Retail study Tour to 'Reliance Mart' and 'Big Bazaar'

It was a learning experience visiting two of the most emerging Retail chains of India.Our first stop was at Reliance Mart,Kanke Road,Ranchi.Now before that we all knew that It is making loss for quite a some time.We also visited Big Bazaar and explored some of the valuable findings.I observed that the two stores should be differentiated on the parameters of Place :While Reliance Mart was situated far away from the market area,Big Bazaar was right in the middle of market area .The perception of Indian customer is different from their western counterparts.In Western countries big Departmental stores are away from the city.So there are plenty of space available for the retailer to make artificial garden ,lake,park to attract the customer for picnic,refreshment along with the shopping.But in Indian context people love to visit the store frequently and near to the market area. Taking note of this concept,we found less customers in Reliance Mart than Big Bazaar.Parking Place:As discussed above Reliance Mart had the more area for parking facilities.As Big Bazaar was on the side of the main road,the huge traffic make the customer irritate. Merchandising:It was interesting to note that both the brand had put all the effort to increase the sale of their own private label brand by placing their own merchandise near to the customers.Big Bazaar's 'Tasty Treat' is very successful in private label for the Indian consumers.

Developing and Communicating a Positioning strategy

Positioning requires that similarities and differences between brands be defined and communicated.
DETTOL AND SAVLON
The antiseptic lotion market in India has been traditionally dominated by Dettol,a flagship from Reckitt Benckiser India Limited.Attributes of the Dettol liquid,such as strong smell,turning cloudy when pour on water,and the stinging sensation produced on touching a wound became the category properties of liquid antiseptic lotion.
It is in this market that Savlon was introduced.Savlon did not have any of these properties.It had a different smell,the liquid did not turn cloudy in water,and it did not give the stinging sensation.Therefore in order to obtain consumers acceptance,Savlon had to counter the category perception through communication.The brand advertised superior efficacy of the product and highlighted the "no sting" property of Savlon antiseptic liquid as the key differentiators.

Advertising in China : Mistakes made by Multi National companies

In marketing, the success of a multinational corporation calls for more than developing a good product, pricing it correctly and making it available to the target customers. Companies must also communicate with customers about the product and the value it offers. How it communicates is of utmost importance, especially in this rapidly changing world of cultural differences. In China, many multinational corporations are quick to produce advertisements to reach customers using creative strategies which the western culture embraces. But any oversight on eastern culture and practices may sometimes result in futile communication efforts.

Coca cola:The Market leader

Coke's commercials are basically on younger generation.It is the target market of the coke as they want to represent it with young and energy.They also look at older people as the co target market.
Factor affecting sales

1.Per capita income-Coca cola make it a point that with more capita income in a given country, the chances are their to run the business.But,the recent financial crisis with plenty of job losses budget is very strict and people have less disposable income.It affected the business quite a lot.But, due to the emerging markets particularly India and China Coke bounced back.
2.Competitors-Coke's main competitor is Pepsi,which also targets youngster of the world.People hardly find any difference in the taste of Coke and Pepsi.People pay attention only to the availability and coolness of the products.The two company advertise their brand even during winter to make the people remember their brand.However, Coke has much more experience in logistics and supply chain management ,providing coolers and freezers to their core distributors.
3.Weather is the third major factors in affecting sales.It sales 60% during summer to 40% in winter.

Product Levels:The Customer-value Hierarchy

The marketers needs to address five product levels.Each level adds more customer value,and the five constitute a customer-value hierarchy.
1.Core benefit:The customer in search of a hotel room demand only rest and sleep from a marketer.
2.Now the marketer must turn the core benefit into Basic product.For example customer need basic things like bed,bathroom,chair,fan etc.
3.At the third level marketer must prepare for the expected product of the clients.For example if bed,bathroom,fan are the basic product,then clean bed sheet,neat and clean bathroom are the expected products.
4.At the fourth level, the marketers prepares an augmented product that exceeds customers expectations.For example,beautiful wall hanging ,lovely balcony,Television set etc.In western countries particularly in USA and UK, marketers focused more on augmented product relatively different to the Brazil and Indian counterpart.
5.At the fifth level stands the potential product that the marketer need to search for the future operation.For example high speed internet,telephone line etc.

Brand Names

How do you name a product? Simply put it, there is no easy option. Depending on how established an organisation is, there are a number of ways to brand a product.
Individual name: A product could be branded with an individual name. A firm may decide it wants a brand, which has no association with any of its other brands. Volkswagen in the UK, for example own the brand SEAT and Skoda
Family brand: Where a product is part of a family, e.g. Kellogg’s, with Corn flakes, Rice Krispies, and Bajaj in India. The brand is stretched to other products because customers trust it, and the firm is trying to maximize the equity it holds in the brand.
Combined brand name: A popular strategy involves the organisation combing the already established family name with a new individual brand name. The idea is to use the reputation of the established family or company name to launch a new associated product. For example Nestle may use their name to launch a new cereal or cereal bar.

City testing New marketing Concepts at O'Hare

The next time you wash your hands in an O’Hare Airport restroom, you might see more than your own reflection in the mirror.
City Hall is testing “new marketing concepts” at O’Hare that call for ads to be plastered on everything from 3-D bathroom mirrors and marketing kiosks to escalator handrails, moving walkways, and motion sensor LCD screens.
City Hall is testing “new marketing concepts” at O’Hare that call for ads to be plastered on everything from 3-D bathroom mirrors and marketing kiosks to escalator handrails, moving walkways, and motion sensor LCD screens.
They’re even slapping ads on those plastic bins that passengers use to put their shoes and valuables in while they’re passing through security checkpoints.

Blogging a new chapter in my life

It is an emotional journey as a student.I saw many ups and down in my educational career,but atlast I am happy.
I would always love to mention here that my MBA career is one of the most satisfying period of the student life.
Being a marketing student,I came across with many challenging situations,but each situation helped me to grow further.