PAINT INDUSTRY IN INDIA

Foundation of paint industry in India was laid

down in the year 1902 with the setting up of Shalimar Paints in
Calcutta. It was during and after the World War II. That large
number of paint manufacturing units was set up in India. Since
then the Indian paint industry has made substantial progress.
The paint industry has come to the
recognition as an important sector in the national economy in
producing industrial coatings and decorative paints. Decorative
paints available in wide range of combination account for 70%
of the coatings total production. While industrial paints share
the balance of 30%. This rate is diametrically opposite to the
trend in the industrialized countries where industrial paints
account for 70% and decorative paints for the balance of 30%.
The Indian paint industry is at the crossroads.
Almost all major paint companies have expanded or are
expanding its capacity substantially. With demand rising slowly
competition is becoming increasingly intense.
The decreasing growth rate has made the
paint companies to woo customers aggressively. The customer
is being offered 10% rebate in most products, Unheard in the
industry so far. Most companies have increased their discounts
to their dealers to unimaginable level dealers are offered higher
credit levels, flexibility in payment, foreign trips for selling even
low value products. The increasing competition to offer
solutions through technology has made all the paints make as
offer a large number of shades through computerized color
dispensing system.
India is the fastest growing paint market in
Asia Pacific region. The estimated size of Indian paint industry
is around 3.5 Billion. The demand in the paint industry is
seasonal to some extent. While the demand dips in the
monsoon season and it is maximum in the festive season.

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CUSTOMER AWARENESS
Customers are informed and remaindered
about the products and are requested and persuaded to
purchase their products. Such communication may be made
their along the product or well in advance of the introduction of
the product into the market. Such communication becomes
necessary when a new product or service is introduced in the
market or an old product is improved or it is simply to increase
the sales of the products.
Awareness compasses all the tools in
the marketing mix whose major role is persuasive
communications.
PHILLIP KOTLER
The main features of awareness are:
I.

Customers are informed about the product or service of the

company. Either at the time of introduction of a new product
into the market or when any change is made in the existing
product.

II.

Customers are reminded of the products and services of the

company.

III.

Customers are requested or persuaded to purchase the

product and services of the company.

IV.

Awareness includes, advertising, personal selling and other

sales promotional techniques.

Consumers must have awareness about the

new products and their usage. Such activities are performed by
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the manufacturer. It is the responsibility of the producer to get

information about the consumers and prospective consumers
so that the necessary product may be served to meet their
demands.
Subject matter companies must do more
than make good products they must inform consumers about
the product benefits and carefully position products in
customers mind. To do this must skillfully use the mass
promotion tools like advertising, sales promotion and public
relations, personal selling, publicity.
ADVERTISING:
Advertising is defined as any paid form of
non personal presentation and promotion of an idea, goods or
services by an identified sponsor.
The best advertising is done by
satisfied customers.
PHILLIP KOTLER
Advertising can be traced back to the
beginning of the recorded history. Archeologists working in the
countries around Mediterrian Sea have dug up signs
announcing various events and offers. The roman painted walls
to announce Gladiator fights, and the Phoenician painted
pictures promoting their waves and large locks along parade
routes.
In 1993 advertisers ran up of bill of more
than $ 138 billion through advertising is used mostly by
business firms it is also by a wide range of nonprofit
organization professionals social agencies that advertiser target
to various target publics.
Major Decision in Advertising:
Advertising has the impersonal contact and
gives message to the receiver. The advertiser uses visual media
like newspapers, magazines, radio, television, posters and
pamphlets. There is no feedback to know the response from the
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people. Advertising is directed towards consumers. This leads

to more expenses and so the things become a costly affair.
1. Advertising Objectives
a) To inform
b) To persuade
c) To remind
2. Setting the advertising budget
After determining the advertising the
objectives, the company next sets its adverting Budget for each
product. The role of advertising is to effect demand for the
product. However some specific factors are that should be
considered when the setting the advertising budget.
a) Stage in product life cycle.
b) Market share
c) Competition
d) Advertising frequency
e) Product differentiation.
3. Message Decision
A large advertiser can spent the same
amount on advertising, yet have very different results studies
show that creative advertising message can be more important
to advertising success than the number of dollars spent.
4. Message Strategy
The purpose of advertising is to get
consumers to think about or react to the product company in
certain way. People will react only if they believe that they will
benefit from doing Effective message consist of customers
benefit, creativity, Meanings, distinctive in nature.
5. Major steps in media selection.
a) Deciding on reach, frequency, impact Reach is a measure of
the percentage of the people in the target market who are
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exposed to the ad campaign during a given period of time.

Frequency is a measure of how many times the average
person in the target market exposed to the message. Impact
qualitative value of a message exposure through a given
medium.
b) Choosing various media types:

Newspapers Magazines
Televisions Radios
Outdoors Internet
c) Media timing
SALES PROMOTION
It includes activities other than advertising,
personal selling, publicity and public relations which are used in
promoting sales of the product or in persuading the customer
to purchase the product. Distribution of samples, premium
coupon, point of purchase display, offspring etc., are the
examples of sales promotion techniques.
Samples - Offers to consumers of a trail amount of a product.
Coupons - Certificate that give buyer a saving when they
purchase a specified product.
Rebates (cash refund offers) It offers to refund part of the
purchase price of the product to consumers who send a proof
of purchase to the manufacture.
Principles - It reduce prices that are marked by the producer
directly on the label or package.
Premiums Goods offered either free or low cost and
incentive to buy a product.
Advertising specialties useful articles imprinted with an
advertisers name given as gift to consumers.

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Patronage reward Cash or other rewards for the regular use

of a certain companys products or services.
Point of purchase (POP) It displays and demonstration that
takes place at the point of purchase of sale.
Discount Straight discount on price on purchase during a
period of time.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
An another major promotion tool ism public
relations building good relations with the companies various
publics by obtaining favorable publicity, building up a good
Corporate image and handling off unfavorable rumors, stores
and events. The old name for marketing public relations was
publicity, which was seen simply as activities to promote a
company or its products by planting news about it in media not
paid for by the sponsor. Public relations are much broader
concept that includes publicity ass well as many other
activities. Public relations department may perform following
functions.
a) Press relations Creating and placing news worthy
information in the
media to attack attention to a person, product or service.
b) Produce publicity Publicizing specific products.
c) Public affairs Building and maintaining national or local
community relations.
d) Lobbying Building and maintaining national or local
community relations.
e) Investors relations Maintaining relationship
shareholders and others in the financial community.

with

f) Development Public relations with donors or members of

non profit organization to gain financial or volunteer support.

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PERSONAL SELLING
Selling is one of the oldest professions in the
world. The people who do selling go by many names. Sales
people, sales representatives, Account executives, Sales
consultants, Sales engineers, Agent District managers, and
Marketing representatives to name just few Sales person, an
individual acting for a company by performing one of more
following activities like Prospecting, communicating, Servicing
and information gathering.
PUBLICITY
Publicity is a non-personal not paid stimulation
of demand of the products or services or business units by
planting commercially significant news or editorial comment in
the print media or by obtaining a favorable presentation of it
upon radio, television or stage.

COMPANY PROFILE
Akzonobel is the worlds largest paint
manufacturer, but it does more than just paint a pretty picture.
The company is also among the worlds largest chemical
manufacturers and salt procedures. Akzonobel divides its
business into three main lines i.e. Decorative Paints, which
produces consumer and commercial paints and primarily serves
Europe and North America; performance coatings, which
manufactures marine and protective coatings, packaging
coatings, automotive finishes, and Industrial coatings; specialty
Chemicals, which makes pulp and Paper Chemicals, Functional
Chemicals, Industrial Chemicals and Specialty Starches.
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Akzonobel India introduces itself in a variety of ways i.e.

A coatings and chemicals powerhouse

Always innovative, Always ahead
A company dedicated to its people
Where values co-exist with the bottom line

Actually, Akzonobel India is all of the above

and far more. It manufactures and markets a wide range of
coatings and specialty chemicals. Around 1,780 people work in
the six production facilities, two state-of-the-art research
laboratories and 75 warehouses across India; its retailers are an
impressive 8500 and growing. It attracts some of the best
talent in the country, with the ANI workforce comprising people
who are dedicated, highly motivated and determined to
succeed.
A key enabler of our growth strategy is the
merger of three Indian subsidiaries of Akzonobel N.V. with
Akzonobel India. The assets and operations of Akzonobel
Coatings India, Akzonobel Car Refinishes India and Akzonobel
Chemicals (India) are now part of the company. Hence
Akzonobel India has the platform and the portfolio to leverage
the power of One AkzoNobel and realize its vision for the
future.
So where does the company see itself, in the
future? The targets have been defined projected revenues of
1 billion Euros. And in this passage to accelerated growth, the
company sees itself upholding all relevant standards of
corporate governance, ethics, sustainability and other pressing
issues that dominate world space today.
The steps have been taken- a-state-of-the-art
green plant that was set up in 2013. Plans for expanded
capacity and more products across business units combine to
highlight the fact that ANI is committed to innovate, create and
complete.
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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:
To find out which factors has got influence on customer
awareness in Paints industry.
To know the awareness level of Dulux Paints in customers.
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SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:
To identify the customers requirements.
To analyze the customers perception

regarding

the

preference of Dulux Paints product.

NEED OF THE STUDY

The main objective of the study is to know the
Customer Awareness with respect to Dulux Paints.
The need for this can be explained if one knows
the importance of understanding the customer awareness. So

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in the following paragraph the customer awareness and its role

in the success of an organization have been explained.
Customer awareness is taken up to boost the
sales of a product by the company. Companies having
production capabilities may produce a product and price is
according and sell through the dealers and retailers by its
distribution network.
Considering the fact that consumer according to
the time need, want and purchasing power, it depends on the
product; therefore, the marketers rely on the marketing mix to
cater the customers efficiently and effectively.
So the companies producing the product, pricing
and planning them have to carefully look into the minds of the
customers and place the products favorably in the minds of the
consumers.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In order to realize the study the objectives a
considerably volume of both primary and secondary data is

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needed. It has been therefore found necessary to conduct an

Interview schedule for gathering relevant data from the users.
Primary data has been collected from the
industrial buyer during the internship period with the help of a
structured

Questionnaire

with

stratified

sample

of

200

respondents have been taken for carrying out the study.

Secondary data, the information regarding
the Indian paint industry has been drawn from various
published sources. They include professional business Journals
and Magazines, besides the newspapers. The data relating to
Dulux Paints has been collected from company records.
This study is necessarily based on the limited
knowledge and little practical exposure the constraints of
resources and time have further imposed limits to the study
boundaries.

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

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Q1. Have you been involved in the purchase of paint?

Yes ..168
No 32

NO. OF RESPONDENTS

16%
YES
84%

NO

INTERPRETATION
In this pie chart we show how many customers are involved in
the purchase of paint. We found that 84% customers are
involved in the purchase of paint and 16% customers were not
involved. These 16% customers are living in a rented house
thats why they are not involved in the purchase of paint.

Q2. When is the last time that you had your house painted?
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Less than 6 months ago 00

6 months 2 Years ago .36
2 Years 4 Years ago ..48
4 Years 6 Years ago ..66
More than 6 years ago 50

NO. OF RESPONDENTS

LESS THAN 6 MONTHS

25%

18%

6 MONTHS - 2 YEARS
2 YEARS - 4 YEARS

33%

24%

4 YEARS - 6 YEARS
MORE THAN 6 YEARS

INTERPRETATION
When we ask this question, 18% customers said that they had
painted their house 6 months to 2 years ago. 24% customers
said 2 years to 4 years ago. 25% of customers said they had
painted their house 4 years to 6 years ago and 33% customers
said more than 6 years ago.

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Q3. Which brand of paint did you use?

Berger .28
Asian 67
Dulux ...65
Nerolac ...22
Other 18

NO. OF RESPONDENTS
11%

9%

BERGER
14%

33%

ASIAN
DULUX
NEROLAC
OTHER

34%

INTERPRETATION
In this pie chart we show the different brands of paints used by
the customers. 14% customers said they always used Berger
paints. 33% customers go with the Asian paints. 33% of
customers said they always used Dulux paints. 11% customers
said Nerolac and 9% said other brands like Shalimar, Kamdhenu
etc.

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Q4. What is your approximate budget towards painting?

Below 50,000 ..146
50,000 75,000 .28
75,000 1,00,000 .20
Above 1,00,000 ..06

NO. OF RESPONDENTS

BELOW 50,000

10% 3%

50,000 - 75,000

14%

75,000 - 1,00,000
73%

ABOVE 1,00,000

INTERPRETATION
As per the pie chart mostly customers said that there
approximate budget for the painting is below Rs. 50,000. 14%
of customers said their budget is between Rs. 50,000 to
75,000. 10% customers said in between Rs. 75,000 to 1,00,000
And only 3% said above Rs. 1,00,000 because they have a new
construction or a bigger house to paint.

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Q5. How important do you consider the following factors while

selecting a particular brand of paints?
Important

Most Important
Unimportant

Brand Reliability
49
Price
32
Own Experience
18

92

Very Important

45

14
134

34

00
86

96

00

Advice of Friends
78
41

35

46

Advice of Painters
12
07

147

34

Advice of Retailer
23
77

57

43

160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
NO. OF RESPONDENTS
0
MOST IMPORTANT
VERY IMPORTANT

IMPORTANT

UNIMPORTANT

FACTORS INFLUENCING SELECTION OF PAINTS

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INTERPRETATION
As per the bar chart most of customers said they consider some
factors like Brand Reliability, Price, Own Experience, Advice of
Friends, Painters and Retailer etc. The number and the
percentage are shown in the bar chart.

Q6. How would you rate the following paint manufacturers in

terms of quality and reliability?
Very Good
Poor
Berger
59

Good

Very Poor
37

93

156

39

Dulux
00

134

66

00

Nerolac
26

28

102

44

Asian
05

11
00

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160
140
120
100
80
NO. OF RESPONDENTS

VERY GOOD

60

GOOD

40

POOR

20

VERY POOR

PAINT COMPANIES

INTERPRETATION
In above Bar chart, customers rate the different paint
manufacturers companies. With the help of this we are able to
know what customers actually think about the quality and
reliability of different paint companies. The percentage is given
in the bar chart.

Q7. What is the expected life for interior paints by you?

6
1
2
5

Months 00
Year ...04
Years .24
years 172

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NO. OF RESPONDENTS

86%

6 MONTHS
1 YEAR
2 YEARS

12%

2%

5 YEARS

INTERPRETATION
In this pie chart we show about customers expected life of
interior paints. The minimum expected life of interior paints is 1
year which is chosen by only 2% customers. 12% customers
expected minimum 2 years and 86% customers said that they
expected minimum 5 years.

Q8. What is the expected life for exterior paints by you?

6
1
2
5

Months 00
Year ...09
Years .33
years 158

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NO. OF RESPONDENTS

17%

79%

5%

6
1
2
5

MONTHS
YEAR
YEARS
YEARS

INTERPRETATION
In this pie chart we show about customers expected life of
exterior paints. The minimum expected life of interior paints is
1 year which is chosen by only 4% customers. 17% customers
expected minimum 2 years and 79% customers said that they
expected minimum 5 years.

Q9. Are you aware about Dulux paints products?

Yes .187
No 13

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NO. OF RESPONDENTS

7%
YES
94%

NO

INTERPRETATION
When we ask from the customers regarding awareness
of all Dulux products, 93% of customers said yes and
7% customers said no.

Q10. Are you aware about the Colour Palette concept of the
Dulux Paints?
Yes .158
No .42
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NO. OF RESPONDENTS

79%
YES
NO

21%

INTERPRETATION

When we ask from the customers regarding the colour

palette concept of Dulux paints, 79% of customers said
yes and 21% customers said no.

Q11. Which kind of guidance you are expected from the

company?

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Provide details on recent development and products

.19
Educate on product features
53
Appraise on product suitability
..35
Knowledge of sales discounts
..42
Budgeting while painting
51

NO. OF RESPONDENTS
PROVIDE DETAILS OF
DEVELOPMENT
26%

EDUCATE ON PRODUCT
FEATURES

10%
27%

21%
18%

APPRAISE ON
PRODUCT SUITABILITY
KNOWLEDGE OF SALES
DISCOUNT
BUDGETING WHILE
PAINTING

INTERPRETATION
When we ask from customers what kind of guidance they
required from the company. 9% customers said they required
details of recent development in the product. 26% customers
expected to educate on product features. 18% customers
required appraise on product suitability. 21% customers wanted

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to know sales discount and 26% customers also required help

in budgeting while painting.

SWOT Analysis of Akzonobel (Dulux)

SWOT analysis is a method of analyzing a brands
competitiveness

is

through

the

assessment

of

internal

strengths (S) and weaknesses (W), as well as environmental

opportunities (O) and threats (T). This analysis will explain
about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of
Akzonobel (Dulux).

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STRENGTHS

Brand Name.
More than 80 years of experience in the paint industry.
Multinational Company.
World renowned chemicals and paints manufacturer.
Having production setup in more than 55 countries.
Wider range of products.
Wider dealer network as compared to its competitors.
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 Business volume is very high as compared to competitors.

Focuses on safety, security, health and environment as a
corporate social responsibility.
Technological advantage.

WEAKNESSES
Very low discounts for business partners.
Complex supply chain configuration.
Comparatively less convenient delivery of the products as
business partners are in 1000s.
Meeting demand becomes a challenge in the demand
season.

OPPORTUNITIES
India is a developing country and there is a lot of business
growth in this country. So seeking new markets in this area is
great opportunity.
Finding problems to the painting problems can also help to
grow. Such products are still absent in the market which can
gain the attention of customers. So to work on those
problems lead to a great opportunity.
Higher standard of living and awareness developing in India.

THREATS

Threat of new entrants in the market.

Fake Paints.
Political instability in India.
Economic instability.

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LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The respondents of the questionnaire are very busy and
could not afford more time to answer. The average time to
response was 5-6 minutes only.
A limited sample size of 200 customers was considered
because of time constraint. An assumption is made that the
sample represents the whole population. It will not carry the

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total reflection of the copier market. Total sample size is

comparatively less to represent the entire population.
A time period of only 8 weeks was allowed for the completion
of this product. So considering all the consumers for the
study was not possible.
The data was of primary nature. So the degree biases were
relatively high as the sample was randomly selected.
Study restricted to geographical territory of Parwanoo and
Mandi cities only.

CONCLUSION
Paint industry has shown a rapid growth in the
last year 2013-14 and since then there has been a decreasing
growth in the industry. Dulux Paints one of the largest paint
companies in India, which has shown a tremendous since its
establishment, liberalization. This is an achievement, achieved
by careful planning a following firm procedures set by the
company management.
Each Dulux Paint production centre has a
distinguished packing so that by looking at the drum or cartons
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the plant identification become easy to the godown in-charge.

The company has a excellent distribution network which is the
prime reason for its success followed by marketing plans.
The company has a full fledge research of
development function, whose aim is develop and present new
products every year. The price and selection of target is also
done to protection. Dulux Paints has developed many brands
and which have well penetrated in the minds of customers. For
example: Velvet Touch, Super Clean, Super Smooth,
Weathershield and Weathershield Max etc.
Dulux Paints (Akzonobel) was the first to enter
with manual and computerized color dispensing concept which
took off with the advent of computers, Dulux is not lacking
behind in this they have developed Colour Palette for the
consumers with over 2000 shades to be selected from.
The study of my topic is Customer Awareness
with reference to AkzoNobel India Limited (Dulux Paints).
Advertising, Sales Promotion, Personal Selling, Public Relations
and Publicity are the customers awareness programs to be
conducted by the company.

Q1. Have you been involved in the purchase of paint?

Yes
No
Q2. When is the last time that you had your house painted?
Less than 6 months ago
6 months 2 Years ago
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2 Years 4 Years ago

4 Years 6 Years ago
More than 6 years ago
Q3. Which brand of paint did you use?
Berger
Asian
Dulux
Nerolac
Other (Specify) ___________
Q4. What is your approximate budget towards painting?
Below 50,000
50,000 75,000
75,000 1,00,000
Above 1,00,000
Q5. How important do you consider the following factors while
selecting a particular brand of paints?
Most Important
Important

Very Important

Unimportant

Brand Reliability
Price
Own Experience
Advice of Friends
Advice of Painters
Advice of Retailer

Q6. How would you rate the following paint manufacturers in

terms of quality and reliability?

Poor

Very Good
Very Poor

Good

Berger
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Asian
Dulux
Nerolac
Other

Q7. What is the expected life for interior paints by you?

6
1
2
5

Months
Year
Years
years

Q8. What is the expected life for exterior paints by you?

6
1
2
5

Months
Year
Years
years

Q9. Are you aware about Dulux paints products?

Yes
No
Q10. Are you aware about the Colour Palette concept of the
Dulux Paints?
Yes
No

Q11. Which kind of guidance you are expected from the

company?
Provide details on recent development and products
Educate on product features
Appraise on product suitability
Knowledge of sales discounts
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Budgeting while painting

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.BOOKS
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 Essentials of Management Concepts

-

KOONTZ O
DONNELL

Marketing Management
-

PHILIP
KOTLER

Research Methodology
-

C.R.
KOTHARI

2.WEBSITES
www.akzonobel.in
www.managementparadise.com

3.REFERENCE
Akzonobel Outlet in Parwanoo.

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