A Dissertation Report On

MARKETING STRATEGIES OF ACC CEMENT

DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF

REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE
OF

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

PREPARED BY:

AYAN BHOWAL

VU ROLL No: PG/VUOAP02/MBA-IVS/436

VU REGISTRATION No: 00854 of the year 2021-2022

Major Specialization: Marketing

Minor Specialization: Finance

Name of Institute: EIILM, Kolkata

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

Dr.SANCHITA SOM
(FACULTY,EIILM)

SUBMITED TO
EIILM, KOLKATA
(VIDYASAGAR UNIVERSITY)

APRIL, 2023

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 DECLARATION

I do hereby declare that this dissertation entitled “MARKETING STRATEGIES OF ACC

CEMENT” has been done by me and all the information provided is correct and true to my
knowledge.

This dissertation is submitted by me for the partial fulfillment of the award of degree in ‘Master of
Business Administration’.

The dissertation is exclusively prepared by me and has not been submitted to any other institutions
or published anywhere before.

DATE: AYAN BHOWAL

MBA,4th Semester
PLACE: Kolkata EIILM, KOLKATA

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Sanchita Som, Faculty, EIILM who has sincerely provided me with
critical suggestions and valuable insights which enabled me to complete this project and bring out this
report in the best way possible.

I would take this opportunity to thank Dr. R. P. Banerjee (Director, EIILM) and other faculty members
for their cooperation and support.

I am also thankful to my colleagues for their motivation and to all those persons who directly helped me
during developing this dissertation.

Signature:

Date:

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 INDEX

SL NO PARTICULARS PAGE NO

1 INTRODUCTION 6-7

2 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 8

3 OBJECTIVES 9

4 METHODOLOGY 10

5 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 11-30

Industry Profile 11

Company Profile 12-13

Vision And Mission 14

Milestones Of ACC 15-17

Revenue Of ACC 18

Value Framework Of ACC 19

Marketing Mix 20-22

Marketing Strategy 23-24

Swot Analysis 25-30

6 FINDINGS OF THE STUDY 31-32

Finding 31

Suggestion 32

7 CONCLUSION 33

8 BIBLIOGRAPGY 34

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 INTRODUCTION

This dissertation is an overview of marketing strategies of ACC Cement. I learn that ACC Cement is a
popular product in the Indian market. It is now the third cement producer of cement in India. It is one of
the top-selling cement in India and with the rising demand of cement in India they have stated their
supply chain in other parts of the country and countries.

Marketing strategy provides an organization an edge over its competitors. Strategy helps in developing
goods and services with best profit making potential. Marketing strategy helps in discovering the areas
affected by organizational growth and thereby help in creating an organizational plan to cater to the
customer needs. It helps in fixing the right price for organization’s goods and services based on
information collected by market research. Strategy ensures effective departmental co-ordination. It helps
an organization to make optimum utilization of its resources so as to provide a sales message to its target
market. A marketing strategy helps to fix the advertising budget in advance, and it also develops a method
which determines the scope of the plan, i.e., it determines the revenue generated by the advertising plan.

Cement industry is the second most important primary and basic industry for the economic development
of India, second only after iron and steel industry the cement industry is basic industry and makes an
important contribution to the development of the other factory industry, to the construction and even to
the development of agriculture.

ACC Cement has 17 integrated manufacturing units, 27 grinding units, one Clinkerization unit and 8
Bulk Packaging Terminals. ACC has a network of over one lakh channel partners across the country and
has a market reach of more than 70% across India.
ACC is the third largest manufacturer of concrete in India. It also has a slew of speciality concretes that
meet specific needs of discerning customers. Our Building Products business is an innovation hub that
offers an array of scientifically engineered products to cater tone w-age constructions.

ACC is a founding member of Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA). It is a signatory to the
GCCA Climate Ambition 2050 and has committed to the Net Zero Concrete Roadmap announced by
GCCA. ACC is focused on accelerating the decarbonisation of its operations. It has adopted new age
tools like the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) and Internal Carbon Prices well as set ambitious
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environmental targets through both EP100 and RE100. ACC is the first company in India and the second
company in Asia to issue dollar-based sustainability linked bonds.ACC works to actively contribute to the
social and economic development of the communities in which it operates in. The Company’s social
initiatives focus on education, healthcare, sustainable livelihoods, community infrastructure and social
causes. ACC reaches out to more than 1.5million beneficiaries in over 400 villages in 16 states across
India.

Marketing strategy has the fundamental goal of increasing sales and achieving a sustainable competitive
advantage. Marketing strategy includes all basic, short-term, and long- term activities in the field of
marketing that deal with the analysis of the strategic initial situation of a company and the formulation,
evaluation and selection of market-oriented strategies and there for contribute to the goals of the company
and its marketing objectives.

We all know that ACC Cementoffers a wide range of construction products to the end customers under
one roof. ACC has over 1200 Building Solutions stores across India which are one-stop shops for all
primary construction needs of our individual home builders. However the company has undertaken
various measures and marketing activities to attract new customer and also maintain long term
relationship with the existing one. So let us see some of the marketing strategies implemented by ACC
Cement.

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 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

SIGNIFICANCE

 The study on customer attitude towards ACC Cement is of vital importance to marketers in
shaping the fortunes their organizations.
 Gathering knowledge of this company and increase the brand equity.
 It is significant for regulating consumption of goods and thereby maintaining economic stability.
 It is useful in developing ways for the more efficient utilization of resources of marketing. It also
helps in solving marketing management problems in more effective manner.

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 OBJECTIVES

Primary Objectives

• The Primary objective is to study about the customer attitude towards ACC Cement.

Secondary Objectives

 To study the differential effects of Sales Promotions, viz., Price Promotion and Premium
Promotion on Consumer Based Brand Equity.

 To explore the differential effects of Sales Promotion on these dimension of Consumer Based
Brand Equity, viz., Brand Awareness and Associations, Perceived Quality and Brand Loyalty and
Overall Brand Equity among Convenience, Shopping and Specialty product categories.

 To examine the effects of Sales Promotions, Price and Premium Promotions, on different
categories of products, viz., Convenience, Shopping and Specialty Products on Consumer Based
Brand Equity.

 To understand current marketing strategy and the impact of marketing strategy on the profitability
of the company.

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 METHODOLOGY

In this section, the collection of significant data had been gathered by the researcher with the help of
primary as well as secondary sources. After collection of the data, the evaluation of the gathered
information will be conducted in this particular research study.
Achieving accuracy in any research requires in depth study regarding the subject. As the prime objective
of the project is to study the market segmentation of Cadbury, the research methodology adopted is
basically based on secondary data via which the most recent and accurate piece of first-hand information
could be collected.
Used to obtain information about ACC Cement ltd. and its competitor history, current issues, policies,
procedures etc, wherever required.

 Company web site

 Internet

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 INDUSTRY PROFILE

The cement industry is one of the main industries necessary for sustainable development. It can be
considered the backbone for development. The main pollution source generated from cement industry is
the solid waste called cement by-pass dust, which is collected from the bottom of the dust filter. It
represents a major pollution problem in Egypt where around 2.4 million tons per year of cement dust is
diffused into the atmosphere causing air pollution problems because of its size (1-10 microns) and
alkalinity (pH 11.5).
Cement by-pass dust is naturally alkaline with a high pH value and represents a major pollution problem.
The safe disposal of cement dust costs a lot of money and still pollutes the environment. The chemical
analysis for the by-pass dust is shown in Table 13.7.
India is the world's second largest producer of cement behind China with ever growing industry capacity
of over 200 plus million tones (MT) and has left behind developed markets such as the US and Japan.
Every developed and developing nation’s favorite project is infrastructure and cement is a key
infrastructure industry. India is fast emerging on the world map as a strong and efficient economy and an
effective global power. The country is going through a multiple phase of rapid development and growth.
All the core industries and sectors of the country are registering growth and thus, luring investors. And
cement industry is one of them. With growing Government Expenditure on Infrastructure sector in India
has generated a higher demand of cement in the country and resulted increased participation of larger
companies in the sector making seventy years old Indian cement industry second largest cement producer
in the world, producing more than 200 million tons annually.
Cement production reached 329 million tonnes (MT) in FY20 and is projected to reach 381 MT by FY22.
However, the consumption stood at 327 MT in FY20 and will reach 379 MT by FY22. The cement
demand is estimated to touch 419.92 MT by FY 2027. As India has a high quantity and quality of
limestone deposits through-out the country, the cement industry promises huge potential for growth.
As per ICRA, in FY22, the cement production in India is expected to increase by ~12% YoY, driven by
rural housing demand and government’s strong focus on infrastructure development.

MAJOR PLAYERS IN INDIAN CEMENT INDUSTRY

Several players are prevailing in the cement industry in India. However, around 20 big names account for
more than 70% of the total cement production in India. The total installed capacity is distributed over
around 129 plants owned by 54 major companies across the nation. Here are the top cement industry
name in India-
 UltraTech Cement
 Shree Cement
 Ambuja Cements
 ACC
 Dalmia Bharat. ...
 JK Cement. ...
 Ramco Cement. ...
 Birla Corp.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS IN CEMENT INDUSTRY IN INDIA

UltraTech Cement purchased 3B Binani Glass Fibre Sarl Luxembourg, a subsidiary of Binani Industries
in March 2021
World's leading foreign funds like HSBC, ABN Amro, Fidelity, Emerging Market Fund and Asset
Management Fund have together acquired 7.5% of India Cements (ICL) for US$ 124.91 million
IBM partnered with Shree Cement in February 2021 to operate their database and critical business
applications using AIX and Red Hat on IBM POWER9-based IBM Power Systems.
ACC released the expansion plan of its grinding unit in Tikaria with a 1.6 MTPA cement capacity in
April.

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 COMPANY PROFILE

Incorporated in 1936, ACC Limited (ACC), is one of the leading players in the Indian building materials
market with a pan-India presence. For over eight decades, ACC has been synonymous with cement in
India, emerging as a pioneer in a rapidly evolving industry scenario.

The Company manufactures different varieties of cement viz-

Ordinary Portland cement (OPC),
Portland Pozollana Cement (PPC),
Portland Slag Cement (PSC) and
Composite Cement and
Ready Mix Concrete (RMX).

It has always set new benchmarks in research and innovative product development andintroduced
industry-leading brands. ACC was also among the first Indian companies to include commitment to
environmental protection as one of its core corporate objectives.

ACC has rich experience in mining, being the largest user of limestone. As one of the largest cement
producers in India, it is also among the biggest customers of the domestic coal industry, of Indian
Railways, and a considerable user of the country’s road transport network services for inward and
outward movement of materials and products.

33.05 MTPA Installed cement capacity

17 Cement plants
9 Captive power plants
~6,400 Employees
56,000 Channel partners.
For over 80 years, ACC has been synonymous with cement, establishing its reputation as a pioneer
organization that consistently sets new benchmarks in research and innovative product development.

ACC ltd Subsidiaries-

ACC has five subsidiary companies, which are all engaged to support the core business of the company.
The Company has five subsidiaries:

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The following are the subsidiaries of ACC ltd
ACC Mineral Resources Limited
Bulk Cement Corporation (India) Limited
Lucky Minmat Limited
Singhania Minerals Private Limited
These comprise Bulk Cement Corporation (India) Limited which is a bulk cement distribution facility;
ACC Mineral Resources Limited which was set up to explore and supply key mineral resources of coal
and gypsum. Lucky Minmat Limited, National Limestone Company Private Limited and Singhania
Minerals Private Limited which are engaged in supply of limestone.

Parent Company-
ACC Cement became a part of the Holcim Group, Switzerland, in 2005 Subsequent to the merger of
Lafarge and Holcim in 2015, ACC became integral to Lafarge Holcim (LH)
Group – the world’s leading building materials player. Ambuja Cements is also owned by Holcim Group.
50.05% of ACC Ownership by Ambuja Cements Ltd.
4.48% Owned by Holcim Group
Being a part of this large group has fueled ACC’s growth and the resultant technology sharing continues
to help us stay ahead of the curve in the dynamic Indian market.

The brand ACC is a hallmark of quality and durability in Cement and Ready Mixed Concrete – to build
homes for the masses of India in its cities, towns and villages as well as enduring structures for
infrastructure and industry.

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 VISSION AND MSSION OF ACC CEMENT

VISION

To be India’s third largest cement manufacturing unit at a single location, producing premium quality
cement with clear focus on all stake holders. Its main vision is “To be one of the most respected companies
in India; recognized for challenging conventions and delivering on our promises.”

MISSION

ACC Cement as a brand embodies 'strength', 'reliability'. Together, these attributes inspire engineers to
stretch the limits of their imagination to create homes, buildings and structures that define the new India.
 Values
 Integrity
 Commitment
 Passion
 Seamlessness
 Speed

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 MILESTONES OF ACC CEMENT

MILESTONES

 1936 – Incorporation of The Associated Cement Companies Limited on August 1, 1936.

 1936 – First Board Meeting of The Associated Cement Companies Limited held at Esplanade
House, Mumbai on November 10, 1936.
 1937 – With the transfer of the 10th company to ACC, viz. Dewarkhand Cement Company, the
formation of ACC is complete on October 23, 1937.
 1944  – ACC first community development venture near Bombay
 1947  – India’s first entirely indigenous cement plant established at Chaibasa in Bihar
 1952 – Village Welfare Scheme launched
 1955 – Sindri cement works used the waste product calcium carbonate sludge from fertilizer
factory at Sindri.
 1956 – Bulk Cement Depot established at Okhla, Delhi
 1957  – Technical training institute established at Kymore, Madhya Pradesh.
 1957  – Katni Refractories
 1961 – Blast furnace slag from Tisco used at the Chaibasa Unit to manufacture Portland Slag
Cement for the first time in India.
 1961– Manufacture of Hydrophobic (waterproof) cement at ACC Khalari Cement Works in Bihar.
 1965 – ACC Central Research Station (CRS) established at Thane
 1965 – Manufacture of Portland Pozzolana Cement.
 1968 – Advent of computers in ACC for data processing and designing management information
and control systems.
 1971 – Manufacture of Why theat Castables A, K, C and Cal–Al–75
 1973 – Take–over of The Cement Marketing Company of India (CMI)
 1978 – Introduction of the energy efficient precalcinator technology for the first time in India. Full
scale commercial production based on MFC technology at Wadi in 1979.
 1979 – ACC wins international contract for operation and management of a new one million tonne
cement plant at Yanbu–Ras Biridi in Saudi Arabia.
 1982 – Commissioning of the first 1 MTPA plant in the country at Wadi, Karnataka.
 1984 – ACC achieves a breakthrough in import substitution by developing and supplying a special
G type of oil well cement to ONGC.
 1987 – ACC develops a new binder for use at sub–zero temperatures, which is successfully used
in the Indian expedition to Antarctica.
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 1992 – Incorporation of Bulk Cement Corporation of India, a joint venture with the Government
of India.
 1993 –  ACC starts the commercial manufacture of Ready Mixed Concrete at Mumbai.
 1998 – Commissioning of the 0.6 MTPA cement grinding unit at Tikaria, Uttar Pradesh.
 1999 – Tata group sells 7.2% of its stake in ACC to Ambuja Cement Holdings Ltd, a subsidiary of
Gujarat Ambuja Cements Ltd. (GACL)
 2000 – Tata Group sells its remaining stake in ACC to the GACL group, who with 14.45% now
emerge as the single largest shareholder of ACC.
 2001– Commissioning of the new plant of 2.6 MTPA capacity at Wadi, Karnataka plant, the
largest in the country, and among the largest sized kilns in the world.
 2002 – ACC wins PHDCCI Good Corporate Citizen Award  
 2003– IDCOL Cement Ltd becomes a subsidiary of ACC
 2004 – ACC raises $100 million abroad through Foreign Currency Convertible Bonds (FCCBs)
for US$ 60 million and Global Depository Shares (GDSs) for $40 million. Both offerings are
listed on the London Stock Exchange.
 2005 – Commissioning of Modernisation and Expansion project at Chaibasa in Jharkhand,
replacing old wet process technology with a new 1.2 MTPA clinkering unit, together with a
captive power plant of 15 MW.
 2005 – Financial accounting year of the company changed to calendar year January–December
 2006 – ACC announces new Workplace policy for HIV/AIDS
 2006 – Change of name to ACC Limited with effect from September 1, 2006 from The Associated
Cement Companies Limited. 
 2006 – ACC receives Good Corporate Citizen Award 2005–06 from Bombay Chamber of
Commerce and Industry 
 2006 – New corporate brand identity and logo adopted from October 15, 2006
 2007 – ACC partners with Christian Medical College for treatment of HIV/AIDS in Tamil Nadu 
 2007 – ACC commissions Wind energy farm in Tamilnadu.
 2008 – Ready mixed concrete business hived off to a new subsidiary called ACC Concrete
Limited. 
 2008 – ACC Cement Technology Institute formally inaugurated at Jamul on July 7. 
 2008 – First Sustainable Development Report released on June 5. 
 2008 – ACC wins CNBC–TV18 India Business Leader Award in the category India Corporate
Citizen of the year 2008 
 2008 – Project Orchid launched to transform our Corporate Office, Cement House into a green
building. 
 2009 – ACC received the Jamanalal Bajaj 'Uchit Vyavahar Puraskar' of Council for Fair Business

15
 Practices 
 2009 – ACC is allotted coal blocks in Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal. 
 2010– ACC enters its platinum jubilee year – the first company in the cement industry to achieve
this status.
 2011– World's largest kiln installed at ACC Cement Plant, Wadi, and Karnataka with a capacity
of 12,500 tonnes per day creating new landmarks for cement industry.
 2011– Central Control Room Building at ACC Chanda Plant, Maharashtra set up as a Green
building, the first of its kind in an industrial environment.

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 REVENUE OF ACC CEMENT

An increasing revenue is the sign of a good company. It denotes that the demand for the company’s
products or services has increased. Vice versa, a decreasing or stagnant revenue is a bad sign.

(Chart collected from Investello.com)

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 VALUE FRAME WORK OF ACC CEMENT

 Strength

 Performance

 passion

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 MAEKRTING MIX

Marketing mix is a set of actions a business takes to build and market its product or service to its
customers.It helps to make sure that you are able to offer your customers the right product, at the right
time and at the right place for the right price.Whereas traditionally the marketing mix was executed
through the 4 Ps of marketing.

Product
Product refers to a good or service that a company offers to customers. Ideally, a product should fulfil an
existing consumer demand. Or a product may be so compelling that consumers believe they need to have
it and it creates a new demand. To be successful, marketers need to understand the life cycle of a product,
and business executives need to have a plan for dealing with products at every stage of their life cycle .
The type of product also partially dictates how much businesses can charge for it, where they should
place it, and how they should promote it in the marketplace.

Price
Price is the cost consumers pay for a product. Marketers must link the price to the product's real and
perceived value, but they also must consider supply costs, seasonal discounts, and competitors' prices. In
some cases, business executives may raise the price to give the product the appearance of being a luxury.
Alternatively, they may lower the price so more consumers can try the product.

Place
When a company makes decisions regarding place, they are trying to determine where they should sell a
product and how to deliver the product to the market. The goal of business executives is always to get
their products in front of the consumers that are the most likely to buy them.

Promotion
Promotion includes advertising, public relations, and promotional strategy. The goal of promoting a
product is to reveal to consumers why they need it and why they should pay a certain price for it.
Marketers tend to tie promotion and placement elements together so they can reach their core audiences.
 Marketing Mix of ACC Cement focuses on 4P’s named product, price, place, and promotion. Associated
Cement Companies Limited is the full name of ACC Cement.ACC Cement is the largest cement producer
in India and its subcontinent. The company supports most of the leading projects in India, South Asian
Countries and Bangladesh. ACC Cement’s registered office is in Mumbai. ACC Office at Mumbai is

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popularly known as Cement House.
About ten cement firms came together in 1936 to create the Cement Firms Association, but over time
things changed, industries grew and ACC became an independent corporation. ACC Cement is listed on
the Indian Share Market and has a prominent role to play in driving it. Cement is the most work
performed by ACC Cement; it began as a unit of cement producers, but for some time now, it’s
performed on its own.

Product in the Marketing mix of ACC Cement

ACC Cement is playing a vital role in India’s Infrastructure development. In regular collaboration with
Government and other Private parties, it has contributed a lot to enormous and important projects in past
decades. The enterprise mainly provides the world with quality cement.

They have recently introduced a few varieties in cements and all of them have been doing well in the
market. ACC Cement is one of those enterprises with impressive share market holdings. They have aced
the art of impressing investors by leveraging the world with the quality cement.

Place in Marketing Mix of ACC Cement

Since the time ACC was an association, they have established bases in almost every corner of the country
today when it functions individually; it still tries to distribute the world load equally among states and
manufacturing units. The impressive establishment and the quality production have helped ACC Cement
be an incredible part of ambitious projects in the country.

Jamul, Kymore, Sindri, Vizag, Wadi, New Wadi Plants are some of the most popular production units of
ACC Cement in India. A huge chunk of Cement ACC supplies comes from these establishments.

ACC reaches out to customers directly through outlets and by franchisee methods. The online presence of
the enterprise has increased in recent past and now people can order cements online as well. The
enterprise aims to be easily accessible by one and all hence they are making themselves available on
almost every front.

The major sale of ACC happens directly to builders and real estate companies. Here they face stiff
competition from Ambuja and Ultratech cement. However, ACC as a brand is also very strong, and hence
there is a huge pull for the brand in the market. The company also works through the traditional
distribution channel which has distributors, dealers and retailers.

Price in the Marketing mix of ACC Cement

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Pricing and packaging are two integral part of ACC’s huge success. The enterprise always had proper
understanding of the Indian market hence they were able to decide better. The enterprise supplies
products to all small-scale as well as large-scale projects hence they have quite a competitive price along
with flexible packaging options.

Because of the packed cement sector, and the upcoming new cement brands in the market, ACC cannot
afford any pricing methodology other than competitive pricing. None of the cement brands can afford any
other pricing type.A pack of cement varies somewhere between 280 INR to 350 INR. There are varied
packaging sizes, which are designed to fit everyone’s need, especially the large cement bags which are
most sold to dealers and distributors. The enterprise has been quite attentive towards customer feedback,
which is very much conspicuous in form of improvements.

Promotions in the Marketing mix of ACC Cement

ACC was once a unit of multiple cement companies hence required no advertisement. People trusted
ACC in the start because it had partners like Tata; over the time, even though it is not a combination of
companies, people have continued to trust the enterprise because of the promise that the brand has
maintained.

Word of Mouth has been an important promotional factor for ACC in recent past but the TV campaign
and Radio ads are indispensable.

ACC has that very powerful TV Ad, where the slogans CEMENTING RELATIONSHIPS attracts eyes
and makes people trust the brand. The impressive display of creativity and the qualitative approach of
serving customers have helped this enterprise keep it floating.

Another TV Campaign where slogan ‘Cement Se Badhkar’ is used has helped people trust the brand more
than ever. However, on the promotions front, the two brands which are overshadowing ACC currently are
Ambuja and Ultratech. And ACC is yet to show case its brand power via ATL media or even via BTL. In
fact, the product quality of ACC overshadows all other factors. Yet if it wants to move forward, the
company needs to invest in promotions also.

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 MARKETING STRATEGIES

ACC Cement is the largest manufacturer of cement in India. The registered office is in Mumbai and is
called the Cement House. LafargeHolcim controls the management of the company. ACC is the product
of the merger of 10 cement companies, owned by Tatas, Dinshaw group, Nixon, Khataus. The
infrastructure industry is always in demand. However, the economic slowdown affects the cement
industry.

In this case study, we discuss the ACC Cement marketing strategies are-
Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning in the Marketing Strategy
ACC Cement uses a combination of the geographical division of mind and concept to understand the
changing needs of the sector and to eliminate customers.

As its products are targeted at a different segment of customers and are designed for a variety of uses in
the Meta market, therefore, it uses differentiating targeting techniques.

It uses a mix of product categories, set up strategies, and customer-based benefit strategies to enter the
market by targeting different segments of customers.

ACC Cement follows the distribution strategy - Reaching each segment of the nation ACC Cement binds
builders, government agencies and works in partnership with its subsidiaries such as ACC Mineral
Resources Limited (AMRL), Bulk Cement Corporation (India) Limited (BCCI), Lucky Minmat Limited,
National Limestone Company Private Limited and Singhania Minerals Private Limited.

It has a network of more than 10,000 sales points supported by 8000+ company employees to pioneer the
distribution of R Ready Mix Concrete and Bulk Cement in the industry.

ACC instrument customers are retailers, builders, distributors, and retail customers in the 25-60 age
group. ACC cement plays a very important role in the penetration of rural areas in India through a wide
distribution network.

In Competitive Analysis ACC Cement follows the competitive strategy- In a highly competitive market, it

22
competes with companies such as Ultra tech cement, Dalmia, Shree cement, prism cement, Ambuja
Cement, and many more.
Synergies in real estate sales, a strong parent company (Holcim), and easy access to products are what
help a company compete in the industry.
The ACC cement market is highly competitive due to the presence of a large number of
local/international and international players and faces various challenges such as changing people’s
livelihoods, rising labour costs, declining employment, political stability, increasing supplier and
customer negotiation barriers, procurement barriers, etc.

Measures to accelerate infrastructure development, Macroeconomic growth, and increase consumer

confidence are helping the industry primarily.

The company has rich mining experience (a large user of limestone). It is among the largest customers of
domestic coal, Indian and Central railways, and outside the freight industry. One of India’s largest cement
manufacturers/producers plays a key role in transforming the country’s infrastructure.

They are the leading runner in CSR and being part of the Lafargeholcim team has helped the brand
increase its visibility and awareness in the country.

With its 17 state-of-the-art factories and 50 refurbished plants and a network of 10000+ retailers supplied
by 21 sales offices, ACC cement reaches every community structure.

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 SWOT ANALYSIS

A SWOT analysis is a technique used to determine and define your Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, and Threats – SWOT. SWOT analyses can be applied to an entire company or
organization, or individual projects within a single department. Most commonly, SWOT analyses are
used at the organizational level to determine how closely a business is aligned with its growth trajectories
and success benchmarks, but they can also be used to ascertain how well a particular project – such as
anonline advertising campaign – is performing according to initial projections.

The SWOT analysis about ACC Cement and its position in the market. The company is one of the best in
the cement industry, analysing it through the different framework of analysis in order to judge the actual
situational and industrial position of the company in order to find out how actually is the company doing.

The company is facing a lot of problem regarding its promotion and marketing techniques due to which it
faces a short of awareness in the market due to which people are not aware of the product but instead of
all the problems it is quite stable and maintain its position in the market. After performing Swot analysis
of the company by reviewing porter’s 5 forces and PESTEL analysis company’s strategic standing and
positioning have been analysed.

Currently the company is having a better standing as threat of entry is very low due to high initial funds
required to establish the factory setup.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF ACC CEMENT

STRENGTHS:

It is having a good image and brand loyalty among consumers.

Service is good

“Dhalai Karne Ke Liye” people ask for ACC

Perceived to be of very superior quality cement when compared to others

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Selling from the very first day the shop came in to being & sells easily

They have the same price prevailing for wholesale at dealers/stockiest retailers end

Solid brand equity – Winning the Super brand award multiple times is itself an achievement for ACC.
ACC won the award in 2006 as well as 2007, showcasing that their customers are happy with them and
the brand is trustworthy in the ultimate sense. In the cement industry, ACC cements is always touted as
one of the top 3 brands – Ambuja, Ultratech and ACC.

Awards – ACC cements has been at the forefront of winning awards. It is already an ISO 9001 company
recognized globally for its manufacturing practices. For the same, ACC cements has won the Golden
peacock award for quality management as well as the Green marketing award for environmentally
responsible manufacturing. Here is a list of all awards won by ACC cements.

Far and wide distribution network – ACC today boasts of dealers and distributors close to 9000 across
India. This far and wide distribution network ensures that ACC reaches all corners of India.

Numerous CSR initiatives – ACC is known to do several CSR activities. One of them is the ACC
scholarship which was started in February 2016 and is an excellent initiative. They have their own HIV
and AIDS treatment centres and regularly promote socially responsible activities by releasing newsletters
every quarter. ACC cements is also associated with United Nations global impact initiative for continuous
improvement across the world. Here are more details about CSR by ACC.

Maximum manufacturing plants – ACC has the highest numbers of manufacturing plants which are close
to 17 whereas Ultratech and others have lesser.

 CSR Activities: ACC Limited does many CSR Activities. Some of the major CSR Activities
include providing high-quality education to children of employees, encouraging women from
SHGs in the communities around its plant location, health and sanitization, improving livelihoods,
and many more.
 No. of Plants: ACC Limited has 17 manufacturing plants whereas Ultratech, Ambuja, and others
have fewer.
 Reducing Carbon Footprints: ACC Limited was one of the first Indian firms to make
environmental protection a corporate goal. They’ve built this commitment into every aspect of
their value chain, from mining to sales to supporting the use of alternative fuels and resources,
resulting in one of the minimal carbon footprints in cement manufacturing.
 50000+ Dealers: ACC Limited today boasts of 50000+ dealers and retailers across India. This far
and wide distribution network ensures that ACC Limited reaches all corners of India.

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  Awards: ACC Limited has won many awards. Some of them are National Award for Excellence
in Water Management by CII, Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra Award, Drona Trophy, Subh
Karan Sarawagi Environment Award, and many more

WEAKNESSESS:

Advertising is poor – Ambuja with its BTL ads is taking away the market rapidly. Recently Ambuja did
an ATL ad with the Great Khali (WWE) and the ad was appreciated all across. Similarly, Ultra tech is
known for its branding with the tagline “Engineers ki pasand”. Overall, even though the manufacturing
strength of ACC cements is strong, the advertising and push strategy is weak.

Losing brand equity – Although ACC cements was the first brand to win the Superbrand award in 2006
and 2007, Ultratech won the same award in 2011. This shows that Ultratech has won the brand equity
which once belonged to ACC cements and the same is visible in statistics.

Presence in India only – ACC is restricted with its presence in India and hence it faces competition from
Ultratech which is exporting cement in huge quantity. With exports, Ultratech can increase its turnover to
a good percentage.

Availability – Many dealers complain that ACC has such good tie up with corporates, that during
summers when there is massive construction going on, most cement goes to builders and the dealers are
not able to sell. On the other hand Ultratech has a constant presence across the year and hence they favour
Ultratech which has constant supply, over ACC which varies in its supply quantities.

 Lack of Promotional Activities: Other cement manufacturing companies are taking away the
market with their ads. Ambuja’s ad with the great Khali was appreciated all over. Similarly,
Ultratech is taking away the market with its tagline “Engineers Ki Pasand”. Overall, ACC
Limited’s production strength is solid, but still, its marketing and push strategy is mediocre.
 Only in India: ACC Limited’s footprint in India is limited, and as a result, it faces competition
from Aditya Birla’s Ultratech, which exports large quantities of cement. Ultratech is enhancing its
turnover by a significant percentage by exporting.
 High Transportation Cost: They have a huge transportation cost to transport cement to different
retail shops. Also with the increasing fuel prices, it will further increase.
 Lack of Awareness Programs: To protect the interest of consumers, awareness programs are
necessary.

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  Losing Brand Equity: ACC Limited is losing its brand equity as Ultratech is gaining brand
equity.

OPPORTUNITIES:

India growing in Infrastructure – One of the major advantages of ACC cements is that it is a leading
brand in the cement industry which is itself growing due to increasing demand of Infrastructure in India.
With the rise in population and the rise in economic conditions, this demand will not lessen anytime
sooner.

Brand activities – By investing in branding activities for 1 or 2 years, ACC cements can easily gain back
the market share as well as the brand equity and can become the leading brand in India. Sure it faces
competition by Ultratech, but Ultratech is a recent company whereas ACC has the heritage in India to
support it.

Cement roads – One of the most contributing factor to the growth of ACC cements will be its one product
– Ready mix concrete. Because of Government’s initiative to build Cement roads, RMC is more in
demand and ACC is a brand known to be a pioneer in RMC.

Exports – Its weakness can become its strength. ACC is already known for its quality in manufacturing. It
can use the same strength to start exports across the world which will helps its overall turnover and
increase bottom line.

Government tie ups – The more government tie ups it has, the more the company will grow.

 Branding Activities: It can initiate comprehensive branding in the country, which may help them
enhance brand memory and, as a result, help the brand expand as a whole. By investing in
branding campaigns for one or two years, ACC Limited may easily restore market share and brand
equity, and become India’s leading brand.

The best and cost-effective way to do brand campaigns is social media marketing. ACC Limited can
create targeted organic & paid social media marketing campaigns to boost brand awareness, acquire
quality leads and get repeat sales. If you are at the initial stages of your business then you must learn this
one of the digital marketing skills to save your extra cost which might get spent if you choose traditional
ways of marketing.  

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  Global Expansion: ACC Limited can make use of India’s market supremacy to expand to other
regions of the world.
 Improving Infrastructure: One of the hugest advantages of ACC Limited is that it is a
prominent brand in the cement industry, which is expanding in India owing to an increase in
infrastructure demand. This need will not diminish any time soon, given the growing population
and improving economic conditions.
 Increasing Demand: People are opting for more stable structures and intensive use of cement is
taking place, even the government is spending heavily on infrastructure projects. Thus, this is the
right time to fully tap these markets. 

THREATS:

Market is becoming crowded – ACC not only has to look at Ultratech and Ambuja cements. It also has to
look Birla white, Binani, Ramco cements, and N number of different cement companies coming up.
Where ACC majorly had to worry about a couple of players in the market a decade back, the market has
suddenly opened to multiple companies.

Price competition – Once a company enters price competition, its bottom line drops. And the same is the
threat to ACC. Due to the number of brands available, ACC has to enter price competition which is
affecting its bottom line.

Market share – Once dealers start selling products which are lower in cost but better in quality, then the
market share will slowly start to tilt. ACC and Ambuja are fighting for the 2nd level but both of them
might lose market share to these small and regional players. Because they are regional and focused, these
players can become strong in their regions.

 A Huge Number of Participants: The cement industry’s high number of companies makes it

difficult for ACC Limited to set a competitive price for its product.
 Threat From Global Players: It faces stiff competition in Indian markets from global players.
Due to India’s rapid expansion, many new multinational cement businesses are projected to
emerge in the future years, ushering in a wave of change and potentially igniting a price war.
 Price Competition: When a business engages in price competition, its bottom line suffers. The
threat to ACC Limited is just the same. ACC Limited is obliged to compete on price due to the
enormous number of brands offered, which has a detrimental impact on its bottom line.

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  Threat From Local Players: The emergence of small players in this market may increase the
competition and start malpractices, and heavy discounts to retailers. One of the challenges to ACC
Limited and the business is a slew of local brands offering cheap products.

ACC Limited is one of the Country’s top cement producers. We discovered that ACC Limited has a
unique track record of innovative research, product development, and specialized consultancy services. It
has a strong and extensive network infrastructure, but brand recognition and marketing efforts are
missing.

ACC Limited focuses on offering a lot of offline marketing support to its customers. Thus to conclude it
can be said that ACC Limited has its branches spread all over India ACC Limited company products are
profitable not only in India but also in the whole world. While talking about digital marketing, the social
media presence of ACC Limited is nearly equal to null. They have not taken much effort to market their
services and products so that it reaches the audience. 

Digital marketing is the future. Brands need to explore the wide spectrum of digital media and be more
conscious of their branding, advertising, and also their engagement on social media platforms. The
brand’s social media platform forms its identity in the minds of customers.

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 FINDINGS

 CSR Activities: ACC Limited does many CSR Activities. Some of the major CSR Activities
include providing high-quality education to children of employees, encouraging women from
SHGs in the communities around its plant location, health and sanitization, improving livelihoods,
and many more.
 No. of Plants: ACC Limited has 17 manufacturing plants whereas Ultratech, Ambuja, and others
have fewer.
 Reducing Carbon Footprints: ACC Limited was one of the first Indian firms to make
environmental protection a corporate goal. They’ve built this commitment into every aspect of
their value chain, from mining to sales to supporting the use of alternative fuels and resources,
resulting in one of the minimal carbon footprints in cement manufacturing.
 50000+ Dealers: ACC Limited today boasts of 50000+ dealers and retailers across India. This far
and wide distribution network ensures that ACC Limited reaches all corners of India.
 Awards: ACC Limited has won many awards. Some of them are National Award for Excellence
in Water Management by CII, Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra Award, Drona Trophy, Subh
Karan Sarawagi Environment Award, and many more

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 SUGGESTIONS

On the basis of above study carried out by me, the following suggestions are –
 To increase the sales of ACC cement in such area there is a need of time to time demo program,
seminars and try to get in the number one position.
 There is a need of more promotional activities specially in sub dealer and the rural area as they are
providing a good marketing opportunity.
 Need to available all the construction parts, material and tools of distributor office.
 The company must improve its supply so as the demand for the cement can easily be met.

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 CONCLUSION

In this project, we have discussed and analysed ACC Cement ltd by giving the strategic view, the tactical
view, and survey analysis. By working on this project, we have understood that customer is the king and
improvement is the key to the company’s prosperity. Therefore, a successful company should always
have high customer involvement, understand customer’s desires through surveys, research and direct
interviews; based on the information received from the customers, the company needs to improve its
sustainability in the market and reached products time to time to their customer, to either attract
customers, or to complete with the competitors.

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 BILBIOGRAPHY

 https://www.acclimited.com/
 https://www.ibef.org/industry/cement-presentation#:~:text=India%20is%20the
%20second%20largest%20cement%20producer%20in%20the%20world,the
%20rest%20with%20public%20sector
 https://www.acclimited.com/AnnualReport-2020-21/download-center.html
 https://www.acclimited.com/about/awords_archive

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