A PROJECT REPORT ON CONSUMER PREFERENCES IN BRANDED ATTA INDUSTRY

(A Report submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Business Administration in Pondicherry University)

Submitted by: ANUBHAV DAS Enrollment No.: 2409360002 MBA: MARKETING Session- 2010-12

DIRECTORATE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY
PONDICHERRY - 605 014.

Table of Contents
1.)Background(Concepts & Industry Analysis) ................................................ 6-61

Marketing, market Research & Branding ........................................................... 6-49 Industry Analysis .......................................................................................... 50-61 2.)Objectives & Methodology ........................................................................... 62-63 Objectives ............................................................................................................. 62 Methodology ...................................................................................................... 63 3.) Data Analysis & Discussion 64-83 4.) Conclusion & Suggestion84-95 Conclusion84-94 Suggestion..........95 5.) Questionnaire...96-99 6.) Bibliography....100

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Project Work titled A Project Report on Consumer preferences in Branded Atta Industry is a bona fide work of Mr. Anubhav Das, Enrollment No.-2409360002 Carried out in partial fulfillment for the award of degree of MBA (Marketing) of Pondicherry University under my guidance. This project work is original and not submitted earlier for the award of any degree / diploma or associate ship of any other University / Institution.

Prashant Dutta Gupta [B.Tech. (IIT Delhi), PGDBA (IIM Ahmedabad)

FOSTIIMA Business School Place: New Delhi Date: 15-05-2011

DECLARATION

I, Anubhav Das, hereby declare that the Project Work titled "Branded Atta " is the original work done by me and submitted to the Pondicherry University in partial fulfillment of requirements for the award of Master of Business Administration in Marketing is a record of original work done by me under the supervision of Prof. Prashant Dutta Gupta of FOSTIIMA Business School. Enroll No: Date:

Anubhav Das MBA (Marketing) Enroll No:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This project would not have been possible without the kind support and help of many individuals and I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all of them.

I am highly indebted to Mr.Prashant Dutta Gupta for his guidance and constant supervision as well as for providing necessary information regarding the project & also for his support in completing the project.

I would like to express my gratitude towards my parents & member of FOSTIIMA Business School for their kind co-operation and encouragement which help me in completion of this project.

I would like to express my special gratitude and thanks to people for giving me such attention and time for the questionnaire filling, without which this project could not have been completed.

My thanks and appreciations also go to my colleague in developing the project and people who have willingly helped me out with their abilities.

INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING
Marketing is "the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large." Marketing is a product or service selling related overall activities. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments. It is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and create value for their customers and for themselves. Marketing is used to identify the customer, satisfy the customer, and keep the customer. With the customer as the focus of its activities, it can be concluded that marketing management is one of the major components of business management. Marketing evolved to meet the stasis in developing new markets caused by mature markets and overcapacities in the last 2-3 centuries. The adoption of marketing strategies requires businesses to shift their focus

from production to the perceived needs and wants of their customers as the means of staying profitable. The term marketing concept holds that achieving organizational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions. It proposes that in order to satisfy its organizational objectives, an organization should anticipate the needs and wants of consumers and satisfy these more effectively than competitors. Marketing is further defined by the AMA as an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. The term developed from an

original meaning which referred literally to going to a market to buy or sell goods or services. Seen from a systems point of view, sales process engineering marketing is "a set of processes that are interconnected and interdependent with other functions, whose methods can be improved using a variety of relatively new approaches." The Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as "the

management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably." A different concept is the value-based marketing which states the role of marketing to contribute to increasing shareholder value. In this context, marketing is defined as "the management process that seeks to maximize returns to shareholders by developing relationships with valued customers and creating a competitive advantage." Marketing practice tended to be seen as a creative industry in the past, which included advertising, distribution and selling. However, because the academic study of marketing makes extensive use of social

sciences, psychology, sociology, mathematics, economics, anthropology and neuroscience, the profession is now widely recognized as a science, allowing numerous universities to offer Master-of-Science (MSc)

programmes. The overall process starts with marketing research and goes through market segmentation, business planning and execution, ending with pre- and post-sales promotional activities. It is also related to many of the creative arts. The marketing literature is also adept at reinventing itself and its vocabulary according to the times and the culture.

EVOLUTION OF MARKETING

An orientation, in the marketing context, related to a perception or attitude a firm holds towards its product or service, essentially concerning consumers and end-users. Throughout history, marketing has changed considerably in conjunction with consumer tastes

Earlier approaches

The marketing orientation evolved from earlier orientations, namely, the production orientation, the product orientation and the selling orientation. Western European timeframe Description

Orientation

Profit driver

A firm focusing on a production orientation specializes in producing as much as possible of a given product or service. Thus, Production Production methods until the 1950s this signifies a firm exploiting economies of scale until the minimum efficient scale is reached. A production orientation may be deployed when a high demand for a product or service exists, coupled with a good

certainty that consumer tastes will not rapidly alter (similar to the sales orientation).

A firm employing a product orientation is chiefly concerned Quality of the product until the 1960s with the quality of its own product. A firm would also assume that as long as its product was of a high standard, people would buy and consume the product.

Product

A firm using a sales orientation focuses primarily on the selling/promotion of a particular product, and not determining new consumer desires as such. Consequently, this entails simply Selling methods 1950s and 1960s selling an already existing product, and using promotion techniques to attain the highest sales possible. Such an orientation may suit scenarios in which a firm holds dead stock, or otherwise sells a product that is in high demand, with little likelihood of changes in consumer tastes that would

Selling

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diminish demand. The 'marketing orientation' is perhaps the most common orientation used in contemporary marketing. It involves a firm essentially basing its marketing plans around the marketing Needs and Marketing wants of customers 1970 to present day concept, and thus supplying products to suit new consumer tastes. As an example, a firm would employ market research to gauge consumer desires, use R&D to develop a product attuned to the revealed information, and then utilize promotion techniques to ensure persons know the product exists.

Distinctions between the Sales Concept and the Marketing Concept

1.

The Sales Concept focuses on the needs of the seller. The

Marketing Concept focuses on the needs of the buyer.

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2.

The Sales Concept is preoccupied with the sellers need to convert

his/her product into cash. The Marketing Concept is preoccupied with the idea of satisfying the needs of the customer by means of the product as a solution to the customers problem (needs). The Marketing Concept represents the major change in todays company orientation that provides the foundation to achieve competitive advantage. This philosophy is the foundation of consultative selling.

Contemporary approaches

Recent approaches in marketing include relationship marketing with focus on the customer, business marketing or industrial marketing with focus on an organization or institution and social marketing with focus on benefits to society. New forms of marketing also use the internet and are therefore called internet marketing or more generally e-marketing, online marketing, search engine marketing, desktop advertising or affiliate marketing. It attempts to perfect the segmentation strategy used in traditional marketing. It targets its audience more precisely, and is sometimes called personalized marketing or one-to-one marketing. Internet marketing is sometimes

considered to be broad in scope, because it not only refers to marketing on the Internet, but also includes marketing done via e-mail and wireless media.

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Western Orientation Profit driver European Description timeframe

Emphasis is placed on the Relationship Building and whole relationship between 1960s present day to suppliers and customers.

marketing /Relat keeping good ionship management customer relations

The aim is to provide the best possible customer

service and build customer loyalty.

In this context, marketing takes place

between businesses or orga nizations. The product focus Building and Business keeping 1980s lies to goods or capital rather consumer products or on industrial goods than end

marketing /Indus relationships present trial marketing between organizations day

products. Different forms of marketing activities, such as promotion, advertising and communication customer are used. to the

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Similar

characteristics orientation

as but

marketing 1990s present day to

with the added proviso that there will be a curtailment of any harmful in or activities to

Social marketing

Benefit society

to

society, production, methods.

product, selling

In this context, "branding" is 2000s Branding Brand value present day to the main company

philosophy and marketing is considered an instrument of branding.

Customer orientation

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Constructive criticism helps marketers adapt offerings to meet changing customer needs. A firm in the market economy survives by producing goods that persons are willing and able to buy. Consequently, ascertaining consumer demand is vital for a firm's future viability and even existence as a going concern. Many companies today have a customer focus (or market orientation). This implies that the company focuses its activities and products on consumer demands. Generally, there are three ways of doing this: the customer-driven approach, the market change

identification approach and the product innovation approach. In the consumer-driven approach, consumer wants are the drivers of all strategic marketing decisions. No strategy is pursued until it passes the test of consumer research. Every aspect of a market offering, including the nature of the product itself, is driven by the needs of potential consumers. The starting point is always the consumer. The rationale for this approach is that there is no reason to spend R&D funds developing products that people will not buy. History attests to many products that were commercial failures in spite of being technological breakthroughs. A formal approach to this customer-focused marketing is known as SIVA (Solution, Information, Value, and Access). This system is basically the four Ps renamed and reworded to provide a customer focus. The SIVA Model provides a demand/customer-centric alternative to the well-known 4Ps supply side model (product, price, placement, promotion) of marketing management.

Product

Solution

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Price

Value

Place

Access

Promotion

Information

If any of the 4Ps were problematic or were not in the marketing factor of the business, the business could be in trouble and so other companies may appear in the surroundings of the company, so the consumer demand on its products will decrease.

Organizational orientation
In this sense, a firm's marketing department is often seen as of prime importance within the functional level of an organization. Information from an organization's marketing department would be used to guide the actions of other departments within the firm. As an example, a marketing department could ascertain (via marketing research) that consumers desired a new type of product, or a new usage for an existing product. With this in mind, the marketing department would inform the R&D department to create a prototype of a product/service based on consumers' new desires. The production department would then start to manufacture the product, while the marketing department would focus on the promotion, distribution, pricing, etc. of the product. Additionally, a firm's finance department would be consulted, with respect to securing appropriate funding for the development, production and promotion of the product.

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Inter-departmental conflicts may occur, should a firm adhere to the marketing orientation. Production may oppose the installation, support and servicing of new capital stock, which may be needed to manufacture a new product. Finance may oppose the required capital expenditure, since it could undermine a healthy cash flow for the organization.

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MARKET RESEARCH

"Marketing research is the function that links the consumer, customer, and public to the marketer through information - information used to identify and define marketing opportunities and problems; generate, refine, and evaluate marketing actions; monitor marketing performance; and improve understanding of marketing as a process. Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the methods for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes, and communicates the findings and their implications." American Marketing Association (AMA) - Official Definition of Marketing Research

The Marketing research Process Marketing research is gathered using a systematic approach. An example of one follows: 1. Define the problem. Never conduct research for things that you would 'like' to know. Make sure that you really 'need' to know something. The problem then becomes the focus of the research. For example, why are sales falling in New Zealand? 2. How will you collect the data that you will analyze to solve your problem? Do we conduct a telephone survey, or do we arrange a focus group? The methods of data collection will be discussed in more detail later.

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3. Select a sampling method. Do we us a random sample, stratified sample, or cluster sample? 4. How will we analyze any data collected? What software will we use? What degree of accuracy is required? 5. Decide upon a budget and a timeframe. 6. Go back and speak to the managers or clients requesting the research. Make sure that you agree on the problem! If you gain approval, then move on to step seven. 7. Go ahead and collect the data. 8. Conduct the analysis of the data. 9. Check for errors. It is not uncommon to find errors in sampling, data collection method, or analytic mistakes. 10. Write your final report. This will contain charts, tables, and diagrams that will communicate the results of the research, and hopefully lead to a solution to your problem. Watch out for errors in interpretation.

Sources of Data - Primary and Secondary

There are two main sources of data - primary and secondary. Primary research is conducted from scratch. It is original and collected to solve the problem in hand. Secondary research, also known as desk research, already exists since it has been collected for other purposes. Primary marketing research is collected for the first time. It is original and collected for a specific purpose, or to solve a specific

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problem. It is expensive, and time consuming, but is more focused than secondary research. There are many ways to conduct primary research. We consider some of them:

1. Interviews 2. Mystery shopping 3. Focus groups 4. Projective techniques 5. Product tests 6. Diaries 7. Omnibus Studies 1.0 Interviews. This is the technique most associated with marketing research. Interviews can be telephone, face-to-face, or over the Internet. 1.1 Telephone Interview. Telephone ownership is very common in developed countries. It is ideal for collecting data from a geographically dispersed sample. The interviews tend to be very structured and tend to lack depth. Telephone interviews are cheaper to conduct than face-to-face interviews (on a per person basis).

Advantages of telephone interviews

Can be geographically spread

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Can be set up and conducted relatively cheaply Random samples can be selected Cheaper than face-to-face interviews

Disadvantages of telephone interviews

Respondents can simply hang up Interviews tend to be a lot shorter Visual aids cannot be used Researchers cannot behavior or body language

1.2 Face-to-face Interviews. Face-to face interviews are conducted between a market researcher and a respondent. Data is collected on a survey. Some surveys are very rigid or 'structured' and use closed questions. Data is easily compared. Other face-to-face interviews are more 'in depth,' and depend upon more open forms of questioning. The research will probe and develop points of interest. Advantages of face-to-face interviews

They allow more 'depth' Physical prompts such as products and pictures can be used Body language can emphasize responses Respondents can be 'observed' at the same time

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Disadvantages of face-to-face interviews

Interviews can be expensive It can take a long period of time to arrange and conduct. Some respondents will give biased responses when face-to-face with a researcher.

1.3 The Internet The Internet can be used in a number of ways to collect primary data. Visitors to sites can be asked to complete electronic questionnaires. However responses will increase if an incentive is offered such as a free newsletter, or free membership. Other important data is collected when visitors sign up for membership. Advantages of the Internet

Relatively inexpensive Uses graphics and visual aids Random samples can be selected Visitors tend to be loyal to particular sites and are willing to give up time to complete the forms Disadvantages of the Internet

Only surveys current, not potential customers. Needs knowledge of software to set up questionnaires and methods of processing data

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May deter visitors from your website.

1.4 Mail Survey In many countries, the mail survey is the most appropriate way to gather primary data. Lists are collated, or purchased, and a predesigned questionnaire is mailed to a sample of respondents. Mail surveys do not tend to generate more than a 5-10% response rate. However, a second mailing to prompt or remind respondents tends to improve response rates. Mail surveys are less popular with the advent of technologies such as the Internet and telephones, especially call centers.

2.0 Mystery Shopping Companies will set up mystery shopping campaigns on an organizations behalf. Often used in banking, retailing, travel, cafes and restaurants, and many other customers focused organizations, mystery shoppers will enter, posing as real customers. They collect data on customer service and the customer experience. Findings are reported back to the commissioning organization. There are many issues surrounding the ethics of such an approach to research. 3.0 Focus Groups. Focus groups are made up from a number of selected respondents based together in the same room. Highly experienced researchers work with the focus group to gather in depth qualitative feedback. Groups tend to be made up from 10 to 18 participants. Discussion, opinion, and

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beliefs are encouraged, and the research will probe into specific areas that are of interest to the company commissioning the research. Advantages of focus groups

Commissioning marketers often observe the group from behind a oneway screen

Visual aids and tangible products can be circulated and opinions taken All participants and the research interact Areas of specific interest can be covered in greater depth

Disadvantages of focus groups

Highly experienced researchers are needed. They are rare. Complex to organize Can be very expensive in comparison to other methods

4.0 Projective techniques. Projective techniques are borrowed from the field of psychology. They will generate highly subjective qualitative data. There are many examples of such approaches including: Inkblot tests - look for images in a series of inkblots Cartoons - complete the 'bubbles' on a cartoon series Sentence or story completion Word association - depends on very quick (subconscious) responses to words Psychodrama - Imagine that you are a product and describe what it is like to be operated, warn, or used.

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5.0 Product tests. Product tests are often completed as part of the 'test' marketing process. Products are displayed in a mall of shopping center. Potential customers are asked to visit the store and their purchase behavior is observed. Observers will contemplate how the product is handled, how the packing is read, how much time the consumer spends with the product, and so on. 6.0 Diaries. Diaries are used by a number of specially recruited consumers. They are asked to complete a diary that lists and records their purchasing behavior of a period of time (weeks, months, or years). It demands a substantial commitment on the part of the respondent. However, by collecting a series of diaries with a number of entries, the researcher has a reasonable picture of purchasing behavior. 7.0 Omnibus Studies. An omnibus study is where an organization purchases a single or a few questions on a 'hybrid' interview (either face-to-face or by telephone). The organization will be one of many that simply want to a straightforward answer to a simple question. An omnibus survey could include questions from companies in sectors as diverse as heath care and tobacco. The research is far cheaper, and commits less time and effort than conducting your own research.

Secondary marketing research, or desk research, already exist in one form or another. It is relatively cheap, and can be conducted

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quite quickly .However, it tends to have been collected for reasons other than for the problem or objective at hand. So it may be untargeted, and difficult to use to make comparisons (e.g. financial data gather on Australian pensions will be different to data on Italian pensions). There are a number of such sources available to the marketer, and the following list is by no means conclusive:

Trade associations National and local press Industry magazines National/international governments Websites Informal contacts Trade directories Published company accounts Business libraries Professional institutes and organizations Omnibus surveys Previously gathered marketing research Census data

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PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION Collection Methods

1) OBSERVATION a) Natural setting b) Field experiment

Advantage

minimizes response bias

Disadvantage

imited to measuring behavior Time consuming Subject to investigator bias

2) COMMUNICATION a) Personal interview

Advantage

permits detailed & in-depth questions responses Minimizes non-response

Disadvantage

costly Interviewer bias Investigator bias Interviewer cheating

b) Telephone Interview

Advantage

convenient

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Saves time Relatively inexpensive Less interviewer & investigator than personal interview bias Disadvantage non-coverage Limited length & depth of questions and responses

c) Self-administered Questionnaire

Advantage

cost effective for large areas Minimizes interviewer bias Promotes accurate answers

Disadvantage

low response rates Unanswered questions Incorrect answers

Question Formats
1) OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS: Respondents are given complete freedom to answer in their own words.

Advantage

a) b)

eliminates "forced choice" bias Unlimited response varieties

Disadvantage

a) b)

promotes investigator bias Responses difficult to code and analyz

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Best Use

a) b) c) d)

small scale exploration Establishing rapport As final question to collect facts: e.g., age

2) CLOSED-ENDED QUESTIONS: Yes No Questions: Respondents are limited to a positive or negative position.

A)

Advantage

a) b) c)

minimizes investigator bias Responses obtained quickly Coding is simple and inexpensive

Disadvantage

a) b)

simplistic / limits range of commitment Wording can cause biases

Best Use

a) b)

telephone interview self-administered questionnaire when topic permits

B)

Multiple Choice Questions: Respondents are limited to choice of more than two positions.

Advantage

a) b) c) d)

minimizes investigator bias Responses obtained quickly Coding is simple and inexpensive Permits greater range of commitment

than yes-no questions

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Disadvantage

a) b)

good questions are difficult to write Wording can cause biases

Best Use

a) b) c)

personal interview Self-administered questionnaire Telephone interview if item is not too

complicated

4) Filter (Split or Branch) Question: Question designed to direct respondents to different sections of the questionnaire.

Best Use

To get answers for questions that are appropriate for only part of the sample.

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Questionnaire Design
Preliminary Concerns 1. Consider the data collection method. 2. Consider the measurement scale and statistical analysis to be used.

Wording 1. Use correct grammar and sentence structure. Avoid slang and colloquialisms. 2. Wording should be as simple as possible without being condescending to respondent. 3. Use a conversational tone. Wording should be as closely as possible to the manner in which people would talk to each other. 4. Wording should be neutral and clearly communicate the intent of question.

Instructions 1. Instructions on how to answer should be communicated to the respondent as part of the question. 2. Special instructions to the interviewer should be clear and located on the questionnaire. 3. Clearly distinguish the instructions to the interviewer questions and responses by always putting the instructions to the interviewer CAPS, Italics, etc.

Content 1. Write brief questions. 2. Have a specific goal for each question.

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3. Make efforts to write questions that are valid measures of the studys variables. 4. Be careful not to assume behavior or knowledge on the part of any respondent. 5. If a question contains facts, make sure they are accurate. 6. Carefully choose wording so that accurate information is collected. Be precise and specific in the use of concepts (for example, government--is it city, county, or federal?). Be precise and specific regarding time, either as a period of recall or as a time limit to a certain behavior. Avoid "loaded" questions that suggest to respondents that one answer is preferable to another. Avoid double questions where two or more issues are mentioned. Avoid all-inclusive terms such as "never" or "always." Avoid the use of technical terms and abbreviations that can be misconstrued. Avoid the use of inflammatory words such as "racist" or "exploitation." 7. Be sure all questions are relevant to the research goal. 8. Be certain all important questions are asked.

Response Categories 1. Response categories must match the attributes mentioned in question. 2. Response categories to closed-ended items must be: Sufficiently exhaustive. Mutually exclusive.

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The categories respondents would naturally use to classify the item or themselves. 3. Questions may contain a response category of "don't know" or "no answer/refusal." Order 1. Treat all questions as part of a whole, not isolated or separate from other items. 2. Remember that each question is perceived by the respondent to be in a context of questions. Thus, answers to one question can be affected by responses to others in the same group. 3. Questions should be grouped according to topic. 4. Within a topic it is usually best to arrange questions so they move from general to specific. 5. The question order should permit the interviewer to keep the interview moving at a conversational, yet purposeful pace. To achieve this: Order questions using a logic that will make sense to the respondent. Use transitional statements freely so that the questions "flow" easily one to another. 6. The first questions should be relatively easy-to-answer questions that are related to the research topic that was expressed in the introductory message or cover letter. 7. Place important/sensitive questions in the middle of the questionnaire. 8. Place easy-to-answer questions, such as demographic items, at the end of the questionnaire.

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Format 1. Clearly distinguish questions from response categories. 2. Vary response patterns and group topics as often as is practical to prevent fatigue. 3. Avoid breaking a question between pages of the questionnaire. 4. Splitting complex issues into two or more simple questions in order to eliminate respondent confusion and error. 5. Avoid questions that duplicate earlier items or appear to the respondent to be redundant. 6. Precode the questionnaire. Include the response codes on the questionnaire.

Pretest Conduct a small-scale replica of the large-scale survey (plus some). Step 1: Administer questionnaire to representative respondent in a

personal interview. Step 2: Administer revised questionnaire on small scale using same medium as final administration. Step 3: Enter the data into a spreadsheet or statistical package and tally results. Step 4: Construct a SUMMARY SURVEY: a tally of response frequencies recorded on a copy of the questionnaire. Step 5: Revise questionnaire and repeat pretest as needed.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR WHEN PRETESTING The answers obtained in pretests suggest variability in response, not an "all or none" response pattern.

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Non-substantive responses (for example, "I don't know" or refusals) are at a minimum. There are no wording difficulties (for example, bad grammar, and incomprehensible slang.) The respondent does not ask the interviewer to explain or rephrase the question. The interviewers express no or minimal difficulty in administering the question. There are no difficulties entering or tallying the data.

Items for Inclusion with a Self-Administered Questionnaire

Mandatory 1. Prepare an introductory message to accompany the

questionnaire. It should contain information about the topic or purpose of the research, the sampling procedure, protection of the respondents confidentiality, and the name, address, and phone number of a contact person. 2. Keep the questionnaire procedures simple. 3. Keep questionnaires as short as you can and ask only the questions you are sure you need. 4. If you are asking questions that may be construed as personal - such as sex, age, or income - explain why they are necessary.

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BRANDING

David Ogilvy defines brands as the intangible sum of a products attributes: its name, packaging, and price, its history, its reputation, and the way its advertised.Kotler defines brands as 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 the competitor. The Dictionary of Business and Management defines a brand as: A name, sign or symbol used to identify items or services of the seller(s) and to differentiate them from goods of competitors. Jared Spool, a web site usability expert, says, "Branding means creating an emotional association (such as the feeling of success, happiness, or relief) that customers form with the product, service, or company." Walter Landor, one of the greats of the advertising industry, said: Simply put, a brand is a promise. By identifying and authenticating a product or service it delivers a pledge of satisfaction and quality. Branding is supposed to be the process by which the true character and purpose of the company is communicated. And this process is a strategy that is consistently applied through the entire firm, hopefully creating an aura of trust; an appreciation of your uniqueness; and a set of expectations in your customers, shareholders and employees. Everything is consistent-packaging, advertising, public relations There are different ways to look at the meaning of brand and branding in simple terms:

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A brand is a collection of perceptions in the mind of the consumer. Brand is everything what you want to communicate to consumers and what you communicate. By definition, brand is whatever the consumer thinks of when he or she hears your companys name.

A brand is a promise. By identifying and authenticating a product or service it delivers a pledge of satisfaction and quality. Its a bundle of functional and emotional benefits A name with a reputation A mark of pride A simplifier of choice A product or service with an attitude It is absolutely clear that a brand is very different from a product or service. A brand is intangible and exists in the mind of the consumer. This definition helps us understand the idea of brand loyalty and the 'loyalty ladder'. Different people have different perceptions of a product or service, which places them at different points on the loyalty ladder. This brings us to the other vital connections of management, namely, Positioning and Advertising of a product or service. Advertising has to sell, and it achieves this by positively influencing people's perceptions of the product or service. However, Advertising grabs customers minds.

ROLE OF BRANDS In a world where products, markets, and industry boundaries are in flux, a well-managed brand can be a prime source of strategic direction and

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competitive advantage. Today branding is such a strong force that anything from salt to lemon juice and water is branded. The following are the roles of branding which serve many purposes 1) A brand identifies the seller or maker. 2) A brand protects both the consumer and the producer from competitors who would attempt to provide products that appear to be identical. 3) A brand reduces the primacy of price upon the purchase decision. 4) It accentuates the bases of differentiation.

5) A brand is essentially a sellers promise to consistently deliver a specific set of features, benefits and services to the buyers.

6) A brand gives the seller the opportunity to attract a loyal and profitable set of customers. Brand loyalty gives sellers some protection from competition and greater control in planning their marketing programs.

7) Strong brands help build the corporate image, making it easier to launch and gain acceptance by distributors and customers.

8) Managing a positive brand image creates opportunities to introduce new products that build on brand equity. It helps to attract and retain good employees and it improves the stockholders

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BRANDING CHARACTERISTICS The world is rapidly shrinking with the advent of faster communication, transportation and financial flows. Products developed in one country Mont Blanc pens, McDonalds, BMWs are finding enthusiastic acceptance in other countries. A German businessman may wear an Armani suit to meet an English friend at an Indian restaurant who later returns home to drink Russian vodka and watch an American soap on a Korean television. There are different aspects or levels of a brand, may it be of a product or service which attract customers to build an image and an idea about that product or service. There may be various viewpoints through which a person may perceive the brand in a particular way. Lets take Mercedes Benz for example: Attributes: Mercedes suggests expensive, well-built, well-engineered, durable, high prestige, high value, fast and so on. The company may use one or more of the attributes to advertise the car. For years, Mercedes advertised Engineered like no other car in the world. This tagline served as a positioning platform for the cars other attributes. Benefits: Customers are not buying attributes, they are buying benefits. Attributes need to be translated into emotional and functional benefit, I am safe in case of an accident. Values: The brand also says something about the producers values. Thus Mercedes stands for high performance, safety, prestige and so on. The brand marketer must figure out the specific groups of car buyers who are seeking these values.

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Culture: The brand may represent a certain culture. The Mercedes represents German culture: organized, efficient, high quality. Personality: The brand can also project a certain personality. If the brand were a person, an animal, or an object, what would come to mind? Mercedes may suggest a no-nonsense boss (person), a reigning lion (animal), or an austere palace (object). Sometimes it might take on the personality of an actual well-known person or spokesperson. User: The brand suggests the kind of consumer who buys or uses the product. We would be surprised to see a 20-year-old secretary driving a Mercedes. We would accept instead to see a 55 year-old top executive behind the wheel. The users will be those who respect the products values, culture and personality.

TYPES OF BRAND
The functional dimension is the products attributes and benefits or the tangible properties while the symbolic dimensions are the intangible aspects of the brand. A marketer can combine these two elements to create the right appeal for customers. In consumer behavior the rational and emotional perspectives are two models that explain how consumers make purchase decisions. Successful branding, therefore, depends on combining the rational and emotional components of a brand in a manner that it becomes consistent with the consumers frame of mind. FUNCTIONAL BRANDS Here, the functional dimension of the brand is far more visible and appealing than the emotional or symbolic dimension.

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Niveas range of body products focuses on the functional benefit of smooth skin. Also, buying of a painkiller would be by and large a rational, left brain driven activity. What implications does one have for marketers of Aspirin, Aspro, Anacin? Here the brand should be functions driven. That is, the brand essence should revolve around reasons demonstrating

product superiority in terms of its ingredients and efficiency of its pain relieving process (e.g., the product dissolves faster in water and therefore, relieves pain faster. SYMBOLIC BRANDS Here, the symbolic or emotional dimension is more prevalent than the functional dimension. The decisions would be based on more of the emotional aspect than that of rational aspect. In the circumstances where consumer buying is emotions driven, the brand must accordingly focus on symbolic or emotional aspects.E.g. ICICI Prudential has various schemes concerning childrens futures; this also stresses on the emotional aspect, caring for the child and securing. WHY IS IT DIFFICULT TO BUILD STRONG BRANDS? For building an atta brand, its very difficult. Lets look at some of the major concerns & examples for the same. It is difficult to build a strong brand in today's environment. The brand builder can be inhibited by substantial pressures and barriers, both internal and external. There are 8 different factors that make it difficult to build brands:

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1. Complex branding strategies and brand relationships 2. The temptation to change identity/executions, organizational 3. Pressure to invest elsewhere 4. Pressures for short-term results. One key to successful brand building is to understand how to

develop brand identities, to know what the brand stands for, and how to most effectively express that identity. 1. PRESSURE TO COMPETE ON PRICE There are enormous pressures on all firms to compete on price. Price competition is at center stage, driven by powers of strong retailers, value sensitive customers, reduced capacity growth and overcapacity. Retailers have become stronger and use their powers to put pressures on prices. Whereas a year ago information was largely controlled by the manufacturer retailers are now collecting vast amounts of information and developing models to use it. As a result there is an increasing focus on margins and efficient use of space. Orange versus BPL mobile services - What these cellular service providers are doing is to compete with each other mainly on the basis of price. If Orange is cutting its deposit amount, or reducing the general rent or tariff or airtime charges, BPL has to follow the suit. Also the cola companies like Coca Cola and Pepsi are continuously engaged in a price war. 2. PROLIFERATION OF COMPETITORS New, vigorous competitors come from a variety of sources. Additional competitors not only contribute to price pressures and brand complexity, but also make it harder to gain and hold a position. They leave fewer

42

holes in the market to exploit and fewer implementation vehicles to own. Each brand tends to be positioned more narrowly, the target market becomes smaller and no target market becomes larger. There are innumerous players in various product categories. One of these is toothpaste. With products ranging from gel, tooth powder, herbal pastes and striped paste the market is quite clustered. The market is so much saturated with different players in these markets that they keep competing on the positioning of their brands, which has to be different from the rest and thus cater to a particular segment of the population. Like Close-up toothpaste which is positioned on the fact that it has mouthwash for fresh breath and Colgate which stresses on its calcium content for stronger teeth. 3. FRAGMENTATION MARKETS AND MEDIA At one time being consistent across media and markets was easy as there were a limited number of media options and only a few national media vehicles. However the bewildering array of media options today includes interactive television, advertising on the internet, direct marketing, event sponsorship and more are being invented daily. Coordinating messages across these media without weakening a brand is a major challenge. Coordination is all the more difficult because different brand support activities are often handled by different organizations and individuals with varying perspectives and goals. In addition companies are dividing the population into smaller and more refined target markets, often reaching them with specialized media and distribution channels. Although it is tempting to develop separate brand identity for each of these target segments it presents problems for both the brand and the customer. Since media audiences invariably overlap,

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customers are likely to be exposed to more than one identity relating to the same brand. The Coca-Cola ad featuring Aamir Khan is targeted at the retailers and the rural market while the ad featuring Aishwarya Rai and Vivek Oberoi is targeted at the urban consumers. As both these ads are going on simultaneously the consumers tend to be exposed to both the rural as well as the urban face of the brand. 4. COMPLEX BRANDING STRATEGIES AND RELATIONSHIPS Different identities of brands and their extensions make both brand building and managing it difficult. In addition to knowing its identity each brand needs to understand its role in each context in which it is involved. There is a tendency to use established brands in different contexts and roles because establishing a totally new brand is very expensive. The resulting new levels of complexity often are not anticipated or even acknowledged until there is a substantial problem.

Henko Compact and Henko Stain Champion both belong to the German firm Henkal. Although this is a line extension finding difference between both these products is not easy. A number of questions like Does the name stain champion mean Henko Compact does not remove stains? Or does it mean that Stain Champion is a technologically inferior product? often cross the consumers mind when they consider these brands for purchase. This is because the line extension and the relationship of one product with another in this strategy are not considered. 5. BIAS TOWARDS CHANGING STRATEGIES There are sometimes overwhelming internal pressures to change a brand identity and/or its execution while it is still effective or even before

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it achieves its potential. The resulting changes can undercut brand equity or prevent it from being established. Promise toothpaste tried to change its well set positioning and went in to emphasize the freshness aspect of its paste rather than the well-established clove oil aspect. As a result its sales went down. 6. BIAS AGAINST INNOVATION Companies managing a established brand can be so pleased with past and current success, and so preoccupied with day to day problems, that they become blind to competitive situations. By ignoring or minimizing fundamental changes in the competitive situation or potential

breakthroughs, managers leave their brands vulnerable and risk missing opportunities. A new competitor is thus often the source and beneficiary of true innovation.

Iodex became blinded and redundant after achieving the position of market leader and preferred to rest on its laurels rather than go in for product innovations and line extensions. As a result its leadership position was lost to Moov, which positioned itself as a remedy for backache and converted all the weaknesses of Iodex into its strengths.

Also Bata was the market leader for footwear but they did not adapt with the changing times. As a result their sales went down. Currently Liberty Footwear is the market leader. 7. PRESSURE TO INVEST ELSEWHERE When a brand is strong there is a temptation to reduce investment in the core business area in order to improve short-term performance or to

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fund new business diversifications. There is an often mistaken belief that the brand will not be damaged by sharp reductions in support and that the other investment opportunities are more attractive. Ironically the diversification that attracts these resources is often flawed because an acquired business was overvalued or because the organizations ability to manage a different business area was overestimated.

8. SHORT-TERM PRESSURES

Pressures for short-term results generally undermine investments in brands. There are several reasons for this:

1. There is wide acceptance that maximization of stockholder value should be the overriding objective of the firm. 2. Management style itself is dominated by a short-term orientation. Annual budgeting systems usually emphasize short-term sales, costs and profits. As a result brand-building programs are often sacrificed in order to meet those targets. 3. Short-term focus is created by performance measures available. Measurements of intangible assets such as brand equity, information technology or people are elusive at best. Also long term value of activities that will enhance or erode brand equity is difficult to demonstrate whereas short-term performances like impact of promotions can be tabulated easily. This results in debilitating bias towards short-term results.

46

It is true that that building brands is difficult. But it is doable as is evident by those who have done so. The greatest examples of this are brands like Titan, Coca Cola, Cadburys etc. We can thus see that it is possible to build strong brands by building, managing and maintaining the four assets that underlie brand equity-awareness, perceived quality, brand loyalty and brand association.

Many companies, especially while introducing a new product in the market find that sales cannot be sustained without constant advertising. Sales charts always show a meteoric rise post-advertising burst. Companies often rerun advertisement on different channels over the year to sustain the brand awareness and ensure that the consumers are exposed to the brand. Complan repeats the same TV commercials for different target markets over a period of time to ensure brand recall and visibility.

Factors Affecting Brand Awareness

Brand Awareness refers to the strength of a brands presence in the consumers mind. Awareness is measured according to the different ways in which consumers remember a brand, ranging from recognition to recall to top of the mind. Some of the major factors affecting brand awareness are: Brand Name: One of the most important factors affecting brand awareness is the brand name. Brand name plays an important part

47

in creating awareness for a brand. Also whether the name is really very meaningful or completely baseless they both affect brand awareness. Bacardi Breezers - flavored aerated vodka based drink Fevi Stik - adhesive Centre Shock chewing gum. Advertising: Advertising also helps to create Brand awareness in a big way. Take any brand name Fevicol, Vicks, Pepsi all have used ads for creating awareness among their consumers. Celebrity: - Another important factor affecting Brand awareness is the celebrities endorsing the Brand. Whenever you see a celebrity you love endorsing a brand you tend to propagate the Brand. Coca Cola experienced a tremendous increase in brand following post ad campaigns with Hrithik Roshan and Kaho Na Pyaar Hai. Parent Company:- To a large extent the parent company helps in promoting a brand. The parent company in many cases is so popular that its brand automatically become popular and people become aware about the product. TATA always promotes it brand with its name along with the brand such as TATA INDICA, TATA INDIGO, TATA SALT. Sales Promotions and Offers: - It also helps in making the consumers aware of the brand. Some of the sales promotion activities that companies carry out help them in a big way to make their target aware of the brand. Reliance India Mobiles Monsoon Hungama offer, wherein they offered their WLL services at an affordable price.

48

1st Mover Advantage: - Usually the company that enters a product category first has good awareness about its brand. Usually people tend to remember the first player to enter the market. Parle products BISLERI in the packaged water segment. Public Relations: - The coverage that the fourth estate and magazines provide a brand also helps in building awareness about a brand. The popularity of local restaurants such as J.W.Marriot has been boosted by the page 3 mentions in the Bombay Times supplement of The Times of India. Direct Selling: - Some of the companies use direct selling as a platform to create brand awareness. Eureka Forbes water filter AQUA GUARD. Peer Group Opinion: - Peer group opinion also plays an important part in the whole brand awareness exercise. Usually people tend to discuss a lot about the brand and tend to share their experiences or some recent ads they have seen which in turn increases brand awareness of their peers. When opting for cellular network services (irrespective of prepaid or billing), most people generally go by the opinions of their friends and colleagues. Recall Of Ads: - In some cases the brand awareness is also high due to specific ad recall, which is very high. Amaron battery advertisement of race between tortoise and rabbit with the tagline LAST LONG REALLY LONG.

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BRAND RECALL- A BRAND BUILDING CONCEPT

A brand (Bisleri) is said to have recall if it comes to consumers minds when its product class (mineral water) is mentioned. It indicates stronger brand position in the mind. Still at a higher level is the top of the mind recall; it is the brand, which comes first to the mind. The top of mind awareness indicates a relative superiority a brand enjoys above others. Sometimes a brand becomes so dominant that it becomes the only recalled brand in the product category. Very few brands are able to achieve dominance. The cases may include Johnson & Johnson baby powder, Dettol antiseptic, Colgate and Cadbury

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INDUSTRY ANALYSIS
FMCG INDUSTRY IN INDIA Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) goods are popularly named as consumer packaged goods. Items in this category include all consumables (other than groceries/pulses) people buy at regular intervals. The most common in the list are toilet soaps, detergents, shampoos, toothpaste, shaving products, shoe polish, packaged foodstuff, and household accessories extends to certain electronic goods. These items are meant for daily of frequent consumption and have a highreturn. The Indian FMCG sector is an important contributor to the countrys GDP. The FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector of Indian economy. The FMCG market is estimated to treble from its current figure in the coming decade.

The Indian FMCG sector is the fourth largest sector in the economy with a total market size in excess of $13.1 billion. It has a strong MNC presence and is characterized by a well established distribution network, intense competition between the organized and unorganized segments and low operational cost. Availability of key raw materials, cheaper labor costs and presence across the entire value chain gives India a competitive advantage. The FMCG market is set to treble from $11.6 billion in 2003 to $33.4 billion in 2015. Penetration level as well as per capita consumption in most product categories like jams, toothpaste, skin care, hair wash etc. in India is low indicating the untapped market potential. Burgeoning

51

Indian population, particularly the middle class and the rural segments, presents an opportunity to makers of branded products to convert consumers to branded products. Growth is also likely to come from consumer 'upgrading' in the matured product categories. With 200 million people expected to shift to processed and packaged food by 2010, India needs around $28 billion of investment in the foodprocessing industry. In this year when almost all the stocks have been tumbled heavily on the Dalal Street, the one sector which completely outperformed the market is FMCG. During last 52 weeks the SENSEX has lost by around 53%, while BSE FMCG has just lost by below 10%. Sensex witnessed strong bull market journey with almost 7 fold gains from 3000 in 2003 to 21000 in 2008, the FMCG did not match the Index equivalently but managed to follow the trend by almost 3.5 times gain for the same period. Now in a bear market scenario, the FMCG is bucking the trend which is a big sigh of relief for investors HUL led the way in revolutionizing the product, market, distribution and service formats of the FMCG industry by focusing on rural markets, direct distribution, creating new product, distribution and service formats. The FMCG sector also received a boost by government led initiatives in the 2003 budget such as the setting up of excise free zones in various parts of the country that witnessed firms moving away from outsourcing to manufacturing by investing in the zones. Though the absolute profit made on FMCG products is relatively small, they generally sell in large numbers and so the cumulative profit on such products can be large. Unlike some industries, such as automobiles, computers, and airlines, FMCG does not suffer from mass layoffs every

52

time the economy starts to dip. A person may put off buying a car but he will not put off having his dinner. Unlike other economy sectors, FMCG share float in a steady manner irrespective of global market dip, because they generally satisfy rather fundamental, as opposed to luxurious needs. The FMCG sector, which is growing at the rate of 9% is the fourth largest sector in the Indian Economy and is worth Rs.93000 crores. The main contributor, making up 32% of the sector, is the South Indian region. It is predicted that in the year 2010, the FMCG sector will be worth Rs.143000 crores. The sector being one of the biggest sectors of the Indian Economy provides up to 4 million jobs.

LIST OF FMCG COMPANIES IN INDIA

A. ADF Foods Ltd, Ajanta Soya Ltd, Apeejay Tea Ltd, Assam Company India Ltd. B. Bajaj Hindustan Ltd., Bambino Agro Inds. Ltd, Britannia Industries Ltd C. Camson Bio Technologies Ltd, ChamanLalSetia Exports

Ltd, Colgate-Palmolive (India) Ltd D. Dabur India Ltd, Dhunseri Tea &Inds. Ltd, Dollex Industries Ltd. E. Eastern Sugar &Inds. Ltd, EID-Parry (India) Ltd., Emami Ltd F. Flex Foods Ltd, Freshtrop Fruits Ltd G. GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Ltd, Godfrey Phillips India Limited, Godrej Consumer Products Limited, Gujarat Ambuja Exports Ltd H. Henkel India Ltd, Himalya International Ltd, Hindustan Unilever Limited I. IB Infotech Enterprises Ltd, Indian Sucrose Ltd, ITC Limited, IVP

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Ltd J. Jay Shree Tea &Inds. Ltd, JK Sugar Ltd K. Kesar Enterprises Ltd, Kohinoor Foods Ltd, Kwality Dairy (India) Ltd L. Longview Tea Company Ltd, Lotte India Corpn. Ltd.,Lotus Chocolate Company Ltd. M. Mohan Meakin Ltd, Mount Everest Mineral Water Ltd, Muller & Phipps (India) Ltd. N. Natraj Proteins Ltd, NEPC Agro Foods Ltd, Nestle India Ltd, Nirma Ltd O. Orient Beverages Ltd, Oudh Sugar Mills Ltd P. Parry Agro Inds. Ltd, Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care Limited Q. R. Rei Agro Ltd, RT Exports Ltd, RTCL Ltd, Ruchi Soya Inds. Ltd S. SampreNutritions Ltd, Simran Farms Ltd, Super Bakers (India) Ltd T. Tata Coffee Ltd, Tata Tea Limited, Temptation Foods Ltd, Triveni Engineering &Inds. Ltd U. United Breweries Limited,United Spirits Limited, Upper Ganges Sugar &Inds. Ltd V. Vadilal Enterprises Ltd, Venky'S (India) Ltd, Volga Air Technics Ltd. W. Warren Tea Ltd, Weikfield Products Company India Private Limited, Wellwin Industry Ltd. X. Y. Z. Zicom Electronic Security Systems Ltd., Zydus Wellness Ltd.

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TYPES OF FMCG COMPANIES

The FMCG sector consists of the following categories: 1. PERSONAL CARE
o

Oral care, Hair care, Wash (Soaps), Cosmetics and Toiletries, Deodorants and Perfumes, Paper products (Tissues, Diapers, Sanitary products) and Shoe care.

The major players being; Hindustan Lever Limited, Godrej Soaps, Colgate, Marico, Dabur and Procter & Gamble.

2. HOUSEHOLD CARE
o

Fabric wash (Laundry soaps and synthetic detergents), Household cleaners (Dish/Utensil/Floor/Toilet cleaners), Air fresheners, Insecticides and Mosquito repellants, Metal polish and Furniture polish.

The major players being; Hindustan Lever Limited, Nirma and Ricket Colman.

3. BRANDED AND PACKAGED FOODS AND BEVERAGES

o

Health beverages, Soft drinks, Staples/Cereals, Bakery products (Biscuits, Breads, Cakes), Snack foods,

Chocolates, Ice-creams, Tea, Coffee, Processed fruits, Processed vegetables, Processed meat, Branded flour, Bottled water, Branded rice, Branded sugar, Juices.
o

The major players being; Hindustan Lever Limited, Nestle, Coca-Cola, Cadbury, Pepsi and Dabur

4. SPIRITS AND TOBACCO

o

The major players being; ITC, Godfrey, Philips and UB

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RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN (FMCG) SECTOR FMCG sector is no doubt registering an up trend in growth. According to CNBC, FMCG sector growth story will continue because of the positive budget. Nevertheless, there are some barriers to the growth of the sector. Indirect taxes constitute no less than 35% of the total cost of consumer products - the highest in Asia. Last year, Finance Minister proposed to introduce an integrated Goods and Service Tax by April 2010.This is an exceptionally good move because the growth of consumption, production, and employment is directly proportionate to reduction in indirect taxes.

Budget 2011 for FMCG Sector

Focus on rural lending and increase in capital of rural banks will help farmers access cheap loans.

Various schemes for rural development will help improve the living standards in the rural area and help provide better access to the rural heartlands.

Readjustment of tax slabs will help increase the disposable income in the hands of consumers.

Concessional duties and exemption of service tax will help boost setting up of cold storages, cold units and refrigeration units..

Withdrawal of exemption on excise duty on various ayurvedic, paper and food items will increase their prices.

Imposition of 1% excise duty on various food products is a negative for companies like HUL, ITC, Nestle, Tata Tea, Tata

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Coffee etc.

Focus on rural spending is a big positive for most company as they have started targeting the rural sector. These

include HUL, ITC, Marico, Godrej, Dabur, etc

Spending on setting up warehousing and cold storages is a big positive as it helps provide better logistics and lowering of wastes. The companies which would benefit are Nestle, HUL, ITC, Britannia etc.

Branded flour market is highly unorganized is held by only a few major players Hindustan Godrej Agro

Lever - Annapurna brand

Pillsbury - Pillsbury

Tech - Healthy World Fresh

Nature ITC

- Aashirvaad Bhog

Shakti

While India has always been an attractive market because of its size, several factors have fuelled the MNCs' enthusiasm to enter the food industry now. Propelled by the increasing disposable income, the food sector has been witnessing a marked change in consumption pattern. Currently, India is the worlds second largest producer of food in the world and the food processing industry is the one of the largest industries in India. In terms

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of production, consumption, export and expected growth, India is ranked fifth in the world. Indias food industry is valued at US$ 180 billion of which the food processing industry is estimated at US$ 67 billion, according to a report Food Processing and Agri Business, done by KPMG. The industry size has been estimated at US$ 70 billion by the Ministry of Food Processing, Government of India. The food processing industry contributed 6.3 per cent to Indias GDP in 2003 and had a share of 6 per cent in total industrial production. The industry employs 1.6 million workers directly. The industry is estimated to be growing at 9-12 per cent during the period 2002 to 2007. Value addition of food products is expected to increase from the current 8 per cent to 35 per cent by the end of 2025. Fruit & vegetable processing, which is currently around 2 per cent of total production will increase to 10 per cent by 2010 and to 25 per cent by 2025. The highest share of processed food is in the dairy sector, where 37 per cent of the total produce is processed, of this only 15 per cent is processed by the organized sector. The food processing industry in the country is on track to ensure profitability in the coming decades. The sector is expected to attract phenomenal investments of about Rs 1,400 billion in the next decade. Exports Exports of agricultural products from India are expected to cross around US$ 22 billion mark by 2014 and account for 5 per cent of the worlds agriculture exports, according to the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).

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Exports of floriculture, fresh fruits and vegetables, processed fruits and vegetables, animal products, other processed foods and cereals stood at Rs 17728.71 from September 2010-2011, according to DGCIS annual data published by APEDA. India will be setting up a global platform for spice trade. The organization named World Spice Organisation (WSO) will be headquartered in the Kochi, Kerela. Spice related organizations across the world will be coordinating prices across the world and address the issue of food safety regulations through WSO. Spices The export of spices and spice-based value added products during AprilFebruary 2010-11 was US$ 1,323.28 compared to the US$ 1,063.44 in the same period last year. Fishery Fish production of the country has been growing continuously with improvement in productivity and utilization of untapped resources. The total fish production is 6.4 million metric tons (mmt) of which 3.4 mmt is inland and 3.0 mmt is marine production. The Fishery sector contributes about 1.21 per cent of the total GDP and 5.37 per cent of the GDP from agriculture sector and provides employment to 14 million people. Food Processing FDI inflows to Food Processing Industries has set a target of USD 25.07 billion to be achieved by 2015.

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Food processing industry is accounts for 32 per cent share in the entire food industry. It comprises of 2 per cent of fruits and vegetables and 15 per cent of processed milk. This industry contributes to 6.3 per cent of the GDP and about 13 per cent to export production. The food processing industry is expected to witness a growth of 10 per cent in the recent years to come. The food processing sector attracted US$ 130 million of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first eight months of the fiscal as compared to total FDI of US$ 1.2 billion. Besides attracting FDI through schemes like mega food park, the government has also extended several fiscal incentives during this financial year to enhance FDI in food processing sector, including full exemption from excise duty for specified equipments to preserve, store or transport apiary , horticultural, dairy, poultry, aquatic and marine produce and meat and its processing products. INDIA is one of the world's largest food producers, yet branded foods account for an inconsequential proportion. Among the various food industry segments, the largest is wheat. Estimates of the industry's size vary, but it is generally put at around Rs. 80,000 crores. This estimate may be far off the mark, but there is no disputing the Indian market's vastness for mass-consumption items such as wheat products. Considering the industry's size and low brand penetration, international giants have set their sights on the nascent Indian market for branded wheat products -- biscuits, breads, packaged atta and innovations such as chapattis.

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However, to ensure a full-fledged presence, companies still have to overcome huge obstacles. One, imports are unviable in the long-run. Indian food products are one of the cheapest in the world and competing with them based on a strategy of imports is an unviable proposition. The cost of labour is very low and even with a gradual decline in customs duties; imports of even the high-priced varieties are likely to remain out of the market's reach. There are constraints on having a manufacturing presence as well. With control still on raw materials, such as wheat and sugar, and a high import tariff regime, it would not be easy for manufacturing companies to control costs. Both these factors appear to give entrenched players an advantage. As for packaged atta, the idea of paying a price for hygiene has still to sink in the urban and rural markets. The demand explosion in India is predicated on the assumption that the customer mindset has to change. This will happen only when the price is right. In the last few years, customers worldwide have favored value-formoney options, resulting in a noticeable decline in the premium commanded by brands. The Indian consumer has always been priceconscious. Against this backdrop, pricing is the key issue to be resolved by these companies. This means companies have to investment substantially to absorb the losses initially. And the extent of these investments, by both established and new entrants, is likely to shape the future of the Indian wheat products business. The domestic branded atta market, estimated at 35,000-40,000 tonnes per month, is currently growing by around 25 per cent annually. The

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packaged and branded segment is largely dominated by multinationals, although there are also a few big domestic brands such as Shaktibhog, Lal Qila and Rose. Wheat constitutes a predominant part of staple food in India. Historically, there had been no branding of these cereals. A few players have started packaging and branding wheat flour and salt in the last few years. Although the relative share of branded vs. unbranded sales is currently minuscule, the sheer size of the market offers tremendous opportunity for growth.

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OBJECTIVE

The basic objective of this project is to have an insight of the Branded Atta Industry and to see what drives the big guns in such an industry which has gone untapped since years. An attempt is made to understand the consumer preference in such a product and what companies can do to get the desirable market share because the key here is volume. Also, we will try to see that what kind of new product launch in this category will give the companies an upper hand. India has always been an attractive market because of its size; several factors have fuelled the Big guns enthusiasm to enter the food industry now. The developments on the foreign direct investment front allowing companies to own 100 per cent in the food processing sector, the removal of the dividend balancing norms, the reservation of select segments in the food processing sector, has made a presence in the Indian market a feasible proposition.

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METHODOLOGY
The survey was conducted in Ghaziabad and the respondents were selected carefully so that the diverse culture of the town would help us to study the consumption of atta by different religion in different forms. Sampling: Judgment Sampling was selected for the purpose of sampling. Sample size The sample size was restricted to 100 respondents but a diverse sample was targeted. Method of Collection: The project demanded an extensive first hand data collection so primary data was major source of information but even secondary data through reliable sources played an important part in the completion of the project Tools for Survey: A structured questionnaire was used to collect data so that it would help in getting the best inputs in the project and a strategy could be formulated based on the database.

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ANALYSIS OF DATA

PRIMARY DATA ANALYSIS

The primary data collection is one of the major sources of information in such an industry because of diverse culture of respondents. The data collected through structured questionnaire reflects various facts regarding consumer behavior in relation to branded atta. MARKET BREAKUP Out of the total sample of 100 respondents from various locations all over the city and belonging to different communities 55% of respondent used chacki atta, 5% used home floor mill and remaining 40% used packaged atta.

Market Break up

Chacki Atta Home floor mill Packaged Atta

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BRAND PREFERENCE The data reflects that among the respondents using packaged atta, Aashirwad led the race with Annapurna with a equal preference of 35% each whereas, Pillsbury Shakti bhog, Nature fresh and some others like Roshan Atta finding their less preference.

Brand Preference

Annapurna Aashirwad Pillsbury Captain Cook Others

A look couple of years ago and it clearly showed that Pillsbury was a dominant player but the advantage of coming from the no 1 family of

FMCG has led the Annapurna to do a lot of catching. Due to its sheer strength of understanding the market and already established

distribution network, it has given Pillsbury and Captain Cook a run for their money.

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Consumption pattern of atta Though atta can be consumed in any way therefore the questionnaire was designed to study the overall average consumption of atta and the average stood at almost 4 kg per person per month. The main consumption of atta was during the lunch hours and 50% of the respondents consumed atta during lunch, 25% occasionally consumed atta during lunch hours & remaining 25% never consumed atta during lunch.

Consumption Pattern of Atta

Frequently Occasionally Never

60% of the respondents consumed atta frequently during dinners also reflecting the penetration of the product in the Indian market and also proving the fact why all the biggies are eyeing this industry. The consumption of atta during breakfast stood nominal with only 35% of respondents consuming frequently, 15% occasionally and 50% never consuming atta in breakfast.

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REASONS FOR USING CHACKI ATTA

This finding is a classification of different reasons given by respondents for using chacki atta which is a major threat to anyone eyeing the branded atta segment. The survey reflects the major perception of respondent regarding chacki atta and what is it that is restricting branded atta from penetrating the market.

SR.NO.

REASONS

PERCEPTION ABOUT CHACKI ATTA

1 2 3 4 5 6

QUALITY PRICE TASTE FRESHNESS ROLLABILITY CONVENIENCE

VERY GOOD ECONOMICAL GOOD EXTREMELY GOOD GOOD GOOD

As the table reflects chacki atta carries a very strong perception regarding quality because here the consumer goes through a

psychological process wherein he himself selects the wheat and is mentally satisfied because this has been in his tradition. Tangibility is a major issue here. The other major reason here is the price. The consumer in the whole chacki system has thorough control over price because depending on his financial position he selects the wheat and so controls the whole process whereas this liberty is not available to him in branded atta.

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The other reasons are the freshness and the taste. In the chacki system the whole control here is in the hand of the consumer because he has liberty of going to the chacki whenever he wants and thus control the freshness and the taste of the atta but the general perception about the packaged atta is that it is a long process of manufacturing and distribution and so the freshness of the atta may be at a risk. Convenience and roll ability are among the other reasons given by respondents in support of their using chacki atta. Hence the data reveals that it is very difficult to change the mindset of the customers regarding chacki atta.

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REASONS FOR USING PACKAGED ATTA:

The findings are a classification of the different reasons given by consumers for using packaged atta and their support for different qualities. The data reflects the various perceptions that the packaged atta users carry.

SR.NO.

REASONS

PERCEPTION ABOUT PACKAGED ATTA

1 2 3 4 5 6

QUALITY PRICE TASTE FRESHNESS ROLLABILITY CONVENIENCE

FAIR HIGH FAIR FAIR FAIR GOOD

As the data reveals that the packaged atta uses main reason for using it is the convenience part. As the country gets more and more modernized the penetration of women employment in the country is on the higher side and this is the reason where all time saving products will get the

edge and so will branded atta. The general perception of packaged atta is that it is not of good quality because the consumer does not get choice to select the wheat which he is addicted to do since decades. The price is also perceived to be on the higher side and so it is not a major incentive to attract consumers. The freshness and taste is also a matter of concern because the consumer does not know about the cycle of manufacturing and distribution

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REASONS FOR USING HOME FLOOR MILL ATTA:

The penetration of home floor mill is negligible because of high cost involvement of home floor machines but the consumers persisting on quality and who can afford such an investment are very difficult to be switched.

The table shows various advantages that a consumer perceives in home flour mill atta.

SR.NO.

REASONS

PERCEPTION ABOUT HOME FLOUR MILL ATTA

1 2 3 4 5 6

QUALITY PRICE TASTE FRESHNESS ROLLABILITY CONVENIENCE

HIGH QUALITY ECONOMICAL GOOD GOOD GOOD LOW

As the table shows that except the convenience part of it in each and every aspect the home flour mill gets an edge over packaged and chacki atta. The home flour mill atta consumers are very difficult to get switched because of the investment and perceptions of their users.

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Quality is the main reason for the users of home flour mill because the whole process of the atta manufacturing is in their own presence and the question of adulteration and malpractices does not arise.

After having a look at the various reasons which induce the consumers to choose among the 3 alternatives i.e. chacki atta, packaged atta, and home flour mill atta lets have a look at various other facts that were reflected through questionnaire.

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DECISION MAKER As the data reflected it is the housewife in family who decides between the alternatives of the atta i.e. chacki atta, packaged atta, and home flour mill atta. 78% of times it is the housewife who decides between the various alternatives of atta.

Decision Maker

Housewife Others

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ANALYSIS OF PACKAGED ATTA USERS

Packaged atta users as already discussed earlier are the consumers who have shifted from chacki atta. There are rarely any cases wherein one will find a shift of consumer from home flour mills to packaged atta. Reasons of shifting from chacki atta to packaged atta

Reasons for Shifting

Convenience Quality Brand Loyalty Cost

As the graph represents the major reasons for shifting from chacki atta to packaged atta is convenience. A house where almost both husband and wife are earners there is very less time for activities like selecting quality of wheat, going to the chacki and getting it grilled even there is the problem of storage of wheat. These are some of the major cause of inconvenience which leads to shift of consumer from chacki atta to branded atta. Quality of branded atta is perceived not as well as chacki atta because still the brands are not able to communicate trust to the user and until

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and unless this trust is achieved it would be very difficult for anyone to penetrate this market. Some other facts came out that the mere switching is out of the brand loyalty held in some other products. For e.g. the HLL brand Annapurna is doing well because of the family it comes from. Same is the case with Captain Cook whose brand loyalty is from the salt it manufactures and the trust it is able to build in other brands. Almost 10% of the respondents felt that the cost of branded atta was economical and hence they were induced to switch from chacki atta to branded atta. The other reason here is that the cost of branded atta remained stable throughout the year whereas the cost of the wheat depended on season and therefore was highly flexible. Annapurna and Aashirwad remained market leader with major respondents using them. The following graph represents usage of various brands.

Brand Preference

Annapurna Aashirwad Pillsbury Captain Cook Others

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Top of mind recall.

Top of mind recall

Annapurna Aashiwad Pillsbury Captain cook Others

As the graph represents the top of the mind recall for various brands Annapurna, Aashirwad & Pillsbury almost share equal recall in the minds of the respondents. Aashirwad has done a lot of catching by advertising a lot, using its strong Distribution network to the best.

Brand Switching A fact which would motivate any company to get into the kitchens of the consumers as fast as it could. Brand switching is very low in case of packaged Atta user. Almost 70% did not switch or even have tasted other brand and they remained loyal to already using brand. The rest 30% did switch their brand incase of unavailability of their demanded

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brand.

Brand Switching

No brand switching Brand switched

Advantage Of Packaged Atta over Chacki Atta The only advantage that the branded atta carries over chacki atta is that it has very high convenience factor and is a time saving product. Changes, most desired in Packaged Atta The changes demanded by consumers in their existing branded atta is they want the cost to be reduced and they want the atta to remain fresh for more longer time. Important of Packaging Packaging is a very important criteria for deciding which brand to purchase good packaging can induce decision in some brand`s favor.

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Almost 60% of the respondents felt that it is of utmost important and it did induce their buying decision. The main reason for laying importance to packaging is because it is a daily use product and no one would like to risk their family health due to negligence in packaging & thus hygiene.

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ANALYSIS OF CHACKI ATTA USERS

The chacki atta users make up the major part of the population. They should be the target of the packaged atta industry and so it is necessary to understand their habits and perception and design the whole manufacturing, marketing and other activities to suit them the best. The analysis of data of the chacki atta users is done below. Price of wheat.
50% 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 10-13 13-15 15-18 18-22

Rs Per Kg As the above graph indicates that the general price at which wheat is brought is between 15-18 and they should be the main target of the companies because it is between this price range that the packaged atta falls. The other price range which also has major users are the 13-15 category whereas the category of 10-13 & 18-22 has marginal users.

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Awareness of Packaged Atta among Chacki Atta Users The awareness of packaged atta does exist among the chacki atta users. Although the awareness is minimal but the consumers do know that there exist a branded atta segment and the major recall is of Aashirwad , Pillsbury & Annapurna brand. Over the years due to advertising, these brands have made a mark in the packaged atta industry & also developed awareness for them. Advantages of Chacki atta over branded atta.

Advantages of Chacki Atta

Convenience Quality Cost Hygiene

As the above diagram reflects Chacki Atta does score very high above branded atta in various aspects, but among the various aspects cost is the factor where chacki atta is very much ahead in the minds of the consumer. The other major factors are the hygienic and the Quality factors where consumer feels that they stand at an advantage over packaged atta.

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The other fact that reflected in the data was that when asked if given cost or quality advantage you would mind switching from chacki atta to branded atta? The following are the results.

Cost Advantage Shift

No Yes

Only 40% agreed to switch from Chacki atta to Packaged atta if given cost advantage whereas 60% would still stick to chacki atta provided they get the same quality which they are using at present. Another finding that was revealed in the data was that out of 40% of respondents who decide to switch to branded atta from chacki atta almost 75% were from the respondents who used Rs13-15 per kg wheat whereas the other category would not like to switch if given cost advantage.

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Quality Advantage Shift

Yes No

As far as the quality advantage shift is concerned 65% of the respondents would not mind switching from chacki atta to package to branded atta if given good quality.

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ANALYSIS OF HOME FLOUR MILL USERS

At this stage the home flour mill users are very nominal. There is some of the very quality conscious users who prefer home flour mill so that they control the whole process at home.

Reason for preferring home flour mill Atta

Quality Malpractices Convenience Cost

As the above graph indicates the main reason for using home flour mill atta is Quality, backed by malpractices. Malpractices are one of the main reasons because the chacki mill people are apt do such a thing. Almost a kg or 750gms are lost when we give 10kg wheat to grind. To avoid such malpractices some consumer switch to home flour mill. The negative sides of home flour mill are the high cost and inconvenience. A capital investment of almost Rs 8000 to 10000 is required when one decides to buy a home flour mill. Also there is a lot of inconvenience attached to home flour mill like maintenance, electricity

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cost, and noise pollution etc which restricts mass switch over to home flour mill. Also, People in Ghaziabad faced a lot of electricity problems & hence they dont want to get into all this business of home flour mills. However, the people who have been using the home flour mill atta users are very satisfied with the performance of their flour mill and at no point planning to switch to packaged atta even if given high quality or lower cost advantage. The satisfaction level of home flour mill is very high because of service level provided by this mill companies like Navdeep & others.

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CONCLUSION
The next logical step after having seen the findings is to analyze the findings to lead us to some concrete steps to be taken to build the brand, but even before that, just by looking at the findings, I have tried to make some conclusions. 1.) The market is heavily loaded in the favor of Chacki atta. Chacki atta is at least perceived to be the best atta as far as quality& freshness is concerned. 2.) We will have to provide the consumer chacki ka atta only and the big grinding mill ground atta will not do well. This is because even the miniscule percentage of people using packaged atta want their atta to be as close to the chacki atta as possible. 3.) The color, texture& packaging of the atta play a major role in the purchase decision. 4.) The packaged atta users are dissatisfied with the high prices and are looking forward to packaged atta convenience at chacki atta prices.

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ANALYSIS
After having seen the findings in detail we can now move on to analyze the findings and use them in the manner in which they can help us. The entire reason of undertaking this project was to understand the dynamics of the market which would help successfully launch a new brand of atta or reposition already existing atta with some additional features. When one is launching a new brand in any product category, the major emphasis is on ensuring that the newly launched brand enjoys some amount of brand equity. Thus we shall analyze the findings and suggest actions that need to be taken in order to build a strong brand.

Brand equity is a set of assets (and liabilities) linked to a brands name and symbol that adds to (or subtracts form) the value provided by a product or service to a firm and \ or that firms customers. The major asset categories are: 1. Brand awareness 2. Brand loyalty 3. Perceived quality 4. Brand associations Thus, the management of brand equity involves investment to create and enhance these assets. In order to manage brand equity effectively and to make informed decisions about brand building activities, it is important to be sensitive to ways in which strong brands create value.

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But when we consider the four brand equity assets, two fact come to the fore :Brand awareness will come with time and will infact be partly a result of successful endeavors in the requisite assets. Apart from that brand awareness will have to be established with constant advertising. In any case that is something which takes secondary priority as of now. Nevertheless some actions will have to be taken during (and even before) the product launch to create brand awareness, but these will not be a result of any analysis. Similarly, brand loyalty will come (or may not come) after trial and consequent satisfaction of the product by the consumer. In short these two assets do not require to be dealt with in the form of analysis of findings. Thus our focus will have to be on perceived quality and brand associations. Perceived quality Perceived quality can be defined as the customers perception of the overall quality or superiority of the product or service with respect to its intended purpose, relative to alternatives. Perceived quality is, first, a perception by customers. It thus differs from several related concepts, such as:

Actual or objective quality Product based quality Manufacturing quality

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Perceived quality provides value in several ways. They are: 1.) Reason to buy 2.) Differentiate/position 3.) Price premium 4.) Channel member interest 5.) Brand extensions Even when we consider the case of our atta, each of the values will be provided to the atta by the perception of quality. And hence it becomes important for us to see ways in which we can build this perception of quality. Achieving perceptions of quality is usually impossible unless the quality claim has substance. Generating high quality requires an understanding of what quality means to customer segments. Now this where our findings will come in handy. But before dwelling into that it is necessary to consider what influences quality. Why do some customers believe that the quality is high or low? What attributes do customers use to make overall quality judgments? Thus we need to study the dimensions that underlie a perceived quality judgement. Harvards David a. Garvin suggests seven product quality dimensions. These are:

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1. Performance: how well does our atta makes rotis? 2. Features: does the atta have additional desirable features? 3. Conformance with specifications: what is the incidence of defects? 4. Reliability: will the atta make good rotis every time it is used? 5. Durability: how long will the atta last? 6. Serviceability: is the service system efficient, competent, and convenient? 7. Fit and finish: does the product look and feel like a quality product? Thus we shall use our findings to ascertain each of the above dimensions by answering these questions. Performance: now the primary function of an atta is to make good soft rotis and as we know that most of the chacki atta users give priority to quality of atta and also to the hygienic part of chacki atta. Also this bit of good rotis is not the reason for packaged atta users. Thus we will have to give them good soft atta which makes good rotis. The fact that such atta will have to be chacki made atta is another interesting fact. Conformance with specifications and reliability: In our case these mean that our atta will have to consistently prove to be as good as chacki atta.

Serviceability: In our case this would mean strong distribution. Fit & Finish:

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For this we need to look at the changes that the packaged atta users desired. Price Another variable that can be an important quality cue is price. A high priced item is almost always associated with good quality. So this brings us to the important topic of Pricing. Though a high price can translate into good quality we need to keep in mind the following facts: It is an entirely new brand It comes from a company which is relatively unknown And finally & importantly, most of the packaged atta users & satisfied chacki atta users want a reduction in price. At the same time a lesser price than competitors would translate as cheap quality. Thus it will be advisable to go for Competitive Pricing. After discussing Perceived Quality at length we shall shift our focus to the other asset of brand equity i.e. Brand Association. BRAND ASSOCIATION Brand Equity is supported in great part by the associations that consumers make with a brand. These associations might include product attributes, a celebrity spokesperson or a particular symbol. Brand associations want the brand to stand for in the customers mind. A key to building strong brands, then, is to develop & implement a brand identity. Brand identity is a unique set of brand associations that a brand strategist aspires to create or maintain. These associations represent

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what the brand stands for & imply a promise to customers from the organization members.. After this we come to the Brand Identity system. To help ensure that the brand identity has texture & depth, a firm should consider its brand as: 1. A product 2. An organization 3. A person 4. A symbol The perspectives are very different. Now every brand identity needs to employ all or even several of these perspectives. The brand organization perspective focuses on attributes of the organization rather than those of the product or service. Such organizational attributes as innovation, a drive for quality and concern for the environment are created by the people, culture, values, & programs of the company. The brand as person perspective suggests a brand that is richer & more interesting than one based on product attributes. But here again the idea of finding a person to be associated for a brand that is yet unknown is not accepted. We should remember that we are in process of building a brand & as such the brand as person as well as the brand as symbol association is not the right approach. Thus it seems to be worthwhile to go for the perspective of the brand as a product. The product scope dimension says that the core element of a brands identity is usually its product thrust, which will affect the type of

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associations that are desirable & feasible. With what product or products is the brand associated?

The quality element is one product related attribute important enough to be considered separately. But the problem again is that there has not been any inducement to trial & we are still trying to build the Perceived Quality asset. Similarly association with use, users & Country of origin are dimensions which are irrelevant in our case. This brings us to the product attributes dimension. Attributes directly related to the purchase or use of the product can provide functional benefits and sometimes emotional benefits to the customers a product related attribute could create a value proposition by offering something extra or by offering something better. Thus we will have build an association of the brand with the product atta & further we will have to strive to associate our product with some attribute . This can be our brand identity. This brand identity will initially form the Core identity of our brand as being healthy & will eventually lead to some extended identities. After all this the bottom line is: The brand identity needs to provide a value proposition to the customer. Brands value proposition is a statement of the functional, emotional & self expressive benefits delivered by the brand that provide value to the customer.

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We can see that the functional benefits that our product will deliver will be: rich healthy atta, which is of the right colour & which, makes good soft rotis, which stay soft longer. The emotional benefit delivered will be of feeling safe with a healthier atta. The self expressive benefit will be delivered to the housewife who will express her concern for her family by buying an atta, which is healthy & economical. Thus, finally with theses endeavors we can hope to achieve a Brand Customer relationship. With an identity in place & a value proposition specified, implementation begins. Communication objectives need to be established & execution planned & implemented. The place to start is with the brand position statement the cornerstone of the communications program. When a brand position exists, the brand identity & value propositions can be developed fully. Brand position is the part of the brand identity & value proposition that is to be actively communicated to the target audience & that demonstrates an advantage over competing brands. Brand Positioning, as described by Al Ries & Jack Trout, is a mind game. They describe positioning as a perception in the minds of the consumer about your product. Thus positioning is where in the consumer mind space does your brand figure. Now obviously while brand a unique & favourable position in the consumers mind space.

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Thus to do this we need to study the consumer mind space with respect to that product category. This is done through Perceptual Mapping. We know from our Findings that the chacki atta users cite Quality of the atta as the main reason for using chacki atta & the packaged atta users cite convenience as the main reason. Thus we shall work our perceptual map around these two axes.

As can be seen Chacki atta takes a position of high on quality but low on convenience. Most of the packaged atta are clustered around the same place as seen in the perceptual map. Pillsbury atta due to its strong position as chacki atta goes higher in the quality axis. But the point to be noted is that on the convenience axis not much can be differentiated between the different brands. This means that we cannot play on the convenience position at all simply because all the packaged attas are convenient. Also we cannot immediately fight with the chacki atta on the quality position as the sit high up (not more than Pillsbury at least). Thus we realize the fallacy of this perceptual map. Since we are not

contesting with the chacki class for space immediately we shall our focus to making a perceptual map for the different brands.

The most strategically logical position will not be worth implementing if a brilliant execution cannot be found. Thus the onus lies on the communication to carry the desired position across to the consumer. Whether this is done or not should be found out regularly & this is called Tracking. But as is clear implementation & tracking is purely a communication domain & is out of the purview of this project.

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Thus we have worked through the entire gamut of activities needed to build brand equity & have decided on certain facts. Since it is yet not comprehensive we can only venture to make certain suggestions for the Brand.

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SUGGESTIONS
Finally, after having analyzed the findings in some detail, we are in a position to make a few suggestions as to the actions to be taken towards building the brand & successfully launching the new product & brand. Suggestion 1. Organize housewives kitty parties & gatherings & ask them to use & try the product for the party. This will serve the dual purpose of trial & feedback & thus can be done even before the launch as a method of test launching. 2. Have test launch with various office canteens where the shift would be fast because the key attribute to them is the cost and if the response is positive then offer tie-ups wherein a contract can be signed which would be a win-win situation for both the canteen as well as the company. 3. Create more awareness among the public about the quality of the branded atta with the help of various tools of communication. 4. Create awareness about the various malpractices done by chacki operators and how adulteration is done by them. 5. Provide some more value to the product with giving some freebies and also sharing various recepies with consumer. 6. Communicate atta as a time saving product because time saving products are call for the day.

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QUESTIONNAIRE THROUGH WHICH DATA WAS COLLECTED

Dear Sir/Madam, It is my pleasure to take this opportunity to reach you all through this questionnaire. I hope with your expert knowledge this project would be a success.

Name: Age: Occupation: No of Members in Family: Monthly Consumption of Atta: Caste: Religion: No Of time Consumption of Atta (in any form) in a day: (1) Breakfast (2) Lunch (3) Dinner frequently occasionally never ( tick wherever applicable) Current Usage: Packaged Atta [ ] Chacki Atta [ ] Home chacki Atta [ ]

If using Packaged Atta please answer the following questions. (1) Whose decision was it to go for packaged atta?

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(2) What were you using before using packaged atta?

(3) Any major reason for switching to packaged atta? [ ] convenience [ ] quality [ ] brand loyalty [ ] cost [ ] others please specify ______________ (4) Which is your current brand?

(5) Which other brand are you aware of?

(6) Have you ever used any other branded atta? [ ] Yes [ ] No

(7) What advantage do you think does your brand give over any other brand of branded atta? [ ] convenience [ ] quality [ ] brand loyalty [ ] cost [ ] others please specify __________ (8) What advantage do you think does your brand give over chaki atta? [ ] convenience [ ] quality [ ] brand loyalty [ ] cost [ ] others please specify __________ (9) If asked as an expert what other changes would you suggest to your current brand?

(10) If other brands implement the above changes would you switch your brand?

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(11) Do you give importance to the package designing of branded atta? [ ] Yes [ ] No

If using Chaki Atta please answer the following questions (1) At what price do you buy wheat? [ ] 10-13 [ ] 13-15 [ ] 15-18 [ ]18-22 [ ]>22

(2) Are you aware of branded atta? [ ] Yes [ ]No

(3) Which brand are you able to recollect if you are aware of branded atta?

(4) According to you what advantage does chaki atta have above branded atta? [ ] convenience [ ] quality [ ] hygienic [ ] cost [ ] others please specify __________ (5) If given Cost Advantage would you switch from chaki atta to branded atta? [ ] Yes [ ] No

(6) If given Quality Advantage would you switch from chaki atta to branded atta? [ ] Yes [ ] No

If using Personal floor mill please answer the following questions.

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(1) Why did you go for Personal floor mill? [ ] convenience [ ] quality [ ] hygienic [ ] cost [ ] malpractices [ ] others please specify__________ (2) Are you aware of branded atta? [ ] Yes [ ] No

(3) Which brand are you able to recollect if you are aware of branded atta?

(4) If given Cost Advantage would you switch from Personal floor mill atta to branded atta? [ ] Yes [ ] No

(5) If given Quality Advantage would you switch from Personal floor mill atta to branded atta? [ ] Yes [ ] No

(7) Are you satisfied with performance of your personal floor mill? [ ] Yes [ ] No

I thank you for sharing your valuable time and knowledge patiently.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. MARKETING MANAGEMENT : PHILIP KOTLER 2. http://www.naukrihub.com/india/fmcg/overview/branded-flour/ 3. Wikipedia.org 4. www.fibre2fashion.com 5. www.drypen.in 6. www.Smallbusinessnotes.in 7. www.Indiainfoline.com 8. www.marketing.about.com