ABSTRACT

Brand awareness, as one of the fundamental dimensions of brand equity, is often

considered to be a prerequisite of consumers buying decision, as it represents the main factor for
including a brand in the consideration set. Brand awareness can also influence consumers
perceived risk assessment and their confidence in the purchase decision, due to familiarity with
the brand and its characteristics.

This paper tries to reveal, on one hand, the importance of unaided brand awareness when
it comes to consumers buying decision and, on the other hand, the importance of aided brand
awareness when assessing the perceived risk associated with the purchase.
The project market research is conducted primarily to enhance the company with information
about the level of Brand Awareness for the product of Fort Wardrobe from the customers.

The objective of the study is to create awareness of the product among the general public.
To study the usage and the factor that influences the people to buy Fort Wardrobe

Questionnaires were circulated among the consumers to have an honest feedback to know
areas of improvement which was the primary data and secondary data was collected through
various other sources like reviews, books, journals, magazines and websites.

The population of the study was 219 and the researcher used Systematic Simple Random
Sampling technique and sample size of the study was taken as 130. Various statistical tools Chi-
Square, Percentage Analysis, Correlation and Anova test have been used to analyze the data
collected.
 INTRODUCTION

Brand awareness is a marketing concept that enables marketers to quantify levels and
trends in consumer knowledge and awareness of a brand's existence. At the aggregate (brand)
level, it refers to the proportion of consumers who know of the brand.

With the opening of the market or the post liberalization period has resulted in many
companies entering the markets with offerings of their goods and services. In the earlier stages of
economic revolution consumer had to accept what the manufacturer has produced. But todays
consumers are much more educated, demanding; expect lot more to suit their ever changing life
styles.

There by their quality expectations have been elevated from time to time in order to
rebuild it-self around its customer.The manufacturer should be able to satisfy, with the type of
product and services to match the ever-changing customer requirements. In developing a
marketing strategy for products, the sellers have to confront the branding decision. Brand is a
major issue in product. Customers have strong preference for particular versions and brands of
basic goods and services.

The manufactures eventually learn that market power lies with the brand name
companies. Consumers buying decisions are influenced by the brand. In this competitive world,
the Brand plays an important role and a brand is very prominent asset owned by an organization.
Brand is endowed with awareness, perceived quality, associations and brand loyalty. Brand is
presented as creative idea. A brand is a promise of the seller to deliver a specific set of benefits or
attributes or services to the buyer. Brand represents a level of quality.

Meaning:

A Brand is symbol, a mark, a name that acts as a means of communications which brings
about an identity of a given product.
 A Brand in short is an identifier of the seller or the maker. A brand name consists
of words, letter or numbers that can be vocalized. Brand mark is the visual representation
of the brand like a symbol, design, distinctive coloring or lettering. Brand creates a
bond between the customer and a product.

Definition:

According to American Marketing Association(AMA) A Brand is defined as a name, item,

sign, symbol or special design or some combination of these elements that is intended to identify
the goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers. A brand differentiates these products
from those of competitors.
In the word of Philip Kothler
A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol or design or combination of them. Intended to
identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from
those of competitors.
Role of Branding
In todays world brand names come to create identify to distinguish one product from another.
The following points to pin down its precise role:-

Brand is a massive asset: Brand is an intangible asset, because it is impossible to

duplicate brand name.

Brand is promotional tool:The product differentiation is done by a brand through

sales promotion
ADVERTISEMENT

The American Marketing Association, Chicago, has defined advertising as "any form of non-
personal presentation or promotion of ideas, goods or services, by an dentified sponsor."

From the above definitions:

Advertisement is a MESSAGE to large groups.

It is in the form of NON_PERSONAL COMMUNICATION.

It persuade the GENERAL PUBLICS to purchase the goods or services,

advertised.

It is PAID FOR by advertiser to publisher.

Advertising messages are IDENTIFIED with the advertiser.

Advertising includes the following forms of messages:

The messages carried in-

Newspapers and magazines;

On radio and television broadcasts;

Circular of all kinds, (whether distributed by mail, by person, thorough tradesmen, or by

inserts in packages);

Dealer help materials,

Window display and counter display materials and efforts;

Store signs, motion pictures used for advertising,

 Novelties bearing advertising messages and Signature of the advertiser.

Advertising is the dissemination of information by non-personal means through paid media

where the source is the sponsoring organization. The messages carried in-medias. Advertising
objectives serve as guidelines for the planning and implementation of the entire advertising
programme. It helps the consumer to save their time in purchases.

Advertising Objectives

Each advertisement is a specific communication that must be effective, not just for one
customer, but for many target buyers. This means that specific objectives should be set for each
particular advertisement campaign. Advertising is a form of promotion and like a promotion; the
objectives of advertising should be specific. This requires that the target consumers should be
specifically identified and that the effect which advertising is intended to have upon the
consumer should be clearly indicated. The objectives of advertising were traditionally stated in
terms of direct sales

Advantages of advertising

Advertising is considered multi dimensional.

It helps number of marketing activities.

It is a technique of sales promotion.

Sales volume is increased by advertising.

It helps and supports the salesman in selling the products.

Consumer knowledge about the product is increase by advertising.

It helps the consumer to save their time in purchases.

 It helps the manufacturer sell their products.

It helps quick selling is possible which leads to more production at less cast.

The relation between wholesalers and retailers is improved through advertising.

Advertising introduces new products, stimulates markets regarding the

existing Product and repeated sales

Benefits to Manufacturers:

It increases sales volume. On the one hand, it reduces the cost of production and,on the
other increases profits.

1. It helps easy introduction of products into the markets.

2. It helps to create an image and reputation not only of the product but also of the
advertiser.

3. Retail price maintance is possible.

4. It helps to establish a direct contact between manufacturers and consumers.

Benefits to Wholesalers and Retailers :

1. Easy sale of the products is possible since consumers are aware of rhe product and its
quality.

2. It increases the rate of the turnover of stock.

3. It supplements the selling activities.

4. The reputation credited is shared by the wholesalers and retailers and alike.

5. It enables them to have product information.

 Benefits To Consumers

1. Advertising stresses quality and very often prices. This forms an indirect guarantee to
the consumers. Furthermore, large scale production assured by advertising enables the
seller to sell the product at a lower cast.

2. It provides an opportunity to the customers to compare the merits and demerits of various
substitute products.

3. This is perhaps the only medium through which consumers could know the varied and
new uses of a product.

4. Modern advertisements are highly informative.

Benefits To Salesmen

1. Introducing the product is made easy.

2. Advertising prepares necessary ground for a salesman to begin his work. Hence sales
efforts are reduced.

3. The contact established with the customer by a salesman is made permanent through
advertising.

4. The salesman can weigh the effectiveness of advertising when he makes a direct contact
with the customer.

SALES PROMOTION

Definitions of Sales Promotion

W.J. Stanton defines sales promotion as all those activities other than advertising,
personal selling, public relations and publicity that are intended to stimulate customer demand
and improve the marketing performance of sellers.
 Sales promotion is one of the seven aspects of the promotional mix. (The other six parts
of the promotional mix are advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, publicity/public
relations, corporate image and exhibitions.) Media and non-media marketing communication are
employed for a pre-determined, limited time to increase consumer demand, stimulate market
demand or improve product availability. Examples include contests, coupons, freebies, loss
leaders, point of purchase displays, premiums, prizes, product samples, and rebates

Sales promotions can be directed at either the customer, sales staff, or distribution channel
members (such as retailers). Sales promotions targeted at the consumer are called consumer
sales promotions. Sales promotions targeted at retailers and wholesale are called trade sales
promotions. Some sale promotions, particularly ones with unusual methods, are considered
gimmicks by many.

Sales promotion includes several communications activities that attempt to provide added value
or incentives to consumers, wholesalers, retailers, or other organizational customers to stimulate
immediate sales. These efforts can attempt to stimulate product interest, trial, or purchase.
Examples of devices used in sales promotion include coupons, samples, premiums, point-of-
purchase (POP) displays, contests, rebates, and sweepstakes.

Concept Of Sales Promotion

Sales promotion consists of diverse collection of incentive tools, mostly short-term

designed to stimulate quicker and / or greater purchase of a particular product by consumers or
the trade.. Sales promotion includes tools for consumer promotion (for example samples,
coupons, prizes, cash refund, warranties, demonstrations, contest); trade promotion (for example
buying allowances, free goods, merchandise allowances, co-operative advertising, advertising
and display allowances, dealer sales contests); and sales-force promotion (for example bonuses,
contests, sales rallies).Sales promotion efforts are directed at final consumers and designed to
motivate, persuade and remind them of the goods and receives that are offered. Sales persons
adopt several techniques for sales promotion.

Purpose of sales Promotion

 Sales promotion tools vary in their specific objectives. A free sample stimulates
consumer trial, while a free management advisory service comments along-term relationship
with a retailer. From the marketer's perspective, sales promotion serves three essential rolesit
informs, persuades and reminds prospective and current customers and otherselected audiences
about a company and its products. Because distribution channels are often long, a product may
pass through many lands between a producer and consumers. Therefore, a producer must inform
middlemen as well as the ultimate consumers or business users about the product. Wholesalers,
in turn must inform retailers and retailers must inform consumers. As the number of potential
customers grows and the geographic dimensions of a market expand, the problems and costs of
informing the market increase.

Objectives of Sales Promotion

The basic objectives of sales promotion are:

i) To introduce new products

To induce buyers to purchase a new product, free samples may be distributed or money and
merchandise allowance may be offered to business to stock and sell the product.

ii) To attract new customers

New customers may be attracted through issue of free samples, premiums, contests and similar
devices.

iii) To induce present customers to buy more

Present customers may be induced to buy more by knowing more about a product, its ingredients
and uses.

iv) To help firm remain competitive

Sales promotions may be undertaken to meet competition from a firm.

v) To increase sales in off season

Buyers may be encouraged to use the product in off seasons by showing them the variety of uses
of the product.

vi) To increase the inventories of business buyers

Retailers may be induced to keep in stock more units of a product so that more sales can be
effected.

Company Profile

Fort Wardrobe are a professionally managed company engaged in the field of manufacturing,
supplying and exporting of high quality knitted and hosiery garments. The garment was started
with a zeal and determination to redefine fashion in the industry. Standing on the grounds of
style and elegance, it offer knitted and hosiery garments that are abreast of the changing
international trends.
 The garment combines marketing expertise and creative imagination to deliver designer
garments with unique textures, designs and colors. Each garment is exclusively designed as per
the changing fashion trends that reflect fine craftsmanship and elegance that suit the aesthetic
tastes of their clients all across the globe. They serve their customers with high quality of
products along with a wide range of variety of designs and fabrics.

Fort Wardrobe, the leading manufacturer and exporter of apparel in India, specializing in
casual wear, lingerie and high-performance thermals, chose Lectras CAD and cutting solutions
to automate and streamline their production process. After a quick and effective implementation
process, the customer has seen remarkable results:

Productivity has increased by 80%, and the company has achieved 5 to 8% savings on
fabric. Optiplan, in particular, has helped garments reduce costs and save on material by 2%
compared to the manual process. The garments now enjoys the benefits of improved quality,
material savings, greater cost control, and the automation of processes, which has led to savings
in time and labor hours. Lectras integrated solutions have enabled garments to meet their
challenges more effectively and efficiently.

The challenge:
The garments Knitting was using a manual process and wanted to streamline production with
an automated solution in the hope of increasing efficiency, improving cutting accuracy and
enhancing productivity. The challenge they set was to implement an automated integrated
solution with faster machines that would be even easier for their operators to use. The company
aimed to reduce their operating costs even further by using less material and energy, and to
increase their productivity through non-stop automated cutting.

Products
The range of products we deal in are:
Men's Wear
Ladies Wear
 Kid's Wear
Formal Wear
Sleep Wears
Sports Wear
Undergarments

Works
The garment have developed core competence in the field of supplying stylish and
trendy range of knitted and hosiery garments. Their collection reflects designs from the remotest
antiquity to the most elegant of contemporary statements. Their knitted garments are a blend of
traditional and contemporary styles.
With the voluminous experience of this industry they have acknowledged the needs and
wants of their customers. Globally they are serving them with quality.
The source the garments keeping in mind the tastes and preferences of their clients both in
domestic as well as international territory. Their ensembles are noted for their quality
workmanship. They ensure that the fabric is of the finest quality and a lot of emphasis is laid on
the designs, color and strength of the fabric used.
The garment have made inroads in the international market and has etched a respectable
place for their company by catering to the needs and wants of their clients in the overseas
markets.

TOTAL MANPOWER:

As employees are considered as the back bone of any organization. Fort Wardrobe
has also got such wide strengthen of Employees.

The total number of employees that including in all departments was

approximately 270 workers.These employees is worked on the basis of daily wages.
 According to their work discipline their wages are to be differ. There are 30 and more
workers (i.e.) Supervisors, Executives, Managers and Other Administrative workers are work on
Salary based.

WORKING HOURS OF THE ORGANISATION:

The normal working hours oh the garment is from 09.00 am to 06.00 pm.
This time is to be proposed for the Superior Level Employees. But the garment was has
various timings for production level employees, It was scheduled on the shift basis and the
supervisors has also worked on shift basis. The production department has a scheduled from 5am
to 12 pm , and 12 pm to 7 pm .

DEPARTMENT AND ITS ACTIVITY:

Human Resource Department:

The department works for the welfare of the employees as well as generally calls
as the Human Resource Department. It takes care of welfare of the employees, salary,
recruitment, selection, appointment, counseling to the employees, and settlement to the
employees at the time of retirement.
Production Department:

Production is the functional area responsible for turning inputs into finished
outputs through a series of production processes. The Production Manager is responsible for
making sure that raw materials are provided and made into finished goods effectively. He or she
must make sure that work is carried out smoothly, and must supervise procedures for making
work more efficient and more enjoyable.

Five production sub-functions:

In the Production Department function may be split into five sub-functions:

1. The production and planning department will set standards and targets for each section of the
production process. The quantity and quality of products coming off a production line will be
closely monitored. In businesses focusing on lean production, quality will be monitored by all
employees at every stage of production, rather than at the end as is the case for businesses using
2. The purchasing department will be responsible for providing the materials, components
and equipment required to keep the production process running smoothly. A vital aspect of this
role is ensuring stocks arrive on time and to the right quality.

3. The stores department will be responsible for stocking all the necessary tools, spares, raw
materials and equipment required to service the manufacturing process. Where sourcing is
unreliable, buffer stocks will need to be kept and the use of computerized stock control systems
helps keep stocks at a minimal but necessary level for production to continue unhindered.

4. The design and technical support department will be responsible for researching new products
or modifications to existing ones, estimating costs for producing in different quantities and by
using different methods. It will also be responsible for the design and testing of new product
processes and product types, together with the development of prototypes through to the final
product. The technical support department may also be responsible for work study and
suggestions as to how working practices can be improved.
5. The works department will be concerned with the manufacture of products. This will
include the maintenance of the production line and other necessary repairs. The works
department may also have responsibility for quality control and inspection.

A key aspect of modern production is ensuring quality. The term quality means fitness for
purpose i.e. a product, process or service should do exactly what is expected of it.

Customer Relation Management:

The Customer Relation Management is a department which solves the customer
problems. The main work of the CRM is to measure the satisfaction level of the customers. The
department which co ordinates with exists in the company.
 Finance Department:
The department consists of ACCOUNTS and INSURANCE DEPARETMENTS which
takes care of the payment of their customers, Salary of the Employees and maintain other
financial problems.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Though the last decades specialized literature revealed and crystallized the concept of brand
equity (in relation to which brand awareness is one of the fundamental dimensions) the

term has been and still is approached in several manners in the specialized literature.
 Aaker (2001) approaches brand equity as a set of fundamental dimensions grouped into a
complex system comprising mainly: brand awareness, brand perceived quality,

brand loyalty and brand associations. He also suggests a brand equity ten model for assessing
brand equity (Aaker, 2001), taking into consideration several factors among which brand

awareness is fundamental. Kevin Lane Keller (2004) approaches brand equity from a

customer based perspective defining it as the differential effect of brand knowledge on

consumer response to the marketing of the brand.

Farquhar (2005) considers that building a strong brand within consumers minds means
creating a positive brand evaluation, an accessible brand attitude, and a consistent brand

image, the accessible brand attitude actually referring to what the others term as awareness.

As already mentioned, an important dimension of brand equity is brand awareness, very often an

undervalued component. Not only that awareness is almost a prerequisite for a brand to be
included in the consideration set (the brands that receive consideration for purchase), but

it also influences perceptions and attitudes, and can be a driver for brand loyalty (Aaker, 2001).

Reflecting the salience of the brand in the customers mind, awareness can be assessed at several
evels such as recognition, recall, top of mind, brand dominance (the only brand recalled), or,
even more, brand knowledge (what the brand stands for is very well known by consumers)
(Aaker, 2001).

Brand awareness is the first and prerequisite dimension of the entire brand knowledge
system in consumers minds, reflecting their ability to identify the brand under different
conditions: the likelihood that a brand name will come to mind and the ease with which it does

so (Keller, 2004).

Brand awareness can be depicted into brand recognition (consumers ability to confirm
prior exposure to the brand when given the brand as cue) and brand recall (consumers ability to
retrieve the brand when given the product category, the needs fulfilled by the category, or some
other cues).

Brand awareness is essential in buying decision-making as it is important that consumers

recall the brand in the context of a given specific product category, awareness increasing the
probability that the brand will be a member of the consideration set. Awareness also affects
decisions about brands in the consideration set, even in the absence of any brand associations in
consumers minds. In low involvement decision settings, a minimum level of brand awareness
may be sufficient for the choice to be final. Awareness can also influence consumer decision
making by affecting brand associations that form the brand image (Keller, 2004).

Considering Farquhars (2003) approach of brand equity, the accessible attitude he refers
to is related to how quickly a consumer can retrieve brand elements stored in his/her memory
(brand awareness).

The attitude activation is sometimes automatic (it occurs spontaneously upon the mere
observation of the attitude object) and sometimes controlled (the active attention of the
individual to retrieve previously stored evaluation is required). It was also proven (Farquhar,
2000) that only high accessible attitudes (brands with a high level of awareness) can be relevant
when purchasing or repurchasing a brand.

Other authors (Laurent, Kapferer and Roussel, 2007) suggest three classical measures of
brand awareness in a given product category: spontaneous (unaided) awareness (consumers are
asked, without any prompting, to name the brands they know in the product category in this
case the unaided awareness of a brand is the percentage of interviewees indicating they know
that brand), top of mind awareness (using the same question, the percentage of interviewees who
name the brand first is considered) and, respectively, aided awareness (brand names are
presented to interviewees in this case the aided awareness of a brand is the percentage of
interviewees who indicate they know that brand).

The outcome of any brand choice can only be known in the future, the consumer being
thus forced to deal with uncertainty. Brand choice could be considered the central problem of
consumer behavior, while the perceived risk associated to buying decisions is a pivotal aspect of
brand choice. Risk is often perceived to be painful in that it may produce anxiety, in which case
it must be dealt in some manner by the consumer. Among the main functions of a brand from the
consumers perspective is considered to be the minimization of perceived purchasing risk, which
in turn helps cultivate a trust-based relationship. Brand awareness can influence consumers
perceived risk assessment and their confidence in the purchase decision, due to familiarity with
the brand and its characteristics.

The central concern of brand building literature experienced a dramatic shift in the last
Decade. Branding and the role of brands, as traditionally understood, were subject to
Constant review and redefinition. A traditional definition of a brand was: the name,
associated with one or more items in the product line, that is used to identify the source
of character of the item(s) (Kotler 2000, p. 396). The American Marketing Association
(AMA) definition of a brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination
of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and
to differentiate them from those of competitors (p. 404). Within this view, as Keller
(2003a) says, technically speaking, the n, whenever a marketer creates a new name,
logo, or symbol for a new product, he or she has created a brand (p. 3). He recognizes,
however, that brands today are much more than that. As can be seen, according to these
definitions brands had a simple and clear function as identifiers.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research is a common word that refers to the search for knowledge. One can also define research
as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information. The advanced learners dictionary
of current English lays down the meaning of research as a careful investigation or inquiry
specially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge. Research comprises of
defining and redefining problems, formulating the hypothesis or suggested solution, collection,
organizing and evaluating the data; making deductions and reaching the conclusions and at last
carefully testing the conclusions to determine whether they will fit with hypothesis formulation.
Research is, thus an original contribution to the existing stock of knowledge.

RESEARCH DESIGN

The research design chosen is descriptive as the study reveals the state of facts existing.

Descriptive research studies are those studies which are concerned with describing the
characteristics of a particular individual, or a group. The study is concerning whether certain
variables are associated with the study. And also the study is concerned with the specific
predictions, with narration of facts and characteristics concerning an individual, group or
situation.

SAMPLING DESIGN

Target Population

The target population of the consumers of Fort Wardrobe is 219.

Sample Size

The sample size consists of 130 consumers in Tirupur district.

Sampling Technique

Simple random sampling is adopted to select the sample.

DATA COLLECTION

In this project, the data are collected through primary and secondary sources.

PRIMARY DATA

Primary data are collected from the consumers of Tirupur district through a well structured
questionnaire.
SECONDARY DATA

Secondary data are collected from company records, books, journals, company magazines,
etc

DATA ANALYSIS

The data collected are tabulated, analyzed and interpreted using simple percentage method,
Anova and chi-square test.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To know the Brand Awareness of Fort Wardrobe.
2. To find out the factors which influence the customer to prefer the Fort Wardrobe
3. To study on Customer Satisfaction about Fort Wardrobe
4. To find out the Fort Wardrobe position in Tirupur District.
5. To analyze the level of perception towards Fort Wardrobe
SCOPE OF THE STUDY:
1. The research study is confined to Fort Wardrobe
2. The research would be useful to the concerned authorities of Fort Wardrobe and also

the competitors.
3. A survey was conducted during of the month of Feb to April
4. Respondents were Retailers and Consumers.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

1. Major limitations faced in the study were to make the Consumers open up their
honest view about each question.
2. Time constraint was another disadvantage during the study.
3. Questionnaires may produce errors in surveys because various meanings are attached
to the same word by different groups of people and the replies are liable for
misrepresentation.
4. Unwillingness of the Consumers to answer the questions, with the feedback of the
questions to be of personal and intimate nature, also proved to be a major constraint.
 5. Individual interviewing can be quite expensive in terms of time and effort and may be
intimidating to some who are not comfortable sharing details with a student.
6. The success of the interview is directly related to cognition, motivation and
accessibility. This might not be the case for each and every respondent.

TOOLS FOR ANALYSIS

STATISTICAL PACKAGE FOR SOCIAL SCIENCES

Statistical package for Social sciences (SPSS) is meant for statistical analysis of data. It
has got tools to obtain accurate results.

These tools are used in scientific calculations to derive accurate results. This is mainly
used because manual errors are totally avoided. Using the tools the researcher will arrive at a
faster at the same time 100% error free conclusions.

In this project work percentage analysis, chi-square analysis, regression, t-test were used
to derive accurate and scientific results from the primary data.

Tools used for analysis

Percentage Analysis
Chi-Square Test
Regression Analysis