A Project

On

“To study the brand building activities of the paint company Asian Paint India Ltd (APIL).”

Being Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Degree of

M.B.A. – FINANCE For the Course

MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Submitted by: Submitted to: Mahendra Singh Garva

Dr. Archi Mathur

M.B.A- Finance Semester- II. Roll no. 245

Faculty in charge, Marketing Management.

FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT STUDIESNATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, JODHPUR

JANUARY- 2010

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Index

Serial no. Chapter Index

a. Executive Summary

b. Objectives

c. Research Methodology

1. Introduction : Brand building activity 1

2. Introduction : A) Industry structure and Environment

B) Asian Paint India Limited

3

3. Marketing Strategies 9

4. Data Tabulation and analysis 17

5. Conclusion 30

6. Recommendations 31

7. Limitations 33

8. Bibliography 34

Annexure –I

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Acknowledgement

As anyone who has written a project work, or research work, it is quite impossible to

acknowledge by name every individual who has played some part in this work. I feel it difficult to express

in words my profound sense of gratitude to most respected persons who helped me to make this work

possible.

I acknowledge my gratitude to respected faculty Dr. Archi Mathur for having laid the foundation

of the work by providing the skeleton upon which this skinny body of project is wrapped up and who

have been kind enough to suggest improvement of this work and make it broad, based.

An ample use of various reference readings has been very frequently made while compiling data

for this project. Such rich reading has been made available at hand by the treasure-like well maintained

library of the National Law University, Jodhpur. I am very much grateful to the library staff of the

university for their unfailing co-operation.

I am very much under obligation to mention here, the contributions of my batch mates who have,

knowingly or unknowingly, provided me the competitive edge which is the driving force of the whole

labour and extra labour put into the project.

Finally, I feel very much gratified to the administration of the National Law University, Jodhpur

for providing comfortable environment, rich infrastructure and the accessibility to internet without which

it is not possible to imagine the completion of this project work.

Above all, mention has to be made of the Almighty God for continuously blessing me and my

whole family and friends to whom I owe my very existence.

Mahendra singh garva

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Asian Paints (AP) Limited is an out-an-out Indian firm in the paint industry that manufactures and

markets a wide spectrum of decorative as well as industrial paints. Though it had a corporate position of a

focused national paint company by catering to industrial and household customers in Indian market in the

past, it has been systematically repositioning itself in the recent years to become a global player by

entering into a number of other country markets.

At present industry requires highest efficiency in physical distribution as companies not working on

operational efficiency business models have been losing. On account of this, companies need to invest in

sophisticated Supply-Chain Management tools. Companies need to work on improving internal

efficiencies to retain profits which are under pressure on account of dropping prices. The customer

(retailer for the company) is seen to be dictating terms so companies have no choice but to lure more

customers through incentives. At the same time, companies also need to attract final consumers by

offering value-added services.

So we came up with the following recommendations: To take up trade promotions, to build up relations

with the intermediaries, a need to improve current inventory levels to cut down costs, a need to promote

sub brands so as to increase subbrand awareness among the customers, improve advertising strategies for

targeting female customers who have assumed a greater role in decision-making and a need to expand in

industrial segment by forming strategic partnerships to take advantage of the upcoming industrial growth

at national and regional levels. The purpose and scope of project is to study, analyze and understand the

business and marketing practices of Asian Paints India Limited. In order to achieve this objective,

following stages were identified –

Chapter one deals with the whole environment which can influence the company

Chapter two deals with The Origin, History of the company, its growth and brand building activity

Chapter three provides data collected through field study and graphical representation of that data

Chapter four provides analysis of collected data and to find out effect of various parameters on the market

success of APIL

Chapter five provides conclusion of this work

Chapter six provides various recommendations about brand building activity for APIL.

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RESEARCH OBEJECTIVES:-

1. To identify and analyse the activities related to brand building for Asian Paint.

2. To study the impact of the Brand building activities on the consumer.

3. To suggest ways to enhance the brand building activities.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY : -

My research methodology will be doctrinal as well as non-doctrinal in nature. The data will be

both primary as well as secondary. The survey will be conducted by the means of questionnaire

in which various questions on the topic will be posed. Information would be collected and data

would be tabulated, analysis and recommendation will be made

CHAPTER-1

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Brand Building Activity

Brand: What is it?

A brand is a collection of feelings toward an economic producer; more specifically, it refers to the

concrete symbols for those feelings, such as a name and design scheme. Feelings are created by the

accumulation of experiences with the specific product or service, both directly relating to its use, and

through the influence of advertising, design, and media commentary. A brand is a symbolic embodiment

of all the information connected to a company, product or service. A brand serves to create associations

and expectations among products made by a producer. Brand expert Dr Nicholas Eberl defines a brand as

"the premium which it demands as compared to similar products or services". A brand often includes an

explicit logo, fonts, color schemes, symbols, which are developed to represent implicit values, ideas, and

even personality.

Brand Identity:-

Brand Identity includes brand names, logos, positioning, brand associations, and brand personality, brand

toons etc. A good brand name gives a good first impression and evokes positive associations with the

brand. A positioning statement tells what business the company is in, what benefits it provides and why it

is better than the completion? Brand personality adds emotion, culture and myth to brand identity by the

use of a famous spokesperson (Bill Cosby- Jello), a character (Pink Panther), an animal (the Merrill lynch

bull) etc.

Tools for Building Brands

Brand builders use a set of tools to strengthen and project the brand image; Strong brands typically

exhibit an owned word, a slogan, a color, a symbol, and set of stories.

Owned Word

A strong brand name should trigger another word, a favorable one.

Slogan

Many companies successfully added a slogan or tagline to their brand name which is repeated in every ad

they use. Here are some well-known brands slogans, which people on the street may easily recall or

recognize.

Colors

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It helps for a company or a brand to use a consistent set of color to and in the brand recognition.

Caterpillar paints all its construction equipments yellow.

Symbols and Logos

Companies would be wise to adapt a symbol or logo to use in their communications. Many companies

hire a well-known spokesperson, hoping that his or her quality transfer to the brand. Sporting goods

manufacturers sign contracts with top athletes to serve as their symbols, even naming the product after

them.

Cartoons and Animations

A less expensive approach is to develop a character, animated, to etch the brand’s image into

customer’s mind. The advertising agency Leo Burnett has successfully created a number of

memorable animated characters.

Objects

Still another approach is to choose an object to represent a company or brand. Companies have developed

many logos or abstracts, which are easily remembered by people. Even the way the brand name is written

makes a brand recognizable and memorable.

Measuring Brand Effectiveness

There are many metrics to measure the potential of and actual effectiveness of brands. The simplest way

is to apply the concept of what we call the 4 D’s of Branding; differentiation, distinctiveness, defendable,

digit-able.

Distinctiveness

Your brand should be distinct when compared to your competitors and to all spoken and visual

communications to which your target audiences will be exposed. The more unique and distinct your

communications, the wider the field of effective competitive strength it will have. There are simple means

to apply to test the distinctiveness of your brand.

Differentiation:

The brand strategy and brand assets must set you’re offering apart and clearly articulate the specific

positioning intent of your offering.

Defendable:

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You will be investing in creating your brand assets and in all cases your brand must have proprietary

strength to keep others from using close approximations. This applies to your trade names and other

proprietary words as well as to your logos, symbols and other visual assets.

Digit-able:

In most businesses there is strong and growing element of electronic communications and commerce that

dictate all brand assets be leveraged effectively in tactile and electronics form. This goes for all brand

assets.

Much of the brand manager’s work is to build a brand image. But its job doesn’t stop there. The brand

manager needs to make sure that brand experience matches the brand image. Much can go wrong. A fine

brand of canned soup described in a full page color ad may be found in dented and dusty condition in the

bottom shelf of a supermarket. The ad describing a gracious hotel chain is belied by the behavior of a

surly concierge. Building brand therefore calls for more than brand image building. It calls for managing

every brand contact that customer might have with brand. Since all the employees, distributors and

dealers can affect brand experience.

CHAPTER TWO

1. Introduction of Industry structure and Environment

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1.1. Industry Structure:-

Indian Paint Industry is over 1000 years old. Its beginning can be traced back to the setting up of a

factory by Shalimar paints in Calcutta back in 1902. Till the Second World War the industry consisted of

small producers and two foreign companies. After the war, the imports stopped which led to the setting up

of manufacturing facilities by local entrepreneurs. Still the foreign companies continued to dominate the

market, which in a way is the current scenario as well. The initial decades saw the complete dominance of

British Paint companies such as Goodlass Walls (now Goodlass Nerolac), ICI, British Paints (now Berger

Paints), Jenson & Nicholson and Blundell & Eomite.

The Indian Paints sector is valued at Rs 6,800 crores in value terms and is very fragmented. The current

demand is estimated to be around 650,000 tonnes per annum and is seasonal in nature. The per capita

consumption of paints in India stands at 1.0-kg p.a. as compared to 1.6 kg in hina and 22 kg in the

developed economies. India's share in the world paint market is just 0.6%. The Indian Paint industry can

be divided as:-

The organized sector comprising of large and medium size units

The unorganized or the small scale sector.

There are now twelve players in the organized sector with a market share of 70%. This is in contrast to

the 55% share that the sector commanded a few years back. Major companies in this segment include

Asian Paints (44% market share), Berger Paints (17% market share), ICI (12% market share), Goodlass

Nerolac (15% market share), Jenson Nicholson (6% market share), Shalimar Paints and Rajdoot Paints.

The organized sector has grown at a CAGR of 11.5% in the last five years. The unorganized sector

comprising of over 2000 units has a combined market share of around 30%. The major players are Asian

Paints, Goodlass Nerolac, Berger, ICI and Shalimar. Recently, world leaders like Akzo Noble, PPG,

Dupont and BASF have set up base in India with product ranges such as auto refinishes, powders and

industrial coatings. Kansai Paints of Japan, which entered into collaboration with Goodlass Nerolac in

1984, is now the holding company for Goodlass Nerolac with 64.52 % equity holding. PPG has a joint

venture with Asian Paints to manufacture industrial coatings. Jenson & Nicholson and Snowcem India are

no longer active players because of dwindling sales in recent years.

In the 1990s, helped by a growing economy, the paint industry had recorded a healthy growth of 12-13 %

annually. This was mainly due to a drastic reduction in excise from a staggering 40% to 16%. However,

the growth was restricted in 2000-03 to single digits. There was a revival in 2003-2004 with a robust

growth of 13%. The per capita consumption of paint in India is 700 grams against 19 kg in the U.S., and

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2.7 kg and 5.8 kg in other developing countries like China and Brazil. As the consumption goes with

affordability, the low Indian figure is not a surprise.

High excise duties, low technology and low capital costs for production led to the incidence of a high

number of units in the small scale sector. However, since 1992 the government has been consistently

lowering duties from 40.5% in 1992 to around 16% currently. This has led to lowering of price

differential between the organized and unorganized sector. Moreover the paints sector was also allowed to

claim MODVAT credit on petro-based products, thus lowering the excise incidence further.

The industrial paints segment due to specialized technology and high capital expenditure attracts fewer

players. Most Indian companies have tied up with or are in the process of tying up with international paint

majors to have access to the latest technology. A tie-up with a global paint manufacturer also enables the

domestic company to supply to local customers of its partner. For example, Goodlass Nerolac is a major

supplier to Maruti Suzuki because of Kansai, its Japanese collaborator and Suzuki relations. It is for the

same reason that Asian Paints (tie-up with PPG Industries, USA) is a major supplier of paints to Opel

Astra.

1.2Environment:-

The chief competitors to Asian Paints are – Goodlass Nerolac, Berger Paints, ICI and

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Shalimar. In order to understand the environment, we need to look at each of the competitors.

Goodlass Nerolac

This company’s paint decors every third car in the country. It is the market leader in the

industrial paint segment supplying over 90% of the requirements and has planned to increase its

presence in the decorative segment through aggressive new product development and brand

building. They are the second largest company in India in the decorative segment with a market

share of around 20%. They are the leaders in powder coatings.

Goodlass Nerolac Paints Ltd is a subsidiary of Kansai Paint Company Limited, which is the

largest paint manufacturing company in Japan and among the top ten coating companies of the

world, with a human asset of over 1900 professionals and a sales turnover of Rs. 925 crores.

Goodlass Nerolac Paints Ltd. became a part of the Tata Forbes Group on acquisition of a part of

the foreign shareholdings by Forbes Gokak. In 1983, Goodlass Nerolac Paints Ltd. strengthened

itself by entering in technical collaboration agreements with Kansai Paints Co. Ltd., Japan and

Nihon Tokushu Toryo Co. Ltd., Japan. In 1986, Goodlass Nerolac Paints Ltd. turned into a joint

venture of the Tata Forbes and the Kansai Paints with the latter acquiring 36% of its share

capital. In 1999, Kansai Paints Company Ltd., Japan took over the entire stake of Tata Forbes

group. During this journey, Nerolac has entered into technical collaborations with other industry

leaders such as E.I. Du-Pont de Nemours & Company Inc., USA and Oshima Kogya Company

Ltd., Japan for different products.

Berger Paints

This company started in 1947 as British Paints when it acquired Hadfield's (India) Limited, a

paint company that produced 150 tonnes of ready mixed stiff paints, varnishes and distempers.

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46.9%20.3%

17.3%11.1% 0.4%

3.9%

Asian Paints Nerolac Berger ICI J & N Shalimar

Sales offices were opened in Delhi and Mumbai and in 1951 a depot was started in Guwahati.

Sales rose to Rs.60 lakhs in 1952.

In 1990’s, ‘Berger Pro Links’, a service aimed at providing paint and application related

information to professionals, was introduced marking one of the first steps into painting related

services. The sales of the company touched 276 crores by 1995-96. The latter half of the nineties

saw Berger attain the ISO - 9000 certification (1996) and establishment of Berger's Quality

Management System. Color Bank tinting system was also launched through which the consumer

can select from a range of over 5000 colors and which are then made available in minutes.

As part of its expansion program, a new paint-manufacturing unit at Pondicherry was

commissioned in early 1997. Berger Paints Home Decor a complete painting solution service

was launched making painting a hassle free activity for consumers. Illusions multi chrome

finishes was also introduced as "designer finishes for walls" allowing consumers to transform

their walls into fashion statements. This is a first for the Indian paint industry.

ICI

ICI India was the subsidiary of the $15 billion British multinational company ICI Plc. Brunner

Mond & Co., one of the four Companies that combined to form ICI in UK in 1926, opened a

trading office to sell alkalis and dyes in Calcutta. In 1923, Brunner Mond & Co. (India) was

incorporated and the company's name was subsequently changed to Imperial Chemical Industries

(India) Ltd., in 1929. ICI (India) ranked No. 4 in the paint business, after Asian Paints, Goodlass

Nerolac Paints and Berger Paints. Unlike the other paint companies ICI (India) was a diversified

unit and paint constituted 43% of its net sales. ICI (India)’s turnover in 1996-97 was $180

million and paint amounted to $77.4 million.

ICI identified paints as a thrust area and was aggressively moving to improve their position.

They invested $11 million in a new decorative paints plant near Bombay and were constructing a

$16.7 million plant for industrial paints near Chandigarh in North India. ICI (India) intends to go

on an offensive with a target of achieving ten-fold growth in 10 years. The ‘10X Plan’, as it was

called, envisaged a strategy based on acquisitions, take-overs and alliances.

2 Asian Paints India Limited (APIL)

I. Company History (APIL):-

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In 1942, four partners got together to manufacture paint in a garage in Bombay.

The company was named Asian Oil and Paint Company; a name picked at random from a

telephone directory. Up against giant international paint companies, Asian Paints hit on the

innovative marketing strategy of reaching consumers in the remotest corners of the country with

its small, conveniently sized packs. During the 1950’s the company grew from being a family-

managed, small-time paint manufacturer to a professionally managed organization competing

with the best companies in the world. By 1967, through innovative R&D and ambitious grass-

roots marketing, forming strong relationships with thousands of paint dealers in small towns all

over India, the company jolted its multinational competitors by emerging as India’s number one

paint company. For the next thirty years they maintained their position as market leader through

Excellent marketing

Intensive distribution, and

Leadership in Information Technology

In 1996-97 the total sales of Asian Paints reached $175 million, almost double that of Goodlass

Nerolac Paints, (1996-97 sales $94 million) the number two paint company in the country and

Asian Paints continues to be a market leader in the decorative paints segment till date. In 1998,

the company embarked on a major restructuring strategy under the guidance of management

consultants, Booz Allen & Hamilton. The restructuring was done to bring greater focus to its

business, improve efficiencies, control cost and strengthen its leadership position. After the

completion of the restructuring, the vision for the company was stated. The company is

committed to realizing its vision and has chartered a complete plan of action for realizing its

vision. At present, Asian Paints is one of the ten largest decorative paint companies in the world,

and is largest exporter exporting directly to 20 countries. Recently, it changed its name to Asian

Paints Limited as a part of its global strategy. Asian Paints is one of top 10 decorative coating

companies in the world. Along with its subsidiaries, it now has 29 paint manufacturing facilities

in 22 countries, spread across the world.

Chapter -3

Marketing strategies

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All the paint brands produce industrial paints like epoxy based paints, metal primers,

polyurethane coatings, etc. For the next thirty years they maintained their position as market

leader through a four pronged strategy –

a) Excellent marketing b) Intensive distribution

c) Leadership in Information Technology, d).Recruitment of young management

professionals.

1. Products:- The products of the paint industry can be classified into two major segments

Decorative (architectural) paints

Industrial paints

Decorative paints:-

Decorative paints are used in protecting valuable assets like

buildings, the industrial paints are used for protection against corrosion and rust to steel

structures, on vehicles, white goods and appliances. The decorative paint segment can be

classified into interior paints and exterior or cement paints. 80% of the decorative paint segment

(about Rs. 3640 crores in the organized sector) accounts for interior paints, which consists of

premium, medium and economy categories. The premium category consists of plastic emulsions,

the medium-priced category consists of synthetic enamels and the economy category consists of

distempers.

Competition is high and margins tend to be low in this segment. Products of this segment are

relatively price sensitive. Asian Paints is the market leader in this segment. Demand for

decorative paints is seasonal with bulk of sales taking place during the festival seasons from

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September to December. Besides, sales remain slack during the monsoon months from June to

August.

Entry barriers in terms of technological and funds requirements are relatively lower in the paints

sector. It is estimated that a plant of 1 m tpa will cost around Rs 120 m. However decorative

paints are marketing-savvy products and backed by large advertisement campaigns and

dealership networks. These serve as high cost entry barriers for new companies in this business.

The huge investments required in setting up a vast marketing and dealership network, to

advertise and develop a brand over a period of time can only be afforded by companies in the

organized sector. It is for this reason that smaller companies and small scale sector units are

slowly losing market share to the organized sector.

Industrial Paints:-

Industrial paints comprising 30% of the market include automotive

paints, high performance coatings, coil coatings, powder coatings, marine paints and general

industrial coatings. The automotive segment is further bifurcated into OEMs and auto refinishes.

The automotive and general industrial coatings occupy top slot in terms of production. Goodlass

Nerolac is the market leader in this segment.

Demand for these paints is relatively price inelastic, but is prone to business cycles and depends

on industrial and economic growth. Major end user industries include shipping, capital goods,

white goods and heavy industries.

2. Price

In the paints industry price is the used only as a differentiator between the various segments in

the same product line. The prices of different brands in the same segment remain more or less

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similar, with just a difference of 30 to 40 paisa per square feet. Some of the specialty products,

which are not produced by all brands, may be priced at a higher price. Pricing decisions in the

paint industry largely depend on the price of the inputs like petro products, other raw materials,

excise duties and taxes and the general operating profits. Generally increase or decrease of prices

is affected across all brands in the market.

Most of the paint companies offer a 5% margin to the dealer. Due to internal competition, the

dealers pass on this advantage to the customers by reducing their own margins to 2- 3%. This is a

cause of concern for the paint companies because they have to keep a constant check on the

prices offered in the market. The dealers offer more of discounts and the companies are not able

to firm up the prices. Paint companies offer a lot of discounts like cash discounts, volume

discounts, seasonal discounts and allowances. The dealers take advantage of these discounts to

gather more business.

3. Distribution network

Asian Paints has six manufacturing locations all over India and 70 sales branches. Each of the

manufacturing plants makes different products. The distribution system is taken care by area

sales managers and executives. The executives keep canvassing the market and meeting the

dealers to get the orders. An Asian paint has around 15000 dealers who are catered to by the

sales executives. The orders are collected by the sales executives and passed on to the nearest

depot. The depots are fed by regional warehouses. These depots maintain a minimum order

quantity which is arrived at from the monthly demand forecast. The material is dispatched from

the depot in the name of the dealer. Generally some orders of the same region are clubbed

together and dispatched in trucks. Finally the truck is unloaded and the small orders of the

dealers are dispatched to them. The sales executives are also responsible for the collection of

outstanding. Generally paint companies allow a maximum outstanding of 2-3 lakhs for 45 days.

Other jobs of the sales team consist of grievance redressal and customer feedback.

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4. Promotion

The paint industry until 1999 was concentrated mostly on increasing sales by intensive trade

promotion wherein the dealers, contractors and other components of the supply chain. There was

little emphasis on theme advertising directed towards the customer. A recent trend that is

emerging in the Indian paint market is that the major brands have all identified the importance of

reaching out to the common man instead of just limiting themselves to the intermediaries.

Asian Paint’s advertising has created brand awareness, highlighted what the brand has to offer

and has consistently brought all of it top-of-the-mind for the customer. But the outreach effort

does not end there. Asian Paints has recognized the importance of communicating to and

involving key players who influence the final brand choice. These include channel partners,

contractors and painters, on whom Asian Paints focuses by initiating and developing innovative

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activities and promotions. This helps build the Asian Paints family so that customers get a high

degree of personalized service and professional guidance to facilitate their final decision.

Advertisements:

Asian Paints has had several memorable advertising campaigns. There are two current favorites,

one for their exterior paints where they show the man, his wife, his car, in fact everything, except

the exterior paint ageing. People absolutely adore that advertisement. In fact, when you start

seeing take-offs on a creative effort, you know it as really caught the imagination of people. A

couple of take-offs have been noticed on this TVC.

The colourful, almost lyrical Har ghar kuch kehta hai... campaign, which was launched

nationally in February, is essentially about the relationship people have with their homes.

Specifically, the spots look at the effort and the strong emotions that go into doing up a home.

The ads are a reflection of the fact that people are a lot more involved in doing up their homes

now. But while the choice of paints forms an important part of the process, it is not the highlight;

instead, there are glimpses of hand-picked furniture, treasured pictures, the intimacy of the

family and the pride that comes at the end of the process. The creative idea behind the campaign

is that a home speaks volumes about the people who live in it. This is expressed through a

montage of visuals of the family interacting with the home -painting it, decorating it and simply

living in it. The visuals are complemented by a voice-over that is really a poem that expresses the

home's thoughts about its residents.

One of their most successful campaigns has been the “mera wala green”. It has a very subtle way

of telling the people that all possible colors in all possible shades are available with them. The

performer in the katthakali make-up symbolizes a wide range of colors. The lady looking at all

those colors take a long time to choose her color. This symbolizes the idea that Asian Paints has

the color range to satisfy even the most selective of customers.

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Pneumonic:

The company’s mascot ‘Gattu’ (designed by R.K. Laxman in 1954), an impish boy with the paint

tin and brush, is most popular and easily recognized, one of the epitomes of the ideal mascot.

However, in line with the new branding strategy, the brand has gotten a facelift, with new

packaging, a contemporary logo and corporate colours. Hence, Gattu has been dropped from the

communication except as an inch-high pneumonic on the back and lids of the paint tins.

The new look (Asian Paints is the logo, in yellow and red, with the vertical of the ‘p’ converted

into a brushstroke), gives all the company’s products a uniform look which is very much more

contemporary, urban and up market. This has been incorporated in the advertisement.

Services:

Asian paints offer a number of services to the customers. The aim of these services is to provide

the customer with a way to make an informed judgment as to which product would be the most

suited to their particular needs.

Color world:

Asian Paints provides the color mixing facility which is known as the “color world”. It features

a visual array of Asian Paints shades to help one make the right shade decision. It features 8

color families of purples, blues, greens, greys, creams, beiges, peaches and pinks. Each color

family features a collection of popular Asian Paints shades in that color family... these colors are

then manufactured on the spot by mixing various colours. This provides the customer with

virtually indefinite number (around 1500) of shades to choose from.

Asian Paints Screen Test service:

Through this service the customer is able to identify whether a particular shade will suit their

rooms. In this facility the customer can send a picture of his room and the company using

computer techniques identifies the color most suited to the room

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Asian Paints Color Genie:

'Asian Paints Color Genie' is a concept that can get the shade of any sample in the paint to be

applied on the wall. It is based on the use of an instrument known as the 'Spectrophotometer'

which can read the color of the sample and convert it into a formulation to arrive at the same

color for the paint on the walls. This service can be availed very easily. Asian Paints Samplers

are 200 ml paint tins which can be used to sample shades on the wall. These come in a range of

shades that are available through an Asian Paints Color World outlet. It is currently available in

Asian Paints oyale Luxury Emulsion. Thus, all one need's to do is pick up these sampler tins at a

nominal price from any of the select Asian Paints Color World retail stores and experiment in

one's own house.

Asian Paints Trufinish:

Asian Paints Trufinish is a unique paint finishes' display palette that allows you to touch and feel

the finishes' of popular Asian Paints products. This is available in select stores of the Asian

Paints Color World Stores. Thus, you can get a first hand feel of the final finish that paint would

deliver on the walls at the paint store itself. Further product features for each of these products is

also available in the form of information panels.

Sales Promotion:

The company has been concentrating more on sales promotion than on advertising. On analyzing

the customer survey data it becomes evident that since the customer is returning to the store after

an average of about three years it is better to concentrate more on the dealers who are in the

business throughout the year. Keeping this in mind the company’s decision of doing more sales

promotion than advertising stands justified. Sales promotion can broadly be divided into two

categories:

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Customer promotion –

This section includes all the sales promotion activities directed towards the customers. Scratch

cards that are provided with specific size of packages are examples. The company comes out

with many different sales promotion schemes during the festival season, especially the durga

pooja festival in Orissa and West Bengal.

There are a number of gifts and schemes on the larger packs. Coupons and free gifts are offered

on packs of more than 10 kgs. The company also offers a large number of services to the

customers to assist them in their buying decisions. These services are offered on the company’s

website to make it accessible to a very wide range of customers.

Trade promotion –

As part of the company’s policy, huge emphasis is given on trade promotion. The dealers and

contractors who are a part of the distribution chain are given special attention. The company

comes up with several incentive schemes for the dealers. The most popular schemes include cash

discounts, foreign trips, gifts such as refrigerators etc for dealers who succeed in meeting or

exceeding pre-determined sales targets. The company also organizes regional dealer meets

regularly. Here the dealers are briefed about the company’s new products and the technical

details and application procedures of these products. The company also aims at building and

retaining dealer loyalty through these meetings.

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Chapter -4

Data Tabulation and Analysis

Data Tabulation:

The below said data has been collected by the way of responses in questionnaires. The number of respondents taken is fifteen which are divided in 12 and 3 each. The first twelve are termed as “Customers” as it comprises of view of general public and in this field study the general people are local public of Jodhpur and other known persons. The rest three people are termed as “Retailers” as they are in connection with Retailers services. The questionnaire has been framed by giving due consideration to the objective of this field study. The questionnaire consists of 20 questions mostly objective questions and open ended question. It starts from a general question of analyzing the awareness of the respondent regarding the topic and from there it consists of questions from necessity to impact to strategies adopted.

The data which were in the questionnaire are tabulated and analysis as under

Questions:

1. How often do you paint your house/ office?

1 year 3 year 5 yearCustomers 2 8 2Retailers - 2 1

I year 2 year 3 year0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

customersdealers

The first question was a general question in order to check the frequency of use the paints.

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Analysis. The analysis of the surveyed data suggests that mostly there is an interval of around 3 years between any 2 consecutive purchases by the same customer.

2. When you think of paints what are the brand names that come to your mind?

1st Name 2nd name 3rd name 4th name

Customers Asian paints Nerolac Berger Ici

Asian paints Nerolac Berger IcI0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

Brand Appeal

cutomers

Theory- It has been mention above that Asian Paints has had several memorable advertising

campaigns.

Analysis- From the data collected and plotted in column-chart, it is apparent that 40% percent of the

respondents are think about Asian paints when they think about paint, while only 30 % percent customers

are think about Nerolac and 20 % about Berger and 20% customer are think about ICI when they think

about paint. It can be say that Asian paints have high brand appeal in the customer mind.

Overall, the practical finding state that the majority says that there is high brand appeal for Asian paints,

so it’s memorable advertisings campaigns is very useful.

3. How did you get to know about these brands?

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TV News papers Hoardings Friends/family dealers

Customers 5 2 1 3 1

TV News paper hoarding friends/family dealers0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Media advantages

customers

Theory - The Company has been concentrating more on sales promotion than on advertising.For increasing the sales.

Analysis- The data collected and plotted in column-chart, it is apparent that role of media in advertising is very low. 40 % respondents know about this brand from TV and 20% know from print media, 10% know from hoardings, 20% know from friends and family and 10% know from dealers. major role in advertising the brand played by E-media (TV).

Overall, The findings coincide with the theory as that customer are more aware through E-media about the brand and advertising play very important role in it.

4. Which of these medium is most effective?

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Personal sources Commercial sources

Public sorces Experimental sources

Customers 5 3 2 2

dealers 1 1 1 -

personal sources

commercial sources

public sources experimental sources

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

customersdealers

Theory - Asian Paints has had several memorable advertising campaigns.

Analysis- In the above graph we can see that there were 3 respondents thinks that personal sources is most effective ,and 5 respondents believe that commercial sources are effective. public and experimental sources also preferred by 2-2 respondents respectively. • Personal sources: family, friends, neighbors etc• Commercial sources: advertising; salespeople; retailers; dealers; packaging; point-ofpurchasedisplays• Public sources: newspapers, radio, television, consumer organizations; specialistmagazines• Experiential sources: handling, examining, using the product.

Overall findings say that the commercial sources play the major role in the customer decision making process.

5. Which brand advertisement has the greatest appeal?

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Asian paints Nerolac Dulux shalimarcustomer 5 3 2 2

asian paints Nerolac dulux shalimar0

1

2

3

4

5

6

customers

customers

Theory - However, in line with the new branding strategy, the brand has gotten a facelift, with new packaging, a contemporary logo and corporate colours.

Analysis- The responses collected shows that 5 customers believes that Asian paints advertisement has the greatest appeal and 3 believe on nerolac and 2 on dulux and 2 on Shalimar paint for greatest brand appeals.Overall, it majority of respondents believes that brand appeal of Asian paint is very good. It is being accepted both by the market and customers and is getting attracted towards it.

6. Given here are some product attributes and some paint brands. Arrange these brands on

the basis of the order of preference for each product attribute.

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Asian Paints-AP; Nerolac-N; Berger-B, ICI (Dulux) -D; Shalimar-S

AP N B D S

Price

Durability

Coverage

Color variety

Availability

We need to also look at the importance the customer gives to particular attributes of a product and its comparison with the competitor’s products. We have looked at the following attributes: Price, Durability, Color variety, Availability and CoverageAns

Price

Ap N B D Scustomers 4 4 1 1 2

AP N B D S0

0.51

1.52

2.53

3.54

4.5

customers

customers

Analysis - The responses show that price factor not play any significance role in asian paint and nerolac brand so both are equally preferred by customers. 20 % Respondents believe that berger and dulux are also same in term of price but they are equally preferres by them. Shalimar is preferred more then last two paints in term of price.

Conclusion-so it can be say that prices do not play a significant role in evaluating different brands because the prices are more or less the same for a particular product category across different brands. From the survey that we have conducted on a limited sample, Nerolac and asian paints was found to have the highest preference by a customer who evaluated different brands based on price.

Durability

Ap N B D SDurability 4 4 2 1 1

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AP N B D S0

0.51

1.52

2.53

3.54

4.5

customers

customers

Analysis - The data collected shows that durability of Asian paints and Nerolac are same and hightest then others, 4 respondents for Asian paint and 4 respndents for Nerolac are preferred are preferred on the basis of durability. Then 2-2 customer preferred berger and dulux respectively and 1 respondents views is towards Shalimar.

Conclusion - From the survey, we found that the durability of Asian Paints and Nerolac as perceived by the consumer was more or less the same and the other brands were perceived to have a lower durability.

Coverage

Ap N B D Scoverage 30% 20% 30% 10% 10%

AP N B D S0

0.51

1.52

2.53

3.5

Coverage

Coverage

Analysis - market coverage of asian paints and berger are more then other and they both are holding 30-30% market coverage respectivelythen 20%by Nerolac and 10%-10% by dulux and Shalimar respectively.

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Conclusion- so it is found that coverage did not play a significant role in the decision process and it depended mostly on the application of the paint – interior or exterior.

Colours variety

Ap N B D SColor variety 40% 30% 10% 10% 10%

AP N B D S0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

Colours variety

Color variety

Theory -color is an important driver of purchasing behavior and many buying decisions are based on color alone.

Analysis –This question is asked from dealers and according to them Asian paints has a highest colour variety and among all variety 40% are of Asian paints and then 30% by Nerolac and 10% for others individually.

Conclusion- so Asian Paints was perceived as a brand which offers the highest range of colors/ shades for the customer, followed by Nerolac and Berger.

Availability

Ap N B D SAvailability 4 3 2 2 1

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AP N B D S0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%45%

availability

availability

Theory- Asian Paints is perceived to be readily available by consumers in the market which indeed is so.Analysis- The data depicts that 4 customers say that Asian paints is easily available, and 3 are in favour od Nerolac and 2-2 respondents for berger and dulux and 1respondents for Shalimar.

Conclusion- The easy availability of paint is one of the reasons of consumer’s higher demand for the product

7. Whom do you consult while taking painting decisions?a) Architects b) painters c) contractors d) dealers

Architects Painters Contractors DealersCustomer 2 5 3 2

architects painters contracters dealers0123456

Customers

Customers

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Analysis- :- This shows that the customers are not informed themselves and depend more or less

on advice from the above. One more observation was that many of the customers were brand

loyal and therefore did not switch brands

8. What are the services offered by paint companies that you know of?

a. Colour mixing machine (CMM) b. consultancy services (CS)

c. cost calculators (CC) d. online services(OS)

CMM CS CC OS

Customer 5 4 6 4

Dealers 2 3 2 1

CMM CS CC OS0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

customersDealers

Analysis - The data collected from the respondents show that out of 12 customers and 3 dealers, 4 customers and 1dealer are known about all services. Now except them 1 more customer and dealer know about CMM and 2 dealers know about CS. From remaining 2 customers and 1 dealer know about CC. So

OS services is very rarely used by dealers and consultancy services (CS) by customers.

Conclusion:-so services offered by company are moderate utilize because of lack of awareness.

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Dealer questionnaire analysis:-

Since dealers turned out to be the major influencers in the decision making process, we

questioned all the Asian Paints dealers in Bhubaneswar. The objective was to understand the

dealer’s perception of Asian Paints and the competing brands. These are the responses from the

dealers.

1. How do you decide which brand you sell?

Ans. In response of this question they replied following bases for deciding that which brand they

sell:-

Customer demand

Profit margin

Availability

Analysis: - Market Pull: On being asked, how they decide which brand to sell, most of them

replied that customer demand for the brand was the major deciding factor. Some of them were

also induced by profit margins and availability of shades.

2. Which brand do you think is most prevalent?

Ans. In response of this question they replied that Asian paint has most prevalent

Analysis:- Prevalence of the brand: Most dealers responded that Asian Paints is the most

prevalent brand because its brand awareness is the highest. Their advertisements are the most

effective and stay with the audience. The dealers also said that people perceive that Asian Paints

provides best quality and the widest color range.

3. What services do you provide to promote your brand?

Ans. Services provided by dealers: Most dealers provide the services like painter references,

cost calculation, color mix selection and application of product.

Analysis –These kind of value added services motivate and influence the customers for

purchasing that brand.

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4. What are the schemes that paint companies offer for sales?

Ans.- according to daelers paint companies offer following incentives for sales:-

cash discounts on bulk buys,

foreign trips

Expensive gifts on surpassing sales targets.

Conclusion: This is indicative of the company’s aggressive trade promotion.

5. What do you do to collect feedback from the customers?

Ans.:- Collection of customer feedback: - Most of the dealers did not collect customer feedback.

Successive purchases by the customers were taken to be the customer’s approval of the brand.

6. How do consumers make their final selection?

Ans.:- It was observed that customers are mostly influenced by

Dealers,

Painters and

Contractors.

Analysis: - This shows that the customers are not informed themselves and depend more or less

on advice from the above. One more observation was that many of the customers were brand

loyal and therefore did not switch brands.

7. According to you which company has the best marketing strategy?

Ans.:-Most dealers were of the opinion that Asian Paints has the best marketing strategy because

of more efficient sales-force, more effective TV promos and wider color range.

8. Is dealer feedback taken into consideration while taking marketing decisions?

Ans. The dealer is not taken into consideration for marketing decisions.

Analysis:- Since the intermediaries play a very vital role in the value chain of Asian Paints the

company should devise methods to map the views of the dealers.

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Chapter-5

Conclusion

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This study advances knowledge of various factors which affect the brand image and perception of

consumers towards Asian paints. Asian paint is able to attract a large number of customers in a

very short span of time and is playing smart enough to fulfill all the present and potential users

by providing features like -Colour mixing machine (CMM), consultancy services (CS), cost

calculators (CC), online services(OS).

It has also been found that consumer awareness and expectations have increased and therefore it has become comparatively difficult to satisfy a customer and customer has become sensitive to quality and therefore there is a constant need for new innovations, offers and services if Asian paints wants to be a market leader in all area.

Attractively priced and features for both buyers and dealers, is the mantra for sustaining the growth rate.

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Chapter 6

Recommendations

_____________________________________________________________________________________

After analyzing the data obtained from the consumers and the dealers it was evident that Asian Paints is the market leader. It enjoys the largest customer base in the indian market. i came up with the following suggestions for brand building activity for improving upon the current customer base and expanding into other high potential sectors besides the decorative segment:-

1. Since the intermediaries play a very important role in the marketing of the brand, the company should take initiatives like painter training programme with Asian Paints certificates. This will increase the creditability of the painters in the market and they will become brand loyal.

2. The inventories as a proportion of net working capital are increasing from around 200 in the year 2000 to more than 800 in the year 2005. Moreover with larger product diversification inventory management becomes costlier and tedious. Though Asian Paints is the first company to employ eBPO for inventory management, still it needs to take initiatives to reduce its inventory levels.

3. As per the feedback obtained the customers were unable to associate sub brands like Apex, Tractor, Apcolite and Utsav with the parent brand. Therefore the company needs to emphasize more on the promotion of sub-brands.

4. More and more women can be found perusing the shelves at paint stalls in search of the right type of paint for their homes. So the company can target this new set of interested customers by increased advertising in women magazines.

5. The services provided by the company on the website are not being used because of the low penetration of internet in India. So we recommend that these facilities should be made available at the point of purchase.

6. For decorative range of products it is difficult for international companies to set up shop on a standalone basis because of existing barriers like strong network of existing players, brand image and distribution logistics. But this may not apply on the basis of industrial products in which tie-ups in home countries and their OEM customers, the required stock can be made and sold. In the face of cut-throat competition and new technology, Asian

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Paints requires new associations and strategic partnerships to move ahead in the industry segment which contributes to 30% of the paint business.

7. Asian Paints has a marginal presence in the industrial segment particularly in Orissa. This decision was justified till now because there were very few industries in Orissa. Recently Orissa has signed a lot of MoUs for FDI and this will bring in a lot of industries into the state. So Asian Paints should start focusing on this segment and take the first mover advantage. This segment is highly paying because of the low distribution cost and bulk orders.

8. Efficient working capital management has been the strength of the company for years. However recently towards the end of 2004-05 there has been increase in level of inventory due to VAT uncertainties and in anticipation of higher material prices. Increased working capitals lead to diversion from productive investments. Though Asian Paints has employed i2 SCM to cut costs, the present scenario still requires unifying the planning down to the plant level.

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Chapter 8

Limitations

This project work is a limited & focused analysis & doesn’t claim to be a compendium; nevertheless,

utmost considerations are made before including any fact & figure. This is neither an intensively observed

report nor an extensive study because data has been collected from jodhpur local market and National

Law University collection through questionnaire and interview. This project would have been more of use

if there could be interaction with company marketing and strategy managers, company employees and

customers of metro cities.

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Chapter-8Bibliography ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. www.asianpaints.com

2. www.bergerpaints.com

3. www.dulux.com

4. www.jensonnicholson.com

5. www.nerolac.com

6. www.adfags.com

7. www.tutor2u.com

8. www.superbrandsindia.com

9. www.myiris.com

10. Asian paint emerging markets database

11. The Hindu-Survey of Indian Industry,2005

12. Marketing Management – Philip Kotler

13. Strategic Market Management- David Aakar

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Annexure ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Customer QuestionnaireName of the customer:______________________________________________

1. How often do you paint your house/ office?a) 1 yr b) 3 yrs c) 5 yrs or more

2. When you think of paints, what are the brand names that come to your mind?List any three_____________________________________________________

3. How did you get to know about these brands?a) Newspapers b) TV c) Hoardings d) Friends/Familye) Dealer

4. Which of these medium is most effective?a) Newspapers b) TV c) Hoardings d) Friends/Familye) Dealer

5. Which brand advertisement has the greatest appeal?a) Asian paints b) Nerolac c) Dulux d) Shalimar

6. Given here are some product attributes and some paint brands. Arrange theseBrands on the basis of the order of preference for each product attribute.Asian Paints-AP; Nerolac-N; Berger-B, ICI (Dulux) -D; Shalimar-S

Price Durability Coverage Colour variety Availability Low High

7. Whom do you consult while taking painting decisions?a) Architects b) painters c) contractors d) dealers

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8. What are the services offered by paint companies that you know of?a. Colour mixing machine b. consultancy servicesc. cost calculators d. online services

9. Which company do you associate these products with?a. Royale (Asian/Nerolac/ICI)b. Utsavc. Tractord. Apexe. Dulux

2. Questionnaire for Asian Paints Dealer

Dealer: M/S __________________________________

1. How do you decide which brand you sell?

2. Which brand do you think is most prevalent and why?

3. What services do you provide to promote your brand?

4. What are the schemes that paint companies offer for sales?

5. What do you do to collect feedback from the customers?

6. How do consumers make their final selection?

7. According to you which company has the best marketing strategy?

8. Is dealer feedback taken into consideration while taking marketing decisions?

9. What are prerequisites for becoming a dealer of Asian Paints?

10. Do you supply paints in the industrial segment?

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