HUL's appetite- experiments in marketing

TASTE AND SEE: HUL is taking its new marketing strategy everywhere from local trains to shops to homes

In September 2010, women commuters in suburban Mumbai trains were in for a tasty surprise – they had Hindustan Unilever representatives serving out freshly cooked food prepared with Knorr Ready to Cook spice mixes. The 'Baje ki Knorr Local’ campaign touched the right chord: the aroma of piping hot food was a treat for consumers enduring hours of travel after a hard day at work.

 

‘Taste and see’ is HUL’s new battle cry as it tries, for the umpteenth time, to push ahead in the foods business. It managed to get 50 million consumers to sample its foods products in 2009 and the number is likely to be higher this year, says Shrijeet Mishra, HUL’s executive director, foods.

The idea is to hit at source, influence purchase decisions and propel the foods business, which has historically been a weak spot in its portfolio and has not had same level of success as enjoyed by its rivals such as ITC.
“We believe that the foods and beverages, processed foods and ice-creams markets are at a point of inflection,” says Mishra. “With modern trade coming in and disposable incomes going up, consumers’ willingness to experiment and spend on convenience foods has gone up sharply.”

 

Sales of packaged processed foods such as biscuits, chocolates, ice-cream, confectionery, snacks, ready-to-eat food, cheese and butter are worth Rs 50,000-60,000 crore and growing 30-35% annually.

In a segment that has major players such as Britannia, Nestle, Amul, ITC Foods , Parle, Kellogg’s, GlaxoSmithKline, Wrigley and Frito-Lay, besides hundreds of smaller firms, HUL’s processed foods business (excluding beverages) share is less than Rs 1,000 crore.

 

That's why it is now mounting a massive consumer connect offensive.

 

And HUL is taking its experiential marketing strategy everywhere—from trains to shops to homes—to make customers taste and see. It has deployed 250 food ambassadors at stores across Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore with the help of its in-store execution partner Smollan Holdings of South Africa. Why? Because 78% of purchase decisions are made at the point of sales.

 

In April, the consumer products giant initiated a home-to-home marketing blitz with trade execution partner India One in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad and Lucknow. Brand promoters made home visits and got consumers to taste its food brands, noting details and making a sales pitch.

 

HUL has no choice now, but to go on the offensive. Its beverages, foods and ice-creams businesses account for only 18% of its Rs 17,524-crore revenues, while parent Unilever earns 50% of its e10.1 billion revenues from foods.
Unilever CEO Paul Polman, faced with stagnating sales in the US and Europe, wants India to deliver more. And that’s been communicated in no uncertain terms.

TASTE AND SEE: HUL is taking its new marketing strategy everywhere from local trains to shops to homes

Soon, Airtel users can shop up to Rs 5000 via mobiles

 Dear students

Good example of differentiation and increasing the market coverage, First mover advantage in highly competitive telecom Market.

 Enjoy Learning

Gautam Bansal

Bharti Airtel customers will soon be able to make virtual payments at retail outlets and restaurants using their cell phones. The country’s largest telco by both revenues and customers has got the nod from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to collect a maximum of `5,000 from customers, which can be converted to virtual money stored on mobile phones, and can be used at outlets that have a tie-up with Airtel. All leading mobile phone companies are also slated to get the ‘semi-closed wallet’ license over the next couple of months.

India has over 650 million mobile users and all telecom companies are looking at offering a range of financial services, including the electronic version of the leather wallet, which can be used to make secure payments across a wide spectrum of goods and services covering all sectors, Such concepts are already operational in Japan, South Korea, parts of China and certain markets in Europe.

Earlier this year, RBI in its annual monetary policy said that it was looking to use mobile phones as a medium for taking banking facilities to the remote and far-flung areas while also adding that banks and cellular operators must cooperate, rather than compete with each other for this initiative.“Semi-closed wallet is prepaid payment instruments that are redeemable at a group of clearly-identified merchant locations/ establishments which contract specifically with the issuer to accept the payment instrument. These instruments do not permit cash withdrawal or redemption by the holder,” Bharti Airtel said in a statement. In fact, Bhutan Telecom has already introduced M-money or mobile money payment, which is a one-stop shop for making payments of all utility bills including telephone, electricity and water bills. Bharti Airtel did not give any timeframe for the launch of services on this platform. “Currently we are evaluating various options that this license provides to find out how best we can create a value proposition for Airtel customers. It is imperative to design a safe & convenient deployment before we can take to the market,” its statement added.

As per RBI guidelines, the pre-paid value that is being loaded will be distinct from talk time. In other words, the telecom operator will not be able to create money. For the consumer, this implies, they will not be able to exchange this money for talktime. Bharti Airtel will also be mandated to deposit the money raised in a zero balance escrow account with a bank. Analysts say that RBI’s move to approve ‘Semi closed wallet’ will be the first step towards democratization of mobile commerce in the country. It is estimated that only 1% (8 million) of the country’s 650 million cell phone users avail mobile commerce services. This is expected to go up to 50 million by 2012.

Cheapest Car in the World

Interesting Facts about the Tata Nano

At a time when the demand for fuel efficient and low-cost cars is high, the entry of Tata's much publicized proposed small car Nano into the Indian car market is being widely seen as a ray of hope. Unveiled on January 10, 2008 at the 9th annual Auto Expo at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, the Tata Nano is a small, affordable city car primarily aimed at Indian car market.

Widely perceived as the "People's Car" and touted as the “Cheapest car in the world” available for Rs 1 lakh, the Tata Nano is a dream come true for Ratan Tata, the chairman of the Tata Motors. Though it has received an overwhelming response as soon as it was unveiled, the road for Tata Nano was not smooth. Yet to be commercial launched in India and elsewhere, the car has faced may hurdles in its path. Here is an interesting peep into the journey of the Nano from a mere concept to reality:

• Nano's mission began way back in 2003 when Ratan Tata first thought of gifting the India’s middle class society a car that will carry a price tag of a two wheeler and features of a four wheeler. The Nano concept popped up into his mind when he saw a family traveling somehow scrambled in a two wheeler in rain. The very site of this urged him to build a car that will suit the need of middle class family.
• Earlier, Nano was speculated to be a simple four-wheel auto rickshaw. But this was then clarified by Ratan Tata that it’s "a real car" and not any vehicle with plastic curtains or roof. The Nana rather has a roomy passenger compartment with generous leg space and head room.
• According to the Tata Motors, the conceptualization of the Nano was a highly refined idea. With an emphasis on innovation and new design approaches, the Nano was designed at the Institute of Development in Automotive Engineering, Italy.
• The Nano would be available in Standard, Deluxe, and Luxury variants. The Deluxe and the Luxury variants are air-conditioned and have body coloured bumpers. Alloy wheels, fog lamps, and ICE are the other features of the Luxury variant. Most notably, the Nano has 21% space in the interior and 8% smaller exterior compared to its closest competitor Maruti 800.
• Carrying a length of 3.1m, width of 1.5 m, and height of 1.6 m and adequate ground clearance, the little Nano can easily manoeuvre on busy roads in cities as well as in rural areas.
•  Tata Motors is also working on an environment-friendly electric version of the Nano called the E-Nano. It would be the world's cheapest electric car if it gets launched in the market. It is also said that E-Nano would have attached or side solar panels. Further, a hybrid Nano is also speculated to make its entry.
• Tata Nano has already generated competition even before its entry into the market. Bajaj Auto is said to be working on a Small Car project pitted against the Nano carrying same price delivering 30km/litre. Fiat, General Motors, Ford, Hyundai, and Toyota are also interested in producing small and highly affordable cars aimed largely at middle-class consumers. Players like the proposed inexpensive and eco-friendly electric cars like the Tara Tiny, the Oreva Super are expected to take on the Nano.

• Tata's ambitious small car was named Nano because it connotes high technology and small size. The Nano made its European debut at the Geneva Auto Show 2008 and successfully gathered huge crowd. The onlookers marveled at its small wheels, straw-sized exhaust pipe, and single windshield wiper.
• The Nano will be offered in a wide range of body colors, and other accessories so that the car can be customized to individual preferences. It can comfortably seat four persons. Four doors with high seating position make ingress and egress easy.
• The Nano comes with a rear-wheel drive. The lean design has helped to minimize weight, which further maximize performance per unit of energy consumed and delivers high fuel efficiency.
• Tata Motors claims that the Nano is completely safe. It features crumple zones, intrusion-resistant doors, seat belts, strong seats and anchorages, and the rear tailgate glass bonded to the body. Also, the Nano's emission performance exceeds regulatory requirements with low carbon dioxide emissions thereby providing the twin benefits of an affordable transportation solution with a low carbon footprint. Its pollution levels are lesser than the two-wheelers being manufactured in India today.
• Tata Motors is likely to start Nano  bookings from March or April 2009. The Nano was originally planned to be launched commercially in October 2008 but the land issues at Singur in West Bengal delayed the launch of the car. Ratan Tata then moved the Nano plant to Sanand, near Ahmedabad, Gujarat. In addition to the Uttarakhand facility, the Tata Motors also plans to manufacture the Nano from various facilities including the Pune and Pantnagar plant.
• Since the day it was announced, masses across the world were keen to know how the ‘People's Car’ looks. The Tata Motors' website received nearly 7.9 million hits on January 10, 2008 (the day the Nano was unveiled), while the Tata Nano website registered 4 million hits in 30 hours.
• It is interesting to know that Tata Motors has already won the Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award in the 'Transportation' category for 'very impressive design accomplishment' for the Nano. The contest had received over 700 entries, which were later brought down to 162 for the final selection.

Indian Consumer Markets

 Dear students

 Some very Interesting Facts abount Indian Consumer Markets.

Must Read Document

Enjoy Learning

Gautam  Bansal

 Some Interesting statistics and facts about Indian Consumer Market (Worlds largest emerging consumer Market)

Rural Consumers

Mega retail chains are looking to build a high-quality supply chainretailers such as Bharti-Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Reliance are working to strengthen their supply chain formula by roping in farmers as stakeholders. Despite being the biggest names in the trade, these retailers are ploughing rural areas to teach innovative farming methods and find the best suppliers among them.Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) is planning to significantly increase its rural reach. Currently, HUL products reach approximately 250,000 rural retail outlets and the company intends to scale it up to nearly 750,000 outlets in two years time. Swiss FMCG player, Nestle plans to make further inroads into the rural markets. The company has asked its sales team to deliver “6,000 new sales points every month in rural areas” to expand presence in Indian villages, according to Antonio Helio Waszyk, Chairman and Managing Director, Nestle India.

FMCG

According to a FICCI-Technopak report, India's FMCG sector is poised to reach US$ 43 billion by 2013 and US$ 74 billion by 2018. The report states that implementation of the proposed goods and services tax (GST) and the opening of foreign direct investment (FDI) are expected to fuel growth further and raise the industry's size to US$ 47 billion by 2013 and US$ 95 billion by 2018.According to figures released by market researcher Nielsen, demand for personal care products grew faster in rural areas than urban areas during the period January-May 2010.In shampoos, rural demand grew by 10.7 per cent in value terms, while in urban markets, it rose by 6.8 per cent. Similarly, toothpaste sales grew by 9.1 per cent in rural India and by 4.4 per cent in urban markets. Furthermore, according to data from market researcher Nielsen, the FMCG industry posted a 14 per cent sales growth year-on-year in April 2010, the highest in eight months.

Consumer Durables

According to the Consumer Electronics and Appliances Manufacturers Association (CEAMA), the consumer durables and electronics sector has registered a 30 per cent growth during January-March 2010. According to the industry body, the total size of consumer durables and electronics sector is around US$ 6.58 billion. While flat panel display registered a growth of 70 per cent, air conditioner (AC) sales increased by 50 per cent. Additionally, the industry also witnessed a 40 per cent healthy growth in home appliances business during the same quarter.

Automobiles

Passenger vehicles sales shot up 33 per cent to 554,000 units in the April-June 2010 quarter over the year-ago period, according to the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). Moreover as per SIAM, the Indian passenger vehicle market is likely to grow by 12-13 per cent for the year ending March 2011.German luxury car-manufacturer Audi aims to increase its market share in India to 25 per cent from the present 20 per cent by end of 2010. It aims to sell 2,700 units in the country by the end of 2010 as against 1,658 in 2009.The company plans to invest US$ 36.8 million in building production capacity by 2015.Toyota Motor Corp will invest about US$ 103 million to produce engines and transmissions for the Etios compact car in India developed for the local market.Yamaha is planning a major initiative in rural India by launching more models in the affordable price range in 2010. “We are very strong in Tier 1 and Tier II cities. Now onwards, our focus will be rural India (Tier III towns). We will launch more models in the affordable price range to dominate the rural market," according to Pankaj Dubey, National Business Head, India Yamaha Motor. At present, around 15 per cent of its sales come from the rural market and Dubey sees this demand increasing substantially in 2010.If Yamaha is looking at the rural market, US-based Harley Davidson, the iconic heavyweight motorcycle maker is targeting the urban consumers in India. Harley Davidson opened its first outlet in Hyderabad recently and plans to open more across the country. According to Anoop Prakash, Managing Director, Harley-Davidson India, the company will open outlets in other cities including Delhi and Mumbai before the end of 2010.

AKAI enters the mobile handset market launches 10 handsets

Dear Students
Good example of Strategic pricing and positioning the products on the basis of features in highly cluttered Mobile Market.

Gautam Bansal

Japanese consumer electronics brand AKAI on Tuesday entered the mobile handset segment, launching 10 models in the dual SIM category.Targeted at the youth; the handsets have been priced between Rs 1,895 and Rs 7,995. "We are expecting an overall turnover of Rs.435 crore by July 2011 and mobile sales are expected to contribute around 40 per cent of the total revenues with targeted monthly sales of one lakh handsets from October onwards," said Pranay Dhabhai, managing director, AKAI India. "We hope to become a prominent player in the Rs 700 billion mobile handset market in the coming years." The handsets have full touch 3-D user interface, social networking sites and E-book compatibility. According to the company, its products are available in 8,000 retail shops. It is targeting to increase the number of outlets to 20,000 by September end. Akai re-entered India in January this year through Global Brands Enterprise Solutions, ending its brand licensing agreement with consumer durable major Videocon last year. At present, its product portfolio includes washing machines, microwave ovens, DVD players, televisions and home theatres.

Performance sheet

Dear Students

Find attached the performance sheet of the class in Mkt Mgt till Date.

Bba 3 a

View more documents from bansalgautam.

Gautam Bansal

Maruti, Tata Motors & Skoda set to drive into MUV Segment

 Dear Students

Read the news and try to analyse following marketing concepts: 

1. Market segmentation

2. Positioning

3. Targeting

 Gautam Bansal

NEW DELHI: The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India, largest automaker Tata Motors and Volkswagen’s Skoda Auto India plan to enter the crossover market, the fastest growing segment in the passenger vehicle market. It is one detail that you may have missed out in a booming market where every carmaker seems to be reaching a new milestone every month, but clearly our big carmakers are alert even when they party. They can cross over in no time.

Tata Motors will roll out its Tata Aria, developed from the Xover concept, in the last quarter of 2010, while Maruti’s first crossover based on its R3 concept and Skoda Roomster will hit the Indian road next year, according to industry executives familiar with company plans.

Crossovers, or multi-utility vehicles, are positioned between larger sports utility vehicles and smaller hatchbacks, mixing the silky comforts of a car with the rough and tough built of an off roader.

“As the market shifts towards compact cars, MUVs are gaining ground with their higher utility and lower cost of operations,” says Sundeep Singh, deputy MD (marketing) at Toyota Kirloskar Motors, maker of Innova crossover.
The segment, dominated by Innova and Mahidra & Mahindra’s Xylo, grew 41% to 1.5 lakh vehicles, or close to 10% of the country’s passenger vehicle market, last financial year. Industry analysts point to increased incomes, higher aspiration levels, more young buyers and multi-purpose utility as factors boosting crossovers. Also, crossovers are priced lower, Rs 6-11 lakh, than SUVs coming at Rs 8-25 lakh and more. “There is a complete transformation with MUVs generating a huge demand off late with changes in urban demography and the emergence of rural markets,” says Anjali Jajoo, auto analyst at Mumbai-based Angel Broking. “Its growth is also helped by the buoyant economy as a high number of these vehicles are used for commercial operations.”

Automakers expect the demand to soar, driven by nucleus facilities looking at bigger crossover vehicles that can change into outstation wagons.

All three new vehicles — Maruti’s R3 concept, Tata Aria, built on the new Xover platform, and Skoda’s Roomster MUV, based on its Fabia hatchback platform — were showcased at the Delhi Auto Expo earlier this year.
Tata Aria, which will take off later this year, may have a ready market as both Toyota and M&M are struggling to meet the demand for Innova and Xylo. “We are facing huge customers discontent as waiting for the Innova go up to three months in many regions now,” says Toyota’s Sundeep Singh. The company plans to increase Innova production to meet rising demand, he adds. Mahindra Xylo, priced at the entry level, also enjoys a two-month waiting for delivery. Tata Aria will be bigger and roomier than both. It is 4.85-meter long and will have flexible seating that can comfortably accommodate seven adults and offer ample cargo area. Sources in the component industry say that Volkswagen also may enter the crossover segment in the country with a vehicle built on the Suzuki SX4 platform and that the unnamed vehicle could hit the market next year