strong public service feeling at the NFL and the active involvement by NFL players
in various social initiatives and programs bear testimony to how seriously the NFL takes its
responsibility toward society and the immensely positive impact it has on society, all supported by
marketing research. Continued reliance on marketing research can help the NFL to remain the king of
professional sports.
Questions
i. Football is a male-dominated sport. Discuss the role that marketing research can play in helping the
NFL more effectively market the league to women.
ii. The NFL would like to increase its penetration of the female segment. Define the management
decision problem.

14
iii. What is the main competition faced by the NFL?
iv. Define an appropriate marketing research problem corresponding to the management decision
problem in question 2.
v. Develop three appropriate research questions, each with suitable hypotheses.
vi. What type of research design would you recommend for investigating the marketing research
problem?
References
1. http://www.nfl.com/, accessed February 20, 2017.
2. "NFL pulled in $14 billion in revenue during 2016 season," http://www.espnsa.com/nfl-pulled-14-
billion-revenue-2016-season/, accessed May 26, 2017.
3. "In a League of Its Own," http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=6859210,
accessed February 6, 2016.
4. "NFL Studies What Women Want," http://www.reuters.com/article/us-media-summit-nfl-women-
idUSN29339230200

Case 12: Dunkin’ Donuts


The Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. (www.dunkinbrands.com) is one of the world's leading franchisors of
quick-service restaurants serving hot and cold coffee and baked goods, as well as hard-serve ice cream.
As of 2017, it had more than 19 000 points of distribution in nearly 60 countries world-wide. The
Dunkin' Brands Group's nearly 100 percent franchised business model included more than 11,500
Dunkin' Donuts (www.dunkindonuts.com) restaurants and more than 7.600 Baskin-Robbins restaurants.
This impressive growth would not have been possible without extensive marketing research and a
commitment to quality. The company has fostered the culture of listening to what the customers want
and then providing it. Marketing research in the form of focus groups and survey research revealed that
customers select a coffee and donut shop based on five factors: accessibility, quality, variety, image, and
affordability. The company built its business around these factors. From research, Dunkin' Donuts found
that its customers wanted a coffee and donut shop that was very accessible-close to work or home and
easy to reach. To accompany its stand-alone locations, Dunkin' Donuts has opened locations in Home
Depot, Wal-Mart, 7-11, and Stop & Shop stores to add to the convenience that customer’s desire. Every
location is strategically placed and designed with these customers' preferences in mind. Because these
purchases are so convenience driven, the locations can be placed close together without cannibalizing
business.
Marketing research further revealed that quality translates to freshness in the donut business. Therefore,
Dunkin' Donuts makes donuts at least four times a day. Upon conducting research with survey
questionnaires and taste testing in many different markets, Dunkin' Donuts found the blend of coffee that
customers favor the most. This coffee is brewed and then allowed to sit for no longer than 18 minutes.

15
After the 18-minute window, the coffee Is poured out, and a fresh pot is brewed. This commitment to
quality was made as a result of researching what the customer desired in a cup of coffee.
The company also offers variety-52 flavors of donuts. Recently, Dunkin' Donuts has expanded its coffee
line (again, due to research and taste testing) to include iced coffees, cappuccinos, lattes, espressos, and
flavored coffees, such as hazelnut coffee.
Marketing research showed that customers preferred an image that related to the common person. They
did not want a coffee shop that was flashy with lots of bells and whistles; they just wanted a common
shop that made a great cup of coffee. Therefore, Dunkin' Donuts appeals to just about everyone. During
the late 1970s and the 1980s, the ad campaign of "Fred the Baker" brought this image to life. With
commercials showing him waking up in the middle of the night with a commitment to quality, he
appealed to the common person. The Mercedes and the pickup truck come together in an egalitarian
Dunkin' Donuts parking lot. In addition, Dunkin' Donuts is affordable. Just about any consumer can
afford the Dunkin' Donuts experience. Dunkin' Donuts is much less expensive compared to Starbucks
and other upscale coffee shops.
Dunkin' Donuts realizes that first and foremost its donuts and coffee need to be up to par with customers'
expectations. Already the retail market leader in donuts and bagels, Dunkin' Donuts knows that it takes a
commitment to marketing research to stay there. The company demands a continuing commitment to
listening to what customers prefer through constant research and taste testing. The customer is a very
important source of wisdom and insight at Dunkin' Donuts and customer opinion and feedback are
important. Customers' preferences have not only shaped the recipes of donuts and bagels, but they have
also prompted the introduction of the Dunkin' Decaf and flavored coffees such as Hazelnut and French
Vanilla. The huge success of these introductions reaffirmed the importance of customers to Dunkin'
Donuts and its new product development process. This journey of innovation has continued with the
launch of indulgent coffee drinks, such as cappuccinos, lattes, and espressos.
Speaking to customers and getting their insights is a crucial part of Dunkin' Donuts' marketing research
strategy. The use of focus groups and market surveys for taste testing and feedback is an ongoing
process. With a commanding presence in the market, reliance on marketing research has had obvious
positive effects that are sure to continue in the future, so Dunkin' Donuts can continue dunking the
competition.
Conclusion
Marketing research has kept Dunkin' Donuts relevant and appealing to people across the world
throughout the years. Dunkin's positioning as an everyday, accessible store for everyone has helped it to
foster a bond with its customers. This relationship of respect and humility has endured even as Dunkin'
Donuts has expanded its product portfolio to include more varieties and target newer customers, all
without alienating its existing customers. The emphasis that Dunkin' places on using marketing research
to make the customers critical stakeholders who provide feedback and insight and help direct the
innovation process has reaped rich benefits for Dunkin' Donuts.

Questions

16
i. Discuss the role that marketing research can play in helping a coffee shop such as Dunkin' Donuts
formulate sound marketing strategies.
ii. Dunkin' Donuts is considering further expansion in the United States. Define the management
decision problem.
iii. Define an appropriate marketing research problem based on the management decision problem you
have identified.
iv. Use the Internet to determine the market shares of the major most recent calendar year
v. What type of syndicate data will be useful to Dunkin Donuts?
vi. Discuss the role of qualitative research in helping Dunkin coffee shops for the Donuts expand further
in the United States.
vii. Dunkin' Donuts has developed a new line of pastries with a distinctive French taste. It would like to
determine consumers' response to this new line of pastries before introducing them in the marketplace. If
a survey is to be conducted to determine consumer preferences, which survey method should be used and
why?
viii. Design a taste test comparing Dunkin' Donuts coffees with those offered by Starbucks.
ix. Develop a questionnaire for assessing consumer preferences for fast coffee shops.
References
1. http://www.dunkinbrands.com, accessed June 15, 2017.
2. https://www.dunkindonuts.com, accessed June 15, 2017.
3. Julie Jargon, "Former McDonald's Executive David Hoff-mann Moves to Dunkin' Donuts," Wall
Street Journal (September 22, 2016), http://www.wsj.com/articles/former-mcdonalds-executive-david-
hoffmann-moves-to-dunkin-donuts-1474517321, accessed June 15, 2017.

Case 13: Aflac-Marketing Research Quacks Like a Duck


Aflac Incorporated (www.aflac.com) sells supplemental health and life insurance. In the United States,
Aflac is known for its policies that "pay cash" to supplement or replace a policyholder's income when an
accident or sickness prevents the policyholder from working. In 1989, the Columbus, Georgia, company,
American Family Life Assurance Company, adopted the acronym Aflac. At that point, the company had
very little brand recognition; the name Aflac meant nothing to potential customers. 1obOost brand
recognition, the company undertook extensive marketing research and emerged with the symbol of the
duck. As of 2018, Aflac boasts 90 percent brand recognition. This is so high that it actually rivals Coke,
the company with the highest brand recognition, at 95 percent. Even children (age 8 to 13) are familiar
with the Aflac name, ranking it in the company of Pepsi, Old Navy, and M&M's. This is important,
because as children grow up and start to buy insurance, the Aflac name will be at the front of their
minds.

17
Marketing research was at the forefront of the campaign. First, the decision was made to try to use ads to
increase brand recognition rather than sell insurance. This decision came from focus groups and survey
research that found customers would think that they did not need what-ever type of insurance was being
advertised, whether life, health, home, or so on. Instead, research indicated that customers would respond
to insurance ads better if they simply raised the recognition of the brand. Then salespeople would do the
job of educating potential customers about the need for different types of insurance products.
After the decision was made to raise brand awareness with ads, a specific campaign had to be created.
Again, marketing research played a major role. From the start, it was decided that the ads that tested the
best were going to be the ads that would be used. The research said that test customers viewing the ads
preferred the Aflac duck much more than any other ad viewed. But where did the duck come from?
During the ad development process, one of the ad agency (Publicis North America) researchers just
began to say the word "Aflac" over and over again. Eventually, it was noticed that this word, said a
certain way, sounded like a quacking duck. The risk in this was that Aflac was making fun of the fact
that no one knew about the brand name, and humor in advertising does not always appeal to people who
want a more serious tone from their insurance company. What if the people had seen the television
commercial and thought?
"How stupid!" or "A life insurance company should be more serious than that." Therefore, the duck
commercials were tested against alternatives in experimental design situations. The test audiences loved
the duck commercials and rated them the most memorable out of the possibilities (Aflac's main
objective). Thus, the duck was born.
The campaign has been nothing but a success. Not only has Aflac's brand recognition soared, but the
company's sales have as well. Surprisingly, the growth is not limited to the United States. In fact, a large
percentage of Aflac's profits are from clients in Japan. The duck is now a world phenomenon, and Aflac
has marketing research to thank.
Conclusion
The case describes the crucial role of marketing research in designing the right advertising campaign and
the resulting impact on brand recognition. The extraordinary growth in Aflac's name recognition within
just a few years of the launch of a new advertising campaign speaks volumes about the marketing
research that was conducted to test the duck commercials.
Questions
i. If Aflac wants to forecast the demand for supplemental health and life insurance, what type of research
design should be adopted and why?
ii. Identify sources of secondary data that would be useful in forecasting the demand for supplemental
health and me insurance.
iii. Identify sources of syndicated data that would be useful in forecasting the demand for supplemental
health and me insurance.
iv. Aflac wants to test a duck commercial against a non-duck commercial to determine which ad
generates more favorable attitudes toward Aflac. What type of experimental design would you
recommend? Why would you recommend this type of design?
18
v. If a duck commercial is to tested against two non-duck commercials to determine which ad generates
more favorable attitudes toward Aflac, what type of experimental design would you recommend?
References
1. http://www.aflac.com, accessed February 20, 2017.
2. http://www.wikipedia.org, accessed February 20, 2017.
3. Suzanne Vranica, "AFLAC Duck's Paddle to Stardom: Creativity on the Cheap." Wall Street Journal
(July 30, 2004):B1-B2.

Case 14: FORTUNE AT THE LAST FRONTIER


Nikhil Thareja belonged to the third generation of builders Thareja & Sons. The company had been started
by Nikhil’s grandfather, Lala Harbans Lal Thareja, after partition in 1947. From a small construction set
up in a two-BHK house in Malviya Nagar, the company scaled new heights under Nikhil’s father, Sampat
Lal Thareja. The company worked in the areas of commercial space, residential complexes, and also
undertook some industrial projects. Now, the ball was in Nikhil’s court and the expectations from the 35-
year-old London School of Economics finance major were huge. Today was the D-Day when he was to
take over a new expansion unit that his grandfather and father had envisioned for their bright young heir.
Nikhil strode purposefully into his grandfather’s cabin and asked “So Lalaji, what is this exciting plan
that you have for me?” Lalaji (Lala Harbans Lal was affectionately called Lalaji by all) smiled exultantly
and handed him a blue dossier marked ‘Confidential’. Nikhil could hardly wait to open it. He quickly tore
open the envelope and read the title and looked up aghast, wondering if his 85-year-old grandfather had
gone senile. Lalaji watched his puzzled grandson from his wise old eyes and said “What I am giving you
is challenging, futuristic and an exciting opportunity which I know has a great potential. I have been
watching the world pass by and I know that the real fortune in a fully saturated market place lies not with
an impudent and aggressive Young India, but a ‘young’ 60-year-old Indian who has the capital and the
desire to enjoy the spoils of his labor. Your Lalaji has not lost his marbles , I challenge you to get the best
of-what-do you call them―research agencies―to do a market feasibility study for you and then get back
to me.” Nikhil looked from his grandfather, whom he considered one of the most iconic entrepreneurs of
his time, to the report in front of him. The embossed golden letters of the report glittered in the morning
light as they spelt out: “Twilight Luxury- Retirement solutions: for those who reinvent life”. Had his
grandfather read the market signals correctly? Could there really be an attractive business opportunity with
the senior population? And that too in India?

Housing Solution for Senior Citizens


There has been a definite change in the way the senior citizen lives his life today. The multinationals that
came to India in the 1990s provided lucrative job opportunities―as a result, the senior of today has better
financial cushion and investments today. There was also exposure to Western colleagues and their lifestyle.
Due to these factors, the senior citizen’s approach to life is different today. He may retire from his job, but
not from life, and he has started looking beyond simple and frugal living after retirement, where you only
think of sanyas. With better medical facilities and improved life expectancy, the elder wants to live his life
amongst all the material comforts that he can buy. They have the financial means but not the physical
energy, so they are open to buying any facility that can help them live their silver years in both comfort
and style, with no physical and mental stress.
Worldwide, there are generally three different options available for the senior in terms of retirement
solutions. The first is independent living homes―these are meant for those who are of reasonably good
19
health and are able to manage life on their own. The second housing solution is for those who require
physical or medical help and need assistance to manage daily chores. The third is for those who require
medical care and treatment.
Thareja Builders were looking at the first category, where the senior was in considerably good health
to look for a comfortable and desirable housing, which also had appreciation potential. Some successful
retirement housing projects in India were:
1. Ashianna Utsav Retirement resorts (Bhivadi, Lavasa, Jaipur, Rajasthan)
2. Athashri (Pune , Maharashtra)
3. Brindavan Hill View (Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu)
4. Dignity Lifestyle (Mumbai, Maharashtra)
5. Shriram Senior Living (Bangalore, Karnataka)
6. AVI Vintage home (Gurgaon, Bangalore, Kolkata, Vishakhapatnam)
7. Serene Covai Properties (Coimbatore, Puducherry, Chennai, Mysore, Hyderabad)

Here again, the trend so far was of three kinds


• Complete sales model: This entails complete ownership for the buyer and requires considerable
capital investment. These solutions also have some special provisions in terms of medical support, food
and utility payment support; entertainment and recreation facilities to match the needs of old age. The
additional facilities, of course, come at a separate and market-driven cost.
• Lease deposit model: Here, the senior citizen pays a one-time deposit and the rest is payable as
monthly fees. Some part of the deposit is non-refundable. For example, there is a housing solution for
cottage living near Mumbai, where the initial deposit is 13 lakh, of which 4 lakh is non-refundable.
Besides, there is a monthly charge of 10,000; of this six months’ charges are taken as advance security
deposit. Besides this, there are charges for transport, telephone, television, Internet and medical facilities,
and food is charged on actuals.
• Pure rental model: This is the easiest and most hassle-free option for the senior. Here again, there
is a deposit and security fee but the initial capital investment required is not huge. The other charges are
on actuals or in the form of monthly charges. However, the downside of these solutions is that these places
lack permanency, as the rentals are for a period of 1-6 months and moving in and out might be a big hassle
in old age.

The Decision
Higher life expectancy, better financial reserves and a positive and ego-expressive mindset have made the
senior population an attractive market. However, Nikhil Thareja still felt that to evaluate the merit of this
business opportunity, he needed to do a comprehensive research on the existing consumers, as well as the
market.

QUESTIONS
i. Identify the management decision problem. Can you generate the kind of research this would
require? Here, you need to look at multiple research problems that could address Mr Tharejas’
dilemma and help in his decision making.

ii. For identifying a research problem what kind of problem audit would you recommend?
Elaborate on the steps you would undertake to conduct this study.

20
iii. Of these select one business research problem that you believe will best address the decision needs.
Give reasons for your selection.

Case 15: WHAT’S IN A CAR?


Shridhar from Bengaluru, had developed an electric car—VERVE (It is a fully automatic, no clutch, no
gears), two-door hatchback, easily seating two adults and two children with a small turning radius of just
3.5 metres). It runs on batteries and as compared to other electric vehicles, has an onboard charger to
facilitate easy charging which can be carried out by plugging into any 15 amp socket at home or work. A
full battery charge takes less than seven hours and gives a range of 80 km. In a quick-charge mode (two-
and-a-half hours) 80 per cent charge is attained which is good enough for 65 km. A full charge consumes
just about 9 units of electricity. Somehow the product did not take off the way he expected. He is
contemplating about repositioning the car. As he stood looking at the prototype, he knew that there were
a couple of questions to which he must find answers before he undertook the repositioning exercise. Who
should be the targeted segment—old people, young students just going to college, housewives, or …?
What should be the positioning stance? What kind of image would these customers relate to? Was a new
name or punch-line required? How should the promotions be undertaken? Hyundai had done it with Shah
Rukh Khan, should he also consider a celebrity? If yes who?

QUESTIONS
i. What kind of research study should Shridhar undertake? Define the objectives of his research.
ii. Do the stated objectives have scope for a qualitative research?
iii. Which method(s) would you recommend and why?
iv. Can you construct a template for conducting the study? What element would you advice Shridhar to
keep in mind, and why?
Case 16: TUPPERWARE INDIA PVT. LTD.
Tupperware is the world’s largest plastic food container company. It markets its products in over 100
countries across the globe and is today a household name in every corner of the world.
Tupperware India Pvt. Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the US-based Tupperware Corporation,
the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality plastic food storage and serving containers. The company
started its operations in India in 1996 and the country has been recognized as the fastest growing market
by Tupperware Worldwide. Its products were launched in Delhi (November 1996) followed by Mumbai
in (April 1997) and in Bangalore and Chennai in (October 1997). Pune, Chandigarh and Hyderabad
followed in 1998.
Starting off with just 12 products, Tupperware India today sells over 70 products that meet
Tupperware’s stringent international quality standards. At present, the company sells its products in over
35 cities through a sales network comprising over 35,000 consultants, 1500 managers and 75 distributors.
Backed by a committed and dedicated staff, region offices in all metros, Tupperware India has the pride
of being the fastest set-up operation in the history of Tupperware. The company has been growing so fast
that today it is approximately three times larger than any other company in its products’ category. The
company’s turnover as of now is over US $11.5 million.
A full-fledged manufacturing facility is today the nerve-centre of Tupperware’s Indian operations.
Located in Hyderabad, this plant employs state-of-the-art technology to manufacture over 65 products,
each of them meeting stringent quality standards laid down by Tupperware’s international norms. Set up
in a record time of three months, this facility could soon go in for an expansion to meet the ever-increasing

21
demand for Tupperware. The moulds used to make Tupperware are hand-tooled stainless steel and these
moulds are common for all countries and move in different countries as per the requirements.
The company classified its products under various categories depending upon the purpose they serve.
The main product line of the company is grouped as follows:
• Dry storage – Modular mates, canisters, etc.
• Tableware – Bread server, butter dish, curry server, etc.
• Food preparation – Masala keeper, magic flow, quick shakes
• Microwave – Soup mugs, crystalwave medium
• Refrigerator – Cool n fresh series, wondlier bowls, ice trays
• Lunch and outdoors – Tumblers, lunch boxes
• Canister – Store-all-canisters, oasis jug
• Classics – Classic slim launch, tropical cups.
Tupperware India has specially designed select tailormade products for the Indian homemaker to fulfill
the unique needs of the Indian kitchen. ‘Cinnamon microwave dish’ in a dark blue colour keeps in mind
haldi stains, ‘Masala storage box’ which can store up to seven dry spices, and a range of thalis, katoris,
roti-keeper, pickle and oil containers have already been introduced in the market. These products combine
aesthetics and functionality. They are ingeniously designed to offer versatility and convenience.
Tupperware products have won several design awards worldwide. The products are manufactured with
100 per cent food grade virgin plastic and offer a lifetime guarantee against chipping, cracking or breaking
under normal non-commercial use. They are light, unbreakable, non-toxic and odourless. They also have
special airtight and liquid tight seals which lock in freshness and flavour. The products are not only
designed elegantly and add functionality but also add vibrancy and colour to any kitchen and dining table.
The products are available in soothing colours such as red, blue, pastels and green to match kitchen décor
and consumer preference.
Tupperware India, at present, faces competition from stainless steel utensils and low-end plastic
products both available at retail outlets across India. However, with increasing awareness of high-end food
storage containers, the company will soon see itself up against more intense competition. Already
companies like Modicare, Cutting Edge and Real Life have entered this segment, albeit with lower prices.
The company is growing rapidly and uses a direct selling method to reach its end customers. An empirical
study was undertaken to understand the perception of consumers and dealers (consultant).
The study assumes significance since the outcome of this research would help Tupperware identify the
areas in which the perception is poor and would, therefore, be able to identify the problem areas so as to
take remedial action. This is necessary because Tupperware is facing competition from Modicare, Pearl
Pet and Reallife and the results of the study will help it in consolidating its market position by identifying
its strengths and weaknesses. Further, it would indicate why and on what parameters the perception of
consumers versus non-consumers is different. This could enable the company to formulate appropriate
strategy to attract the non-consumers use its product.
The objectives of the study were:
1. To understand the perception of Tupperware product users about the company. Specifically we
want to answer the following questions:
(a) What is the profile of the users of Tupperware product?
(b) What is the awareness level (both aided and unaided recall) of the users of Tupperware
products?
(c) Is the perception different for a user belonging to a nuclear or a joint family?
(d) Does the perception vary across marital status?
(e) Does the perception vary across professions?
22
(f ) Does the perception vary across age groups?
(g) Does the perception vary across education levels?
(h) Does the perception vary across income groups?
(i ) What are the underlying significant factors of the perceptions of users?
2. What is the perception of the non-users of Tupperware products about the company? Specifically, we
would attempt to answer the following questions:
(a) What is the profile of the non-users of Tupperware product?
(b) What is the awareness level (both aided and unaided recall) of the non-users of Tupperware
products?
(c) Is the perception different for a non-user belonging to a nuclear or joint family?
(d) Does the perception vary across marital status?
(e) Does the perception vary across professions?
(f ) Does the perception vary across age group?
(g) Does the perception vary across education levels?
(h) Does the perception vary across income groups?
(i ) What are the underlying significant factors of the perceptions of non-users?
3. Is the overall perception different for user and non-user of the Tupperware product?
To carry out the objectives, a study was conducted. The following questionnaire was used for the
purpose.

Questionnaire for User/Non-user Research


1. What type of storage food container do you use in your kitchen? (Please tick one or more)
(a) Stainless Steel
(b) Plastic Products
(c) Glass containers
(d) Any Other (Please specify)
2. (a) In case you use plastic containers for storage, are you aware of the company/companies
manufacturing it?
Yes
No
(b) If yes, name them ___________________
___________________
___________________
___________________
3. Which of the following plastic container manufacturing companies are you aware of? (Please tick the
appropriate box, you may tick more than one.
(a) Cutting Edge
(b) Modicare
(c) Real Life
(d) Tupperware
(e) Any other (please specify)
4. In case you have ticked Tupperware, please tell us as to how did you come to know about the product
‘Tupperware’ (Please tick the appropriate box, you may tick more than one)
(a) Advertisements

23
(b) Party plan
(c) Internet
(d) Women’s magazines
(e) Word of mouth
(f) Any other (please specify) ________________
5. Do you use Tupperware products?
Yes
No
(If the answer is No, you will still be having some perception about Tupperware’s products, its quality and
price. Therefore, please move to question 11 directly)
6. If answer to above question is yes, did you
(a) Buy the product
(b) Received as a gift
(c) Both
7. If you bought the product as mentioned in the question 6 above, did you buy
(a) Through party plan
(b) Telephoning the dealer
(c) Both
8. How often do you buy Tupperware products?
(a) Once a month
(b) Twice a month
(c) More than two times in a month
9. How much money do you spend in a month on the purchase of Tupperware products? _______________
10. In your last purchase which of the following items were bought by you. (Please tick as many as you
like)
Dry storage
Tableware
Food preparation
Microwave containers
Refrigerator containers
Lunch and outdoor containers
Canister
Classics
11. Given below are some statements, you are requested to state your degree of
Agreement / disagreement on each of the statements as mentioned below on a 5-point scale.
(Completely Disagree, Disagree No Opinion, Agree, Completely Agree)

A Tupperware products are made with the state-of the-art technology


B Tupperware products are ideal for gifts
C Tupperware products are not available in different sizes
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D The products are available in attractive colours
E The products do not provide good value for money
F I feel proud to serve food to my guests in Tupperware products
G My peer groups do not use Tupperware products
H The products are not easily available
I The designs of the products are such that they occupy a lot of shelf space
J The products provide a good look to the kitchen
K The spices kept in Tupperware containers retain their original flavour for long
L Tupperware products are very expensive
M Tupperware products offer a lifetime warranty without any requirement of proof of purchase
N The products go with my lifestyle
O Tupperware products are for daily use
P The products require special cleaning agent
Q Tupperware products retain stain marks (e.g., turmeric) after cleaning
R Parents feel very safe while their children handle the products
S The products usages are well demonstrated in the home party
T The company provides timely information on new products
U The products are not air/water-tight
V The products are inconvenient to use
W I have no inhibition in using products in a large gathering of guests
X Tupperware keeps adding new products to its range to suit the kitchen requirements
Y The shape of the products are very eye-catching
Z Tupperware products are quite sturdy
aa The products are non-toxic and odourless
ab The products are very heavy in weight to carry from one place to another

12. You belong to a


Nuclear family
Joint family
13. Marital status
Single
Married
Widow/divorced
14. If married, are both of you working or only one
Both
One
15. In case you are working, you are employed in
Private sector
Public sector
Self-employed
Govt. service

25
16. You belong to age group
20 – 30 years
31 – 40 years
41 – 50 years
51 and above
17. Your education
Less than graduation
Graduate
Postgraduate and above
18. Your monthly household income
Up to 30,000
30,001 – 60,000
60,001 – 90,000
90,001 and above
19. Do you or your spouse own the following:
(a) Credit card Yes / No
(b) Four wheeler Yes / No
(c) House Yes / No
(d) Club membership Yes / No
(e) Microwave oven Yes / No
Please note that in the question no.11 statements numbers a, b, d, f, j, k, m, n, o, r, s, t, w, x, y, z, aa are
favourable statements. The remaining are unfavourable statements.

QUESTIONS
i. Indicate the type of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval or ratio) which is being used in each
of the above questions.
ii. Identify the questions which will be relevant for each of the objectives of the study.

Case 17: MEHTA GARMENT COMPANY


Mr Mohan Mehta has a chain of restaurants in many cities of northern India and was interested in
diversifying his business. His only son, Kamal, never wanted to be in the hospitality line. To settle Kamal
into a line which would interest him, Mr Mehta decided to venture into garment manufacturing. He gave
this idea to his son, who liked it very much. Kamal had already done a course in fashion designing and
wanted to do something different for the consumers of this industry. An idea struck him that he should
design garments for people who are very bulky but want a lean look after wearing readymade garments.
The first thing that came to his mind was to have an estimate of people who wore large sized shirts (42
size and above) and large sized trousers (38 size and above).
A meeting was called of experts from the garment industry and a number of fashion designers to
discuss on how they should proceed. A common concern for many of them was to know the size of such
a market. Another issue that was bothering them was how to approach the respondents. It was believed
that asking people about the size of their shirt or trouser may put them off and there may not be any
worthwhile response. A suggestion that came up was that they should employ some observers at entrances
of various malls and their job would be to look at people who walked into the malls and see whether the
concerned person was wearing a big sized shirt or trouser. This would be a better way of approaching the
26
respondents. This procedure would help them to estimate in a very simple way the proportion of people
who wore big-sized garments.
QUESTIONS
i. Name the sampling design that is being used in the study.
ii. What are the limitations of the design so chosen?
iii. Can you suggest a better design?
iv. What method of data collection is being employed?

Case 18: BRANDED JEWELLERY – IS THERE A DEMAND?


Sundri is a chain of branded jewellery outlets in Tamil Nadu. They intend to set up branded stores in North
India as well. T Sivamani, the proprietor of the chain, wished to understand how consumers buy jewellery
and the difference between those who buy jewellery from the traditional jewellers and those who visit
branded outlets.
For the purpose, a small survey was conducted to study the consumers’ buying behaviour. Given below
is the questionnaire used for the study. The data has been collected and now needs to be entered.
Questions
i. Prepare a code book for the questionnaire.
ii. How will you carry out an exploratory data analysis on the data obtained?

Consumer Questionnaire
Jewellery Buying Behaviour
Instructions
‘Hi, we are students of _________ We are carrying out a survey to find out how people buy jewellery.
Since you are a customer who buys jewellery, we would request your cooperation in filling up the
following questionnaire. Your inputs are greatly valued.’
Name (optional) _______________
1. Why do you buy jewellery? (tick all that apply)
Fashion Statement
Status Symbol
Investment/Security
Gift
Any other ____________
2. When do you buy jewellery? (tick all that apply)
At least once a month
At least once a quarter
At least once a year
Only on festivals
Only on special occasions
Any other __________
3. What kind of jewellery do you buy? (tick all that apply)
Gold
Diamond

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Silver
Semi-precious
Precious gems
Pearls
Any other _____________
4. Where do you buy the jewellery from? (tick all that apply)
Company showrooms
Jewellery shops
Branded jewellery showrooms
Multi brand outlets (e.g., Shoppers’ Stop)
Any other ____________
(Whoever ticked jewellery shops, take them to question 7)

5. What kind of designs do you buy? (tick all that apply)


Traditional Indian
Classic Western
Any other ___________

6. Given below are some attributes that one considers while buying jewellery. Please evaluate
them on their importance for you on the given five-point scale. (VI – Very Important; I –
Important; N – Neutral; UI – Unimportant; VUI – Very Unimportant)

Brand Name
Variety of designs
Location of the outlet
Known jeweller
Discount schemes
Quality assurance
Recommendation from friends/relatives
Brand endorsement by a celebrity
Cordial and helpful personnel at the shop
Availability of desired grade of carat

7. What will encourage you to buy at branded jewellery outlets? Please evaluate them on their
importance for you on the given five-point scale. (VL – Very Likely; L – Likely; MB – May be;
UL – Unlikely; VUL – Very Unlikely)

Discount schemes
Variety of designs
Brand endorsement by a celebrity
Showroom at a convenient place
Customization of designs
Buy back of jewellery
Quality certification
Any other

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8. Please give the following personal details about yourself.

(a) Gender
Male Female
(b) Age group
20 – 25 26 – 30
31 – 35 36 – 40
41 and above
(c) Marital status
Married Unmarried
(d) Occupation
Business Salaried Retired Housewife
Student Any other ______________
(e) Family income (in INR/month)
Less than 25,000 25,000 – 50,000 50,000–1,00,000 1,00,000 and
above
(f) Address _______________________________
_______________________________
_______________________________

Case 19: KESHAV FURNITURE PVT. LTD.

Keshav Furniture Pvt. Ltd. was established in 1950, and since its inception, has shown an average growth
rate of 12 per cent per annum. Specializing in home and office furniture, it has also been exporting its
products for the last seven years. Over the years, the company has gained reputation for its durable and
comfortable designer products, which offer lots of convenience to the users. Mr Keshav Prasad, the owner
of the company, was happy with the growth of the company. According to him, ‘Our products are far
superior to that of our competitors in terms of quality, durability, range of designs and value for money.’
The real estate prices in Delhi and its neighbouring areas of Gurgaon and Noida have gone up at an
exponential rate. Therefore, the demand for studio apartments and small two-bedroom flats is increasing.
Mr Prasad is considering launching three styles of sofas ideally suited for two-bedroom flats. These sofas
are compact, occupy very little space and are affordable. The price range for the three styles varies from
`70,000 to 75,000. There is a difference of about 10 per cent in their cost of production. Mr Prasad was
wondering which style of sofa would sell the most, and the reasons thereof. A meeting of the top
management was called to discuss the same. During the discussion a point that came up was that the sale
need not only depend on the style of the sofa but also on the size of store where the sofas are sold. It was
therefore decided to conduct an experiment which would help to answer whether the sales would vary
across styles and store size.

QUESTION

i. How would you design an experiment to achieve the objectives stated above?

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Case 20: SECOND-HAND CLASSIFIED WEBSITES IN INDIA: USAGE
AND TRUST AMONG CONSUMERS
There are a number of second-hand classified (SHC) websites that offer a forum for selling and buying
second-hand items by posting ads. The leaders in this sector in India are OLX.com and Quikr.com. People
can buy and sell anything—used car, bike, music system, mobile phone, laptop, furniture or household
appliances. The information is publically available, but due to heavy information asymmetry in the
marketplace, there is barely any trust, and the clearing rate stands as low as 28 per cent.
A survey was conducted in which the respondents were chosen using convenience sampling. A total
of 1000 respondents were contacted for filling up the questionnaire, out of which only 600 successfully
completed the survey. The questionnaire was prepared by identifying the variables by conducting
unstructured interviews with 25 people. The objectives of the study were as follows:
• To gauge the level of awareness about the second-hand classified websites
• To identify the sources of information
• To understand the concerns of people while using the website for buying second-hand
products
• To examine whether there is any relationship between the concerns of the respondents and
the demographic variables
• To understand the steps needed to increase the clearing rate of this site
The results of the survey are given in the following tables:

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31
32
33
34
35
QUESTIONS

i. What are your conclusions based on univariate analysis?


ii. What conclusion can be drawn based on bivariate analysis? Are all the percentages cast in
the correct direction for the interpretation of the table? In case the percentages are not cast in
the right direction, correct them and interpret all the bivariate tables.
iii. Suggest by identifying any bivariate table where a ‘moderator variable’ could be used.
iv. Write a note on the major findings of the study.
Case 21: COMPARATIVE PERCEPTION OF MESS FOOD VIS-À-VIS
DHABAS – A CASE OF IIFT
The Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) was set up by the Government of India in 1963. This is an
autonomous organization engaged in teaching, training, research and consultancy in the area of foreign
trade management. Besides students, it has provided training to executives of both the corporate sector and
the Government in the field of international business. The institute runs a two-year MBA programme in
International Business at New Delhi, Kolkata and Dar-e-Salaam. It also conducts a three-year part-time
MBA course in New Delhi and Kolkata. The Institute also holds executive Masters Programme and a
certificate programme in export management at Delhi.
The institute has conducted a number of research studies for WTO, World Bank, UNCTAD and
Ministry of Commerce & Industry. The Institute has also trained more than 40,000 business executives
across 30 countries through its Management Development Programmes.
IIFT MBA(IB) programme has 260 students under it, both first and second year. There is one mess
serving all of these students. There are a few eating options outside in the local roadside dhabas. It has
been observed that many students do not like the mess food. As a result, students frequently eat at the
dhabas outside IIFT.
Recently, a scheme of taking four meals under the plan of `1,800 or two meals under the plan of `1,200
was launched by the IIFT mess and some students have availed of the latter plan and some are planning to
avail it. This has led to the identification, the various reasons because of which students are not taking
mess food.
The students of IIFT conducted a comparative study of both IIFT mess and the dhabas to find out the
factors that could improve mess for the benefit of the student community at IIFT. It was felt that the results
of the study could help the mess committee in coming up with some innovative plans to make it better.
A qualitative research was undertaken that helped in outlining the various attributes which could be
incorporated in the design of the questionnaire. The questionnaire was emailed to 260 students but only
45 responses were obtained. The response rate was 17.3 per cent. Among the various questions asked to
differentiate the perception of mess with dhabas around IIFT, the following attributes were considered:
1. Taste of food

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2. Quality of ingredients
3. Hygiene
4. Cost
5. Ambience
6. Nutrition
7. Menu variety
8. Quality of service
9. Timing at which they are open
10. Total time taken for the meal
The following questions were asked incorporating the above attributes:
• How do you rate IIFT mess/dhabas on a scale of 1 – 5 on the following parameters? (1 =
Extremely Unsatisfied, 2 = Unsatisfied, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Satisfied, 5 = Extremely Satisfied)

The survey data on a sample of 45 respondents is given in Table 1.


It may be noted that the data on variables X1, X2, - - - -, X10 correspond to the ratings of ten
attributes for IIFT mess, whereas Y1, Y2, - - - -, Y10 are the corresponding rating for dhabas.

37
Table 1 Data on rating of various attributes of IIFT mess and outside dhabas

38
QUESTIONS
i. By using a paired sample t-test, identify the parameters on which the dhaba food has an edge
over the mess food. You may use a 5 per cent level of significance.
ii. Based on the results obtained, what are your recommendations?
(Use the SPSS data provided in Table 1 to answer the above questions.)
Case 22: MALHOTRA SPICES COMPANY PVT. LTD.
Malhotra Spices Company came into operation in 1960 and has its operations in all parts of the country. It
was in the business of manufacturing and selling spices suitable for the Indian kitchen. They ventured into
the export markets in the 1980s as there was a huge demand for the spices in North America, Europe,
Australia and in the Middle East. This is because the number of the Indians residing in these countries had
been increasing at an exponential rate. The spices were packed into tetrapacks containing spices in different
quantities like 100, 150, 200, 250 and 500 gm. The 500 gm packages were mostly used by restaurants and
hoteliers. Mr K P Malhotra, Chairman of Malhotra Spices, was wondering whether they should change the
packaging from tetrapack to plastic or glass bottle packaging. Before taking a final decision, as an
experiment, the company introduced plastic and glass bottle packaging in addition to the existing
tetrapacks packaging in the national capital region (NCR) of Delhi. Mr Malhotra was thinking that

39
switching over to a new packaging would involve a huge investment and if the results were not different
for the other two types of packaging, they would drop the idea of change in packaging.
The company on an experimental basis came up with three types of packaging—plastic, glass bottles
and tetrapacks— for the NCR market. They wanted to observe the sales of spices for the three types of
packaging. Mr Malhotra’s younger brother told him that it is not only the type of packaging that influenced
the sales but also some external factors like the size of the store selling the spices. The relevant results
taken for 30 months are reported in Table 1.

Table 1 Data for select variables

40
Type of packaging
1 = Plastic
2 = Glass
3 = Tetrapacks
Type of store
1 = Large store
2 = Medium store
3 = Small store

QUESTIONS
i. Use a one-way analysis of variance to examine whether the type of packaging has any effect
on the sales volume. If a significant difference exists, carry out an appropriate further analysis.
Write a summary of your findings.

ii. If the size of the store is to be treated as a block, carry out the two-way analysis of variance to
examine whether the size of the store has any impact upon the sales of the spices.

41
Case 23: MRP BISCUIT COMPANY PVT. LTD.
The Indian biscuit industry has a turnover of around `3,000 crore. India is the second largest manufacturer
of biscuits, after USA. The industry employs almost 3.5 lakh people directly and 30 lakh people indirectly.
The biscuit industry can be segmented into the organized and unorganized sectors. There are about 150
small and medium sector units besides a few large units. The proportion of the production in the organized
to unorganized sector is in the ratio of 55 to 45 per cent. Exports of biscuits have been generally to the
tune of 10 per cent of annual production. The industry is showing an annual growth rate of about 14 to 16
per cent since 2003. The per capita consumption of biscuits in India is only 1.8 kg per annum as compared
to 2.5 kg to 5.5 kg in the South East Asian countries, European countries and USA. The biscuits could be
broadly classified into various categories such as Glucose, Marie, Sweet, Salty, Cream and Milk.

MRP Biscuit Company started its operations in Ambala city, Haryana, in 2001. The company was growing
at an annual rate of 20 per cent, which was above the industry average. However, for the last three years,
the growth has been only to the tune of 5 to 6 per cent. This very factor has been of a main concern to the
top management of the company. Mr P K Malhotra, the Senior Vice President, Marketing, had a meeting
of the senior marketing team and was wondering why their company, which has been doing so well, has
slowed down in the last few years. During the discussion it was suggested by one of the senior managers
to identify the factors which influence the preference for biscuits. It was argued that once these are known,
it will help the company to concentrate on those factors accordingly. Therefore, the company decided to
get a study done from a research agency to identify the various factors that influence the preference for
biscuits. A sample of 40 individuals was chosen randomly from Ambala. The data was collected on
variables like preservation, quality, taste, nutrition value and preference on a 7-point scale with the higher
number indicating a more positive rating. The data is presented in Table 1.

Table 1 Data on preference for biscuits


42
43
QUESTIONS

i. Run a multiple regression explaining the preference for the brand of biscuits in terms of the
nutrition value, taste and preservation quality.
ii. Interpret the partial regression coefficients.
iii. Test the overall significance of the regression using the ANOVA table.
iv. Examine the significance of the partial regression coefficient using a 5 per cent level of
significance.
v. As a marketing manager of the biscuit company, on what attributes will you concentrate more so as to
improve the marketability of the brand?

Case Study 24: PUBG Addiction

Last year in 2021 - The Government of India has further banned 118 Chinese apps, after pulling the plug
on 59 Chinese apps on June 29 and banning 47 more apps, just a month later, which cloned restricted apps
in India. Amidst the list of banned Chinese-owned applications, the most controversial one remains the
Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), an immensely popular battle royale game in India. There are
close to 50 million active PUBG players in India and the app was downloaded over 175 million times over
the summer. The immensely popular battle royale game has also been in the news owing to its addictive
nature and impact on a gamer’s mental state. Doctors have stated that gaming addiction is most common
among male adolescents within the age of 12 and 20. According to them, games like PUBG prompt a
neurological response in our brain that triggers feelings to pleasure and reward. Therefore, after every
achievement in the game, the mind wants more and thus leads to addictive behaviour.

The common symptoms of gaming addiction –


• Feeling more comfortable in the virtual world than the real world
• Spending most of the waking hours in gaming rather than other activities
• Continuously thinking about the game even not playing
• Loss of interest in other activities

This simple and easily accessible nature of the game has given rise to PUBG addiction in various age
groups in India. In fact, there have been several disturbing reports of injuries, suicides, and murders either
through direct or indirect involvement of PUBG game. The sudden ban on the online game may lead to a
drastic shift in behaviour and mood of gaming addicts. They may suffer from bouts of depression, irritation
and even aggression and may experience functional impairment in different areas of their lives. Parents
are seriously concerned about such games on their children especially in their teenage years. Jenil is a first-
year marketing student and has been assigned a research topic ‘ The effect of banning PUBG mobile game
on mental health among teenagers in Pune’. His sample size is 100. He needs to come up with the
following:

Questions

i) Research problem Definition


ii) A suitable hypothesis
44
iii) List of steps in Marketing Research from Executive Summary to References
iv) Choice of – Focus Group or Depth Interview

Case Study 25: ParentPay App

Schools have undergone a cashless revolution since ParentPay launched its innovative payment
solution way back in 2002. As a result of removing cash, schools have saved millions of hours of time
accounting for meals, trips, uniforms, and other school items. Added to this, parents get a convenient
payment method that offers peace of mind and total transparency. Today, ParentPay’s continuing growth
puts it top of the class in the UK edtech sector with technology used by 9,000 schools and nearly 3 million
parents. Upon joining ParentPay, their CEO Phil had inherited its legacy approach to gaining customer
feedback. This tool the shape of a 10+ question survey promoted via email with links back to a bespoke
HTML page. “My issues with the old survey were its length and lack of focus,” he recalls. “We were very
keen to find out what customers thought about everything we did; mainly the overall product but only a
small part of it asked for feedback on the support experience.” “It was difficult to get any useful data from
the survey because the response rates were so low, and the quality of responses varied greatly. I could
sympathize with customers who clicked on the email, landed on the survey page, and realized they didn’t
have the time to fill out all the answers, it was all far too cumbersome.” ParentPay’s need was to replace
its ‘questionnaire’ style approach with a more discreet and targeted solution. Specifically, one that could
garner more accurate feedback, faster and on an ongoing basis rather than sporadically. This led Phil and
his team to select a CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) software; a decision made easier by the ease of
integration with ParentPay’s service desk platform. At the end of every support interaction, ParentPay
customers are automatically asked to rate how well the support analyst helped with their enquiry. This is
done by embedding CSAT software directly into the email notification informing customers that their
ticket has been resolved. If the customer clicks on an unhappy face, this is flagged to one of the support
team leaders for immediate follow-up. New comments are shown on wallboards throughout the ParentPay
headquarters, so that the whole team can see the feedback. Trending feedback ratings also form part of
each analyst’s performance KPI incentives. However, despite all the success it is important to ensure
validity for such a CSAT software so that artificial ratings are not created.

Questions

i) What are the disadvantages of using a scale-based questionnaire all the time?
ii) Which research instrument would be suitable in a school survey for measuring satisfaction of parents?
iii) What kind of validity studies would be suited best for edutech sector such as ParentPay?

45
CASE STUDY-26: AUR DIKHAO AMAZON

Executive summary-

Teaching a nation of compromise shoppers to not settle for less

Consumers in India saw Amazon as a distant, unapproachable brand and preferred to shop from its
homegrown rival. To change this, a differentiator was identified - Amazon was 'India's largest online
store' with a huge selection of goods; and was married with a cultural insight about the Indian desire for
more choice while shopping, even as they resigned themselves to compromise.

'Aur Dikhao' (Show me more) – an everyday phrase used by Indians to express frustration while
shopping – was turned into a phrase of delight and used as the campaign expression; it was shared with
the world through a comprehensive integrated campaign. The campaign significantly grew sales,
customers, traffic, and app downloads, and Amazon became an integral part of Indian shopping culture.

Market background and cultural context

When Amazon came to India in 2013, it faced an uphill battle. Unlike in the West where it lead and grew
the ecommerce category, it found Flipkart firmly entrenched as the market leader, on the back of
business innovations similar to those of Amazon. India was a completely new kind of battleground –
Amazon's historical strengths in customer service were no longer a point of differentiation, but a point of
parity.

Flipkart was a brand beloved of Indians because it was seen as a homegrown brand that had made it
to the big leagues. Amazon, on the other hand was seen as distant and unapproachable, because of its
international and premium associations (TNS research 2015). This directly affected their preference for
site visits – Flipkart was considered first, Amazon was only an after-thought. In a choice between two
identically priced similar products on the two sites, consumers invariably ordered from Flipkart because
of greater affinity with the brand.

Thus the business imperative was to make Amazon the first port of call rather than a distant afterthought,
by increasing affinity among Indians for the brand.

Objectives

In concrete terms, we needed a campaign that would achieve the following objectives:

 Sales to double compared to same period last year;


 Customer acquisition to double compared to same period last year;
 Units sold to double compared to same period last year;
 Average number of visits (traffic) to increase by 15% from the period before;
 App ranking, based on number of downloads to reach Top 5.
46
Insight and strategic thinking

From a strategic perspective, it was clear that we needed to address two elements simultaneously – the
brand needed to feel more emotionally accessible and approachable to the Indian masses, and there
needed to be a rational reason for them to choose to land at the Amazon site first.

Commissioned research had given us a list of key drivers in the category. One of the top drivers was
access to width and depth of selection. (TNS research 2015). We decided to leverage this driver by
highlighting a key aspect of the Amazon model. Amazon had heavily invested in increasing its selection,
so much so that it had the largest number of goods on offer amongst all the e commerce players, making
it literally 'India's largest online store'. We decided to focus on this differentiator – particularly since an
online retail store could offer a virtually endless range of goods for consumers.

The target audience was mass India. Due to unprecedented economic growth they had more disposable
income than ever before, and were eager to spend it on buying more and more goods. Material
possessions were important as they were signifiers of personal and social success, particularly in a
country that opened up its markets to the world only a few decades ago.

Research on their buying patterns had revealed a surprising truth – while they were quickly adapting to
the new technology that helped them make purchases online, the expectations they had from the buying
process were ages old and culturally conditioned.

Insight: Indians yearn for more choice, but are resigned to compromise with less

The Indian shopper has always yearned for more choice in the goods he or she was looking to buy –
partly out of keenness to get their hands on the best possible for their money, but also out of an anxiety
about missing out on that perfect match to their desire if they didn't put in the effort to search.

But an earlier era of deprivation and lack of access had imposed on them the resignation of compromise
– settling for less than the ideal object desired because that was all they could find. "Utne pao phailao
jitni chaadar (Stretch your legs to the extent of your covering)" and similar proverbs were taught in
homes across India. People settled for what their shop could offer them, wistfully yearning for better
access to more options.

As we transformed the nature of the shop, we could also change the outlook of the buyer.

As India's largest online store, with millions of goods on offer, we could make the constraints of
geography, availability and price disappear. And as a brand that understood the Indian heart, we could
encourage them to not settle for less, and give full rein to their wish to explore every kind of good and its
consequent possibilities.

Therefore came the Big Idea: Unlimiting India through an unlimited selection.

Creative and/or channel execution

47
We decided to bring to life the idea through a culturally rooted creative expression 'Aur dikhao!' (Show
me more), a phrase Indians use in everyday life when we want to literally 'see more options'. It's a trait
that is ingrained and almost universal, but is so much a part of everyday life that no one really thinks
about it. The creative leap was in changing Aur Dikhao (Show me more) from a cry of frustration
(because of a lack of options) to one of delight (due to the endless selection).

We decided on a two-phase roll out. In the first phase, we spoke about the 'width' of selection by talking
about the entire range of products on the site. The second phase focused more on 'depth' of selection –
where we ran films on individual product categories – Home & Kitchen, Electronics, Food & Gourmet,
Beauty and Toys.

 While on television, we balanced reach with smart targeting of TV ad spots, a key element of our
media approach was to 'provoke conversation' by incepting back the refrain of 'Aur Dikhao'.
 We did this by building scale and frequency in TV channels by leveraging the media property of
IPL.
 We went further by creating integrations with moments where people are 'wanting more'.
 On digital we fuelled conversations through an influencer campaign and consumer engagement
interventions in social.
 We did integration with popular mobile messaging App, Line messenger and created customized
'Aur Dikhao' chat stickers.
 We also went out and got into conversation with other brands on Twitter using #AurDikhao and
they responded sportingly.
 Print & OOH reinforced the perception of the depth and range of selection within Amazon by
showcasing the plethora of products available.

Performance against objectives

All the critical objectives were achieved and targets surpassed.

Objective 4: Average number of visits (traffic) to increase by 15%

Web traffic to Amazon.in rose by 27.5% vs. pre campaign period average (Source: comScore)

Pre campaign period: Oct 2014 – Mar 2015. Campaign period: Apr 2015 – Sept 2015

Objective 5: App ranking, based on number of downloads to reach Top 5

App Ranking versus all genres touched number one in India (Source: AppAnnie)

App ranking of Amazon App touches number one in the campaign period
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We not only narrowed the gap with the leader, but for the very first time surpassed Flipkart's web traffic
in May. (Source: comScore)

Amazon.in web traffic beat Flipkart's for the first time during campaign period – traffic in millions

We saw significant improvement in 'purchase behaviour'

Purchase from Amazon increased amongst people who saw the campaign. (Source: TNS ad evaluation
research 2015)

Another proof of campaign effectiveness came when our research showed that the attribute 'wide range'
had moved to brand core, suggesting that consumers had now picked up that Amazon.in stood for
'selection'. (Source: TNS brand equity qualitative research, Sept 2015)

Amazon is no longer an outsider, or just an e – commerce brand in India – it is now an integral part of
Indian shopping culture.

When brands enter a new country, they usually tend to adopt one of two strategies – they either retain
their original tone and expression, standardizing with a nod to the local landscape or they appropriate the
cultural nuances of the new country in order to make themselves seem like an insider. This campaign is
proof that a third option is powerfully viable – a truly 'glocal' approach – where a fusion of the brand's
values with the cultural values of its consumers can be an impactful way of building the brand and the
business.

We brought together Amazon's values of empowerment and reinvention with the Indian cultural desire
for more choice, inspiring us to change the very meaning of a common everyday phrase 'Aur Dikhao'
('Show me more') from a cry of frustration (because of a lack of options) to one of delight (due to the
endless selection).

'Glocal' is hard but when done right can be the most powerful force for changing the fortunes of a brand
struggling as an outsider.

Questions: -

Q1. Analyse how Consumers in India saw Amazon as a distant, unapproachable brand and preferred to
shop from its home-grown rival?

Q2. How based on a cultural insight about the Indian desire for more choice while shopping, Amazon
positioned itself as 'India's largest online store' with a huge selection of goods?

Q3. How did Amazon manage to use a comprehensive mix of online and offline media, and turned the
Indian phrase into a phrase of delight?

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Case Study 27 : UPGRAD
Up Grad, an online course provider, launched a campaign in India to change perceptions about
online learning and encourage enrolments to its courses.

Up Grad courses were expensive and many people in India could not afford to take a break from their
jobs to further their education, especially when online degrees were not widely respected.

Research showed that there were many lightweight degrees available, specialists were more valued
than generalists, and people in India were less concerned with up-skilling and more interested in up-
earning.

Up Grad created #Don'tLickAssKickAss on social media, used the avatars of a donkey and a fortune
teller to create interest, and shared thought leadership content and alumni testimonies.

There was a change in Up Grad’s brand perception and an increase in its search volumes, enrolments
and ARPU.

Details

Brand: Up Grad
Brand owner: Up Grad Education Pvt. Ltd.
Agency: The Womb Communications LLP
Market: India
Sector: Websites, online services, apps
Media channels: Content marketing, Livestreaming, Online display, Online video, Public relations,
Search marketing, Social media, Television, Video on demand, Word of mouth, influencers
Budget: 3 - 5 million

Executive summary

Young, growth-minded professionals in India never valued the online education route for up-skilling and
gaining that competitive edge in the workplace. They did not see Up Grad as a career builder but rather
as a good-to-have, 'life-long learning' destination. Up Grad needed to get Indian working professionals to
sign up for serious long-term online degrees at a very significant price premium.

Though operating in a serious category, we used the quirky creative device of an ass (donkey) playing a
boss and a fortune teller to build gravitas for online education. This helped Up Grad achieve a 40%
increase in enrolments at a 10% higher average revenue per user (ARPU). More importantly, an online
specialisation from Up Grad began to be seen as a 'kaam ki' degree (a degree that's totally worth it) that
helps professionals to upskill for better job prospects and faster career growth.

Market background and cultural context

The category

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In the west, it is normal for people to graduate, work for a few years, and then do their Master's. In India
however, that's not the case. In a developing economy with millions of graduates, there are few good
jobs and many candidates. Hence, graduates who land a job rarely take a break for further study.
However, in many cases, these people with promise eventually get overtaken by post-graduates who
often come from a premier institute and either start with blue-chip companies or get fast-tracked to
others.

Working graduates lose out. Their fear of losing regular income, and the insecurity of perhaps not
landing a good job after a break, prompts them to stay in sub-optimal positions or organisations. And
that's how a slow growth career cycle begins.

There have been part-time, on-campus post-graduation options but choosing them may mean working
professionals have to change cities, which their jobs won't allow. Furthermore, distance-learning, or so-
called 'correspondence' courses, have always had a very low cache and have never been regarded as
'serious' education. These options never really took off.

Online post-graduate education? Sure, it had emerged as a recent option. Indian consumers had begun to
accept digital transformation in a lot of categories like payments and grocery shopping, but the cultural
emphasis on live, on-campus learning meant that online education was quickly clubbed with part-time,
distance and correspondence education. A stamp not worth the paper it was printed on.

The brand

Up Grad, on the other hand had serious plans to provide high-quality distance education. Started in 2015
by graduates of the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology, it offered Master's degrees online from
highly coveted universities, like IIIT-Bangalore, and IIT-Madras. Its alumni had been placed in some of
the biggest companies. It offered tailored courses with one-to-one mentoring by industry experts,
personalised attention and study plans, and the services of 50 placement executives.

The challenges

Perception

In a pre-campaign quantitative study carried out to understand the relative perception of Up Grad
compared to a) drivers that drove consideration, and b) other players, we discovered that Up Grad sat in
the good to have 'Lifelong Learning' box, which people didn't value or spend money on1. The desired
quadrant had all the harder, more-valued metrics, like 'training to become a specialist', 'helps in getting a
job', etc. Up Grad was far away from that.

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Price

upGrad offered long-term degrees in partnership with top universities. These degrees had updated
curricula which included current, relevant case studies and they supplemented the university faculty by
bringing in industry experts. These features meant high levels of investment, which led to high product
costs.

To put things into perspective, the average price in the online upskilling category was $260,2 while Up
Grad's was $2,655 as of August 2020.3 Worse still, several brick-and-mortar universities like FMS Delhi
and LPU were offering full time degrees for as low as $1,378.4

Communications challenge: how do you get Indian working professionals to sign up for serious long-
term online degrees at a very significant price premium, when the valued option has always been offline,
and Up Grad itself was seen only as a good-to-have, 'life-long learning' destination?

Sources:

1. Pre- and post-campaign quantitative research conducted by research agency, June – November
2020
2. Online Higher Education and Lifelong learning report - Red Seer, as of August 2020
3. Client data, as of August 2020
4. FMS Delhi and Lovely Professional University Official University website as of 2020 admissions

Objectives

Brand objectives

1. Build gravitas to lift Up Grad from the good-to-have 'life-long learning' association to a more valued,
outcome-oriented perception

Behavioural objectives

Search and lead generation are key behavioural metrics to track campaign efficacy. We needed to grow
those metrics by at least 15% each compared to the previous pre-campaign period.

Business objective

Covid had had a massive impact on employee confidence to spend, especially on non-core expenses like
higher education. Job losses were rampant. Up Grad's enrolment numbers had declined in the previous
quarter by 25%. Our campaign had to halt the expected further decline, increase new enrolments by 10%
and maintain an already high ARPU of US$ 2,655.

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Insight and strategic thinking

When you have a premium-charging new brand, with a small user base, and when the objective is to fill
the top of the funnel, understanding a brand's strengths is a good starting point. Understand what's
working, check it with a few potential users, and then amplify it for the larger audience base.

This became our strategic framework of thinking.

Our in-depth interviews with those who had studied at upGrad and got placed, and those who had hired
them, brought out three key realities, which allowed us to create a new culture of doing degrees online
for upGrad.5

Reality 1 – Lightweight degrees were available a dime a dozen

Thousands of tier two and three universities had sprung up, offering poor-quality education. They
offered degrees just in name and they were considered lightweight by employers.

Reality 2 - Specialists were more valued than generalists

The purpose of higher education for working individuals was to gain domain expertise which enabled
them to command a competitive advantage. This is important in our country, where millions compete for
every single job opportunity.

Reality 3 - Indians don't care much about up-skilling, they care about up-earning

Because of the intense competition and the huge population, the young in India know that education is
the only way to legitimately make progress in life and make money. So learning and up-skilling are not
an end; they are a clear means to an end. They lead to a nice job, good pay and visible status. And a good
postgraduate degree is pursued with only that end in mind. This is why esteemed offline institutes were
highly prized. They delivered tangible results like job placements at top companies, faster promotions or
higher pay packages.

This insight was key to formulating our brand positioning that distinguished Up Grad from scores of
'lightweight university degrees' that failed to deliver any tangible benefits.

The strategic brand platform: a degree worth far more than just a name.

In Hindi: 'Sirf naam ki nahin, kaam ki degree'.

Key pillars of the platform

The word 'degree' has a huge amount of cultural cache in our education-obsessed country. upGrad
primarily offered post-graduate degrees, and no online alternatives were yet associated with degree
education. They were all known for 'certificate' and 'diploma' courses. To add weight and gravitas to the
brand, we had to include 'degree' in the idea articulation.

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The word 'name' (or 'naam' in Hindi)

Due to archaic curricula, twentieth century teaching methods and old case studies, and very little
industry participation, even top institutions (beyond the top 10) struggled to place their graduates in top
companies. So, in essence, their degrees just had a good 'name' and very little beyond that. This resonates
with millions of Indians who struggle to find a job in sync with their degrees. Up Grad on the other hand,
with its modern curriculum, ability to create specialists, one-on-one mentoring and tight-knit alumni
network, offered degrees that resulted in placements, salary increases and great futures. All of these
'roils' made their degrees 'well worth it' (or 'kaam ki' in Hindi).

Specialisation as the key benefit that:

Employers valued and learners sought

Commanded a price premium

Now, we had to find a disruptive way to communicate this.

Sources

5. Qualitative research conducted by the agency, June 2020

Creative and/or channel execution

We had identified 'specialisation' as the key benefit that the employed learner of today sought, and Up
Grad delivered with its various data science and management post-graduate degrees. Our research had
shown that learners believed that specialisation got them faster promotions, better pay raises and many
job opportunities. For our launch campaign, we dug deep into corporate culture to unearth how else
people grew. What we found was 'Dilbertian'. Those not good enough often grew fast. How? Well, by
licking their way to the top. Or, in other words, by 'licking ass'.

Thus, was born the hashtag. #Don'tLickAssKickAss

And an ass became our device, instead of the various Bollywood celebrities that many competitor brands
were using.

Phase 1

We leveraged India's Super Bowl, the India Premier League (IPL)

Cricket is the biggest form of entertainment in India and IPL is its annual destination. In 2020, it
promised to be grander, with a 23% rise in viewership and an average of 31.57 million impressions.6 We
took this opportunity to make the brand mainstream in a short amount of time.

We created a cultural phenomenon with #Don'tLickAssKickAss

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While TV drove awareness and consideration, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were used to nudge
people to find out more about upGrad. With the #Don'tLickAssKickAss, we created memes and comic
strips to depict various kinds of ass lickers in the corporate world. Next, we invited users to share their
own 'ass licking' stories, setting ablaze organic engagement.

We deployed a three-tier influencer strategy that drove relevance and engagement.

Tier 1 covered mass influencers with over one million followers across lifestyle and comedy genres.
We partnered with them to craft stories of how being a 'chaatu' (brown-nose) doesn't guarantee
success, unlike doing a degree from upGrad.

Tier 2 covered regional influencers with over 500,000 followers who showcased the merit of
specialising, no matter which part of the country you come from.

Tier 3 covered influencers with less than 100,000 followers from specific fields like finance and tech
who shared personal stories of how they chose not to 'lick ass', propagating our video content.

We added to the 'gravitas' with thought leadership content

We conducted webinars with industry leaders from BMW and Reliance Jio for potential learners and
recruiters to understand the future of industries and the qualifications required for them.

A content series called 'Kaam se Naam Tak' shared inspirational stories of self-made professionals
including popular illustrators, photographers, bloggers and even a top female gamer.

Lastly, we started conversations in the education sector through live chats with industry stalwarts like
the CEO of Coca Cola Beverages and the co-founder of Zest Money by discussing the importance of
lifelong learning and making specialisation accessible.

Phase 1 created the necessary awareness for upGrad, positioning it as a brand providing degrees that will
actually help you get ahead in your career.

Phase 2

Our phase 1 work established upGrad as the topmost EdTech learning brand for working professionals.
Specialisation had the strongest association with brand upGrad. Further research pointed us in the
direction that allowed us to strengthen it.

Phase 2's objective: what does the right specialisation lead to? A bright future!

Released during the appraisal season, our film propagated the idea that the right specialisation can lead
to salary increments as high as 50%, which is the average increase received by learners who got a career
transition on completing an upGrad course.

We brought the ass back in a new avatar

Many brands, especially in a visually overwhelmed country like India, struggle for many years to create
a distinctive visual character. Our visual asset of the ass became extremely popular among the audience
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within a mere three months of the campaign launch. So much so that it was the audience's reaction that
convinced us to take forward the ass in phase 2, albeit in a new and quirkier avatar. The ass transformed
into a feisty fortune-teller delivering our wake-up call for working professionals to invest in real value-
adding, outcomeoriented education that can result in better employability and faster career progression.

We created shorties that brought alive other tangible benefits

While we had the main video to propagate the bigger brand benefit, we targeted the fence sitters with
more sharp points that would help them convert. Transitioning to 450+ big companies, receiving job
opportunities and studying at the top 1% universities became talking points that were used to persuade
considerers.

We deployed YouTube and other OTT platforms to enable targeted reach

We broadened the reach of our video content piece through un-skippable ads on YouTube and OTT
platforms like Disney+, Hot Star and Sony Liv, effectively targeting digital natives and second screen
users.

We added layers to the fortune teller with fortune readings and other memes

Similar to phase 1, we built engagement with quirky memes around our fortune teller and invited our
audience to send in their own funny career stories. An Instagram filter dispensing fortune reading
spurred interactions and interesting conversations with our audience.

We brought alive alumni testimonies to demonstrate 'ROI'

We created testimonials of alumni, who were reaping the benefits of Up Grad education, as a proof point
across LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

We activated search and performance marketing that drove platform discovery and lead
generation

We deployed display ads highlighting the tangible outcomes of salary hikes, promotions and better
companies, with the key message 'if the specialisation is right, your future is bright' to drive lead
generation via Google, news apps like In shorts and native advertising.

Sources

6. Data by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) of India, as of December 2020

Performance against objectives

Campaign metrics

The most effective campaign in the entire online education category

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1. Our campaign was ranked 'most effective' in the entire online education category, which
encompassed not only higher education for working individuals but also supplementary
education for school children.11 The campaign also led to the brand name becoming the biggest
conversion driver in the category.

2. #Don'tLickAssKickAss became the top trending hashtag on Twitter within four days of launch
and the campaign achieved 11.4 million engagements on social media.7

Brand metrics

The brand moved from a low ARPU and generic 'lifelong learning' space to the highest ARPU
generating box (literally money box) that provides a 'competitive edge in the marketplace'.

upGrad's brand perception shifted from the lower right quadrant, with brands offering generic benefits
such as 'easy to use', to the opposite upper left quadrant, with brands that offer substantial benefits such
as 'helping individuals become specialists and gain a competitive advantage'. We achieved this
monumental shift within four months of starting the campaign.8

Behavioural metrics

Target: Increase search volume by 15%

Achieved: Increase of 27%

1. Search volumes (monthly average) after the campaign rose by 27.48% compared to the pre-
campaign period.9

Target: Increase leads by 15%

Achieved: Increased inleads generated of 33%

2. We exceeded all expectations by growing at an average of 33.52% over our campaign


period(Aug 20 – Jun 21).10

Business metrics

Target: Increase enrolments by 10% in a COVID-ravaged year.

Achieved: A 40% increase in enrolments.

We not only stopped the expected decline following the Covid high, we created an average growth rate
of 40%post our campaign.11
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Target: Maintain ARPU (average revenue per user)

Achieved: A 10% increase in ARPU

The Covid-19 pandemic induced economic slump and resulted in massive job losses and salary
stagnations. So, when everybody wanted to save and not spend, we managed to get new enrolments at an
even higher average cost per user (ARPU) which increased by 11.30% during our campaign period.12

Our campaign had a real impact on peoples' lives

1. Students who graduated from upGrad got an average pay increase of 50%, beating the industry
benchmark of 20-30%.13
2. 2,400 students received new job offers from renowned companies in India after completing a
degree from upGrad.14

It's not for nothing that a degree from upGrad today known as a 'kaam ki degree' (a degree that's totally
worth it).

1. Western brands, like Coursera, Udemy and Udacity, started the online higher education category
with a western view of education. They focused on drivers that were internationally relevant but
held no sway in the Indian market:

Udemy made 'learning easy'.

Udacity 'future-proofed' skills.

Coursera enabled people to be their best via learning.

This became the category norm and the entire online category was perceived as lightweight. This
made our task to build credibility for our brand even more difficult.

We therefore leveraged the power of a strong cultural insight that 'Indians don't study to upskill,
they study to up-earn.

2. It is often believed that serious, high-involvement categories must have serious communication.
However, we realised that for any category, especially one in its nascent stages, cutting through is
a more important parameter. Our 'ass' cut through the clutter of the IPL, which is the biggest
media opportunity in India, helping us to achieve higher engagement and spend less.

Client's view

"Our primary objective was to give gravitas to the kind of education upGrad provides, the mode of
learning which just happens to be online. It was imperative for us to understand evolving consumer
preferences and derive actionable insights which, in turn, would drive business results.

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"During our in-depth research, we also realised that working professionals in India do not lack ambition
and drive but they are missing the means to achieve and materialise their ambition. Fuelling the
ambition was no longer enough. What was needed was a solution.

"Thus, the genesis of 'Sirf Naam ki Nahin, Kaam ki Degree'. The expression is upGrad's promise to
provide outcome-oriented specialisations that help learners to achieve the 'roI' on education in the form
of a new job, a better job profile, a salary hike or a promotion. In other words: employability. The
campaigns proved a wake-up call for young working professionals who were nudged to invest in real
value-adding, outcome-oriented education that would result in employability and career progression.

"We received an overwhelming response, as our creative device, the donkey, quite literally became the
talk of the town. Our call had reached over 270 million in the first leg alone. While our competitors bank
on celebrity endorsements, our charming donkey has become more clutter-breaking than any celebrity."

 Questions :-

Questions :-

Q1. How did Up Grad change brand perception and get an increase in its search volumes,
enrolments ?

Q2.Explain and Give your observations and describe companies rationale in selecting the charming
donkey rather than any celebrity ?

Case Study 28: ASIAN PAINTS TRENDSETTER


This case study shows how Asian Paints, a paint company, increased brand equity and sales using
an awards ceremony celebrating Decor Trendsetters in India.

Despite being the leading paint brand in India, Asian Paints wanted to expand its social media
presence and thus increase its audience reach.

The brand launched the Asian Paints Indian Decor Influencer Awards, celebrating social media
influencers that stood out for their hard work.

The campaign used print, targeted ads, social media promotions and digital to engage influencers to
produce specific content for the awards, and to entice their followers to cheer on.

As a result, the campaign gathered 19.6 million impressions across all media forms, including over
57,000 visits to IDIA's microsite and a Facebook reach of over 5 million.

Details

Brand owner: Asian Paints


Agency: Madison Media; Social Samosa (contributing agency)

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Brand: Asian Paints
Country: India
Industry: Home improvement
Channels: Content marketing, Email marketing, Events experiential, Games competitions, Internet -
display, Internet - microsites, Social media
Budget: Up to 500k

Executive Summary

Asian Paint has evolved from paints to Décor. It is this paradigm shift that makes Asian Paints stand
out from the rest of the competition. However, Asian Paints now wanted to take this thought further
and wanted to be synonymous with Beautiful Homes - A feeling that transcends square feet's and
enters the consumer's hearts.

People are looking online for everything, be it fashion, recipes, or décor.

The task hence was to get into the consideration set of the ever evolving audience and prospective
audience, interior designers, architects and overall Décor artists that will design houses in the future
– their followers who'd look for suggestions.

Given that Asian Paints wanted to commemorate these décor experts and also further its own
perception as the creator of beautiful homes, the logical extension to was to facilitate and nurture the
décor enthusiast's community on social media and create 'influencer marketing through recognition'.

In order to execute this, a never been done before award program - IDIA was created in association
with Social Samosa, dedicated to the influencers.

The Campaign delivered 19.6 million impressions & achieved a unique reach of 6.53 million.

5251 articles got socially shared.

57,541 people virtually attended the digital awards.

Market background and cultural context

Asian Paints (An introduction to the brand and its market)

India as a market is vast and challenging at the same time. Asian Paints though the market leader,
finds it imperative to keep on innovating and taking the home decor landscape ahead.

Since its foundation in 1942, Asian Paints has come a long way to become India's largest and Asia's
second largest paint company, with a turnover of Rs. 155.34 billion. We operate in 19 countries and
have 26 paint manufacturing facilities in the world, servicing consumers in over 65 countries.

The company has come a long way since its small beginnings in 1942. It was set up as a partnership
firm by four friends who were willing to take on the world's biggest, most famous paint companies
operating in India at that time. Over the course of 25 years, Asian Paints became a corporate force
and India's leading paints company. Driven by its strong consumer-focus and innovative spirit, the

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company has been the market leader in paints since 1967. Today, it is double the size of any other
paint company in India. Asian Paints manufactures a wide range of paints for decorative and
industrial use.

In Decorative paints, Asian Paints is present in all the four segments v.i.z Interior Wall Finishes,
Exterior Wall Finishes, Enamels and Wood Finishes. It also introduced many innovative concepts in
the Indian paint industry like Colour Worlds (Dealer Tinting Systems), Home Solutions (painting
solutions Service), Kids World (painting solutions for kid's room), Colour Next (Prediction of Colour
Trends through in-depth research), and Royale Play Special Effect Paints, just to name a few. It has
also introduced 'wall coverings' under its portfolio.

Asian Paints has always been ahead when it comes to providing consumer experience. It has set up
Signature Stores in Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata in India, where consumers are educated on colours
and how it can change their homes. The company has also set up 'AP Homes' – a multi-category
décor store in Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu, India) which offers décor solutions across categories of
paints, wall papers, kitchen, bath fittings, sanitary ware, furnishings etc.

Asian Paints is present in the waterproofing segment as well and offers various solutions through
'SmartCare' range of products

Competitors of Asian Paints

Competition includes brands like Akzo Nobel India Ltd., Berger Paints (India) Ltd. Kansai Nerolac
Paints Ltd, Shalimar Paints & Jencon & Nicholson. The competition too is very active in this
segment and is always looking at increasing its market share.

Objectives

The objective was to get into the consideration set of the ever evolving audience and prospective
audience, interior designers, architects and overall Décor artists that will design houses in the future
– their followers who'd look for suggestions.

The idea was to create a strategy that while being in the domain of content marketing covers the
Décor Space on Social Media, enabling the brand to win the desired space on Social Media.

Asian Paints wanted a logical extension to the brand's efforts on facilitating and nurturing the décor
enthusiast's community on Social Media.

Insight and strategic thinking

People are looking online for everything, be it fashion, recipes, or décor. What better way to reach
out to the audience than through designers that have a huge existent following.

People traditionally seek advice from within their peer group, social circle, elders etc. Today,
however, they also look up to opinion leaders for this. And for these leaders, digital and social media
are the most powerful platforms in terms of giving them a voice and exposing them to a ready
audience.

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Given that Asian Paints wanted to commemorate these décor experts and also further its own
perception as the creator of beautiful homes, the logical extension to was to facilitate and nurture the
décor enthusiast's community on social media and create 'influencer marketing through recognition'.

This works two ways for the brand – reaching out to the existing followers and capturing the psyche.
This also helped the influencers get recognition and appreciation for the hard work they achieved
through this campaign.

Creative and/or channel execution

In order to execute influencer marketing through recognition a never been done before award
program - Asian Paints Indian Décor Influencer Awards - was created in association with Social
Samosa, dedicated to the influencers.

In our Pre-Buzz phase through our articles, mailers, Facebook promotions, GDN and Twitter Chat
we engaged users to an unprecedented level.

Asian Paints Indian Décor Influencer Awards created conversations on Twitter. This involved the
influencer community & leading influencers of the country.

In our Launch Phase the launch of the Microsite supported by banner ads in addition to the other
mediums gave us further push.

Also since Christmas was around the corner Asian Paints introduced "Be the Santa" campaign
wherein well wishers, friends and family could nominate decor influencers and bloggers as a gift and
be their Secret Santa for 2015

Supported by a series of creatives, the spot marketing initiative pushed IDIA further as fans emerged
in large numbers, nominating their favourite décor influencer.

After locking the nominations received, our jury shortlisted the deserving influencers and bloggers
for the next phase. From a final count of about 356 nominations, 156 entries got the green signal to
move on to the online voting phase making it to the online voting tracker.

After a series of constant efforts, our final 156 entries propagated to get more votes from their fans
and followers. We also gave these participants a personalized voting creative and ID to share on their
social media platforms.

IDIA One-up was a standalone giveaway to motivate influencers to create engaging content for
Asian Paints IDIA. The bloggers/influencers created content on topics given by IDIA.

Best content earned a "One-up", that increased their chances of winning, while giving them bragging
rights. Influencers went all out exhibiting some intricate art and talent, giving IDIA further impetus.

For the final buzz around IDIA finale – participants, fans, and followers were called out to paint the
Wall of Influence with their tweets. Hashtag #IDIAwards was coined for centralizing all the
conversations around the long-running property.

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Winners across all the 10 categories were announced in an orderly fashion, giving the achievers an
opening to come forward and thank their supporters.

No other brand in India has taken such a progressive step to appreciate and recognize influencers.

We achieved a strong connect with Top notch Décor Influencers in India. Asian Paints build a long
term relationship with them to resonate a stronger voice within the community

Performance against objectives

No. of visitors to the IDIA microsite is 57,541. Collective reach on Facebook stands at 5,83,253. No.
of page views on Microsite were 1,16,179

150+ Décor Influencers participated. Clicks across all forms of Media stand at 1,19,292.

5,251 Social Shares for articles. 19.6 Million Impressions across all forms of Media

At a frequency of 3 that meant we achieved a unique reach of 6.53 million.

We created a digital repository of compelling content (40 Articles) around Décor with 3-4 mentions
about the brand in each article – 160 Mentions

In the process we got a great amount of Buzz, which leveraged to strengthen the brand's relationship
with Décor enthusiasts on Social Media.

Social Media mentions across Facebook and Twitter from Social Samosa – 120 mentions, Social
Samosa Team – 210 Mentions + Subscribers Handles – 576 Mentions

Asian Paints logo presence across all forms of visual communication for the property and inclusion
of the property logo / standalone logo on more than 500 creative visuals Blog / Instagram Posts,
Tweets from Décor Influencers (One Up Activity) – 10 Posts

The property served as a great catalyst for the brand to turn influencers into brand advocates.

The success of this strategy teaches us that if used in the right direction, the influencers are a very
effective means of communicating one's brand message to the right audience.

Influencers are very important in building good networks. The followers of these influencers get into
discussions about various facets connected to the activity you are doing and hence this leads to more
brand building.

So far Influencers were used just as another medium, but with changing times and more and more
requirement for a human touch to tell the consumers as to which brand to choose, influencers are
now becoming vital in a brands marketing mix.

Q1.How did the brand launched the Asian Paints Indian Decor Influencer Awards, celebrating social
media influencers that stood out for their hard work?

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Q2.Why the brand campaign used print, targeted ads, social media promotions and digital to engage
influencers to produce specific content for the awards, and to entice their followers to cheer on ?

CASE STUDY 29:


Britannia Marie Gold, a biscuit brand, increased brand awareness and
growth during the COVID-19 lockdown in India by providing entrepreneurs
with virtual training from home.
 On 25th March India went into strict lockdown and the fate of the homemakers who wanted to
become entrepreneurs hung in balance.
 During a pan-India survey in 2018, the brand found that nearly half of India's homemakers
wanted a degree of financial independence and a launchpad to start-up.
 Britannia enabled 50 finalists from all across the country to present their business plans virtually
and trained them to deliver video bytes to present their case, resulting in an evocative and
compelling video.
 The campaign resulted in over 450 press stories, which resulted in Britannia Marie Gold
becoming one of the highest-selling brands during the lockdown.

or over 60 years, Britannia Marie Gold has been the tea-time companion of India's homemakers, the 'fuel
that allows her to achieve more'. During a pan-India survey in 2018, the brand found that nearly half of
India's homemakers wanted a degree of financial independence and a launchpad to start-up. In fact, some
had already become the second financial engines of their families, but many others were still hesitant to
take their ideas off the ground. For Britannia Marie Gold, the next step was obvious. In 2019, it launched
the 'Britannia Marie Gold My Start-up Contest' to reward the 10 best business ideas from India's women
homemakers with seed capital of INR 1 million (∼USD 14000) each. 10,000 others would receive a
chance to attend a certified online skill development program. Year 2020, and the brand launched the
second edition in early March. On March 25th, India went into strict lockdown and the fate of the
homemakers who wanted to become entrepreneurs hung in balance. Britannia enabled 50 finalists from
all across the country to present their business plans virtually, and trained them to deliver video bytes to
present their case, resulting.in an evocative and compelling video. The campaign, Marie Gold My
Startup 2.0, showcased the stories of home-makers turning into entrepreneurs, in a year when the job
market was tentative at best. The campaign resulted in 450+ stories, and made Britannia Marie Gold one
of the highest-selling brands during the lockdown, growing 1.5 times faster than Britannia's overall
growth from May to June 2020.

Objectives and Goals:

Behavioural Goal Convince 1.2 million non-working homemakers in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and
West Bengal to pursue their unfulfilled dreams of starting their own business venture.

Business Goal

Support sales and brand growth facilitated through on-pack activation.


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Media Goal

Garner 250+ stories (as compared to last year's 240 stories) across print, digital and television mediums
while overcoming the hurdle of the pandemic's impact on media houses.

Target Audience Analysis

Homemakers have been Britannia Marie Gold's core consumer segment for over four decades. These are
non-working, married women aged 18 and above specifically in the states of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra
and West Bengal. These women spend their days caring for their immediate and extended families. As
they go about their chores, the television is often switched on in the background. They usually
communicate with their friends and family via WhatsApp or face-to-face and consume information via
newspapers and social media. With very little time for themselves, these women still aspire to be and do
more—to find financial independence and their own identities, and contribute to the family's income.
During the lockdown, their husbands, the so-far primary income providers, were facing salary cuts, or
worse, job loss.

Research and Strategy

From the 2018 survey, we already knew most homemakers were hesitant to make the first move as
entrepreneurs. Therefore, it was important to show them stories that both resonated with and inspired
them. Additionally, we found something quite shocking—a 2019 study by Google and Bain & Company
points out that only 20% of the enterprises in India are women-owned. Of those, many only on paper,
for financial or administrative reasons. The study also suggests that accelerating quantity and quality of
entrepreneurship can create over 30 million women-owned enterprises, of which 40% can be more than
self-employment. This can generate potentially transformational employment in India, of 150-170
million jobs, which is more than 25% of the new jobs required for the entire working age population,
from now until 2030. Clearly, it's not just the homemakers' dreams at stake here. With this in mind, for
this second edition of the contest, Marie Gold went beyond looking at homemakers creating a second
income for their family, but actually creating jobs for a nation whose economy was facing the wrath of
the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown.

Creativity and Insight: When the campaign for the second edition started, the message was the same as
before—giving homemakers not just a chance but active support to turn their hobbies into
entrepreneurial ventures. However, during the lockdown, as unemployment rose across the country, we
drove conversations around the need for women homemakers to upskill as entrepreneurs to not just
support their own dreams but build ventures that could employ people. When the applications came in
and 50 finalists were chosen from across the country, they had to convince a panel of judges. Marie Gold
created a virtual platform where the finalists presented their business plan. Each finalist was also trained
on how to give their video byte for the final video. The result was a moving film capturing raw emotions.

Execution and Tactics

A power-packed launch

We organised a press conference in New Delhi attended by Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Ayog, the
Indian Government's policy think tank, and Dr Manish Kumar, MD & CEO, National Skills

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Development Corporation, another Government initiative. Also at hand were the winners of Season 1.
Over 75 journalists attended, leading to multiple interviews with Britannia and the two dignitaries, as
well as the winners.

Changing the narrative

When the lockdown struck, there was limited media bandwidth due to newsrooms being gutted with
pandemic-related news. Amid that, Britannia Marie Gold changed the narrative by highlighting the
stories of the Season 1 winners, who weren't just supporting their families during the lockdown, but were
also helping sustain the homes of those they had employed. The stories of these homemakers-turned-
entrepreneurs were aimed at inspiring more women to participate.

Social media played a crucial role in amplifying brand messaging through a series of posts on previous
winners, current stats revolving around housewives and entrepreneurship in India. Britannia Twitter
handle was leveraged as the only medium to capture all the posts around Britannia Marie Gold My Start-
up 2.0 campaign. The campaign was divided into phases starting from pre-buzz where the handle
tweeted four 1-min long videos highlighting the journeys of the Season 1 winners. To create an
excitement around the online event, the handle tweeted brief introductions of the judges. 12 such tweets
were posted capturing 2.5k impressions & 3.3% engagement per post.

An emotional finale

By the time the finale happened, India was well into the lockdown. With 1.5 homemakers sending in
their business ideas, there was understandably a lot of anticipation about who had made it.

 The 50 chosen finalists appeared before a jury panel to present their business case.
 The ten winners were announced at a virtual press meet with 35 reporters from CAT-A media
houses.
 There were interviews with select media for Britannia's Marketing head leading to five large-
format stories.
 We also organised a unique virtual regional media roundtable with key media from ten Indian
states invited to interact with Britannia's spokesperson for the campaign.
 10 tweets were amplified from the brand handle showcasing the winners of Britannia Marie Gold
My Start-up Contest 2.0. Tweets talked about their introduction, city of residence & their idea.
Cumulatively garnering over 50k organic impressions at an average engagement rate of 4%
per post which is above industry standards.

A film to capture it all

The campaign culminated with a film conceptualised, scripted, produced and edited in just two weeks.
On the creative front, it was important that the film bring out the true emotions of each homemaker,
while also highlighting the phenomenal scale of India's female entrepreneurial talent. The film team
interacted remotely with 50 finalists from across the country, to train them on how to record
soundbites for the final video. The soundbites were combined with each participant's virtual
presentations to the jury. Finally, the film captured the real, raw responses of each of the winners as
they found out they had won. This is what made the heart of the film.

Measurement/Results
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Behavioural Result

Convinced over 1.5 million non-working homemakers across 32 states to apply for the contest, against
a target of 1.2 million from three states.

Business Result

Britannia Marie Gold was one of the highest-selling brands during the lockdown and grew 1.5 times
faster than Britannia's overall growth from May to June.

Media Result

 Secured 450+ stories (against a target of 250+) across print, digital and television mediums
with 100% key message delivery (that 10 selected winners received financial assistance of Rs.
10 Lakhs each and 10,000 women got access to the specialized skill development course by
NSDC).
 The video earned close to 2 million views in just 2 months.
 Social media: 27 Tweets - 90K organic impressions with 2.2K in engagements and 3% per
post engagement.

Q1: -How did Britannia Marie Gold was achieve the distinction of being the highest-selling brands
during the lockdown and grew 1.5 times faster than Britannia's overall growth from May to June?

Q2.Highlight the key learnings from the case?

CASE STUDY 30 :LIFEBUOY


Lifebuoy, a soap brand, launched a campaign in India to promote hand-washing in Uttar Pradesh
and Bihar, which had high infant mortality rates.

 Reaching consumers in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar was difficult because media penetration was
poor, literacy rates were low and 79% of consumers used feature phones.
 More than 75% of the population in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar lived in rural areas where half of
infant deaths were caused by preventable diseases such as diarrhoea and pneumonia.
 Lifebuoy created the Adaptive Data Lighthouse, an infection alert system that predicted disease
incidence and identified the rural villages/sub-districts most vulnerable to life-threatening
diseases and sent mobile messages to share infection alerts.
 During the campaign period, there were 178,000 fewer cases of the deadliest diseases.

Campaign details

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Brand: Lifebuoy
Brand owner: Unilever
Entrant company: Mindshare, Mumbai
Market: India
Sector: Bath toiletries, soaps
Media channels: Mobile & apps
Budget: 1 - 3 million

Executive summary

Lifebuoy, India's number-one soap brand, with annual penetration of 72% and 17% market share, has
made successful inroads into urban India and built its equity as the best soap for protection against
germs.

However, rural India has always been a tough battle. With extremely low traditional media penetration
(<30%), low literacy rates and 79% of consumers using feature phones in the largest states of Uttar
Pradesh (UP) and Bihar (30% of rural population), reaching out to consumers is a big task. Making
progress in UP and Bihar is important as they report the highest infant deaths due to diarrhea and
pneumonia – diseases that can be prevented by the cost-effective act of handwashing with soap.

We created the Adaptive Data Lighthouse, a data-led infection alert system for predicting disease
incidence and identifying rural villages / sub-districts most vulnerable to life-threatening diseases. The
solution microtargeted rural geographies based on severity of incidence with contextual communication
via an outbound dialler.

Lifebuoy gained market share (39bps) and penetration (180bps) in rural UP and Bihar. 'Protection
against germs' attribute also grew by 500 bps. The biggest indicator of success was a drop of 178,000 in
cases of the deadliest diseases during the campaign period.

Market background & objectives

Lifebuoy is India's number-one soap brand, with annual penetration of 72% and 17% market share. For
three consecutive years, the brand witnessed a drop in its equity scores with a direct impact on its market
share.

Lifebuoy's core consumer resides in rural India. They are spread across 600,000 Indian villages having a
population of 5,000+ per village, which shows the physical strength of the brand in the country.

Cultural tension

India has an infant mortality rate (IMR) at 34 per 1,000 live births, 13% higher than the global average
of 30 per 1,000 (Source: Sample Registration System, India). The situation is even worse in its two most
populous states

– Uttar Pradesh and Bihar – with an IMR 43% and 27% higher than the global average, at 43 and 38 per
1,000 live births respectively.

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Communications objectives

Lifebuoy's challenge and objective

At a time when consumers were oscillating more towards beauty soap brands (which dominate 74% of
India's US$ 2.2 billion-worth soap category), driving consumption by building greater relevance for
hand-washing was the biggest challenge.

Maximum share loss was witnessed in Lifebuoy's rural market, which contribute 70% of its overall
business. Reaching media-dark rural geographies with relevant brand communication was always a big
challenge for 1Lifebuoy.

Our main objectives were to:

1. Increase the key brand attribute ('protect effectively from germs') score by 300 BPS
2. Drive saliency by chasing top-of-mind awareness within the category

The focus was on Uttar Pradesh (204m) and Bihar (99m), the two worst states for IMR in India. Just to
put the enormity of the situation in context, Uttar Pradesh's population stands at 204 million vs. Brazil's
207 million, while Bihar's population stands at 99 million vs. Egypt's 96 million! Driving consumption
by building greater relevance for handwashing was the biggest challenge and objective!

The media challenge

With Lifebuoy's business coming predominantly from rural markets (70%), some of the key media
challenges to reaching our core Lifebuoy consumers are as follows:

Low literacy rates amongst our core consumers impacts static mediums like print, outdoors etc. which
are key to disseminating brand information to consumers.

Negligible smartphone penetration, making non-data-enabled feature phones a critical vehicle (79% of
rural households in India use a feature phone).

The solution

The Adaptive Data Lighthouse: a decision-support system for activating infection alerts and educating
rural consumers on the importance of handwashing.

The key objectives behind creating this proprietary ADL were:

1. Leverage data and technology to proactively signal incidences of communicable diseases


2. Define incidence thresholds based on historical disease incidence data and predictive analytics on
near real-time data
3. Activate communication on mobile at a micro-market level (granular district/sub-district/village
level) prioritized on the basis of the severity of incidence

Insight & strategic thinking

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Lack of handwashing before meals results in children falling ill

Handwashing with soap is the single most cost-effective intervention to prevent child deaths. More than
75% of the population in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar reside in rural areas, where infant mortality is very
high.

Half of these deaths are caused by diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia, which can be prevented by a
simple habit of handwashing. We focused on the insight that most people have access to soap, but the
number of people who regularly wash their hands before eating and after using the toilet is very low;
leading to a number of communicable diseases.

The strategic framework - We devised a TIA (Trigger-Influence-Action) framework to bring the


Adaptive Data Lighthouse to life.

Implementation

The development of the ADL and research involved four key steps.

Step 1: Data management

Raw, unstructured data on diseases was cleansed, structured and finally processed through algorithms,
with proprietary tools and technology like PDF Scrapper, Geo Intelligence and API Integrator. We
tapped into the Indian government's two largest databases which are part of the National Health Mission.

1. IDSP tracks a variety of disease outbreaks within India down to village and block level on a
weekly basis. It is responsible for tracking a variety of diseases.
2. HMIS tracks the quality of health care available to rural populations throughout India's public
health care system, at a monthly level.

While we got access to this data, it was messy and challenging! It was collected on paper forms,
maintained in .pdf files in text formats and in local languages. Data collection systems and nomenclature
were inconsistent. There was no geographical convention or metadata standards.

With data-quality technology at the heart of it, data management was most critical for ADL and
involved…

 Leveraging tech to bring together data in a variety of formats and structures


 Extracting data from complicated data sets
 Making disjointed data sets talk to each other

ADL had a database of 21 communicable diseases which updated weekly, in near-real time.

Step 2: Predictive Analytics

A predictive disease incidence model was created using the time series UCM technique (1 UCM model
for each disease). Thresholds were defined based on historical epidemic statistics and benchmarks. An
end-to-end data pipeline of reported diseases was created that updated in real time.

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Step 3: Micro-targeting

Of the 200,000 public hospitals in India, 10,000 are in Bihar and 24,000 in Uttar Pradesh. Data was
collected from sub-centres, primary health centres and community health centres across 822 sub-districts
in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

Fuelled with data from 34,000 hospitals across 822 sub-districts, the proprietary algorithm decoded big
data into a simplified version which helped to understand the intensity, magnitude and trends of these 21
communicable diseases, at a weekly level for each of the 822 districts. The algorithm assigned priority
which helped prioritize districts for activation.

Step 4: Communicating in media

In UP and Bihar, mobile has the highest reach (60+ million each) of all other media combined. Hence,
mobile became our medium to communicate the

infection alert message. Based on the weekly alert inflection point for each sub-district, we created
customized messages

Performance

Consumers were targeted when they were most vulnerable and hence the most receptive to the
communication which resulted in increased memorability and behaviour change.

The mobile calling model is now a sustainable model for Lifebuoy and other brands who cater to the
rural audience.

Yet again the re-launch was a game changer for the brand.

1. The Indian rural population coverage for infection alerts was increased from 25% to 55%
2. There was a brand penetration gain in the range of 100-270 BPS in the deployed states
3. 98% of the people who remembered the call displayed spontaneous recall for lifebuoy
4. 65% of the people who remembered the call displayed spontaneous message recall

Brand lift studies conducted for effectiveness of outbound call campaigns showed 920 BPS uplift in
purchase intent and 2200 BPS uplift in unaided brand recall.

 Q1.How did Lifebuoy create the Adaptive Data Lighthouse, an infection alert system that
predicted disease incidence and identified the rural villages/sub-districts most vulnerable to life-
threatening diseases and sent mobile messages to share infection alerts.
 Q2.Describe the key Learnings from the case?

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Case Study 31:
A campaign by Spotify, the music streaming service, in India, helped
communicate that Spotify was an option for streaming Indian music.
 Spotify had struggled during the recent streaming boom in India against other streaming services
that offered Indian listeners access to music in their native languages.
 To combat this, Spotify created adverts on YouTube and Hot Star, India’s top OTT media service
to inform listeners that Spotify is an option to listen to their preferred music.
 Many different adverts were created that targeted consumers of different media types such as TV
viewers and audiences shifting to online consumption.
 The campaign reached 64 million individuals and led to a 370% increase in Telugu language
users and a 400% increase in Hindi users of Spotify.

Campaign details

Brand: Spotify
Brand owner: Spotify
Entrant company: Interactive Avenues, Mumbai
Idea creation: Spotify India, Mumbai
Market: India
Sector: Websites, online services, apps
Media channels: Online video, Video on demand
Budget: 1 - 3 million

Executive summary

Spotify is the latest entrant into the crowded Indian online music streaming market. With smartphone
adoption rates exploding and easy availability of affordable data plans, Spotify has entered the market at
a good time, although its entry was after other local & international players captured a fare market share
of the music streaming industry.

The Indian consumers turn towards the local players mostly for local music in the many Indian
languages. Apart from Bollywood, Indians love Punjabi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Bengali
music amongst many more. And for this, their first preference may not be Spotify. Spotify is looked at a
platform that offers international music and while that is not wrong, they have also introduced millions
of songs in these Indic languages.

The Audio+ campaign's objective is therefore to make noise about this music offering and get Indian
music listeners under their umbrella.

Market background & objectives

Ever wondered who thought of a 'playlist' first?

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The idea of automatically generating music playlists from annotated databases was pioneered by
François Pachet and Pierre Roy. Constraint satisfaction techniques were developed to create playlists that
satisfy arbitrary 'sequence constraints', such as continuity, diversity and similarity.

All this science, over the years, evolved into a fun music platform – Spotify.

Like they say there's a song for every mood, but no one would've thought of practically having access to
such a large number of songs stored in a single device. Spotify perfectly solves this problem and offers a
beat for everyone and their many moods.

Spotify is known for their library of millions of songs, and therefore, the Audio+ campaign was launched
with an objective to reinforce this communication among the masses of India.

India is a country of many countries which evidently reflects in its diversity of spoken languages,
ethnicity, food and music!

Food for example, is different in every corner but if you observe closely, there is one common aspect of
food across this 3.287Mn km² area of land – A THAALI.

We all simply love a thali, be it Gujarati or Malvani. So it's not just the food but the variety of food.

Spoilt for choice, we Indians!

Taking this simple but strong behavioural insight we built this campaign.

To essentially bring a thali of music and serve it on a silver platter for our music hungry audience, with
an aim to bump up our regional music listenership.

The objective was to drive education around two primary aspects of the music streaming app –

1. The simplicity around a playlist creation using Spotify's algorithm


2. Availability of an extensive catalogue of regional music (in addition to international music)

To meet the first educational goal, we decided to rely on the storytelling capability of the creative itself.

Here, we had popular faces describe the different use case scenarios for the audience and how simple it
is to create a playlist for each of these scenes.

For the second goal, we studied the music listening industry carefully to understand the different
behaviour patterns and identify the key potential that we could tap into to grow the listenership beyond
international music.

The strategy was therefore, much like how Spotify came into being – SPOT and IDENTIFY!

So the overall landscape showed that HSM contributed to approximately 70% of competition MAU,
followed by South at 30%, where Telangana alone contributed to 17%. Concluding that there is
significant potential that lies for Spotify outside the metros and sufficient opportunity that exists in the
South.

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Insight & strategic thinking

After scouting through multiple studies, our key findings were summarized.

Facts show a 100% spike in regional content, with Indic usage currently at 66%. 10X growth was
observed in Regional searches with 2x growth in Regional YouTube content.

Hindi content consumption alone grew 5x faster than English, with tier-2 & tier 3 consuming more
content than Metros and Tier 1 Cities.

Top 5 Indic Languages –

 Telugu – 49%
 Tamil – 21%
 Malayalam – 11%
 Bengali – 10%
 Kannada – 9%

Popular Music genres –

 #1 Bollywood New
 #2 Bollywood Old
 #3 Regional Music (Telugu, Tamil, Marathi, Bhojpuri)
 #4 Punjabi
 #5 Pop
 #6 Hip- Hop / Rap
 #7 Regional Oldies
 #8 Devotional/ Spiritual
 #9 Indian Classical Music/ Hindustani
 #10 Soundtracks

These insights only went to prove the 'thaali behaviour' forming the backbone of our campaign.

Hindi Speaking Markets, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh were the markets to focus on.

Furthermore, to build easy resonance, we onboarded celebrity faces known to these natives –
Bollywood's Anil Kapoor for HSM and Tollywood's Nagarjuna for TN and AP.

In line with this, the creative route was built to depict use cases for different playlists through multiple
short stories from Aarti to Party, Romance to Dance and many more!

Implementation

A micro marketing strategy led by geographies was put into place.

But on what platforms could we capture these audiences from?

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Audio streaming comprises of 39.4% of time spent listening to music, 38.9% on YouTube (video
streaming) & 21.7% on Radio.

A video heavy plan made up of multiple short stories was set to take live on the leading OTT channel
Hotstar in addition to the leading video streaming platform YouTube.

Through YouTube, we were able to chase evolved digital users - light TV viewers / cord shavers, cord
cutters & shifting audiences through a combination of audience packs.

The launch drove viewability for the master assets that communicated playlist creation scenarios such as

A cheeky husband creating a romance playlist for his wife

A father exploring playlists for Yoga and Road Trips too

And much more!

Post a successful launch, we boosted the campaign with YouTube only to drive incremental reach and
viewability.

Having achieved sufficient reach during the launch, we reactivated the campaign yet again during Diwali
in HSM markets. However, this was strategically to build recall contextually. So we resurfaced the HSM
market creative that showed Anil Kapoor toggling between an Aarti playlist and a party playlist and
retargeted it to viewers of the launch campaign while also reaching out to our own Spotify user base of
MAUs and Lapsers.

For one last showdown, we launched phase 2 of the campaign with all three language creatives with the
intent of building frequency and thereby recall and consideration all through the festive season.

Performance

The campaign reached out to over 64Mn unique individuals. Additionally, brand lift studies showed high
Ad Recall with a 2.2% lift on YouTube. Hence, concluding that we successfully managed to grab
Mindspace and deliver our communication of having varied playlists, successfully.

The regional language on-boarders grew post the campaign. This means that the percentage of people
who selected Hindi, Tamil and Telugu when selecting their music language preference grew
considerably.

Tamil on boarders increased by 3.7x and Telugu on boarders saw an increase of 4x. Hindi music
listeners which have a larger base than regional languages also saw a 2x growth in on boarders.

All in all, the business impact that we were aiming at was delivered, proving to be a successful
campaign.

The intention of this campaign was to grow our listenership beyond the top metros and beyond English
music. The first thing that people think of when they hear Spotify is English or international music and

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while this works brilliantly well in other markets, in a country like India it is highly important that this
perception is not so skewed.

Music listening base of Indic languages is huge and we had to onboard this audience on to the platform
by winning them over from other streaming preferences.

The micro marketing strategy that was geography focused worked in our favour. The localized creatives
resulted in exponentially higher regional on boarders. Consistently staying present on YouTube
maintained MAU conversions across the multiple phases of the campaign.

 Q1. How and Why did Spotify created adverts on YouTube and Hot Star, India’s top OTT
media service to inform listeners that Spotify is an option to listen to their preferred music ?
 Analyse the key learnings from the case study ?

CASE 32: VODAFONE


 This case study demonstrates how Vodafone, India's second largest telecom service provider,
increased affinity for its brand by creating an emotional connection to its 3G offering.
 Vodafone had lost its 3G leadership by 2015 and needed to win it back because quality of network
was the most important reason for a customer to stay or exit a brand.
 To regain its leadership position, Vodafone had built the fastest 3G network in the country and
launched it at the 2015 Indian Premier League with to demonstrate how fast internet could be a
force for good.
 The campaign turned the tide in Vodafone's favour, helping the company to regain the 3G
leadership by dramatically increasing its 3G market share, along with adding the maximum
number of 3G subscribers during the campaign period

Campaign details

Brand owner: Vodafone India Limited


Lead agency: Ogilvy & Mather India
Brand: Vodafone
Country: India
Industry Telephone & internet services
Media: Content marketing, Direct marketing, Events & experiential, Integrated, Internet - display,
Internet - general, Internet - microsites, Internet - search, Mobile & apps, Online video, Outdoor, out-of-
home, Point-of-purchase, in-store, Print - general, unspecified, Product sampling, Public relations,
Radio, Social media, Sponsorship - event, property, Sponsorship - media, Television, Word of mouth,
advocacy
Budget: 10 - 20 million

Executive summary

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Vodafone, India's second largest telecom service provider, had lost its 3G leadership by 2015. In order to
regain this leadership, Vodafone had built the fastest 3G network in the country. This network was
launched at the 2015 Indian Premier League with the 'Speed is good' campaign that demonstrated how
fast internet could be a force for good.

The campaign turned the tide in Vodafone's favour, helping the company to regain the 3G leadership by
dramatically increasing its 3G market share, along with adding the maximum number of 3G subscribers
during the campaign period.

Video: https://youtu.be/dH2zdVOaQfI

Market background and cultural context

The future of telecom had arrived in the world's second largest telecom market and it was the
internet

In India the top three telecom players are Airtel, Vodafone and Idea. They account for 70% of the total
telecom subscriber base and 80% of the revenue generated. In 2015, internet was the battleground on
which the war for Indian telecom supremacy was being fought.

There was massive consumer pull for internet services as India had the third largest internet user base in
the world. Smartphone sales had registered a staggering 90% YOY growth in 2015. Despite this,
category penetration of 3G services was only 11%. There was ample room for growth. This was an
attractive proposition as 3G users used 3X data than their 2G counterparts. (Source: Nokia India Mobile
Broadband Index 2015)

Vodafone responded to this market dynamic by investing US$1.2 billion in 2014/15 to upgrade their 3G
network. The end result was the fastest 3G network in India. Vodafone saw their superior speed as a
differentiated offering in a commoditized category that would help them win the burgeoning 3G market.
But the story was not so simple…

Vodafone's network and business leadership on the 3G category was eroding fast

Airtel, the market leader, had strengthened its network leadership in many ways. They launched 4G in
high revenue markets, introduced a slew of innovations in tariffing (Rest. 1 packs), customisation in
post-paid etc. – which further accelerated their growth.

Idea also strengthened their network, but more importantly, was undercutting the market with its
discounted tariffs and had managed to impact our growth significantly.

Vodafone needed to win back network leadership because quality of network was the most important
reason for a customer to stay or exit a brand. They needed to build network superiority, brand advantage,
and preference by owning the high ground on 3G, despite competition improving on fundamentals and
being aggressive on price.

Sell the most expensive 3G brand in the world's cheapest data market

Vodafone was the most expensive 3G brand in the category. We were sold at a significant price premium
over Idea and Airtel. While discounting had worked well for Idea, our ambitious goal was to grow
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without compromising on the premium that justified the differential and superior service and experience
we offered. This was critical given the magnitude of the investments made in upgrading the network
quality.

In the two metro markets of Delhi and Mumbai, Vodafone was 100% to 160% more expensive than Idea
across similar data offerings (Source: IREF, Internet tariff aggregation app).

New entrants into 3G were extremely price sensitive: In order to grow, the first task was to add new
users to our base. However, the top end of 3G consumers had already settled down with their respective
service providers. This left us with new entrants in the category who were highly price sensitive and
more attracted to players that offered connectivity at a cheaper price.

Current users were heavily rationing their 3G usage

80% of the Indian mobile internet users were irregular users. On an average, they were connected to the
internet only for 17 days in a month. Consumers attributed price as the primary reason for them to
control their usage. To grow business Vodafone was faced with the tough task of unlocking this rationed
usage despite being the most expensive brand.

Lesser media budgets than competition

All through 2014 and early 2015, all brands were talking about internet or 3G. Both Idea and Airtel had
significantly outspent us on it in this period. Airtel had spent 30% more and Idea had spent 10% to 15%
more, than Vodafone. In the eight months preceding the campaign, Airtel had 3X more GRPs and Idea
had ∼2X more GRPs than Vodafone. We were starting from a point of disadvantage.

Objectives

Key task: Reclaim network leadership in the 3G category and aggressively drive market growth while
maintaining our price premium of 100% - 160% across markets/geographies.

The marketing objectives and the specific parameters used to the measure effectiveness of the campaign
were:

1. Increase scores on network perception and emotional affinity to increase the overall consideration
for brand Vodafone;
2. Get disproportionate share of new users coming into 3G category;
3. Increase internet usage among existing subscribers by 10%;
4. Increase ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) by 5%;
5. Grow internet revenue by 10%;
6. Grow faster than Airtel and Idea, win back market leadership.

Insight and strategic thinking

Our users' current relationship with internet was purely transactional

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The internet was primarily seen as a source of amusement - surfing the web, sharing pictures, jokes,
using Facebook, listening to music etc. These were not activities that our audience deemed necessary or
important, and they ended up rationing their mobile internet usage. Their relationship with the internet
was measured in MBs, Validity and Price. We had to reframe the way our consumers looked at 3G.

On researching with heavy users we came across something interesting

To create a proposition for the masses, we looked at heavy users and their behaviour on the internet to
understand their appeal for being connected to 3G all the time. In between conversations about the need
for fast internet, downloading and sharing, they talked about a far nobler purpose. The internet was being
used to help others in need.

This ranged from messages asking strangers to urgently donate blood on WhatsApp, to asking for help
with technology on forums, to asking for recommendations on Facebook for places to visit on a vacation.
In fact in many cases, it was absolute strangers coming to each other's aid. We realized that this was the
behaviour that held the key to reframing our audience's relationship with fast internet.

Insight

The internet was a place where people came together to help each other.

The emphasis on helping others in a collectivist culture

Being courteous and helpful to others is a trait that is accorded very high value in Indian culture. Helping
others was even described as the path to self-actualisation by none other than Mahatma Gandhi, the
father of the nation.

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."

In small towns of India it is a common practice to extend a dinner invitation to even a casual visitor.
Borrowing a small amount of curd used to 'set' more curd from one's neighbours is an established
practice across the country, regardless of one's level of familiarity with them.

During massive Indian weddings it is not considered uncommon to borrow utensils, quilts and blankets
from one's neighbours to help with wedding preparations. In the early years of television in India,
families with TV sets would host the entire neighbourhood's to watch weekly TV shows. The importance
of being helpful and courteous is something that we as Indian people are instructed in from our earliest
years.

A latent desire to help others, liberated by Vodafone 3G

As adults, deep down, this deeply ingrained desire to help other was still there; but given the pace of
modern life, we could rarely find the time to help others. Fast internet put the power to seize a moment
and do good in the hands of its users.

Hence the proposition: Fast internet as a force for good.

Positioning fast internet as a medium to help others elevated 3G from being frivolous and transactional
to something inspiring, meaningful and emotional to its users. By accessing the fastest 3G internet, our
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consumers could be part of something bigger. This conversation could energize behaviour. We were not
hard selling or discounting people to use internet but inspiring them to feel the magic of internet in their
lives.

A narrative that fit the brands tone perfectly

Vodafone India's most iconic narratives such as the boy with the pug, the philosophy of happy to help,
our customer loyalty program called Vodafone Delights etc. had always reflected a caring nature of the
brand. In other words, helpfulness and doing good to others was always in our DNA.

This positioning allowed us to effectively reframe our audience's relationship with our 3G service and
arrive at our proposition creatively articulated as 'Speed is good'.

Creative and/or channel execution

Using relatable and endearing stories to bring alive 'Speed is good'

We brought 'Speed is good' to life by telling relatable, everyday stories. Small acts of kindness using
internet that can be emulated by anyone. Stories set between colleagues, neighbours, friends and
sometimes strangers.

One spot told the story of how a helpful pregnant lady finds out that it is the last day of work of an
elderly colleague at the end of his tenure, and organizes a farewell party for him. She uses Vodafone 3G
to get the office staff together in a jiffy.

Another spot told the story of how a father consoles his son who is distraught with his new haircut. The
father finds out about the son's haircut instantly on his Vodafone 3G and before the kid can reach home,
the father gets the same haircut as the son, which consoles him.

Some of the other stories were: a young man consoling a crying baby with a funny video; a waiter
cheering up his female colleague after a hard day's work with a song and dance; a young girl studying in
a library finds out that it their friend's birthday and uses Vodafone 3G to spread the message around to
organize a silent birthday celebration in the library.

All the stories demonstrated the importance of fast 3G to seize a moment and be helpful.

While ATL was used to bring alive Speed is good, we used BTL to functionally reclaim the high ground
on network and own 'the fastest 3G' network.

We leveraged our presence in the Indian Premier League (the Indian cricket equivalent of the Super
Bowl) that runs for 60 days, to create the following below-the-line engagements:

Vodafone fastest 50 league table in IPL

For the first time, we created a branded table of the players to score fastest 50 runs in IPL. This table was
flashed at every IPL 2015 match. Andre Russell of Team KKR topped the table and was awarded during
the final presentation ceremony.

Fastest customers were gratified as 'Superfans' and won tickets to watch the matches

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In order to participate, Vodafone subscribers had to respond quickly to a question flashed on TV during
the IPL match. The task was to predict the fastest scoring team or player or fastest bowler in the on-
going match. The faster a participant responded, the greater was his/her chance of becoming a Superfan.
Participation was invited through-the-line using Twitter, web banners, messaging on the Vodafone
website, LED boards in the stadium, Aston bands on TV, and radio. Winners were ferried into the
stadium, placed in a branded enclosure and finally got an autographed ball from the winning captain,
while it was telecast live on TV. Social platforms were used to heavily amplify the winner's journey and
experiences.

To further build functionality and credibility for 'fastest 3G,' we engaged with trade, used OOH, digital
etc.

We created third party claims on speed to use in digital, social and OOH

We engaged Ookla, the world's leading third party speed testing company, to develop functional speed
claims. These were - Share photos 43% faster, download videos 22% faster and uninterrupted video
calls.

We conducted live speed tests at 50,000 retail outlets to convert retailers into brand advocates. We then
branded these outlets with a 'speed certificate' to highlight our claim at the last mile.

Amplifying fastest 3G online

We utilized contextual banners to increase the relevance of these claims. For example, on sports sites,
our messaging was 'Watch match highlights 22% faster'. This was supported by articles and content
generated by India's top social media content aggregators such as Buzzfeed and Scoopwhoop. We also
used India's top YouTube content creators 'Culture Machine' and 'Being Indian' to create co-branded
online videos using MTV VJs.

Performance against objectives

1. Increase scores on network perception and emotional affinity to increase the overall consideration
for brand Vodafone

Result: Post the campaign, emotional affinity rose to an annual high, overtaking Airtel for the first time
in two years.

The network perception increased significantly putting Vodafone ahead of the market leader
Airtel. (Source: GFK brand tracks)

As a result of an increase in affinity and improved network perception, the brand consideration (intention
to purchase) for Vodafone increased by 35%. On further segmentation, there was 40% increase in
consideration among 'new internet intenders'.

The campaign also strengthened key brand health parameters like 'helpful', 'friendly', 'unique' etc., which
were values demonstrated in the campaign. (Source: GFK brand tracks)

2. Get disproportionate share of new users coming into 3G

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Result 2: Vodafone added the maximum number of new subscribers during the campaign period. 25%
more than Idea and 7% more than Airtel. (Source: TRAI, Client Data)

3. Increase internet usage among existing subscribers by 10%

Result 3: Internet usage grew 160% during the campaign period, measured YOY. (Source: client data).

4. Increase ARPU by 5%

Result 4: QoQ, the ARPU amongst 3G users increased by 6.1% and post the campaign, it grew a further
2.5%. (Source: Client data)

5. Grow internet revenue by 10%

Result 5: QoQ, 3G revenue grew by 23%. YOY, 3G revenue grew by 55%. (Source: Client data).

6. Grow faster than Airtel and Idea, win back business leadership.

Result 6: As a result of the campaign we beat both Idea and Airtel in terms of 3G subscribers added,
while maintaining our premium. By doing so Vodafone was able to reclaim 3G leadership.

Happy side effect: Vodafone was more talked about on twitter than Pepsi – the title sponsor at the 2015
IPL.

Vodafone was the most talked about brand, beating the title sponsor Pepsi by a whopping 450%.

Vodafone Speed Quiz, Vodafone Super Fan and Super Fan trended pan India on 30th Apr, 1st and 2nd
May respectively and garnered a total participation of 235220 (Mobile + SMS + Twitter). (Source:
Twitter Analytics and client data)

Accolades for SIG

 SIG won a bronze at the Indian Effie awards, for advertising effectiveness, in the coveted
Services - Telecom category.
 SIG won a bronze for Best Media Innovation for Digital Display, at the EMVIEES, India's
premier media award.
 SIG won a bronze for, Best Media Research/Analytics - Proprietary Data at the EMVIEES,
India's premier media award.

1. Creating a third party, superiority claim on speed – a first in the category

For the first time in the category, we used a third party claim (Ookla, global leader in broadband
testing, network diagnostic applications and data) to certify that Vodafone 3G was the fastest in
the India. This helped create a distinct advantage in a category that had, for our audience, become
increasingly commoditised overtime.

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2. Reframed the way people looked at internet; now fast internet is a force for good!

Internet usage was being rationed because it was perceived as a frivolous individual pastime. The
key to unlocking usage lay in tapping the collectivist nature of Indian society. By elevating faster
internet to a higher order collective benefit; as a tool to help others, we were able to unlock usage
amongst our audience.

3. Owning the proposition of 'Speed' and 'Fastest' across mediums

Our IPL integration ensured that Vodafone 3G became synonymous with speed. Our functional
claims on OOH, Digital and retail certification programme ensured that this association with
speed was built right up to the final moment of truth at POS.

Q1. How did Vodafone campaign turned the tide in Vodafone's favour, helping the company to regain
the 3G leadership by dramatically increasing its 3G market share, along with adding the maximum
number of 3G subscribers during the campaign?

Q2.Summarize the key learnings of the case ?

CASE STUDY 33:


Udaan, a B2B online marketplace, convinced small retailers in India to do
business online.
 Small Indian retailers were very wary of working with large online marketplaces (e.g.
 Amazon, Walmart) but could not compete with the discounts and convenience that these marketplaces
offered.
 They resented e-commerce for taking away their business and feared how complicated and impersonal it
would be to do business online.
 Udaan used films, WhatsApp business groups, Pragati (progress) roadshows and 'how to' videos to help
small Indian retailers make the move to online business.

Brand awareness increased by 47%, WhatsApp downloads increased by 100%, the overall gross
merchandise value increased by 87% and the Udaan app was open 1.7 times more often during the
campaign period. Campaign details

Brand: Udaan
Brand owner: Udaan
Entrant company: McCann Bangalore
Idea creation: McCann, Bangalore
Market: India
Sector: Online retail
Media channels: Events & experiential, Online video, Social media, Television
Budget: 500k - 1 million
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Executive summary

This case study shows how Udaan, a B2B online marketplace overcame the somewhat extraordinary
challenge of trying to convince the small retailers dotting the streets of India to embrace something they
hated and feared (online).

We realized that education was the key to unlocking our business growth as we set out to convince
retailers that we were a friend, not a foe (like Amazon or Walmart), responsible for taking away their
business.

From choice of celebrity, to the words and expressions we used, a conscious effort was made to use
language and symbols retailers were familiar with and could relate to.

From our television campaign, to organizing roadshows to creating 'how to' videos and WhatsApp
groups to answer and assuage any concerns retailers might have, all efforts were centred around gaining
the trust of the small retailer.

Our efforts were rewarded as we doubled the downloads and registrations expected, and achieved an
87% increase in transaction value, as small retailers began to see Udaan as a business partner they could
trust.

Market background & objectives

GLOBAL E-COM TITANS THREATEN LIVELIHOODS OF SMALL INDIAN RETAILERS

Game changers, Amazon and Walmart have transformed the way Indians shop, making aspirations
accessible to millions of people, across the country.

They are now battling it out for the crown in a market expected to grow to US$200 billion by 2026 from
a mere $30 Bn in 2019. But all is not well. (Source: Invest India)

While consumers are enjoying the convenience of e-com and Amazon and Walmart are battling it out for
retail domination, it is the 50mn unorganized, small retailers dotting the streets of India, selling fashion,
kitchenware, footwear and mobile accessories who are losing the battle.

Having lost a chunk of their business to online marketplaces, some have even been forced to shut shop as
they're unable to match the predatory discounting and convenience offered by online marketplaces.

UDAAN, THE MODERN WAY TO DO BUSINESS FOR SMALL RETAILERS

Udaan, a B2B online marketplace was created exclusively for small retailers to empower them to access
a variety of products across India, at competitive prices, from other retailers/wholesalers. And they could
do this without having to shut their shop, travel out of town and lose a few days' worth of business (usual
modus operandi).

In other words, with Udaan, these small retailers could become competitive and could finally enjoy the
convenience that consumers like us had been enjoying.

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But we realized that we were aiming to change the way millions of small retailers across India have been
doing business for generations and changing behaviour as we all know is complex and takes time.

So we kept our objectives realistic:

1. We needed to raise awareness of Udaan as a B2B online marketplace.


2. We wanted to increase app downloads and month on month registrations by 20%.
3. We hoped to increase transaction value on the app by 20%
4. We wanted to increase app engagement to drive familiarity with the platform

Insight & strategic thinking

Our audience was the hard working small neighbourhood retailer, who sells footwear, kitchenware, saree
or mobiles, operating out of a 200-300 sq. foot shop.

Their business is their identity and ticket to earning izzat (respect) and social recognition amongst their
peers.

Most of them are second and third generation retailers who aren't very educated. They have lived a life
of hardship and learnt the smart way to survive in a business that is harsh and unpredictable, often
working long hours and battling stiff competition from the shop next door (and now online).

In-depth conversations with them helped us realize that while we understood how they conducted
business and what their business meant to them, we had failed to understand or take into consideration
how they FEEL about online and therein lay the real challenge to our business growth.

SMALL RETAILERS HATED 'ONLINE'

E-commerce was responsible for taking away their business & hence, there was deep resentment and
mistrust towards anything online.

SMALL RETAILERS FEARED 'ONLINE'

The world of tech was daunting for the small retailer who still does his book-keeping in a notebook.
They also had long lasting relationships with their suppliers, where verbal agreements were as good as
legal ones and breaking away to go with a new kid on the block, a faceless corporation online, felt too
risky a proposition.

It was clear that pitching ease or access wouldn't help our cause.

WE HAD TO OVERCOME THEIR MISTRUST OF ONLINE

WHILE BUILDING THEIR CONFIDENCE IN USING ONLINE.

OUR STRATEGY

We realized that EDUCATION was the key to unlocking our business growth.

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Small retailers needed to know that there was a friend amongst foes and that "Har online haanikarak nahi
hota"(not every online marketplace is harmful).

OUR INSIGHT

In a competitive environment, FOMO can prove a great motivator to drive change.

And in a close-knit community of neighbourhood retailers in India, where competition is intense, if one
retailer enjoys greater success, others becomes eager to uncover their secret.

We used this insight in an engaging yet authentic narrative, assuaging concerns likely to plague the mind
of a small retailer.

Pankaj Tripathi, a well-liked Bollywood celebrity known for his portrayal of real, rooted, small town
character proved a believable Udaan advocate – one happy to share his business secret with his fellow
retailer.

That was how "Khole Munafe Ka Shutter" (Opens doors to profitability) was born.

From choice of celebrity, to talking munafa (profits), to using the word 'shutter' in our creative, a
conscious effort was made to use language and symbols retailers were familiar with and could relate to.

Implementation

Education to overcome mistrust and fears was the driving force behind all campaign initiatives.

THE FILMS

In India, film remains the most effective way to reach a wide audience so we created two films that
showcase the competitive edge small retailers could enjoy, while addressing any concerns they may have
with doing business online. These films were also recreated in the top nine regional languages, using
local nuances so as to connect with audiences across the country.

WHATSAPP BUSINESS GROUPS

WhatsApp is an easy and convenient business tool for many small retailers in India. They use it to
interact with wholesalers, select the goods with the help of pictures, negotiate prices and place order all
using WhatsApp. So we created exclusive WhatsApp groups to enable our sales agents to personally
connect with and clear all doubts relating to conducting business on Udaan.

PRAGATI (PROGRESS) ROADSHOWS

Roadshows across the country, allowed for real time, personal and interactive sessions where small
retailers could get the answers they sought and could experience live demonstrations of how to use the
app.

HOW TO VIDEOS

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'How To' videos are hugely popular in India across economic strata, so interactive 'How to' videos were
created in multiple languages to demonstrate how easy it was to conduct business on the Udaan app.

Performance

OBJECTIVE 1: RAISE AWARENESS OF UDAAN AS A B2B ONLINE MARKETPLACE

We successfully found space in the minds of small retailers across India as brand awareness grew by
47% post the campaign. (Source: Client Data)

OBJECTIVE 2: INCREASE APP DOWNLOADS AND MONTH ON MONTH REGISTRATIONS BY


20%

We motivated small retailers to overcome their mistrust and fear of using online and surpassed
expectations.

App downloads increased by 100% post campaign.

Even month-on-month registrations saw a 100% increase on the app. (Source: Client Data)

OBJECTIVE 3: INCREASE TRANSACTION VALUE ON APP BY 20%

We convinced small retailers to change their behaviour and conduct business on Udaan.

There was a 87% upliftment in the overall Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) during the campaign
period.

(Source: Client Data)

OBJECTIVE 4: INCREASE CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT WITH THE APP

We captured the curiosity of small retailers and got them to spend time interacting with us.

'App opens' increased 1.7x times during the campaign period. (Source: Client Data)

THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS WHAT THEY SEEM

When we began this journey we believed that our toughest challenge was to convince small retailers to
overcome the inertia of trying something new, when the age old ways of doing business were still
working.

It was only when we set our assumptions aside and had conversations with them did we understand the
real mistrust and fear that prevented small retailers from embracing the online world for business.

This understanding helped us create a campaign that acknowledged their apprehensions and helped them
overcome it – like a true business partner.

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 Q1. What efforts were made to to help small Indian retailers make the move to online business.
 Q2. Highlight the key learnings from the case?

CASE STUDY 34:


Chocolate brand, Cadbury Dairy Milk, broke through the clutter of COVID-
19 thank you campaigns to counter the category downturn in India.
People were losing their livelihoods, leaving the discretionary spend-based chocolate category facing
a decline and, due to lockdown restrictions, the traditional impulse purchases in physical stores
disappeared.

Cadbury had its existing Thank You brand platform to leverage, but research revealed that a typical
Indian, while not thankless, tended to ignore the contribution of people who made an impact in their
daily life, so the brand needed to inspire this feeling of gratitude in an emotive way.

The Thank You campaign brought onboard some of India's biggest media houses – covering news,
entertainment, and sports shows – having them each acknowledge their most unacknowledged staff
in heartfelt ways.

As a result, more than 20m Thank You bars were sold, and the brand witnessed a 20% upswing
during the campaign period.

Campaign details

Brand: Cadbury
Brand owner: Mondelez International
Entrant company: Wavemaker Mumbai
Market: India
Sector: Confectionery
Media channels: Mobile & apps, Newspapers, Packaging & design, Television
Budget: 1 - 3 million

Executive summary

Cadbury Dairy Milk's Thank You Campaign is an example of how media platforms can be leveraged,
not only as carriers of a message, but also as a story telling device itself. Partnering with the biggest
media houses, not only brought scale to the campaign, but also gave access to a lot of assets which
helped us tell much richer stories, but are yet are grounded in reality.
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It also reminds us that there is plenty of potential that still exists in traditional media platforms, and that
we don't necessarily need to turn towards new age platform to deliver innovation and consumer delight.

Market background & objectives

In light of the COVID-19 crisis that hit globally as well as the national lockdown, the economic
machinery came to a standstill. The environment was gloomy with people losing their livelihoods and
people were struggling to make their ends meet. In such a situation, the chocolates category, which is
considered discretionary, faced potential deprioritization to other essential categories.

Also, since people were spending less time outside of home, it was an even bigger concern for the
category which is traditionally driven by impulse purchases in physical stores.

As the leader of the category, CDM was tasked with not only reviving itself, but also provide a fillip to
the entire category, which was going through a relevance crisis.

At the same time, the brand wanted to ignite the generous instinct by encouraging Indians to be more
thankful even in such dark moments. While CDM was working on building the Thank You platform for
a year before the COVID crisis hit the world, the event led to all brands entering the bandwagon to
appreciate the warriors who working relentlessly in the face of COVID.

CDM had to differentiate itself in the way it approached Thank You to ensure our narrative was not
diluted by what other advertisers were doing or be perceived as opportunistic and riding on the current
sentiment.

Insight & strategic thinking

Cadbury Dairy Milk has been the first taste of chocolates for a billion+ Indians and proudly 'owns' the
sweet space amongst Indians' tastebuds. In order to unlock the next lever of growth, there was a need to
build beyond the functional benefits of chocolate and harp on the emotional benefits of sweetening
interpersonal relationships.

A Lighthouse project mounted in partnership with Google revealed that a typical Indian, while not
thankless, tends to 'thank less' i.e., there is a tendency to ignore the contribution multitude of people who
make an impact in their life on a daily basis.

There existed a strong 'hierarchical bias', an implicit power distance that created hesitance towards
acknowledging other individuals across social strata, treating their services rendered as 'part of the job',
discarding the efforts put across by the other person.

CDM wanted to inculcate a feeling of mutual respect for the matrix of people involved in their day-to-
day life, festering heartfelt acknowledgement as well as personifying the emotion of 'Thank You'.

We were ready with all assets to kick off the campaign on 28th March, but had to call off our launch
when the country went into lockdown due to the pandemic.

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With the COVID-19 crisis gripping the country and many of these cohorts of people continuing work as
usual despite the life-threatening pandemic, the emotion that the brand wanted to evoke became more
important and provided us a perfect launch-pad to flag off the campaign.

To ensure our campaign cut through the Thank You messaging, we had to build the campaign on the
following principles

a. Acknowledge the Unacknowledged: While most brands were typically thanking the medical staff
and frontline workers, there were a lot of other professions whose efforts are largely
unacknowledged
b. Build scale proportionate to that required by a market leader, and ensure platforms chosen for the
campaign cut across demographics.
c. Carriers of Brand Message become Participants in the Brand Campaign: partner with the biggest
media houses across India, and encourage them to participate in our campaign by thanking those
working behind the scenes and bringing us news and entertainment every day.
d. Move from merely Story Telling to Story Doing:

To make a material difference to the campaign, we launched limited edition packs with the CDM logo
replaced with "Thank You" in 8 languages covering the length and breadth of the country. Proceeds from
the sales of Thank You Bars were used to fund medical insurance of daily wage employees who tend to
lose salary for every day of work missed.

Implementation

We brought onboard some of the biggest media houses in the country to thank those who brought us
news and entertainment, but whose efforts were largely unacknowledged.

14 top actors on Zee Network, one of the largest TV networks in India, thanked the background staff
across 5, such as make up artists, spot boys, camera staff who helped bring us entertainment during early
days of unlock. These stories were converted into films and run on high frequency across 23 network
channels and Zee's OTT platform for a period of 14 days.

As a special gesture, Zee Network acknowledged their production staff at the beginning of the episode,
as against the common practice of showing their names as part of ending credits

During a live news telecast on Zee News, the newsreaders brought those working behind the cameras
Infront of it, and thanked them for the efforts they put in every day to bring live and meaningful news to
millions of Indians.

The Indian Premier League (IPL) which was initially cancelled in Apr, was planned to take place in Oct-
Nov under controlled environment. This meant the teams, their support staff as well as all production
crews had to live in a bio-bubble for a period of 2 months.

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Star Sports, the national broadcaster of IPL, thanked their production crews live on camera. Mumbai
Indians, the most successful IPL team and eventual winners of IPL-20, also joined the campaign and
thanked their background staff. For every run scored by MI, we pledged two medical insurances to be
provided to daily wage employees.

We again partnered with Sony Sports, broadcaster of India's tour of Australia, during which India
managed to pull off a historic Test series win and commentators thanked those who kept .

We then shifted focus towards the biggest TV reality show, Kaun Banega Crorepati, Indian version of
Who Wants to Become a Millionaire. Superstar host, Amitabh Bachhan thanked the crew who helped
make the show possible even while shot in controlled environment.

We also partnered with leading food delivery apps and reminded patrons to thank the delivery executives
who brought them their food orders

Performance

 20 Mn+ Thank You bars were created and sold across the country
 The campaign helped halt the sales degrowth caused owing to national lockdown; sustained
through rest of 2020
 The campaign also had a significant positive rub-off on the rest of the category
 20000+ laborers, belonging to the lowest strata of the society, were provided health Insurance
from the bar proceeds as well as the runs scored by Mumbai Indians
 The campaign reached out to 350mn+ urban consumers; 90% of our target consumers were
reached on TV while more than 150mn people engaged with the brand across touchpoints
 Star Sports showcased the case study as part of their Brandathon- their showreel comprising of
some of the best work done during IPL 2020
 Mumbai Indians showcase the CDM Thank You campaign as the best piece of work done by the
team in collaboration with brands

The campaign reaffirms the Laws of Growth principles pt forward by Byron Sharp- brands grow by
increasing penetration, and penetration is achieved by widening the net caste while planning media. The
scale and stature achieved by partnering with the biggest media houses helped CDM propagate Thank
You among millions of Indians, without losing any of the specialness.

While building a campaign, elevating the position of media houses from merely being carriers of
messages, to truly participating in a brand campaign opens doors on innovations. It allows access to
assets such as talent, shoot studio, premises, background staff, which are usually off limits for
advertisers.

Q1. How did Cadbury achieve a 20% upswing during the campaign period?

Q2. Describe the Key Learnings from the case?

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CASE STUDY 35:
Savlon, an antibacterial products brand, launched a campaign during the
COVID-19 lockdown in India to compete against frequent new product
launches from big and small players.
Savlon was part of a highly competitive market and it had little product differentiation, which meant
that sales depended on brand preference and product availability.

With each phase of the lockdown, consumers needed to create new routines, so Savlon decided to
keep its core offer of germ protection constant but it adapted each product launch to the current
circumstances.

Each month, Savlon used TV, print, PR, social media and ads on e-commerce websites to launch
campaigns for different products, emphasising their benefits in the current circumstances.

From March 2020 to November 2020, sales quadrupled across Savion’s portfolio, which meant that
Savlon beat category growth rates.

Campaign details

Brand: Savlon
Brand owner: ITC
Entrant company: Ogilvy India, Mumbai
Market: India
Sector: Bath toiletries, soaps
Media channels: Newspapers, Public relations, Social media, Television, Websites & microsites
Budget: Over 20 million

Executive summary

Through 2020, like every country, the hygiene category boomed in India too. But Savlon was the no. 3
brand. While it had an antiseptic liquid, Savlon's size was much smaller than Dettol and Lifebuoy due to
their leadership in categories like soap. Over the course of the year, along with these global behemoths, it
would also have to face 400+ new launches across product categories, from small and large players.

Savlon accelerated its innovation pipeline and planned for 1 new launch every month for the next 6-7
months, but media budgets could be smaller than Dettol and Lifebuoy. This case details how using the
platform of communication in a 'topical' manner gave a contextual approach for each launch
communication. It leveraged Savlon's past strengths, and yet gave a new pivot to make communication
memorable and seed new triggers leading to adoption of its new launches and grow usage for all its

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products. Since each launch campaign also reinforced its protection credentials, sales increased across
the portfolio, making Savlon beat category growth rates, grow 4X in sales, and even grow Brand Power
scores.

Market background & objectives

A growing brand in a growing category

Savlon is a recent addition to the hygiene market in India. ITC's Personal Care Division purchased it
from J&J 5 years ago, and till March 2020, it had just 4 products – antiseptic liquid, soap, handwash, and
hand sanitizer. And category penetration for handwash – its mainstay business – was still low. Hence, as
the pandemic spread, the demand for hygiene products exploded.

Our innovation got accelerated

Responding to this, Savlon accelerated its innovation pipeline and prepared to launch 1 new product
every few weeks. Over the next few months, the number of products in the Savlon portfolio would more
than double, with launches for personal hygiene (hand sanitizer, bathing soap, germ protection wet-
wipes) and entry in surface hygiene category too (surface disinfectant aerosol spray, household
disinfectant liquid, disinfectant cleaner, etc.)

For this, Savlon would be getting everything synergised – production, supply, legal, sales, and logistics.

But competition was tough, and product differentiation was missing

Even at its starting position in 2020, Savlon was still a #3 brand fighting 2 behemoths with global
presence, decades-long legacies in India, and strongly entrenched in the category. In fact, Lifebuoy was
the biggest selling economy soap brand in India, and Dettol was the biggest selling premium soap brand
in India at that time. Against these brands, Savlon would struggle to get a good share of voice for itself in
the existing categories, leave aside the new ones.

Additionally, over the next few months, the hygiene category would see more than 400 new product
launches from pharmaceutical companies to furniture companies, to local manufacturers trying to gain
from the opportunity of increased need for protection.

Equally challenging, was that while we were launching new products, only a few of these products were
completely new to the market. Lifebuoy and Dettol already offered germ protection in their soaps, and
Dettol had launched its communication for surface disinfectant spray just a few months ago. And their
parent companies Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser already had brands with these offerings across the
globe.

Our entire success hinged on availability and brand preference

Savlon was already getting its distribution chain in place to support the product launches. Thus, whether
we would succeed or not, depended completely on consumers choosing Savlon from the brands available
at their most convenient retail outlet, or on e-commerce platforms from where they had recently started
ordering groceries and household products.
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Hence, our objectives

Business:

Grow sales across the Savlon franchise, with a wider offering of germ-protection products and increased
availability

Marketing:

Recruit new users to the Savlon franchise and encourage usage of new products by them

Communication:

Make brand Savlon memorable for germ protection, and trigger usage through seeding occasions for
germ-protection in daily life.

Insight & strategic thinking

The need: a common theme for product as well as brand memorability

Our launches would be across categories – individual and collective use, for personal and household
hygiene, inside the home and outside – with germ protection as the common benefit. Without a common
theme, they would be missed in the sea of products advertising 'protection from virus'.

Moreover, each communication won't be on air for more than a few months. Hence, each product would
have only that window to make its mark.

We needed memorability for brand Savlon too. Because our first-mover advantage would be quickly
nullified by Dettol and Lifebuoy's might, or by the hundreds of new entrants.

We started with Savlon's core strengths…

Savlon had built its purpose around caring and skin-friendly protection. Thus, product traits like no-sting
antiseptic liquid and soap with glycerine have strong brand associations. Even its communications are
aimed at habit-building to stay safe, rather than fearmongering about germs or diseases.

In the process, Savlon had developed a fun, friendly, and witty imagery that kids loved, and homemakers
found trustworthy – all built on the foundation of reliable efficacy, coming from antiseptic liquid.

But wit and fun was not appropriate

Earlier, our narrative showed germs and infections in a light-hearted manner. However, this wasn't
appropriate during a pandemic, and we didn't want to behave irresponsibly while there was a fast-
spreading and untreatable infection.

This was the core of the challenge: Savlon's products were the strongest defence, but the benefits were
all generic, and Savlon's brand was small and would quickly be made irrelevant by the competition.

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An attempt to understand the 'transient normal'

By March and April 2020, multiple outfits had started releasing their predictions for the 'new normal' –
how the pandemic will create new routines and practices. But while going through these reports, we
realised that we were not noticing how consumers were getting affected right now.

Although the phrase is meaningless, it helped us define a focus.

Consumer behaviour was changing rapidly as they went through the transition. In March, India would
begin its lockdown – one of the strictest and longest lockdowns in the world – with emphasis on
handwashing. But a few months later, it went through various phases of 'Unlock', with emphasis on
social distancing and masks. By October, the prevailing mood was of desperation to restart businesses
and the economy in general, to bring back to people their sources of living.

Insight: consumers were afraid, overwhelmed, and doubtful

As consumers went through these phases, their needs for germ protection changed. There was no
treatment available yet, so each phase meant creating new routines to keep themselves, their families,
and their surroundings safe. And Savlon would be of great help to them.

This observation about the 'Transient Normal' gave us a great pivot for our efficacy stories. We would
keep our core offer of germ-protection constant, but with each product launch, the narrative took a
"topical" approach.

Idea: make protection topical in a transient world

Implementation

Due to this idea, our outlook to product launches became more purposeful.

By being sharply contextual and relevant, we could strengthen Savlon's trustworthiness in new ways
with each launch.

Campaigns over time:

March 2020: There was still a lot of confusion about the virus, so our handwash reminded consumers
that they had help at hand (Handwash campaign) and that they should help spread awareness, but not the
infection (Hand Sanitizer campaign on social media). In both these campaigns, we built on the Savlon
association with kids.

May 2020: During the lockdown, those who were working across essential services felt scared. Here,
our new hand sanitizer offered protection from 99.99% germs (Hexa Hand Sanitizer 'Attack and Defense'
campaign)

June 2020: As getting products home-delivered became common, our new disinfectant spray made
protection convenient for the family. This was our first campaign for Home hygiene products. ('No
Tension Disinfection' with Surface Disinfectant Spray)

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July 2020: As consumers stepped out during phases of Unlock, every surface caused apprehension.
Here, we made protection 'portable' with our new sanitizing wet tissues. ('When in doubt, wipe' with
Savlon Germ protection wipes)

August 2020: Consumers were now working for full days and as they came back home, they were
worried of bringing the virus home too. Here, our new bathing soap helped them keep their families safe.
This campaign marked our shift to collective protection. ('Apno Ki Suraksha' Hexa Soap campaign)

October 2020: By this time, communication on protection had become white noise. And a lot of
precautionary practices had lost steam. We wanted to build back resilience through a reminder for hand
hygiene. Hence, on World Handwashing Day, through a digital film, we got an artist with no hands to
talk about how she regularly washed hands. (Savlon 'Artist' campaign)

All our campaigns reinforced our efficacy of germ-protection, and while the latter ones didn't show kids,
the brand had the same comforting tone of a responsible provider conscious of real-world troubles and
eager to help.

Media used:

The campaigns were rolled out on TV to gain widest reach, with Print and PR as support. Facebook,
Instagram, and YouTube were used to suggest more usage occasions, and send consumers to our
ecommerce platforms, as and when products got placed there. Lastly, advertising was also done on the
ecommerce platforms to aid discovery, and nudge for conversion and repeated purchases.

Performance

We saw impact on business, across the portfolio:

Savlon sales grew 4X in 8 months between March and November. Even where we didn't advertise at all,
we grew faster than the category.

In antiseptic liquid, Savlon grew sales volumes at 20% for Q2 2020, while the category grew at 15%. In
handwash, Savlon grew at more than twice the rate of category (101% vs 44%), for sales volume for year
ending Nov'2020. Savlon is now a clear no. 3 player with 15% share, running close to Lifebuoy's 18%.
We are a no. 3 player by value too.

In the new category of Disinfectant spray, on Amazon, Savlon's spray was the no. 1 selling product in
Health and Wellness category for months. And it has maintained a 50%+ market share every month
since sales tracking began in July 2020.

In the soap category, Savlon's franchise grew by 31% for 12-month period ending Nov'20.

This growth was a direct impact of behavioural change, as targeted

In the handwash category, despite dropping SOV against Dettol and Lifebuoy to only 16% in Q2 2020-
21, Savlon nearly doubled usage. And its Awareness-To-Trial ratio grew by 1.5X. This was in a category
where Savlon had been present for a few years before the pandemic too.

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In the soap category, Savlon grew gained both new users and repeat users at high rates. Usage scores
(Last-6-months) grew almost 3X.

Behavioural measures for new categories aren't available for this time period, since they were not added
to the brand track.

This success closely connected to metrics for communication and brand imagery too

For all ads assessed in the brand track study, we achieved close to 80% branding scores.

 Handwash: 88%
 Hexa Sanitizer: 79%
 Disinfectant Spray: 81%
 Hexa Soap: 78%

Again, this was at a time when multiple brands and even products outside the hygiene category were
advertising germ and virus protection.

In its handwash track, average endorsement for Savlon grew by 7 points, while Lifebuoy declined by 3
points, indicating strong brand building too.

Our unique perspective also helped us garner more PR.

Estimated PR value generated in 2020 was more than 5X of that in 2019.

Brand Equity:

Just like market share, Savlon also grew its Brand Power score (Kantar Millward Brown's composite
score for measuring brand equity). In comparison, Lifebuoy's score dropped by 3 points, while Dettol's
score remained the same, although it stood to gain the most by being the leader in these fast-growing
categories.

Trustworthiness:

Every year, Savlon undertakes a study among doctors to assess trustworthiness of our antiseptic liquid
against Dettol. In 2020, it was for the 3rd consecutive year that Savlon was the most trusted brand by
doctors – another proof of the long-term impact from our brand-building.

Data Sources:

 AC Nielsen for sales, all figures are for sales volumes compared to same period last year.
 Brand metrics and equity scores are from Kantar Millward Brown brand tracking study.
 ITC announcement is from media articles.

Savlon's success for this year for a combination of multiple teams moving together to deliver on its 'germ
protection' promise, including new product launches. Additionally, many of the market dynamics were

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measured due to operational reasons. Hence, we don't have an ROI on marketing or communication
investments.

However, as mentioned earlier, product differentiation was low. Pricing too had remained relatively
unchanged during this period.

Having a brand purpose is worth it, and it is more than social cause, or cause-vertising

In recent year, marketers and brands have been criticised for having and communicating their 'purpose'.
However, this case shows how purpose is as valid and important as ever. Without that purpose in mind,
we would have fallen into the same trap as many other brands – using the pandemic and fear to sell more
of our products, rather than helping consumers feel safe and secure.

Interestingly, while the purpose showed up in our product launches, it kept us from overtly showing it in
our communications. Most of our efforts were focused on behaviour change, not simply spreading the
message of hygiene.

Topical can be helpful in brand building too

'Topical' communications as an approach usually becomes the target in the clash between traditional
media and digital media. However, from a media-neutral perspective, adapting to the changing consumer
context has always been part of brand-building. And Savlon's success is another proof of that. The
launch campaigns all were set in context that won't work even a year later, but were sharply relevant at
that time.

Q1. How from March 2020 to November 2020, sales quadrupled across Savlon's portfolio, which
meant that Savlon beat category growth rates?

Q2. Describe the key learnings from the case study ?

CASE STUDY 36: Lux - Strong Differentiation


The personal wash market is valued at Rs.45 billion (ORG-MARG). The market has seen stagnant sales
over the last four years and the low entry barriers have led to intense competition between national and
local brands. Lux is the largest personal wash brand in the country with a value share of 17%.
Consumer’s preference has led to Lux becoming one of the most trusted brands in the country. Lux has
retained its leadership status by strongly differentiating itself – no soap brand can claim to be more asp
rational for the Indian consumer than Lux – ‘the beauty soap of film stars’. The last three years have seen
Lux continue to grow far ahead of the market. It has gained close to 4% share in the period. A key
initiative that has fuelled this growth has been the launch of mini Lux – strategically priced at Rs.5 to
bring it within the reach of 300 million rural consumers. The introduction of new perfume and ingredient
variants, addressing new benefit segments, has been the other growth driver. Lux soap was launched in
India in 1929. The first bar of Lux was made in India and sold for a sum of two annas in 1934. From the
very first advertisement in 1929 featuring Leela Chitins’, the gorgeous faces of the silver screen have
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come out in the open with their beauty secret – LUX. Popularly known as ‘the beauty soap of film stars’,
Lux has been a favorites with generations of users for the experience of sensuous, luxurious bathing. The
brand name, Lux, has been taken from the word, ‘Luxury’. Since it launched it India, Lux has offered a
range of soap in different colours and fragrances. The benefit offered by all was the same – beautiful
skin. Desirable product sensorial (applying to all senses), its world classes fragrances and nourishing
ingredients have made a strong product differentiation for Lux, making the Lux bath a pleasurable
experience. But Lux being the market leader has evolved along with the changing need of its consumers.
The late 1980s saw the emergence of a premium segment in the soap category – a new consumer set
whose beauty and bathing needs began to evolve. In 1989, to tap this segment. Lux launched a range of
premium soaps to suit different skin types. With icons of beauty endorsing the brand, the offering made
by Lux have always been superior and have always led the market, setting benchmarks for competition.
Lux has beauty offering in two of the four market segments – popular and premium, spanning the need
of varied consumers. Lux Toilet soap in the popular segment has, in the past four years (since 2001),
offered its customers a range of soaps enriched with the goodness of variety of nourishing ingredients –
rose extracts, almond oil, milk cream, fruit extracts, and honey, which are known to harbour the secrets
of incredibly perfect skin.
At the upper end of the market is the premium range which continuous to offer specialized skincare to its
customers in the form of international Lux – a range of moisturizing, deep cleansing, and sunscreen
soaps. Keeping in tune with the changing times, it has also launched Lux body wash which offers
superiors bathing benefits. In April 2003, Lux relaunched its lower- tier range to offer even better
product quality in comparison with other soaps in the competitive set. It is now superbly poised to
deliver the brand promise of beauty care and bathing pleasure. To establish the presence of nourishing
ingredients in the new Lux (stronger product differentiation), a unique concept, ingredients you can see
in a soap, was born. A novel metallic substrate packing beautifully showcased the ingredients, and its
globally accepted ingredients-linked perfumes heightened the sensory experience. Each of the soaps in
the ranged has milk cream, with the active ingredients of rose extracts, sandal, saffron, almond oil and
fruit extracts. The create an experience in pampering indulgence and luxury designed to bring out the
star in every women. Lux campaigns have wooed millions of people over the decades. Popularly known
as the beauty soap of film stars, Lux has been a intimate partner of the brightest stars on the silver screen.
For decades. An ode to their beauty, an announcement of their stardom, advertising campaigns on Lux
have feature film stars across the nation, promising their beauty and complexion to ordinary women,
with top movie stars – from Madhubala to Madhuri, from Babita to Karishma and Kareena, inter spaced
with leading film stars, Hema Malini, Juhi Chawla and sreedevi-having endorsed the goodness of Lux
over generations, it was the natural that the brand has built equity has the best beauty soap in India. In
the global market, some of the international film stars who endorsed Lux include Elizabeth Taylor,
Sophia Loren, Penelope Cruz, Catherine Zeta Jones, Racquel Welch and Charlize Theron. From the
beginning, Lux, by using a leading film star of the time, has fulfilled the consumer’s aspirations of using
beauty via the rationable. ‘If it’s good enough for me’. The later moved into a transformational role of
having a bath with Lux, which transports the user in to a fantasy world of icons, film stars and fairylands.
However the communication was slowly seen to be losing relevance, as consumer were beginning to
question if the film stars actually used the brands. In addition to this, several competitive beauty soap
brands had begun advertising using similar methods of communication. In this context, the global brand
team for Lux developed a new communication strategy. The strategy- brings out star in you-for the first

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time moved the brand away from the –long running film star route. The film star still features in the new
communication but not as her gorgeous self but rather as an alter ego or projection of the protagonist, for
a few seconds of the entire ad. Thus for the first time the film star was used as a communication device
and not as the main feature of the ad. The new ad theme – bring out the star in you – puts the customers
at the heart of the brand’s promise. Lux beauty is glamorous, sophisticated and luxurious. Lux believes
in a women taking pleasure in her self, with out feeling guilty. Lux recognizes that wanting to look and
feel beautiful is one of the most fundamental aspirations. Lux knows better than any other brand the
meaning and importance of beauty of women. This knowledge is used skillfully to strengthen the
differentiation for Lux. Lux continuous to dazzle and captivate millions even after 75 years.
New fragrances like ‘chocolate’ and new gimmicks like the superstar Shah Rukh Khan in a bathtub,
surrounded by five Bollywood stars – we can expect, many more surprises. After all, Lux is here to stay,
forever.
Questions:

1. Discuss the product differentiation strategy of Lux. Do you agree with the approach? Give reasons?
2. What factors contributed to the success of the Lux promotional campaign?
3. Why the communication was changed giving your comments to the new theme?
4. What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Having A Brand Ambassador?

CASE STUDY 37: Rural Buying Behaviour - Hindustan Liver Limited


Excessive competition and saturation urban markets are driving many FMCG and consumer durables
companies into the rural market of India for survival and growth.
Hindustan liver limited has under taken two projects-Bharat1&2- to take its products deeper into the
rural areas. this is although they are pioneers in rural marketing in India. Henkel spic India has started
project called hariyali Safar, or’ green journey’, aimed at rural marketing. Maharaja Appliances Ltd. has
launched a range of no frill’ home appliances meant specially for the rural and semi- urban markets.
Sony has entered the rural market without reducing its prices or even offering lower-end models for
potential buyers. Mobile handset companies and mobile service providers have also started wooing rural
consumers in a big way. All are confident that these strategies will definitely work. It may not bring in
quick results in the short-term period. But in the long term there is no doubt that rural purchasing power
has steadily expanded over the past decade with the help of large increase in rural plan outlays,
agricultural production and higher support prices for farm produce.
The rural market potential is growing by leaps and bounds. During the decade, the procurement price of
Paddy and wheat has doubled, and there has been a four-fold increase in outlays for rural development
between the seventh and ninth has changed rural lifestyles and spending habits. the higher disposable
income has made rural consumers go for urban products to improve their quality of life. Marketers have
mostly been limiting their concentration on
supplying goods that are needed for the entire rural family or rural household. However a few of the
marketers have also been Launching products aimed at individual needs and desirers of rural consumers.

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A survey was conducted by a research team in rural Pondicherry to find out how well some of these
products have been marketed, and to gather insights on buying behavior through the survey focused on
only two products-wristwatches and footwear-some of the insights gathered could be of a broader
relevance, capable of generalizing. The conclusion of the study is that rural consumers consider only one
brand, and visit only one shop before making a purchase decision. Titan was found to be most preferred
brand in watches. The imported Casio (grey market one), HMT and Citizen were found to be the other
favorites. It was found that through most decisions about buying a watch are taken by the buyer himself,
retailers and advertisements are important influences .Unlike urban areas, where watches have become
gift items and may, therefore, face seasonal spikes in demand, in rural areas, watches are brought as and
when necessary. and many buyers think that price is an important factor to consider.
When it comes to footwear, however, brands appear to be less important than perceived quality and
price. The rural buyers are also aware of the different brands of footwear .Most of the buyers buy
chappals from a nearby town and tend to visit only one shop for making the purchase. they buy footwear
when the last one wears out, indicating that utility and longevity are the prime considerations in purchase
decisions fifty rupees were found to be the cutoff point up to which rural consumers would consider
spending to buy footwear. This study covered only villages that had a population more than thousand.
Pondicherry region has 164 villages spread over 6 communes. Through the villages were randomly
selected, respondents from a village where chosen based on quota and convenience. The final sample
size was 102&91 respondents for wristwatches and footwear respectively; spread over 70villages.the
study was based on both primary and secondary data, with primary data collected with the help of
specially designed schedules to suit the selected products.
Questions:

Q1 Find out who influences the buying decisions of the product.


Q2 What does leaps and bounds mean?
Q3 Find out various factors considered by rural customers.
Q4 Find the occasion/time of purchase of the products.
Q5 Will the strategies of FMCG companies to go rural work? Justify your answer.

CASE STUDY 38: Zomato’s New Deep Discounting Strategy


Zomato is a popular Food Service Aggregators in India (FSAs) known for its online delivery and user-
friendly interface. Recently, in an attempt to improve business, Zomato introduced some heavy discounts
for its client base. The new Zomato Gold was part of this campaign. Customers who subscribed to
Zomato Gold could access free meals, drinks, and discounts in certain restaurants. The company
partnered with numerous eateries to execute this plan. However, 15th August 2019, hundreds of
restaurants decided to log out of this marketing campaign. This was because the heavy discounts led to a
loss of revenue and profits. Zomato co-founder, Deepender Goyal tried to appease the partners by
launching a new model. This response was soon rejected as the core issue of discounts remained
unresolved. The led to an impasse between the two parties, leaving Zomato vulnerable to takeovers.

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On August 15, 2019, over 300 restaurants under the National Restaurant Association of India(NRAI)
launched a Logout campaign and delisted themselves from the platforms of some major Food Service
Aggregators (FSAs) such as Zomato, EazyDiner, Nearbuy, Magicpin and Dine out over what they called
unsustainable deep discounting practices. The campaign aimed to give the restaurant industry
independence from aggregators that had allegedly distorted the food service sector through aggressive
discounting and predatory pricing, thereby hurting the core value proposition and bottom line of
restaurants.

The Zomato Gold membership scheme was a success on the loose, but the inborn conflict of the scheme
lit fire to a huge war between the restaurants and aggregator. Directing the focus of diners from discounts
to fidelity may be the best way to progress.
Zomato has been in the news and for all the wrong reasons possible. Almost 2,000 restaurants across the
nation have joined hands in a #LogOut campaign, indicating their extraction from the Zomato
Gold membership. It is a strange turn of events. More so, Zomato Gold was never thought to be a mass-
based membership scheme that it naturally transformed out to be just after its launch. Zomato had
promised its restaurant associates that it would be exclusive and niche. The restaurant associates were
astonished when the membership boosted up 40,000 customers in less than three days on if its launch.
The benefits for the members were enormous: for a subscription fee as low as Rs 299 for three months or
Rs 999 for the year, members could get a dish for free or two drinks for free for every order they placed.
And to add on, there were no limits on when or how often you could visit the restaurant, so as you shared
your membership details with the restaurant you were ordering from.
So, what happened?
Just after four days of the launch, an exclusive by The Ken brought up the on-the-line dissatisfaction
among the restaurant associates. However, CEO Deepinder Goyal chose to ignore the indications,
declaring Zomato was on top of the game and could make it work. Almost two years later, reality had
struck him when the #LogOut campaign was at its peak and Goyal wrote an eight-tweet statement,
realizing the membership program had its intrinsic challenges and promising due corrections.
The fact is that Zomato Gold was thought of as a discount scheme, deceptive as a loyalty scheme. In the
restaurant sector, unilaterally using discounts will lead to a rusty state of the brand’s equity. Many
enterprises have spent millions to build their brand to create a one-of-a-kind on-premise experience for
consumers. In most cases, they will be willing to pay a premium for that.
Zomato will have to either pursue this coalition loyalty-based strategy, but it should be planned to
completely reinvent the company. Otherwise, they just have to keep concentrating on its business, the
core part of it that is delivery. And that accounts for 75% of its revenues. Master that, grow in it and then
expand into vicinal businesses.
This existential dilemma will have to be solved quickly before it is too late.

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Questions:

1. How to avoid the common challenges of discounting?


2. What are the different types of discount strategies for small businesses?
3. Is Zomato an inspiring business model for Indian entrepreneurs?
4. What did they do to increase their customer base and attract new customers?
5. Explain what Zomato Gold includes?
6. Why and how the discount strategy affects restaurant owners and customers?

CASE STUDY 39: Raymond’s experiment with khadi


Raymond is a significant textile business worldwide known for its fabric quality and fitting suits. The
brand now plans to customize its fabric to suit the Indian market. For this, the market experts narrow down
to the traditional Indian material- “Khadi”.

Khadi is a hand-woven, light, and comfortable fabric with some rich cultural and historical significance.
Raymond, in its latest marketing strategy, tried to integrate Khadi in modern fashion. The marketing team
adopted innovative advertising ideas to make their product more appealing and relatable.

This case study titled “Raymond: Giving a new spin to Khadi” discusses the deal between the company
and the govt. Body. Khadi Village and Industries Commission (KVIC) is an organization that overlooks
the production and distribution of khadi in India.

The case study presents a simulated practical experience to the reader allowing them to learn about real
life problems in the business world. The Khadi by Raymond Making Khadi a Fabric of Choice case
consisted of a central issue to the organization, which had to be identified, analyzed and creative solutions
had to be drawn to tackle the issue. This paper presents the solved Khadi by Raymond Making Khadi a
Fabric of Choice case analysis and case solution. The method through which the analysis is done is
mentioned, followed by the relevant tools used in finding the solution.

The case solution first identifies the central issue to the Khadi by Raymond Making Khadi a Fabric of
Choice case study, and the relevant stakeholders affected by this issue. This is known as the problem
identification stage. After this, the relevant tools and models are used, which help in the case study analysis
and case study solution. The tools used in identifying the solution consist of the SWOT Analysis, Porter
Five Forces Analysis, PESTEL Analysis, VRIO analysis, Value Chain Analysis, BCG Matrix analysis,
Ansoff Matrix analysis, and the Marketing Mix analysis. The solution consists of recommended strategies
to overcome this central issue. It is a good idea to also propose alternative case study solutions, because if
the main solution is not found feasible, then the alternative solutions could be implemented. Lastly, a good
case study solution also includes an implementation plan for the recommendation strategies. This shows
how through a step-by-step procedure as to how the central issue can be resolved.

This cases involve a central problem that is being faced by the organization and these problems affect a
number of stakeholders. In the problem identification stage, the problem faced by Khadi by Raymond
Making Khadi a Fabric of Choice is identified through reading of the case. This could be mentioned at the
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start of the reading, the middle or the end. At times in a case analysis, the problem may be clearly evident
in the reading of the HBR case. At other times, finding the issue is the job of the person analysing the case.
It is also important to understand what stakeholders are affected by the problem and how. The goals of the
stakeholders and are the organization are also identified to ensure that the case study analysis are consistent
with these.

The case study highlights how Raymond breaks the general perception of Khadi, presenting differently. It
also outlines the practical challenges faced by the brand to successfully launch the khadi line.

This analysis can be proceeded in a step-by-step procedure to ensure that effective solutions are found.

 In the first step, a growth path of the company can be formulated that lays down its vision, mission
and strategic aims. These can usually be developed using the company history is provided in the
case. Company history is helpful in a Business Case study as it helps one understand what the
scope of the solutions will be for the case study.
 The next step is of understanding the company; its people, their priorities and the overall culture.
This can be done by using company history. It can also be done by looking at anecdotal instances
of managers or employees that are usually included in an HBR case study description to give the
reader a real feel of the situation.
 Lastly, a timeline of the issues and events in the case needs to be made. Arranging events in a
timeline allows one to predict the next few events that are likely to take place. It also helps one in
developing the case study solutions. The timeline also helps in understanding the continuous
challenges that are being faced by the organisation.

SWOT analysis of Khadi by Raymond Making Khadi a Fabric of Choice

An important tool that helps in addressing the central issue of the case and coming up with Khadi by
Raymond Making Khadi a Fabric of Choice HBR case solution is the SWOT analysis.

 The SWOT analysis is a strategic management tool that lists down in the form of a matrix, an
organization’s internal strengths and weaknesses, and external opportunities and threats. It helps
in the strategic analysis of Khadi by Raymond Making Khadi a Fabric of Choice.
 Once this listing has been done, a clearer picture can be developed in regards to how strategies will
be formed to address the main problem. For example, strengths will be used as an advantage in
solving the issue.

Therefore, the SWOT analysis is a helpful tool in coming up with the Khadi by Raymond Making Khadi
a Fabric of Choice Case Study answers. One does not need to remain restricted to using the traditional
SWOT analysis, but the advanced TOWS matrix or weighted average SWOT analysis can also be used.

Porter Five Forces Analysis for Khadi by Raymond Making Khadi a Fabric of Choice

Another helpful tool in finding the case solutions is of Porter's Five Forces analysis. This is also a strategic
tool that is used to analyze the competitive environment of the industry in which Khadi by Raymond
Making Khadi a Fabric of Choice operates in. Analysis of the industry is important as businesses do not
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work in isolation in real life, but are affected by the business environment of the industry that they operate
in. Harvard Business case studies represent real-life situations, and therefore, an analysis of the industry's
competitive environment needs to be carried out to come up with more holistic case study solutions. In
Porter's Five Forces analysis, the industry is analyzed along 5 dimensions.

 These are the threats that the industry faces due to new entrants.
 It includes the threat of substitute products.
 It includes the bargaining power of buyers in the industry.
 It includes the bargaining power of suppliers in an industry.
 Lastly, the overall rivalry or competition within the industry is analyzed.

This tool helps one understand the relative powers of the major players in the industry and its overall
competitive dynamics. Actionable and practical solutions can then be developed by keeping these factors
into perspective.

Marketing Mix of Khadi by Raymond Making Khadi a Fabric of Choice

Khadi by Raymond Making Khadi a Fabric of Choice needs to bring out certain responses from the market
that it targets. To do so, it will need to use the marketing mix, which serves as a tool in helping bring out
responses from the market. The 4 elements of the marketing mix are Product, Price, Place and Promotions.
The following steps are required to carry out a marketing mix analysis and include this in the case study
analysis.

 Analyze the company’s products and devise strategies to improve the product offering of the
company.
 Analyze the company’s price points and devise strategies that could be based on competition, value
or cost.
 Analyze the company’s promotion mix. This includes the advertisement, public relations, personal
selling, sales promotion, and direct marketing. Strategies will be devised which makes use of a few
or all of these elements.
 Analyze the company’s distribution and reach. Strategies can be devised to improve the availability
of the company’s products.

Questions:

 List down the traditional textile advertising strategies.


 Outline the challenges Raymond would face.
 Highlight the cultural and historical importance of khadi.
 Discuss the new marketing strategy of Raymond
 Summarize its marketing mix analysis.

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CASE STUDY 40: Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is one of the famous non-alcoholic beverage brands in the world produced by the Coca-Cola
company, said to be the largest brands in beverage industry. Their vision is to craft the brands and choice
of drinks that people love, to refresh them in body and spirit. It wants to create more sustainable business
and better shared future that makes a difference in people’s lives, communities and world. This company
was founded in 1892 in America and was primarily involved in producing and selling Coca-Cola syrup
and concentrated, sweetened carbonated beverage. The drink Coca-Cola was earlier originated in 1886
by an Atlanta Pharmacist named John S. Pemberton (1831-1888) at his Pemberton Chemical company.
Initially, Pemberton thought that his drink is a tonic for most common ailments because it contained
cocaine from coca leaf and caffeine extract from the kola nuts. However, the cocaine was removed from
the drink’s formula in 1903. In 1891, a person named Griggs Candler, who also a pharmacist had secure
full ownership of the business and had founded the Coca-Cola company in 1892. Nowadays, the Coca-
Cola company are said to be the largest beverages distributor and manufacture with more than 2,800
products in over 200 countries. Coca-Cola is such a relevant because they are a “consumer-centric
brands” which means that they focus on what are the customers want to buy rather than what the
company want to sell. The company also had evolved in business strategy by being the company that
serve their customer more of the drinks they want including no-sugar and low-sugar options. This is
because, they support the recommendation from people and health authorities including the World health
Organization (WHO) that stated that people should limit their sugar intake to avoid harmful effect on
their health. Because of that, the company has reduced sugar in more than 500 of its drink around the
world. Besides, they also have invested in their marketing to build awareness of its low- and no-sugar
drinks.
Other than that, the company also continuously innovates their flagship brand by keeping their eyes in
the process which is worth to invest or that may lead to loss. If their new products will make them a lot
of profits, they will stay it in the market and vice versa. So, their product will stay in relevant because
they keep studying and innovating what kind of product will give benefits to their company.
The most influential advertisement of Coca-Cola
In 1971, Coke launched the TV commercial called “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” This famous TV
commercial was presented by many different young nationalities to promote world peace on the hilltop
of Italy. They sang a song called “I’d like to teach the world to sing” which was written by Billy Davis.
And then, this single has become a famous radio jingle and it becomes coke’s slogan at that time. (Hayes
1996)
This advertisement was released during the time of Cold war and Vietnam War. At that time, Coke was
represented as an international company that has distributors around the world. This advertising agency
hopes that this advertisement can lead to peace between countries. This advertisement was described as a
connection between countries even though war is painful. The jingle in this advertisement received a
dramatic response by the American audience. This jingle was voted to repeatedly opened on the radio
over and over, so “I’d like to buy the world a Coke has had passionate to Public audiences’ emotion.
(Hayes 1996)

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Thus, the power of its TV advertising remains in people’s memory and positive image of Coke to the
customer’s mind. This TV commercial was influential advertisement of all time. Coke continues to
spend marketing Budget on TV commercial because advertising can reach a target audience and create
brand awareness at the same time.
Advertising Campaign secret of Coca-Cola ‘success
Coca-Cola always keeps the product on public eyes by creating brand awareness for over a hundred
years though advertisements. Coke’s company repeatedly promoted their product by several marketing
communication tools from first Coca-cola print advertisement, event sponsorships, promotion such as
sample, premium, coupons, free trial and TV commercial. As a result of various advertising promotion
Coke have to spend a huge budget in every years.
There are report shows that advertising expense for the total worldwide spent on internet, radio, print ads
and TV advertising included in advertising expense and general expense were approximately: (The
Coca-Cola Company, 2006-2010)
Consequently, the figure for advertising budget in year 1993- 2006 showed the increased continuously of
Coke’s advertising budget in 1993-2006 except in year 2002 -2003.
it seems fair to say that Coca-Cola continues to spend huge budget on several of advertisements and
innovative ways to promotes their product can be the efficient indicator of overall success of business.
From the two aspects of advertising it lead Coke Company has become successful global brand in
carbonated beverage soft drink market.
Coca-Cola’s Slogan
Slogan is one of the important marketing tools to support characteristic for product to be outstanding and
well known. Coke always uses slogan remind customer recognition toward Coke’ brand. The first slogan
of Coca-cola was short and easy to remember such as First slogan “Drink Coca-Cola” in 1886. After that
Coca-Cola’s slogan become more variable compare to the old slogans that were created by Candler. For
example “Coke means Coca-cola “in 1945, “Coke adds life” in 1976 and ‘Always Coca-Cola’ in 1993,
these short slogans reminded customer that Coke is an original Cola. Another example of famous Coke’s
slogan was ‘The Coke side of life in 2006 and Open Happiness in 2009. This slogan which used in
advertising campaigns can interpreted that people have happiness and enjoyable time while drinking
Coke.
Moreover, Slogan of Coke Company always shows in every advertisement which memorable phrase,
jingle, picture or films which related to coke’s advertising campaign each year. Mostly Coke’s slogan
plays role to stimulate customer feeling to desire and coke product.
Advertising seems like a superb weapon for promoting products to the target audience. It can stimulate
and convince customers to make purchasing decision. There are many ways in marketing
communication; especially advertising is a powerful marketing tool which can spread message to target
audience. Indeed, Coke’s company was promoted by advertising to be one of the most famous brand in
the world. Most of the achievement was based on a hundred year of advertising history and their
innovative thinking. That is no doubt that why Coca-Cola continuous spending a huge budget on
advertising. Coca-cola who was market leader in carbonated soft drink successful introduces their
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product by launching TV commercials to attract all type of audience. Effective advertising helps Coca-
Cola brand remain in consumer’s mind and create brand royalty in the long term as well. Therefore,
advertising is secret key behind the scene of Coca-Cola’s success.
Questions:

1. List down the various sister brands and companies under Coca-Cola.
2. Explain the three significant apps launched by Coca-Cola.
3. Summarize the challenges faced by Coca-Cola.
4. Talk about App Annie Intelligence and its benefits.
5. Discuss Advertising Campaign secret of Coca-Cola ‘success

CASE STUDY 41: Ford SWOT Analysis 2022


An Overview of Ford
Henry Ford founded Ford in 1903. It’s headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, USA. It is one of the top
car brands in the world and sells commercial vehicles under the Ford brand while the luxury vehicles
under the Lincoln brand.
It is also one of the best American-based Automobile manufacturers with the most profits earned through
the North American Segment. Every year it produces around 4+ million vehicles. It is the fifth largest
automobile manufacturer in the world.
SWOT Analysis of Ford
Ford’s Strengths – Internal Strategic Factors

1. Global Recognition – Ford is a well-known brand in the automobile industry and is also
recognized in the global markets because of its success in marketing and advertising. It operates
two brands under Ford Motor Company i.e. Ford and Lincoln. Its brand value is $10.44
billion according to the 2021 report of Statista.
2. Automotive Segment – Ford is currently the second-largest automaker in the U.S. (behind GM)
and fifth largest (behind Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, GM) in the world. Ford Motors sold a total
of 4,187,000 vehicles in 2021 worldwide.
3. Research and Development – Ford’s research and development is one of its key strengths because
the company is committed to make and develop new products. They are continuously trying to
improve the performance of their vehicles. The factors that are evaluated include fuel, efficiency,
safety, and customer satisfaction.
4. Diverse Offerings – Ford caters to all kinds of demographic groups with their diversified brands
and car models. They take care of the needs and wants of their consumers by providing them with
more variety of cars and commercial vehicles.
5. Adaptability – Ford has a wide product and services portfolio which gives them strong leverage
and less dependency on just one product range. Their commitment to adopting new technologies

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also gives them a boost in the competitive automobile market. They are also working on light
weighting, cabin technology, and powertrain to enhance their product quality.

Ford recently redesigned its best-selling pick-up truck, the F-150, to adapt to changing consumer
preferences and demographics. The new generation F-150 pickup truck has been redesigned to entice the
younger target market and is scheduled to be released in November 2020. Ford is also planning to build
an electric version of the F-150 to be released by mid-2022. This enables the company to ensure that its
best-selling model keeps up with consumers’ migration away from petrol to electric.

6. Huge Network of Dealers- The company is also diverse in its operations and distribution, as they
have a huge network of about 10,717 dealers across the world. Ford develops its cars on
standardized procedures. They also invest heavily in various fuel sources.
7. Strong Financial Position – Ford’s strong financial position driven by the demand for pickups
and SUVs. In 2020, the company has posted a better-than-expected annual revenue of $127 Billion.
The fact that Ford is going strong despite the turmoil in 2020 highlights the company’s growth in
the future will be even bigger.

Ford’s Weaknesses – Internal Strategic Factors

1. Product Recalls – Ford faced a huge loss and their brand image suffered due to the product recalls
back in May 2016. They recalled approximately 830,000 Ford and Lincoln vehicles to replace
faulty side door latches. It also recalled vehicles in May 2015 because of the safety failures of
Takata airbags. Ford recalled 20,500 Kuga PHEV vehicles in Europe after its high voltage battery
causes the cars to ignite. The company also recalled more than 558,000 midsize SUVs in North
America due to issues with the brakes.
2. Weak Foothold in Emerging Markets- As Ford’s operations are diversified in many geographical
areas, they lack focus in performance and productivity. They do not have a stronghold in emerging
markets like India.
3. Poor Reputation – Ford has a poor reputation compared to its European and Japanese rivals.
Lincoln, in particular, is considered an inferior brand as compared to English and German luxury
car brands.
4. Dependence on U.S Markets – Ford is highly dependent on the U.S and European market. It limits
its profits and revenues. Experts predict that the majority of future car sales will come
from emerging markets such as China and India. Ford’s sales in the US market has been declining
year after year due to saturation of the market. In 2020, it sold just over 2.04 million vehicles in
the US, representing a decline of 15% compared to 2.4 million vehicles in 2019. Dependence on
the US market is becoming a major disadvantage for Ford. [5]
5. Overdependence on Trucks and SUVs – Ford’s diversified variety is disappearing quickly as the
company focuses more on trucks and SUVs. Currently, trucks make up for more than half (54%)
of Ford’s total number of vehicles sold in the U.S. market, with plans to increase SUVs in the
future. In 2020, its car segment declined by 45% (vehicles sold). Depending too much on trucks
and SUVs is risky since most consumers are aware of climate change and moving away from big
gas-guzzlers.

Ford’s Opportunities – External Strategic Factors

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1. Eco-Friendly Vehicles – As Ford is already trying to be technologically adaptive, they have a
fantastic opportunity to produce fuel-efficient cars and commercial vehicles. For example, they
can build vehicles that run on different forms of energy. In this way, they have more options in
designing eco-friendly vehicles. The 2018’s C-Max and Fusion Hybrid car model can be their most
significant opportunity, as they have already captured the market with this new model.
2. Increase Customer Base – Ford is already working on penetrating the automobile market in India
and China, they have an excellent opportunity to tap into other small countries in the world and
grow their customer base. From July to September 2020, Ford’s sales in China rose by 25% to
164,352 units, which indicates the company’s growing customer base in Asia. [7]
3. Digital Marketing – Digital marketing is prevailing all over the world these days, so Ford has an
opportunity to work on their digital marketing skills to grow its customer and supplier
engagements.
4. Self-driving car – In 2017, Ford has invested $1 Billion in Artificial intelligence company, Argo
AI, to develop its self-driving technology. In addition, Ford has partnered with Walmart and
Postmates to test the future of grocery delivery. Ford announced that it would introduce the “Active
2.0 Prep Package” in its Mach-E model that allows for hands-free driving in certain situations. Cars
with this semi-self-driving technology will be available in the market by the second half of 2021.
5. Expand into Related Fields – Ford has extensive experience in different sectors related to the auto
industry. The company’s new CEO, Jim Farley, recently announced that it would be expanding
operations into software, fleet management, electric vehicle charging, and other related technology
fields.

Ford’s Threats – External Strategic Factors

1. High Competition – Ford is already facing cut-throat competition from its rival companies
like Toyota, Tesla, and Tata. Ford keeps struggling to maintain its innovative position in the
industry.
2. Increased Prices of Raw Materials – The rising raw material prices of steel and steel coil can
directly affect the company’s cost and profit margin.
3. Regulations and compliance – The compliance and regulatory threats for automobile brands have
increased in the past years because of environmental improvements going around the world.
Vehicles are now inspected for public safety and quality issues. Ford can face serious challenges
if it fails to comply with the new regulations. Ford is facing a civil lawsuit in the US Supreme
Court after it was sued by two people who were injured in crashes involving second-hand Ford
vehicles.
4. Market uncertainties – In the first quarter of 2020, market uncertainties globally hammered Ford
very hard, leading to a decline in sales to 516,330 total vehicles, which lower by 12.5% compared
to the same period in 2019. It has been affected more adversely than its rivals General Motors and
Fiat Chrysler. Market uncertainties also forced Ford’s German branch to apply for a $582
million loan from the German government to cushion the impact of the decline in sales.
5. Strong Labor Unions – Canadian autoworkers union is growing stronger and using its influence
against automakers operating in the country like Ford. In 2020, the union threatened to strike if
Ford did not invest to safeguard its employment in the long-term. To avoid the strike, Ford was
forced to invest $1.4 billion in its Oakville and Windsor plants in Canada as part of the deal with
the union.
6. Ford shuts down manufacturing plants in India & Brazil – Ford has stopped its automotive
manufacturing operations in India. It means that Ford will stop selling Figo, Aspire, Freestyle,

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Ecosport, and Endeavor in India. However, Ford will continue to run its business solution,
engineering, and customer support operations in India. Similarly, Ford has closed 3 manufacturing
plants in Brazil in 2021.

Ford is going through a restructuring program to raise its profitability, and the global pandemic
accelerated this decision.
#Core competencies:
Technological capabilities:
Ford has got strong technological capabilities and spends a large sum on R&D. In 2017, it spent 8 Billion
dollars on research and development. The brand is also working on building manufacturing efficiency
and implementation of world class IT system.
Supply chain:
Excellent supply chain management is also an important competency of Ford Motors, that has helped it
achieve an edge. It has formed long term and strong relationships with its suppliers to ensure continued
availability of raw materials. It is also using IT and other forms of technology for the efficient
management of its supply chain network.
Brand image:
Brand image is an important competency for a brand operating in the global environment. Ford has built
a strong brand image that has helped it achieve high level popularity as well as strong customer loyalty.
Global presence:
Ford is a global brand with a global supply chain and distribution network. The brand is operational
across a large number of companies worldwide.
#Five Forces Analysis of Ford Motors:
Bargaining power of suppliers:
The bargaining power of suppliers in the automobile industry is low. It is mainly because apart from
being smaller in size, the suppliers are scattered all over the world. Ford purchases a large variety of raw
material from its suppliers in all corners of the world. It has entered contractual relationships with
many of them. However, compared to Ford these suppliers are much smaller in size and do not hold any
significant financial clout. Based on these factors the bargaining power of its suppliers is low. Other
factors that moderate the bargaining power of suppliers are Ford’s brand image, global presence and
large size.
Bargaining power of buyers:
The bargaining power of buyers has increased a lot over time. It is because of several factors including
higher availability of information as well as increased competition. Nowadays, the level of competition
in the vehicle industry is very high and apart from that the 21st-century customer is a well-informed
customer. People have several options before them and they would evaluate each one carefully before

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making a final purchase decision. Moreover, the size of individual purchases in the vehicle industry is
generally large. This also leads to brands spending more on marketing, sales and customer service.
Threat from substitute products:
The threat of substitutes for the automobile industry comes mainly from the rival brands and other
government and private means of transportation. Since there are several brands operating in the
automotive industry, the level of competition is high and so is the threat from substitute products for
Ford Motors. Ford’s brand image, product quality and other factors like its global presence and excellent
customer service moderate this threat to an extent. The overall threat from substitute products is
moderately high.
#Five Forces Analysis of Ford Motors:
Bargaining power of suppliers:
The bargaining power of suppliers in the automobile industry is low. It is mainly because apart from
being smaller in size, the suppliers are scattered all over the world. Ford purchases a large variety of raw
material from its suppliers in all corners of the world. It has entered contractual relationships with
many of them. However, compared to Ford these suppliers are much smaller in size and do not hold any
significant financial clout. Based on these factors the bargaining power of its suppliers is low. Other
factors that moderate the bargaining power of suppliers are Ford’s brand image, global presence and
large size.
Bargaining power of buyers:
The bargaining power of buyers has increased a lot over time. It is because of several factors including
higher availability of information as well as increased competition. Nowadays, the level of competition
in the vehicle industry is very high and apart from that the 21st-century customer is a well-informed
customer. People have several options before them and they would evaluate each one carefully before
making a final purchase decision. Moreover, the size of individual purchases in the vehicle industry is
generally large. This also leads to brands spending more on marketing, sales and customer service.
Threat from substitute products:
The threat of substitutes for the automobile industry comes mainly from the rival brands and other
government and private means of transportation. Since there are several brands operating in the
automotive industry, the level of competition is high and so is the threat from substitute products for
Ford Motors. Ford’s brand image, product quality and other factors like its global presence and excellent
customer service moderate this threat to an extent. The overall threat from substitute products is
moderately high.
Recommendations

1. As Ford is manufacturing in various countries, they should try to improve their operations
department by increasing efficiency and hiring the right employees and labor.
2. Ford should start producing more eco-friendly vehicles because the demand for these kinds of
vehicles is growing all around the world.

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3. Ford can partner up with Uber and other app-based vehicle services to grow its revenue and
customer base.

The above Ford SWOT analysis highlights the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of this
massive automobile manufacturer. The company needs to take quick and practical initiatives to remain
competitive and profitable.
Ford is among the most innovative global brands of automotives. The brand has been performing well
consistently for past several years. Its revenues and net income have risen from 2016 to 2017. Now the
brand is focusing on future of mobility to be among the first to enter autonomous vehicle market. Ford
spends a large sum on research and development. It also has strong manufacturing capabilities. Overall,
the brand is in a strong position to transition into the new era of mobility. 2017 remained an year of
transition at Ford. The main challenges that are making the task tough for automotive giant are
competition and the high level of legal and regulatory barriers. Ford must focus on the emerging markets
to grow its presence there for faster growth. Managing prices of its products could also help it grow its
customer base in the fast developing economies of Asia.
Questions:

1. Explain the significance of SWOT Analysis.


2. What is threat of new entrants in Porters five forces?
3. List out Ford’s internal strategic factors.
4. List out Ford’s external strategic factors.
5. Comment on Bargaining power of suppliers & buyers.

CASE STUDY 42: Success of Marketing Information System Model


The study uses a survey analysis for 140 SMEs of manufacturing sector of Punjab in India to understand
the level of MkIS by firms. Punjab has been ranked as one of the growing states of India. The study uses
step-wise regression technique to find the important predictors of the MkIS model. The results depict
that co-efficient of determination is 0.508 and adjusted co-efficient of determination is 0.490, these
predictors explain 49% of the variation and Durbin-Watson index is 2.102, which is acceptable for the
model. The main objective of the study is to validate the success of MkIS model for SMEs through a
case study done for six firms of which 2 firms produce cutting tools from district Patiala, 2 firms
producing sports goods from district Jalandhar and 2 firms producing bicycle components from district
Ludhiana respectively.
the organizations capabilities, then the business environment and finally competitor analysis. In a proper
MkIS, all these are present by default and are continuously updated. Thus MkIS is very important for
planning and analysis. MkIS are mostly applied by large and dominant firms, but it is right time now for
SMEs to focus on the MkIS and initiate steps to enhance information technology culture in SMEs of
Punjab manufacturing. The present study has been taken against the above backdrop for MkIS of
manufacturing SMEs of Punjab in India.

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On the basis of literature the following five predictors have been identified as independent variables.
These are:
1.1 Design characteristics of MkIS:
As per (Piercy and Evans, 1983), (Little, 1979) and (Milis, 2008) design characteristics deals with
information.
Design characteristics cover the following:
a. Broad scope information. (DC1)
b. Timely information. (DC2)
c. Accurate information. (DC3)
d. Current information. (DC4)
e. Aggregated information. (DC5)
1.2 Capabilities of MkIS:
According to (Knuckles, 1987) and (Fleisher et al., 2008), the broad capabilities of MkIS range from
providing
data to decision support system for sophisticated analysis of data. These capabilities are highlighted as:

1. It simply provides data on which decisions are made. (CA1)


2. It has the capability to undertake simple analysis of the data and from this provides information on
which decisions are made. (CA2)
3. It provides sophisticated analysis of data, and therefore provides invaluable decision support
information. (CA3)
4. It provides sophisticated analysis of data and has the ability to make recommendations, if so
required, as an aid to decision making. (CA4)

1.3 Primary characteristics of MkIS:


According to (Bhagwat and Sharma, 2007) Primary characteristics of MkIS are considered as a major
tool to help companies provide a competitive edge in the era of globalization. As per (Murray et al.,
2004) primary characteristic covers the basic tools for MkIS and highlighted as :

1. Windows 98 & Windows XP as Operating system. (PC1)


2. E-Mails & Search Engines as Internet (PC2)
3. Word, Excel & PowerPoint as Applications. (PC3)
4. Timely information of marketing needs. (PC4)
5. Stores marketing information. (PC5)
6. Processed information maintained in the data-base. (PC6)

1.4 Hindrance factors of MkIS:

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For success of MkIS it is essential to identify the factors that can deter its progress. It is essential to deal
with them properly, so that they cannot act as impediment. As per (Sisodia, 1992) tackling hindrance
factors of MkIS is in fact very important. Infact, system implementation success factors is not just use of
Technology. According to Thatcher and (Thatcher and Oliver, 2001) problems are the result of the
interaction between characteristics of the people being asked to adopt the system and characteristics of
the system itself. The hindrance factors covered are:

1. Not as an information processing system. (HF1)


2. Can solve all management problems. (HF2)
3. Lack of training. (HF3)
4. Adequate attention not given. (HF4)
5. Impersonal system. (HF5)
6. Does not give perfect information. (HF6)
7. Under estimating. (HF7)

1.5 MkIS sophistication:


As per (Van Nievelt, 1984) and (Martin, 2004) sophistication covers the marketing needs for meeting
customer requirements and also for formulating of the strategic plan for effective marketing decision.
The MkIS sophistication covered in the study are:

1. Strategic perspective.(SO1)
2. Meeting customer needs. (SO2)
3. Threat. (SO3)
4. Strategic planning. (SO4)
5. IT budget. (SO5) f. Marketing decision. (SO6)

Observations:
The top two factors of each predictor are selected on the basis of the analysis of the priorities accorded
by the manufacturing SMEs in all the three sectors, i.e., cutting tools, sports goods and bicycle
components.
3.4.1 Synthesis for MkIS Design characteristics:
It is analysed that Accurate information and Timely information are the top priorities.
3.4.2 Synthesis for Capabilities of MkIS:
It is analysed that high priority to sophisticated analysis of data has an ability to make recommendations
as an aid to decision making and also it provides invaluable decision support information are the top
priorities.
3.4.3 Synthesis for Primary characteristics of MkIS:
It is analysed that Emails of Internet along with processed information (e.g., sales forecasts, market
share, distribution trend, etc.) which is maintained in the database are the top priorities.
3.4.4 Synthesis for Hindrance factors of MkIS:

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It is analysed wherein the belief is that the computerized MkIS can solve all the management problems
of planning and control of the business followed by that MkIS is conceived as a data processing and not
as an information processing system in the database are the top tpriorities.
3.4.5 Synthesis for MkIS Sophistication:
It is analysed that meeting customer needs and threat to new entrants are the top priorities.
Many organizations use MkIS successfully, others do not. Though the hardware and the software is the
latest and has appropriate technology, its use is more for the collection and storage of data and its
elementary processing. There are some factors which make the MkIS a success and some others, which
make it a failure. The results of the present study highlight that MkIS and developments in SMEs of
Punjab are still at initial stage. It can be concluded that the consequent opening up of many SMEs, the
enterprises have a variety of challenges in front. MkIS has made the SMEs sector today to rise up to the
occasion by devising and formulating a number of marketing strategies. Efforts have to be made by this
sector if it wants to survive in the present day world of competition. Further, though activities like
management training programs, computerization, maintain of database, improvement in functional
evidence etc. are being provided by SMEs, it is suggested that SMEs sector should also take a fresh look
at these aspects and introduce necessary changes in them. It is recommended that SMEs, which are
carrying out MkIS must make efforts to introduce new concepts in their systems.
Questions:

1. Identify the predictors for the development of MkIS model .


2. Discuss few primary characteristics of MkIS.
3. What is the use of MkIS?
4. What are key design festures of MkIS?
5. Observe the critical factors for the development of MkIS Model.

CASE STUDY 43: Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) PESTLE Analysis


PESTLE Analysis of Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) analyses the brand on its business tactics. Indian Oil
Corporation (IOCL) PESTLE Analysis examines the various external factors like political, economic,
social, technological (PEST) which impacts its business along with legal & environmental factors. The
PESTLE Analysis highlights the different extrinsic scenarios which impact the business of the brand.
PESTLE analysis is a framework which is imperative for companies such as Indian Oil Corporation
(IOCL), as it helps to understand market dynamics & improve its business continuously. PESTLE
analysis is also referred to as PESTEL analysis.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) PESTLE Analysis:
Political Factors:
Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) is an Oil and Gas company headquartered in new Delhi. It is public
corporation with government holding 52% shares. These factors impact the profitability of company
which are not in control of the business. A level of taxes would reduce the revenue of the company.
Indian government puts heavy taxes on the petrol and diesel which make the price of these high and thus

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reduces the demand of these products by the people. The government of any countries plays very
important role in its petroleum industry. The government have now decreased the duties it has put on the
automobiles to increase its demand. This may be very beneficial for the petroleum industry, as in future
it may lead to increase in demand of petrol and diesel.
Economic Factors:
Due to covid-19 petroleum industry have hit very hardly.
As the demand of the automobile is very less and also people prefer to stay at their home only due to this
pandemic. It has really impacted the revenue of the IOCL and now company is into loss due to
pandemic. Also, government of India is continuously increasing duties on the oil to increase its revenue,
to address the problem of rising fiscal deficit. High inflation in the country have also adversely impacted
the oil industry. The company operates in 11 of India’s 23 refineries, so it is major player in the oil
industry and its revenues has really affected due to this pandemic.
Social Factors:
We all know the India is second most populated country in the world. The oil demand of the country is
very high and we have to import great amount of oil very year, which increases the import bill of the
country significantly. Due to covid the demand of the oil has decreased as people now prefer to stay at
home and various other reasons. But in future when the things will become normal the oil industry has
got huge potential which can be very useful for the Indian Oil corporation. As the lifestyle of the people
of India is getting impacted by the western culture, more and more people now have their personal cars
and bike. People prefer less to travel in public transport, this have really increased the demand of the
petrol and diesel.
Technological Factors:
These factors include innovation in technology and in the ways of producing goods which affects the
operations of the industry. These factors cannot be ignored by the company as these plays very important
role in ensuring long term profitability of any company. As Indian Oil Corporation is public company,
the company spends huge amount of money in research and development. This investment is very
important for the entire country as this may result in reducing our country dependency on the oil imports.
The company has ventured into alternative energy and has cross country pipeline network for
transporting the crude oil to the refineries.

Legal Factors:
These factors include various internal and external laws which company must follow. Legal analysis
includes analyzing of laws of the country and then making strategies according to it. With environment
norms becoming more stringent in India, company need to keep check on its carbon emission as oil
industry is often criticized for polluting the environment. The company have also taken various steps to
ensure the safety of its employees keeping in mind the health and safety laws of the country. Also, IOCL
have started supplying BS-6 fuel as instructed by the government of the India.
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Environmental Factors:
Environmental factors play crucial role in building brand image of any company. These factors become
most important in the industries like oil industry.
The government keep close check on the gaseous emissions and solid waste of oil companies. In Indian
Oil Corporation, many engineers are working together continuously to develop and use productive
methods for improvement of environmental effects. Also, the company have various cleanups program
that improve refinery process of the company and also taken initiatives to control oil spills in the sea to
save marine life.
Questions:

1. What is PESTEL analysis?


2. What are the 6 factors of the PESTEL framework?
3. Why PESTEL analysis is important for startups?
4. Highlights the various elements which impact its business performance.
5. Evaluate the criticality of external business factors for any brand.

CASE STUDY 44: Haldiram’s Group - Seeking the 'Right' Marketing Mix
Over a period spanning six and a half decades, the Haldiram's Group (Haldiram's) had emerged as a
household name for ready-to-eat snack foods in India. It had come a long way since its relatively humble
beginning in 1937 as a small time sweet shop in Bikaner, in the Rajasthan state of India. In 2001, the
turnover of the Haldiram's was Rs 4 billion.
The group had presence not only in India but in several countries all over the world. Till the early 1990s,
Haldiram's comprised of three units, one each in Kolkata, Nagpur and New Delhi. The Agarwals family
that owned Haldiram's were always conscious of the need to satisfy customers in order to grow their
business.
The company offered a wide variety of traditional Indian sweets and snacks at competitive prices that
appealed to people belonging to different age groups. Haldiram's had many 'firsts' to its credit. It was the
first company in India to brand 'namkeens3'. The group also pioneered new ways of packaging
namkeens.
Moreover, the group had to overcome internal problems as well. In the early 1990s, because of the
conflict within the Agarwals family, Haldiram's witnessed an informal split between its three units as
they started operating separately offering similar products and sharing the same brand name. In 1999,
after a court verdict these units started operating as three different companies with clearly defined
territories. This split had resulted in aggressive competition among themselves for a higher share of
domestic and international markets.
Analysts felt that the growing popularity of Haldiram's products could be attributed to its constant focus
on all the elements of the marketing mix. An article posted on the website apeda.com4 quoted some of
the company's strengths, "To sustain in the competitive market, Haldiram's has endeavored stress on its

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product quality, packaging, shelf life, competitive price with a special emphasis on consumers
satisfaction and its lingering taste is amongst the best available in the world."
In the early s, because of the conflict within the Agarwal’s family, Haldiram’s witnessed an informal
split between its three units as they started operating separately offering similar products and sharing the
same brand name. The group also pioneered new ways of packaging namkeens. In the turnover of the
Haldiram’s was Rs 4 billion.
Whereas it launched the ready-eat-snacks with a price of as low as Rs. However, some analysts felt that
Haldiram’s still had to overcome some hurdles.
Given the increasing popularity of Haldiram’s products, the group planned to expand its operations. Its
packaging techniques increased the shelf life of namkeens from less than a week to more than six
months.
Its packaging techniques increased the shelf life of namkeens from less than a week to more than six
months. Newer Post Older Post Home. Till the early s, Haldiram’s comprised of three units, one each in
Kolkata, Nagpur and New Delhi. It was also one of the first companies in India to open a restaurant in
New Delhi offering traditional Indian snack food items such as “panipuri,” “chatpapri,” and so on, which
catered to the needs of hygiene conscious non-resident Indians and other foreign customers.
The Marketing Mix
Products
Haldiram's offered a wide range of products to its customers. The product range included namkeens,
sweets, sharbats5, bakery items, dairy products, papad6 and ice-creams (See Exhibit I for details of
product range). However, namkeens remained the main focus area for the group contributing close to
60% of its total revenues. By specializing in the manufacturing of namkeens, the company seemed to
have created a niche market.
Haldiram's sought to customize its products to suit the tastes and preferences of customers from different
parts of India. It launched products, which catered to the tastes of people belonging to specific regions.
For example, it launched 'Murukkus,' a South Indian snack, and 'Chennai Mixture' for south Indian
customers.
Similarly, Haldiram's launched 'Bhelpuri,' keeping in mind customers residing in western India. The
company offered certain products such as 'Nazarana,' 'Panchratan,' and 'Premium' only during the festival
season in gift packs. These measures helped Haldiram's compete effectively in a market that was flooded
with a variety of snack items in different shapes, sizes and flavors.
Pricing
Haldiram's offered its products at competitive prices in order to penetrate the huge unorganized market
of namkeens and sweets. The company's pricing strategy took into consideration the price conscious
nature of consumers in India.
Haldiram's launched namkeens in small packets of 30 grams, priced as low as Rs.5. The company also
launched namkeens in five different packs with prices varying according to their weights (Refer Table I).
The prices also varied on the basis of the type of namkeens and the raw materials used to manufacture it.
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The cost of metallized packing7 also had an impact on the price, especially in the case of snack foods.
The company revised the prices of its products upwards only when there was a steep increase in the raw
material costs or additional taxes were imposed.
Place
Haldiram's developed a strong distribution network to ensure the widest possible reach for its products in
India as well as overseas. From the manufacturing unit, the company's finished goods were passed on to
carrying and forwarding (C&F) agents. C&F agents passed on the products to distributors, who shipped
them to retail outlets. While the Delhi unit of Haldiram's had 25 C&F agents and 700 distributors in
India, the Nagpur unit had 25 C&F agents and 375 distributors.
Haldiram's also had 35 sole distributors in the international market. The Delhi and Nagpur units together
catered to 0.6 million retail outlets in India. C&F agents received a commission of around 5%, while
distributors earned margins ranging from 8% to 10%. The retail outlets earned margins ranging from
14% to 30%. At the retail outlet level, margins varied according to the weight of packs sold.

Retailers earned more margins ranging from 25% to 30% by selling 30 gms pouches (priced at Rs.5)
compared to the packs of higher weights. Apart from the exclusive showrooms owned by Haldiram's, the
company offered its products through retail outlets such as supermarkets, sweet shops, provision stores,
bakeries and ice cream parlors. The products were also available in public places such as railway stations
and bus stations that accounted for a sizeable amount of its sales.
Haldiram's products enjoyed phenomenal goodwill and stockiest competed with each other to stock its
products. Moreover, sweet shops and bakeries stocked Haldiram's products despite the fact that the
company's products were competing with their own products. Haldiram's also offered its products
through the Internet. The company tied up with indiatimes.com, a website owned by the Times of India
group8 to sell its products over the Internet. Haldiram's products could be ordered through a host of other
websites in India and abroad.
Promotion
Haldiram's product promotion had been low key until competition intensified in the snack foods market.
The company tied with 'Profile Advertising'9 for promoting its products. Consequently, attractive
posters, brochures and mailers were designed to enhance the visibility of the Haldiram's brand.
Different varieties of posters were designed to appeal to the masses. The punch line for Haldiram's
products was, 'Always in good taste.' Advertisements depicting the entire range of Haldiram's sweets and
namkeens were published in the print media (magazines and newspapers). These advertisements had
captions such as 'millions of tongues can't go wrong,' 'What are you waiting for, Diwali?' and 'Keeping
your taste buds on their toes.'
To increase the visibility of the Haldiram's brand, the company placed its hoardings in high traffic areas
such as train stations and bus stations. Posters were designed for display on public transport vehicles
such as buses, and hoardings, focused on individual products were developed. Captions such as 'yeh corn
hain' (this is corn), 'chota samosa - big mazaa' (small samosa10 - big entertainment), 'yeh Kashmiri mix
khoob jamega' (this namkeen item will gel well) and 'oozing with taste' (for Rasgoolas) promoted
individual products.
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For those customers who wanted to know more about Haldiram's products, special brochures were
designed which described the products and gave information about the ingredients used to make it.
Mailers were also sent to loyal customers and important corporate clients as a token of appreciation for
their patronage. Packaging was an important aspect of Haldiram's product promotion.
Since namkeens were impulse purchase items, attractive packaging in different colors influenced
purchases. Haldiram's used the latest technology (food items were packed in nitrogen filled pouches) to
increase the shelf life of its products. While the normal shelf life of similar products was under a week,
the shelf life of Haldiram's products was about six months. The company projected the shelf life of its
products as its unique selling proposition.
Posters highlighting the shelf life of its products carried the caption 'six months on the shelf and six
seconds in your mouth.' During festival season, Haldiram's products were sold in attractive looking
special gift packs. The showrooms and retail outlets of Haldiram's gave importance to point of purchase
(POP) displays. Haldiram's snacks were displayed on special racks, usually outside retail outlets. The
showrooms had sign boards displaying mouth-watering delicacies with captions such as 'Chinese
Delight,' Simply South,' 'The King of all Chats11.'
The restaurant at Nagpur devised an innovative strategy to increase its business: It facilitated people who
were traveling by train through Nagpur station to order food from places where stockists of Haldiram's
Nagpur unit were located. The customers could order for lunch/dinner by sending a demand draft (DD)
or cheque to the Nagpur unit or giving the same to specified local distributors belonging to the Nagpur
unit along with the DD/cheque, customers had to provide information such as the name of the train, its
likely time of arrival at Nagpur, their names and coach and seat numbers. Haldiram's restaurants in Delhi
also used innovative ways to attract customers. The restaurant located at Mathura road had special play
area for children.
To cater to NRI's and foreign tourists, who hesitated to consume snack foods sold by the roadside
vendors since it was not prepared in a hygienic manner, the Haldiram's restaurant located in South Delhi
used specially purified water to make snack foods including pani puri and chat papri12. These
promotional strategies helped Haldiram's to compete effectively with local restaurant chains such as
Nathus, Bikanerwala and Agarwals and with western fast food chains such as McDonald's and Pizza
Hut.
Positioning
The above initiatives helped Haldiram's to uniquely position its brand. Haldiram's also gained an edge
over its competitors by minimizing promotion costs. Appreciating the company's efforts at building
brand, an analyst said, "Haldiram once was just another sweet maker but it has moved into trained brands
first by improving the product quality and packaging. Through its clever products and brilliant
distribution it had moved into the star category of brands."
Haldiram's earned recognition both in India and abroad. The Nagpur unit of Haldiram's was conferred
the International Food Award by the Trofeo International Alimentacion of Barcelona14, Spain for having
maintained high standards in quality and hygiene, at its manufacturing unit. The Delhi unit was awarded
the Keshalkar Memorial Award by the All India Food Preservers Association in the mid 1980s in
recognition of its efforts for popularizing ethnic Indian foods in India and abroad.
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In 1994, the unit was awarded the International Award for Food & Beverages by the Trade Leaders Club
in Barcelona, Spain. The unit also received the Brand Equity Award15 in 1998. Manoharlal Agarwal,
who played a key role in the success of the Delhi unit, was included in the eighth edition of
Distinguished Leadership by the Board of Registrars of The American Biographical Institute16.
Haldiram's was also admitted as the member of Snack Food Association, US.
In the financial year 2001-2002, the combined turnover of all three units of Haldiram's was estimated at
Rs. 4 billion. The company targeted a growth of 15% for the financial year 2002-2003. Analysts felt that,
given the competition in the industry, Haldiram's needed to develop new initiatives achieve this growth.
The competition in the ready-to-eat snack foods market in India was intensifying. Frito Lay India Ltd.
(Frito Lay), one of Haldiram's major competitors, was expanding its market share. Instead of directly
competing with the market leader Haldiram's, the company launched innovative products in the market
and backed them with heavy publicity.

Frito Lay's product range consisted of a mixture of traditional Indian and western flavors which appealed
to younger and older generations. Its products included Leher Namkeens, Leher Kurkure (snack sticks),
Lays (flavored Chips), Cheetos (snack balls), Uncle Chips and Nutyumz (nut snacks).
Frito-Lay was the first company to launch small 35 gm packs namkeens priced at Rs. 5 and also the first
company in the organized sector to launch Aloo Bhujia18. Another competitor, SM Foods, introduced a
range of innovative products. The company launched India's first non-wafer chips in 1988. SM offered
products under two main brands - Peppy and Piknik.
Under Peppy, it had sub brands such as Cheese Balls, Ringos, Hi Protein Crispies, Potato Rackets,
Hearts, Veggie Treat, Mixtures and Minerette. Under Piknik, it had Protein Pin, Junior and Corn Puffs.
Haldiram's also faced tough competition from domestic players such as Britannia Industries Ltd.,
Bikanerwala Foods and ITC.
In addition, FMCG major HLL had also announced plans to enter the snack food market. Analysts felt
that Haldiram's lagged behind competitors in offering snack foods targeted at children, who were always
eager to try new flavors in every product category. They felt that the company concentrated too much on
traditional Indian items such as Bhujia Sev and Moong Dal.
Haldiram's had in fact, taken steps to fill the gaps in its portfolio. Rajendra Agarwal, the owner of the
Nagpur unit said, "We want to expand our market by introducing snacks that will appeal to younger
people. There will be no growth in the traditional snacks category."19 The unit planned to launch
products such as flavored ready-to-eat popcorn and a product similar to Leher Kurkure.
Though Haldiram's had increased its focus on advertising and promotion in the last couple of years, still
more initiatives in this direction were necessary. Frito Lay's expenditure on product promotion was much
higher. With successful ad campaigns such as "control nahin hotha" (it is irresistible) for the Leher brand
of namkeens, the company made sure that it attracted the attention of viewers.
According to media reports, Haldiram's lagged behind competitors in the area of customer service. A
report in Deccan Herald that Prabhu Shankar Agarwal, the owner of the Kolkata unit, was arrested on
charges of manhandling customers only reiterated this opinion. The report also mentioned that few of the
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company's restaurants did not possess the minimum requirements, such as sufficient seating
arrangements and adequate parking lots.
Haldiram's also had to deal with problems created by spurious products. Some companies claiming to be
close associates of the original Haldiram's of Bikaner used the Haldiram's brand name in their products.
For example the 'Haldiram Madanlal' company claimed that its proprietor, Anil Kumar Agarwal,
belonged to the Haldiram's family of Bikaner.
The manufacture of spurious products threatened to dilute the Haldiram's brand image apart from
affecting the sales. According to some analysts, many of the problems facing Haldiram's arose due to an
informal split between its three units in the early 1990s.
The split occurred when Prabhu Shankar Agarwal, who was heading the Kolkata unit of Haldiram's, filed
a complaint in the court against the Delhi and Nagpur units, alleging breach of contract when they
opened a sweet shop in New Delhi in 1991. This led to a bitter court battle for many years. The court
delivered a final verdict in 1999, when Haldiram's units were formally split as three separate companies
with specific business territories.
Since the scope for increasing market share in India was limited, these companies began to compete
aggressively in international markets. They used the internet, not only to market their products but also
compete with each other. Each company claimed that its products were superior to those of the others in
terms of quality.
For instance, an advertisement in 'haldiramusa.com', a web portal that sold the products of the Delhi
company in the US, read, "Our items come specially packed from the Original Haldiram's of Delhi
offering superior taste and superior quality, the only Haldiram approved by the US FDA (Food and Drug
Administration). Try the Delhi stuff and you will never touch the Nagpur Haldiram packets that most
grocery stores store." Analysts were of the opinion that the internal rivalry among its own companies
may lead to dilution of Haldiram's brand equity.
Questions:

1. What is the pricing strategy of Haldiram's namkeens?


2. Analyze the role of Positioning in marketing mix.
3. Why the the scope for increasing market share in India became limited?
4. What measures were taken by Haldiram to increase the visibility of the Haldiram's brand?
5. Discuss it’s product strategies.

CASE STUDY 45: CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS COSMETIC


PRODUCTS: A CASE OF DELHI NCR
Cosmetic industry has been growing at the rate of 20% per annum approximately and is currently
standing at US$950 million in India. It comes under the sustainable development goals 2030 laid by the
UNDP under the industry, innovation, and infrastructure. The purpose of this paper to analyze the factors
which influence the purchase of cosmetic products among Indian consumers. The objective of the study

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is to find the correlation among the factors and income and to find the extent of dependence between the
significant factors and purchase of cosmetic products (the explanatory variable). Snowball sampling
method has been adapted for the study and primary data from 400 respondents has been collected in this
regard, from the cosmetic product users of Delhi-NCR which was returned with a response rate of 100%.
Demographic features like age, gender, income, occupation are used.
Consumer behavior is the study of people, groups or associations and various activities which are related
with the purchasing, usage and disposal of all goods and services available with the consumers.
Cosmetic product is one of such goods available with the consumers in a large variety. It is an item
which is used to enhance the external appearance of a human body. For example, all kinds of make-up
products, toothpaste, soap etc.
The Indian cosmetic industry has proved to one of the unique industries carrying high potential for future
growth. The market share of the industry is expected to grow at 18% per annum and the output of the
industry is expected to grow at 20% per annum. This growth is majorly expected because of the
increased demand of herbal/organic cosmetic products. The source of this boom in Indian cosmetic
industry is the increased awareness among the people which led to high demand of the products,
especially organic or herbal products with the introduction of Patanjali products. The top leading
companies in India are Lakme, Revlon, Oriflame Cosmetics, Biotique, Himalaya Herbals, VLCC, Dabur
etc.
Identification of the problem:
The Indian cosmetic market which earlier had a few major players including Lakme and Ponds has seen
a lot of foreign entrants to the market. Thus, with the advancement of trade, technology and
competitiveness in the economy, India being a price sensitive market has to innovate and fight for its
place in the market and perform up to its potential. The lack of distribution network leading to products
being available in limited areas of the country and the psychology of the consumers attached with the
usage of cosmetic products are the causes of the unexplored potential of the Indian cosmetic industry.
Here comes the role of analysis of consumer behavior which can give effective suggestions on
overcoming the challenges faced by the industry. For effective consumer behavior analysis, the basis of
the decisions taken by the consumers must be clear. It includes the pattern, preferences, motivation,
influence and consumer buying process which depends on cultural, social, psychological and personal
factors which have to be studied thoroughly.
Consumers are the final users of any commodity produced. To enhance the growth and output of a
particular industry it is very important to analyze the factors that influence consumer behavior. It is the
study of human behavior which is usually unpredictable but there are certain factors which remain
constant throughout the human life. Thus, such factors need to be taken under consideration before
carrying out any analysis. The factors are as follows:
1. Cultural Factors: The way a person behaves depends a lot upon the culture that individual has been
brought up. Basically, it is the set of values that a person learns from his/her parents or relatives forms
his/her culture. For example, it is the culture in India to live with your parents at least before you are
married while in abroad, the children start making a livelihood for themselves as soon as they become
old enough to do so. In a country like India, different set of cultures can be found. For instance, males in
North India prefer wearing trousers and shirts while males in East India prefer wearing Dhoti Krurta.
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Each culture can further be classified into various subcultures such as religion, age, geographical area,
gender, family status etc.
2. Social Factors: Humans always need other people to talk, discuss or even argue on any topic. This
company of other people forms the individual’s social group. Social factors that influence the consumer
purchasing behavior can be further classified into Reference groups, Rolein the society and Social Status.
Reference Groups: Every person is influenced by other person in one or another way. Reference groups
form that group of people with which an individual compares himself/herself with. They are further of 2
types:
a) Primary group which includes family, friends, relatives and coworkers. Before buying any product a
person tends to discuss it with the people they interact on a daily basis who have either purchased the
same product or have knowledge regarding that product. For instance, before switching to a new
cosmetic brand a person always collects information about it by mentioning it to their friends and family.
b) Secondary group in which the consumer shares indirect relationship with the social group. For
example, an interaction with a few people in a party. In such cases, if an individual encounters a person
who is wearing a very good perfume, then the decision making of the individual can be influenced. Role
in the society: The decision making of an individual majorly depends upon the role that person plays in
the society. For example, a CEO of a company is also a parent back home. Thus, his purchase of
cosmetics will depend on both the factors. Social Status: It is very similar to the family status of cultural
factors, as an individual’s choice also depends whether he can afford to spend on expensive items or not.
3. Psychological Factors: These are the factors which are related to psychology or the thinking of an
individual. The subfactors which form the psychology of a person are motivation, perception and
attitude.
These can be associated with the consumer behavior regarding cosmetic products in the following way:
Motivation: Every action is based upon a reason which compelled them to pursue the action. A person
buying local or cheap cosmetic product is motivated to do so as to match up with the social group he/she
is a part of while a person buying branded cosmetic product is motivated to do so as to make people look
up to him/her. Thus, creating and maintaining an image serves as a motivational factor while purchasing
such products.
Perception: It is the way an individual thinks about a specific good or service. Individuals with similar
needs can have different perception towards the same product. A woman looking for a good lipstick
might find a particular shade to be bold and another woman might find it gory. Thus, the former will buy
the lipstick and the latter will not. Hence, it is the difference in perception which gives rise to variety and
differentiation in a product. The perception of an individual can also be made with past experiences.
Attitude: The image an individual create for a particular product can influence his/her buying decision to
a large extent. Individuals always tend to attach a positive image to branded products and thus, high
income people prefer buying those products rather than going for non-branded products.
The following factors were short listed and hence these are considered to be the relevant ones for the
further study: Income Price Past Experience Trust Influence Motivation

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More consumers are entering into the industry of cosmetic products as seen by the findings of the
research study because of the benefits it offers to the costumer such as glowing and fresh skin, no marks
and antimarks, image of stylish and confident, treated as updated with the fashion and its following
design, healthy skin and so on. In other words, the main motivating and the influential factors (in terms
of average) seen during the entire research is the information followed by influences and past
experiences in affecting consumer behavior towards purchasing the cosmetic products. As a result of
these motivating factors, consumers are buying the different types of cosmetic goods.
Questions:

1. What is consumer behavior?


2. What are the factors affecting consumer behavior?
3. What are the socio-demographic characteristics of the cosmetic product users?
4. What motivates the purchase of cosmetics among consumers? 8. What role does buying habit play
in consumer behavior? 9. Does price effect the purchasing of cosmetic users?
5. What role past experiences play in decision making process of consumers?

CASE STUDY 46:Mogason’s Apparels


As Sardar Moga Singh walked from the lawn to the newly built third garage in his home, he figured he
could cover 50 kms of a fantastic ride to and from India Gate before the sun turned hot. Neeta Lulla
would make a good partner probably. Neeta Lulla had called him last night and wanted to know how her
latest designs were doing at the Mogasons store. Her designs were actually doing so well, he sure owed
her a long drive. He was seventy already and going strong. This was the first day of his once-a-year
weeklong holidays, which he had started taking only after the sad demise of his wife Sardarni ji 10 years
ago. Only yesterday had the financial results of the company been announced. It was Mogasons’ direct
18th year of profitability with more than 5% yoy growth.

Mogasons Inc: Past

Led by a vision of providing the urban youth of India with a taste of the traditional dresses for wearing in
formal occasions, Moga had opened the first Mogasons store in 1959 in Connaught Place, New Delhi.
Moga was an ambitious Sikh from Dehradun who had been operating a cloth-manufacturing unit from
the garage in his home. He supplied fashionable clothes to the retailer shops in Dehradun under the brand
name “Signature”. Moga’s second and probably more assured customer base was the educational
institute in and around Dehradun. Dehradun was an upcoming center for school education with schools
present at the rate of one per five streets. Deals for supplying school uniforms were signed for the next
working year only, and a deal next year was the function of the service you provided to the school for the
current year. Price was a consideration, but definitely not the biggest one, as schools had the policy of
charging 110% of their cost to the students’ fee account. Schools looked for the quality of the cloth and
that of stitching. Also, maintaining a stock was important, as many students tended to buy a second
uniform in the middle of the academic year. However, this was easy for Moga as most schools had the
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same gray or blue uniforms. To prepare dress for a particular school, he only had to stitch the monogram
of the school to the already prepared dresses.

By 1956, Moga had contracts for the two largest public schools in Dehradun and the largest school in
Mussoorie. All the three accounts had remained with him for the past three years continuously. His
reputation in the market was shooting up and he expected to win three more sizeable contracts from
prestigious institutes. Seeing the expected growth in business, Moga extended the size of his garage to
install more machines. However, this unauthorized increase in built area did not go unnoticed by the
Dehradun Development Authority (DDA), which was responsible for development of residential
buildings in Dehradun. Moga decided to pay a hefty sum to the Junior Engineer of DDA to get out of the
situation clean, but before this could happen, the local administration came to know that Moga had been
running manufacturing operations without a license all this while.

He was ordered to stall all production by immediate effect. This happened just two weeks before he was
to supply finished goods to the three schools in the beginning of the academic year. Talks of imminent
arrest of Moga Singh were spreading in the town. All the three schools’ broke contract with Moga Singh.
It was a desperate and difficult decision for Moga Singh to leave the house overnight along with his dog
and all the cash he had. He headed to Delhi to take refuge in the house of his childhood friend Sardar
Khushwant Singh, who would, in future, be famous for writing infamous books. Moga Singh had a sum
of 4 lakhs when he reached Delhi. His dog died by jumping from the moving train just few hundred
meters from Meerut Cantt Railway Station. It was later learnt that Dehradun police never had any
intentions to arrest Moga and the rumors were, well, rumors.

Sardar Khushwant Singh was a kind man. He owned some shops in the Connaught place. Though he did
not remember Moga Singh as his childhood friend, he still asked one of his existing tenants to move on
and gave the shop to

Moga Singh at a generous rent of Rs. 65 per month. Moga Singh made a trunk call to Dehradun and
asked his accountant to send all the equipment and workers to Delhi from Dehradun. Sardar Khushwant
Singh found some customer schools for Moga, as well as some retail shopkeepers. To Moga’s credit, he
worked hard and kept the schools satisfied. The schools here had different requirements as compared to
Dehradun. The schools gave contracts only to those manufacturers who would be ready to supply sports
dresses for the school teams. These sports dresses were unique for each school, and each school required
not more than 100 pieces of these dresses. This brought the economies of scale down, as the retailers did
not buy these dresses. However, the total worth of a contract with a school more than offset these losses.

In 1959, Moga Singh had garnered enough money. The first thing he did with this money was to buy a
house with a garage. He shifted the manufacturing operations to the garage and converted the existing
facility into a retail store for clothes. This time, the fast learning Sikh did not forget to get a license at
any point. As a remembrance to the birth of his twin sons that year after six years of marriage, Moga
named the store as Mogasons.

Mogasons: Present

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Today’s Mogasons at Connaught Place is quite different from what Mogasons was in 1959. Mogasons
Inc. today is a chain of branded and in-house branded clothing spread all over India. The company
operates at two levels. Moga’s sons created these levels in 1986, chiefly because of the rising needs and
demands of the fast-emerging rich class of people in the metropolitan India. (This is the official version.
A more accepted idea is that the two brothers had a rift and they wanted different divisions for
themselves).

Mogasons is the store for the rich class. The store sells company brands and dresses designed by some of
the famous designers of India. The company’s brands are “Vilakshan” brand for men and “Apsara” for
women. All the company

owned clothing bears the characteristic Mof Mogasons on the collar along with the brand name. No
Mogasons product bore the price of the product on itself. The typical size of a Mogasons store is 3200
square feet on a single floor. The stores are aesthetically designed to give the valued customers a unique
shopping experience. For example, furniture in the store has been sourced from Style Spa. The salesmen
and saleswomen at the store are graduates from NIFT Delhi. Though many people say that these are
those NIFT graduates who could not get a job elsewhere, they still make better salespeople than any
other store. For one, the personalized service that they provide to the clients in helping them dress for a
particular occasion was far better than a normal salesperson would provide.

There are 18 Mogasons stores in the seven metropolis of the country (4 biggies plus Ahmedabad, Pune
and Hyderabad. Half of them were in Bombay and Delhi alone. However, Mogasons has such brand
equity that the rich class from nearby cities also buy from Mogasons. There have been instances of
customers coming from as far as Lucknow to purchase items.

Clientele includes politicians; film stars and the who-is-who of the regular page 3 party people. Other
than this, the richest 5% of their respective cities are the target customers of the company. This includes
bureaucrats and businessmen. All the clients at Mogasons were offered liberal credits, something that
was not so prevalent in the other brand of store chain that the company owned- Signatures.

Signatures is the store for the middle class and upward. The store sells school uniforms, sports dresses &
clothing, and readymade informal and formal wear. The typical size of a Signatures store is 8000-10000
sq feet spread on three or four floors, depending on which city the store is present in. It must be noted
that development authorities do not allow stand-alone buildings of more than three floors in the
earthquake prone areas of India. In informal and formals division, Signatures houses the popular brands
of India along with the self-owned “Signatures” brand. 60% of the display space is dedicated to
Signatures brand

alone, though. In other categories, the Signatures stores house only the “Signatures” brand. All
“signatures” clothes have a non-negotiable price printed on them.

Signatures brand is also supplied to other competitive retailers in the marketplace. Competitors buy
because the product sells. The Signatures stores are again aesthetically designed, but the service is not as
personalized as at Mogasons. There are graduate salesmen and saleswomen who take care of the

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customers and see to it that the tried goods reach their shelf. There are 4 changing rooms on each floor of
the store.

Today, Signatures is a chain of 53 stores in the large and midsized cities of India. The chain is facing a
stiff competition from Tata owned Westside, which keeps coming with “up to” 50% discount schemes
every now and then. The company is presently supplying uniform to 45 different schools across India.
Manufacturing operations exist in 4 metros. Revenues equaled Rs. 200 crores. After the death of Moga’s
sons in a car accident five years back, Moga had to take the business in hand again. He had imposed a
retirement on himself at the age of 62 but had again to take up work at 65. It was widely known that
either the COO or the CIO will be the next heir to Sardar Moga Singh.

The Challenge

Sardar Moga Singh was able to interact with the Mogasons customers on a one to one basis in Delhi. In
other cities, Senior Relationship Managers handled these large accounts.
In the case of Signatures, this was not an easy thing to do. The customer base is pretty large. We all
know how important it is to retain a customer. This necessitated the need for a comprehensive CRM
solution, which could help the company in catering to the need of the customer individually and
effectively. Two years back, the company has applied a CRM system. The going has been good so far.
The company will review the benefits of the system only after the third year of its application.

The Customer Relationship Management at Mogasons

Signatures now communicates regularly with the customers. They are now using direct marketing
extensively to reach the customer. This includes weekly new customer offers, major purchase and
birthday pieces monthly, and a reactivation piece to get inactive customers back into the store. Vendors
like Lee, Givo and Gap also support the retailer’s direct marketing efforts, partnering with Mogasons on
brand-specific offers. Offers are either in rupee terms or percentage terms. The CRM solution also helps
Mogasons in analyzing the effects of promotions, as they can compare the results of the direct mailed
group with a test group. Courtesy Direct Marketing, the media expenditure has been reduced by 40%.

Performance Rewards

The most important part in direct mailing is capturing correct and complete data at point-of-sale. The
stores that exhibit a better capture rate are rewarded with incentives. Good capture rates are a must for
store managers to get a hike in salary.
Building Loyalty

The main goal at Signatures is to acquire and then retain newly acquired customers and at Mogasons
stores to retain all the preferred customers. When a customer visits the store, some specific data is asked
of him. This data helps in finding out whether the customer has been previously qualified as a preferred
customer or some other type.
Since two years, Mogasons runs a website for the customers. The preferred customers from Mogasons
can upload their photograph on an exclusive personal webpage at the website. The website allows

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customers to try different outfits on the image of a person resembling their face and body structure.
Other than this, Mogasons Inc. is using IT to send quick information to its customers about upcoming
sales and special offers.

Another benefit of using the CRM has come visible in the case of store location. By going through the
data, one can find out where most of the customers come from. For example, if we come to know that
30% of Mogasons customers at Connaught Place, Delhi come from Jaipur, it makes sense to open a store
in Jaipur itself. The company is currently facing problem in gathering point of purchase data about those
customers of the Signatures brand who buy from the competitor stores. This is a cause of concern as the
CRM system is not helping Mogasons understanding the market sentiment, but only the sentiment at the
Mogasons store and Signatures store. One more issue the company has to grapple with is whether
Mogasons stores should be a part of the CRM database. There is a very select clientele of Mogasons and
these accounts are anyways handled personally and very effectively. Currently one benefit that has come
out of this data is that the website automatically suggests dresses to the person according to his taste.
Even if we find recording the data important, should the data from Mogasons and Signatures be
integrated is a question Sardar Moga Singh will ponder over these holidays. Had his sons been alive, he
would have been probably on a long vacation at Dehradun- the place where he had his foundations. Alas,
a businessman never takes rest!
Question - What is the problem in this case? What alternatives are available for the old sardar in this
case? What should he do now? Supplement your answer with proper rationale?

CASE STUDY 47: Tata Motors Ltd.


Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in
Mumbai. It is a subsidiary of Tata Group, an Indian conglomerate. Its products include passenger cars,
trucks, vans, coaches, buses, sports cars, construction equipment and military vehicles. It has revenue of
US$43.910 billion (2018), operating income of US$1.614 billion (2017), net income of US$1.31 billion
(2018). The company has employee strength of 81,090 (2018), and employs total assets of US$41.066
billion (2017), with equity capital of US$8.226 billion (2017).

Tata Motors has auto manufacturing and assembly plants in Jamshedpur, Pantnagar, Lucknow, Sanand,
Dharwad, and Pune in India, as well as in Argentina, South Africa, Great Britain, and Thailand. It has
research and development centers in Pune, Jamshedpur, Lucknow, and Dharwad, India and in South
Korea, Great Britain, and Spain. Tata Motors' principal subsidiaries purchased the English premium car
maker Jaguar Land Rover (the maker of Jaguar and Land Rover cars) and the South Korean commercial
vehicle manufacturer Tata Daewoo. Tata Motors has a bus-manufacturing joint venture with Marcopolo
S.A. (Tata Marco polo), a construction-equipment manufacturing joint venture with Hitachi (Tata
Hitachi Construction Machinery), and a joint venture with Fiat Chrysler which manufactures automotive
components and Fiat Chrysler and Tata branded vehicles.

Founded in 1945 as a manufacturer of locomotives, the company manufactured its first commercial
130
vehicle in 1954 in collaboration with Daimler-Benz AG, which ended in 1969. Tata Motors entered the
passenger vehicle market in 1988 with the launch of the Tata Mobile followed by the Tata Sierra in
1991, becoming the first Indian manufacturer to achieve the capability of developing a competitive
indigenous automobile. In 1998, Tata launched the first fully indigenous Indian passenger car, the Indica,
and in 2008 launched the Tata Nano, the world's cheapest car. Tata Motors acquired the South Korean
truck manufacturer Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Company in 2004 and purchased Jaguar Land Rover
from Ford in 2008.

Brief History:

Tata entered the commercial vehicle sector in 1954 after forming a joint venture with Daimler-Benz of
Germany. After years of dominating the commercial vehicle market in India, Tata Motors entered the
passenger vehicle market in 1991 by launching the Tata Sierra, a sport utility vehicle based on the Tata
Mobile platform. Tata subsequently launched the Tata Estate (1992; a station wagon design based on the
earlier Tata Mobile), the Tata Sumo (1994, a 5-door SUV) and the Tata Safari (1998).

Tata launched the Indica in 1998, the first fully indigenous Indian passenger car. Although initially
criticized by auto analysts, its excellent fuel economy, powerful engine, and an aggressive marketing
strategy made it one of the best-selling cars in the history of the Indian automobile industries. A newer
version of the car, named Indica V2, was a major improvement over the previous version and quickly
became a mass favourite. Tata Motors also successfully exported large numbers of the car to South
Africa. The success of the Indica played a key role in the growth of Tata Motors.

• In 2004, Tata Motors acquired Daewoo's South Korea-based truck manufacturing unit, Daewoo
Commercial Vehicles Company, later renamed Tata Daewoo. 


• On 27 September 2004, Tata Motors rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange to mark
the listing of Tata Motors. 


• In 2005, Tata Motors acquired a 21% controlling stake in the Spanish bus and coach manufacturer
Hispano Carrocera. Tata Motors continued its market area expansion through the introduction of
new products such as buses (Star bus and Globus, jointly developed with subsidiary Hispano
Carrocera) and trucks (Novus, jointly developed with subsidiary Tata Daewoo). 


• In 2006, Tata formed a joint venture with the Brazil-based Marco polo, Tata Marco polo Bus, to
manufacture fully built buses and coaches. 


• In 2008, Tata Motors acquired the English car maker Jaguar Land Rover, manufacturer of the Jaguar
and Land Rover from Ford Motor Company. 


• In May 2009, Tata unveiled the Tata World Truck range jointly developed with Tata Daewoo; the
range went on sale in South Korea, South Africa, the SAARC countries, and the Middle East at
the end of 2009. 


• Tata acquired full ownership of Hispano Carrocera in 2009. 


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• In 2010, Tata Motors acquired an 80% stake in the Italian design and engineering company 
Trilix
for €1.85 million. The acquisition formed part of the company's plan to enhance its 
styling and
design capabilities. 


• On 8 March 2017, Tata Motors announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding 
with
Volkswagen to develop vehicles for India's domestic market. 


• Tata Motors operations abroad 


• Operations:

Tata Motors has vehicle assembly operations in India, Great Britain, South Korea, Thailand, Spain and
South Africa. It plans to establish plants in Turkey, Indonesia, and Eastern Europe.

Tata Motors Cars

Tata Motors Cars is a division of Tata Motors which produces passenger cars under the Tata Motors
marque. Tata Motors is among the top four passenger vehicle brands in India with products in the
compact, midsize car, and utility vehicle segments.[24] The company's manufacturing base in India is
spread across Jamshedpur (Jharkhand), Pune (Maharashtra), Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Pantnagar
(Uttarakhand), Dharwad (Karnataka) and Sanand (Gujarat). Tata's dealership, sales, service, and spare
parts network comprises over 3,500 touch points.[24] Tata Motors has more than 250 dealerships in
more than 195 cities across 27 states and four Union Territories of India.[25] It has the third-largest sales
and service network after Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai.

Tata also has franchisee/joint venture assembly operations in Kenya, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Russia, and
Senegal.[26] Tata has dealerships in 26 countries across 4 continents. Tata is present in many countries,
it has managed to create a large consumer base in the Indian Subcontinent, namely India, Bangladesh,
Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. Tata is also present in Italy, Spain, Poland, Romania, Turkey, Chile,
South Africa, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Iraq, Syria and
Australia.

Tata Daewoo

Tata Daewoo (officially Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Company and formerly Daewoo Commercial
Vehicle Company) is a commercial vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do, South
Korea, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors. It is the second-largest heavy commercial vehicle
manufacturer in South Korea and was acquired by Tata Motors in 2004. The principal reasons behind the
acquisition were to reduce Tata's dependence on the Indian commercial vehicle market (which was
responsible for around 94% of its sales in the MHCV segment and around 84% in the light commercial
vehicle segment) and expand its product portfolio by leveraging on Daewoo's strengths in the heavy-
tonnage sector.
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Tata Motors has jointly worked with Tata Daewoo to develop trucks such as Novus and World Truck
and buses including Globus and Star Bus. In 2012, Tata began developing a new line to manufacture
competitive and fuel-efficient commercial vehicles to face the competition posed by the entry of
international brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and Navistar into the Indian market.

Tata Hispano

Tata Hispano Motors Carrocera, S.A. was a bus and coach manufacturer based in Zaragoza, Aragon,
Spain, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors. Tata Hispano has plants in Zaragoza, Spain, and
Casablanca, Morocco. Tata Motors first acquired a 21% stake in Hispano Carrocera SA in 2005 and
purchased the remaining 79% for an undisclosed sum in 2009, making it a fully owned subsidiary,
subsequently renamed Tata Hispano. In 2013, Tata Hispano ceased production at its Zaragoza plant.

Jaguar Land Rover

Jaguar Land Rover PLC is a British premium automaker headquartered in Whitley, Coventry, United
Kingdom, and has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Motors since June 2008, when it was
acquired from Ford Motor Company of USA. Its principal activity is the development, manufacture and
sale of Jaguar luxury and sports cars and Land Rover premium four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Jaguar Land Rover has two design centers and three assembly plants in the United Kingdom. Under Tata
ownership, Jaguar Land Rover has launched new vehicles including the Range Rover Evoque, Jaguar F-
Type, the Jaguar XE, the Jaguar XJ (X351), the second-generation Range Rover Sport, and Jaguar XF,
the fourth-generation Land Rover Discovery, Range Rover Velar, and the Range Rover (L405).

Questions:

• Analyze Tata Motor’s strategy of expanding its business in global markets.

• Should the company adopt an international strategy, a multi-Domestic strategy, or a Global strategy?
Explain your answer in detail.

Case Study 48: Bulbul Pressure Cooker- Managing Product in a Declining


Market

Ms Kanchan Chawla is the Director, Marketing at Mittal Group which manufactures Bubul
brand of pressure cookers. Pressure cookers as a category have a very long market presence
in India. Mittal Group is evaluating options for growing in Indian market, particularly in a
market where pressure cookers are commodities. She looked into a summary report on
pressure cooker market and plans to present a suitable marketing plan for Bulbul brand in
the forthcoming meeting of the company.

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Pressure Cooker Market-A Snap Shot

 For Pressure Cooker manufacturers, it is now becoming evident that households


belonging to the mid and low socioeconomic classes are becoming relevant target
groups.

 The data shows that in the last decade they have grown in economic power and it
is predicted that it will continue to exert more economic power in future on such
durable products.
 Their exposure to media, especially TV, has also grown in the last decade this will
help marketer of pressure cooker to focus on building the brand of their product and
create awareness because the buyer behavior is highly affected as people tend to
buy what they watch on TV and they buy as they know the brand.
 This suggests that households in the mid (SEC C) and low (SEC D&E)
socioeconomic classes are segments that can no longer be ignored. Marketers faced
with the issue of slowdown in growth due to saturation in the high socioeconomic
classes. Thus they should examine these segments more closely as they represent
increasingly important sources of future growth.

Relevant Indian Market For Pressure Cookers

As customers need differs, it becomes more challenging for a marketer to develop a


common, actionable segment and integrate segment-level goals into planning and
performance-management processes.Effective customer segment management isimportant
for emerging proliferating environment. Identifying customer on the basis of differing need
create opportunity for the company and specialist competitor to cater that segment.The
flurishing distribution channels and media coverage is serving companies to target most
valuable customer segment with customerized servies and advertising.

Segmentation – one of the most difficult marketing concepts to apply but still very
important in gaining differential competitive advantage and greater profits. Each segment
has customers those have similar buying behaviour and seek same benefits from the
company’s offering, but which are distinct from the rest of the market. Segments should
be of adequate size and should be reachable. After eliminating unsuitable markets, a market map must
be drawn for distinguishing segments in the remaining/chosen markets.This will help in segmenting the markets
on the bases of the segmentation variables of what is bought, by whom is it bought, and why is it bought?

Mittal Group has never formally segmented its markets on various segmentation variables
but it chooses to cater markets where it knows that its products would be saleable on the
basis of experience, keeping in mind the requirement for the product, logistics,
competitive situation, and purchasing power of buyers in the particular segment. Its
cookware markets are segmented on the bases of usage, (professional or domestic), income
(lower & lower middle class), and geographic areas (rural and sub-urban).

134
CUSTOMER NEEDS

Cookware that is

Fast/ Time Saving


Retain Nutrients

Easy To Use and Safe

Urban Market Broadly


Solar Cookers
Rural Market
Electrical Cooker
Housewife
Open Pot Cooking
Microwave Oven

ALTERNATIVE
COOKING OPTIONS
CUSTOME
R
SEGMENT
S

However for understanding the buyer behaviour for product like pressure cooker the
following study of segment present in India is critical to us.

135
In India, marketers conventionally focus their interest and marketing effort on the higher
socioeconomic classes which are easily identified and easier to understand. This essay
examines the changes in the demographic profile, media habits and penetration of pressure
cooker and other household product, and suggests that it is now critical time to observe the
relevance of mid and low socio economic classes who, over the last decade, have gradually
but certainly grown in economic power and today contribute considerable volumes to
number of product categories.

Urban Indian household are classified on the basis of education and occupation of the chief
wage earner. For examination of consumption behaviour the classification based on income
(being reflective of lifestyle) is considered more relevant. Data sourced from Indian
Readership Survey (*IRS 1998-1999) gives the education and occupation profileof the
chief wage earner of households.i

Table Showing Demographic Profile

Socio
Economi
c
Segment Class Occupation Education
SECA High Industrialist/businessmen Graduates/ Post Grads
Employed at supervisory
SECB High level, shopkeepers Grads/post grads/ 10/12
Employed at clerical
level, skilled worker,
SECC Mid petty traders till class10 and 12
have attended school till a
Unskilled worker, petty maximum of the 9th grade or
SECD Low trades illiterate
have attended school till a
Unskilled worker, petty maximum of the 9th grade or
SECE Low trades illiterate

According to data sourced from the National Readership Survey IV (NRS IV 1990-1991)
and Indian Readership Survey (IRS 1998-1999), urban households have increased their
average monthly household income (MHI) by 2.1 to 2.3 times between 1990 and 1999. The
increase in average MHI has been higher in the low socioeconomic classes (SEC D&E
which account for over 50% of the urban households), i.e. about 14 percentage points more
than the percentage increase in average MHI of the higher socioeconomic classes (SEC
A&B) as shown in Table 1.

136
TABLE 1

Percentage Increase in Average MHI between 1990 and 1999

Socio-economic class % increase in avg. MHI

SEC A 113
SEC B 113
SEC C 117
SEC D & E 127

Source: NRS IV (1990-91) & IRS *(1998-99).

The per capita private final consumption expenditure (per capita PFCE at 1993-94 prices:
surrogate for consumption expenditure) went up by 18% between the years 1993-94 and
1997-98 according to the 1999 issue of the National Accounts Statistics. Therefore, not
only income but consumption expenditure as well has shown an increase. However, per
capita PFCE data is available only at an aggregate level for both urban and rural India
together. Since we expect consumption expenditure to be increasing at a faster rate for
urban vis-à-vis rural consumers, this aggregate figure indicates that urban consumption
expenditure has increased by at least 18%.ii

The last 10 years have therefore brought about an increase in the income of the urban Indian
consumer; a change witnessed across socioeconomic classes, but much more so in the
lower socioeconomic classes.

To understand the buyer behaviour and the market it is important for us to know percentage
of households owning pressure cooker also, we have examined penetration of some of other
house durables, i.e. television, electric iron, LPG stove, mixer/grinder which will help us
to understand buying behavior of the above classified segments over a decade. (Please
refer Appendix 1)

Table 2 shows the absolute percentage increase in household penetration of some


household durables between 1990 and 1999.

Categories such as refrigerators, washing machines mixer/grinders have shown the highest
proportion increase in penetration in SEC A & B households. Electric irons, LPG stoves,
pressure cookers, mixer grinder (all household convenience appliances) haveregistered
a healthy increase of 10 % in the low socioeconomic classes (SEC D&E).

137
This clearly explains the nature of expenditure by SEC A&B is more on electrical
appliances where as SEC C, D & E which constitute of major population proportion on
India spend more on necessity products.

138
TABLE 2

Absolute % Increase in Household Penetration between 1990 and 1999

ALL SEC A SEC B SEC C SEC D/E


Base: All Urban % % % % %
Households
Television 20 6 11 19 25
Pressure Cooker 17 7 13 18 18
Electric Iron 12 12 13 13 10
LPG Stove 15 13 18 19 10
Mixer/Grinder 16 20 23 21 10
Refrigerator 10 19 18 13 4
Washing Machine 5 21 9 4 1

Source: NRS IV (1990-91) & IRS (1998-99).

Table 3 below illustrates the absolute increase in household base (total number of
households owning that durable) and the SEC wise composition of the additional base.

In case of pressure cooker, in the last decade, there has been an increase of 13.14 million
households owning pressure cooker.

22% of these households are SEC B households, 27% are SEC C households where as 42%
are SEC D&E households. Thus the mid and low socioeconomic classes put together
account more then 67% of the increase in household base. These figures throw light on the
market potential for pressure cooker among the various socio economic groups.
Thus the mid and low socioeconomic classes comprise a large segment of the market for
some durables. However, they have a reasonably smaller share in the market for higher end
durables like refrigerators and washing machines.

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TABLE 3

Composition of Additional Household Base

Increase in Percentage composition of


household base additional household base
between
1_990-1999 in
millions
(projected)
SEC SEC SEC SEC
A% B% C% D/E %
Television 15.04 9 19 25 48
Pressure 13.14 10 22 27 42
Cooker
Electric Iron 9.80 15 27 28 31
LPG Stove 10.60 14 29 30 27
Mixers/Grinder 9.89 16 29 28 27
Refrigerator 6.57 24 35 26 15
Washing 2.64 44 34 17 5
machine

Source: NRS IV (1990-91) & IRS (1998-99).

Positioning Problems in Pressure Cooker Market

Ries and Trout explain that while positioning begins with a product, the concept really is
about positioning that product in the mind of the customer. This approach is needed
because consumers are bombarded with a continuous stream of advertising. The
consumer’s mind reacts to this high volume of advertising by accepting only what is
consistent with prior knowledge or experience.iii

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In today’s growing market with healthy competition around, it is very important to for a
marketer to secure relatively higher position in mind of customer then the key competitor.
A product position is reflected by the attitudes of the people in the target market.Marketers
accept customer’s attitude as they are and tailor any of the marketing mix to fit in these
attitudes. If they are not successful they seek to change there attitude. Positioningindicates
how a company wishes to compete in market place. The main role of positioning is to
ensure that their product is differentiated in the mind of customer.

According to Porter’s generic strategies, by cost leadership, differentiation and focusing as


a strategy tool can be used for effective positioning.

In order to position the products, brands, and the company in the target markets, it is
fundamental to carry out a detailed marketing-mix audit. Brands are very important here
because it is through brands that companies are able to convert a commodity into a
differentiated product that helps earn higher profits. Any of the 4Ps of marketing can be
used to achieve differentiated positioning but the differentiation should be instantly
perceived by customers as such and should be of additional benefit to them. In the highly
commoditized/low differentiation Indian cookware market, Bulbul has positioned its
cookware brand on the basis of high value-for-money by consistently giving high quality
at reasonable prices, for over thirty years now. Since this difference is perceived by
customers as most durable cookware in comparison to the competition, the company is
able to command slightly higher prices that its competitors. If a product positioning map is
drawn for its cookware on the basis of price and durability, it would look like the map
below, for Bulbul

Figure 1 – Product Positioning Map

Higher Price

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Less Durable Highly Durable

Lower Price

Source Friend, G. and Zehle, S. (2004), ‘Guide to Business Planning’, the Economist,
London.

For many years, pressure cooker manufacturers enjoyed market power over retailers
because of less choice with them. Manufacturer like TTK, Prestige and Hawkins Cookware
Ltd spends huge amount on advertising to build brand preference, and retailersare obliged
to carry their brands. However, because of the growth of giant retailers, lower-priced store
brands, lack of shelf space, and retailers growing marketing sophistication, retailers are
now in position to exert more pressure on manufacturers for price, delivery and
promotional consideration. Pressure cooker manufacturer are now trying to figure out
how they can hold or gain their power in market. Apart from theeffort of positioning
the product by huge investment in advertising by major players the most challenging task
for a pressure cooker manufacturer is to satisfy dealers and distributors. As retailers are in
direct in touch with customers they tend to have greater influence on consumer decision
and develop a positive or negative image for a product.
They play a major role in forming the customer attitude, changing the customer attitude
thus in positioning the product.

It is important to understand the firm’s competitive strategies and positioning. The best
way to understand the competitive positioning can be through Michael Porter’s (1980)
positioning matrix based on cost and differentiation. According to this, there are four
quadrants in which a firm/brand/product can be positioned: Cost leadership, outstanding
success, niche, and disaster (Please refer to appendix 2).

On Porter’s positioning matrix (Appendix2), the company informally positions itself on the
‘Cost-leader’ quadrant for cookware with the lowest costs in the industry.

In reference with the competition, many key players in the industry, has not only been from
other pressure cooker brands but also from other products that occupy space in the kitchen.
The advertising and marketing of pressure cooker brands have been focusing on quick
nutritious food with safety. Since safety feature of pressure cookers is on top of the minds
of the manufacturers, companies' holograms have been advertised to make the consumers
aware of the genuine brandsiv.

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Advertising and positioning: of Pressure cooker in India.

Advertisement plays a key role in positioning the product. It provides information about
the product, its features, manufacturer, quality, price, warranty, etc. Thus a consumer forms
an image in their mind and develops a positive or negative attitude about the product. We
will now look how different pressure cooker brands are trying to position themselves in the
market via advertising as a tool.

TTK's Prestige advertising spend has always been to trumpet its pressure cookers as a
very safe utensil, and therefore, the preferred choice of any husband. Few can forget the
'joh biwi se kare paar, woh Prestige se kaise kare inkar' super punch-line.

While Kanchan International Ltd has been promoting its pressure cookers with the
tagline 'Make life easy,' the unchanged line of United Pressure cooker has been khaye
jaao khaye jaao, United ke gun gaaye jaao. “Preethy” says “I guarantee” where as
BULBUL says “Bina kisi jhan-jhat, Khana bane jhat-pat”. Hawkins says “One
better than the other”

TTK Prestige has invested Rs 10 crore in launching Smart Range of pressure cookers
and plans to invest another Rs 5 crore over the next two years. (FE, Dec 31, 2001) Its Smart
range asks the consumer, "Kya aap taiyaar hei aur bhi Smart kitchen ke liye?" TTK
Prestige's this new brand proposition is aimed at appealing to the contemporary woman.

While TTK Prestige Ltd. spent Rs. 169.4 million for the year ending March 2001 on
advertising promotion (Mudra) and public relations, Hawkins Cookers Ltd's advertising
and promotion spent has been Rs 184.2 million crore during the same period.
(Indiainfoline.com).

We now will analyse the different positioning strategies adapted by various marketers.
With major focus of our study on market leaders Prestige and Hawkins along with our
company’s brand Bulbul and some other players.

Prestige Pressure Cooker.

Launched in 1950’s, Prestige made the first move in pressure cooker market in India.
At that time, Indian consumers were somewhat anxious to use a pressure cooker.
Consumers with distrust and fear looked upon the product category. Prestige used this as
the concept to and using careful communication messages was able to position itself as
the safest cooker it also popularized pressure cooker as an essential cooking device. It
was successful in revolutionizing the attitude of cooking in India

“Although the early campaigns of Prestige brand has been able to create the brand equity,
the share of voice of this brand still remains low. The brand does not remind you of any
meaningful positioning except for the safety factor in Pressure cookers. If this brand has to
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transform itself to be a small appliances brand, it has to discover some core values of the
brand and position the brand around it ( Which it has not done). For example, a

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regional brand “Preethy “which is a major player in the Mixie category is using a
homemaker (model of course) to endorse the brand by using the tagline “ I guarantee”
which can be extended to any product categories.”v

This was followed by ‘Product Demonstrations’. Prestige started highly successful house
to house demonstrations to popularize the efficacy of this product category. These steps
enabled the market to grow very fast and the most important effect was that consumer
where now aware, some what familier with the brand thus making it a household name.

From its understanding of Indian consumer, their cooking practicies and their attitude
Prestige used Innovation as a key tool to diffenciate itself from other products The pressure
pan was introduced in 1980.(Please refer Appendix 3 (A) and 3 (D) ) A multi- utility utensil
that could fry, saute, and pressure cook.To tap premium segment, Prestige launched the
Deluxe range of pressure cooker in 2003 with safety feature like Gasket Release System
and Gasket offset device.(Please refer Appendix 3(C) )Further it came up with unique
concept of separator cooking which means two dishes can be cooked in the pressure cooker
at the same time thus increasing the utility and reducing the fuel costs.

Prestige then extented the brand by venturing into Non stick cookware category. By
constant innovation Prestige leveraged its brand equity. It further came up with pressure
cooker in shape of kadai and handi available in diffent color.(Please refer Appendix 3(E)).
After gaining leadership in the cookware segment in india, the company has repositioned
itself from being a kitchenware & small appliances company to being India’s only Total
Kitchen Solutions Provider by entering into the Modular Kitchen Segment.(Please refer
Appendix 3(F)) During the non peak season to boost the sale and penetrate in mature market
it promoted by proving the exchange offer.(Please refer Appendix 3(B))

In pressure cooker market, Prestige is one of the best example in following the appropratie
postioning strtergy time to time. This has helped the company to gain competatiove
advatage by differincating its self by constant innovation in product, price and above all
the promotion.

(Please refer Appendix 3) to see various advertisement of prestige and how it positioned
it self in the market.

Bulbul Pressure Cooker

Mittal Udyog was established in the year 1974.It is the leading manufacturer of Aluminium
cookware in India. Its products are sold under the brand ‘BULBUL’ through a network of
more than 150 distributors and 2,000 dealers spread across the country. The company also
provides special products manufactured under exclusivity contracts for customers.

The company aims to be “one stop solution for kitchenware”. The company aims to
achieve operational excellence by delivering a combination of competitive price, quality
and ease of purchase that no one else can match.

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It manufactures a wide range of Aluminium Mokapots, Aluminium Pots & Pans and
Aluminium Bakeware. Further, it extended its brand by manufacturing Pressure Cooker
in 2002. Bulbul brand is having strong footing in cookware sector in India. With this
strength of company and its far-reaching capacity to delver high quality products at
minimum cost, company accomplished success.

Initially, BULBUL Pressure Cooker was launched with low price keeping in mind to
compete with existing store brands. An introductory offer of various gifts was provided to
dealers and consumers to promote the brand. The company did not spend much on
advertisement as it penetrated in the market by selling its product to its existing distribution
network of cookware. It got good response from the market as the brand “Bulbul” was well
known among the distributors and dealers and this gave the company aplatform to focus in
this proliferating segment of pressure cooker and deliver value to its customer. Since
beginning of its life cycle stage, Bulbul pressure cooker was positionedas ‘safest and
value for money’ product. After some time the price was kept same but company promoted
the brand delivering benefits to channel partners and value to consumers. Point of sale
display was provided at most of the dealer outlets. The companyinitiated advertisement by
giving ads in local news papers in various sates of India. It gave regular “ear panel” ads in
the news paper (Please refer Appendix 5 (A)).

The promotion was in Ad-Hoc manner, unplanned and with no defined budgets but at its
core Bulbul pressure cookers were successful in delivering quality and safety at reasonable
price, creating position for itself in mind of consumers and also satisfying the channel
partners. “Bulbul Pressure Cooker as a product speaks for itself” now andduring
that time. The only critical concern to company was of the awareness. During the phase of
expanding distribution network, company realized that the new ‘prospective’ distributors
in various new cities/states across the country were not aware of the brand.To this
company penetrated via prints ads. Bulbul pressure cooker ads were regularlyseen in
the magazines like Ghruh Shobha, Nayika, Sarita, (Please refer Appendix 5 (G)&(H)) in
local new paper in various cities. Company then constantly promoted the product by
outdoor advertising, organizing various events in town - pressure cooking contest,
sponsoring events, putting up stalls in exhibitions, wall paintings, banners, danglers
etc.(Please refer Appendix 5(B) to 5(F ) With its constant effort in achieving excellence
company further improved the quality and delivered higher value to customer. Bulbul also
improved quality of promotions not only to penetrate in market but toposition itself not
only in minds of customer but in the hearts of customer by its excellence and high value
actually perceived by customer. (Please refer Appendix5 (I)). In mid June, 2006 it came
up with its first TV commercials on Sanskar channel and India TV to reach Indian women.
In response to fizz in organized retail sector, Bulbul Pressure Cooker tied up with Big
Baazar, Reliance Retail, and ITC and got overwhelming response and expects further
growth. It also has tie up with Metro Cash-n-Carry, which is India’s only wholesale
supermarket. To cater higher segment, company launched premium pressure cooker range
BULBUL GOLD in Oct 2006. Currently, company is concentrating in building brand, in
particular Bulbul Goldand is positioning it self with same core values of quality, safety
and reasonable price along with time saving product.

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It says “Bina kisi jhanjhat, khana pakai jhat pat.” It recently came up with its new
TV commercial for the same on STAR ONE during 12 pm to 6 pm targeting
housewives and creating awareness of the new premium range of pressure cooker.
, (Please refer Appendix 5 (J) to(N))

Note: Please refer Appendix 5 to see the various ads published in news paper,
magazines and newspaper articles published on Bulbul Pressure cooker time to
time.

Future Challenges for Bulbul Pressure Cooker

There was no doubt that pressure cooker as a product category is in a saturated


market and is on a decline. There has been a high level of commoditization of the
product and competition arising out of small and medium organizations. In
pressure cooker market companies emphasize on customer-centric innovation,
technological excellence, acquisitions, alliances and partnerships. Market research
has shown that word-of-mouth has been extremely important for a product such as
a cooker during its initial phase of market development. vi

For Bulbul Pressure Cooker with its biggest strength of producing low cost-high
quality product by achieving excellence in production, it has a huge market waiting
to be tapped, both at National and at International Levels. According to
Magindia, the country isnowhere near the total market of 50 million pressure
cookers produced worldwide. Bulbul now needs to be more aggressive in
marketing; however market is assumed to grow at a slower pace but with unique
marketing mix, it will be able to make the pressure cooker available to more
households especially in rural market, from where the future demand would come.
Ms Kanchan Chawla needs to develop a suitable marketing program for Bubul
Pressure cooker.

Questions

1. analyze the pressure cooker market in India?


2. What are the unique features of pressure cooker market of India
and wheredoes Ms Kanchan find opportunity for future growth?
3. At what stage of product life cycle pressure cookers are in India?
4. what marketing program can be suggested for pressure cooker
marketersof India and what specific action plan for Bubul Pressure
Cooker in the form of Marketing Mix decision?

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Case Study 49: Developing a Pricing Strategy for Clinic All Clear

Clinic All Clear is a leading Hair Care brand in India. Hair care as a category is growing very
fast in India and its growth is comparable to other FMCG categories in India. HUL plans to
marginally alter the positioning of All Clear to attract a wider consumer base. The brand will,
however, strictly remain within the anti- dandruff segment. For this, the prices were altered and
newer segments were sought to widen the customer net. Lever is, however, keeping the price of
All Clear sachets as they are. As analysts at research house ICICI say, HUL had taken a bigger
price cut in shampoo realization by offering 8 ml Clinic Plus sachets at Re 1, a 50% mark down.
This had brought it on par with low priced brands such as Chik by CavinKare. But this meager
repositioning with price differential will not do for Indian market. They need to come out with a
suitable product strategy. The Vice President (Personal Care) is evaluating a possible option for
developing a suitable pricing strategy for Clinic All Clear Brand in Indian market.
Hair Care in India

At a time when most fast moving consumer goods categories are inching along, personal
products are being seen as the harbinger of prosperity. And hair care products are the fastest-
growing category within personal products. When the market size of products such as skincare
and toothbrushes doubled in value, the size of the shampoo market expanded two-and-a-half
times over the same period. Not surprisingly, shampoo is a high priority area for major players
such as Hindustan Lever. Unlike other FMCG categories such as soaps and detergents, which
boast of a penetration level of more than 90 per cent, shampoos remain a low penetration
category. Industry sources estimate that the urban market penetration of shampoos is a modest 36
per cent. Shampoo usage in the rural markets is even more infrequent, with a penetration level of
12 per cent. Thus,even for the largest player in this industry, there is considerable scope for
volume expansion by converting non-users.

HUL’s Domination in Shampoos

For a market with high potential, the shampoo market in India is dominated by just a few
players. From scores of brands five years ago, the shampoo market has now been whittled down
to a handful. Hindustan Lever with a 65 per cent volume share (68 per cent share by value),
dominates the market with brands such as Sunsilk, Clinic Plus and Clinic All Clear. Cavin Kare
Limited, an unlisted company from Chennai, with brands such as Chik and Nyle follows with a
19.8 per cent volume share.
Procter & Gamble is the only other large player in this category with brands such as Pantene Pro-
V and Head & Shoulders. P&G discontinued its shampoo manufacturing operations in India in
2000. Most of its brands are today directly imported from other Asian countries such as
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Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam.
New entrants are probably discouraged by the formidable task of establishing a distribution
network from scratch. HUL's long established ties with retailers and its extensive distribution
reach probably acts as an entry barrier for new entrants. Cavin Kare Limited, which has managed
to garner a significant share of the shampoo market despite this handicap, has focused on scaled-
down versions of its brands and herbal shampoos -- two segments where the market leader did
not have a presence. Cavin Kare's shampoo business has grown faster than the overall market.
Though HUL have a 69 per cent share of the shampoo market, they have just 10 per cent of the
hair wash occasions in the country. They work at getting consumers to switch over from
alternatives, such as natural products and soaps, to shampoos.
Despite its undisputed potential, the rapid expansion of the shampoo market was interrupted in
1999. Overall growth rates in the market slowed to 1.7 per cent in 1999, from 16 per cent the
previous year. Between January and November 2000, however, the market recovered some, and
the shampoo category has grown by around 10 per cent. The reason for the slowdown was
``Lack of innovation'', said General Manager Marketing, Personal Products, Hindustan
UniLever.
Another reason is the slowdown in growth rates to the contraction of agricultural incomes.
Roughly a fourth of the shampoo market is in rural India. But the rural market is the key driver
for sachets, which make up 70 per cent of the total shampoo sales. HUL has higher stakes in the
rural market with an 80 per cent share

Barriers to Shampoo Use

The company had identified three major barriers to shampoo use in India –
 the perception that shampoos contain harsh chemicals that could damage hair
 high price
 the view that the shampoo is more of a glamour product rather than a hygiene
product.

The Historical Response


The strategies of the major players have revolved around attacking these barriers to usage. The
players obviously believe that the key obstacle to recruiting new users lies in the high price of
shampoos as a product. Unlike other FMCG categories, where marketers are experimenting with
low unit packs, as a concept, the low unit shampoo packs have been around for over a decade.
Therefore, marketers have been working at scaling down prices further.
Cavin Kare made the first such attempt. It introduced a smaller 50 paise sachet of Chik, when
most other sachets retailed at Rs 2. The effort appears to have been an unqualified success, with
the Chik brand expanding by 40 per cent after the launch. A new 50 ml bottle of Chik priced at
Rs 6 (when most other brands were available in 100 ml bottles and above) has also helped
expanded the brand.
HUL acknowledges that the Chik innovations have expanded the overall market, trimming
HUL's volume shares by 2-3 percentage points. Cavin Kare has expanded the market itself.
Though HUL’s volume shares are down, the brands have not lost volume. They continue to
sustain their earlier growth rates.
HUL responded with its own 50 paise version of Lux shampoo. The company launched 30 ml
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bubble pack for Clinic Plus (Rs 8) which was an innovative and cost-effective alternative for
sachet users. While sachets are difficult to store and re-use, the bubble pack allows the user to
extract just the right quantity for a single wash.
The scaled down versions could help pep up volume growth rates for major players. But they
have also had the effect of lowering the per ml cost of the major brands retailed through sachets.
Till the time the players upgrade users to the larger pack sizes, the sachet revolution could
restrict margin expansion for the players.

Functional Benefits in a Shampoo Product


Players have also tried other routes to expand the shampoo market. Fighting the perception that
shampoos are essentially glamour products, marketers have tried to add a utility value to
shampoos by offering functional benefits. Anti-dandruff shampoos represent this attempt. Clinic
Plus, one of the first anti-dandruff brands, is the largest shampoo brand today, with a market
share of 31 per cent.
Clinic All Clear, the anti-dandruff extension targeted at the youth has also managed to garner a
13 per cent share. Due to its low pricing (Rs 71 for a 160 ml bottle against Rs 68 for a 100 ml
bottle of Head & Shoulders anti-dandruff shampoo), the brand also has a significant rural market
share of 44 per cent.

HUL also experimented with different versions of Sunsilk for dry, normal and oily hair. Procter
& Gamble's Head & Shoulders Menthol and Pantene Lively Clean also offer functional benefits
to users. Since these add-ons enable brands to command a price premium over the plain
shampoos, this strategy could aid both volume and margin expansion.

One of the key barriers to shampoo usage lies in the reluctance to use a synthetic product on hair.
Worldwide, therefore, herbal shampoos or botanicals are a fast growing category. Ayur from
RDM Traders Private Limited and Nyle Herbal, a herbal shampoo launched by Cavin Kare, have
been some of the early entrants in the Indian herbal shampoos market.
These products use traditional Indian herbs such as shikakai, soap nuts and amla as ingredients
and have been a success. Nyle Herbal is among the top five shampoo brands in the country and
herbal shampoos today account for 10 per cent of the market size. That industry leader,
Hindustan UniLever, does not as yet have a presence in this segment is noteworthy. However,
brands such as Sunsilk have been emphasising natural ingredients such as `fruitamins'.
However, high price could be a key barrier when it comes to herbal shampoos. The key
challenge in manufacturing herbals lies in efficacy. Users typically require larger quantities or
higher concentrations of herbal shampoos to replicate the results of synthetic shampoos.
Bringing down prices can therefore be quite difficult in this case. This is probably why 90 per
cent of the herbal shampoos still sells only in the urban markets.

Specialized Shampoos

Meanwhile, the value-added shampoo segment is getting quite crowded, with a range of
pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies launching specialised products. While Dabur has
leveraged Vatika's brand equity to launch Vatika Herbal shampoo, Godrej Soaps has leveraged
its dominance of the hair colour market to launch Godrej Colourgloss shampoo, for users with
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coloured hair. This apart, several pharma companies (including Johnson & Johnson) have
launched medicated anti-dandruff shampoos (which will probably carry higher credibility with
buyers), while cosmetic companies such as Biotique and Lotus Herbals also have herbal
shampoos on the shelves.

Anti-Dandruff Shampoos

The Indian shampoo market is characterised by a twin-benefit platform: cosmetic (60% value)
and anti-dandruff (40% value). It is basically an upper middle class product, as more than 50% of
the consumers use ordinary toilet soap for washing hair. But, the penetration level of shampoos
in India is 13% only. The market is expected to increase due to lower duties and aggressive
marketing by players Shampoo is also available in a sachet, which is affordable and makes upto
40% of the total shampoo sale.

While the awareness level is high, the penetration level is very low even in the metros, which is
only 30%. Urban markets account for 80% of the total shampoo market. The penetration level is
rapidly increasing due to decline in excise duty, which was 120% in 1993 to 30% currently.

The first brand in the anti-dandruff segment was Clinic Plus. The line extension of Clinic All
Clear is seen more as the one on this segment after its emergence. The competition in this
segment has been Head and Shoulders to a major extent. The third player is Dabur’s Vatika. The
others constitute the rest of the market.

MARKET SHARE OF ANTIDANDRUF


SHAMPOOS
OTHERS
P&G'sH&S P&G'sH&S

Clinic All Clear

Clinic Plus Health shampoo was launched in India in the year 1987. Clinic Plus is India’s
largest-selling shampoo brand with strong customer loyalty. It offerins the five most important
hair health benefits: strengthens weak hair, prevents hair breakage, softens rough dry hair, shine

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for thick and healthy hair, and contains anti-dandruff ingredient. Clinic Plus has gone through a
lot of changes in terms of product variants, packaging and as well promotion programs in its
history of 18 years.
The Marketing Mix of All Clear Shampoo

PRODUCT
Clinic Plus Health shampoo has over the years gone through many brand extensions. The brand
extensions also include Clinic All Clear Total, first introduced in 1996. It is a dual shampoo – it
not only fights the last dandruff flake, but also adds back lost nutrients to make hair healthy and
beautiful. Clinic All Clear Total is a dandruff solution for everyday use.

In May 2004, Hindustan UniLever Limited re launched Clinic Plus Health Shampoo, India’s
largest selling shampoo, offering the five most important hair

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health benefits in a single shampoo. This was the first time such a five-in-one shampoo was
introduced in India. Bottles of the new Clinic Plus Health Shampoo with milk proteins were
being made available at more affordable prices.

The re launch of Clinic Plus Health Shampoo, with its five-in-one benefit formulation and the
new reduced price points, was HUL’s second major initiative to offer outstanding consumer
value in this category. New Clinic Plus Health Shampoo addressed the five most important
hair health needs of consumers — strengthens weak hair, prevents hair breakage, softens
rough dry hair, helps add luster and offers thick and healthy hair and contains anti-dandruff
ingredient

The re launched Clinic Plus bottles come at reduced price points. The new prices were Rs30,
Rs55 and Rs90 for 100ml, 200ml and 300ml bottles, down from Rs37.50, Rs. 70 and Rs90
respectively. Clinic Plus also had a 25-ml bottle, priced at Rs5, which was aggressively
distributed across the country and in sachets of 50 paise, Re1 and Rs2

The new affordable prices of Clinic Plus bottles were finalised, following the positive
customer response to HUL’s buy-one-get-one-free initiative on Clinic Plus and Sunsilk
shampoo bottles.Clinic All Clear in the upgraded packaging with the shrink sleeve has
cleaned up on sales by more than 10 percent, which also gives the brand a more competitive
edge in the marketplace.
The shrink sleeve has been carefully hot-stamped using various colored foils. Lever wanted
to do away with pressure-sensitive labels but wanted to retain the foil-stamping effect. India's
The Paper Products, Ltd. (PPL) won a silver award for the shrink-sleeve labels adorning PP
bottles of Hindustan Lever's Sunsilk and Clinic All Clear shampoos (10). The labels are
reverse- and surface-printed by gravure, using special inks and lacquers as well as the natural
shine of the sleeve film, which adds a glossy look to the bright, crisp graphics.
The resulting 1.5-mil PVC heat-shrinkable sleeves have either a mirror finish or a frosted-
matte surface highlighted in specific areas with either a glossy shine or metallic hot stamping
for an eye-catching special effect. Both film sleeves feature reverse-printed graphics in eight
colors achieved by what PPL calls "state-of-the- art Italian and Japanese presses." Printing is
followed by hot foil stamping that achieves precise foil transfer without distortion, despite the
sensitive nature of the film, PPL says.

Another aspect of the packaging is the availability in sachets. This again is common
phenomena in India where almost all brands are available.

Promotional Activities

Clinic All Clear has targeted the young youthful audience. The brand ambassadors have been
bollywood stars. Through the years Clinic All Clear has chosen its brand ambassadors who
the youth linked with. The ad campaigns have been filled with energy and are youthful. To
begin with Shah Rukh Khan was the main face for Clinic All Clear. With the changing times
we have seen Shahid Kapoor take over as the choice of brand ambassador. They have also
been innovative in their promotional campaigns. Recently they tied up with the bollywood
film“Dil Maange More'. What follows is a discussion on the recent Clinic All Clear Total
campaign. Clinic All Clear Total announced a promotional alliance with “Dil Maange More'.
Winners of the contest were given an opportunity to watch the premiere of the movie with

153
Shahid Kapur.

The campaign went on like this: “Clinic All Clear Total, the dual shampoo with the new
ingredient VITA-ACE, not only offers freedom from dandruff by fighting the last dandruff
flake, but also adds back lost nutrients to give the consumer great looking hair.”
HUL, as part of the recently launched campaign has Shahid Kapur and Madhavan as their
new brand ambassadors for Clinic All Clear Total since they personify youth, freshness,
confidence and fun which are in perfect synergy with the brand attributes.

To spend an evening with Shahid Kapur and the co-stars Tulip Joshi, Ayesha Takia and
debutant Soha Ali Khan of the Bollywood film 'Dil Maange More', contestants had to enter
the 'Clinic All Clear Dil Maange More Kamaal ke baal' Contest. Contestants had to answer a
simple question - Shahid Ko Dandruff Se Aazadi Aur Kamal Ke Baal Kaun Deta Hain?

PRICE
Clinic All Clear Total has packaging available in various price brands. The sizes make it
possible for a larger customer base. Earlier Clinic All Clear Total was priced lower then
P&Gs H&S which was seen as the premium brand. In the recent price wars Clinic All Clear
Total prices have been increased. Main aim being to reduce the perceptual difference of it
being inferior to H&S. not only this with brand pull Clinic All Clear Total commands this
may also help HUL to push its margins up.
HUL recently upped its ante in the shampoo war. It relaunched Clinic All Clear at a higher
price to narrow the price differential between All Clear and Procter & Gamble’s Head &
Shoulders in the anti-dandruff segment. It decided to increase the price of its 100 ml bottle by
Rs 5 to Rs 55 and 200 ml by Rs 10 to Rs 105. On All Clear sachets and 40 ml bottles, the
company decided to maintain status quo. HUL dared to hike prices of Clinic All Clear as it
saw an opportunity which can add to its top line and bottom-line growth, without
jeopardizing its current market share. Head & Shoulders, despite its
premium pricing, is the leader in the anti-dandruff segment. The 100 ml bottle carries a price
tag of Rs 62 and 200 ml of Rs 120. Despite the Rs 7-15 price difference, it commands a 35-
36% market share as against HUL’s 32-33%.
Results of this battle are yet to be out. But then this is just a battle and not the war. HUL is on
the path of recovery, this may just be an indicator of what things are to come.

PLACE
Hindustan Lever's distribution network is recognized as one of its key strengths. Its focus is
not only to enable easy access to our brands, but also to touch consumers with a three-way
convergence - of product availability, brand communication, and higher levels of brand
experience. The distribution network of HUL rests on its history as well as new innovations.
The new innovations in the distribution network are

 Project Shakti
 Hindustan Lever Network (HLN)

This is one area where being form the stables of HUL really help. Clinic ALL Clear Total
never really had to worry about the place it has the legacy of the HUL network.

The Vice President (Marketing) is evaluating a suitable pricing strategy for Clinic All Clear
as the competition in this market is intensified and the survival and excellence will largely
depend on the pricing policy that the market leader is going to follow.

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Question:
Suggest a suitable pricing strategy for Clinic All Clear in Indian market? Should there be a
contingency plan to counter any price movements of competitors? Suggest suitable
contingency pricing plans by generating number of pricing options that competitors may take
in Indian market.

Case Study 50: RUBY TUESDAY - Developing a Consumer


Promotion Program

“Restaurant marketing is a serious business and one needs to increase the traffic into the
restaurant at any point of time” thought Nidhi Kuchhal, marketing head of popular restaurant
chain Ruby Tuesday in India. It is not a just what you serve, but how we serve, how we stay
ahead in competition and how far we are able to take advantage of changing business
scenario. All this will decide on whether Ruby Tuesday becomes a success story or just
another wannabe. As such people perceive restaurants like Rubdy Tuesday as an expensive
choice in the market place. She was wondering if a consumer promotion program can be
developed for the restaurant to promote young traffic in general and high spending class in
particular.

Ruby Tuesday-a Historical Journey


Over 30 years ago, a young man named Sandy Beall called together four college buddies
from the University of Tennessee and hatched an idea that would become one of America's
favorite casual dining restaurants. Ruby Tuesday was born of their desire for a restaurant
where food of true freshness and genuine quality was served by people passionate in their
work, all in an atmosphere both casual and comfortable. A combination so unique they had to
invent the place themselves.

 Founded in year 1972


 More than 850 restaurants in United States & around the world
 Approx 630 Company owned & 250 franchised outlets
 Registered with New York Stock Exchange
 Annual company sales: approx. $ 1.3 billion
 Average annual restaurant sale: $ 2.1 million
 Average guest check per visit: $ 11 - $ 12

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 One of the leading brand in casual ding restaurant category
 Brand vision: Simple Fresh American Dining
 Position: High quality casual dining restaurant
 Strategy: Uncompromising freshness & quality, Gracious hospitality
 Culture: Quality, Passion, Pride

Ruby Tuesday has become an American classic and is dedicated to becoming the unrivaled,
absolute premium choice in casual dining. Each and every visitor is treated as a guest in our
home and graciously indulged with menu offerings of uncompromising freshness and quality.
Meanwhile, investors continue to recognize Ruby Tuesday as a powerhouse brand in the
casual dining category. Click on the links to learn more about our ever evolving, never-
ending commitment to Simple Fresh American Dining and the incredible brand behind it all.

Quality. Passion. Pride- Mission of Ruby Tuesday

Quality means freshness. It's fresh 100% USDA Choice or Prime ground beef formed into
perfectly grilled, Handcrafted Burgers that redefine an American classic. Quality is seasonal
vine ripened tomatoes and crisp leaf lettuce still glistening with garden dew. Its applewood
smoked bacon and premium cheeses and an uncompromising commitment to providing you
the best.
Passion is people. People who love what they do and take your enjoyment personally. Passion
is what to expect from the people who take your order, the people who craft your meal (and
peek out from the kitchen to see your delight) and the people who are designing our
comfortable, stylish Five-Star restaurants that are destinations in themselves. Everyone you
meet here is happy you've come, and they're genuinely dedicated to having you visit with us
frequently.

Pride makes us a family. This is our home. You are our guest. And we will attend to your
dining experience with a degree of care and attention to detail unrivaled anywhere. A deep
desire to serve others is the secret weapon of a gracious host. And its why, at Ruby Tuesday,
we want you to always leave with a smile.

Overview of Ruby Tuesday in India


Round The Clock Stores Limited is the Regional Developer of Ruby Tuesday Restaurant that
started operations in India in the year 2000. The first Restaurant, in India, at Connaught
Place, New Delhi, became operational in the same year and was an instant grand success.

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Following this success, the company went on to open new stores and within a span of six
years it owns 17 stores in NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chandigarh. Seventeen restaurants
in seven years and many more in the pipeline show the company’s insatiable desire to
expand.

Round the Clock Stores Limited has a strong dedicated workforce of more than 500 team
members and 100 senior and middle level managers spread over various restaurants, CPU and
the Restaurant Support Center. The management team led by the Executive Director has vast,
rich and relevant experience in the hospitality & catering industry. The company was floated
six years ago and is where it is today purely because of his vision, dedication and focused
approach.

 Average monthly restaurant sale: Rs. 18 lakh


 Average guest check per visit: Rs. 550.00
 Average guests per month combining all 12 outlets: 1.10 lakh
 Target Class: SEC A, B+, B
 Age group: 25 – 45 years

Analysis of Food and Beverages Market in India


The food and beverage sector in India has changed dramatically over the last 10 years as a
result of changing socio economic conditions, liberalization of industries, entry of foreign
companies, dismantling of quantitative restrictions on import & increase in discretionary
income. There were approximately 2.2 million or 22 lakhs hotels and restaurants in India in
the year 2002. As the number of lodging or hotel units in India would not be more than
20,000 or 30,000, we can presume that the entire figure of 22 lakhs can apply to restaurant
sector. For restaurants, the growth pattern are different for different cities with metro cities
achieving the about 15 – 20% growth and smaller cities about 5%. According to a survey
report out of 3500 crore that Indian consumers spent on eating out only 200 crore went to the
organized sector, which means there is huge room for expansion. Also the willingness of the
diners to accept new and exotic foods and flavors makes itself evident an increase in
restaurant sales figures and market size.
Following are the major industry trends found in food and beverages industry
 Great expectations
With emergence of new players’ everyday studies shows that, people still want to eat well
which does not necessarily mean healthy & indulge in something that resembles a home
cooked meal. The current economic boom has allowed people to have best of both worlds –
not only can they afford the convenience of eating out more often, but they can do so in a
food service environment where they more bang for the buck.

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Dining out has become a multisensory event. A guest doesn’t just want to have Ok food but
also needs an exciting atmosphere. The bar continues to rise and industry has to meet
dynamic demands & growing sophistication of its patrons.

 Foodservice Frontier
In India multinational restaurant chains are making downward price revision & offer more
vegetarian toppings to increase sales volume. They are also adding more spicy flavors in
menus to satisfy Indian taste buds.

 Eater – tainment
The taste buds are not the only organs that require a little something more from the
restaurants these days. It seems all the senses need good jolt as well. After two decades of
increased restaurant attendance, customers are no longer stimulated by a beautiful cut of
succulent filet or extravagant salad bar. They want, need and demand something new and
exciting to enhance overall dinning experience & give a boost to their quality of life. It is an
evolution of “eater – tainment”

The Environmental Challenges for Food and Beverages Industry

In every company there are two distinct but interrelated environments: micro & macro
respectively. The micro environment denotes those elements over which the company has
control and attempts to manipulate in such a way as to optimize the profits. Whereas the
macro environment concerns the elements outside the micro-environment but nevertheless
influencing it. The macro environment of a company consists of all the forces and agencies
external to the company itself. Some of these elements are closer to the operation of the
company than others e.g. company suppliers, distributive intermediaries & competing brands
or companies. These closer macro elements are collectively referred as “Proximate Macro
Environment” to distinguish them from the wider external environment such as demographic,
socio culture, technological, political and economic environment. All of these are not an
immediate part of the company yet they have a direct impact on the business of the company.
As a marketing manager, one has to consider all above in order designing a fruitful &
profitable marketing strategy.
The buyer supplier relationship is one of the mutual economic interdependence, both relying
on the other for their commercial wellbeing. Factors in supplier environment are subject to
change, such as delivery, cost fluctuations etc. At Ruby Tuesday where we are present at
almost all metros, we prefer to have the national tie ups with most of suppliers and for the
fact we also prefer to source the supplier who is present nationally. Competition is very
important as it prevents a company from complacent.” Now a day’s focus of maximum

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people is shifting from food driven to experience driven food outlets and because of the
reason competition is getting extreme in restaurant industry.
Primary Competition
Casual dining restaurant chains, International food chains. Or the restaurants which are
offering similar food at very similar level of pricing.
 TGIF (Thank God it’s Friday)
 Rodeos
 Bennigen’s
 American Café
Secondary Competition
Pizza chains, QSR, 5 star hotels, Pubs, national players etc. To name few:
 Pizza Hut
 McDonalds,
 Punjabi by nature
 Chor Bizarre
 Diva
 Shalom

Eating out and that’s too at stand alone specialty restaurants have evolved into a popular
trend among the SEC A & B+ households. 2 out of every 5 household dine out at least once a
month.

Dining out habits (IN %) for metro cities (wherever Ruby Tuesday is present)
EATING OUT IN A REST / DELHI MUMBAI BANGALORE
CITY
TWICE / THRICE IN A WEEK 1.4 1.4 4.7
ONCE A WEEK 3.1 2.7 7.6
ONCE A FORTNIGHT 2.7 2.7 7.3
ONE A MONTH 7.4 8.3 13.3
ONCE IN 2 / 3 MONTHS 6 10.5 8.6
OCCASIONAL 6.4 8 7.9
RARELY / NEVER 70.3 57.9 49.1

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Political & economical factors are often strongly related. Political & economical factors are
of great concern to restaurants because they are likely to influence among other decision such
as demand, costs, prices & profits. Such factors are largely outside the control of the
company but their effects on our business can be profound. Below mentioned are few recent
changes that pose a set of opportunities for restaurant industry.
 Liberalization of liquor policy in favor of restaurants. Serving of liquor contributes
40% of the business to our company.
 Lowering of personal tax structure. This policy always helps prospective customers
with incremental disposable income and aspiration to be a patron of fine dining
restaurant.
 Government impetus to the tourism industry like incredible India, Commonwealth
games in 2010 etc. helps restaurants to add up more footfalls in the winter season,
which is generally perceived as low footfalls season.

The convergence of the telecommunication, electronic & software industry is opening up


vistas for a range of new products. Technology could be used as a strategic tool for enhancing
the overall guest experience. Database of visiting customers generated with the help of
advanced software technology helps our restaurants in the following ways:
 To improve / modify the restaurant services including food, beverage, music, and
other elements of service as per guest preferences.
 It also work as guide in menu changes that takes place after every 6 months in our
restaurant.
e.g. through the popularity analysis of all food and beverage items generated through
software we get fair idea to eradicate the least popular items and to add new flavors.
 Due to the technology advancement we are also able to track our effectiveness in
services from time to time.
 If database of visiting customers is used effectively it also ensures repeat purchase.

The Marketing Mix


The objective of any company is to make profits through satisfying customers. The variables
termed as marketing mix is combination of all the ingredients in a recipe that is designed to
prove most attractive to customers. These variables are individual elements that as a
marketing manager we can manipulate into the most appropriate strategy. The variables in
reference to Ruby Tuesday are:

 Product:

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Ruby Tuesday serves an all American cuisine comprising of an extravagant salad bar with it’s
mouth watering delights like the platters, Chimichanga, Enchiladas among it’s specialties and
a range of seafood and stackers and to mention an extensive range of delightful signature
desserts. To compliment these delicacies is an elaborate bar serving the spirited range of all
kinds of traditional and classic spirits.

To maintain the interest of customers in Ruby Tuesday, the company after every 6 months
revamps the entire menu, with deletion of few items and introduction of new flavors and
dishes.

 Price: At Ruby Tuesday overall price strategy is “we are not expensive and at the
same time we are not a cheap dining place”. So, through this strategy we welcome
the segment of customers who are ready to spend to enjoy at Ruby Tuesday. To
derive the menu pricing we generally use the cost based pricing.
Though the product is standardized every where in India through the recipe standardization,
but pricing for certain locations has been fixed keeping in mind the demographics & socio
economics into consideration e.g. Chandigarh & Faridabad (in NCR) have menu with
approximately 25% lower menu pricing. Though

Faridabad & Gurgaon belong to same state i.e. Haryana but there is substantial difference in
social economic environment between the two which made us to keep the prices lower in
Faridabad outlet. We also try to review the pricing of menu with introduction with new menu
launch every time in India.

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 Place: The success of any restaurant is half done if it is place at right location.
Same mantra is well understood by management of Ruby Tuesday India and that is
why 75% of our outlets are located in top selling malls at various locations / regions
respectively. On top of that Ruby Tuesday is strategically located in most of centric
locations leaving almost no scope for overlapping of customers between the two
outlets e.g. outlet at Connaught Place caters to people from central & east Delhi,
whereas Saket caters to people from extreme south and Greater kailash for people
from south central localities. If we consider another example of Nariman Point in
Mumbai, Ruby Tuesday is there in the right catchment area where almost all the top
corporate of India are located with their corporate offices. And same is the story for
all other outlets and upcoming ones as well.

 Promotions: No marketing program can succeed without the promotion. At Ruby


Tuesday we adopt the various communication & promotional tools. Our motive of
any promotion is to increase the footfalls at the outlets. While designing a
promotion we mainly consider our image, our requirement and the time period, so
this is not to counter attack the competition but to serve our best purpose. The tools
majorly used at Ruby Tuesday are mentioned as follows:
 Print media advertising: This media is basically need based like whenever we
are coming at any all together new location, to promote any major festival or
happening.
 Electronic media: Currently we are promoting through radio to promote the
various low budget campaigns as radio is local medium having good impact as
general entertainment channel.
 Flyers: This tool has a strong strength to inform the customers and to generate
the instant footfalls inside an outlet.
 Timely promotions: Our business is quite affected by season and day timings.
Like the footfalls are generally higher on weekends as compared to weekdays,
and to counter that affect we carry out promotion meal period wise like to
attract the corporate who does not have time to have a luxury lunch they may
have express lunch which cost less and it is quick. Another example is Happy
Hours in the evening hours to attract the segment who in general not able to
afford Ruby Tuesday, so by offering discount during evening hours we are able
to encash upon meal period between lunch & dinner and such segment of
people like walk in crowd, corporate, or people who just wish to sit at some
nice place before going back home.
 Food & beverage festival: In the spirit of doing something interesting for our
customers is very important and that is the reason that almost in every quarter
we arrange the theme based festival which in turn promotes an individual
category of food items.
 Cross Promotions: This is most popular media of promotion whereby two
companies share each other’s footfalls e.g. Ruby Tuesday & Lifestyle stores are

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present in the same catchments area at most of locations and target the similar
group of clientele, so executing a promotion to divert / share the each other
traffic by extending some value based offer helps in increasing the footfalls for
a specific period.Corporate Communication: this is another strong tool to
promote our brand among the corporate houses in and around the outlet
vicinity. The corporate communication through the sales force, who primarily
work as educational in nature to influence the brand choice among the target
clients.

 Physical Environment: The ambience of a restaurant plays an important role in


any restaurant success. Keeping the importance of this element, we have
standardized our ambience around the world. An ambience packed in the
trademarks colors of red, yellow and green; the walls at Ruby Tuesday are adorned
with very “American Artifacts” with memorabilia like upended tiffany style lamps.
The music also plays an important role in ambience like Ruby Tuesday through the
world is not into DJ dining but we play music that only of 70’s & 80’s, setting the
mood for good times one can taste.

 People: Services like restaurants depend highly on direct interaction between


customers and our restaurant front of the house staff. The quality of staff and
further add on with professional training strongly influences the diner’s perception
of company’s overall quality and it’s management attitude towards the same.

Currently the restaurant industry is dominated by foreign retail chains like Ruby Tuesday,
TGIF, Bennigen’s, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, McDonald’s etc and no doubt we are flourishing as
well, because of our really strong promotional gimmicks and marketing strategies, while our
cause has been helped by the huge middle class population who love to be in trendy places.
The liberalization policy has encouraged many more foreign retail food chains to come in
India and with in span of 3 years from today, we may see almost 25 more chain belonging to
all odd categories of food industry.

Though through the marketing gimmicks trends are created but at the end of the day it is
consumer’s choice that rules. At the same time customers have more choices than ever,
higher expectation and more food chains competing for their attention than ever. So, on
behalf of Ruby Tuesday my concern is how to break through all of the clutter and capture the
attention of the customers suffering from sensory overload. Nidhi has to decide a product
strategy for Ruby Tuesday and she has to address the following issues.

Questions:
1. What demographical changes have influenced the growth of food and
beverages industry in India?
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2. Develop a suitable consumer promotion program with an objective of
attracting younger and affluent customers to Ruby Tuesday

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