MBA Projects

SWOT Analysis for ACC Cement

Yogin Vora — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 08:23:19 +0000

SWOT of ACC Cement

STRENGTHS.

It is having a good image and brand loyalty among consumers.
Service is good
“Dhalai karne ke liye” people ask for ACC
They have same price prevailing for wholesale at dealers/stockiest retailers end.

WEAKNESS.

The competitors are doing much promotional activity rather than ACC Limited that’s why it facing more problems in selling of product in the market.
Lack of awareness program for consumers.

OPPORTUNITY.

Rapid growth is taking place in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
People are opting for more stable structures and intensive use of cement is taking place, even government is spending heavily on infrastructure projects. Thus, this is the right time to fully tap these markets.
As Indian core industry is also growing at rate of nearly 10% per annum,it is having a good future.
Foreign direct investment in infrastructure sector going to increase in coming years, which will increase the demand of cement.
Roads are undergoing through the transformation process through which the traditional method of road building will be replaced by modern concrete roads.

THREATS:

Large number of players in cement industry makes it more competitive for ACC to carefully price its product and at the same time satisfy its dealers and customers.
Players such as Jaypee Cement, Prism Cement, and Birla Samrat are eating up considerable market share.
Due to India’s exponential growth many new international cement companies are expected in coming years which will bring a tide of change and can start price war.
The emergence of small players in this market may increase the competition and start the malpractices, and heavy discounts to retailers. They can also influence many retailers by giving better profit margin, and other Benefits.

Guerrilla Advertising Strategy

Yogin Vora — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:04:36 +0000

From China to Cuba to Vietnaam, history teaches the power of a guerrilla movement. In business, too, a guerrilla has a reservoir of tactical advantages that allows the small company to flourish in the land of the giants.

Size, of course, is relative. The smallest automobile company (American Motors) is considerably larger than the largest shaving company (Gillette). Yet American Motors should fight a guerrilla war and, Gillette should fight a defensive war.

What’s more important than your own size is the size of your competition. The key to marketing warfare is to tailor your tactics to your competition, not to your own company.

Guerrilla Principle #.1

“Find a segment of the market small enough to defend.”

It could be small geographically. Or in volume. Or in some other aspect difficult for a larger company to attack.

A Guerrilla strategy doesn’t change the mathematics of marketing. (Big company still beats the small company.) Rather a Guerrilla tries to reduce the size of the battleground in order to achieve a superiority of force. In other words, tries to become a big fish in the small pond.

Guerrilla Principle #.2

“No matter how successful you become, never act like the leader.”

The day the guerrilla company orders its first Cadillac limousine for the chairman of the board is the day the guerrilla company starts to go downhill.

The Americans would have won the war in Vietnam if they could have persuaded the Vietcong to send their officers to West Point to learn how to fight like we do.

And most guerrilla companies are lucky their leaders didn’t go to the Harvard Business School to learn how to market like General Motors, General Electric, and General Dynamics.

That’s not to say that the business schools of this world don’t produce excellent leaders. They do, for the big companies whose case histories make up the core of their curriculum. But the essence of guerrilla strategy and tactics is the opposite of what’s right for the Fortune 500 crowd.

Successful guerrillas operate with a different organization and a different timetable.

They went to Vietnam with thousands of cooks, bakers, clerks, chauffeurs, chaplains, public relation officers. The enemy had none of these. Enemy soldiers had a gun, which they used against them. A large amount of solider where used, in managing, supplying, and servicing the needs of fighting men.

Guerrilla Principle #.3

“Be prepared to bug out at a moment’s notice.”

A guerrilla also can take advantage of its small size to make quick decisions. This can be a precious asset when competing with the big national companies to whom a quick decision means 6 weeks of staff work instead of the usual 6 months.

A company that runs away lives again to fight another day. This advice is right out of the pages of Che Guevara. Don’t hesitate to abandon a position or a product if the battle turns against you. A guerrilla doesn’t have the resources to waste on a lost cause. A guerrilla should be quick to give up and move on.

Here’s where the advantage of flexibility and a lean organization really pays off. A guerrilla can often take up a new position without the internal pain and stress that a big company goes through.

The lack of titles and staff can also be a big benefit. If you’re the executive vice president of Latin America and your company tries to give up on the Latin American market, you’re going to fight tooth and nail to hold on to your position. A lot of infighting has to take place before things get changed in a big company.

A small company can change things around without making internal waves.

How to Crack CAT ? (Part 1)

Yogin Vora — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:23:53 +0000

There are certain things to be considered during the preparation of CAT Examinations, which helps you t be a step ahead from the other candidates:

Good Academic Record.
Start Early.
Aim High Institutes like IIM’s
Select a good Coaching.

After have a look on the video you can see that toppers have to be dedicating their 6 months prior time on the studies and proper coaching notes should be used during the studies. If you have a good academic record then it can give a plus point.

The toppers giving their views and helping you people for getting an extra edge in studying for CAT :

Ranvir singh (Highest Indian Salary)
Vishal Prabhukhanolkar (IIM A, 99.92 Percentile)
Madhuri Iyer (IIM A, 99.83 Percentile)
Sujit Nagda (IIM C, 99.71 Percentile)
Kiren Tanna (IIM C, 99.55 Percentile)

The above video is a part of their interview(part 1). Thank You, and don’t forget to give your comments for the post.

How Does Advertising Persuade The Buyer???

Yogin Vora — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 11:12:52 +0000

In general, granting that the ultimate intention of any advertising is to influence the purchase behavior of consumers, in a way favorable to the advertiser, how does advertising achieve this end?

The Advertisement Should Be Of Interest To The Audience:

The first requirement is that the advertisement should capture the attention of its audience. In other words, the advertisement has to get through the attention filter of the target audience. To achieve this, the advertisement has to provide the audience the information that is of interest to them. It may give them new information, or it may support the information they are already having or it may attempt to alter their existing views or beliefs. In any case, the advertising message should interest them. Some people like information that is communicated through stories, some others like figures and data. There may be another category who may listen to information that is couched in real experience situations and there may be others who totally avoid unpleasant information or information that upsets their existing faiths and beliefs.

The Audience Should Interpret the Information in the Intended Manner

It is essential that an advertisement provide information that is of interest to the audience. Only then the audience would listen to it. It is also essential that the audience sees the advertisement and interprets it in a way favorable to the advertiser. The same advertising message under a given setting can be perceived and interpreted by different people in different ways. One may find optimism in the message. Another may find boredom and some others may perceive aggression in the same message. An array of audience conditions such as the needs, desires, status, values and motives of the audience affect their interpretation; of a message.

An advertiser or communicator has to ensure that his message is interpreted in a way: favorable to his products/offerings.

The Advertisement Should Also Appeal To and Influence the Audience

It is not enough if the audience listens to the advertisement and interprets it the way the advertiser or communicator expects it to be interpreted. It should also APPEAL to them and INFLUENCE their attitude, thought process and purchase behaviour in favour of the advertised brand.

It is generally agreed that purchases are governed by the attitudes of consumers towards alternate product offers. ‘Attitude change’ therefore becomes a universally accepted marketing goal. The advertising communicator knows that if attitudes of the target customers can be manipulated and changed in his favor, behavior changes on the lines preferred by him will naturally follow. So his main burden is dealing with ‘attitudes’ of people. He does not directly attack the ‘purchase behavior’ of the customers. Instead he subtly tries to change their prevalent attitude Structure. Attitude therefore, becomes a central theme in advertising.

Attitude- A Central Theme in Advertising:

‘Attitude’ and ‘Attitude construct’ are indeed the central ideas in advertising management. And what is attitude? The traditionally accepted view of attitude as such is that it is made up of three interrelated components — Cognitive, Affective, and Conative.

The cognitive component deals with cognition, or knowledge; it is the faculty of knowing or perceiving or conceiving ideas; it is the sphere dealing with knowledge.

The affective component deals with ‘affections/emotions’.

For example, feelings of likes or dislikes towards objects are dealt on the affective plane.

And the Conative component deals with behavior or action.

What is Advertising?

Yogin Vora — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 06:36:28 +0000

WHAT IS ADVERTISING?

The word advertising originates from Latin word advertise, which means to turn to. The dictionary meaning of the term is “to give public notice or to give publicity”. Advertising may be defined as the process of buying sponsor-identified media space or time in order to promote a product or an idea. It is perhaps the most visible of all the elements in the promotion mix and is therefore subject to much criticism from consumer groups. It is also subjected to government regulation.

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

Advertising is not just 30 seconds of entertainment during the Super Bowl or the announcement of the new deals from the cheesy car dealer down the street. Advertising is big business–an industry with extraordinary cultural and economic impact. It has the power to create brand awareness and loyalty and to stimulate demand. In its most profound form, it can turn mere products into meaningful brands and important possessions and turn the most mundane object into a cultural icon. Advertising can be offensive or memorable, the center of controversy or the topic of conversation.

In its simplest form, advertising is a method of one-way communication between an advertiser and the consumer. An advertisement is persuasive in nature and sends an intended message through a designated medium (radio, television, the Internet). However, in receiving a message, consumers do not always interpret the message as the advertiser intended.

Successful advertising sales results in satisfied customers and revenue growth for the company.

Definition

Advertising is a paid form and hence is commercial in nature. Publicity is not paid for by the sponsor. Advertising is a paid form of publicity. Thus any sponsored communication designed to influence buyer behavior is advertising.
Advertising is non-personal. Whatever the form of advertisement (visual, spoken or written), it is directed at a mass audience and not directly at the individual as in personal selling.
Advertisements are identified with their sponsoring authority, which is not always the case with publicity.

Origin and Growth of Advertising

Yogin Vora — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 06:43:44 +0000

The history of advertising dates back to the early days of human civilization. The evolution or growth of advertising can be briefly stated as follows:

Early Forms of Advertising: Three forms of advertising existed during the pre-printing period, i.e. before 15^th century. The three forms are as follows:

a) Trade Marks: In olden days, artisans used to inscribe on their goods such as pots, wooden tools, etc., certain marks such a stars, moon, tiger, etc. Such marks came to be regarded as trade marks.

The trademark was treated as a form of advertising because the reputation of a particular trademark spread by word of mouth. The buyer used to look for such marks before buying the product or tools at the village fairs or such other places.

b) Town Criers: Prior to 15^th centaury, shopkeepers and other sellers appointed town criers to popularize their stores and products. The town crier wore clowny cloths and played a musical instrument such as drum or a flute and attracted the attention of the people at the village fairs, bazaars etc. the town crier used to offer samples and praise the shop and the product soled by the shops.

Town crier were treated as a form of advertising as they attracted the attention of t5he people and also induced or persuaded the people to buy the products popularized by them.

c) Sign Boards: Signs or signboards have been in use for over 5000 years. In those days, sellers used to paint signs on the rocks or boards about their goods. People were attracted by those signs and purchased the product popularized by the signs or signboards. For e.g., a sign of cow was used for dairy products, row of ham for butcher’s shop etc.

Birth of Printing Press: In 1438, Johan Gutenberg invented the crude form of printing press. This made possible the printed advertisements in the following forms:

a) Hand Mills: In 1477, William Caxton from London brought out the first ever-printed advertisement in the form of a hand mill. The advertisement was for a religious book.

b) Newspaper Advertisement: The Gutenberg invention made possible the printing of a newspaper. The first newspaper came into existence in Germany around 1520, and the first newspaper ad was published in about 1525 in Germany for a book.

The first printed English newspaper appeared in 1622 called “The Weekly News of London”, and the first ad in an English newspaper appeared in 1625 for a book.

c) Magazine Advertising: Magazines were first published in the early 1700s, how ever, advertising in magazines gain reorganization only around 1870. In those days, most of the advertisements were in the form of posters/ handbills and in newspapers.

3. Birth of Advertising Agency: In 1840 Volney Bpalmer started the first advertising agency in America at Philadelphia. In those days, ad agencies used to act as “salesmen of space”. They used to sell space in newspapers and magazines on behalf of publishers to the advertisers. They used to get 25% commission for such services. The real advertising work such as copywriting art-work etc, by the ad agencies began in the early 20^th century.

4. Radio Advertising: Marconi invented the radio. The radio was introduced to the public in the early 1920s.The first radio advertisement was aired in 1922 for “Eveready Batteries” in America.

Because of the invention of radio, it was made possible to advertise to the illiterates. The music and sound effects of radio advertising gave a new meaning to the field of advertising.

5. Television advertising: in 1930s John L. Baird invented the commercially viable television. It was the most impressive medium of all times. The television advertising combined the effect of voice and vision, music and motion. The first commercial appeared in 1949 in USA. In India, the first TV commercial appeared on Jan.1, 1976.

6. Other Forms: In this present century several other forms of advertising came into existence. it includes neon-signs, video, sky writing, billboards, yellow pages, direct mail, etc.

7. Growth of Advertising Organizations: Several advertising organizations came into existence during the 20^th century. These include Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) in 1914 in America and later on in other countries including India; Advertising Agencies Association of America (AAAA) in 1945.These organization gave an added impetus to the progress of advertising throughout the world.

8. Internet: An interesting form of advertising in the late 1990s is the Internet. Internet can be called as electronic yellow pages. Companies open a website wherein they provide information about the company and the product.

How to select an Advertising Agency ?

Yogin Vora — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 09:56:39 +0000

Selecting the right type of advertising agency is a very difficult choice The advertiser should make a list of all possible agencies that can serve his purpose and the agency best qualified to provide the required and effective services is selected. Some advertisers may seleact more than one agency to handle separately its various product lines. Following are the factors that should be considered while selecting an advertising agency:

1. Services Offered: The very important consideration in the choice of the advertising agency is the requirements of the advertiser as to the services in respect of advertising and non-advertising. If the agency is well equipped to meet the requirements of the advertiser, then sue agency can be selected. Some agencies may provide only a few services, others package of services.

2. Location: The location of the advertising agency is of prime importance; preferably the office of the agency should be located within the same city where the head office of the client is located. Quite often the client has to consult and communicate on various advertising problems and this can be done quickly and economically, if the office of the agency is within easy reach of the advertiser.

3. Compensation: Now-a-days agencies charge for entire services. There is hardly anything free. The advertiser has to pay for the copy writing, art work and other services. The rates of various agencies are not standard and they differ from agency to agency. The advertiser must check on the rates before finalizing the choice of the agency. However, it does not mean that the advertiser will select an agency whose charges are less, other factors often come into picture such as experience and quality of services offered.

4. Personnel: The creative personnel of the agency such as the copy writers, art directors and others must be looked into before contracting the agency. The success of the advertiser’s campaign largely depends on the services of the creative department.

5. Size of the Agency: The size of the advertising agency must be considered. The larger the size, the more it is preferred, however, at times, small is beautiful because a small-agency may give more attention to its client’s work, in such cases; the small agency can be considered.

6. Records and Reputation: The past record and reputation of the advertising agency in the field of advertising must be studied. The agency-client relationship, the client turnover, the success of other clients’ campaigns, the implementation of the schedule, the follow up and such other factors must be looked into.

7. Other Accounts: The advertiser should also find out the other accounts that are handled by the agency. In no case, the advertiser must select that agency which handles competitor’s advertising, because there will always be suspicion of getting poor facilities and second hand treatment and it will be wise to discard the choice of such agency.

8. Media Connections: Some agencies do have better contacts with various media ‘owners, such as the newspaper and magazine publishers, Doordarshan, Radio, etc. For instance, in a MARG survey many firms perceive that Mudra has better connections with Doordarshan than other agencies. Such agencies may be able to influence upon the media owners and can book prime time and space for their clients. Other agencies may lack far behind in such connections. Therefore, the agency with better media connection be selected.

Role of Advertising in Marketing Mix

Yogin Vora — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:55:28 +0000

Marketing mix consist of four important variables of marketing, i.e. 4Ps-Product, Price, Promotion and Place. Apart from the traditional 4Ps, there are also other variables, i.e. Packaging, Posting, and Pace.

Advertising is an element of promotion. However, it not only assists in promoting the product, but also affects the other variables of marketing mix. This can be explained as follows:

1. Advertising and Product: A product is normally a set of physical elements, such as quality, shape, size, colour and other features. The product may be of very high quality .At times, the product is so designed that it requires careful handling and operations. Buyers must be informed and educated on the various aspects of the product. This can be effectively done through advertising. Thus, advertising plays the role of information and education.

2. Advertising and Price: The price is the exchange value of the product. A marketer may bring out a very high quality product with additional features as compared to competitors. In such a case, price would be definitely high. But buyers may not be willing to pay a high price would be definitely high. But buyers may not be willing to pay a high price. Here comes advertising. Advertising can convince buyers regarding the superiority of the brand and thus its value for money. This can be done by associating the product with prestigious people, situations, or events. Alternatively when a firm offers a low price products the job of advertising needs to stress the price advantage by using hard hitting copy. It is not just enough to convince, but it is desirable to persuade the buyer. Thus advertising plays the role of conviction and persuasion.

3. Advertising and Place: Place refers to physical distribution and the stores where the goods are available Marketer should see to it that the goods are available at the convenient place and that too at the right time when the buyers need it. To facilitate effective distribution and expansion of market, advertising is of great significance. Thus advertising do help in effective distribution and market expansion.

4. Advertising and Promotion: Promotion consists of advertising, publicity, personal selling and sales promotion technique. Businessmen today have to face a lot of competition. Every seller needs effective promotion to survive and succeed in this competitive business world. Advertising can play a significant role to put forward the claim of seller, and to counter the claims of competitor. Through effective advertising, sellers can face competition and also help to develop brand image and brand loyalty.

5. Advertising and Pace: Pace refers to the speed in marketing decisions and actions. It involves among other things the launch of new products or brand variations at greater speed than before. As and when new brands are launched, advertising plays an important role of informing, educating and persuading the customers to buy the product.

6. Advertising and Packaging: The main purpose of packaging is protection of the product during transit, and preservation of quality and quantity. Now a –days, marketers take lot of efforts to develop and design attractive packages as they carry advertising value. A creatively design package attract the attention of the customers. It also carries an assurance of quality and creates confidence in the minds of customers to buy the product.

7. Advertising and Positioning: Product positioning aims at creating and maintaining a distinct image of the brands in the minds of the customers. Through advertising the marketer can convey the positioning of the brand and accordingly can influence the buying decision of the target audience.

Planning and Marketing Strategy

Yogin Vora — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 16:23:05 +0000

PROPER PLANNING AND MARKETING STRATEGY:

Most business owners and entrepreneurs choose not to plan. Planning sounds difficult, time-consuming, and downright boring. After all, running a business consumes all of the daylight hours and most of the night as well – there is no time for planning. Although this point about “no time for planning” has a lot of truth to it, the risk of flying blind is too great to leave to chance. While your competition would like its activities to generate a return, your written plan turns your marketing into a planned investment rather than a hopeful risk.

Creating a marketing plan can be done relatively quickly and provides for a clear direction for your business.

The seven basic steps include:

Define the purpose of your marketing.
State the benefits of your product or service.
Select your target audience.
Describe your niche.
Identify the marketing tools you will use.
Articulate your identity.
Create your budget.

Mass Marketing or Segmentation Marketing?

Yogin Vora — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:36:26 +0000

Marketing a product or service that is designed, produced and sold as if all buyers were all the same is the typical mass-market philosophy. There is no recognition of the different demands, behaviors or attitudes of buyers, nor is there any attempt to differentiate the appeal of the appeal of the product or service among buyers. It vaguely aims at everyone with the same marketing mix and should lead to the lower costs and prices and create the largest potential market.

The major advantage of mass marketing is the cost savings it creates for production, promotion and distribution. The firm is dealing with a standardized product that appeals to everyone within the market for the product or service. Resources do not have to be expended on creating differentiation. Of course the big question is how long can you rely on mass appeal in an increasingly competitive market?

Long-term business success does not rely on cost minimization but profit maximization. Consumers are not all the same and are demanding products and services tailored to their individuality. Thus the notion of market segmentation and segmentation marketing becomes critical to competitive success. This means marketing in such a way so as to target specific markets and fulfill the needs or wants of them via differentiated products or services and differentiated marketing mixes.

The big advantage of segmentation marketing provided it was done properly, is increased profits and in some cases better achievement of organizational goals. Ultimately the form that can improve customer service through segmentation and target marketing can be a more effective competitor, which in turn enables the firm to achieve its organizational objective more effectively.

With the growth of technology and its integration into market research, companies are now getting an insight into the needs and wants of narrowly defined segments and in some cases, individuals. They can then ‘Micro-Market’ to these segments with products and services specifically targeted to their needs.