PROJECT REPORT ON MARKETING STRATEGY OPTED BY THE APOLLO TYRES

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF: Mr. Sumit chakki M.M UNIVERSITY AMBALA

SUBMITTED BY: shivalya mehta ODL/07/403/2859 MBA

SESSION: 2011-2012

TO WHOM SO EVER IT MAY CONCERN

This is to certify that the project work title Marketing strategy opted by the Apollo Tyres by SHIVALYA MEHTA, ODL/07/403/2859 is an authentic work carried out by him under my guidance and supervision in the Bachelor of Business Administration From M.M UNIVERSITY,AMBALA . The report submitted has been founded satisfactory for the partial fulfillment of the degree of MBA

------------------------DR. S.K SENAPATI (PROJECT SUPERVISOR)

STUDENT DECLARATION

I here by certify that the project report entitled on Marketing strategy opted by the Apollo Tyres Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award degree of Master in business from M.M UNIVERSITY AMBALA is my original work and not submitted or the award of any other degree, diploma, fellowship, or any other similar title or prizes anywhere else.

SHIVALYA MEHTA
ENROLLMENT NO. ODL/07/403/2859

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to take an opportunity to thank all the people who helped me in collecting necessary information and making of the report. I am grateful to all of them for their time, energy and wisdom. Getting a project ready requires the work and effort of many people. I would like all those who have contributed in completing this project. First of all, I would like to send my sincere thanks to DR. S.K SENAPATI for his helpful hand in the completion of my project.

Shivalya Mehta
MBA

TOPIC CONTENT

INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................1
COMPANY PROFILE.............................................................................25

LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................................41 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.............................................................57 FINDING AND ANALYSIS....................................................................59 CONCLUSION......................................................................................71 RECOMMENDATION...........................................................................73 BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................................................75 ANNEXURE QUESTIONNAIRE........................................................76

INTRODUCTION
INDUSTRY ANALYSIS Over a period of more than two decades the Indian Automobile Industry has been driving its own growth through phases. The entry of Suzuki Corporation in Indian passenger car manufacturing is often pointed as the first sign of India turning to a market economy. Since then the automobile sector witnessed rapid growth year after year. By late-90's the industry reached self reliance in engine and component manufacturing from the status of large scale importer. With comparatively higher rate of economic growth rate index against that of great global powers, India has become a hub of domestic and exports business. The automobile sector has been contributing its share to the shining economic performance of India in the recent years. With the Indian middle class earning higher per capita income, more people are ready to own private vehicles including cars and two-wheelers. Product movements and manned services have boosted in the sales of medium and sized commercial vehicles for passenger and goods transport. The data obtained from Ministry of Commerce and Industry, shows high growth obtained since 2001-02 in automobile production continuing in the first three quarters of the 2004-05. Annual growth was 16.0 per cent in AprilDecember, 2004; the growth rate in 2003-04 was 15.1 per cent The automobile industry grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22 per cent between 1992 and 1997. With investment exceeding Rs. 50,000 crore, the turnover of the automobile industry exceeded Rs. 59,518 crore in 2002-03. Including turnover of the auto-component sector, the automotive industry's turnover, which was above Rs. 84,000 crore in 2002-03, is estimated to have exceeded Rs.1,00,000 crore ( USD 22. 74 billion) in 2003-04. Automobile Dealers Network in India

In terms of Car dealer networks and authorized service stations, Maruti leads the pack with Dealer networks and workshops across the country. The other leading automobile manufacturers are also trying to cope up and are opening their service stations and dealer workshops in all the metros and major cities of the country. Dealers offer varying kind of discount of finances who in tern pass it on to the customers in the form of reduced interest rates. Major Manufacturers in Automobile Industry Maruti Udyog Ltd. General Motors India Ford India Ltd. Eicher Motors Bajaj Auto Daewoo Motors India Hero Motors Hindustan Motors Hyundai Motor India Ltd. Royal Enfield Motors Telco TVS Motors DC Designs Swaraj Mazda Ltd

Major Players in Tyre Industry MRF A leading company in the tyre industry, MRF Ltd. boasts of an enviable track record. The company has continued in the same vein and has been posting excellent results, notwithstanding the winds of recession blowing across the economy. Performance of the company has been commendable in light of the fact that the user industry is facing a slowdown. The company has benefited from better productivity and operational efficiency. The company caters to a host of impressive clients. It has signed on to be the sole supplier for auto giants like General Motors, Fiat and Ford in India. The company is also renowned for its exports, which have also been witnessing positive growth. The company has recently entered the radial tyre segment and has met with positive response. The performance of the company could further improve with the revival of the auto industry. Thus, MRF Ltd. can be expected to retain its position in this segment. However, investors can move out of the scrip, considering the outlook for the industry as a whole. CEAT Being the second largest selling brand in India with a market share of 14.6 per cent, Ceat caters primarily to the replacement market. Due to the strong growth in the OEM sector, the share of the replacement market in the total revenue of the company has fallen. However, the production growth in the automobile sector over the past few years should provide a boost to the replacement market in the coming years and Ceat could be a major beneficiary thereof. With the advent of multinationals like Goodyear, Michelin, Bridgestone and Continental, a major shakeout in the industry is imminent and the same could result in Ceat, which is already operating on thin margins, being hived off as a joint venture with Goodyear, in collaboration with which Ceat has already promoted South Asia Tyres for manufacturing radial tyres in India. With a modest track record on the financial front, the forthcoming results may not be encouraging.

Apollo Tyres Limited A slow-down in the tyre market and rubber procurement at high prices has put the brakes on Apollo Tyres Limited (ATL). The company has traditionally been the market leader in the truck and bus tyres segments. ATL caters to the replacement segment of the domestic market. Following its take over of Premier Tyres, ATL's market share has risen. Besides the core truck and bus tyre business, fairly considerable part of its turnover comes from automotive tubes and flaps, for which it has commissioned a plant in Pune. Despite a reversal in the fortune of the automobile industry, the chief user base of the companys products, the demand for truck tyres, particularly in the replacement market, was not encouraging. Even as tyre producers grapple with over-capacity and high levels of inventory, the government stirred a hornets nest by proposing free imports of used and second-hand tyres. ATL has conversion agreements for small tyres with TCIL, Stallino Tyres and Rado. Its exports are routed through Apollo International to the US, Germany, Brazil, Sudan, Egypt, etc. A well-entrenched posend this article to a friendsition in the replacement market, favours ATL and the declining price trend of key inputs like natural rubber and carbon black may provide relief to its wafer-thin margins. At the current price level the scrip has emerged as an attractive buy; thus accumulate its shares in small lots. Tyres for: Truck & Bus Passenger Car Jeep Light Commercial Vehicle Tractor Front Tractor Rear Tractor Trailer Animal Drawn Vehicle 2007-08 131.37 164.37 14.67 53.20 18.14 12.34 8.86 4.09 2008-09 128.39 165.70 14.69 52.98 18.42 13.15 7.58 2.81 % Change (-)2 1 0.2 (-)0.4 2 7 (-)14 (-)31

Scooter / Moped Motor Cycle Industrial Off the Road (OTR) Total

116.04 279.21 7.33 1.41 811.03

108.83 301.48 5.68 1.36 821.07

(-)6 8 (-)23 (-)4 1

Apollo Tyres Ltd is considering building a greenfield tyre plant in south India. It is looking at Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh as options. According to Onkar S Kanwar, Apollo's vice chairman and managing director, "The project outlay will be around Rs 300 crore and the plant capacity will be 100 tonnes per day." The project will be funded out of internal accruals and term loans. Kanwar rules out any equity infusion. It may be recalled that Apollo Tyres recently issued partly convertible debentures to the promoters. According to Mr Kanwar, the proposed facility will roll out truck and bus (radial and bial) and earthmoving equipment tyres. Further, if negotiations with Hyundai Motors (India) Ltd for original equipment supplies succeed, the plant will also roll out car radials. The new investment is part of the Rs 400 crore investment announced by the company recently. The company commissioned its Rs 80 crore, 1 lakh tyres per annum capacity car radial tyres plant at Baroda this January. For Apollo Tyres, a plant in Chennai makes economic sense. The company would be able to cut freight costs while supplying to Ashok Leyland (truck tyres), Tafe (tractor rear tyres) and Hindustan Motors Ltd for its earthmoving equipment -- all of whom are located in and around Chennai -- and also for catering to the southern replacement market. Currently, Apollo Tyres has two facilities in Kerala, from where the southern demand is met. "The south accounts for 15-18 per cent of the country's total truck tyre market," according to Mr Kanwar. The peaceful labour environment in Tamil Nadu would help Apollo Tyres. The company has had serious labour problems at its plants. The company can
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control costs better with its own new facility -- it is currently outsourcing a sizeable number of tyres from the Tyre Corporation of India Ltd, S Kumars, Stallion. And, since Chennai is a port city, exports too will become competitive. Adds Neeraj Kanwar, chief, manufacturing and strategic planning, at Apollo Tyres, "We are studying the economics - incentives, sales tax exemptions, etc. - of locating the unit in Chennai and Andhra Pradesh." The new facility, wherever it may come up, will boost Apollo Tyres' capacity from the current levels of 2.44 million tyres annually. In the meanwhile, Apollo Tyres' talks with Continental AG remain inconclusive. When asked about these negotiations, which could result in the German company taking a 15 per cent stake in the Indian tyre maker's equity, Onkar S Kanwar says, "The final decision will be taken in three months." The Rs 8,500 crore Indian tyre industry has attracted substantial foreign interest. Global majors, such as Bridgestone and Michelin have already invested in Indian production facilities. Korean tyres are being imported. An equity partnership with Continental will enable Apollo Tyres to access advanced technology. All the global tyre giants spend huge sums in R&D efforts. Apollo Tyres' own R&D expenditure is a meagre Rs 15 crore. This effort is focussed on the study of use of different types of rubber chords and chemicals in tyre manufacture, according to Neeraj Kanwar.The problem: Continental is also talking to two other Indian companies - JK Tyres and Modi Rubber -with both of whom it has technical collaboration. A marginal player in the tyre industry a decade ago, Apollo Tyres leads the replacement market in the heavy vehicle and car radials segments. It has achieved this through acquisitions and contract manufacturing. One of the reasons for Apollo Tyres going in for a greenfield project is its confidence to expand its market share. "The focus is to increase our market share to 25 per cent from 15-18 per cent in all the market segments," Mr Onkar Kanwar says. Bus and truck tyres account for a lion's share of the industry's revenues. Since the OE market is margin-sensitive, all the action is focussed on the

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lucrative replacement market, especially in the heavy vehicles segment. According to Satish Sharma, product manager at Apollo Tyres, "The size of the truck tyre replacement market is 4 lakh tyres per month, and our share in that is 25 per cent." Though the volume will be small, talks have been initiated with Volvo India. Apollo Tyres is also giving MRF Ltd, the leader in the car tyres market, a run for its money. Its Apollo Excel tyres, rolled out from its Baroda plant, have received an excellent response in the marketplace, according to the company. In the OE segment MRF has been losing its hold to Bridgestone. And in the replacement market, Apollo Tyres has become a major threat. Apollo Tyres is now negotiating with Hyundai Motors and Hindustan Motors for OE sales. The Kanwars want to reach top spot in the light commercial vehicles segment by March 2001. In the two wheeler market, Apollo is focussing on the motorcycle tyres market. To boost sales, Apollo Tyres has tied up with Castrol India and Kotak Mahindra Finance. Apollo Tyres dealers will stock Castrol lubes and improve their earnings. The tie-up with Kotak Mahindra will facilitate sales by providing finance for tyre purchases, for the first time in India. Apollo Tyres has increased its ad budget to Rs 35 crore from Rs 25 crore earlier, in order to push sales. With all car makers planning to expand capacities, the car radial market is expected to expand rapidly. According to the Apollo management, the company sells 1.1 lakh of the 5 lakh car radials sold per month in India today. At present, the company's tyres are fitted as OE in Hindustan Motors' Ambassador and Contessa models, in tractors from Tafe, Punjab Tractors and Mahindra & Mahindra, and trucks made by Ashok Leyland and Telco. Industry was on a smooth ride till FY08. The industry tonnage production registered a 5-year Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.02% between FY03-08. The largest category of Truck & Bus (T&B) tyres recorded a 5-year CAGR of 5.90% while Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV), motorcycle and car tyre categories grew at 13.34%, 12.27% and 13.98%, respectively in this period.
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However, as the economy in general; and automobile industry in specific slowed down in FY09, the tyre demand too came under pressure. In the first nine months of FY09, the industry managed a tonnage growth of only 2.19% against a growth of 7.38% in the same period last year. The tyre offtake to the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) declined by 6.17% during this period. The T&B tyre category was the worst affected with the total offtake of these tyres declining by 0.01% in the first nine months. Also in the face of global slowdown and stiff Chinese competition, the export market offtake declined by 9.82% during this period. On the face of these demand-side pressures, the tyre industry saw production adjustments from all the major players in the last couple of months. The government too tried to provide external stimulus by effecting 6% excise duty cut across industries (the excise duty for tyres was brought down from 14% to 10% w.e.f. December 7, 2008, and then further reduced to 8% w.e.f. February 25, 2009). In all the gloom; one silver lining for the industry has been the easing of the raw material prices from September 2008 onwards. However, the impact of the fall in commodity prices was not visible in the nine months results of the companies, as the companies were laden with high-price inventories. The benefits of the sublime raw material prices will become visible only in the last quarter of FY09 provided; the demand too supports the topline. The tyre industry faces competition from China in the domestic market. Imports as a percentage of total T&B tyre production stood at 10% in FY08, with more than 90% of these imports coming from China. While the antidumping duty is levied on the import of Chinese T&B bias tyres, the industry now wants it to be extended to Chinese T&B radial tyres to alleviate the import threat. In addition, the industry is also keen on customs duty relief on raw materials not produced/manufactured in the country so as to compete with the Chinese tyres. Radialisation though in its infancy in T&B tyre category; is making inroads. Most manufacturers have capex plans for radial T&B tyres with no new capacity being added for bias tyres. This indicates that the industry foresees

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radialisation to take further hold in the T&B tyre category. In the passenger car segment, radialisation has reached 97%; up from 95% a year ago. The Industry is also banking on the customised Off The Road (OTR) tyres and adding capacity in this category. The Indian manufacturers are looking at increasing their global footprints. Apollo is undertaking an expansion plan at its Dunlop plant in South Africa. Similarly, JK Tyres & Industries has acquired a Mexican company Tornel. It has also entered into a manufacturing agreement with Chinese manufacturers to sell JK-branded tyres in the export markets.

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COMPANY PROFILE
In todays world of intense competition and rapid dynamism, all the companies worldwide are tuning their focuses on the customer. Suddenly, the customer had succeeded in capturing all the attention of the companies towards him, so much so, that the once famous maxim, customer is the god has become so true and relevant today. There has been a paradigm shift in the thinking of these companies and none other then the customer has brought this about. Earlier there was a sellers market, since goods and services were in short supply and the sellers use to call the shots. But, ever since the advent of the era of globalization, there has been total transformation in the way the customers being perceived. Today, marketers are directing their efforts in retaining the customers and customers base. Their focus has shifted towards integrating the three elements people, service and marketing. The customers importance has assumed imponderable proportions in todays world, because of the inherent value that the customers command. A customers can make or break a company. It is the responsibility of every company to see that all its customers are equally satisfied with them, for one single dissatisfied customer will tell at least nine others about the dissatisfaction and will spark off a chain reaction and spell doom for that company. In such scenario, retention of the existing customers assumes diabolical proportion. Research has thrown light on some important aspects of customers retention it has been proved empirically that acquiring new customers can cost five times more than the cost involved in satisfying and retaining current customers. In the past, the customers was taken for a ride, as there were not many players in the fields, not much importance was attached to product safety, quality, service and product appeal. The attitude of the manufacture was that of caveat emptor. Thanks to the government policies on liberalization, globalization and privatization (LPG), the market scenario has changed today. Today, the customer has a host of defense mechanism like the customers protection laws, regulation of the government, the powerful hands of the

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organization, customers courts, switching to substitute or competitors that offer at competitive prices, etc. The maxim, caveat emptor has been replaced by caveat venditor. In the past, after sales service was consider as a cost center, Companies were lethargic in attending to customers complaints. Availability of trainee service personal and quality genuine spare parts posed serious problems. However, with the rising competition, there could not be much product differentiation, as price and quality were comparable and latest technology was to each and every company in the field. Since, there could not be much differential a tangible assets, the companies concentrated on the intangible assets, namely the service factor, which served as a major differentiator. Today after sales service is an important aspect of every company, and it is no more considered as a cost center, but considered as a profit center. Every organization strives hard to retain its existing customers at any cost since it is five times costly to get a new customers, then to retain an existing customers. Today most of the industries use information technology to best services to their customers.

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MARKETING STRATEGY

Strategic thinking is key to the evolution of successful marketing strategies of APOLLO tyre. This involves the following analyses: (a) Understanding markets: Strategic perspective of the market requires skilful

analysis of the trend and how they affect the market size and demand for the firms product. (b) Finding market niches: Price, service, convenience and technology niches in Indian market.

are some of the (c)

Product and service planning: Analysis of the customers of the firm and competitors, besides an analysis the product.

promotion of the brand, both

of the situation in which the customer uses (i) distribution

Distribution: Structural changes in inventory management, mobile are some of the key factors that are going to affect the distribution market.

process in the Indian (ii) marketing.

Managing for result: With pressure on costs, prices, and margins, have to make effective utilization of every rupee spent in

marketers will

Market opportunity of Apollo tyres:-

Identification of market opportunity is critical before the management of affirm takes a decision to launch or diversify in any product area. This involves analysis of the following: Size of the market Marketing strategies and the extent and quality of services rendered by other firm in the industry.

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 Market programmed required to satisfy market wants Identification of key success factors in an industry and linking them to a firms strengths and weakness Market opportunity (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) Size of the market How well the market is served Prospective inches Marketing mix required to succeed Core competencies required

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MARKETING MIX A Marketing mix is the division of groups to make a particular product, by pricing, product, branding, place, and quality. Although some marketers[who?] have added other P's, such as personnel and packaging, the fundamentals of marketing typically identifies the four P's of the marketing mix as referring to:1. Product 2. 3. 4. Price Promotion Place

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Product A tangible object or an intangible service that is mass produced or manufactured on a large scale with a specific volume of units. Intangible products are often service based like the tourism industry & the hotel industry. Typical examples of a mass produced tangible object are the tyre. A less obvious but ubiquitous mass produced service is a computer operating system.

Price The price is the amount a customer pays for the product. It is determined by a number of factors including market share, competition, material costs, product identity and the customer's perceived value of the product. The business may increase or decrease the price of product if other stores have the same product.

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Place Place represents the location where a product can be purchased. It is often referred to as the distribution channel. It can include any physical store as well as virtual stores on the Internet. Promotion Promotion represents all of the communications that a marketer may use in the marketplace. Promotion has four distinct elements - advertising, public relations, word of mouth and point of sale. A certain amount of crossover occurs when promotion uses the four principal elements together, which is common in film promotion. Advertising covers any communication that is paid for, from television and cinema commercials, radio and Internet adverts through print media and billboards. One of the most notable means of promotion today is the Promotional Product, as in useful items distributed to targeted audiences with no obligation attached. This category has grown each year for the past decade while most other forms have suffered. It is the only form of advertising that targets all five senses and has the recipient thanking the giver. Public relations are where the communication is not directly paid for and includes press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions, conferences, seminars or trade fairs and events. Word of mouth is any apparently informal communication about the product by ordinary individuals, satisfied customers or people specifically engaged to create word of mouth momentum. Sales staff often plays an important role in word of mouth and Public Relations. Broadly defined, optimizing the marketing mix is the primary responsibility of marketing. By offering the product with the right combination of the four Ps marketers can improve their results and marketing effectiveness. Making small changes in the marketing mix is typically considered to be a tactical change. Making large changes in any of the four Ps can be considered strategic. For example, a large change in the price, say from $19.00 to $39.00 would be considered a strategic change in the position of the product. However a change of $131 to $130.99 would be considered a tactical change, potentially related to a promotional offer.

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The term "Marketing Mix" however, does not imply that the 4P elements represent options. They are not trade-offs but are fundamental marketing issues that always need to be addressed. They are the fundamental actions that marketing requires whether determined explicitly or by default. Product Profile The Apollo Tyres ltd. Is leading company for all tyres-manufacturing company in India and The Apollo Tyres Company manufacturing the tyres for the entire segment (TRUCK, LCV, PCR, FARMS, OTR).

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H/V speed rated

Excellent handling at high speeds

Optimum wet and dry performance

Low external and in-cabin noise levels for a comfortable ride

V/W speed rated with superb wet and dry performance and exceptional driving pleasure

Innovative asymmetric tread pattern for maximum performance

Special silica tread compound for better fuel economy and wet performance

Rim protector

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W/Y speed rated with a quick steering response for a sporty performance

Unidirectional V-shaped tread design resists aquaplaning

Excellent handling at high speeds

Special silica tread compound for better fuel economy and wet performance

S/T speed rated

Reinforced tyre construction for long life

Visual alignment indicator for detecting any misalignment wear in the tyre

Especially designed for low noise

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26

MC 20 SC32-SUV

SH 41

SE 66

SH 19

SG 47
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GLOBAL PRESENCE Global partnerships, global reputations Apollo opened its first tyres plant in Perambra, 1977. Since then, we have grown to become one of the world's biggest and most respected tyre brands. our operations are now worldwide. For location details, please visit our global locations section. Working for you Many of the worlds leading vehicle manufacturers - including Audi, BMW, Indica, Sumo, Toyota, Qualis - trust Apollo and fit our tyres as standard. Our tyre designers work closely with manufacturers. We also involve our India, South Africa and Zimbabwe sister companies to provide the latest research and development, testing and manufacturing facilities. For more information on original equipment fitment manufacturers. Wherever you are of distribution centres, we also supply many retailers, including our retail chain, Hi-Q Tyres. Use this section to find all the facts and information on Apollo's heritage, policie

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LITRATURE REVIEW
MARKETING for APOLLO Developing a global brand largely depends on the brands ability to explore fresh avenues and to sustain its competitive advantages in terms of economies of scale and productivity. A global brand is one which is perceived to reflect the same set of values around the world. A global brand removes the national barriers and linguistic blocks while marketing internationally. The basic of brand building applies to the global branding strategy also. For a brand to become successful, a genuine demand or a psychological need must exist in the market. Today when we are looking at a global market, one has to realize that at the most basic level all human beings share common physiological and safety needs as explained by Maslow. What separates a customer from another customer at some distant geographic location is the complex social, cultural and esteem needs of the

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customer depending upon the stage at which the civilization/ nation is in the process of development. One common understanding is that despite centuries of technological development these needs have remained as crucial as ever. At best they have undergone changes /modifications due to cultural and social processes. The real challenges comes for a brand manager when he has to make the consumer aware about the product/service offered in a distinctive pattern ,may be with a name, logo or color so that the strategy enables the customer to correctly identify and choose the brand from a cluttered basket. The brands strength is not confined to the degree of recognizability and the quality of the product offering. Brands deliver more than just a predictable assurance about quality. Strong global brands deliver to the strong emotional need. A brand like Nike talks about believing in ones limitlessness. Rin speaks about destroying dirt which we see in its most fundamental form as a threat that disrupts the neat orderly world that we live in! A strong global brand while addressing a fundamental human motivation delivers to this motivation in a distinctive way. They are driven by distinctive brand ideas. The product is seen in the market place as an expression of brand idea. The product merely translates the brand idea in to a tangible form with features and styles that is delivered to the consumer. Dettol being a global brand is driven by an idea of absolute certainty it provides in feeling protected against the hostile forces of the dirty world. This brand idea the APOLLO is pursuing through out the globe irrespective of the fact to which cultural domain they are targeting for. Consumers in all these countries experience the brand idea only through the strategic actions of the brand in the market place. These brands send market signals consistent with the idea that they stand for. Starting from the tangible attribution of the brand through the product to the integrated marketing communication, the brand consistently sends the same signal in every market. The more consistent is this marketing signal, more clear is the brand image across the country for the global brands. The research suggest that strong brands and are built over time. A brand trust gets built over a large

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number of interactions across a range of situations. So a strong global brand is like a network of complex psychological and market structural issues that include situations, associations, behaviors feelings and symbols held by a strong and powerful driver with a central idea. A successful marketing strategy has two options in creating a market presence. It has to kill competition by constant communication and advertising or use communication to make the customers feel the method to discriminate in favor of the brand. A strong global brand creates associations in consumer mind to make them see differently by guiding consumers to attach distinct functional and emotional benefits and appropriate meanings and beliefs to the brand. As a response to this effort the consumer is willing to pay a premium for these brands only if they represent added value whether as superior quality or a clear emotional benefit. The brand communication should also communicate and connect to the people. The connectivity of Britannia with health is well felt all over the world. This connectivity is the rational justification for them to overcome the extra spending to acquire the brand. Successful brands live beyond generations due to this connectivity. It is not only satisfying customers of different countries with varied cultural background but also connects with new generations with their new set of values, hopes and ambitions. For a successful global brand it has to click across the vertical class of generations and horizontal mass of global market. In a global economy organizations must reach customers in markets far from their home base. Strong brand acts as an ambassador when the companies enter new market or offer new products. It also helps in rectifying the corporate strategy to define which initiatives fit within the brand concept. Brand building for service firms have to modify their corporate strategy also. Professional Services APOLLO such as Anderson consulting re-branded as Accenture have realized that conveying a sense of trust and shared mission is as important as technical competence in winning multi million dollar contracts

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across the globe. Information and the media have made us all global citizens. This presents an APOLLO with the opportunity to broaden market scope by internationalizing product and service marketing in order to reap the benefits of economies of scale. Issues in Developing a Global Brand There are various issues at the organizational level that decides about the global branding strategy. There are two strategic parameters affecting the decision of global branding. They are the relative strength of globalization pressure in that particular industry and the degree to which the APOLLO has internationally transferable assets. If globalization pressures are weak and the companys assets are not transferable including the brand then the APOLLO need not go for a global brand .It should concentrate in the domestic market in creating a higher brand value. If globalization pressures are weak and the APOLLO has transferable assets then the APOLLO should look for extending in to a similar market with a global brand. The home advantage due to a strong brand proposition can be used as a platform for building brands in selective markets. By this the APOLLO can reap added revenue and scale economies with valuable international marketing experience. This category of global brand extension goes for looking at analogous international markets which are similar to the home market in terms of consumer preference, geographic proximity, cultural similarity or even government regulation. LG AC extension to the south Asian market for their three wheelers is an example of brand success in analogous market. The success of Indian movies with a typical emotional branding is another example of brand success. Companies can look for countries with common cultural and linguistic heritage. The success of Ramanand Sagars serial Ramayan in Asian market is also another example. The story of Asian Paints in Indian market has made it to go for global branding in countries like Nepal, Fiji and Korea with its typical low cost formulations and service delivery propositions to support the brand name called AC. Companies from emerging markets can also go global and launch global brands.

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However for having a global brand one has to take in to consideration a different set of opportunities and constraints. The low cost of wage and proximity to raw materials also give a competitive advantage for domestic companies to go global. If these players can overcome the deficiencies in skills and financial resources then launching a global brand will be a difficult proposition. The success of Infosys and Air conditioning as brands in the global market is example of global branding success in high-tech industry. However there are many complex factors that can affect a global marketing strategy. These include the nature of the product (for example consumer durable products being more suited to standardization than non-durables), features of a particular market and even organizational history

Common Approaches to Global Branding The development of standardized marketing strategies can vary dramatically for example, should the strategy be based upon the common features of a trans-national mass market or upon the identification of common clusters in different countries? The problem for a multi-national APOLLO is that it operates in a number of countries and adjusts its products and practices in each at substantial cost. So by standardizing elements of the marketing mix through an international strategy, the argument is that efficiency can be greatly improved. But question marks hover over the extent to which a uniform marketing strategy can be implemented. A great deal of diversity exists in geographical markets in terms of physical conditions and marketing infrastructure, not to mention political and cultural issues which may impact at brand and advertising level. Cultural disparities can be a major stumbling block for the generation of trans-national brand names .Initiatives such as the world trade
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APOLLO is obvious attempts to combat some of these problems by the removal of national differences and the creation of a borderless world. The idea is that this will enable the rationalization of product mixes to eliminate brands geared towards particular local requirements. Technology as a Catalyst for Product Standardization The development of the Internet and satellite television has paved the way for cross-boundary advertising and promotion. But authors such as Mead have also recognized that a basic similarity in tastes between countries is an important factor. Significant commonalities exist in Japanese, American and European lifestyle patterns and consumer demands. It is often argued that increasing travel and electronic communications will lead to the harmoniza The argument that was raised against Maslows Hierarchy was on account of its rigidity in that it doesnt allow space for a persons Life cycle. Dr. Rangarajan argued in his class almost a year ago that people, whose meager basic needs arent met

The early system of warfare and its continued legacy through the ages has always fascinated me. I have always drawn a similar analogy in the realm of marketing warfare. Before sketching out the various strategic elements of a

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dynamic marketing mix which ultimately should lead to multibranding, I will dwell a bit on the battlefield tactics and warfare methods to drive home the modern aspects of my multibranding thesis. The quest to conquer more lands and frontiers was almost always decided on an open battlefield in the earliest eras of warfare. Waves of soldiers would take up frontal positions and fight pitched battles in accordance with set rules and norms. With the advent of superior weaponry, generals on the battlefield started leveraging competitive advantages. The strategic elements emerged and military strategists resorted to tactical warfare and started working out gamelans to outmanoeuvre opponents. Many tactical moves were planned for instance, redeploying of forces and resources or activating hit-and-run measuresaccording to changing situations without ever deviating from the broader vision of winning the long-term war.

Modern marketing warfare postures In the modern world, one brand is continuously pitted against the other and battles are continuously being fought on the parameters of quality, reputation and market share. Brands are competing on a one-to-one basis on a regional, national and global level. It goes without saying that one of the biggest developments which defined marketing strategy is brand strategy. The entire packaging of a product or service is in the form of a brandwhich in effect is one large formation.It was intense competition among the FMCGs on various fronts that made the multibranding approach very important. Whether it is in soaps, TVs, apparel or toothpaste segments, the endeavour is always to capture a market with the best possible gross margins. One-to-one battles that are being fought are all in the quest of dominating the gained market space. Multibranding as a concept and executable marketing paradigm was pioneered by the FMCGs followed by the consumer durables players. It has

35

now moved on to the packaged food products segment and will soon swamp the hospitality and other highly service-oriented businesses and sectors. Identification Of The Core Brand As there is increasing multiplicity of competitors, it becomes imperative to identify your core brand. This easily represents the first step of multibranding that a strong brand needs to adopt. The brand so identified must basically deliver the largest volume and the highest cash flow. Clearly, this brand has to be in a leadership/near-leadership positionwith this being the most attractive element of the business. At this juncture, it is time to begin the stepby-step line of activities to guard the core brand. Create one or more smaller product categories to protect the flanks after fortifying the top and the rear with a slew of other aggressive products. In the soaps business, Lux crafted a multibranding strategy to ward off the incessant threat from a new and aggressive line of competitors. At the core was the main brand, Lux, which fought with all the competitors and connoted the image of a dominant brand of soaps. Then Lux introduced a number of soaps that went on to become volume sellers and gave Lux a protective cushion. As a rearguard measure, Lux brought in Jai into the market to consolidate its overall market share. Similar has been the case with market leader Colgate in the high-decibel, high-activity toothpaste segment. Apollo suv tyres : From market leadership to overall brand consolidation Apollo suv tyres s case history, when it unravels its detailed chapters, represents a classic multibranding success story. In the consumer electronics sector, Apollo suv tyres was a mass brand and very middle-class in character. As a core brand, it did not have any brands at the top end or at the flanks to ward off the thrust from the Sonys, the Panasonics and the VFM Korean range of products. So Apollo suv tyres developed Bazooka as a topof-the-line product to spearhead a frontal assault. Toshiba too was introduced to reinforce this strategy to take on all comers. Private was introduced as a sub-brand and gave tremendous protection to the brand in all the size categories and especially from price-aggressive competitors. The coup de

36

grace was to bring in Sansui to protect the flanks, completing the protection of the core brand, Apollo suv tyres , from virtually all sides. But according to Newtons law, each and every force has an equal and opposite reaction. So while a new range of brands and sub-brands creates a revenue thrust and protects the core brand, the core brand tends to get compressed over a medium- to long-term period. Likewise, Apollo suv tyres saw its market share fall to 19 per cent from 26 per cent. However, all the other brands that were a part of the overall multibranding campaign gained substantial market share. So while production capacities were shored up, brand shares got fragmented. This led to an overall consolidation of the core brand, Apollo suv tyres , which itself grew by 40 per cent. Thus, a multibranding exercise, once initiated, can bring about a substantial consolidation of the core brand. Another application of multibranding is to move into product segmentation based purely on the socio-economic parametersomething which Raymond as a core brand specialized in. Park Avenue, the Raymond brand of readymades, was introduced to cater to the new breed of professionals that was a part of the liberalized era. For the youth who were more into casual wear, there was the Parx range of casuals across various product categories. After that, Manzoni, an absolutely top-of-the-line range of ties, suits and jackets was introduced. Manzoni has been a complete sellout in a period of six months whereas the other brands have flowered independently too reinforcing the brand values of the core brand, Raymond, and consolidating the overall market share. Multibranding: The Big Boys Game There is no doubt that multibranding is a big bucks game which can only be played by the big players in earmarked business areas and business streams. Profitable enterprises with the necessary operational efficiencies are the only ones capable of supporting brand promotion and brand protection exercises. Besides, they are the only ones capable of allocating huge budgets, deploying huge resources and making tactical retreats or assuming aggressive postures whenever ticklish situations arise. Also, it must be said that over a period of
37

time, as the stronger brand consolidates, they have the wherewithal to not only set up entry barriers but also take on aggressive competitors already present in their market space. Future and Beyond Technology and the growth of the Internet as a business-enabler will play a dynamic role in extending the tremendous value of the multibranding concept. Blocks of corporate houses, which will capture their spaces and keep consolidating, will emerge in the long run. There will be transgression of the main brands and sub-brands which, while achieving critical mass, will have their own independent status. Here, multibranding will be effected through a process of acquisitions, buyouts and mergers, alternately leading to the overall consolidation of the main brand. Information management will become very important and the derived competitive advantages will lend a new dimension to the multi-branding concept. In fact, this will ultimately lead to knowledge-based marketing. Today, brands and other tangible assets represent a significant proportion of a companys enterprise value. The traditional Approach to brand management is changing and their has been shift towards a new paradigm in the marketing APOLLO .This emerging trend represents a more away from a system focuses on the individual brand manager, who is responsible for all the business activities that relate to ensuring the success of a specific brand. Branding identifies five major environmental forces affecting market behavior and suggests their implications for brand management. We pay some attention to interrelations among these forces and the proactive nature of brand management itself in helping shape them. Given dramatic changes in the competitive nature of product-markets and technology and their consequences in the evolving role of both distributors and facilitating organizations, it is understandable that decision processes and organizational structures used to make and implement brand decisions also may need reexamination.
38

Firms face difficult trade-offs between the increased importance of coordinating brand activities, both within and outside the organization, and the pressures to decentralize decision making and eliminate entire layers of management in the hope of curtailing costs. Low and Fullerton (1994) trace the evolution of brand management from the origins of the first national brands to the present. They provide an important historical perspective for many of the issues affecting brand management today. They note that brand management has proves quite adaptable to differing firm and marketing environments over its existence. As the modern corporation increasingly incorporates horizontal coordination structures, the brand manager may even become part of cross-functional teams.The original logic for the brand manager system in the multibrand firm rested on the belief that competition internally for resources would improve efforts on behalf of each brand. But managers for multiple brands in the same product category (such as Cheer, Bold, Oxydol, and Tide detergents for P & G) often competed as ruthlessly with one another as they did with counterparts from competing firms. The difficulty in coordinating marketing programs for each brand and demands for a more coherent approach to managing an entire category of products on the part of the trade led firms such as P & G recently to centralize decision making at the category level, with other firms either following or actively studying the possibility. Low and Fullerton (1994) comment that category management also affords the opportunity for more experienced executives to involve themselves with the brand management function, thereby reducing one of the weaknesses of traditional brand management. Zenor (1994) argues that a category form of brand management APOLLO seems inherently justified by an improved ability to coordinate pricing and other marketing efforts for a firms different products and brands. His research uses a game theoretic model to estimate the magnitude of profit advantage that category management affords, given varying degrees of crossbrand price elasticity in the market. He demonstrates that the success of category management is enhanced when competitors are organized similarly. Estimates of gain can be compared with the costs of implementing a category management structure to decide if such a move is beneficial.

39

Brand managers must address the exigencies of the evolving needs of buyers within a market increasingly populated by global competitors and the opening of territorial markets. They must deal with the fuzziness of product-market boundaries aided by increased deregulation and competitive initiatives, which has the creation of new products / services and the lowering of costs as principal benefits. An increasing pace of technological change, which profits from its own past successes and is given new impetus with globalization and increased competition and represents another factor contributing to blurred product market boundaries; the growing power and independence of the channels of distributions as intermediate customers, often made possible by advances in information technology; and pressure from investors to produce more predictable growth in revenue, profits, and cash flows and thus benefit from cost reduction. These forces affect buyer expectations and opportunities and by so doing impact back upon themselves, creating change. Brand managers must realize that how competently they respond depends, in part, on how they leverage new capabilities and options presented and that their actions affect the very forces to which they respond. Throughout this paper, as appropriate, we highlight the special contributions and identifies several research opportunities this perspective efforts. Marketers must create competitive advantage by constantly adapting to and instigating change. An innovative product or program loses its competitive edge and the ability to command price and/or share premiums as soon as competitors are able to duplicate or counter its capabilities. Hence, successful marketers must dare to be different, to market changes are likely to be more successful if actions are guided by knowledge of the forces shaping market behavior and insights that enable the development of sustainable competitive advantages. Globalization of Competition and Greater Openness of Markets:

40

For an increasing number of cases, the globalization of the world economy can present daunting challenges. Japanese manufacturers have had unrivaled successes in the motorcycle and consumer electronics markets, in part due to associations with quality and reliability. The December 1993 issue of Consumer Reports carries brand name ratings in six product categories: pocket knives, bread makers, SLR cameras, perfumes, rack stereos, and miniature televisions. In each category, the top rated brand, and over 60% of the top ten brands, were foreign.

This attack from global competitors accounts for many sleepless nights for brand managers. Brands often must thrive globally to survive locally.Brand management changes and competitive advantage: model elaboration A systems model of brand management will be presented in the spirit of Meade and Nason (1991) in the marketing literature. A system can be defined in terms of structure and, with respect to this, the structure of a system refers to the specified set of relationships. The importance of this lies in the identification of potential interdependence among the components, that is, the influence that one or more sets of relationships may have upon the others (Dixon, 1991). The model presented in this paper attempts to identify levels of interdependence in the brand management system to then identify hypothesized relationships between variables, The central idea of the modal is that brand management is a holistic system: it receives information from internal sources; it creates a structure to meet the needs of both internal and external constituents, and then develops strategies which should help attain competitive advantage. There are feedback loops which permit the system to receive information from a variety of sources so that the system can adapt to changes. The existing research has revealed that external environmental changes (Shocker, 1994) and APOLLO specific variables have caused marketing APOLLO to begin adopting new brand management system, and subsequently are changing the function of the manager, It should be noted
41

that the changes occurring in brand management mirror those at the corporate level, as pointed out by Miller (1987) when he related the variables of strategy, structure and environment Miller (1992) further showed that firms which adapt their organizational structures to the environment are best suited to meet the needs of the external environment. The recent upheaval in marketing organizations, and specifically brand management system, reflect these findings. These changes have led to changes in micro-level brand strategies, as well as effects on competitive advantages. The model will be elaborated in detail below, and then research propositions will be outlined which relate to the inter relationships which exist in the brand management system.

Strategic Alliances In the face of global competition, domestic firms may seek alliances with foreign

42

competitors, thus co-opting them and preventing their availability to competitors. Such alliances have become the norm in the auto industry. Or, given shrinking margins and profits at home, companies may seek greater opportunity in the global arena. To survive, companies often have to share costs and risks, and therefore rewards. Increasingly, they also are forced to share knowledge, distribution, and even capital via strategic alliances that can stretch organizational capabilities and change the nature of brand management. The brand manager must coordinate with counterparts outside the firm as well as traditional contacts within. For many firms, strategic alliances with certain suppliers, distributors, and even former competitors are a key to future competitive strength. Cobranding extends to alliances between the complementary brand names of independent producers, for example, Fords Citibank MasterCard. Collaborating with competitors : Although alliances between manufacturers with complementary skills, or between manufacturers and their suppliers and distributors, is natural and understanable, even direct competitors can find reasons to collaborate. The strength of global challenges encourages domestic competitors to form alliances and creates pressures for changes in antitrust regulation to make the alliance feasible. Global alliances may provide a way of weakening antitrust restraints. This requires new thinking and possibly a split personality for the brand manager, as he or she cooperates in one domain while possibly remaining competitive in another. This may force new organizational arrangements on the firm. Designing Products for Global Acceptance : There are myriad factors that influence both customer and competitor behavior in foreign markets. An emerging strategy that seems to be succeeding is to plan globally and act locally, in which activities such as product design are conducted at a global level, but marketing and other transactional activities are customized locally. Finally, managers must be careful in coping with cultural or language differences.

43

The expansion into Europe was comparatively easy from a cultural standpoint. As Japan developed, the cultural differences were larger, and U.S. business had more difficulty there. As we look ahead, the cultural challenges will be larger still in the rest of Asia from China to indonesia in Thailand to India where more than half the world lives. U.S. companies will have to adapt to those cultures if they are to succeed in the 21st century.

The brand manager may press for flexible product designs that contain features important to all markets collectively or options that can be added readily to a basic design to satisfy local requirements. Brand management will be involved actively in seeking out, selecting from, and implementing an array of such options. The Increasing Openness of Markets : Deregulation often leads to increased competition from outside traditionally defined product market boundaries. Each of these new competitors are leveraging their established relationships with customers to penetrate the credit card market rapidly. To contain threats, banks have gone into partnership with airlines and telecommunication companies to offer credit cards with frequent user miles. The effects of deregulation are felt in varied industries, ranging from import / export to telecommunications, health care, and transportation. It is worth nothing that competitive forces often precede deregulation. They are both a cause and an effect. The challenge to brand management is sometimes how to adapt proactively to harsh new market realities before the protection afforded by regulation is removed. Competition : In an era of rapid technological change accompanied by fast innovation, shorter product life cycles, and converging markets, time-based competition is becoming increasingly important. Companies with shorter product development cycles can close in on potential markets faster. Each product

44

iteration enables a fast-cycle APOLLO to apply marketplace learning (e.g., features and functions that customers like or do not want), thereby potentially improving success of the next model. Brand managers acquire greater control. When competitors can leverage similar technologies to doplicate products and services, speed is even more important. Harvesting the best customers : Occupying the mental corner store : Developing a reputation for innovation : Shorter order fulfillment cycles :

Mass customization: The Increased Power of Distribution and the Evolution of Channels The new level of competition in many product markets has been abetted by dramatic changes in product distribution and the behaviors of distributors. Whereas in the past, products moved in a loosely coupled fashion from manufacturers to wholesalers and retailers to the final consumer, all levels of distribution and supply now see the importance of systemwide coordination to improve operating efficiences. The advent of the term relationship management captures this new awareness of symbiotic interoganizational requirements for delivering customer value. For some manufacturers, this has led to the recognition that distributors are customers with their own preference functions. Conflict within the channel, in the past merely a nuisance, is now seen as a potentially fatal obstacle to the success of the brand. Intensifying product market competition also has changed the geographic scope of product market boundaries. As markets become more global, the scope of distribution systems for most firms has broadened as well. Brand managers now recognize the incredible value of global brands those recognized and admired throughout the world and the difficult tasks associated with their creation and maintenance. As the relationship between producers and distributors has intensified, the relative power of distributors, especially retailers, also has increased. The rapid diffusion of electronic scanner systems has contributed to the shift in information power from manufacturers to retailers. Now, store managers can respond quickly by examining the impact of promotions. They can tell the salesperson what works best and what does not. This has led the brand

45

manager to more consultation with distributors to seek greater understanding of their perspectives. In many cases, retailers, are demanding, and getting access to,

manufacturers products for their own private label and store brand purposes. The national brand may be forced to concentrate only on flavors or varieties in which the private label does not choose to compete. This power shift away from the producers of branded products has led to the welldocumented increase in the use of marketing actions directed at the trade rather than final consumer. Distributors, interested in profit across brands and product categories (Zenor 1994) and developing their own bonds with consumers, are prone to play manufacturers against one another, creating difficulties for sales and brand managers. This has encouraged brand managers to obtain sound market research information to become better informed in dealing with distributors. Managers of large brands can try education to wean trade customers away from promotions through everyday low price (EDLP) and other strategies. NEW TRENDS OF THE MARKETING It is at the product market level that broad environmental forces are transformed into specific competitive threats and opportunities that require new and creative brand management responses. Both customers and competitors learn and adapt. Once PC buyers learned that IBMcompatible clones were reliable and used the same components as name brands, they refused to pay hefty price premiums for IBM or Compaq. The introduction of Microsoft Windows improved the user-friendliness of PCs and drove Apple and IBM compatible computers, closer together and made each more vulnerable to price competition from the other. Corporate downsizing and corresponding reduction in in-house purchasing expertise may imply increased importance for intangible product components such as the service and relationship dimensions. This shift may cause an increase in the importance of corporate brands and bring reward to reapportions that are compatible. The brand manager must become ever more sensitive to these

46

possibilities. Brand management is challenged to understand the dynamics of changing markets and manage brand association. The Usefulness of Brands : The value of a brand name is associated closely with its awareness, quality perception, and the customer satisfaction engendered by related products and offerings, among others (Aaker 1991). Brands are symbols that consumers have learned to trust over time, and they often signal intangible product qualities (Erdem 1993). This signal is often based on experience attributes such as perceived reliability, quality, and safety (Nelson 1970) that products and related marketing programs afford. Such intangibles often lead to more defensible advantages for the firm relative to search attributes (physical features and prices that are readily comparable across brands via inspection or information search) because consumer learning time and experience opportunities are limited. Search attributes, moreover, often can be copied readily by competitors, and it is only when they have not been (because of insufficient time, patent protection, proprietary production and distribution processes, or creative promotion), that they also contribute to brand equity. Broniarczyk and Alba (1994) provide empirical support for this signaling interpretation of brand equity. Customer satisfaction and relationships with a brand provide it protection from competition. Relationships put any single action in perspective, its importance evaluated against the back ground of previous experience with the brand. Consequently, managers have found that satisfied customers often have many desirable characteristics they by more, are willing to pay more, incur lower sales and service costs, and provide referrals. This has spurred brand managers to focus on customer satisfaction as a measure of operational success.

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The value imperative : Buyers across product-markets have always demanded value but defined it by the behaviors of competitors. Tougher economic times increase sensitivity. With added market alternatives available, they are now demanding high product quality and good customer service at reasonable prices. The increase in market share for private labels suggests consumers may be less willing to apy hefty price-premiums for the image component of national brands. Focus on value requires a paradigm shift from a price-quality relationship in which high quality could be assumed to lead high prices to one in which companies must produce high-quality products and services at ever lower prices. Some distributors have adopted an EDLP strategy or have added value products to their lines. This latter strategy has resulted in the backwards development of new products, starting with the desired price point and image and then designing the product and program to achieve it. Markets also are becoming fragmented by the growing differences in tastes that acAPOLLO increasing cultural and economic diversity. Buyer differences in such factors as concern for the environment, the value of time, and health and nutrition also provide scope for differentiation. The rise of cable, with its offer of myriad channels, and the consequent decline of network television represents media response to increasing fragmentation of audiences, but it also makes it more expensive to reach potential customers. Managers of brands still face a need to provide an orchestrated message to customers, distributors, and other publics in the form of one voice marketing. Although hardly an innovative concept, the goal of integrated marketing communications has been driven by the increasing feasibility of direct marketing activities, fragmented nature of media, emergence of more sophisticated and efficient telecommunications, and increased reliance on sales promotions relative to advertising. Each of

48

these has made the development of a strong and consistent brand image more difficult to achieve. Because it is inherently individual and multidimensional, brand equity can be difficult to measure, and even an appropriate measure can depend on user purpose. A variety of measures have ben proposed in the literature of offered as the proprietary products of market research and advertising firms. Each has strengths and weaknesses and must be evaluated in light of brand managements purposes. The brand manager gains understanding of the relative contribution of product attribute perceptions and nonattribute imagery to the brand equity for different segments and enables valuation of a brands extension to different product lines and other markets. The rapid increase in market information for managing brands, particularly from scanner technology at the retail level, has had a major effect on how brand management decisions are made. Such research data are more objective and can be collected and processed in a timely fashion. Often historical data for a product category are immediately available to the manager when the need for them arises. Increasingly, more and better decision aids have been created to analyze such data. The different strengths of data collected at the household (micro) and store (macro) levels might be combined to offer the brand manager more detailed information about brand preferences and socioeconomic characteristics of buyers (and segments), along with information regarding the sensitivity of the market to price promotions, the impact of a brands strategy on competitors, and the vulnerability of the brand to competitive actions. Needless to say, brand managers appear increasingly challenged. The world of the brand manager is complex and becoming more so. Technology is at once a curse and an opportunity while creating new capabilities for the brand manager; it also provides a need for new skills and different vision. The forces brand managers face are not temporary. If anything, they increase the need for the type of coordinated management brand management traditionally has as its strength. Brands continue to have value in a competitive marketplace and undoubtedly will continue to exist. Although specific

49

organizational forms may change, brand management itself will adapt and thrive as managers accept new challenges by improving their competitive ability. The global management of brands, especially with respect to whether, when, and how brand names can be used as sources of competitive advantage in an increasingly global economy; The impact of information technology on the brand management system and brand managers job-how that job is changing as decisions are decentralized and involvement in those decision is broadened both inside and outside the organization; How to leverage technology better when it is not proprietary to a single firm; Better understanding the causes of individual, segment. and mark behavior (Barabba and Zaltman 1991). promising starts have been made by research dealing with purpose and context in buyer decision- making , but more is needed to understand how buyers from the criteria they use to evaluate products and marketing offerings and how these change with different decision contexts; Better understanding of the circumstances under which brand equity varies and when individual-or segment-level measures are better . Globalization may imply that buyers are less (more?) homogeneous then they may be domestically. The role of usage application on brand equity is poorly understood; The relationship between the shift in power in distribution channels and the control over brand over brand names and the marketing programs that support those brands. Must private label national brand status create a fundamental distinction, irrespective of quality of the product? The development and importance of corporate brands and brand identity, especially within business-to-business and service contexts; The understanding of better ways to manage joint and co-branding and other forms of strategic alliances, especially those between erstwhile competitors; and The development of more of a system view of brands and products to include how intangibles created by the pricing promotional, service, and distribution decisions of the brand manager combine with the product itself to create brand equity and affect buyer decision making.

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51

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Objective

To understand the objectives of the marketing strategy of Apollo Tyres. To study the different product differentiation for the Apollo tyres. To analyze the customer and retailers view about the selling Apollo tyres. To recommend feasible improvements in the marketing strategy opted by the Apollo tyres.

HYPOTHESIS

After three decades of consistent growth, Apollo Tyres Ltd, a Gurgaon-based tyre manufacturer, has emerged as one of the premier tyre manufacturers in India. Starting with one plant and an installed capacity of 4,20,000 each of tyres and tubes, Apollo currently has eight plants in the country. A ninth plant in south India, with a capacity of 2.4 million radial truck tyres, will be added soon. The company is credited with India's first radials and first range of highspeed tubeless passenger car tyres. It has spread its wings internationally too. Apollo has grown inorganically to establish its market presence across 30 African countries. A recent acquisition adds Europe as its third crucial market.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Secondary Data:

It will consist of information that already exists somewhere in documents. The secondary data will be collected from the newspapers, expert reports, internet and Apollo Tyres Companys website, etc.

Internet :- www.google.com, www.wikipedia.com, etc Past records and analysis Books, Magazines & Journals.

Both primary and secondary data will be collected to analyze:

52

 Existing market scenario of Indian market with respect to auto industry. Customers views regarding Indian automotive Industry. Experts opinion regarding Indian Industry and contribution of Apollo tyres into it.
PRIMARY DATA:

Primary data will be collected from the people from Apollo tyres as an marketing manager or senior level management. The primary information will be collected through questionnaire and Interviews presented to the Apollo tyres customers and retailers. Questionnaire Structured Dichotomous, open ended, multiple choice
Tool Used: Bar Graph, Pie Diagram

Personal Interview General Discussions

SAMPLING METHOD: Random Sampling chosen by the gathering of data

SAMPLE SIZE: 100 people

TARGET AUDIENCE: Marketing manager of the firm, retailers based at Delhi and NCR and customers.

53

SCOPE OF THE WORK To analyze the existing performance marketing strategy done by the Apollo tyres, its effectiveness and recommendations and measures to improve the procedure in the organization; JUSTIFICATION OF THE CHOOSING TOPIC

Tyre manufacturers have had a rough time in the past one year. While demand shrunk in the backdrop of slowdown in the automobile sector, raw material prices soared, denting margins extensively. High cost of funding too added to the woes. However, there has been a substantial correction in prices from the highs seen in FY09. Rubber and crude oil are both at much lower levels. Prices of crude oil derivatives such as carbon black, synthetic rubber, nylon cord fabric and rubber chemicals have brought significant respite to all tyre majors

54

DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDING

ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER MEETING AND CAMPAIGN When we asked about the general rating that customers might give to Apollo Tyres has whole the feed back that they gave was as follows approx 23% customer said that Apollo Tyres is excellent and 56% customer said that Apollo Tyres is very good, 21% customer said that Apollo Tyres is average and know body is said that Apollo Tyres is below average. The graph below shows the following information.

60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Excellent Very Good Average Poor

When asked about where do most of the customers go for purchasing Apollo Tyres the feed back that were received from customers are as follows around 75% customer said that they purchase Apollo Tyres from the exclusive dealer of Apollo Tyres, 20% customer said that they purchase from MBDs (Multi brand dealer ) so that they could make a comparison of cost between Apollo and other brands available and rest 5% customer said that they purchase Apollo Tyres from other tyres traders the graph below gives better information.

55

56

When asked about how easily customer get Apollo Tyres the response was follows approx 82% customer said that they get Apollo Tyres very easily whenever they require them from the nearest dealer and 18% customers said that there is always a scarcity of the most popular brands of Apollo Tyres Ltd. Such as Aspire, Acelere Sportz, Acelere, Hawkz and Amazer XL . The Graph below shows the exact position.

57

% AGE OF SATISFIED AND DISSATISFIED USER OF APOLLO TYRES

The 83% customers are fully satisfied with the Apollo Tyres and just 17% customers are not satisfied with the Apollo Tyres . We met the different customers. Customer said that the quality of Apollo Tyre is very good. Tyre is very costly but the performance of Apollo Tyre is better than other tyres. They said that the claim policy of Apollo Tyre is very good. Several customers are very friendly and the Co-operate in our work but few customers behaved very rudely. Customers are happy with the campaign and they said that they gain a lot of knowledge from the campaign and they said that campaign should be organized continuously in different area.

58

\These things give us a good experience and obtain good knowledge about customers attitude. EXHIBIT-2.1(a) Table showing Brand preference for front wheel as per respondents Table-2.1(a) Brand No. Of Respondents Per Cent

JK

31

31%

APOLLO

28

28%

MRF

8%

BIRLA

23

23%

OTHERS

10

10%

TOTAL

100

100%

Source- Primary data

Fig-2.1(a)

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B n p fere c fo fro t w ee ra d re ne r n h l

1% 0 3% 1 J K 2% 3 APL PO O MF R BR A I L OHR T ES 8 % 2% 8

Interpretation: From the above table it is shown that majority of the respondents [31] prefer JK tyer for front wheel because of smooth driving. 28% of respondents prefer APOLLO tyre for better mileage. 8% of respondents prefer MRF tyre for quick service. 23% of the respondents prefer Birla tyre for better claim policy. 10% of the respondents prefer other brands.

EXHIBIT-2.1(b)

60

Table showing Brand preference for rear wheel as per respondents Table-2.1(b) Brand No. Of Respondents Per Cent

JK

28

28%

APOLLO

18

18%

MRF

10

10%

BIRLA

27

27%

OTHERS

17

17%

TOTAL

100

100%

Source- Primary data

Fig-2.1(b)

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Brand preference for rear w heel

17%

28%

JK APPOLO MRF BIRLA

27% 10% 18%

OTHERS

Interpretation: From the above table it is shown that majority of the respondents [28%] prefer JK tyer for rear wheel because of smooth driving. 18% of respondents prefer APOLLO tyre for better mileage.10% of respondents prefer MRF tyre for quick service. 27% of the respondents prefer Birla tyre for better claim policy. 17% of the respondents prefer other brands.

EXHIBIT-2.2

62

Table showing Best brand as per respondents

Table-2.2 Brand No. Respondents JK 29 29% Of Per Cent

APOLLO

27

27%

MRF

5%

BIRLA

27

27%

OTHERS

12

12%

TOTAL

100

100%

Source- Primary data

Fig-2.2

63

Best brand as per respondents

12%

29%

JK APPOLO MRF BIRLA OTH ERS

27% 5% 27%

Interpretation: From the above table it is shown that majority of the respondents [29%] prefer JK tyer because of smooth driving, better quality and reasonable price, etc. 27% of respondents prefer APOLLO tyre for better mileage, good appearance.5% of respondents prefer MRF tyre for quick service, flexibility. 27% of the respondents prefer Birla tyre for better claim policy, load capacity. 12% of the respondents prefer other brands.

EXHIBIT-2.3

64

Table showing Reason behind the selected brand as per respondents

Table-2.3 Particular No. Respondents QUALITY 29 29% Of Per Cent

PRICE

23

23%

CARRYING CAPACITY

27

27%

DURABLITY

21

21%

TOTAL

100

100%

Source- Primary data

Fig-2.3

65

Reason behind selected brand as per respondents

21%

29%

QUALITY PRICE CARRING CAPICITY

27%

23%

DURABLITY

Interpretation: From the above table it is shown that 29% of the respondents prefer the brand for better quality, 27% of the respondents prefer the brands for better carrying capacity, 23% of the respondents prefer the brand for price and 21% of the respondents prefer for durability.

EXHIBIT-2.4

66

Table showing Qualities of selected brand as per respondents Table-2.4 Particular No. Respondents SERVICE 24 24% Of Per Cent

LESS EROSION

16

16%

CLAIM

31

31%

MILEAGE

19

19%

OTHERS

10

10%

TOTAL

100

100%

Source- Primary data

Qualityof selected brand asper respondents

.4
10% 24% 19% 16% 31% SERVICE LESSEROSION CLIAM MILLAGE OTHERS

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Interpretation: 31% of the respondents prefer the brand for better claim, 24% of the respondents prefer the brand for better service, 19% of the respondents prefer the brand for better mileage, 16% of the respondents prefer the brand for reason. less erosion and 10% of the respondents prefer the brand for other

EXHIBIT-2.5 Table showing Best claim policy of selected brand as per respondents

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Table-2.5 Brand No. Respondents JK 19 19% Of Per Cent

APOLLO

30

30%

MRF

17

17%

BIRLA

23

23%

OTHERS

11

11%

TOTAL

100

100%

Source- Primary data

B claimpolicy of selectedbrandas est per respondents

Fig-2.5
JK 11% 23% 17% 30% 19% APPOLO MRF BIRLA OTHERS

69

Interpretation: From the above table it is shown that 30% of the respondents prefer ApoLLo for better claim policy, 23% of the respondents prefer Birla, 19% of the respondents prefer JK tyre, 17% of the respondents prefer MRF and 11% of the respondents prefer other brands for better claim policy.

EXHIBIT-2.6 Table showing Best claim policies of APOLLO as per respondents

70

Table-2.6 Particular No. Respondents QUICK 19 19% Of Per Cent

MORE FACILITY

20

20%

RELIABLE

17

17%

NO PENDING

21

21%

GURANTEE

23

23%

TOTAL

100

100%

Source- Primary data

Fig-2.6

B claimpolicy asper est respondents

19% 23% 21% 17% 20% QUICK MORE FACILITY RELIABLE

71

Interpretation: From the above table it is shown that 23% of the respondents prefer Apollos guarantee policy, 21% of the respondents prefer no pending policy, 20% of the respondents prefer more facility, 19% of the respondents prefer quick policy, 17% of the respondents prefer more reliable policy.

EXHIBIT-2.7(a) Table showing Brand preferred for heavy load capacity Table-2.7(a) Brand No. Of Per Cent

72

Respondents JK 26 26%

APOLLO

18

18%

MRF

7%

BIRLA

29

29%

OTHERS

20

20%

TOTAL

100

100%

Source- Primary data

Fig-2.7(a)

Brand prefered for heavy load capacity

20%

26%

JK APPOLO MRF BIRLA

29% 7%

18%

OTHERS

73

Interpretation: From the above table it is shown that 29% of the respondents prefer Birla for heavy load capacity, 26%of the respondents prefer JK, 20% of the respondents prefer other brand, 18% of the respondents prefer APOLLO tyre and 7% of the respondents prefer MRF tyre for heavy load capacity.

EXHIBIT-2.7(b) Table showing Brand preference for medium load capacity

Table-2.7(b) Brand No. Of Per Cent

74

Respondents JK 27 27%

APOLLO

26

26%

MRF

8%

BIRLA

14

14%

OTHERS

25

25%

TOTAL

100

100%

Source- Primary data

Fig2.7(b)

B randpreferedfor m ediumload capacity

25% 14%

27% 26%

JK APPOLO MRF BIRLA OTHERS

8%

75

Interpretation: From the above table it is shown that 27% of the respondents prefer JK tyre for medium load capacity, 26% of the respondents prefer APOLLO tyre, 25% of the respondents prefer other brand, 14% of the respondents prefer Birla and 8% of the respondents prefer MRF for medium load capacity.

EXHIBIT-2.7(c) Table showing Brand preference for normal load capacity

Table-2.7(c) Brand No. Respondents Of Per Cent

76

JK

24

24%

APOLLO

23

23%

MRF

10

10%

BIRLA

23

23%

OTHERS

20

20%

TOTAL

100

100%

Source- Primary data

Fig-2.7(c)

B randpreferedfor norm loadcapacity al

JK 20% 23% 24% 23% APPOLO MRF BIRLA 10% OTHERS

77

Interpretation: From the above table it is shown that 24% of the respondents prefer JK tyre for normal load capacity, both 23% of the respondents prefer APOLLO and Birla, 20% of the respondents prefer other brand and 10% of the respondents prefer MRF for normal load capacity.

EXHIBIT-2.8 Table showing Motivating factors behind the level of satisfaction Table-2.8 Particular No. Respondents HANDLING 13 13% Of Per Cent

78

APPEARANCE

28

28%

TRACTION

16

16%

RIDE

16

16%

DURABILITY

27

27%

TOTAL

100

100%

Source- Primary data

Fig-2.8

F actorsaffectingbehind the level of satisfactionas per respondents

13% 27% 28% 16% HANDLING APPEARANC E TRACTION

16%

79

Interpretation: From the above table it is shown that 28% of the respondents are satisfied with the appearance of the tyre, 27% of the respondents are satisfied with the durability of the tyre, both 16% of the respondents are satisfied with the traction and ride of the tyre and 13% of the respondents are satisfied with the handling capacity of the tyre.

CONCLUSION
The paper provides an empirical view of the range of promotions launched in the Indian market place from 2003 to 2009. The different promotions include free gift offers, price offs, extra product offers, exchange offers, buy-moreand-save offers, contests and sweepstakes. The most frequently launched promotion is the free gift offer followed by the sweepstake offer and extra product offer. Some differences in trends are found across Consumer Durable and Service sectors. A detailed description of each type of promotion is provided in order to highlight the different incentives offered by such promotions. Details about Different Types of Promotions

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The specific details about the different types of promotions - price offs, free gift offers, sweepstakes, extra product offers, contests, exchange offers and buy-more-and-save/get offers - are discussed in the following section. 1. Exchange Offer 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 Ac, the scheme offers the consumer a price reduction of Rs. 10,000 on the new AC in exchange for an old AC. 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.

2. Free Gift Offer This promotion is popular across a range of product categories. It offers the consumer an incentive to purchase in the form of a free product/service. For example, in case of a car purchase, the consumer is offered a free product such as a music system or accessories. The consumer may also be offered a free service such as extended 3-year warranty or free insurance. Often the product offered free is a complement to the original purchase. This is illustrated by instances of the following types of free gift offers: a free stabilizer with an AC purchase free pillows with a mattress purchase

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 free petrol on a 2 wheeler purchase free toothbrush with toothpaste free shaving blade with shaving gel/foam. 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 it, 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 times the free product may be a related product or product used in a similar context e.g. cooking or cleaning or personal care or eating. For kitchen products, the free product are items used in the kitchen such as plastic containers, metal spoon, tawa, non stick pan, idli stand, serving bowl, table mat and OTG. In case of detergent powder/cake the free products are related cleaning products such as bleach, washing soap, washing powder, bucket, bath soap, floor cleaner and utensil cleaner. In the skin care segment, the free products are other personal care items such as soap, body lotion, shampoo sachet, shaving cream and toothpaste. In case of food products, the free product comprises of other edible items such as biscuits, coffee, namkeen, salt, chocolate. 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

82

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. 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. 4. Buy more and save/get

83

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 fruit 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. When different products are bundled together on this promotion, there is usually a relationship between the products. For example in case of computer printers, this scheme requires the consumer to buy a printer and scanner together and get a price reduction. In case of consumer durables, this scheme attempts to induce the consumer to buy greater number of products from the same company. For example the scheme requires the consumer to buy AC and refrigerator or AC and microwave of the same brand and avail a price reduction. In FMCG products, this promotion requires the consumer to buy toothpaste and toothbrush together or buy shaving cream and blade together to get a price reduction. This promotion is seen in case of Fast Food Restaurants as well where the consumer is required to buy a pizza, coke mobile and garlic bread and get a saving on the combination purchase. In case of FMCG products, this type of promotion bundles together products that are use complements. 5. Contest offers Contest offers are seen mostly in products targeted at children. In case of 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.

84

The consumer is offered the chance to win a car or a flat or various household durable appliances. 6. Extra Product Offers 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. Other Offers A variety of promotions are seen in the Any Other category. One frequent promotion in the consumer durable category is the 0% finance scheme for purchase of two wheelers, notebook/PCs, refrigerator, music system, television, microwave oven, 2 wheeler. A different kind of promotion requires the consumer to invest money in order to avail the promotional benefit. In case of fans, this sort of promotion requires the consumer to purchase 3 fans and pay Rs. 90 to get a wristwatch worth Rs. 480. Another such promotion requires the consumer to buy a fan, pay Rs. 40 and get a free camera worth Rs. racket free. A variant of this promotion is another promotion, which requires an investment of effort rather than money from the consumer. For example, in case of tea, 300. In case of health drinks, the promotion requires the consumer to pay Rs. 7/- more and get a badminton

85

the consumer is required to pay Re. 1 and get a Britannia biscuit pack free along with the tea pack. In case of salt, the consumer is required to collect a newspaper coupon and pay Re. 1 to get a pack of salt. Yet other types of promotions require an investment of both money and effort from the consumer in order to avail of the promotional benefit. For example, a soft drink promotion requires the consumer to collect crowns and put in some money to get a price discount on the soft drink. In case of ice cream the consumer is required to collect three ice cream wrappers to get a scratch card which gives him the opportunity to win lakhs of prizes. In case of chocolates, the promotion requires a consumer to exchange empty chocolate wrappers to get movie tickets or bunny stickers free.

RECOMMENDATION
In the modern world, one brand is continuously pitted against the other and battles are continuously being fought on the parameters of quality, reputation and market share. Brands are competing on a one-to-one basis on a regional, national and global level. It goes without saying that one of the biggest developments which defined marketing strategy is brand strategy. The entire packaging of a product or service is in the form of a brandwhich in effect is one large formation.It was intense competition among the FMCGs on various fronts that made the multibranding approach very important. Whether it is in soaps, TVs, apparel or toothpaste segments, the endeavour is always to capture a market with the best possible gross margins. One-to-one battles

86

that are being fought are all in the quest of dominating the gained market space. Multibranding as a concept and executable marketing paradigm was pioneered by the FMCGs followed by the consumer durables players. It has now moved on to the packaged food products segment and will soon swamp the hospitality and other highly service-oriented businesses and sectors. According to our survey suggested that The occupation of the respondents was very much fluctuating. This is done so as to gain more knowledge about the different strata of the society. Also from the result clearly mentioned that 30 % people are service man including working in Private firm, MNC or multi national organization. While 25 % are student because we want to know that how new generation is aware about the 100 % safe parameter. Apart from this 10 % respondents are house wife a significant number is required because until or unless house wife is not contributed there views that AC advertisement would not be successful it also reflected from our survey result that Here it is quite clear that it is the respondent purchase there product because of Design is good by 35 % where as for issue of price is 15% and the 25% people says they purchasing of AC depends on look wise whether that product fit for the buyer or not. Like any marketing, the concept to be sold has to have some value in the minds of the prospects. The first step, therefore, is to develop a 'value proposition'. No one buys a concept or a product if it has no value for him. A potent question for the hospital mentioned above would have been 'Why would our people work harder for accreditation? What is in it for them?' If they were able to create a valuable enough answer to this question, the idea would have been sold. Second step is to clearly identify the target group. Sometimes, there may be many target groups. Marketing to each group will differ according to their preferences, skills, intellect, etc.

87

Third step is to find out various ways to promote the concept. Remember, you have to promote the idea in more than one way. You may have to use a combination of various vehicles to promote your idea. APOLLO Ltd is planning to roll out a new marketing initiative called A World Class Customer Experience. As part of its marketing strategy, the company plans to focus on enhancing its entire value chain which includes technology, quality, price, delivery and after-sales-service. According to Mr B Thiagarajan, senior general manager (corporate communications and marketing), APOLLO Ltd, the company is also enhancing its focus on some fast-growing segments such as telecom, multiplexes and the healthcare markets. As part of the strategy, APOLLO Ltd is looking for strategic partners to enter into a technological tie-up for high-end telecom airconditioning equipment, adds Mr Thiagarajan. For the purpose, the company is currently in talks with UK-based Eaton Williams Group, an airconditioning major. On APOLLOs new marketing initiatives, Mr Thiagarajan says that the companys objective is to focus on intangible factors such as views and feelings of the customers which contribute to a good customer experience.

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