productivity improvement programme

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Study of product promotion & strategies of

United Biscuits Pvt.Ltd

ByMohammad Waseem Asghar

PG10-40

Under the guidance of

Prof. Simmi Khurana

Integrated Academy of Management and Technology

Ghaziabad

Summer project submittedJuly, 2011

in

Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of

Post Graduate Diploma in Management

(Recognized by AICTE, Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India)



Objective

Primary Objective :

1. Identify the factors which are important for marketing strategies.

2. Customer awareness about United Biscuits.

3. Identify the areas of improvement of United Biscuits.

Secondary Objective :

1. Ensuring adequate availability of stocks at stores.

2. Coordinating with Sales officer & Distributor.

3. Promoting the product at store level.



Introduction of United Biscuits Pvt. Ltd.

United Biscuits was founded in 1948 following the merger of two Scottish family businesses McVitie & Priceand MacFarlane Lang. McVities was founded in 1830 and 89% of UK households buy McVities biscuits. UnitedBiscuits Pvt. Ltd is the UKs leading biscuit manufacturer and No. 2 in snacks. Were the second largest biscuit

manufacturer in the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Ireland. Key Markets of United Biscuits are Canada,USA, Sweden, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Middle East, Australia, India and Nigeria. Key Brands of United Biscuits

are McVities, Fruit & Form, Carrs, Delacre and BN.

A US $ 2 billion branded snacks company.

Largest producer of biscuits in 1.5 billion tons UK market.

Employee strength of over 11,000 people.

Baking biscuits since 1850.

First Mc Vities original digestive baked in 1892.Selling products in over 100 countries.

United Biscuits in India

United Biscuits is worlds second largest biscuits manufacturer in the world, and has being importing in Indiasince last 11 years, taking their experience further in manufacturing best quality biscuits & providing value

product to the Indian consumers. United Biscuits purchased the plant of Bonn brad (S.S. foods) with theinvestment of 15-20 crores located at Kala Amb industrial area in Himachal. However in totality UB has alreadymade an investment of 40 crores for this plant and also planning to invest more. UB identified as a market

with great potential than it made for way into the Indian market by deciding the production in HimachalPardesh. UB India today directly and indirectly employees over 1000 people and also plans to continue

expanding its presence in the year 2011.

Manufacturing facility in Kala Amb- Himachal Prades.

UB India has been operational since the beginning of 2010.

Head Office at Vasantkunj Delhi.



Promotional Strategies:

United biscuits knows that customers go to its stores to take a good quality of products at at its reasonable price

and not because United biscuits is the seconds largest biscuit manufacturer in the world. United biscuits uses

many kinds of promotions to keep its biscuits at the top of the industry. Promotion is one of the important

elements of marketing mix. The elements of promotion used by United Biscuits

Advertising:

United Biscuits has modernized their advertisements,pamphlets, and website to include nutritional informationand addressing diet restrictions but still United Biscuits has

had to look for alternative strategies to keep consumershappy.

Another promotional strategy United Biscuits uses is thehuge investment in sponsorship. This is also a central partof the image building process. Sponsorship in WWE

increases awareness of United Biscuits brand.

Below the line promotion are used in India through Salespromotion and personal selling but in order to fully exploit

advertisement now United Biscuitsand is starting Abovethe line promotion through mass media to make sure

everyone knows of the McVities brand.

United Biscuits has signed on Bollywood SuperstarBipasha Basu and leading South Indian actor Shriya Saranfor endorsing its flagship brand McVities in India. The stars

will play a pivotal role in enhancing further, the brandsaspirational values, through their association in presenting

the brand, products and promotional activities.

Sales Promotion:

A sales promotion strategy is an activity that is

designed to help boost the sales of a product or

service.

Sales promotion strategy used by United Biscuits is

a Combination of Push & Pull Strategies: It focuses

both on the distributor as well as the consumers,targeting both parties directly. It offers consumer

incentives side by side with dealer discounts.

Tools used United Biscuits for consumers

promotion:

1. Freebies 3. Sample

2. Coupon 4. Extra quantities

Tools used United Biscuits for retailers promotion:

1.Price off



Competitors of United Biscuits in India:

The existing market leaders in the Indian biscuit market are -

1 Parle 2 - Britannia 3 ITCIt is found many products which can be compared with Britannia & Parle Biscuit. As a conclusion I found that

particularly in my provided area Mc Vities is not really doing well and its performance is on low level. During thefield work and after intensive study it was found that main competitor of Mc Vities biscuits is:

In Ghaziabad the demandof biscuits in the market are ranked as follows.

Britannia. 2. Parle. 3. ITC. 4. McVities.

Two Dimensional Perceptual Mapping:

High value proposition

Britannia

Parle

Mc Vities

ITC

High Price Competitive Price

Low Value Proposition



Beat Planning

United Biscuits followed following strategies for the selection of Beat Planning.

1 Company divided a particular are in many Beat such as East Delhi has divided into 50 Beat approx.

2 Each Beat has 40 retailers approx.

3 Company focused those retailers who are good in FMCG business.

4 As per sales volume Beats are divided into category A, B and C.

5 As per sales volume retailers are also divided into category A, B and C.

6 Company mainly focuses A category retailers so that company can increase sales growth and revenue.

7 Company gives special sales promotion offer to A category retailers.

Mc Vities Stock availability & Re-order

Shelf Stores in Ghaziabad



Research Methodology

Marketing Research: Q uantitative Research

Data:

Primary Data: Collected by field work

Secondary Data: Collected by books and internet

Research Approach: Survey method

Research Instrument: Q uestionnaire

Type of Questionnaire: Structured

Type of Questions: Close-ended and open-ended questions

Target Population: Retailers

Sample Size: 100

Sampling Technique: Convenience Sampling

Sample Areas:

Ghaziabad-

Kavi Nagar, Raj Nagar, Lohiya Nagar, Patel Nagar, Sastri nagar, Chiranjeev Vihar, Dasna Gate,

Gandhi Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Sihani Gate, Govind Puram.



1. How did you get to know about Mc Vities biscuits?

Interpretation - Survey shows that 10% retailers know Mc Vities through News papers & 90%

retailers know it through any other sources like POPs, sales man & Customers.

News Papers &

Magazines

10%

T.V Commercials

9%

Outdoor Media

0%

Any Other

81%

McVities



2/A. Rate the Packaging

Interpretation - For McVities packaging 23% retailers said that its average, 61% said good, 16 said

very good. For Britannia 30% said good and 60% said very good. For Parle 62% said good and 38%

said very good. Which vividly indicates that packaging of McVities is good & competent to

Britannia & Parle.

0 0 0 0

23

0 0

9

61

30

62

45

16

70

38

46

0 0 0 0

McVities Britannia Parle ITC

PackagingBad Average Good Very Good Excellent



2/B. Rate the Price

Interpretation 64%, 57% & 44% Retailers said that Britannia, Parle & ITCs price rate are very

good respectively where as 35% retailers said the price of McVities are average. For this reason

McVities have to work on its price.

McVitie'sBritannia

ParleITC

00

00

35

00

0

65

3643

57

0

64

57

44

00

00

PriceBad Average Good Very Good Excellent



2/C. Rate the Quality

Interpretation: 80% & 62% retailers said Britannia & Parle are very good respectively but only

38% said McVities are very good & 13% said average and so McVities have to improve the

quality of its biscuits to compete with Britannia & Parle.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

McVitie's Britannia Parle ITC

Quality

Excellent

Very Good

Good

Average

Bad



2/D. Rate the Quantity

Interpretation: 64% retailers said Britannia provides very good quantity & 65% said Parle provides

very good quantity but 82% said that McVities provide good quantity whether 18% said that

McVities provide average quantity in the market.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

McVitie's Britannia Parle ITC

Quantity

Bad Average Good Very Good Excellent



3. Rank the following according to the customer preference?

Interpretation: McVities Digestive is ranked highest at 82% & McVities Chocolate Cream is ranked

lowest at 56%. It indicates that Digestive biscuits are highly preferred by the customers & has

good response of sales in the market.

82

42

6 6

1210

32

38

8

3

27

39

22

9

3

48

10

1821

0

11

17 16

56

McVities Digestive. McVities-Butter Cookies. McVities-Cashew Cookies. McVities-Marie. McVities-Chocolate Cream.

Customer Preference1 2 3 4 5



4. Which brand is most demanded by customers?

Interpretation: In 100 sample shops one shop sales only McVities thats there are no

competition. Most Demanded biscuits are Britannia 37% followed by Parle 29% and ITC 21%. In

some shops demand of two biscuits are same such as Parle and Britannia

Mc Vities

13%

Parle29%

Britannia

37%

ITC

21%

Demand



5. Special offers & trade schemes provided by McVities to retailers are

convincing?

Interpretation: 56% retailers said that offers & trade schemes provided by McVities are

convincing but only 35% retailers dislike McVities schemes.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

YES

NO

MAYBE

Convince

Convince



6. The process of distribution, proper supply to retailers & services are?

Interpretation: 9% said very good, 12% said better & 24% said good but 35% and 20% said bad &

not effective respectively.

Very Good, 9

Better, 12

Good, 24

Average, 35

Not Effective, 20



7. How many times in a week sales man visit your store?

Interpretation: 26% said that sales man visit once in a week and 69% said twice but 5% said

thrice and sales man never visit any store more than thrice in a week.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

1-time

2-times

3-times

More than 3-times

Visits

Visits



8. Are you satisfied with the Distributer of McVities?

Interpretation: 42% retailers said they are satisfied with the distributer and 58% of them said

that they are not satisfied with distributer.

42%

58%

SatisfactionYes No



9. In how many days you Re-Order McVities?

Interpretation: 63% said they order McVities Digestive in 10-29 days & 64% said they order

McVities Chocolate cream in more than 40 days, which shows that McVities Digestive have

good sales & demand in the market but chocolate cream lacks the demand in market.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Digestives Butter Cookies Cashew Cookies Marie Chocolate Cream

Re-Order

More than 40 Days

30-40 Days

10-29 Days



10. Which type of Plannograame they provide McVities in the stores?

Interpretation: 52% retailers said they provide Super-2 shelves for McVities, 33% provide Hyper-3

shelves & 15% provide Daily single shelves to McVities.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Hyper/ 3 Shelves

Super/ 2 Shelves

Daily Single Shelves

Visibility

Visibility



11. Which of the following promotional techniques McVities use?

Interpretation: promotional schemes that for McVities products are used in the market is Extra

quanties at 93%, price-off at 39%, Freebies at 87% & Coupons at 57%.

Coupons

21%

Price-off

14%

Freebies

31%

Extra Q uantities

34%

Scratch-Cards0%

Lucky-Draw0%

Promotional-Schemes



12. Which section of the media shall be employed to promote this product?

Interpretation: 93% of retailers respond to Electronic media, 73% wants Trade show & sampling of

the products and 39% support Print media for promotion of McVities products.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Print Media Electronic Media Trade show & sampling

Media section

Media section



13. How satisfied are you?

Interpretation: Retailers said that they are 29%, 16% & 19% only satisfied with the sales growth of

McVities this year, with sales growth compared to other competitive products & with productivity

of working relationship with McVities field organization this year respectively.

Satisfied, 19

Neutral, 54

Dissatisfied, 27

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

With the sales growth of McVities this year With sales growth of McVities compared with that

of your other major suppliers of competitive

products

With the productivity of your working relationship

with McVities field organization this year.



14. Any suggestions for McVities?

o Cookies Biscuit quality of taste should improve.

o Packaging of Digestive should improve.

o Different variety of biscuit should be more.

o Proper advertisement is required.

o Package weight is lesser than other biscuits such as Parle and Britannia.

o Regularity of sales officers vist should increase.

o Before launching any new flavor of biscuit, sample should be distributed.

o Replacement and Sales Displays be on time.



Findings

1 Ghaziabad is potential market for McVities biscuits.

2 In Ghaziabad Britannia is most demanded biscuits.

3 - Only 9% retailers are aware about McVities TV ads.

4 Digestive is most selling biscuits. In 80% retail stores digestive sale is more than

McVities other biscuits.

5 Sales Men cover 70% retail stores within 7 days.

6 McVities biscuits supply is good only at 45% retail store.

7 - 42% retailers are satisfied with the distributer.

8 30% retailers are not aware about McVities promotional offers.

9 McVities price is higher than other competitors.

10 Retailers need different size of package and varieties of biscuits also.



Limitations

Area Survey is based on Ghaziabad Citys retailers.

Sample Size, I had only 100 sample size for the survey which is less for Ghaziabad City.

While collection of the data many retailers were unwilling to fill the questionnaire.

Lack of proper experience on the part of the researcher in conducting such studies in the past.

The time period for carrying out the research was short as a result of which many facts have

been left unexplored.



Recommendations

Some places distributors not able to cover his particular area. That should be improved.

Small pack of Rs. 5/- also should be in the market.

Always collect the views of retailers. It gives psychological effect on the retailers about care ness

by manufacturing company.

Proper supply chain should be so that biscuits can be supply on time and reduce stock out

problem.

More focus A and B category of retailers rather than wasting time and money on C category

retailers.

Focus more on advertising and sales promotion.

Give proper training to sales men about the selling techniques.



Bibliography

www.unitedbiscuits.com

www.mcvities.com

http://bakerybazar.blogspot.com/2011/04/united-biscuits-rope-in-movie-stars-as.html

http://bakerybazar.blogspot.com/2010/03/united-biscuits-mcvities-penguin-to.html

Product & Brand Management by Prof. U.C. Mathur

Product Promotion by John J. Burnett

Marketing Research by H.W. Boyd, Jr. R. Westfall and Stanley F. Stasch

Marketing Research by Naresh K. Malhotra



Appendix

1. Questionnaire used for Customer Awareness of United Biscuits.

2. Questionnaire for Retailers.

productivity improvement programme

Documents