INTERIOR DECORATION INDUSTRY

Interior decoration is, in essence, a part of a larger discipline that is

architecture. Both Interior decoration and architecture are the act of designing within
either a building or a space, and have been adopted to differentiate the unique face of
work of the interior environment. However, it wasn’t until the late 1980’s that interior
design was recognised as a discipline separate from architecture of India. The
historical aspect of interior decoration is almost incomplete without a reference to the
grand architecture that the nation fashioned

Interior decoration is a multi–faceted profession in which creative and technical

solutions are applied within a structure to achieve a built interior environment and
home lifestyle enhancement. The interior decoration process follows a systematic and
coordinated methodology, including research, analysis, and integration of knowledge
into a creative process, whereby the needs and resources of the clients are satisfied to
produce an interior space that fulfils the project goals.

Interior decoration and designing in India are getting popularized not only in big
metropolitan cities but also in comparatively smaller cities. The reason can be
attributed to the changing definitions of homes and modern residential houses, which
now symbolize more with the personalities of their owners. Interior decoration is also
given a very huge importance in the corporate. Thus it is very essential to grab the
opportunity in the market by providing quality products to the clients and keep them
satisfied so that they are loyal to the company.

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 In the recent times, India has stepped up its development agenda. One explicit
indicator of this is the aggressive pace of construction activity in the country. Since
there is a lot of construction activity taking place, the interior decoration industry is also
growing heavily. The particular emphasis on infrastructure development will put India
on a road map with Brazil, China and Russia towards becoming a developed nation by
2050.

The Indian construction and interior decoration industry comprises 200 firms in
the corporate sector. In addition to these firms, there are thousands of small
contractors, which compete for small jobs or work as sub-contractors of prime or other
contractors.

The evolution in Interior design and decoration industry was almost similar to
the evolution in construction industry in India. After independence the need for
industrial and infrastructural developments in India laid the foundation stone of
construction, architectural and engineering services.

The period from 1950 to mid-60’s witnessed the government playing an active
role in the development of these services and most of construction activities during this
period were carried out by "Government-owned corporation" state owned enterprises
and supported by government departments. In the "First Five-Year Plan", construction
of civil works was allotted nearly 50 per cent of the total capital outlay.

The first professional consultancy company, National Industrial Development

Corporation (NIDC), was set up in the public sector in 1954. Subsequently, many
architectural, design engineering and construction companies were set up in the public

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sector Indian Railways Construction Limited (IRCON), National Buildings Construction
Corporation (NBCC), Rail India Transportation and Engineering Services (RITES), etc.

In the late 1960s government started encouraging foreign collaborations in these

services. The objective of such an imposition was to develop local design capabilities
parallel with the inflow of imported technology and skills. This measure encouraged
international construction and consultancy organizations to set up "Joint venture” and
register their presence in India.

In the past decade, the interior decoration industry has had a sudden growth due
to the establishment of various multinational companies mainly IT industry. The Indian
IT company Scenario has witnessed a fast growth pace and a lot of construction and
infrastructural Development has occurred due to this reason. Since IT industries give a
great deal of importance to the interiors of the company, interior decorators have had a
very important role to play and have led to the growth of the interior decoration
industry.

The lifestyles of the people in India in the recent times have had a great shift in
the cities because of the western influence. People after constructing their homes or
offices; give a lot of importance to their interiors. Once a home or an apartment is
bought, the next thing that has to follow is interior designing. Interior decoration plays
an immensely important part in giving the right feel and look to the interiors of the
home or office.

Hence the interior decoration industry has had a lot of growth in the recent times
as it is having a lot of demand in both residential as well as the corporate sector and

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because of this growth, many interior decoration companies have been entering the
market. Some of the companies are of huge work force with a standard work structure
whereas there are also a lot of small contractors who take up interior decoration
contracts. The Indian infrastructure is building up with lot of companies entering into
the country along with the real estate industry growing quickly. These factors provide a
lot of scope for interior decoration industry at present and in the future as well.

Since the interior decoration industry is growing at a faster rate in India, there is
an increase in competition. Hence, it is important for a company to promote itself in
order to attract new customers and retain old customers.

In the following study, effort is put to understand the effectiveness of various

promotional strategies and tactics adopted by JAYSWAL AGENCIES PVT. LTD. for
the year 2012. The conclusion states whether the strategies being adopted are
beneficial or not. It also provides ways to improve the strategies.

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MARKETING

Marketing is the process of performing market research, selling products and / or

services to customers and promoting them via advertising to increase sales. It
generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communications, and
business developments. It is an integrated process through which companies build
strong customer relationships and create value for their customers and for themselves.
Marketing is used to identify the customers, to satisfy the customers, and to keep the
customer. With the customer as the focus of its activities, it can be concluded that
marketing management is one of the major components of business management.
Marketing evolved to meet the stasis in developing new markets caused by mature
markets and over capacities in the last 2-3 centuries. The adoption of marketing
strategies requires businesses to shift their focus from production to the perceived
needs and wants of their customers as the means of staying profitable.
The term marketing concept holds that achieving organizational goals depends on
knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired
satisfactions. It proposes that in order to satisfy its organizational objectives, an
organization should anticipate the needs and wants of consumers and satisfy these
more effectively than competitors.

Marketing professionals and specialist use many tactics to attract and retain
their customers. These activities comprise of different concepts. The most important
being marketing mix. There are two concepts for marketing mix: 4 P’s and 7 P’s. It is
essential to balance the 4 P’s and 7 P’s of the marketing mix. The concept of 4 P’s has

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been long used for the product industry while the latter has emerged as a successful
proposition for the service industry.

Elements of the marketing mix are often referred to as the “Four P’s”

1. Product:

Product is the actual offering by the company to its targeted customers.

Product may be tangible (goods) or intangible (services).Therefore Product is
also the first variable in the marketing mix. Product decisions are the first
decisions you need to take before making any marketing plan. A product can be
divided into three parts:
 The core product
 The augmented product
 The tertiary product.

Typical examples of a mass produced tangible object are motor cars, razor
blades etc. A less obvious but ubiquitous mass produced service is computer
operating system. Packaging also needs to be taken into consideration. Every
product is subject to a Life-Cycle which includes a growth phase followed by an
eventual period of decline as the product approaches market saturation. To
retain its competitiveness in the market, product differentiation is required and is
one of the strategies to differentiate a product from its competitors.

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2. Price:

Pricing of a product depends on a lot of different variables, hence it is

constantly updated. Major consideration in pricing are:
 Costing of the product
 Advertising
 Marketing expenses
 Price fluctuations in the market
 Distribution costs etc.

Many of these factors can change separately. Thus the pricing has to be
such that it can bear the brunt of changes for a certain period of time. However, if
all these variables change, then the pricing of a product has to be increased and
decreased accordingly. Along with the above factors, there are other things
which have to be taken into consideration when deciding on a pricing strategy.
Competition can be the best example. Similarly, pricing also affects the targeting
and positioning of a product. Pricing is used for sales promotions in the form of
trade discounts. Thus based on these factors there are several pricing strategies,
one of which is implemented for the marketing mix.

3. Place:

Place refers to the distribution channel of a product. If a product is a

consumer product, it needs to be available as far and wide as possible. On the
other hand, if the product is a Premium consumer product, it will be available only
in select stores. Similarly, if the product is a business product, you need a team

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 who interacts with businesses and makes the product available to them. Thus the
place where the product is distributed depends on the product and pricing
decisions, as well as any STP decisions taken by a firm. Distribution has a huge
affect on the profitability of a product.

4. Promotion:

Promotion in the marketing mix includes the complete integrated marketing

communications which in turn includes sales promotions. Promotions are
dependent a lot on the product and pricing decision.
 What is the budget for marketing and advertising?
 What stage is the product in?
 If the product is completely new in the market, it needs brand / product
awareness promotions, whereas if the product is already existing then it will
need brand recall promotions.

Promotions also decide the segmentation targeting and positioning of the

product. The right kind of promotions affects all the three variables - the product,
price and place. If the promotions are effective, the company might have to
increase distribution points, this might lead to the increase in price because of
the rising brand equity of the product, and the profitability might support in
launching even more products. However, the budget required for extensive
promotions is also high. Promotions are considered as marketing expenses and
the same needs to be taken in consideration while deciding the costing of the
product.

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 Thus from the above explanations, all the four variables of marketing mix
are inter related and affect each other. By increasing the pricing of the product,
demand of the product might lessen, and lesser distribution points might be
needed. On the other hand, the product USP can be such that maximum
concentration is on creating brand awareness, thereby increasing need of better
pricing and more promotions. Finally, the overall marketing mix can result in your
customer base asking for some improvement in the product, and the same can
be launched as the upgraded product. Any organization, before introducing its
products or services into the market; conducts a market survey. The sequence of
all ‘P’s’ as above is very much important in every stage of product life cycle.

More recently, 3 P’s have been added to the marketing mix known as the
Extended Marketing Mix. They are:

1. People:

People are a defining factor in a service delivery process, since a service is

inseparable from the person providing it. Thus, a restaurant is known as much for
its food as for the service provided by its staff. The same is true of banks and
department stores. Consequently, customer service training for staff has become
a top priority for many organizations today.

2. Process:

The process of service delivery is crucial since it ensures that the same
standard of service is repeatedly delivered to the customers. Therefore, most

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 companies have a service blue print which provides the details of the service
delivery process, often going down to even defining the service script and the
greeting phrases to be used by the service staff.

3. Physical Evidence:

Since services are intangible in nature most service providers strive to

incorporate certain tangible elements into their offering to enhance customer
experience. Thus, there are hair salons that have well designed waiting areas
often with magazines and plush sofas for patrons to read and relax while they
await their turn. Similarly, restaurants invest heavily in their interior design and
decorations to offer a tangible and unique experience to their guests.

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