NIRMAL NEER WATER PURIFIER

CURRENT TRENDS IN MANAGEMENT SUBMITTED TO: PROFESSOR NEHA

SUBMITTED BY: AAKASH MANSUKAHNI (3062) RIMSHA (3104) TY-B DATE: 28th JANUARY, 2014

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to express my very great appreciation to Prof. Neha, our faculty for Current Trends in Management for giving us an opportunity to do this project. We thank her invaluable guidance and assistance without which this project would have not taken proper shape.

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INDEX

1. 2. 3.

INTRODUCTION HYPOTHETICAL PRODUCT: NIRMAL NEER INTRODUCTION OF TARGET AREA: NANDED DISTRICT, MAHARASHTRA DEMOGRAPHICS OF NANDED PRICING STRATEGY DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY PROMOTION STARTEGY FOR THE TARGET MARKET

4 5 7

4. 5. 6. 7.

8 9 10 11

8.

PROMOTION STARTEGY FOR TIER 1 AND TIER 2

12

9.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

13

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INTRODUCTION: PROBLEM OF WATER SHORTAGE IN INDIA

Water touches each aspect of human life and in India the availability of this basic resource may be reaching dangerous levels. The World Health Organization estimates that 97 million Indians lack access to safe water today, second only to China. As a result, the World Bank estimates that 21% of communicable diseases in India are related to unsafe water. Without change, the problem may get worse as India is projected to grow significantly in the coming decades and overtake China by 2028 to become the worlds most populous country. Water scarcity is fast becoming India's biggest woe, with statistics revealing that residents in 22 out of 32 major cities have to deal with daily shortages of water.

As a country that receives adequate rain, water shortage in India is primarily attributed to the following human factors:

India's population has risen since independence. The absence of family planning and lack of education have contributed to this. This in turn has increased the demand for water, but no government has so far been able to resolve the difference of water distribution - more than 50% of the country's population lack access to safe drinking water. Corruption and lack of planning and coordination are also blamed as factors of water scarcity in India. Many projects to supply safe drinking water are often stuck in red tape. More than 80% of water needs of the country are met by exploiting the ground water resources of India. This has aggravated the depletion of water table, and led to an unprecedented water shortage. More than 75% of the water resource are wasted or washed off due lack of storage planning

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HYPOTHETICAL PRODUCT: EUREKA FORBES NIRMAL NEER

Eureka Forbes is a consumer durable company which was formed from a joint venture between the Shapoorji Pallonji Groups Forbes & Company Ltd. based in Mumbai, and Electrolux of Sweden in 1982. Eureka Forbes started as a small firm to introduce domestic water purifier the Aquaguard and is now a multi-product, multi-channel organization. Eureka Forbe's sells direct in India. As Eureka Forbes has a huge urban market standing, we decided to expand its business in the rural market by coming up with an affordable water purification system for the base of the pyramid consumers. The company has a good brand name and market reputation. It actively participates in developing the rural market through its CSR activities and does a lot of welfare programmes for the benefit of rural India. It has also tried to make water accessible in many villages through its welfare activities. Our product will be called Nirmal Neer which means clean water. It will be a household water purifier and will require no electricity or running water to operate. Using innovative nanotechnology and natural ingredients, it will deliver safe drinking water at a benchmark price of Rs1 per day for a family of five. The replaceable cartridge, Nirmal Neer bulb, has a useful life of 3,000 litres and comes with unique features like the Nirmal Neer fuse and Nirmal Neer lock. The fuse has an auto-shutoff mechanism that measures the amount of water that passes through the bulb. The mechanism also has the ability to stop water flow once the purification capacity of the bulb has been exhausted. The Nirmal Neer lock ensures that only an authentic Nirmal Neer bulb, available for Rs299, can fit into it. Given the rural Indias potential and cut throat competition in the purifier market, the affordable Nirmal Neer manufactured using nanotechnology is sure to create a buzz. Studies have shown that, 75% of the rural population doesnt have access to pure drinking water leading to high incidence of waterborne diseases.

Nirmal Neers unique features are: Does not require electricity or running water, thus making it feasible for use in both urban and rural areas. Contains no harmful chemicals such as chlorine, iodine or bromine. Makes use of advanced technology that destroys harmful bacteria and viruses in water and makes it safe to drink. Includes a unique Fuse system that prompts the user well in advance that it is time to replace the bulb. Each bulb purifies 3,000 litres of safe drinking water.
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Value Added features of Nirmal Neer:

Free servicing for the first year Zero percent interest and easy monthly instalment schemes One year manufacturing warranty Toll-free helpline 6 days a week

Health concerns The Nirmal Neer purifier has been designed to tackle one of India's biggest social and technological challenges the need for safe drinking water. In India, water-borne diseases cause more than 1.5 times the deaths caused by AIDS and double the deaths caused by road accidents. With much of India's population lacking access to safe drinking water or the resources to source it, the delivery of safe, convenient and affordable water has been a critical challenge that Nirmal Neer aims to fill.

Affordable and safe The vision of Nirmal Neer will be to reduce the incidence of water-borne diseases by making safe drinking water affordable to millions. Nirmal Neer is designed for convenience and affordability. It uses a material called paddy-husk ash as the substrate. Paddy-husk ash is made from widely available natural waste, and forms the base over which nano-silver particles are impregnated. Apart from being mesoporous, paddy-husk ash also helps remove colour and odour from impure water.

Appearance The design and aesthetics aere considered to be important aspects of the product. Acknowledging the lack of in-house expertise, the products overall appearance will help it to gain quick acceptance by consumers. To facilitate distribution and delivery, the Nirmal Neer will also be designed to be more stackable, hence reducing logistic costs.

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INTRODUCTION OF TARGET AREA NANDED DISTRICT, MAHARASHTRA

As Maharashtra is one of the worst hit areas which face water scarcity, we will target the Nanded district which is located in Maharashtra state in central India. The city of Nanded is the district headquarters. The district has an area of 10,502 km while according to 2001 census its population is 2,868,158of which 18.29% were urban. The Godavari River flows through the district.

Although the district has water bodies around it, access to potable water is a major issue. Nanded District lies in the eastern portion of Marathwada region, which corresponds to Aurangabad Division of Maharashtra. The influence of Andhra, Karnataka and Vidarbha can be seen on the language, behaviour and general conduct of the people of Nanded.

Nanded is the second largest city Marathawada after Aurangabad. Nanded district borders Latur district and Parbhani district to the west and Yavatmal district to the north. Nanded district is one of the largest in the state, consisting of sixteen talukas. Nanded City is divided in two parts: Old Nanded (20.62 km2) on the north bank of Godavari River, and New Nanded (31.14 km2), comprising Waghala and six other newly merged villages which are situated on south of the Godavari river.

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DEMOGRAPHICS OF NANDED

Geographical Area Total Population Male Population Female Population Urban to Total Population Normal Rainfall Taluka Per Capita Income Literacy Male Literacy Female Literacy

10,502 km 2,868,158 14.76 Lakhs 13.91 Lakhs 18.29% 901 mm 16 Rs.3,723 48.52% 61.14% 41.12%

Reasons for choosing Nanded as target market

The district has approximately 80 percent of rural population, most of which comprises the BOP segment. The district faces water scarcity even after the availability of water bodies in and around the district as the water is hard and not fit for human consumption. The districts demographics, such as population and Per capita income make it an ideal region for marketing Nirmal Neer. The district is easily accessible through various modes of transportation which will help in Nirmal Neers distribution and promotion mix.

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PRICING STRATEGY As the Per Capita income of residents of Nanded is just Rs.3723, Nirmal Neer will be priced at Rs.799 with a holding capacity of 18 litres. The cost of the product is low due to the innovative bulb-technology and latest nano-technology used. This will give a better edge over the competitors as the price will be low. Differential pricing strategy will help the company to gather larger funds from tier 1 and tier 2. Pricing for Tier 1 and Tier 2 will be Rs.1199 with a holding capacity of 18 litres. The product will be glossier, with texture over it and have minor changes in appearance to differentiate it from its generic version sold in the BOP market. EMI schemes with zero percent interest will be available for all the markets. Currently, Tata Swach priced at Rs.999 is the cheapest water purifying system available in the market. The price of Nirmal Neer will give a competitive advantage over it.

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DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY

The product will be manufactured in Aurangabad which is roughly three hours away from Nanded. The warehouse will be located in Vasarani, Maharashtra which is 6 kms away from Nanded. Vasarani is very well connected to Aurangabad through road and rail. The transportation will take place through Trucks. Keeping the dimension of an 18 litre unit in mind, roughly 90 units can be transported in one truck at a time. The product will be distributed through unorganized retail stores across Nanded to target the BOP market and organized retail stores like Star Bazaar, Big Bazaar, etc to target Tier 1 and Tier 2. An arrangement will be set up with the distributor for handeling the installations. They would tag the tanks and return and pick up from the Nirmal Neer plant. Being able to offer this service increases the image of the local water service company. The product will be available online to target Tier 1 and Tier 2 markets.

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PROMOTION STARTEGY FOR THE TARGET MARKET Since the product is mainly focused at rural consumers, the marketing will have a stronger focus on market activations and PR. The strategy is that, since water purification is a latent need as opposed to a felt need product, hence, there is a need for strong advocacy to people on the usage for these products to expand the market. Personal selling is one of the most important variance for water purifier industry. Most of the organization is using it to increase the sales and aware the consumer about the product. In this process, a salesman from company directly will come to meet consumers where he will educate consumers, aware them about the advantage of the products and persuade them to buy the products. Eureka Forbes is considered as Pioneer of personal or direct selling. It has more than12000 salesmen for personal and direct selling. One of the important activities will be to make inroads to the households by Society/School contact Programme. The idea is to create awareness about water borne diseases among the children. So, under this programme Neer Nirmal will have its volunteers going to and conducting contests and essay writing competitions (on topics related to water borne diseases). Apart from such programmes, the company will be reaching its target consumers through participation in rural melas, haats, outdoors, activation vans and through road shows. The main type of retailers available in Nanded is small conventional stores and these stores make shopping easier for villagers due to the large availability. As a start up plan, a model Neer Nirmal water purifier will be displayed in retail shops for raising awareness and for firsthand experience of the product. We will try to convince big celebrities to endorse the brand as they have a mass reach. Considering the social aspect and cause behind the product, the celebrities maybe willing to endorse the product for a lesser price. Another important strategy to reach more consumers will be its distribution network. Apart from the traditional direct sales to retailers, the company will focus on the indirect channel to reach consumers. For this, it will tie up with NGOs to carry out awareness drives about water borne diseases.

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PROMOTION STARTEGY FOR TIER 1 AND TIER 2

Nirmal Neer will target urban lower class, middle class and elites. For this it will make use of the major channels such as print ads and hoardings. Nirmal Neer will also be active on the social media space, especially through Facebook and Twitter to spread awareness about water borne diseases and about the brand. Brand ambassadors, as discussed earlier, can have a major impact on the buying decision of tier 1 and Tier 2 people. Promotional offers, setting up kiosks in malls, Student discounts, Personal selling, EMIs, Contests, etc will help in expanding market share in these tiers. Health-melas and medical camps in private schools and private hospitals can help in targeting the required tiers. They can increase the distributor margin which in turn will invoke the distributors as well as dealers to promote Nirmal Neer as compared to the competitors. Nirmal Neer can also collaborate with NGOs to promote their product.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/8517/8/08_chapter%202.pdf www.tataswach.com/ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_purification www.pureitwater.com/ http://www.bplans.com/water_purification_business_plan/strategy_and_implementati on_summary_fc.php#.UubqLdK6Zdg http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/lowcostwater-filter-for-rural-poor-1836164.html

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