MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY

UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI PROJECT REPORT ON MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY In the partial fulfillment for Bachelors of Management Studies (BMS) SUBMITTED BY SUBIN PHILIPOSE TYBMS Semester V (2011-12)

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF Prof. Ms. CHIRAGINI JAIN Vishwehwar Education Societys Western College of Commerce And Business Management Sanpada, Navi Mumbai 400705.

Vishweshwar Education Societys

MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY

WESTERN COLLEGE OF COMMERCE & BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Plot No. 2, Sector 9, Sanpada, Navi Mumbai - 400705

This is to certify that Mr. SUBIN PHILIPOSE of TYBMS has undertaken and completed the project work entitled MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY . During the academic year 2011-2012 under the guidance of Ms. CHIRAGNI JAIN submitted on ____________ to this college in fulfillment of the curriculum of Bachelor of Management Studies , University of Mumbai.

Project Guide Examiner

BMS HoD

Principal Date:

External

MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY

Executive summary
The marketing mix is a business tool used in marketing products. The marketing mix is often synonymous with the 'four Ps': 'price', 'promotion', 'product', and 'place'. However, in recent times, the 'four Ps' have been expanded to the 'seven Ps' with the addition of 'process', 'physical evidence' and 'people'. The term "marketing mix" was coined in 1953 by Neil Borden in his American Marketing Association presidential address. However, this was actually a reformulation of an earlier idea by his associate, James Culliton, who in 1948 described the role of the marketing manager as a "mixer of ingredients", who sometimes follows recipes prepared by others, sometimes prepares his own recipe as he goes along, sometimes adapts a recipe from immediately available ingredients, and at other times invents new ingredients no one else has tried. The term became popular in the article written by Neil Borden called The Concept of the Marketing Mix. He started teaching the term after he learned about it with an associate. The prominent marketer, E. Jerome McCarthy, proposed a Four P classification in 1960, which has since been widely used by marketers throughout the world.

MARKETING STRATEGY
INTRODUCTION

MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY The marketing mix is a part of marketing strategy and probably the most famous marketing term. Its elements are the basic, tactical components of a marketing plan. Also known as the Four P's, the marketing mix elements are price, place, product, promotion, people, process and physical evidence. The concept is simple. Think about another common mix - a cake mix. All cakes contain eggs, milk, flour, and sugar. However, you can alter the final cake by altering the amounts of mix elements contained in it. So for a sweet cake add more sugar!

It is the same with the marketing mix. The offer you make to you customer can be altered by varying the mix elements. So for a high profile brand, increase the focus on promotion and desensitize the weight given to price. Another way to think about the marketing mix is to use the image of an artist's palette. The marketer mixes the prime colours (mix elements) in different quantities to deliver a 4

MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY particular final colour. Every hand painted picture is original in some way, as is every marketing mix.

Some commentators will increase the marketing mix to the Five P's, to include people. Others will increase the mix to Seven P's, to include physical evidence (such as uniforms, facilities, or livery) and process (i.e. the whole customer experience e.g. a visit the Disney World). The term was coined by Neil H. Borden in his article The Concept of the Marketing Mix in 1965.

1.1)HISTORY

MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY The marketing strategy is generally accepted as the use and specification of the Seven Ps describing the strategic position of a product in the marketplace. One version of the origins of the marketing strategy starts in 1948 when James Culliton said that a marketing decision should be a result of something similar to a recipe. This version continued in 1953 when Neil Borden, in his American Marketing Association presidential address, took the recipe idea one step further and coined the term 'Marketing-Mix'. A prominent marketer, E. Jerome McCarthy, proposed a 4 P classification in 1960, which would see wide popularity. The four Ps concepts are explained in most marketing textbooks and classes.

1.2)SCOPE OF MARKETING STRATEGY.

MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY

Marketing strategy is typically seen as the task of creating promoting and delivering goods and services to consumers and businesses .marketing involved in 6 types of marketing and they are:

1.

Goods
Physically goods constitute the bulk of most countries Each year Us companies alone

production and marketing effort.

market billions of canned and frozen foods products and various other main stays of a modern economy. Not only companies market there product but it can be marketed through internet also

2.

Services
As economies advance a growing proportion of their activities is

focused on production of service. Service includes the work of airlines hotels barbers and repair people .at the pure service end would be listening to a patient or a quarter performing at another level it would be telephone cal. It is supported by a huge investment by both product and a service.

3.

Experience
By orchestrating several service and goods it can create a stage

and market experience.

There is also a market for customized such

as spending a week at a basketball camp with retired basketball greats for a few minutes and climbing Mount Everest.

4.

Events

MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY Marketers promote time base events such as Olympics company anniversaries major trade shows sports events. There is whole professional of meeting planners who work out the Details of the events and make sure it comes out properly

5.

Persons
Celebrity marketing is a major business. Today every major

film has an agent, a personal manager and ties to public relation agency. People like Madonna and late Andy Warhol have done a masterful job of marketing themselves. Management consultant tom peter himself a master at self branding has advised each person to become a brand

6. Information
Information can be produced and marketed as a product. This is essentially what schools and universities produce and distributes at a price to parents, students and communities. The production packaging and distribution of information is one our society major industries

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1.3)MARKET DOMINANACE IN MARKETING

STRATEGY.

Market dominance is a measure of the strength of a brand, product, service, or firm, relative to competitive offerings. There is often a geographic element to the competitive landscape. In defining market dominance, you must see to what extent a product, brand, or firm controls a product category in a given geographic area. There are several ways of calculating market dominance. The most direct is Market share. This is the percentage of the total market serviced by a firm or brand. A declining scale of market shares is common in most industries: that is, if the industry leader has say 50% share, the next largest might have 25% share, the next 12% share, the next 6% share, and all remaining firms combined might have 7% share. Market share is not a perfect proxy of market dominance. The influences of customers, suppliers, competitors in related industries, and government regulations must be taken into account. Although there are no hard and fast rules governing the relationship between market share and market dominance, the following are general criteria:

A company, brand, product, or service that has a combined market share exceeding 60% most probably has market power and market dominance.

A market share of over 35% but less than 60%, held by one brand, product or service, is an indicator of market strength but not necessarily dominance.

A market share of less than 35%, held by one brand, product or service, is not an indicator of strength or dominance and will not raise anti-combines concerns of government regulators. 9

MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY Market shares within an industry might not exhibit a declining scale. There could be only two firms in a duopolistic market, each with 50% share; or there could be three firms in the industry each with 33% share; or 100 firms each with 1% share. The concentration ratio of an industry is used as an indicator of the relative size of leading firms in relation to the industry as a whole. One commonly used concentration ratio is the four-firm concentration ratio, which consists of the combined market share of the four largest firms, as a percentage, in the total industry. The higher the concentration ratio, the greater the market power of the leading firms.

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1.4)INTRODUCTION TO MARKETING MIX

INTRODUCTION The basic task of marketing is the delivery of the products to the consumer so that their needs are fulfilled and the organizational objectives are also achieved. This involve several important decision, e.g. Deciding about the product or products which should be offered sale, price of the product, market where product may sell and the means of communication with the consumer for the sale of the product. All these decisions form part of marketing-mix. Marketing mix describes the specific combination of marketing elements used to achieve organizational objectives and satisfy the target market. It is customary to accept that marketing mix is made up of seven Ps Product Price Promotion Place People Physical evidence Process DEFINITION OF MARKETING MIX The marketing mix approach is one model of crafting and implementing marketing strategies. It recognizes that marketers have essentially four variables to use when crafting a marketing strategy and writing a marketing plan. They are price, promotion, product,

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY place, people, physical evidence, and process. referred to as the seven p's. A marketing mix is a combining of these seven variables in a way that will meet or exceed organizational objectives. A separate marketing mix is usually crafted for each product offering. When constructing the mix, marketers must always be thinking of who their target market is. Mix coherency refers to how well the components of the mix blend together. A strategy of selling expensive luxury products in discount stores has poor coherency between distribution and product offering. In the long term, all seven of the mix variables can be changed, but in the short term it is difficult to modify the product or the distribution channel. Therefore in the short term, marketers are limited to working with only half their tool kit. This limitation underscores the importance of long term strategic planning. 2): http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jed_C._Jones_Ph.D. The term marketing mix refers to the primary elements that must be attended to in order to properly market a product. Also known as The 7 Ps of Marketing, the marketing mix is a very useful, if a bit general, guideline for understanding the fundamentals of what makes a good marketing campaign. They are sometimes

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7 PS OF MARKETING MIX

PRICE There are many ways to price a product. Let's have a look at some of them and try to understand the best policy/strategy in various situations. 13

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PLACE Another element of Neil H.Borden's Marketing Mix is Place. Place is also known as channel, distribution, or intermediary. It is the mechanism through which goods and/or services are moved from the manufacturer/ service provider to the user or consumer PRODUCT For many a product is simply the tangible, physical entity that they may be buying or selling. You buy a new car and that's the product - simple! Or maybe not. When you buy a car, is the product more complex than you first thought? The Three Levels of a Product . . . A. The Product Life Cycle (PLC) is based upon the biological life cycle. For example, a seed is planted (introduction); it begins to sprout (growth); it shoots out leaves and puts down roots as it becomes an adult (maturity); after a long period as an adult the plant begins to shrink and die out (decline). B. The Customer Life Cycle (CLC) has obvious similarities with the Product Life Cycle (PLC). However, CLC focuses upon the creation of and delivery of lifetime value to the customer i.e. looks at the products or services that customers NEED throughout their lives

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PROMOTION Another one of the 4P's is promotion. This includes all of the tools available to the marketer for 'marketing communication'. As with Neil H.Borden's marketing mix, marketing communications has its own 'promotions mix.' Think of it like a cake mix, the basic ingredients are always the same. However if you vary the amounts of one of the ingredients, the final outcome is different. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE. Physical Evidence is the material part of a service. Strictly speaking there are no physical attributes to a service, so a consumer tends to rely on material cues. There are many examples of physical evidence, including some of the following: PEOPLE. People are the most important element of any service or experience. Services tend to be produced and consumed at the same moment, and aspects of the customer experience are altered to meet the 'individual needs' of the person consuming it. PROCESS. Process is another element of the extended marketing mix, or 7P's.There are a number of perceptions of the concept of process within the business and marketing literature. Some see processes as a means to achieve an outcome, for example - to achieve a 30% market share a company implements a marketing planning process. 15

MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY

1.5)

STRATEGIES OF MARKETING MIX A) Pricing Strategies.

There are many ways to price a product. Let's have a look at some of them and try to understand the best policy/strategy in various situations. See also marketing Price.

Premium Pricing.
Use a high price where there is uniqueness about the product or service. This approach is used where a substantial competitive advantage exists. Such high prices are charge for luxuries such as Canard Cruises, Savoy Hotel rooms, and Concorde flights.

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Penetration Pricing.
The price charged for products and services is set artificially low in order to gain market share. Once this is achieved, the price is increased. This approach was used by France Telecom and Sky TV.

Economy Pricing.
This is a no frills low price. The cost of marketing and manufacture are kept at a minimum. Supermarkets often have economy brands for soups, spaghetti, etc.

Price Skimming.
Charge a high price because you have a substantial competitive advantage. However, the advantage is not sustainable. The high price tends to attract new competitors into the market, and the price inevitably falls due to increased supply. Manufacturers of digital watches used a skimming approach in the 1970s. Once other manufacturers were tempted into the market and the watches were produced at a lower unit cost, other marketing strategies and pricing approaches are implemented. Premium pricing, penetration pricing, economy pricing, and price skimming are the four main pricing policies/strategies. They form the bases for the exercise. However there are other important approaches to pricing.

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Psychological Pricing.
This approach is used when the marketer wants the consumer to respond on an emotional, rather than rational basis. For example 'price point perspective' 99 cents not one dollar.

Product Line Pricing.

Where there is a range of product or services the pricing reflect the benefits of parts of the range. For example car washes. Basic wash could be $2, wash and wax $4, and the whole package $6.

Optional Product Pricing.

Companies will attempt to increase the amount customer spend once they start to buy. Optional 'extras' increase the overall price of the product or service. For example airlines will charge for optional extras such as guaranteeing a window seat or reserving a row of seats next to each other.

Captive Product Pricing

Where products have complements, companies will charge a premium price where the consumer is captured. For example a razor manufacturer will charge a low price and recoup its margin (and more) from the sale of the only design of blades which fit the razor.

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Product Bundle Pricing.

Here sellers combine several products in the same package. This also serves to move old stock. Videos and CDs are often sold using the bundle approach.

Promotional Pricing.
Pricing to promote a product is a very common application. There are many examples of promotional pricing including approaches such as BOGOF (Buy One Get One Free).

Geographical Pricing.
Geographical pricing is evident where there are variations in price in different parts of the world. For example rarity value, or where shipping costs increase price.

Value Pricing.
This approach is used where external factors such as recession or increased competition force companies to provide 'value' products and services to retain sales e.g. value meals at McDonalds.

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B) Place strategy Place, distribution, channel, or intermediary.

A channel of distribution comprises a set of institutions which perform all of the activities utilized to move a product and its title from production to consumption.

Bucklin - Theory of Distribution Channel Structure (1966)

Another element of Neil H.Borden's Marketing Mix is Place. Place is also known as channel, distribution, or intermediary. It is the mechanism through which goods and/or services are moved from the manufacturer/ service provider to the user or consumer.

There are six basic 'channel' decisions:

Do we use direct or indirect channels? (e.g. 'direct' to a consumer, 'indirect' via a wholesaler). Single or multiple channels. Cumulative length of the multiple channels. Types of intermediary (see later).

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Number of intermediaries at each level (e.g. how many retailers in Southern Spain). Which companies as intermediaries to avoid 'intrachannel conflict' (i.e. infighting between local distributors).

Selection Consideration - how do we decide upon a distributor?

Market segment - the distributor must be familiar with your target consumer and segment. Changes during the product life cycle - different channels can be exploited at different points in the PLC e.g. Foldaway scooters are now available everywhere. Once they were sold via a few specific stores.

Producer - distributor fit - Is there a match between their polices, strategies, image, and yours? Look for 'synergy'. Qualification assessment - establishes the experience and track record of your intermediary. How much training and support will your distributor require?

Types of Channel Intermediaries.

There are many types of intermediaries such as wholesalers, agents, retailers, the Internet, overseas distributors, direct marketing (from manufacturer to user without an intermediary), and many others. The main modes of distribution will be looked at in more detail

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1. Channel Intermediaries - Wholesalers

They break down 'bulk' into smaller packages for resale by a retailer. They buy from producers and resell to retailers. They take ownership or 'title' to goods whereas agents do not (see below). They provide storage facilities. For example, cheese

manufacturers seldom wait for their product to mature. They sell on to a wholesaler that will store it and eventually resell to a retailer.

Wholesalers offer reduce the physical contact cost between the producer and consumer e.g. customer service costs, or sales force costs.

A wholesaler will often take on the some of the marketing responsibilities. Many produce their own brochures and use their own telesales operations.

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2. Channel Intermediaries - Agents

Agents are mainly used in international markets. An agent will typically secure an order for a producer and will take a commission. They do not tend to take title to the goods. This means that capital is not tied up in goods. However, a 'stockiest agent' will hold consignment stock (i.e. will store the stock, but the title will remain with the producer. This approach is used where goods need to get into a market soon after the order is placed e.g. foodstuffs). Agents can be very expensive to train. They are difficult to keep control of due to the physical distances involved. They are difficult to motivate.

3. Channel Intermediaries - Retailers

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Retailers will have a much stronger personal relationship with the consumer. The retailer will hold several other brands and products. A consumer will expect to be exposed to many products. Retailers will often offer credit to the customer e.g. electrical wholesalers, or travel agents. Products and services are promoted and merchandised by the retailer. The retailer will give the final selling price to the product. Retailers often have a strong 'brand' themselves e.g. Ross and Wall-Mart in the USA, and Alisuper, Modelo, and Jumbo in Portugal.

4. Channel Intermediaries - Internet

The Internet has a geographically disperse market. The main benefit of the Internet is that niche products reach a wider audience e.g. Scottish Salmon direct from an Inverness fishery.

There are low barriers low barriers to entry as set up costs are low. Use e-commerce technology (for payment, shopping software, etc)

C) Product strategy The Customer Life Cycle (CLC) and CRM.

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY The Customer Life Cycle (CLC) has obvious

similarities with the Product Life Cycle (PLC). However, CLC focuses upon the creation of and delivery of lifetime value to the customer i.e. looks at the products or services that customers NEED throughout their lives. It is marketing orientated rather than product orientated, and embodies the marketing concept. Essentially, CLC is a summary of the key stages in a customer's relationship with an organization. The problem here is that every organizations product offering is different, which makes it impossible to draw out a single Life Cycle that is the same for every organization.

Let's consider an example from the Banking sector. HSBC has a number of products that it aims at its customers throughout their lifetime relationship with the company. Here we apply a CLC. You can start young when you want to save money. 11-15 year olds are targeted with the live cash Account, and 16-17 year olds with the Right Track Account. Then when (or if) you begin College or University there are Student Loans, and when you qualify there are Recent Graduate Accounts.

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY When you begin work there are many types of current and savings account, and you may wish to buy property, and so take out a mortgage. You could take out a car loan, to buy a vehicle to get you to work. It would also be advisable to take out a pension. As you progress through your career you begin your own family, and save for your own children's education. You embark upon a number of savings plans and schemes, and ultimately HSBC offer you pension planning (you may want to insure yourself for funeral expenses - although HSBC may not offer this!). This is how an organization such as HSBC, which is marketing orientated, can recruit and retain customers, and then extend additional products and services to them - throughout the individual's life. This is an example of a Customer Life Cycle (CLC). Another important point is that a lifetime CLC is made up many shorter CLC's. So, for example, Volkswagen Cars retains a customer for many years and one can predict the products that meet a customers needs throughout his or her family lifetime. However the purchase of each car will in itself be a CLC with many Customer Touch Points. The consumer may need a bigger vehicle as his or her family expands - so they visit VW's website and register. The customer reviews models and books a test-drive with her or his local dealer. He or she decides to buy the car and arranges finance. The car is then delivered from the factory, and returns every year for its annual service. Then after three years, the customer decides to trade in his or her car, and the cycle begins again. The longer-term life cycle is simply the shorter-term life cycles viewed consecutively.

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY CRM is a term that is often referred to in marketing. However, there is no complete agreement upon a single definition. This is because CRM can be considered from a number of perspectives. In summary, the three perspectives are:

Information Technology (IT) perspective The Customer Life Cycle (CLC) perspective Business Strategy perspective

Three Levels of a Product.

For many a product is simply the tangible, physical entity that they may be buying or selling. You buy a new car and that's the product - simple! Or maybe not. When you buy a car, is the product more complex than you first thought? In order to actively explore the nature of a product further, lets consider it as three different products - the CORE product, the actual product, and finally the AUGMENTED product. These are known as the 'Three Levels of a Product.' So what is the difference between the three products, or more precisely 'levels?'

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The CORE product is NOT the tangible, physical product. You can't touch it. That's because the core product is the BENEFIT of the product that makes it valuable to you. So with the car example, the benefit is convenience i.e. the ease at which you can go where you like, when you want to. Another core benefit is speed since you can travel around relatively quickly. The ACTUAL product is the tangible, physical product. You can get some use out of it. Again with the car example, it is the vehicle that you test drive, buy and then collect. The AUGMENTED product is the non-physical part of the product. It usually consists of lots of added value, for which you may or may not pay a premium. So when you buy a car, part of the augmented product would be the warranty, the customer service support offered by the car's manufacture, and any after-sales service.

The Product Life Cycle (PLC).

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY The Product Life Cycle (PLC) is based upon the

biological life cycle. For example, a seed is planted (introduction); it begins to sprout (growth); it shoots out leaves and puts down roots as it becomes an adult (maturity); after a long period as an adult the plant begins to shrink and die out (decline). In theory it's the same for a product. After a period of development it is introduced or launched into the market; it gains more and more customers as it grows; eventually the market stabilizes and the product becomes mature; then after a period of time the product is overtaken by development and the introduction of superior competitors, it goes into decline and is eventually withdrawn. However, most products fail in the introduction phase. Others have very cyclical maturity phases where declines see the product promoted to regain customers.

Strategies for the differing stages of the Product Life Cycle. Introduction.
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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY The need for immediate profit is not a pressure. The product is promoted to create awareness. If the product has no or few competitors, a skimming price strategy is employed. Limited numbers of product are available in few channels of distribution.

Growth.
Competitors are attracted into the market with very similar offerings. Products become more profitable and companies form alliances, joint ventures and take each other over. Advertising spend is high and focuses upon building brand. Market share tends to stabilize.

Maturity.
Those products that survive the earlier stages tend to spend longest in this phase. Sales grow at a decreasing rate and then stabilize. Producers attempt to differentiate products and brands are key to this. Price wars and intense competition occur. At this point the market reaches saturation. Producers begin to leave the market due to poor margins. Promotion becomes more widespread and uses a greater variety of media.

Decline.
At this point there is a downturn in the market. For example more innovative products are introduced or consumer tastes have changed. There is intense price-cutting and many more products are withdrawn from the market. Profits can be improved by reducing marketing spend and cost cutting.

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D) Promotion Strategy
Another one of the 4P's is 'promotion'. This includes all of the tools available to the marketer for 'marketing communication'. As with Neil H.Borden's marketing mix, marketing communications has its own 'promotions mix.' Think of it like a cake mix, the basic ingredients are always the same. However if you vary the amounts of one of the ingredients, the final outcome is different. It is the same with promotions. You can 'integrate' different aspects of the promotions mix to deliver a unique campaign. The elements of the promotions mix are:

Personal Selling. Sales Promotion. Public Relations. Direct Mail. Trade Fairs and Exhibitions. Advertising. Sponsorship.

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The elements of the promotions mix are integrated to form a coherent campaign. As with all forms of communication. The message from the marketer follows the 'communications process' as illustrated above. For example, a radio advert is made for a car manufacturer. The car manufacturer (sender) pays for a specific advert with contains a message specific to a target audience (encoding). It is transmitted during a set of commercials from a radio station (Message / media). The message is decoded by a car radio (decoding) and the target consumer interprets the message (receiver). He or she might visit a dealership or seek further information from a web site (Response). The consumer might buy a car or express an interest or dislike (feedback). This information will inform future elements of an integrated promotional campaign. Perhaps a direct mail campaign would push the consumer to the point of purchase. Noise represents the thousand of marketing communications that a consumer is exposed to everyday, all competing for attention. 32

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The Promotions Mix.

Let us look at the individual components of the promotions mix in more detail. Remember all of the elements are 'integrated' to form a specific communications campaign.

1.

Personal Selling.
Personal Selling is an effective way to manage personal

customer relationships. The sales person acts on behalf of the organization. They tend to be well trained in the approaches and techniques of personal selling. However sales people are very expensive and should only be used where there is a genuine return on investment. For example salesmen are often used to sell cars or home improvements where the margin is high.

2.

Sales Promotion.
Sales promotion tends to be thought of as being all

promotions apart from advertising, personal selling, and public relations. For example the BOGOF promotion, or Buy One Get One Free. Others include couponing, money-off promotions, competitions, free accessories (such as free blades with a new razor), introductory offers (such as buy digital TV and get free installation), and so on. Each sales promotion should be carefully costed and compared with the next best alternative

3.

Public Relations (PR).

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY Public Relations are defined as 'the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its publics' (Institute of Public Relations). It is relatively cheap, but certainly not cheap. Successful strategies tend to be long-term and plan for all eventualities. All airlines exploit PR; just watch what happens when there is a disaster. The preplanned PR machine clicks in very quickly with a very effective rehearsed plan.

4.

Direct Mail.
Direct mail is very highly focused upon targeting consumers

based upon a database. As with all marketing, the potential consumer is 'defined' based upon a series of attributes and similarities. Creative agencies work with marketers to design a highly focused communication in the form of a mailing. The mail is sent out to the potential consumers and responses are carefully monitored. For example, if you are marketing medical text books, you would use a database of doctors' surgeries as the basis of your mail shot.

5.

Trade Fairs and Exhibitions.

Such approaches are very good for making new contacts and

renewing old ones. Companies will seldom sell much at such events. The purpose is to increase awareness and to encourage trial. They offer the opportunity for companies to meet with both the trade and the consumer. Expo has recently finish in Germany with the next one planned for Japan in 2005, despite a recent decline in interest in such events.

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6.

Advertising.
Advertising is a 'paid for' communication. It is used to develop

attitudes, create awareness, and transmit information in order to gain a response from the target market. There are many advertising 'media' such as newspapers (local, national, free, trade), magazines and journals, television (local, national, terrestrial, satellite) cinema, outdoor advertising (such as posters, bus sides).

7.

Sponsorship.
Sponsorship is where an organization pays to be associated

with a particular event, cause or image. Companies will sponsor sports events such as the Olympics or Formula One. The attributes of the event are then associated with the sponsoring organization.

E) Physical Evidence
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Physical evidence as part of the marketing mix.

Physical evidence is the material part of a service. Strictly speaking there are no physical attributes to a service, so a consumer tends to rely on material cues. There are many examples of physical evidence, including some of the following:

Packaging. Internet/web pages. Paperwork notes). Brochures. Furnishings. Signage (such as those on aircraft and vehicles). Uniforms. Business cards. The building itself (such as prestigious offices or scenic headquarters). Mailboxes and many others . . . . . . (such as invoices, tickets and dispatch

A sporting event is packed full of physical evidence. Your tickets have your team's logos printed on them, and players are wearing uniforms. The stadium itself could be impressive and have an electrifying atmosphere. You traveled there and parked quickly

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY nearby, and your seats are comfortable and close to restrooms and store. All you need now is for your team to win!

Some organizations depend heavily upon physical evidence as a means of marketing communications, for example tourism attractions and resorts (e.g. Disney World), parcel and mail services (e.g. UPS trucks), and large banks and insurance companies (e.g. Lloyds of London).

F) People 'People' as part of the marketing mix.

People are the most important element of any service or experience. Services tend to be produced and consumed at the same moment, and aspects of the customer experience are altered to meet the 'individual needs' of the person consuming it. Most of us can

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY think of a situation where the personal service offered by individuals has made or tainted a tour, vacation or restaurant meal. Remember, people buy from people that they like, so the attitude, skills and appearance of all staff need to be first class. Here are some ways in which people add value to an experience, as part of the marketing mix - training, personal selling and customer service.

Training.
All customer facing personnel need to be trained and developed to maintain a high quality of personal service. Training should begin as soon as the individual starts working for an organization during an induction. The induction will involve the person in the organization's culture for the first time, as well as briefing him or her on day-to-day policies and procedures. At this very early stage the training needs of the individual are identified. A training and development plan is constructed for the individual whom sets out personal goals that can be linked into future appraisals. In practice most training is either 'on-the-job' or 'off-the-job.' On-the-job training involves training whilst the job is being performed e.g. training of bar staff. Off-the-job training sees learning taking place at a college, training centre or conference facility.

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Personal Selling
There are different kinds of salesperson. There is the product delivery salesperson. His or her main task is to deliver the product, and selling is of less importance e.g. fast food, or mail. The second type is the order taker, and these may be either 'internal' or 'external.' The internal sales person would take an order by telephone, e-mail or over a counter. The external sales person would be working in the field. In both cases little selling is done. The next sort of sales person is the missionary. Here, as with those missionaries that promote faith, the salesperson builds goodwill with customers with the longer-term aim of generating orders. Again, actually closing the sale is not of great importance at this early stage. The forth type is the technical salesperson, e.g. a technical sales engineer. Their in-depth knowledge supports them as they advise customers on the best purchase for their needs. Finally, there are creative sellers. Creative sellers work to persuade buyers to give them an order. This is tough selling, and tends to o offer the biggest incentives. The skill is identifying the needs of a customer and persuading them that they need to satisfy their previously unidentified need by giving an order.

Customer Service
Many products, services and experiences are supported by customer services teams. Customer services provided expertise (e.g. on the selection of financial services), technical support (e.g. offering

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY advice on IT and software) and coordinate the customer interface (e.g. controlling service engineers, or communicating with a salesman). The disposition and attitude of such people is vitally important to a company. The way in which a complaint is handled can mean the difference between retaining or losing a customer, or improving or ruining a company's reputation. Today, customer service can be face-to-face, over the telephone or using the Internet. People tend to buy from people that they like and so effective customer service vital.

G) Process Process as part of the marketing mix.

Process is another element of the extended marketing

mix, or 7P's.There are a number of perceptions of the concept of process within the business and marketing literature. Some see processes as a means to achieve an outcome, for example - to achieve a 30% market share a company implements a marketing planning process. Another view is that marketing has a number of processes that integrate together to create an overall marketing process, for example - telemarketing and Internet marketing can be integrated. A further view is that marketing processes are used to control the marketing marketing mix, i.e. processes All that are measure the achievement but not objectives. views understandable,

particularly customer focused. For the purposes of the marketing mix, process is an element of service that sees the customer experiencing an organizations offering. It's best viewed as something that your customer

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY participates in at different points in time. Here are some examples to help your build a picture of marketing process, from the customer's point of view. Going on a cruise - from the moment that you arrive at the dockside, you are greeted; your baggage is taken to your room. You have two weeks of services from restaurants and evening entertainment, to casinos and shopping. Finally, you arrive at your destination, and your baggage is delivered to you. This is a highly focused marketing process. Booking a flight on the Internet - the process begins with you visiting an airline's website. You enter details of your flights and book them. Your ticket/booking reference arrive by e-mail or post. You catch your flight on time, and arrive refreshed at your destination. This is all part of the marketing process.

At each stage of the process, markets:

Deliver value through all elements of the marketing mix. Process, physical evidence and people enhance services. Feedback can be taken and the mix can be altered. Customers are retained, and other serves or products are extended and marked to them. The process itself can be tailored to the needs of different individuals, experiencing a similar service at the same time.

Processes essentially have inputs, throughputs and outputs (or outcomes). Marketing adds value to each of the stages. Take a look at the lesson on value chain analysis to consider a series of processes at work.

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MARKET SEGMENTATION

Understanding Different Customer Needs

Imagine you're flicking through a glossy women's fashion magazine. You wouldn't be surprised to see an advert for a premium shampoo that featured a very attractive woman in an expensive gown, showing off her beautiful, shiny hair. Now imagine you're looking at the type of magazine aimed at mums. It probably contains some recipes, some craft ideas, and some true stories of family life. An advert for that same premium shampoo might show a mother laughing, and stroking the heads of her two happy children. Finally, imagine that you're turning the pages of a men's magazine. You turn over the pages discussing the latest cars, interviews with the star of a recent action movie, and so on. An advert

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY for that same premium shampoo might feature a man with strong, healthy-looking hair, playing tennis. So what's going on here? The same product has been advertised in three completely different ways. The answer is that the shampoo manufacturer is using market segmentation. Market segmentation involves dividing up the potential market for a product into groups of people who have similar needs, and then addressing these needs in a focused way.

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2.1) INTRODUCTION OF PARLE COMPANY

Parle Products has been India's largest manufacturer of biscuits and confectionery, for almost 80 years. Makers of the world's largest selling biscuit, Parle-G, and a host of other very popular brands, the Parle name symbolizes quality, nutrition and great taste. With a reach spanning even the remotest villages of India, the company has definitely come a very long way since its inception.

Many of the Parle products - biscuits or confectioneries, are market leaders in their category and have won acclaim at the Monde Selection, since 1971. With a 40% share of the total biscuit market and a 15% share of the total confectionary market in India , Parle has grown to become a multi-million dollar company. While to consumers it's a beacon of faith and trust, competitors look upon Parle as an example of marketing brilliance. Parle Products Ltd, the findings of a recent study conducted by ACNielsen afforded the perfect opportunity to set up an interface with Indian consumers and speak to them about the popularity of flagship glucose biscuit brand, Parle-G. An opportunity that Parle Products and Everest Integrated Communications - the agency handling the Parle-G

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY account - grabbed with both hands. The result? A five-commercial testimonial' campaign that underlines the findings of the ACNielsen study: that Parle-G has emerged as the world's largest-selling biscuit brand. A cursory look at the commercials, just to get a hang of the campaign. The first commercial (boarding school') is about this girl recounting her first experience of boarding school. She talks about the anguish that comes from leaving a big, well-knit family, the alien atmosphere of the boarding school, the tears of distress Phir maine papa ke diye hue jhole ko khola,' she says. Pata hai usme kya tha? Parle-G Wahi pehchaani khushboo, wahi swaad. Aisa laga jaise main ghar par baithke Parle-G kha rahi hoon' The spot ends with the voiceover: Barson se apna sa swaad. Parle-G.

Every nation dreams of a better tomorrow. And every nations tomorrow lies in the hands of its children; children who make the nation proud in every aspect; the young geniuses who shape the future of the nation. So its important to nourish these young minds, for after all its a question of the nations future. Filled with the goodness of milk and wheat, Parle G is a source of strength for both body and mind. Treat yourself to a packet of Parle-G to experience what has nurtured and strengthened the minds of millions of genius Indians for over 65 years. Its more than just a biscuit. A meal substitute for some, a tasty and healthy snack for many others. Consumed by some for the value it offers, and many others for its taste. Little wonder that its the Largest selling Biscuit Brand in the world. The automatic biscuit production line, with original design, compact structure and high automation, is developed on the base of adsorbing Japanese technology. All working procedures that from 45

MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY feeding, calendaring, sharping, wastage recovering, drying to cooking can be accomplished automatically. Hundred of moulds and dozens of technology formulas make it possible to produce various kinds of chocolate biscuit, soda biscuit, multi-vitamin biscuit, popular biscuit such as cream biscuit, sandwich biscuit, calcium biscuit, vegetable biscuit, etc.

Parle began its production in 1939 even before Indias independence. Today Parle enjoys 40% of the total biscuit market and 15 % of the total confectionary market in India. Besides Parle G, Parle offers Parle Monaco, Parle Krackjack varieties in biscuits and in confectionary items it offers melody, kismi, pop pins and mango bite. The Parle brands have been constantly honored internationally with the awards at the Monde Selection. Very rightly described as SWAD SE BHARA, SWASTHYA SE BHARA means full with taste, full with health .

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2.2)

HISTORY OF PARLE COMPANY

In 1929 a small company by the name of Parle products emerged in British dominated India. The intent was to spread joy and cheer to children and adults alike, all over the country with its sweets and candies. The company knew that it wouldnt be an easy task, but they decided to take the brave step. A small factory was set up in the suburbs of Mumbai, to manufacture sweets and toffees. A decade later it was upgraded to manufacture biscuits as well. Since then, the Parle name has grown in all directions, won international fame and has been sweetening people's lives all over India and abroad. Apart from the factories in Mumbai and Bangalore Parle also has factories in Bahadurgarh in Haryana and Neemrana in Rajasthan, which are the largest biscuit and confectionery plants in the country. Additionally, Parle Products also has 7 manufacturing units and 51 manufacturing units on contract. A long time ago, when the British ruled India, a small factory was set up in the suburbs of Mumbai city, to manufacture sweets and toffees. The year was 1929 and the market was dominated by famous

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY international brands that were imported freely. Despite the odds and unequal competition, this company called Parle Products, survived and succeeded, by adhering to high quality and improvising from time to time. A decade later, in 1939, Parle Products began manufacturing biscuits, in addition to sweets and toffees. Having already established a reputation for quality, the Parle brand name grew in strength with this diversification. Parle Glucose and Parle Monaco were the first brands of biscuits to be introduced, which later went on to become leading names for great taste and quantity

2.3) BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF PARLE COMPANY

Designation
Chairman and Managing director Executive Director Executive Director Non Executive Director Non Executive Director Non Executive Director

Name
Dheeraj Kumar Zuby Kochar Devendra Dass Kochar M R Sivaraman Shiv S Sharma T K Choudhary

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2.4) BRAND STORY OF PARLE G

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY In the hit Bollywood movie Welcome, actor Nana Patekar, in a passing reference to Parle-G, notes that even biscuits command respect and have to be addressed with a ji (a term of respect in Hindi). His remark, while made in jest, is not far off the mark. It is a heritage brand. We sell over 25 crore packets every month. That should reflect the stature of the brand, says Praveen Kulkarni, marketing head at Parle Products Pvt. Ltd. Parles mantra has always been about repositioning the brand without tweaking the look and feel of the product. The brand is clearly an Indian brand and it straddles all economic strata. The fact that it is a staple for everyone in the house keeps it going, says Nirvik Singh, chairman and president, Grey Global Group, South and South-East Asia, the agency that handles the Parle-G account. There was a time when Parle-Gs dominance was threatened by rival brands, especially the Tiger brand from Britannia. We found out that Tiger was getting stronger in the kids segment, and we decided to change our positioning, says Kulkarni. Later, when the company sponsored the television show Shaktimaan on Doordarshan, it literally rescued Parle-G. The brand also had some innovative commercials involving young children with a new punchline, G means Genius, which was an instant hit. While rivals have signed on celebrities, Parle-G has managed to retain its leadership position with just a simple white-and-yellow striped wrapper with a picture of a baby on it. We dont need celebrities as the brand equity is so strong, says Kulkarni. The biggest concern is that the brand shouldnt become outdated as it is a historic brand. The brand has managed to retain its leadership

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY position because it has evolved its campaign with every consumption trend, says Singh.

2.5) COMPETITORS OF PARLE COMPANY

It's a story that has been repeated any number of times in the
corporate world: an unchallenged market leader rests on its oars; competition emerges out of the woodwork; and almost at the blink of an eyelid, swamps the champion from all sides. That's precisely what's happening to the Rs 1,587.5-crore Britannia Industries. To be fair to the company, it is still holding on to its market leader status, but only very tenuously. Over the last couple of years, Britannia, which was once considered a generic name for biscuits, has seen its share of the Rs 4,500-crore per annum market fall from 48 per cent to 40 per cent. Britannia's loosening grip on the market has allowed challenger Parle to come within striking distance of its crown (Parle, in fact, is the market leader by volume, but still trails Britannia marginally in value terms); and given smaller players like Bisk Farm, Priya Gold, Anmol, Marico and Duke space to carve out regional satrapies all over the country. The year 2003 marked the inflexion point for the biscuits industry. That was when ITC entered the market with its Sun feast

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY brand and grabbed an 8-10 per cent market share, Parle increased its market share from 34 per cent in 2003 to 38 per cent now and regional brands and the unorganized sector together wrested about 10 per cent. All this while, the market grew at a rate of 10 per cent per annum even as the market leader's share dwindled. Britannia brushes aside any suggestion that its position is under siege. "We believe that more activity in the biscuits market creates more opportunities for us, and we are very well placed to tap it. Britannia leads the overall market in terms of value and, in fact, our brands lead in six of the eight market segments," says Vinita Bali, CEO of the company. Meanwhile, the challengers are using different strategies to consolidate their positions. For Parle, it's price. "The market for biscuits is extremely price-sensitive," says Kunal Motwani, an analyst at Equitymaster.com, a Mumbai-based research firm. "With Parle holding the price of its 100 gram pack of glucose biscuits at Rs 4, no competitor can afford to increase prices by even 25 paisa. This is putting pressure on margins and affecting growth," he adds. Glucose biscuits account for 57 per cent of the Indian biscuit market and Parle G commands a 50 per cent share of this segment. Incidentally, the brand, which sells 4,000 tones per annum, is the world's largest by tonnage. So how does it cope with rising costs?

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2.6) PRODUCTS MANUFACURED BY PARLE COMPANY

BISCUITS
Parle biscuits are linked with factors of power and wisdom providing nutrition and strength. Parle biscuits are indeed much more than a tea- time snack, they are considered by many to be an important part of their daily food. Parle can treat you with a basket of biscuits which are not only satisfying but are also of good and reliable quality. Parle biscuits cater to all tastes from kids to senior citizens. They have found their way into the Indian hearts and homes. Parle - G Hide and Seek Krackjack

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY Hide & Seek Milano Magix Digestive Marie Monaco Parle Marie Kreams Milk Shakti Parle 20-20 Cookies Golden Arcs Nimkin Kreams Gold Chox Monaco Jeera Hide & Seek Bourbon

CONFECTIONARIES.
Right from candies to toffees, the sweet 'n' treat category of the Parle product range is a genuine treat for every snack lover. This category can satisfy one's taste and at the same time create a desire for more. These confectioneries are a sheer delight to the taste buds and have a universal appeal. Parle Biscuits and confectioneries, continue to spread happiness & joy among people of all ages. Melody Kismi Gold Mango Bite Orange Candy

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY Kaccha Mango Bite Xhale Poppins 2 in 1 Eclair Kismi Toffee Golgappa Kisme Toffee Bar Melody Softee Mazelo Parle Lites

SNACKS
Salty, crunchy, chatpata and crispy caters to the bunch of Parle snacks. You can now treat your loved ones with this yummy lot. Parle snacks are a complete delight to the taste buds and can create the desire for more and more. These snacks will not only satisfy your tummy but will also sustain a feel in your mouth to associate you with the bond of Parle. Cheeslings Musst Stix & Musst Chips Sixer Sixer Zeera Monaco Smart Chips Musst Bites

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY Jeffs

DIFFERENT STRATEGIES OF PARLE COMPANY.

3.1) PRODUCT STRATEGY. Parle re-launches Marie biscuits brand

Parle Products has decided to relaunch its regular Marie brand and also hike its price by Rs 2. The company has also changed the name of the product from Marie Choice to Parle Marie. Parle has also been trying to grow the Marie category with its value-added premium variant - Marie Digestive (priced at Rs13 for 200 gm).

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY According to the company, the Marie category is growing at 20 per cent and the new variant has not eaten into the share of the regular Marie. The company also has no plans of hiking prices for the rest of its biscuit brands, including its largest selling glucose brand Parle G. Incidentally the price of Parle G has not been changed in the past 12 years. The price of Parle G continues at Rs 4 for 100 gm. A shopkeeper is summoned and instructed to quit selling "saadharan" (regular) Marie biscuits. When he asks why, the bureau explains Parle Digestive Marie's (PDM's) plus points - high fiber, low calorie and low fat content. Newspaper headlines scream "Anti Marie Bureau does it again". Cut to a dingy restaurant, where the restaurant owner betrays another regular Marie-eater. The podgy man has been clandestinely munching on regular Marie biscuits, hidden inside a lunch box. The Anti-Marie bureau led by its chief, storms in. As the man looks on, the Bureau points to a product shot while Kajol rattles off its benefits. The now-converted biscuit eater gratefully reaches out for the new snack. Kajol flashes a pack of PDM, declaring "yahi Marie, sahi Marie" (this Marie is the right Marie). PDM's minute-long launch commercial hit TV screens in early January, a few weeks after two teasers of 20-seconds were aired. Ad agency Everest Brand Solutions, with whom Parle Products shares a 60-year-old relationship, created the campaign. Everest's recent work for Parle includes the "G for Genius" Parle G campaign. Ad-film production house Black Magic shot the PDM commercial in five days across Mumbai's Famous Studio, Mukesh Mills and central suburb, Bandra.

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY The brief given to the agency was simple: highlight PDM's unique selling points - high fiber, low calorie, low fat and a light feeling on regular consumption - to existing Marie eaters. And convince them to switch to PDM. "We didn't want to launch PDM on the taste platform because all Marie biscuits taste alike. So we opted for the superior fiber platform," says Vijay Chauhan, chairman and managing director, Parle Products. Chauhan's simple strategy made PDM stand out in the crowded Marie market. Currently, the core biscuit - including Marie and the popular glucose varieties - segment makes up 55 per cent of the Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) biscuit segments. That works out to a significant Rs 2,200 crore (Rs 22 billion). The remaining Rs.1,800 crore (Rs.18 billion) is shared between cream biscuits, savory biscuits and variants. The market's been growing at a robust 12-14 per cent a year since 2001 (source: KSA Technopak). This, when FMCG as a category has been languishing. Parle Products commands a 33 per cent market share in the total biscuit industry, just behind market leader Britannia's [Get Quote] 38 per cent. There's been a healthy appetite for Marie, too. The Rs 490 crore (Rs 4.9 billion) segments have been growing consistently at 10-12 per cent. But Marie Choice, Parle's decade-old brand, hadn't been expanding its share of the market for a while. If the company were to revive an interest in the product, it had to innovate. So Parle blended the high fiber content of digestive biscuits like McVitie's Digestive, into a regular Marie biscuit.

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY Even the name was tinkered with to reflect the change Digestive Marie. PDM claims to have has five times more fiber than the regular 0.7 per cent fiber content in biscuits like Sun feast Marie Light. It's also the low-fat alternative, apparently: 10 per cent compared to 22 per cent in regular digestive biscuits. Naturally, Parle needed to generate consumer interest - and a celebrity endorsement does translate into greater initial awareness and conviction. Hence, Hindi film stars Kajol. "Kajol is a good ploy," agrees Sunil K Alagh, chairman, SKA Advisors. He's better placed than most to pass judgment: Alagh is a former managing director and CEO of Parle's arch-rival Britannia Industries. Ad agency Everest, of course, had its own reasons for its choice of celebrity. "Kajol has credibility, seriousness and Masti. She and Anti Marie Bureau were a perfect fit," declares Vijay Lalwani, creative director, Everest Brand Solutions. "And PDM's so much better and healthier than other Marie, that consuming any other Marie would be 'criminal'." That sparked off the Anti Marie Bureau idea. The ad has already achieved one objective: it's got people sitting up and taking notice. That's critical in a nearly-commoditized segment like Marie biscuits, especially since "Marie" is not a trademarked brand. "It's important for every Marie player to establish itself as a brand. And Parle has caught everyone's attention by giving a product plus brand and communicated it well," says Alagh. Parle also claims that sales have already picked up. But the big picture doesn't look as appetizing. One of the bigger Marie markets is eastern India. That market is crowded with about 30 regional players, offering lower price points. "Even Britannia has lost out there," says

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY Parle's Chauhan. It can't help that PDM is more expensive than all other Marie brands. That's mentioned upfront in the ad itself. "The extra fiber costs extra money," says Chauhan. A 200-g pack of Britannia Marie Gold costs Rs 12, while a similar size pack of PDM is 25 per cent more expensive at Rs 15. Parle is urging consumers to try PDM through the well-tried route of introductory discounts. At present, there's a discount of Rs 2 on both the 200-g and 400-g packs. That offer is likely to be withdrawn in a couple of months. But Parle is not content with just a cut in price. It's also emphasizing on the brand switch to PDM. That means it may also eat into its own franchise - Parle Marie Choice consumers could also shift to PDM, thereby reducing Marie Choice's market share to crumbs. But Parle claims its strategies are well-baked. Even if Marie Choice's market share crumbles, PDM's market share will rise. So the scenario evens out.

3.2) MARKETING STRATEGY.

Parle continues with its G for Genius campaign and its targeting of Kids these ads are all over all the kids cartoon channels. Parle G claims that it is the largest selling glucose biscuit all over the world but it is now working to improve its image in metros and modern areas and hence this push. I enjoy the simplicity and subtleness of these ads here enjoys the videos of these ads. Parle are trying to remove more ads to market their product in the marketing field .They

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY are making their product very graceful so that people would buy there product more and more .They are trying to produce their product all over the world so that their product will be known by every country in world .This is a marketing strategy of Parle g company. There product has been marketed even in rural areas and urban areas .Other than Parle g biscuits there are more other products which are marketed by Parle g company. Parle g company biscuits have been marketed to every place and because of this Parle g company has earn a huge profit in there day to day life. Parle has decided to do a makeover for pop pins and have come out with a new ad campaign highlighting pop pins as a brand with an attitude to do this they started of with market research. The research revealed that children above five years did not find the product appealing they considered Poppins too childish. Also, children in metros did not identify with the brand. Parle was clear that the brand needs to exemplify an attitude they decided to make Poppins contemporary, stylish and a brand that urban 10-year-olds felt proud to carry and hence the theme "Doon Kya".Enjoy the ad which is quite funny to say the least.

3.3) PLACE STRATEGY.

The rural market has changed drastically in the past one decade. A decade ago, the rural market was more unstructured and was not a prioritized target location for corporates. Very few companies, mainly the agro-based ones, were concentrating in these markets. Their were no innovative strategies and promotional campaigns. A distribution system did exist, but was feeble. Illiteracy 61

MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY and lack of technology were the other factors leading to the poor reach of products and lower level of awareness amongst villagers. Gradually, corporates realized that there was saturation, stiff competition and clutter in the urban market, and a demand was building up in rural areas. Seeing the vast potential of 75 per cent Indians living in rural areas, they started focusing on these unexplored, high-potential areas. Companies came up with special rural products, like Chic Shampoo sachets @ Re 1, Parle G Tikki Packs @ Rs 2, customized TVs by LG, Shanti Amla oil by Marico. All these brought positive results for them. Also, campaigns like Project Bharat by Hind Lever, where trials were generated across India in 1999, saw 30 per cent of its total personal products growing to contribute 50 per cent five years down the line. In the first phase, they covered 11.5 million rural households and increased awareness by 41 per cent. Project Jagruti in the second phase by Colgate Palmolive India was a village consumer contact programmed in 2001. It increased penetration of Colgate Dental Cream by doubling the villages from 33,000 to 55,000, reaching to a million houses. Such projects lead to increased penetration of products in rural areas. As a result, retail outlets have sprung up in practically all the villages that store products of various brands and categories. Also, high congregation areas, like fairs, hats, markets etc. are proving to be an important marketing tool since clusters of target audience can be tapped at the same time and place.

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY Location plays a big role in marketing. Therefore, if a product is for kids, anganwadis and schools are a good place taps them and their mothers. Similarly, mandis and village influencers act as a catalyst in pushing a brand/product.

3.4) PROMOTION STRATEGY.

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Marie, who was known as Parle Marie Choice until about a year ago, has released a new campaign, which is its first after the relaunch. The communication revolves around the simple but real idea of conversations and chitchat at tea-time, while munching on Parle Marie biscuits. The Park TVC features a bunch of retired men who, after their morning exercise, are hanging out together and talking of fun things over tea. One of the men says that the day before, a lady arrived at his door and asked him if he was married. All the other men ask him excitedly what happened next. He says, nothing, because she was a Censuswali, who was compiling a list of the people in his family. One of the other men then says that a call centre lady called and asked him if he would like to go to Goa on a trip for two, and he asked her what time he should meet her at the airport. Giving the ad a realistic touch, theres a laughter club in the background, which cracks up every time the men relate their funny tales. In the final shot, a third man reaches out for the biscuit with the product shot and the tagline, Baatcheet, bakbak aur Parle Marie.

3.5) PROCESS STRATEGY.

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY With the big boys in the bottled mineral water business, CocaCola India and Ramesh Chauhans Parle Bisleri slugging it out for the top slot, Prakash Chauhan-promoted Parle Agro Ltd is chalking out a new branding strategy to push its mineral water brand Bailley Aqua. For starters, Parle Agro has recently relaunched its packaged water brand Bailley Aqua with a new packaging to give the brand a contemporary look. Says Parle Agro Ltds executive-operations Schauna Chauhan: The brand revamp of Parle Bailley is part of our aggressive marketing strategy, which we intend to employ for Bailley Aqua in the coming days. As for the rationale behind this move, Ms Chauhan explains that the main objective was to relaunch the brand to suit the changing lifestyles of consumers in the new millennium. But whats going to be the USP of Bailley Aqua in the highly competitive packaged drinking water segment? Says Ms Chauhan: We have in-house facility for the manufacture of PET performs to ensure high quality and hygiene standards. This gives us a distinct hygienic edge. Since Bailley has a 30 mm cap neck now, it can not be refilled or recapped after use. According to Ms Chauhan, every Bailley bottle complies with stringent BIS norms and undergoes 51 quality control tests and 10 physical packaging tests. In addition, we use modern UV treatment instead of chemical process to purify our brand Bailley. Through the process of backward integration, we have set up a PET plant in Silvassa at an investment of Rs 12 crore. she adds.

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY As part of its marketing strategy, the company has tied up with airlines Sahara and Jet Airways. We are in dialogues with other domestic as well as international airlines, says Ms Chauhan. Further, Ms Chauhan informs that the company is planning to extend the product portfolio of Bailey Aqua brand very soon. Currently, we are conducting extensive consumer research prior

to the launch of our new products, she adds. According to a spokesperson from Parle Agro, the company will soon roll out a new variant of Bailey Aqua with health boosting additives like vitamins and minerals. To announce the relaunch of Bailey, the company is all set to launch an integrated marketing plan which includes advertising, retail promotions and distribution incentives. Everest Integrated Communications is designing our print and television advertising campaigns and the campaign will break out...

MARKETING OF DIFFERNET PRODUCTS OF PARLE COMPANY

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4.1) MARKETING OF FROOTI

History of Frooti

Frooti was launched in a green rectangular TetraPak as a ready-toserve mango drink. Although it wasnt the first mango drink, Frooti quickly acquired a large market share. The packaging played a major role behind its success, since it could be carried easily and conveniently. Frooti also provided a refreshing mango taste that translated into a huge demand for itself. The tagline Mango Frooti, Fresh and Juicy, helped the brand strengthen and consolidate its position as the leader.

Brand Communication
Over the years the brand has experienced a series of repositioning. From the original tagline Mango Frooti, Fresh and Juicy to Juice Up your Life. Eventually, the original tagline- Mango Frooti, Fresh and Juicy was reinstalled. The present ad campaigns focus on reaffirming Frootis leading position across India in a confident manner.

Packaging

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY To ensure convenience, Frooti is offered in size variants: 1 litre, 250ml and 200ml TetraPaks. A consumer study revealed that the consumers needed a recap bottle that didnt exist in the mango drink segment. Parle Agro considered the consumer requirement strongly and launched Frooti in a new hygienic hotfill PET bottle, making it the first mango drink to be offered in the PET bottles.

Frooti bottle
In the old days before the arrival of pepsi and coca cola Frooti and Duke were the only two mango drinks available in the market here. In those days Frooti was available in a small box similar in shape to todays tetra pack. It was very popular with children returning home from school because it was the only take-away drink in those days other than the sip-up (ice-candy in a cylindrical plastic cover). After drinking the juice, the children used to throw the empty cartons onto the road just to hear the popping sound when some vehicle ran over the empty carton. You should also check the best before date on the bottle since in some small stores, old stock is also kept in the shelves. (This check is necessary for all packaged food articles, not just frooti).I think the old expiry date concept was better than the best before date concept.

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Frooti was always positioned as a fun drink and was never tomtomed as the drink containing real mangoes or Vitamin drink or anything for the sake. Packing : A rectangular pack containing tempting pictures of mangoes always claimed the attention. The tetra-pack was there since inception and no one could find any worms in it till date ! Otherwise AB is always available to take care of Worms controversy Digen Verma : It was an attempt by Parle to target the the young crowd for Frooti. The country was painted with digen Varma. Unfortunately, people remembered more of Digen Verma and less of Frooti. The poor brand manager lost his job !

New pack : The new pack of Frooti introduced a few days back is taller than the older one and one can drink directly from it rather than using a straw.

Sensing peoples need to carry more of frooti, Parle has introduced Frooti in pet bottles. Again a matured product, target it to make consumers consume more of product. 69

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But its an addiction ! The harazds of colas and carbonated drinks have made us to look for some other packaged drinks and immediately the brand equity of Frooti came to our mind. Even it is water down, it still quenches my thirst and gives me a feeling of mango that relishes on my tongue for long time.

4.2) MARKETING OF BISLERI

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY When we bought Bisleri mineral water from the Italian company, Felice Bisleri, in 1969 -- the company had been unable to market bottled water and wanted to exit the market -- we too did not see any potential for the product at that time. As a soft drinks company, we had Thums Up, Gold Spot and Limca (cola, orange drink and lemonade) but no soft drink company was complete without a soda. So we merely used the name and launched Bisleri soda with two variants -- carbonated and non-carbonated mineral water. But three decades ago, what could we say about a category that had no market? We didn't know our target group. Then, since bottled water is colourless, tasteless and odourless, it was not an easy product to advertise. Thus, the earlier brand building efforts focused on Bisleri being healthy with adequate minerals. The Italian name added a dash of class to it. The first print ad campaign captured the international essence and showed a butler with a bow tie, holding two bottles of Bisleri. The punchline was, "Bisleri is veri veri extraordinari" (the spelling of the punchline was designed to capture the consumer's attention). The campaign was successful and we were being noticed as someone who catered to the need for safe, healthy drinking water. However, the real boost to mineral water came in the early-to-mid1980s when we switched to PVC packaging and later to PET bottles. The PET packaging did not just ensure better transparency -- we could now show sparkling clear water to the consumers. It also meant better life for the water.

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY Meanwhile, Bisleri soda was doing well but we had to discontinue production as we sold our soft drink brands to Coca-Cola in 1993. But my interest was in building brands and not in bottling soft drinks. That's when I started to concentrate on developing the Bisleri water brand.

4.6) MARKETING OF MUST BITES

Parle has ventured into the new sunrise product line of snack foods. These days the snack food market is seeing lot of action with ITC launching its Bingo range of

Snacks during the World cup. Parle is now put its weight behind its new brand Musst Bites. Musst Bites is a launched with a series of humorous ads. Watch the TVC here: Musst Musst Bites is positioned as a tasty snack food too tempting to be part with. Although this positioning is not something new ,the brand is favored by the reasonable execution. The ads are fun to watch and simple. But there is the problem of the brand not able to differentiate itself from the likes of the market leader Lays. In a way, the brand is

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MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY taking the same positioning as the Lays. But Lays is far too good in terms of positioning.

4.4) OUTLETS OF PARLE PRODUCT

BUSINESS DESCRIPTION Parle Products (Parle) is an Indian manufacturer of cookies and confectionery (including toffees, candies, savories, and mints). The company has a 40% share of the Indian biscuit and a 15% share of the confectionery market within the country. The company?s major biscuit brands include Parle-G, Monaco and Krackjack; with principle confectionery brands comprised of Melody, Poppins, Mangobite and Kismi. Parles production facilities include a flagship plant in Mumbai, producing biscuits and confectionary; while another factory at Bahadurgarh, Haryana manufactures biscuits. Apart from this, Parle has manufacturing facilities at Neemrana, Rajasthan and at Bangalore, Karnataka. The factories at Bahadurgarh and Neemrana are amongst the largest biscuit and confectionary manufacturing facilities in India. In addition, to complement its wholly-owned facilities, the company has a further 14 manufacturing units for biscuits; and five units for confectioneries operating under contract. The company?s distribution network is a major strength for Parle. Parle products are made available to consumers, even in the most remote places and in the smallest of villages. The company has around 1,500 wholesalers, serving in excess of 425,000 retail outlets. 73

MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY In addition, Parle maintains a 200 strong dedicated field sales force to service wholesalers and retailers. The company also has 31 depots and cost and freight (C&F) agents supplying goods to the distribution network.

Parles marketing philosophy emphasizes catering to the masses. Consequently, most Parle offerings are in the low and midrange price segments. However, the company also manufactures a variety of premium products for up-market, urban consumers. Parle international operations consist of serving markets in the Middle East, Africa, South America, Sri Lanka, Australia and North America. A concerted effort is made to target Indian expatriate communities in these countries. To further enhance its international reputation and open up new markets, the company is in the process of obtaining an ISO certification. Parle to withdraw Hide & Seek variants; launch Parle Cookies Parle Products has withdrawn the variants of its chocolate-chip cookie brand, Hide & Seek and will bring them under the Parle franchise and sell them re-named as Parle Cookies. The brand is currently being test marketed in the south. According to the company, Hide & Seek has a strong association with chocolate and has been accepted as a chocolate chip cookie brand. Consumers were not ready to accept the butter and cashew variants. Thus the variants have been delinked from Hide &Seek and re-introduced as Parle Cookies. The products will soon be re-launched nationally. 74

MARKETING MIX OF PARLE COMPANY The company extended the Hide & Seek franchise early last year to two new flavours butter and cashew-badam the biscuit major has now restricted it to chocolate-chip cookie

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CONCLUSION
I want to conclude my project by saying that

marketing strategy is 7 ps such as product, process, people, physical evidence, promotion, price and place. These are all important aspects of marketing strategy. Without these aspects marketing is not possible. Marketing strategy is all about marketing a product .In these marketing mix sellers, retailers, buyers, and wholesalers play an important role. There is lot of scope in marketing strategy. Parle company had made huge profit by marketing there products in India and in foreign countries.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
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www.google.com www.wikipedia.com www.parleproduct.com

Books referred Marketing Management

Philips Kotler

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