Executive Summary

The purpose and scope of document is to study, analyze and understand the business and marketing practices of Asian Paints Limited. In order to achieve this objective, two stages were identified Data collection stage and the Analysis stage. The first stage includes the data collected from various sources regarding the following: 1. The Origin, History of the company, its growth, the board of Directors, Operation units in India and abroad 2. The three closest competitors in the paint industry Kansai Nerolac, Berger Paints, ICI, their origin and growth. 3. Financial statements of the Company. 4. Information about the 4 Ps of marketing Product, Price, Place and Promotion in the Bhatkal market. 5. A customer and dealer survey in Bhatkal to understand their decision making process. The analysis stage includes understanding the implications and relevance of the data collected and drawing conclusions about the companys business and marketing decisions. Asian Paints (AP) Limited is an out-an-out Indian firm in the paint industry that manufactures and markets a wide spectrum of decorative as well as industrial paints. Though it had a corporate position of a focused national paint company by catering to industrial and household customers in Indian market in the past, it has been systematically repositioning itself in the recent years to become a global player by entering into a number of other country markets. The Indian Paint industry is mainly divided into two segments decorative paints segment and industrial paints segment. Asian Paints is the market leader in the decorative paints segment with a market share of 44 % followed by Berger Paints (17 %), Kansai Nerolac (15 %) and ICI (12 %). However in the Industrial Paints, Kansai Nerolac is the leader followed by ICI, Berger Paints and Asian paints. Known for its innovative marketing and distribution strength, Asian Paints is one of the consistent performers in the Indian corporate scene. The company has a track record of profitability, transparency in operations and strong balance sheet. Factors that have been given emphasis here include the low per capita consumption of paints (1.0 kilogram),

growth in construction sector (it is being offered industry status) & growth in the auto/white goods market respectively spurring demand for decorative & industrial paints. The impact of recent issues & trends (like raw material costs, excise duty rationalizations, quality consciousness in user segments) on the industry dynamics can also be seen. The industry has also witnessed increased activity in the industrial variety of paints with the entry of Multi-National Companies in auto, consumer durables etc., which has been gaining steadily over decorative paints in the last one decade. With the industry to grow at a CAGR of 8-9 % for the next five years with growth level of 27.4 % for cars and 8.9 % for two wheelers we see a lot of opportunity in the automobile sector for the paint industry. Moreover housing industry is also likely to do well in the current year with the growth rate for the last year being 35 %. So the expected rate of growth for paint industry for the next five years is around 9-10 %. At present industry requires highest efficiency in physical distribution as companies not working on operational efficiency business models have been losing. On account of this, companies need to invest in sophisticated Supply-Chain Management tools. Companies need to work on improving internal efficiencies to retain profits which are under pressure on account of dropping prices. The customer (retailer for the company) is seen to be dictating terms so companies have no choice but to lure more customers through incentives. At the same time, companies also need to attract final consumers by offering value-added services. So we came up with the following recommendations: To take up trade promotions, to build up relations with the intermediaries, a need to improve current inventory levels to cut down costs, a need to promote sub brands so as to increase sub brand awareness among the customers, improve advertising strategies for targeting female customers who have assumed a greater role in decision-making and a need to expand in industrial segment by forming strategic partnerships to take advantage of the upcoming industrial growth at national and regional levels. At present, Asian Paints is one of the ten largest decorative paint companies in the world, and is largest exporter exporting directly to 20 countries. Recently, it changed its name to Asian Paints Limited as a part of its global strategy.