Professional Documents
Culture Documents
SUBMITTED BY:
SUSHANT GARG
SUBMITTED TO:
Mrs. MANI TYAGI
1
TABLE OF CONTENT
2 Literature Review 8
3. Research Methodology 13
3.1 Research objective 14
3.2 Research Methodology 15
4. FMCG Market 17
4.1 Indian Context 20
4.2 Market Opportunities 21
4.3 Evolution and Characteristics 22
5. Understanding Differentiation 26
5.1 Types of Differentiation 28
5.2 The Indian context 29
9. Annexture 72
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
2
It is inevitable that thoughts and ideas of other people tend to drift into the
subconscious, when one feels to acknowledge to helped drive from others.
I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the respondents and corporate
people and employees within various organizations who took their time off and
helped me in filling my questionnaire and were very forthcoming in their views
and provided authentic information.
Last but not the least I would like to acknowledge my family and all my friends who
were of great support and in successful compilation of the project report.
I sincerely hope that the hard work I have put in the project report will be
appreciated.
(SUSHANT GARG)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
3
The FMCG market is set to treble from US$ 11.6 billion in 2003 to US$ 33.4 billion
in 2015. Penetration level as well as per capita consumption in most product
categories like jams, toothpaste, skin care, hair wash etc in India is low indicating
the untapped market potential. Burgeoning Indian population, particularly the
middle class and the rural segments, presents an opportunity to makers of branded
products to convert consumers to branded products. Growth is also likely to come
from consumer 'upgrading' in the matured product categories. With 200 million
people expected to shift to processed and packaged food by 2010, India needs
around US$ 28 billion of investment in the food-processing industry.
Rapid urbanization, increased literacy and rising per capita income, have all
caused rapid growth and change in demand patterns, leading to an explosion of
new opportunities. Around 45 per cent of the population in India is below 20 years
of age and the young population is set to rise further. Aspiration levels in this age
group have been fuelled by greater media exposure, unleashing a latent
demand with more money and a new mindset.
The importance of consumer sales promotion in the marketing mix of the fast
moving consumer goods (FMCG) category throughout the world has increased.
Companies spend considerable time in planning such activities. However, in order
to enhance the effectiveness of these activities, manufacturers should understand
consumer and retailer interpretations of their promotional activities so that
appropriate differentiation can be used.
Retailers stated that role of word of mouth and television advertising was very
important in providing information inputs to the consumers regarding sales
promotion activities. This perception of retailers was supported by the consumer
unaided recall of sales promotion schemes which were widely advertised.
The research concludes with the discussion of the results, managerial implications
limitation of the study and future research directions.
4
I. ABOUT THE DISSERTATION
5
INTRODUCTION
Penetration level in most product categories like jams, toothpaste, skin care, hair
wash etc in India is low. The contrast is particularly striking between the rural and
urban segments - the average consumption by rural households is much lower than
their urban counterparts. Low penetration indicates the existence of unsaturated
markets, which are likely to expand as the income levels rise. This provides an
excellent opportunity for the industry players in the form of a vastly untapped
market. Moreover, per capita consumption in most of the FMCG categories
(including the high penetration categories) in India is low as compared to both the
developed markets and other emerging economies. A rise in per capita
consumption, with improvement in incomes and affordability and change in tastes
and preferences, is further expected to boost FMCG demand. Growth is also likely
to come from consumer "upgrading", especially in the matured product
categories
7
I. LITERATURE REVIEW
8
LITERARATURE REVIEW
By going through this article I have come across some points which you should
look upon. If you want to read the article it is present in the appendix. Following are
some points:-
Advertising is the only direct method which helps to reach masses of potential
buyers. Advertising, being dynamic, changes with changing methods of distribution
and consumption.
9
which a manufacturer or an Institutional body can communicate to an audience
whether to sell a product or promote a cause of social welfare.
The advertiser must constantly assess the situation to choose the right
environment and ideal time for an advertisement to be launched. Some of the
situations are as follows:-
In order to ensure that the advertisements reach the target consumers in a most
effective way and gets right response from them, it has to be ensuring that such
advertisements are presented in the right way. The following steps on the part of
the consumer may ensure that the advertisements are on the right track.
10
· Assessing the level of utility of the product individually.
In the article Dr. Alexander-- Told about a model which exemplifies the attitude or
response of a consumer to an advertisement.
Techniques of advertising for Fast Moving Consumer Goods
Value added ads- In addition to providing information about the product; Value-
added advertising transforms a product into something more appealing to
consumers than the physical object produced in the factory. Therefore, it is a
missing link between brand attributes and the customer perception, between
product features and need fulfillment, .between benefits and values.
Comparative ads- the advertiser compares the 2 brands of the same product
category. The ad can be copied as the Pepsi and sprite example in the case. They
have used the same story but both have them had a different approach.
Informative ads- these ads are used to provide information to the consumer about
different products and services.
Health and Hygiene ads- these ads show that the product is taking care of the
consumer's health. It is emphasizing of the physical attribute of the product. What
11
does the product do? How does it help you? The ad tells you all. These are some
of the techniques.
Lifestyle ads- Another way to. nave an impact on the consumer's mind is
portraying the life-style of a successful person.
Demographic ads- these ads are meant for different segments based on age,
sex etc. Farex Cereal Food for infants is an advertisement targeted directly towards
the infants, as it comprises a healthy food for them. It is also targeted indirectly
towards the mother.
12
Celebrity ads- Celebrities are mainly used in the advertisement either to lure the
rural people in buying a particular product or in forcing the young generation to buy
the products. This is also called endorsement advertising.,{t is also used in
portraying that a particular product is best in--qtJality because a person who is also
very well known in his/her field endorses it. The impact of these stars in
advertisements enables the company to increase its sale.
I. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
13
II. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
14
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
3. To get an insight into retailers’ views regarding the schemes being offered in
toilet soap category, and consumer perceptions
15
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Need Identification:
Establishing need for market scan
Defining Methodology
Data Collection
Primar
Secondar
y
y
Dat
Data
Checklis
t
FGD
Intervie
ws
Analyzing Data
Final Report
16
Methodology:
METHODOLOGY
The geographical scope of the study was restricted to the NOIDA city due to time
and resource constraints. The study being exploratory in nature, the sample size
was restricted to 30 consumers (student group) and 6 retailers. Focus being mainly
17
on in-depth probing, the generalizations drawn are only indicative and not
conclusive.
I. FMCG AN INTRODUCTION
II. INDIAN CONTEXT
III. MARKET OPPORTUNITIES
IV. EVOLUTION AND CHARECTERSTICS
18
FMCG –FAST MOVING CONSUMER GOODS
19
20
21
BRIEF DECRIPTION OF INDIA FMCG MARKET
22
MARKET OPPORTUNITIES IN FMCG:
Penetration level in most product categories like jams, toothpaste, skin care, hair
wash etc in India is low. The contrast is particularly striking between the rural and
urban segments - the average consumption by rural households is much lower than
their urban counterparts. Low penetration indicates the existence of unsaturated
markets, which are likely to expand as the income levels rise. This provides an
excellent opportunity for the industry players in the form of a vastly untapped
market.
23
Moreover, per capita consumption in most of the FMCG categories(including the
high penetration categories) in India is low as compared to both the developed
markets and other emerging economies. A rise in per capita consumption, with
improvement in incomes and affordability and change in tastes and preferences, is
further expected to boost FMCG demand. Growth is also likely to come from
consumer "upgrading", especially in the matured product
categories
EVOLUTION:-
1950’s-80’s – Low Investment in the sector
Low purchasing power
Govt’s emphasis on small scale sector
HLL and other company’s urbane focus
Post liberalization
Entry of MNCs
Focus shifted to getting to rural consumer first
Others, like Nestle, remained with the urban population
Latest fad to hit the market is the ‘sachet’ bug.
24
CHARECTERSTICS:
FORECAST 2010
25
26
27
I. UNDERSTANDING DIFFRENTIATION
II. TYPES OF DIFFRENTIATION
III. THE INDIAN CONTEXT
I. UNDERSTANDING DIFFERENTIATION
28
Differentiation is the process of adding a set of meaningful and valued differences
that distinguish a company's offering from those of its competitors. Differentiation is
strongest when it satisfies all of the following criteria:
29
BRAND loyalty in fast moving consumer goods categories is a topical issue, with
several brands resorting to price cuts across categories. More importantly, price
cuts or sales promotion by themselves do not seem to have done much for brands
in terms of sustaining brand loyalty. They may attract consumers in the short run:
consumers may stock the brands and consumers new to the brand may try it. But
over a period of time, a brand's value may get diluted in consumers' psyche, and
will eventually lose a strong base of consumers. The following are some aspects of
marketing mix elements and consumer behavior which could contribute to brand
loyalty.
Product differentiation
Price differentiation
If the price differentiation in the market is perceivable, price-led loyalty might exist
in the market. Price-led loyalty is practised by supermarkets, airline companies and
FMCG brands, which come out with frequent sales promotions based on freebies.
Alternatively, price might be taken as an indicator of brand quality, and the
customer might go in for higher priced options. Price-led loyalty has to be carefully
considered with other marketing mix elements and the consumer should never
perceive dilution, especially in low-priced bands. Hence, lower prices should create
a sense of value through the product offerings as well as through communication.
30
Branding activity
If the category is organized and there is branding activity, there will be greater
loyalty than there would have been if the category were unorganized. Branding
activities can differentiate between brands on name, symbol, images and
associations. Branding activity in this context refers to creating strong associations
which will influence the consumers not only with regard to functional attributes but
also with symbolism. Hamam soap's portrayal of its pure ingredients with the child
and mother imagery is a good example of one of these dimensions.
The following were the observations from the literature survey and the examples
chosen from the Indian context.
The factors indicate that there will be a large segment of consumers for whom
price-led loyalty will dominate. Hence there will be strong behavioural loyalty in the
segment and only weak attitudinal loyalty. There is thus spurious loyalty in this
sector.
There is a moderate level of symbolic and functional differentiation which has been
exploited by strong brands to build a loyal following. Examples of this include
brands such as Dove, Pond's Dreamflower talcum powder, Gold Flake, Will's Navy
Cut, Amul and Cadbury. These brands have probably built strong attitudinal loyalty
through their brand personality and other brand building efforts.
In the FMCG sector, brand habit is high whereas attitudinal loyalty is low. As
creating attitudinal loyalty based on functional differentiation is difficult, symbolic
31
differentiation is the key. Building strong brand personalities and associated
symbolic benefits is important for crafting customer loyalty.
The factors discussed cannot be treated in isolation: they are to provide a synergy
to result in brand loyalty. The combination of these factors and the timing of the
combination is the topical challenge which marketers face in an environment where
loyalty is slowly eroding.
Local challengers
Some of the most successful FMCG brands in 2002 came, not from the stables of a
Hindustan Lever and a Colgate, but from obscure regional players such as
Kaleesuwari Refineries, Parakh Foods, Anchor Switchboards and Kanpur
Detergents. Over the past couple of years, brands such as Gold Winner and
Gemini in refined oils, Anchor White in toothpastes and Ghari in detergents have
managed to sustain double digit growth rates, even as the market leaders have
struggled to hold on to single digit growth rates for their brands.
Yes, the comparison is unfair, as the local brands had a minuscule base to start
with. But these brands have demonstrated it is not impossible for a new challenger
to break into the traditional bastion of one or two large FMCG players. Traditionally,
large FMCG categories in India have been dominated by just one or two players,
who rule the roost by dint of their sheer financial muscle and distribution reach. But,
of late, successful regional brands have been finding chinks in their armour. And
how!
Aggressive pricing
In the edible oils market, as national players were forced to hike their selling prices
in response to rising commodity prices, both Gemini and Gold Winner have used
aggressive pricing to woo consumers away from the national brands. Packed tea
32
too, has seen similar trends. The limited differentiation in grocery and the flexibility
offered by a restricted area of operations have stood these companies in good
stead. Anchor White, among the few debutants in the toothpaste market to garner a
significant share, first wooed the retail trade with high distribution margins, and then
used rock-bottom prices to lure consumers into trying the product. Though none of
these companies can match the market leaders in adspend, they have used
focused regional and local advertising to draw consumers' attention to their brands.
The mushrooming of local and regional media has undoubtedly helped the local
players milk the most from their ad budgets.
While the local brands have been adding to their brand portfolios, the market
leaders have largely stayed off new product launches.
In keeping with its "power" brand strategy, Hindustan Lever's marketing strategies
in 2002 revolved around rejigging and relaunching established brands such as
Lifebuoy, Rin, Surf and Vim. The company phased out brands such as Sunlight in
detergents, and Jai in toilet soaps, so as to focus better on its 30 power brands.
The strategy appears to have worked, as brands such as Lifebuoy and Rin have
moved into a higher growth trajectory after the relaunch.
In fact, HLL's "power" brand strategy has found a few followers in the FMCG
market, with companies such as Godrej Consumer also announcing plans to focus
on a clutch of key brands.
Streamlining ad spend
33
While the "power" brand strategy has helped the leading players put their
marketing prowess behind their most important brands, it has not really helped
them save on ad spend. For most FMCG companies, advertising and promotion
spends in 2002 grew faster than their sales. In high penetration categories such as
soaps, detergents and toothpastes, marketing efforts of the players revolved
around persuading existing consumers to use more of the product or to upgrade to
a higher-priced brand. The slew of "100 gm free for every 150 gm" offers in
toothpastes and the series of promos on the 2 kg packs of premium detergents
were both intended to induce existing consumers of a product to pep up their
usage of the brand.
Shampoos have been among the few FMCG categories to register a positive
growth rate in 2002, and growth in this category has been driven mainly by sachet
packs and by scaled-down 50 ml bottles priced at less than Rs 10.
Overall, the FMCG slowdown of the past three years has served a useful purpose.
At one level, it has made sure that the dominant players in the market no longer
enjoy unlimited pricing power, as they have in the past. There now appears to be a
greater effort on the part of the players to hold selling prices and look at their own
operations to save on cost. At another level, the emergence of the regional
challengers has made sure that consumers of FMCG products have a few more
choices in their purchases of essentials. Is selling soap the same as selling a TV?
34
It isnt. The difference is how the particular product is sold and more importantly,
how is it distributed. India is a unique market, where the manufacturers who deliver
products at the doorstep, which is the ideal way to deliver anything, spoil our
consumers. We have an extremely evolved distribution mechanism for most
products. Different products are sent to the consumer differently. Depending on the
number, the price of the product and the complexity of the selling process, they
may vary from direct selling to selling through a channel that may have as many as
four levels between the manufacturer and the consumer. A look at a few of them
will show what it means to be a sales person of that product.
Most FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) products are not hard-sold to the end
consumers. Sales are built up largely by pull - a technique using advertising and
consumer promotion. The sell-in happens to the trade i.e. to various members of
the distribution channel - the Carrying&Forwarding/Super-stockist, the distributor,
the wholesaler and most importantly the retailer, who is the interface with the end-
consumer. This chain forms the most important link in getting the product
economically to the consumers doorstep.
A large MNC in the FMCG industry may be covering as many as 1 million outlets
across the country with the help of thousands of distributors. Even a mid-sized
company covers at the least 1 lakh outlets.
35
I. UNDERSTANDING ADVERTISEMENT
36
III. CREATING DIFFRENTIATION THROUGH
ADVERTISEMENT
I. UNDERSTANDING ADVERTISEMENTS
37
between various aspects of a promotional mix (advertising included) provides a
refreshing approach towards marketing communications. There may be several
objectives of advertising and a promotional mix could be used in an innovative
manner to address each of these objectives depending on the product category
and target segment.
Creating-brand-awareness
When a new brand enters a category or creates a “new to the market” offering, it
needs to create brand awareness. This would depend on whether the product is a
consumable or a durable. The involvement level in a specific category also matters
on how a brand would want to create awareness. Itch Guard, a new branded
offering for minor skin problems, used a simple humorous TV commercial to
convey the concept. While the unit cost of the product may be low, the involvement
level of the consumer on the solution offered by the brand could be associated with
high involvement. A brand in this situation is likely to also benefit from point of
purchase material at pharmacy outlets, departmental stores and even kirana
(grocery) type of shops.
The “high-utility” solution has to be conveyed to the target segment, which probably
was using traditional substitutes. In this example, a typical brand personality need
not be built at least before the benefit is sold to the consumer and hence all
promotional efforts should be directed at conveying the benefit and creating a
brand association with the category itself (as it is a pioneering brand in the
category). This objective would be achieved by advertising, “reminder purchase”
posters at the point of sale and perhaps conveying the superiority of the offering
through the route of doctors (though it is an OTC offering).
Kissan Bistix in contrast is a unique offering, which is aimed at children who have
to initially make a change in their habits regarding the consumption of this offering
(should be eaten with a biscuit stick after it is dipped in chocolate/any other side
dish flavour which is a part of the package
38
LG introduced several “new to market” features in
its various product categories; Samsung which created brand awareness through
its “World Series” ads, also introduced innovative features in its products and
Santro’s success (in terms of its market share) can be attributed to product design,
advertising and launching of variants after brand acceptance. New brands depend
on innovative features to create awareness and this happens both by advertising
and positive word-of-mouth. Promotional aspects like an event involving the brand
formulated to strengthen the word-of-mouth could add to the promotional effect.
This approach could be compared with the advertising blitzkreig of several new
brands of cars. Skoda, almost an unknown name in India, has been able to meet
with considerable success (in its niche) because of word-of-mouth for its Octovia
model than through conventional advertising.
39
product/market situation before such discussions are taken. When a brand has a
competitive advantage in terms of time (first entry) it could sequence the two kinds
of advertising effectively. When washing machines were introduced in India (even
now the penetration of washing machines is not high) fifteen years back, Videocon
used a very effective primary advertising to sell the concept and create awareness
about the category. “It washes, rinses and dries” was the message and slowly over
a period of time the brand added features that were very specific to the brand.
The category of quartz watches provides such an example. HMT made an attempt
to sell the concept during the initial stages when the category was introduced.
Titan, which has a huge chunk of the category, took a major initiative not only to
build its brand but also to sell the concept of quartz watches. Besides there were
also a number of offerings from the unorganised or assembled sector which offered
low-price points at the lower end of the market. In a situation like this, the
pioneering brand or any brand, which builds itself quickly stands to gain. This is
because consumers become familiar with the category within a short time,
especially when prices come down rapidly. Besides, such quick diffusion is also
enhanced by the fact that the category is a necessity item rather than a luxury.
Definition:
For the purpose of this study, following definitions of sales promotion were kept in
mind. Kotler defines sales promotion as: “Sales promotion consists of a diverse
collection of incentive tools, mostly short-term designed to stimulate quicker and/or
greater purchase of particular products/services by consumers or the trade.”
7Roger Strang has given a more simplistic definition i.e. “sales promotions are
short-term incentives to encourage purchase or sales of a product or service.”
Hence, any forms of incentives (price cut or value added nature) offered for short
period either to trade or consumers are considered as sales promotion activities.
40
1.1 Segment-wise Frequency of Schemes
Thirteen schemes (47%) announced were found to be on popular segment (Rs.8-
15 for 75 gms.) of toilet soap brands. This was closely followed by 11 schemes
(40%) in premium segment (> Rs.15 for 75 gm.). Thus it could be inferred that
companies were trying to upgrade consumers of economy/popular brands to
popular/premium soap brands respectively.
41
1.3 Premium (Free Gift) Offers
Six out of 13 premium offers were a part of the companies own portfolio e.g. on
buying 2 Dettol soaps, a Dettol Talc, 18 grams worth Rs.25 was given free.
100 gm) Rs.10 off. It could be inferred that frequent use of sales promotion
activities in premium segment might dilute the brand’s exclusivity, which
could lead to dissatisfaction and disillusionment among the regular users.
Five out of six retailers viewed that whenever sales promotion scheme was
announced on TV, it created pull and they were more than willing to stock such
brands. For example Medimix and Dettol contest was not advertised on TV, hence
there was very little awareness leading to unsold stock till 6 months. While Lux
Gold Star which was heavily promoted on T.V. is recalled even today.
42
Post Promotion Behavior
Retailers observed that in most cases sales promotion scheme on a brand might
encourage a buyer to switch a brand temporarily but he would revert back to
original brand after promotion.
Handling Problems
Many a times retailers had to handle various sales promotion offers simultaneously
in a category and also across categories and there was no formal communication
planning either from the dealer or the company. Remembering each offer and
handling was a problem especially for a small retailer which was often a as one-
man show.
As obvious from the above table, sales promotion was not the main reason for
switching brand in this category. Need for variety was the predominant reason.
It was found through deeper probing that even though consumers would have
switched brands due to sales promotion, there was reluctance about admitting the
same and variety was given as a reason for switching.
43
It could be seen from Table elow.
As seen from above, Lux (Gold Star offer – most promoted and advertised brand)
had the maximum recall. This brand used TV advertisement heavily to announce
sales promotion offers. Six out of 30 did not recall any sales promotion scheme on
any brand. It could be inferred that i) hard core loyals to a particular brand (eg.
Hamam) would never (pay attention to any announcements of any other toilet soap
brand. ii) Unless sales promotion offers were properly communicated to the target
audience, required impact might not be created and iii) Unless promotional offers
were of significant value to a consumer, it was likely to get unnoticed and/or
ignored.
44
In order to understand ability of the promotions to increase long-term sales,
respondents were asked about continuity of purchase of a brand after the
withdrawal of promotion. Eighty per cent of the respondents indicated that they
would not continue. But 20% said they would. Thus, it could be inferred that
promotions in this category (low involvement products) might encourage trial and
brand switching but not long term loyalty.
d. Preference of Schemes:
Price off was the most preferred type of scheme. Sixty-three per cent of the
respondents ranked price-offs as number one or two. This was from an upper
income (biased sample, in which 18 out of 30 were from income group category
>3,00,000/- p.a.
e. Perceived Quality:
Ninety-three per cent of the respondents had a perception that the quality of the
promoted brands remained the same during promotion, while 7% felt that it was
inferior than before. It can be inferred that promotions were not leading to negative
brand quality perceptions. It was further reinforced when 53% of the respondents
said that sales promotion would not weaken their loyalty towards the brand.
45
perception that those schemes which were announced through mass media had
better response. This was reinforced by the consumer survey which showed that
recall in case of heavily promoted schemes on TV was found to be very high.
Implications
The findings of the empirical study indicate that unless the brand to be promoted is
in the consideration set of the consumer, sales promotion by itself is unlikely to
have any major impact. Clearly this shows that managers need to invest into brand
building exercise so that his/her brand appears in the consideration set of the target
consumers. Only after this should he spend time, money and energy on sales
promotion activities. Sales promotion should not be used in isolation but need to be
integrated with other tools and in line with the overall positioning of the brand. Also
the importance of the role of mass media came out clearly in both the studies.
Companies need to create sufficient awareness about sales promotion schemes
through mass media in order to create awareness The role of retailer in influencing
consumer in brand choice decision in a toilet soap category was found to be
insignificant which also supports the above observations.
46
The findings exhibited that both the retailers and consumers perceived that sales
promotion activities carried out by the companies for increasing sales in short term
and clearing excess stocks. What it implies is that companies need to use sales
promotion synergistically and communicate so that they provide value to the target
audience and enhance brand quality/image perceptions. Companies need to
From the study it was found that smaller retailers felt neglected and not
enthused to implement the schemes, particularly when additional handling,
stocking, accounting was required on the part of a retailer without compensatory
margins. It can be seen that the retailer and consumer perceptions matched with
respect to preferences of schemes, underlying motivations and role of mass media.
This implies that the retailer would be a rich source of information about the
consumer and the likely response to sales promotion activities. Developing a
system to tap such responses from time to time both at retailer and consumer level
would be helpful for planning future sales promotion activities. In order to build trust
and commitment companies should tap preferences, perceptions of retailers as
well as consumers.
47
48
III. PROBLEM FACED BY MARKETERS
Fast moving consumer goods players Dabur, HLL are among the major companies
found to violate Advertising Standards Council of India code during the first quarter
of the current calendar year.
ASCI had taken action against 16 advertising campaigns by different companies, of
which seven were asked to withdraw, while nine were asked to modify for violation
of the codes.
The council asked Dabur India to discontinue its Red Toothpaste commercial after
the company was unable to substantiate claims made in a television commercial, in
which it said specific indgredients in the product could give the consumer strong
teeth.
Hindustan Lever's Clinic All Clear, which is now being endorsed by Bollywood
couple Bipasha Basu and John Abraham, was also on the list of defaulters.
The company was found guilty of 'false and misleading' campaigns in its hoardings
and radio commercials. HLL had projected the shampoo as a solution to hair fall
through its tag-line baal girney ka sawaal hi nahi (no question of hair fall). ASCI
ordered HLL to remove the hoardings and radio commercials.
This time around, several FMCG companies have come under ASCI's (Advertising
Standards Council of India) scanner as complaints against their ads have been
upheld by the Consumer Complaints Council for the period between January and
Marchthis year.
Dabur, Hindustan Lever, Johnson & Johnson and Colgate Palmolive are the few
FMCG majors who have had to withdraw their ads during this period.
For Dabur India, it was its Dabur Red Toothpaste; its pack claimed `strong teeth.'
The TV commercial claimed `Get strong teeth from Dabur Red Toothpaste which
contains laung, pudina and tomar.'
49
According to the complaint made by a member of the dental profession, the
ingredients declared on the pack are not scientifically and clinically proved to
provide strong teeth. The claim is false and needs to be validated with clinically
proven data, said ASCI. The TV commercial has been discontinued. Assurance is
awaited from the advertiser on the modification of the promotion message on the
product pack, said the advertising standards watchdog.
In the case of HLL, the radio commercials for Clinic All Clear Hair Defense claim
"Baal girne ka sawaal nahi (question of hair fall does not arise)" was looked upon
favourably by ASCI. Its hoardings also claim no dandruff and no hair fall. The
complaint made is about the gross exaggeration of facts, said ASCI. The radio
commercials distort facts and are misleading consumers into believing that Clinic
All Clear stops hair fall. The ads from radio and hoardings have thus been
withdrawn.
Johnson & Johnson's comparison of its Stayfree Secure Dry sanitary napkin brand
to all napkins using a general descriptor of `mehenga napkin' is a gross
exaggeration. The claim being `as good as' is vague and ambiguous as it does not
specify the parameters on which Stayfree Secure Dry is considered equivalent to
expensive napkins. According to the complaint made, by not specifying any
particular brand of `expensive napkin' for comparison, the TV commercial is leaving
the communication vague and implying `the market leader' position among the
premium product segment.
"As the claim relies on a survey conducted by TNS India, one needs to scrutinise
the survey design, methodology and questionnaire to check the validity of the
survey, study the actual findings and check whether the same reflects in
conclusion," ASCI stated. The TV commercial had been discontinued from March
this year.
50
For Colgate Palmolive (India), it was its Colgate Sensitive Toothbrush being
positioned as the Dentists' No.1 choice, which ASCI objected to.
"In the absence of a notation in the advertisement on the source supporting this
claim, the advertiser is required to substantiate the claim," read the complaint. In
this case, the ad has been discontinued and the advertiser has assured
appropriate modification in future use.
The study conducted in association with the assistance of Yahoo, MSN, Lycos, and AOL
combined a total of 200 FMCG online campaigns executed across Europe. The aim of the
study was to quantify the average impact that European ad campaigns have on traditional
branding metrics, and create benchmarks for categories such as FMCG which has
traditionally not embraced the Internet as a key advertising medium.
The research methodology follows global industry standards set forth by Dynamic
Logic (1999) which surveys consumers in two categories; campaign exposed and
non-exposed. In total 160,000 individuals were surveyed across Europe
representing the two groups. The full 'funnel' of branding metrics was surveyed;
brands awareness, ad recall, message association, brand favourability, and
purchase intent.
The conclusion of the study found that all 5 branding metrics were positively
impacted. Similarly to other categories, FMCG brands which advertised online had
the highest impact across brand awareness (both aided and un-aided) and brand
favorability in line with market norms and mirroring similar research from the US.
Furthermore, it was found that effective frequency across each of the brand metrics
was increasing even at 10+ average exposures, building the case against
perceived 'ad burnout' which traditionally is thought to be at much lower average
exposures levels. Hence FMCG branding metrics continue to increase with
additionalexposures.
51
Problems And Issues
Bridge positioning can play a role in bridging the gap between customer perception
and product USP by relying more on UCP than USP based positioning statement.
Objectives: Objective of the study was to find out finer points of developing bridge
positioning statement and how it can bridge the gap between the UCP and USP.
The study further focused on how bridge positioning can be validated in terms of
sales.
A USP is that distinct and appealing idea that sets your business favorably apart
from every other generic competitor. While A UCP is that distinct and appealing
idea that is built on customers’ perceptions that sets business favorably apart from
every other generic competitor. Brands which had high success has USP=UCP.
This means positioning statement helps to have better brand recall. Thus, Bridge
positioning statement helped to bring brand come nearer to the customers.
Application of bridge positioning helped to generate better sales and achieve status
of leader brands. UCP and USP matching makes the brand recall better and the
positioning statement in these cases can be called Bridge Positioning.
52
It is quite obvious that only the clear and well-defined USP is not the panacea for
all marketing ills. Today’s trying economic conditions have forced difficult decisions
on companies. Most are making conservative decisions that reflect a survival mode
in business operations. During these difficult times, understanding what customers
think on continuous basis is critical for survival. Most marketers assume the
product USP to stay constant overtime that is contrary to reality. Companies may
have to change the USP to stay contemporary and relevant. It is obvious that there
has to be another parameter that makes a success of the product. What companies
need to understand is product’s UCP. UCP by itself provides solutions to all the
marketing problems poised by the widely accepted USP approach. Basically it aims
at the core of the problem. It eliminates the problem from the roots rather than
periodic trimming of the tree.
Selection of the brand: Mountain Dew, a lemon drink, with the USP “The
Spirit of Adventure - Do the Dew” is marketed in India. However, this USP failed to
position Mountain Dew in the minds of the consumers as an adventure drink. This
was reflected by stagnant sales of Mountain Dew in the market.
Similarly, Natrilix-SR a diuretic widely used in India was stagnating and not
showing enough growth.
The study was to focus on UCP and USP of this product and how UCP if
determined through the study can improve sales through better brand recall and
preference of doctors. Antihypertensive brand was selected as this segment is
fastest growing segment all over the world including India. Natrilix -SR was
selected for this study.
53
2. Identifying the UCP: As the important part of the research was to
find out the customer perception of the brands, it was accomplished by
using questionnaire approach of Research Methodology.
3. Formulating the UCP:A ranking technique was used to find the most
important customer perceptions for the brand. On the basis of these
perceptions the UCP was formulated.
54
demonstrate this claim at a retail outlet especially given the fact that the quality of
water varies across areas even in a specific geographical region. It is also essential
that a good “differentiation proposition” result in a positive word-of-mouth.
In a certain situation, the company may have two offerings in a product-line and
there is a need to differentiate them clearly depending on the target segments
involved. This is a complex situation where differentiation decides the growth of the
brand and the perceived difference between the offerings. An added layer to the
complexity is the same brand name being used for the offerings. Fairness cream is
a category in which the benefit is the fairness of the complexion. A brand like Fair
and Lovely built over the years still has a strong association with the category but
under tremendous pressure from competitive brands and the most important
criteria which these brands is the herbal touch associated with them. Herbal
ingredients are becoming popular with consumers in several categories and
personal care in India has a strong tradition of herbal care. Fair and Lovely had to
launch its herbal variant (it used the same brand probably because of the brand
equity built up over the years). The interesting fact is the differentiation being
conveyed by advertising.
The original version uses an aspiration route in which the brand’s ultimate benefit is
success through confidence.
55
Marketing communication is an area, which offers a high potential to brands to
analyze the utility of several promotional inputs.
56
between types of promotion. A list of the different types of price and non price
promotions and their definitions is shown in Table .
57
Table
Although a wide variety of price and non-price promotions are launched in the
market, most of the academic research on promotions has focused on price
promotions, namely price offs and coupon offers (Blattberg, Briesch and Fox,
1995). Promotional tools such as free gift offers, extra product offers that are
increasingly being used in the market place.
58
However very little academic theory or research has looked at how
consumers perceive and respond to such promotions. In recent years,
researchers have started comparing consumer response to different
promotions e.g. price promotion versus premium promotion or extra product
promotion versus price promotion .
59
Frequency of Promotions across Product Categories
Before proceeding with the main analysis, the frequency of promotions across
different sectors of FMCG, Consumer Durable and Services were noted.
The frequency of promotion in these sectors is shown in Table 3.
Table
The different types of promotions identified in the study include price offs,
60
free gift offers, sweepstakes, extra product offers, contests, exchange offers
and buy-more-and- save/get offers. The overall frequency of occurrence of
these promotions as well as frequency of occurrence in FMCG, Durables
and Services was analyzed as shown in Table
The most popular promotion is the free gift promotion, which constitutes more
than half (55 %) of the total number of promotions. This is followed in
popularity by the sweepstake promotion (11%), which in turn, followed by the
extra product promotion (8%) and the price off promotion (8%) in popularity. In
Services, the order of frequency of promotions is the premium promotion
followed by the extra product promotion followed by the price off promotion.
In case of Durables, the order of frequency of promotions is the premium
promotion followed by the sweepstake promotion followed by the price off
promotion.
This promotion is seen mainly in the consumer durable product category. This
promotion requires the consumer to exchange an old product for a new one
and get some benefit, usually a price reduction. For example, in case of cars,
the scheme offers the consumer a price reduction of Rs. 10,000 on the new
car in exchange for an old car. For pressure cooker, the scheme offers a price
reduction of 40% on exchanging an old cooker for a new cooker. In case of
household durables, the scheme usually requires the consumer to exchange an
old model of a product (e.g. AC, refrigerator, music system, mixer grinder, gas
stove) to get a price reduction on the new model. Apart from exchanging an
old durable good, the scheme also involves exchanging a small TV for a big
TV. Most exchange schemes provide an incentive to purchase in the form of a
price reduction. One exchange scheme involved returning an old washing
machine for a new one and getting an electric iron as gift.
The purpose of the exchange scheme appears to be upgrade existing users
of durable products to newer and larger sized models of a product.
62
o free pillows with a mattress purchase
At times, the product offered as a free gift constitutes an upgrade to the original
purchase. For example in case of Computer Printers, a free Internet connection,
Internet telephony kit, software titles and multimedia package is offered along
with the printer. Or in case of notebook computer/PC, the consumer is offered
a Free Internet upgrade and 20 GB, Web Camera, Printer, Britannica CDs,
software. In case of fast food restaurants, the free products are items such as
soft drink, bread stick, pineapple fudge, garlic bread, ice cream cookies. Here the
free products appear to be ‘use complements’ to the original product.
At other time the free product may be totally unrelated to the original
purchase. For example the consumer may be offered a free pen with a skin
care cream or free batteries with soap. It is possible that, in such, cases, the
products through unrelated are targeted to the same segment of consumers.
This is particularly seen in free gift promotions targeted at children. For
example, in case of health drinks, the free product are items such as cricket
bat, zoom ball, story book, pencil box, biscuits, binoculars, toy bike, cricket set,
football and trendy wristwatch which are valued by children. Similarly, in
case of confectionary products such as chocolates and biscuit, the free
products are products relevant to children such as comics, sticker, toy, tattoo,
magic paint card and magic candle.
63
In some cases, the free gift offered along with the purchase is another product
variant offered by the company. For example in case of fruit juice the
consumer is offered the guava flavor fruit juice when he/she buys 5 packs of
orange flavor. In case of spices, the consumer is offered Kashmiri mirch along
with purchase of the regular spices. Several free gift offers have a pre
commitment of size or value of purchase from the consumer. The consumer
has to make a certain value of purchase before he is entitled to the free gift.
Often, there are smaller gifts associated with purchase of smaller pack sizes and
larger gifts associated with purchase of larger pack sizes of a product. In most
cases, the price of the free gift is not mentioned. The brand name of the free
product e.g. Timex watch or Motorola handset is mentioned in some cases.
3. Sweepstake offer
The sweepstake offer gives the consumer a chance to win a large prize
through luck. It ususaly involves a lucky draw or a scratch card based on which
the winners are decided. The prizes offered on this promotion can be broadly
classified into two types. The first type of prize is a trip to a foreign location
e.g. Paris, London, Thailand, Singapore or Malaysia. Many brands offer a trip
to the South Africa World Cup as a promotional attraction. The second type
of prize are durable products such as Bike, Car, Watch, Washing Machine,
Television, Refrigerator, DVD, Mobile Phone, Cordless phone, PC, Microwave,
Camera, Sunglasses, Gold Jewellery, Gold Coin. Gold has a major appeal as a
prize on the sweepstake promotion across diverse product categories such as
soap and personal computer. In some cases, the details of the prize on the
sweepstake promotion is not specified and is stated as ‘prizes worth Rs. 50
crores.’
64
This type of promotion requires a consumer to buy two or more products to
avail of the promotional advantage. The promotional benefit is usually in the form
of money saved as a result of buying two ore more products at the same time. In
certain cases, the promotion requires the consumer to buy additional units of
the same product to avail of the promotional advantage. For example, in
case of bath soaps and detergent cakes, this promotion requires the
consumer to buy three bath soaps/detergent cakes and get one
soap/detergent cake free. In case of fruit juice the consumer is required to buy 5
packs of juice and get one pack of fruit juice free. This promotion seems to
be popular in categories where the extra units of the product offered on the
promotion can be stored for future consumption.
5. Contest offers
65
Fast Food restaurant, this promotion requires the consumer to fill up a coupon
and get a chance to meet a film star such as Hrithik Roshan. In case of soft
drinks, the contest offer requires the consumer to answer a question in an ad
and get a chance to meet a movie star. In other product categories, the prizes
offered on this promotion are similar to those on the sweepstake promotion.
The consumer is offered the chance to win a car or a flat or various
household durable appliances.
Most of the extra product promotions (65%) are seen in the FMCG category
where the extra units of product serve as additional consumption units for the
consumer. There are no extra product promotions seen in the durables
product category. In FMCG, the specific products on which the extra
product promotion is launched include Talcum Powder, Detergent Cake,
Soaps, Fruit Juices and Hair Oil. In case of toothpaste the promotion
requires the consumer to buy one toothpaste and get the second toothpaste
free. In a talcum powder extra product promotion, the consumer is offered 20%
extra in the same pack. This promotion is also seen in the Services sector.
In case of Internet service provider, this promotion offers extra hours on the
Internet and free Internet access on Sunday. In case of fast Food restaurants,
the promotion offers a second pizza free along with the original pizza or a slice
free along with the original pizza.
66
I. RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
II. CONCLUSION
67
68
I. RECOMMENDATIONS
2: Effective advertising is necessary to confirm the public about the product at the
right time through the right medium. Therefore, advertisers for
3. Although product benefits can be shown most effectively by TV. It should not
mislead the consumers. The advertisement is judged by its impact, and by its
acceptance by the consumers. What it promises must be there in the
4. Identifying the right Celebrities for different products and the degree of influence
these celebrities have in different stages of decision making
The ad agencies should use simple ads to convey the message of the brand. It
should also be creative and focus on 1 or 2 points. Innovative methods should be
used to make advertising effective.
69
Importance of Claim:
Believable:
Uniqueness:
70
Repetition:
Companies that are able to spot trends early and those that are committed to
continuous innovation and those that Endeavour to delight the consumer by
meeting her changing needs will lead and prosper in the future. Product superiority
married with a favorable price-value equation will form the basis of winning
initiatives in the coming years.
71
II. CONCLUSION
This Endeavour of the present survey can thus be concluded on a note that
repetition surely has very profound, widespread and long-lasting impact on the
emotions and behavior exhibited by the consumers with regard to their purchase
decisions. Repetition, therefore, is a solution for many of the problems that
marketers face while trying to generate sales and favorable response. But the
frequency and various other factors like emotions, clutter, familiarity/unfamiliarity of
the brand or the ad prove and determine the very subtle demarcation between an
application which improves effectiveness and the same effect considered as a brain
wash or damage
Advertising serves many generic purposes, but for specific categories like FMCG,
the involvement of all stakeholders is vital to the success of an advertising strategy.
Innovation and creativity are pillars of great advertising strategies, but equally
important are the content and delivery of the advertisement.
The techniques discussed are not exhaustive. The general awareness of the
consumers is on the increase, because of many factors like urbanization, better
transportation, developments in information technology, media, etc and the average
consumer today is more concerned about the value of his money and time. All
compels the advertisers to innovate and develop new techniques to attract the
customers. We can say that the advertisers use these different means of
72
advertising in order to lure the customers to buy their products. It is not necessary
to use only one aspect of advertising in an advertisement. Instead, multiple aspects
of advertising are being used to make sure that the consumers buy the respective
company's product.. Briefly, we can say that the different aspects of advertising are
quite beneficial for promoting a product.
Every advertisement has some multiplier effect which gives a greater benefit with
respect to/ the amount spent. Recall of an advertisement varies from individual to
individual, and a company may calculate its advertisement multiplier for measuring
its advertisement effectiveness.
An attempt is made to identify the level of awareness among the respondents
towards TV advertising. From the study it is inferred that TV commercials have
considerable int1uence on the Buying decision as well as Brand preference of the
consumers. The celebrity endorsement is also considered to be an important part
of advertisements to make them more creative and innovative in their reach to the
consumers and their attempt to capture their attention.
Following observations are made after making an analysis of data collected from
various respondents and from general discussions with them:
2) Almost half of the segment of respondents likes to watch ads regularly. This
means TV outperforms other Medias as far as effective presentation is concerned.
It is capable of attracting attention immediately.
3) A significant portion of the people prefers to watch ads because of the '
informative content. This is because of “evocation of experience" i.e TV advertising
easily stimulates the experience of using and owning the product. :
73
4) Brand preference is considered to be one of the prerequisite for brand :
salience-to create the Top of the Mind Brand Awareness. TV ;
commercials go a long way in achieving this as also indicated by the study. ;
Advertising works by reinforcing Brand preference for mature brands.
5) A small segment of the respondents think that the advertisements are totally true
or reliable. All the rest of them think that they are either sometimes deceptive or
mostly deceptive.
6) Major chunk of the respondents feel that celebrities 'presence in the ads is highly
required. They feel models are familiar and their presence is reassuring. Moreover,
because of the high positive image of the celebrities consumers feel the
genuineness of the product/ brand. Celebrity endorsement is generally preferred for
such products as soft drinks, cars, suitings, premium range products and luxurious
items.
7) More than half of the consumers are not able to relate themselves with the
lifestyle shown in the TV ads. This is because the people are not able to conform
the exaggeration shown in the respect of product benefits with their own picture of
reality.
8) When asked to recall an advertisement in respect of any Fmcg, almost all the
respondents were able to recall only one or two advertisements or the tag lines of
their favorite brands. They could also immediately relate the celebrities they have
seen in the respective ads.
74
10) Although informative content is more liked by the respondents but with the
advent of too many satellite TV channels, the use of celebrities has become an
important issue for the advertiser. This is to make the consumer more conscious
and attract towards the product.
It is possible provided the unique selling point matches unique customer perception
or when the customer perception is same as unique selling point, the positioning
statement can act as a bridge between communicator (manufacturer) and the user.
This `bridge positioning’ can lead to long-term relationship with the customer.
Most marketers assume that their product USP stay constant. Companies should
change the USP to stay contemporary and relevant. USP based positioning is more
effective However in order to have better brand recall, what companies need to
understand is product’s UCP is a culmination of a multitude of information that the
consumer receives from various channels.
76
77
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR COLA DRINKS
Name:
------------------------
Address:
-----------------------
Occupation: __________
2. When you think of cola drinks, which Brand comes to your mind?
Yes ( )
No ( )
7.On a scale of 1 to 5, Rate the quality of advertisement of the following cola drinks:-
Pepsi
Coca cola
Thums up
78
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CHOCOLATES
Name:
-------------------------
Address:
Occupation: _________
Below 15 ( ) 15 - 25 ( ) 25 - 35 ( ) 35 - 45 ( ) Above 45 ( )
Yes ( )
No ( )
Kit kat
Munch
Perk
Dairy Milk
Others
79
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TOMATO KETCHUP
Name: ________________________
Address: _______~---------------
Occupation: _________
Yes ( )
No ( )
Maggi
Heinz
Kissan
80
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR FAIRNESS CREAMS
Name:
Address: _______________________
Occupation: __________
Below 15 ( ) 15 - 25 ( ) 25 - 35 ( ) 35 - 45 ( ) Above 45 ( )
2. When you think of Fairness Creams which Brand comes to your mind?
Yes ( )
No ( )
.
6. Whose advertisements/campaigns"de you like the most?
Fair and lovely
Fairever
Fairone
Others
7.On a scale of 1 to 5 , rate the quality of advertisement of the following FAirness creams
Fairever
Fairone
Others
81
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR DETERGENTS
Name: _________________________
Address: _______________________
Occupation: _________
Below 15 ( ) 15 - 25 ( ) 25 - 35 ( ) 35 - 45 ( ) Above 45 ( )
Yes ( )
No ( )
Ariel
Surf Excel
Tide Wheel
Others
82