INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION

ASSIGNMENT

Department of Marketing, Xavier Institute of Social Service, Ranchi

SUBMITTED TO

PROF. PINAKI GHOSH

SUBMITTED BY-:

Akhilesh Mishra (roll no. 6)

Rashmi Sinha (roll no. 40)

Anumita Dash (roll no. 46)

Harshal Singh (Roll no. 56)

Shashi Singh (Roll no. 57)

1-IMC at Bangur Cement

1.1 ABOUT THE COMPANY

Bangur cement started with a vision to be the most effective and efficient cement brand of the country. As in Bangur Cement, SCL aimed at providing the best quality cement that ensures customer satisfaction. The Bangur Cement is advertising with a tagging saying” SASTA NAHI SBSE ACHHA”.

To serve with immediate and prompt services, Bangur Cement established a grinding capacity at Aurangabad in Bihar, which is just 110km from the capital. Excelling in the quality, price, availability and packaging of the products, SCL aspires to be the first choice of the consumers. The Bangur Cement Plant is one of the most modern and sophisticated plants in the India equipped with state-of-the –art German Technology.

Following factors makes Bangur Cement, the SCL’s premium brand:-

Best quality of Limestone Better quality control- Clinkerisation and superior cement grinding

makes the quality of the brand one of the best in the industry. State-of-the-art technology:- The plant has been set up in the technical

collaboration with internationally acclaimed German Cement manufacturer. In line with its marketing strategy, Bangur Cement realized sales predominantly in trade segment. The brand contribution registering

1.25 lac MT sales out of the 9 lac MT. in fact, trade sales accounted for 98% of the total sales of Bangur Cement while non trade sales was just 2%. Bangur Cement registering its 23% sales of its total sales in its home market, Bihar. By selling within a smaller radius, the company was able to notch higher net realization because of lower logistics.

1.2 MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MIX

The eight major modes of marketing communications mix are:

1. Advertising

2. Sales Promotion

3. Events and Experiences

4. Public relations and publicity

5. Direct marketing

6. Interactive marketing

7. Word-of-mouth marketing

8. Personal selling

Company communication goes beyond these specific platforms. Hence, every brand contact delivers an impression that can strengthen or weaken a customer’s view of a company.

In the following figure 1 shows, marketing communications activities contribute to brand equity and drives sales in many ways: by creating awareness of the brand, linking the right associations to the brand image in consumer’s memory, eliciting positive brand judgments and feelings, and

facilitating a strong consumer-brand connection. Company must consider the following:

1.3 INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

DEVELOPMENT

In developing IMC strategy there are certain steps that Bangur Cement follows. In promoting their brand and new offer the company tries to implement that effectively to remain successful in the competition. The sequence of developing effective communications that Bangur Cement follows are describe below:

Identify the target customers: The process starts with a clear audience in mind. In launching and promoting the new offer or products at first Bangur cement identifies who are there target customers. They target for both their existing customers and potential buyers, current users, influencers. The customer group can be general customer, corporate customer or government. As such Bangur cement currently has two offers, so they design their communication strategy one for their general customer and other for their retailers.

Designing the communication Objectives: After determining the target customers Bangur cement formulates their communication message. And they try to do it in a creative way so that it reaches and adapts to the customer easily. In designing the communication massage effectively Bangur cement goes for different ad agencies under the supervision of the brand department. The company gives responsibility to design the communication massage to the ad firm to ensure that the massage appeals, theme or ideas are different and sustainable.

Communication Channels: Non-personal communication channel is used by Bangur cement in order to select the communication channels. It includes media, sales promotion, events and public relations to affects the customers’ behavior directly. In different phases the company uses the communication channels to send the message.

Setting total communication budget: Determining total promotion budget is a quite difficult task since company has to set it before the promotional campaign. In setting up total promotion budget and mix Bangur cement uses the combination of affordable method and percentage-of sales method. At first the company sees how much they can afford on promotion and setting the budget at a certain percentage of the unit sales price. The company does it to manipulate promotion spending, selling price and profit per unit.

Deciding on media mix: Bangur cement allocates their marketing and promotion budget on the following communication mixes Each of these communication mixes that has its own characteristics and costs are briefly shown below

Advertising Sales Promotion

Public Relations

Personal Selling

Others

Electronic and Print Media Newspaper Brochure & Booklet Notebooks Press Release

Bill Board Shop sign Board Wall paintings Shop Decoration Quarterly Dealer Meetings Bonus, Gifts

Sponsoring Events Cultural Programs Masons Workshops

Entertainment Exclusive Gifts Greetings Tours Unsought Expenses

CSR Donation Community Relations

Promotion Budget of Bangur Cement in 2013-14:-

38%

27%

26%

8%

1%

Promotion Budget

Sales Promotion

Advertising

Public Relation

Personal Selling

Others

Managing the integrated marketing communications: Having set the promotion budget and mix, in managing the integrated marketing communication process Bangur cement does not use such tactics. However, the company evaluates the role of various communication disciplines after ending of each promotion campaign. But Bangur cement needs to check, control and combines the communication disciplines so that it provide clarity, consistency, and maximum impact through the accurate integration of massages.

The company currently relying on traditional communication tools using media companies and ad agencies to ensure all the promotion tools are integrating and working properly. The company analyzes the trends, audit the communications spending on a regular basis and they appoint marketing consultant to monitor the promotional programs. In implementing the IMC the method that company use is because it is quite easier and cost effective way to manage and control the overall communication process.

1.3 CURRENT MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS OF BANGUR CEMENT

To establish their brand, Bangur Cement is currently using some communication mix. They are conducting few consumer promotions and few trade promotions. The activities that Bangur Cement has taken are following:

Media Advertising: Bangur Cement broadcast their commercial advertisement on Television. They use Brochure and booklets, posters and leaflets to create awareness. The commercial TV ad is shown through 3 different animated commercials.

Direct Response Advertising: Bangur Cement uses direct response advertising for their corporate clients. They use mailing, telemarketing,

fax mail or other communication tools to communicate directly to their corporate customer. Sometimes this communication tool is also use for general customers as well on specific occasion.

Outdoor Advertising: Bangur Cement is also engage in huge outdoor advertising. They have some billboard ad in Patna city and some billboards are in different districts. They are more concentrating in High wall and low wall painting beside highways. The company has huge number of shop paint in whole of Bihar. They also provide signboards and light box to the dealers and project boards for the developers.

Consumer Promotion: To promote sale the company has credit facilities for its distributors. Bangur Cement give short term incentives (during the off peak season) to their customers. Besides this the company also provides some gifts to its retailers and distributors.

Trade Promotion: Bangur cement provides certain benefits to its distributors and retailers. Various Incentives and Discounts are given to the dealers and retailers. The dealers who perform well are especially felicitated by the Vice president Marketing under Dealer meet programs. And on the basis of their performances the company also considers to increase their Credit limit.

Publicity or Public Relations: Publicity or Public Relations: Bangur Cement spends a lot in company publicity and public relations. For publicity they have company brochure, leaflet, banner and they provide these to the cement shops all over the Bihar Market. Also company has publications, community relations in the industry. In maintaining public relations company provides T-shirt, note book, calendar, slip pads, umbrella, shopping bags and other stuff to company publics. Company organizes mason meeting, dealer meeting, and engineer meeting on monthly and quarterly basis at different districts.

Company arranges workshop on house building, and other different programs that helps to increase the bondage within company various publics.

Sponsorship and Event Marketing: Bangur Cement has always sponsored different kinds of program which is related to buildings and architectures. Recently Bangur Cement sponsored the Film Brothers, to create awareness at the National Level and Its increasing Presence over the States of India. Bangur Cement sponsors a Bhojpuri Singing Competition in Patna to create awareness at the Domestic Level.

1.4 EVALUATING IMC PROGRAMS OF BANGUR CEMENT

We all know managing and coordinating the entire communications process calls for integrated marketing communications (IMC); assessing the collective impact of an IMC program is very important.

By the following six criteria we tried to examine whether Bangur Cement communications are truly integrated or not and its discrepancy.

Coverage: Bangur does communications in all their distribution zones and also distributes their brand tools in that zones. Though its communications is all over the divisions but it is limited and the communication options are not adequate enough to reach the target market. For example, the market communications are heavily based on Patna City and areas where their sale is high. Thus at present the distributed brand communication tools do not covers their targeted market.

Contribution: Through Bangur Cement present marketing communications options it is able to create awareness, brand image and exposure to enhance sales. However, it can not produce their desired customer response using their traditional communication options. As a result, their sales target is fluctuating since promotional campaign is only based on the specific seasons.

Commonality: Bangur Cement uses its communication options to its common associations so that it reinforces the common meaning consistently and cohesively. Here, different communication options should be used to reach its current and additional associations so that the massage can be recalled and easily linked the brand in memory. It is important to remain competitive in the market.

Complementarity: Though different brand associations are used by Bangur Cement to complement with communication options that eliciting customer response. Nonetheless, particular type of brand associations’ linkage with the communication options that complement with the marketing program is still missing at Bangur Cement. The company has to emphasized brand associations and linkage across its communication options.

Versatility: Bangur Cement gives communication program taking different customer group in mind so that they behave in the desired response. Here, the company’s problem is the communication program is not so robust to reach different customer group. The company has to arrange programs that effectively communicate to customers who have or have not seen other communications.

Cost: Bangur Cement weigh out all their communication cost to do effectively and efficiently all their communication program. The company has to increase expense in their promotion to the above

criteria to implement the marketing communication options in a right way.

1- Cadbury dairy milk

Cadbury is a British multinational confectionery subsidiary company wholly

owned by American company Mondelēz International since 2012. It is the

second largest confectionery brand in the world after Wrigley's. One of the

best known British brands, in 2013 The Telegraph named Cadbury among

Britain's most successful exports. It is famous for its Dairy Milk chocolate,

the Creme Egg and Roses selection box, and many other confectionery

products. Cadbury was established in Birmingham, England in 1824, by John

Cadbury who sold tea, coffee and drinking chocolate

COMMUNICATING STRATEGY To promote the new dairy milk megabrand, Cadbury implemented

comprehensive “360 degree support” campaign. This involved a highly

coordinated set of promotional activities across various communications

channel each activity bearing the same message. This approach is known as

integrated marketing communications and ensures that consumers receive a

clear and consistent message about a brand.

To promote the new Dairy Milk Brand core: This is the creed or genetic code of the brand; campaign. This involved a highly Megabrand, Cadbury implemented a To promote the new Dairy Milk Brand core: This is the creed or genetic code of the brand; Megabrand, Cadbury implemented a

Advertisement

Television, the print media and posters have been the main media of

communication for Cadbury’s advertisements. Cadbury’s TV campaign was

devised illustrating the essential consumption occasions. For example, the eight

weeks campaign of Cadbury’s TV advertising to be showed in the evening time

was seen by its target audience and it had reached 85% of the market. In

addition, there are other types of advertising form being used in Cadbury

which is the trade advertising, informative advertising and the consumer

advertising. Cadbury has launched a lot of periodic trade advertising to

monitor quality checks and educate its retailers as well as promoting sales. For

the purpose of inform and remind customers, Cadbury published an

advertising regarding “the facts about Cadbury” in 55 trade publications.

Cadbury never ignore the importance of consumer advertising that people can

see many Cadbury’s advertising in newspaper, magazine, and Cadbury’s

website and so on.

Transition of Cadbury ads from older days to present days

1) Old Ads

Focuses on cricket.

Spread joy

Focusing on different professions

2) New Ads

More trendy Teenage oriented More events oriented.

Review of Past Promotional Programs -

Campaign Target Shift over the

years Promo Mechanisms

Real Taste of Life Child in adult From just for kids to the kid in every adult

TVC, Print, Hoardings

Khanewalon ko khane ka bahana chahiye

Wider masses Appeal to a wider mass based on age, gender, etc.

TVC, Print, Hoardings

Pappu Pass Ho Gaya

Youngsters TVC, Hoardings

Miss Palampur Rural masses Shift to smaller packs

TVC, Hoardings

Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye

Conversion of sweet consumers to chocolate for special occassions

This was an innovative idea and Cadbury went ahead with the ‘Celebrations’ packs with these ads

TVC, Print, Hoardings, Social Media

Khane ke baad Targeting the From converting TVC, Print,

Meethe mein Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye

habit of Indians to have desserts after meals

sweet consumers on special occasions Cadbury now tried to sweet consumption for dessert to chocolate as well

Hoardings, Social Media

Shubh Aarambh Targeting the belief of Indians that anything begun by having something sweet provides good luck

Converting yet another segment of sweet consumers i.e. before the start of any work

TVC, Print, Hoardings, Social Media

CUSTOMER ANALYSIS

Who are the customers?

Cadbury has targeted different segments of consumers through their various

ad campaigns. From targeting kids they extended their target audience to 'the

kid in every adult' through their 'Real Taste of Life' campaign. Next they

targeted the youths through their 'Pappu Pass Ho Gaya' campaign and the

rural market through their 'Miss Palampur' campaign. The last few of their ad

campaigns have specifically been targeted towards converting consumers of

sweets to chocolates and this they have done extensively by giving consumers

the idea that chocolates could substitute sweets in ways that consumers could

never think of like on special occasions or for dessert after meals or for the

auspicious start of something important.

What do they buy and how they use it?

Purchase as a gift - Cadbury Dairy Milk Celebrations As a snack As a dessert Where do they buy?

Leading supermarkets and 'big chains' stores Kirana stores How has Cadbury tried to capture these buyers?

For those shopping at malls and supermarkets Cadbury aimed at as many as possible using big boxes of chocolates stored near billing area to stimulate impulse buying They also used the concept of eye level shelves to a great extent to capture the attention of consumers When do the consumers buy?

Impulse buying Festive season Special Occasions

How do they choose?

Consumers are influenced to buy a particular brand/product based on the

following criteria in the order of importance:

How they respond to marketing programs?

Consumers have till date responded very well to Cadbury's marketing

campaigns. With every new campaign, Cadbury's market share has increased

and Cadbury has been able to capture the audience targeted. Also brand

loyalty has increased with the promotional campaigns.

ANALYSIS OF COMMUNICATION PROCESS Real Taste of Life Launched in 1994,this campaign was awarded the “Campaign of the century

award”

Communication Objective- Through the ad, they wanted to convey the

message that there is a child in each one of us and they wanted to appeal to

that child, since children loved eating chocolates. The ad was meant to create a

particular image in the eyes of the customer and successfully communicate

what the product conveyed.

It appealed to the child in every adult

and Cadbury Dairy Milk became the perfect expression of

'spontaneity' and 'shared good feelings'

In every adult there is a child let that child express itself give in

to temptation and satisfy his or her

desire to sink teeth into a smooth creamy delicious

chocolate This approach appears to be unique to Cadbury.

What was Communicated- The Real Taste of Life was launched in the 1994. It

was an attempt to capture the child-like spontaneity in every adult.

From the depiction

an old man offeringhis wife a Dairy Milk chocolate to the dancing girl in crow

ded stadium, it all reflected the impulsiveness and the

spontaneity of the child in the adult.

Why they communicated- They wanted tore-create the image of a child in the

eyes of the adults, remind them of their childhood days and create an image

that Cadbury essentially stood for childhood and stimulate them to buy

chocolate so as to make them remember the childhood days.

What was achieved- A change in Consumer mind set that chocolates were

mostly for kids and young people. Through the campaign, adults realized they

could and should enjoy chocolates as well. Distribution was expanded and

smaller packs introduced at more affordable prices. "It led to 20% plus growth

for 3 to 4 straight years. The category doubled in size."

Khanewalon ko khane ka bahana chahiye

Communication objective- Through the ad, it was aimed at widening the chocolate consumption among the masses and making sure the product reached a wider group of people, based on age, sex etc. The campaign was built to increase social acceptance of chocolates among adults What was Communicated- The ad reflected the fact that Cadbury could be available and eaten by all groups of people. In the ad, an elderly lady, middle-aged man, newly married bride, young guy and a child are all seen enjoying Cadbury, which showed that all people, irrespective of their sex and age could enjoy it. Why they communicated- The ad was meant to stimulate purchase intentions and enable the reach of Cadbury to a wider audience. What was achieved- A widening of audience, which meant a wider market for the product. Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye

Communication Objective- The ad was meant to portray Cadbury as something which can be had on all celebratory occasions. It projected chocolates as a substitute to mithai (sweets) and cheered people to have chocolate on every joyous occasion.

What was communicated- The basic depiction was that the ad showed that chocolate can be showed as being enjoyed during Diwali and any other celebratory occasions. Why they communicated- The idea was mainly to develop preferences among people for chocolates to sweets and stimulate the demand for chocolates in festive and joyous occasions. What was achieved- Depiction of chocolate as a substitute to sweets and the fact that it can be enjoyed in joyous occasions too.

Pappu Pass Ho Gaya

Launched in 2005,the interactive campaign for "Pappu Pass Ho Gaya" bagged a Bronze Lion at the prestigious Cannes Advertising Festival 2006.In 2005, Cadbury in India almost doubled the business in three years. Sales growth was 22% - the compounded growth rate over the past three years from 2005 to 2008. Communication Objective- The ad targeted youngsters and has become part of street language. It has been adopted by consumers to express joy in a moment of achievement/success. The ad showed association with little joys of life. The campaign urged people to celebrate every little moment of happiness in their life with a chocolate. What was communicated- The ad showed the coming out of results and the passing of a person called Pappu, who had failed repeatedly. All youngsters were seen having chocolate to enjoy their moment of success. Thus, it predominantly targeted youngsters. Why they communicated- The ad was meant to reach out to youngsters and encourage them to buy chocolates.

What was achieved- Enabling Cadbury to be portrayed as a product which can be had by youngsters to celebrate their successes.

Miss Palampur Launched in the year 2004

Communication Objective- The ad targeted the rural parts of India. It focused

on Adults and values, like Sacred Cow campaigns aimed at rural India did fare

well. Campaigns aimed at rural India did fare well. The share of Cadbury

increased by more than 20% in rural India. The share of Cadbury increased by

more than 20% in rural India. The brand further strengthened its positions

with the core audience. The brand further strengthened its positions with the

core audience.

What was communicated- It shows a villager enjoying the success of his cow becoming Miss Palampur. The entire village joins in the celebration, with all having chocolates. Why they communicated- The ad was meant to increase the reach of the product to rural areas and develop preferences for chocolates in the rural areas. What was achieved- Enabled Cadbury to be shown as a product which can be enjoyed in rural areas too.

Shubh Aarambh

Launched in 2010, drawing lines from traditional Indian customs of having something sweet before embarking on something new.

Communication Objective- The ad was specifically aimed at indicating a shift

from the notion of celebrating happy occasions with chocolate to the happy

occasions with chocolate to the concept of anticipating concept of something

good after consuming the chocolate, a substitute for mithai. The campaign is

aimed at consumers across sectors, and is supposed to have a balanced appeal

across all tiers.

What was communicated- The ad depicted the starting if friendship over

having Cadbury and how a bonding developed over it.

Why they communicated- The ad was meant for the core group, i.e.

consumers in the age group of 15-35 years. The ad was established to remind

consumers about the utility of Cadbury

What was achieved- Enabled Cadbury to re-establish itself in the eyes of the

core target customers.

Cadbury's Dairy Milk Silk Bubbly launches with another playful, loving exchange

‘Kiss me, close your eyes’ signature song in the brand's communication, the

film sees a couple filling balloons in a room. The boyfriend fills balloons one

after the other and offers it to the girl, who ties the knot. She decides though to

let the air escape once, meaning he will have to blow it again. He reveals a bar

of Dairy Milk Silk Bubby. He pretends to blow into it and offers it to her. She is

surprised to find it bubbly inside and takes a bite. When she inflates her

cheeks in jest, it's his turn to playfully pop the air out of them. The lighthearted

and loving exchange continues.

Profit & Loss account (in Rs Crores)

Dec '05 Dec '06 Dec '07 Dec '08 Dec '09 Income Sales Turnover 1006.02 1149.97 1441.92 1751.24 2045.08 Sales Growth 14.3% 25.4% 21.5% 16.8% Excise Duty 126.24 91.73 148.45 162.65 110.71 Net Sales 879.78 1,058.24 1,293.47 1,588.59 1,934.37 Other Income 17.87 8.71 7.68 25.07 12.67 Stock Adjustments 10.44 -2.54 17.29 51.32 -16.28

Total Income 908.09 1,064.41 1,318.44 1,664.98 1,930.76 Expenditure Raw Materials 246.22 441.53 563.06 732.53 832.28 Power & Fuel Cost 19.62 20.83 25.3 29.7 37.25

Employee Cost 94.38 93.93 107.36 130.22 150.62

Other Manufacturing Expenses

138.85 57.63 76.61 96.01 6.52

SG&A expenses 292.11 302.42 366.67 432.91 624.19 SG&A as % of sales 29.0% 26.3% 25.4% 24.7% 30.5%

Total Expenses 791.18 916.34 1,139.00 1,421.37 1,650.86 Operating Profit 99.04 139.36 171.76 218.54 267.23

PBDIT 116.91 148.07 179.44 243.61 279.9 Interest 1.7 2.22 2.03 5.2 1.72 PBDT 115.21 145.85 177.41 238.41 278.18 Depreciation 34.07 33.41 34.32 36.52 43.83 Other Written Off 0 0 0 0 0

Profit Before Tax 81.14 112.44 143.09 201.89 234.35

Extra-ordinary items 0 0 19.23 0 0

PBT (Post Extra-ord Items)

81.14 112.44 162.32 201.89 234.35

Tax 35.19 43.62 44.67 36.11 45.73 Reported Net Profit 45.95 68.81 117.65 165.78 188.63

OVERCOMING THE WORM CRISIS USING IMC

The discovery of worms in some samples of Cadbury’s Chocolate in early

October 2003 created one of the biggest controversies in India against a

Multi-National reputed for being a benchmark of QUALITY.

The state Food and Drug Administration has ordered seizure of Cadbury's

Dairy Milk chocolates from all over Maharashtra after worms were found in

two of them in Mumbai.

The Food and Drug Administration had then seized the company's stocks and

the Cadbury India management had explained it was bad storage practices by

retailers and distributors that had led to the worms. Cadbury India's sales fell

following the discovery. The "worms‟ controversy" came at the worst time.

The next few months were the peak season of Diwali, Eid & Christmas.

Cadbury sells almost 1,000 tonnes of chocolates during Diwali. In that year,

the sales during festival season dropped by 30 per cent.

The controversy created an deep adverse impact on the company with their

sales not only drastically dipping down, but at the same time allowing the

competitors to establish their foothold and taking maximum advantage of

Cadbury’s misfortune.

STEPS TAKEN TO SOLVE THE CONTROVERSY

1. NOT DENYING THE FACT

It helped that the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration had given a

clean chit to the company's two plants in the state. Cadbury went into

overdrive to tell consumers that improper storage of what is essentially a

perishable commodity might lead to worm infestation.

As a result Cadbury improved the packaging and paid more attention to the

way its chocolates were stored by nearly 6,50,000 retailers across the country.

2. TAKING PRECAUTIONS

Following the controversy over infestation in its chocolates, Cadbury India Ltd

unveiled 'Project Vishwas', a plan involving distribution and retail channels to

ensure the quality of its products.

The Vishwas programme was intended to build awareness among retailers on

storage requirements for chocolates, provide assistance in improving storage

conditions and strengthen packaging of the company's range of products.

3. GAINING BACK TRUST

The Big B promoted the Big C in the chocolate business - Cadbury in India.

Amitabh Bachchan has signed on to become the brand ambassador of the

chocolate major for two years.

The Big ‘B’ FACTOR

The big factor that has pushed up CDM sales is the Amitabh Bachchan

campaign. It helped restore consumers' faith in the quality of the product.AB

played a pivotal role in all communication relating to Cadbury's products and

brands, be it in print, on television or the great outdoors. With the help of its

Public Relations Dept. and advertising agency, it created a campaign which

aimed for both rational and emotional appeal.

RECOMMENDATIONS

• To increase the visibility of Cadbury chocolates Cadbury should design

more visible Containers that can be visible from far distance also. As

tradition of impulse buying is increasing day by day specially in

chocolate industry. This kind of design is also cost effective and can be

used both in small as well as in large stores. Design of small container

and its placement can be taken from the following images:-

Like the Container used here to increase the visibility and placement, similar kind

of Container can be used so that rate of impulse buying can be increased.

• Also use of posters by retailers is very less, because of this visibility of the

brand gets affected. So every month there should inspection done

regarding that.

• Vending Machines: These High Visibility machines should be launched

in metro as well as in tier 2 cities at some busy locations to increase the

visibility ,thereby increase the probability of impulse buying.

3. Joseph Cyril Bamford (jcb)

3.1 ABOUT JCB

JCB India Limited is a leading manufacturer of Earthmoving and Construction Equipment in India. Started as a JV in 1979, it is now a fully owned subsidiary of J.C Bamford Excavators, UK and has five World Class Manufacturing facilities in India. When it entered Indian market it was by the way of Joint Venture with Escorts and was earlier known as Escorts JCB Limited. Later on, JCB purchased the shares of Escorts .

Over the years, JCB India invested more than Rs. 2000 crores in India and today employs over 5,500 people in India. It has a network of 61 dealers and over 600+ outlets throughout India which provide Parts and Product Support to our Customers. Over 6000 Professionally Trained people are employed at these dealerships. JCB India also has strategically set-up large parts warehouses across India (Pune, Chennai, Faridabad and Kolkata) for supporting these Dealerships.

Over the past 35 years JCB has remained committed to India all through; over the years it launched new India Centric products and opened new factories with Innovation and R&D. But above all Customer focus and Quality have been at the core of our operations.

3.2 INITIAL IMC STRATEGY

JCB functions in a B2B market where the major customers are contractors, mining industries, etc. Even many infrastructural projects are done by using JCB products by the Government. However, in case of governmental projects there are tenders taken from different companies and then a rational choice is made by going through the technical and pricing bids of different companies.

JCB doesn’t run any special campaigns for its different products separately. It follows these strategies for all its products. However, depending upon the customer base and the market requirements they do bring certain changes.

JCB sells its products through dealers across the country. They have an extensive procedure of finalising their dealers. These dealers are the major source of promotion of their variety of products. There are schemes which are implemented from time to time so that the dealers will stay motivated and will enthusiastically promote and sell the products. There two types of marketing strategies followed by JCB – round the clock marketing and season marketing.

These promotional activities focus on highlighting the utility and productivity of the products offered by JCB. The round the clock marketing strategies are:

Corporate identity: JCB follows corporate identity which means that there are certain specifications regarding the arrangement of the products and parts for display and the colour schemes. Uniforms are given to salesmen of the dealers. The showroom designs are identical across the country giving a very strong and uniform message about the brand. The showrooms are different only in terms of the size which depends on the size of the market they are catering to.

Demonstrations and trials: The dealers conduct demonstrations of new products to the strategically important customers or hot prospects. These are those customers who are leaders or are influencers for others in the industry and by demonstrating to them and convincing them to purchase JCB products, others in same industry will also have a greater chance to purchase the same products. They demonstrate by means of utilisation. Many times the machine is given on trial for a period of 10-15 days to a customer so that he can utilise it and see how useful it is to him. Demonstrations and trials are conducted for new machines only.

Advertisements: No such advertisements are carried out on national levels. The dealers put up advertisements in regional newspapers and tv channels as well as in hoardings. The advertisements given are as per the requirements of JCB and first they have to get approval from the marketing department. The cost of this shared between JCB and the dealership firm on an agreed ratio. Hoardings re mostly shared on a 50-50 basis.

Sponsorships: JCB promotes its brand by sponsoring many mega events. Recently JCB sponsored EXCON in Bangalore. This is held once in every two years. There are various other events which are sponsored by JCB like golf tournaments in many places.

Exhibitions: JCB participates in many major exhibitions across the country. The dealers are also encouraged to participate in regional level exhibitions. Here various products and designs are displayed and all the necessary information required by the prospects is provided. The salesmen are given proper training so that they not only inform but also give an impressive sales pitch.

Meets: JCB conducts customer as well dealer meets. Customer meets are mostly conducted together by the JCB professionals and the dealers of that region/state. Various products are introduced and promoted to them. Customer meets involve not just existing customers but also prospective customers. JCB conducts dealer meets to make them aware of the products and encourage them to promote their products. The best performers are felicitated.

Trade promotions: The trade promotion strategies are adopted for the dealers as they are the ones who interact with customers and they need to be motivated from time to time so that keep meeting their targets. The schemes adopted are-

Individual and group incentives Gifts and free/discounted JCB merchandise Free trips within India and abroad

Public Relations (PR): It is one of the most important tools for brand promotion used by JCB. It has a separate link for its PR activities from its website and PR activities are also done by many newspapers.

The seasonal marketing strategies are the strategies that are adopted in off-season i.e. monsoons as during this mining and construction work is very less. These strategies are-

Sales promotion: The major sales promotion scheme that is adopted is giving heavy discounts to the customers to boost sales. Discounts are given by the HQ of JCB. Sometimes additional discounts may be offered by the dealers especially in areas of medium to heavy rainfall.

Warranty period: The warranty period is extended and some dealers may also offer to give service at a lesser cost.

3.3 CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE IMC STRATEGIES

The IMC plan of the company can be critically evaluated as follows:

Consistency: Since JCB maintains corporate identity the message that goes to the customers is consistent. The company ensures that all its dealers follow the specifications laid down by it so that the message is not ambiguous. This consistency has helped JCB to gain a good reputation among its customers. The advertisements that are given at the regional levels are also in accordance with the requirements of the marketing department of JCB. JCB ensure that dealers do not give out information that is not true or is not consistent with its strategies.

Creating awareness: The promotion of the products and parts is mainly done by the dealers. The dealers are well aware of the kind of customers in their region. They get first-hand information about the competitors’ performance. With these critically important information available, the dealers can make a better promotion. By giving demonstrations and catalogues they make the prospective customers aware about the product. Appropriate brand promotions by means of PR activities also help in creating awareness.

Coverage: JCB has a number of dealers in a particular state who operate in various regions of that state. So these dealers implement their IMC strategies and ensure that they are able to communicate to maximum of its prospective customers through media like regional/local newspapers, hoardings, personal displays, catalogues, etc. However, the rural areas were not penetrated to a good extent as no specific strategies were framed aiming towards the rural prospects.

Complementarity: The various media that are used to promote the products are complementary to each other. The advertisements not only make the customers aware but they also complement sales promotional activities.

Versatility: Since the customer base of JCB is focused than any consumer products so the message is also focused and to the point. So the IMC strategies aim at providing awareness to the customers about the products and induce sales.

3.4 NEW IMC INITIATIVES

These strategies were introduced in the IMC plan of JCB when they decided to increase their customer base – rural areas and small contractors. These measures were added to the existing strategies of the company.

Finance companies: JCB dealers across India associate themselves with many finance companies like SREI Finance, Magma Finance, etc. who promote JCB machines by giving better schemes that will induce greater sales. They get subvention (commission) from JCB India for helping to achieve a given target.

RURAL IMC STRATEGIES

The main objective of rural IMC strategies is to make people aware about the brand and its products and how it can be cost efficient.

Road shows: Road show refers to presentation of a machine to the people about the various features and benefits. It is the major way to promote the products. Due to lack of space in rural areas the machines are not demonstrated like in case of urban customers. Here they speak about the products, company and dealers.

Rural Mela(s): The dealers with support of JCB organise melas where people from different villages nearby are asked to attend so that the salespersons can educate them about the JCB machines. This is usually done when the resources at the dealers’ disposal is less to conduct road shows. Here the crowd is more so it becomes easier for them to communicate about the products.

Sales promotion: More sales promotional strategies are directed towards rural areas than urban areas. The customers are given more benefits for spot bookings, which mostly comprises of free insurance and discounts on price.

Another strategy that JCB dealers are using is by promoting leasing of their machines. They are promoting sale of their excavators and other machines to leasing firms and individuals so that they can give out on monthly rentals. This will increase the sales and will also increase employment. This is promoted mostly in semi-urban and rural areas. Leasing firms also promote JCB products.

Some dealers have also started leasing the machines in rural areas so that the market of the company expands and many small contractors and project managers can use machines of high quality like that of JCB at a reasonable cost.

JCB India funds some rural schools and primary health centres in Haryana. This helps to build a good image of the brand. JCB has used this initiative as a good way to promote its brand.

CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE NEW IMC INITIATIVES OF JCB

Coverage: Since these strategies have been formulated aiming at a specific market segments which are the rural areas and small

contractors there is more coverage of prospect customers. More people are communicated about the brand and its products.

Consistency: The message that is communicated is consistent as all the major information is provided by the HQ of JCB India in Haryana. The dealers do not project the brand differently. Moreover the promotions that are held are regarding the features about the product.

Versatility: Just like the existing strategies even the new strategies are highly focused and give the same message. So it is not very versatile.

IMPACT OF NEW IMC STRATEGIES

The proportion of hiring segment in 2005 was 40% of the total sales which has increased to 60% in 2014. After implementation of rural IMC strategies the all India sale of JCB increased from approximately 5,500 in 2005 to 19,500 in 2014.

The demand for JCB machines has increased over the years and as a result many dealership companies are coming up at different regions of the country.

Earlier this brand was considered to be that for high income customers or big contractors, mining industries and other industries.

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