ANALYSIS OF CONSUMPTION PATTERN AND CHANNEL BEHAVIOUR OF VARIOUS SKUs OF BISLERI ACROSS by Sanjay Gupta

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is with a sage sense of gratitude, I acknowledge the effort of whole hosts of well-wishers who have in some way or other contributed in their own special ways to the success and completion of this project. I wish to offer my deep veneration to Mr. Rajiv Paul (Sales Manager) Delhi, for providing me the opportunity to work on this project titled “ANALYSIS OF CONSUMPTION PATTERN AND CHANNEL BEHAVIOUR OF VARIOUS SKUs OF BISLERI ACROSS PROMINENT REGION IN DELHI”. My profound sense of obligation goes to Mr. Siddharth Gupta and all the Sales Man of M/s Aqua Mineral Ltd., Delhi who helped during the course of our project. They were of great help to me in every aspect and enlivened me to win the problem head that I faced during this project. At last I convey my sincere thanks to Delhi Bisleri, Delhi for the helping hand, which is always found extended to me whenever I needed.

With suffice, AKHIL GUPTA

PREFACE

Apeejay Institute of management has been started few years ago in orders to impart management education to those students who wish to make career in managing affairs of a company action. We are the students of this programme. Our academic programme offers chance to expose our selves to this business environment and apply theories in practice. The learning process of classroom is incomplete without any practical field experience. It is because of the reason that our Institute like any other, has provision for practical training, so practical training is vital. Accordingly we had our training with Bisleri (Aqua Mineral Pvt. Ltd.). This 6 weeks training gave us an insight into the working of an organization and learn how some of the important concepts that we have been studying as a student of management are applicable in the field. The project is a sincere attempt to focus on the subject in a lucid manner. I sincerely attempted to effort to carry out study in deep on subject. During this period we had the opportunity to observe the company’s performance, place in the industry, its products, pricing, advertisement, promotions and its good will through our market survey. It is hoped that this study will provide valuable information in various issues related to mineral water oriented industries.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The objective of the study was to find out the consumer preference, availability of the products, competitor’s activity, consumption pattern channel behavior of various SKUs and the market share of Bisleri and Its competitors. The major emphasis was given on: 1. To make a detailed study of packaged drinking water in terms of its existing market size, future market potential, major geographical markets and important customer segment. 2. To analyze the major competitors in this product, their respective product attributes, brand positioning and market strategies. 3. To study each of the major customer segment viz. institutions such as hotels, restaurants etc.), retail outlets and the final consumers. 4. To study the market share of packaged drinking water in: • Retail market • Institutions (Hotels) • Consumers. 5. To determine the brand awareness and brand preference of the different segment and to analyze the various segment preference for the packaging medium, bottle size and price of packaged drinking water.

INDUSTRY REVIEW

A few years back, the packaged drinking water market had been crawling at the rate of 3-4%, or even a lower figure. Indians carried drinking water in earthen pitchers, plastic or PUF bottles. But increasing case of typhoid and other water borne diseases began to be reported. In addition to this, liberalization happened and the mineral water industry began to be stirred and shaken. The market started growing an astounding rate of over 100% per annum. The fact that there were very few players in the market meant that their business grew by leaps and bounds. The market today has grown to Rs.1100 crore. The organized sectorbranded packaged drinking water – has only Rs.700 crore of market share. The rest is accounted for by the unorganized sector which is dominated by small regional players. The market is still growing – at a rate greater than 80% per annum. In the branded segment, Parle’s Bisleri is the market leader with a share of more than 40%. Other major players in the market are Kinley, Aquafina, Kingfisher, Ganga of T-Series, Himalayan, Nestle, Bailey, Catch, Paras. Sensing the opportunity that this segment holds, MNCs began to draw up plans to enter the market. Today the market is proving to be yet another battlefield for an ongoing battle between the domestic and MNCs. Last year the industry had around 170 brands. This figure is over 300 presently. The boom in the market has also encouraged MNCs to draw up plans to enter the

market. Coca-Cola made a splash when it launched Kinley brand and is now doing reasonably well. Nestle, the global leader in the packaged drinking water market, has also come up with its premium product, Perrier though Brand Pure Life is almost dying. Pepsi’s Aquafina is also growing in the market. Britannia is also launching Evian. Almost the first to challenge Bisleri’s near monopoly was Pepsi’s Aquafina. Though Pepsi launched its bottled water in just one SKU (stock keeping unit) of 750 ml. in the very starting but now they have also launched 1 litre, the Chauhans of Bisleri were galvanized into action. They launched their 500ml. bottle to stave off competition.

MARKET SHARE At present the various major players in the packaged drinking water market can be outlined as following in terms of % market share: Brand Names ( Company ) Bisleri ( Aqua Minerals ) Kinley ( Coca- Cola ) Aquafina ( Pepsi ) Other Regional Player

Market share % 44% 31% 15% 10%

Bisleri Aquafina others

15%

Aquafina Kinley

31%

brands

Kinley

10%

others

44%

Bisleri 0%

20%

40%

market share

60%

REGIONAL PLAYERS IN THE MARKET. As there is less entry barriers in this industry various regional players crop up at regional players who are involved in Guerilla Warfare. These regional players can’t be neglected as they eat away a bite of market shares at local level. Companies

Brand Names

Regions

Pondicherry Agro services Godrej Foods Amrit Kothari Foods S.M. Dyechem NEPC Agro Foods

Pondicherry Golden Valley Amrit Aqua Yes Peppy Trupti

Tamil Nadu South North North West South & East

COMPANY PROFILE

AQUA Mineral Ltd. is the owner of famous BISLERI brand of packaged drinking water. It is the part of renowned PARLE group in India. This group is engaged in various activities of which packaged drinking water forms one of its core business.

MISSION STATEMENT “To provide the highest quality product, keeping in mind all aspects including freshness, purity and safety, and making it easily available to the consumers in the very affordable price.”

CORPORATE PROFILE The origin of Bisleri lies in Italy and the brand owes its name to founder Felice Bisleri, an Italian Entrepreneur. In 1967, Bisleri set up a plat in Mumbai for bottling and marketing mineral water, which was first of its kind in India. However, it did not work. Among other reasons, the fact was that the Indian consumer was unprepared to accept bottled mineral water. This was the main reason responsible for its failure. Consumer mindsets were more geared towards boiling water at home. In 1969, Parle bought over the Bisleri brand. In those days the Bisleri water was not available in glass bottles. Parle’s taking charge of Bisleri did not

make a dramatic difference to the brand’s fortunes immediately. While it did gain in terms of visibility and reach (piggybacking on Parle’s existing distribution network), efforts to expand the bottled water market were not exactly painstaking. Parle at that particular time was interested in making soda water and not packaged drinking water. There were just minor initiatives on the part of the company for making packaged drinking water as it is not considered to be very profitable business at that time a people still considered boiling water to be safer than packaged drinking water. Moreover they were not ready to pay for a commodity like water which was so abundantly available. In 1972-73 Parle changed the packaging of its boiling water and made it available in PVC (poly vinyl chloride) bottles and that significantly made a difference in the sales. The buyers, then, were mainly the upper class- the trendy people. In 1993, Coca-Cola bought Parle’s soft Drink Brands – THUMPS UP, LIMCA etc. agreed to a settlement that allowed the multinational to bottle and distribute Bisleri water, however, remained with Parle. The upsurge in the sales of Bisleri started from this point as Parle sold off its stable brands to Coca-Cola; this was the time when it started concentrating on making Bisleri a success in the domestic packaged drinking water market. The reason why Bisleri chose to retain the Bisleri name was that Parle saw a fairly lucrative business of packaged drinking water in Bisleri’s equity. The real shift in the company’s policy towards packaged drinking water industry came in 1998, although the conscious efforts had already been started in 1994. This change was primarily because of the fact that the people at this time had started becoming more health conscious.

UPS & DOWNS It was around the year 1995, when Parle Exports took charge of the brand operations and the business took off in the market. With factories across India and a strong distribution network, Bisleri established itself as a force to reckon with in the domestic packaged safe drinking water market. Earlier the packaged drinking water consisted of five star hotels, tourists and foreigners. As a marketing strategy, a conscious decision was taken by the company that only 40% of these sales should come from the outlets and 60% from general market. i.e. paanwalas, street shops, general stores and even non-tourists. This brought about a sea change in the perception in the consumer’s mind about consumption of Bisleri. Earlier, drinking bottled water was considered to be more of a status symbol. That thinking was slowly changed to the point where today, not drinking Bisleri is considered as been behind the times. Such has been the presence and penetration of the Bisleri brand in the bottled water segment.

In 1998, a strategy was adopted to concentrate aggressively on the home market. The habit of boiling water or using electronic gadgets was not adequate, since the source of water itself was unreliable. The bulk packages like the 2, 5 and 20 lt. bottles were introduced to meet this market need. The

price per litre went down as a result, making bottled water very economical for the consumer. The company has a total plant of 35 Plants of Bisleri (21 owned) and is committed to cater the remotest players in India.

FUTURE PLANS Bisleri was the first to market bottled water in a totally virgin market and naturally people associate the brand with bottled water. Now Bisleri is perhaps already ten steps ahead of its local competitors and endeavor to widen its gap in the months to come. The brand positioning of Bisleri stresses on pure, clean and safe drinking water. Sales have grown by 140% in the year 2000 in the coming year, Bisleri hopes to boost its sales by more than 400%. Bisleri expects 75% of its volume to come from bulk parts of 5 lt. and 20 lt. (Currently it amounts to be less than 35%). The latter is to be targeted at homes and the former at offices. Some of the future plans to be at the top-spot that Bisleri commands in the Indian market are: • New packaging in bottles and 20 lt. jar.

• Increase the distribution network with an investment of over 200 crores. • Strengthen the presence in traditionally weak areas by setting up 12 new bottling facilities at a cost of 150 crores. • Target to achieve Rs.1000 crore and a fleet of 2500 trucks.

MAJOR NODAL CENTERS THE MAJOR NODAL CENTERS where Bisleri is refilled at its company owned plants and distributed are:  Ludhiana  Noida  Delhi  Jaipur  Kathmandu, Nepal  Calcutta  Ahemdabad  Mumbai  Hyderabad  Goa  Bangalore  Chennai

ACHIEVEMENTS OVER THE YEARS



“Bisleri” has become a generic brand in bottle water segment & complies with both WHO and IS standard of quality.



“Bisleri” has received the IS certified for its production also.



“Bisleri” has 17 manufacturing plants situated in India & Nepal.



“Bisleri” plant in Delhi is the largest in Asia as compare to other mineral water plants.



“Bisleri” has the largest market share and is market leader.

Besides the above mentioned major achievements, Bisleri has always maintained leadership position in the market. The company has been expanding continuously through the past few years at rate of 200%.

PRODUCT PROFILE

“It’s a compliment being generic to the category, but it’s not very good when consumers think any mineral water brand is Bisleri”. Bisleri, a product established in India by Ramesh Chauhan, Chairman of Parle Aqua Minerals has become a generic brand. Bisleri was the first marketed bottled water in a totally virgin market. The brand has become synonymous with packaged drinking water, thus consumers accept any brand offered by the retailer when they ask for Bisleri. So far Ramesh Chauhan’s Bisleri enjoys the largest market share of 44% in the giant packaged drinking water industry and is growing at the rate of 80% per annum. Annual sales of Bisleri have touched Rs.616 crores. In seventies, ‘Bisleri’ was the only packaged drinking water which had national presence and the sale was to tune of approximately one hundred thousand cases valued at about Rs.60lacs.

PRODUCT AND PRODUCTION PROCESSES PRODUCT 1. Product variants Bisleri is available in a range of sizes (SKUs) given below: • 500ml. • 1 lt.

• 1.2 lt. • 2 lt.

SKU

Sales in %

Cups

500 ml.

10 %

1 lt.

28 %

1.2 lt.

39 %

2 lt.

5 lt.

20 lt.

• 5 lt. • 20 lt. • Cups.

The percentage wise contribution (value) to sales of various SKUs is pictorially shown below:

Cups

10%

500 ml.

1 lt. 1.2 lt. 28%

2 lt. 5 lt.

39%

20 lt.

2. Product innovation To make sure that the product that reaches the consumer is always high quality and also meets international standards, Bisleri has always been involved in improving its product packaging. One such recent development is the temper proof break-away seal. Bisleri also recognizes the need to produce environment friendly products and is working on the PET project.

Recent innovation at Bisleri has been Break-Away seal: keeping in mind the consumer’s need should recognize a genuine product that cannot be tempered with, Bisleri developed the Break-Away seal. The unique cap has been patented and cannot be duplicated or tempered with. This technology development in the product ensures that the consumer will only get a highly safe product when they consume Bisleri packaged drinking water. 3.

Product packaging

To ensure purity of the bottled water, the bottles that are used are blown and filled at the factory itself, to avoid contamination. Bisleri is extremely conscious of environmental issues since PET bottles are not bio-degradable and not easy to dispose. The company is currently working on the PET recycling project, where they will collect bottles from various places, crush and shred them. The shredded material will then be made into ropes, PET containers for the non-food industry and other PET like polyester fibre, flower vase, gift items etc.

PRODUCTION PROCESS Over the last 15 year, company has set up 10 new units besides taking on 7 franchisees. And over the 3 year, the 120 bottle per minute (bpm) capacity of the 17 units across the country will be increased to 250 bpm. Today Bisleri’s manufacturing each indicates that it is represented across the country except in east the east.

The Mineral water plant is being set to international standards with a high degree of automation and in-build mechanism maintaining high standards of sanitation and hygiene. The entire plant and the piping, which comes in contact with the process water, are made of food grade stainless steel. A strict code of hygiene and religiously conducted quality controls tests (8 in number) every shift further ensures quality product. Bisleri is 100% free from bacteria and toxic minerals. Water is purified in plant capable of consistently producing uniform quality of high purity water which meets Bisleri’s high standards. It undergoes exciting quality controls from the water source stage to final packaging.

1. Purification Process Purity and safety are two major factors taken care in sourcing and processing of Bisleri water. Under ground spring is carefully selected based on its portability and pathogen free water. Great care goes in tapping this source. Only water below 25 meter is tapped. This is to avoid any surface contamination to percolate and mix with under ground water source. Area surrounding the water collection tube at the surface is protected and kept clean.

The steps of manufacturing process are given below.

Step 1:

the water is collected in water storage tank where it is

chlorinated, giving sufficient contact time (1 hr.) for chlorine to destroy all bacteria. Water then passes through sand filter and carbon filter. Sand filter removes all suspended particles whereas carbon filter removes odour and chlorine. The water is now free of all bacteria, suspended particles and chlorine. Step 2: the water now goes to ion exchange where the water is softened (the undesirable heavy salts are removed). This helps in digestion. Step 3: Water now passes through reverse osmosis plant, which is capable of getting rids of even minute traces of toxic minerals, should and happen to exist. In its simplest form the reverse osmosis plant consists of semi permeable membrane which acts as molecular filter. Step 4: Water now comes to second water storage tank and it once again chlorinated. Just prior to use water is passed through carbon filter to remove chlorine and then through a series of micron filters of diminishing pores size. It is also sterilized with ultra violet light and ozonated to attain a dissolved ozone residual concentration of 0.4 mg/lt. and maintain this concentration for at least 4 min. This internationally accepted ozonation is ‘on the safer side’ and guarantees and ‘overkill’ most micro organisms. Step 5: Pet bottles in which it is filled are stretch are blow moulded 100°C as such are sterlite. Bottles are rinsed with water prior to filling and immediately capped using rip off closures to ensure tamper proofing.

Processing And Quality Assurance  The casing tune itself is protected with stainless steel mesh to give a preliminary filtration to the water.  Ultra filtration gives water reduction in turbidity and adds sparkle.  Activated carbon purifier to remove colour and odour in water.  Reverse osmosis membrane has porosity of less than 0.01 micron. The process renders water free zero microorganisms and also reduces dissolved solids.  To ensure Bisleri packaged drinking water is held safe free from contamination, ultra violet treatment and ozonation process is carried out. Ozone is unstable trivalent oxygen, a powerful bactericide with no side effect, as it disintegrates into oxygen with couple of hours.  Sterilization effect of ozonized water continues even after water is packaged, thereby ensuring safety of Bisleri up to its final packing. To ensure high quality of packing material, component like cap and bottles are manufactured in-house from resins of quality suppliers. Good manufacturing practices are stringently followed at all times. Processing is religiously monitored at every stage. Testing source water, processing parameters, microbial quality, packaging material integrity and finally, shelf life studies, forms an integral part of quality and safety assurance plan.

DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

Product:

Convenience

Distribution:

Intensive

Channel Length:

Medium

It’s obvious that availability holds the key to the market. For any product to be successful the distribution system has to be really good. Large tracts of the country have not been explored by the national brands, which explain the proliferation of smaller brands. Bisleri’s strategy is to build a direct distribution system at an all India level. That means serious investments in company owned trucks and carts. Parle hopes to double its existing fleet of 1000 trucks. This would make it the largest fleet owner in the country. Currently, Bisleri has around 80,000 retail outlets in the country with about 12,000 each in the metros of Delhi and Mumbai. It is intended to increase this number to 10, 00000 outlets in order to expand brands reach. In order to service the home segment, the 5lt. packs are being pushed through the route of “fat dealers” (wholesale dealers) who are retailers as well as stockiest and serve as supply points from where customer can pick the required quota. The customer can call the fat dealer and place order for home delivery of 5lt. pack. 180 of these dealers are already functional, and

more are in the process of being appointed. “The idea is to make Bisleri all pervasive”. The company will invest approximately Rs. 200 Cr. to procure 2000 trucks and hire the same number of sales people to extend the penetration of the brand. The company plans to have its own distribution networks in places where it has its own plants. Franchises would manage the distribution in their respective areas of operation.

Distribution Strategy: The distribution system at Bisleri is unique itself as well as in industry as no other player is making use of such an arrangement. Variety is spice of life. Today for any business organization to be successful it has to provide its customers `with the differentiated products i.e. a value buy for them. In order to cater to the changing needs of the customers the business has to continuously come out with the variants of the product so that it can target the maximum segments. Bisleri uses separate distribution strategy for 20 lt. and cups and rest of SKUs. For SKUs other than 20 lt. and cups i.e. 500 ml, 1000 ml, 1200 ml, 2 lt. and 5 lt. Bisleri makes use of what it calls, Self Distribution. In this the company maintains its own distribution force and infrastructure taking the products to the off – take point i.e. retailers. This has proved to be a key

success factor in gaining market share to this extent. The system has its own advantages and disadvantages. The advantages being:  Extensive market coverage and penetration.  Hands on feel of the market conditions.  More intimate relations and associations with the final off take points i.e. the retailers.  Efficient implementation of promotional activities.  Efficient market intelligence mechanisms.  Almost nil locked up inventory.  Efficient order cycle management. The disadvantages being:  Higher costs of distribution.  To management involved more in mundane activities of distribution rather than long term strategizing.  Requirement of more company owned distribution infrastructure which increases the overheads.  Huge man power requirements increase the personnel costs and related expenditures. For distribution of 20 lt. jar the company is restructuring the entire network of operations. Delhi market will be divided into 5 market zones, where in for each zone there will be a C&F agent deputed. The company will deal only

with these agents, while these C&F agents in turn will distribute through the distributors.

BISLERI BOTTLE IN DIFFERENT SIZES Size of the bottles 500 ml

Price per bottle Target consumer Rs. 5 Teenagers, college students and roadside consumers. Also aimed

1 lt. and 1.2 lt.

Rs. 12

to supply to the Indian Railway. Consumers demanding a little more water at just a little more

2 lt. 5 lt. 20 lt. 250 ml cups

Rs. 15

price. Small

Rs. 30

households. Households, institutes, offices,

Rs. 45

retail shops, showrooms. Households, institutes,

Rs. 3

schools and colleges. For marriages, parties

office,

showrooms,

office, and

meetings.

Market Coverage & Routing The extensive coverage of the NCT (National Capital Territory Region) is done through Self Distribution and distributors. There are in all 45 routes in Delhi which are looked after by 10 Sales Executives. On an average there are about 60 retailers covered per route. In all the total number of retailers covered in the Delhi region are around 12000-13000.

Faridabad and Gurgaon are covered through C&F Agents. The company has its depot managers who are reporting to Sales manager at Delhi office and are looking after day to day sales activities.

DISTRIBUTION COSTS

Freight & Handling Costs mainly include the costs incurred on Fleet operations. The major part of this includes Vehicle Expenses, Route Expenses. This accounts to 7% of the total costs.

Insurance Costs is not accounted while calculating the distribution costs as even the loaded truck travels uninsured.

Wastage & Pilferages amounts to about 0.8% of the total costs. But this physically causes a lot of hassles during transport as it makes the other cartoons wet and susceptible for damage.

Other Overheads of Distribution includes the wages and salaries of the Sales force and staff. This amounts to 6.5% of the total costs.

Trade Margins include the margins of various intermediaries in the distribution channel. The trade margins vary on SKU basis. The table given below outlines the various trade margins:

SKU

Cups

500ml.

1 lt.

1.2lt.

2lt.

5 lt.

(qty. per

(36)

(20)

(12)

(9)

(1)

unit) Retailers

Rs. 23

Rs.19

Rs.24

Rs.20

Rs.18

Rs.4

20 lt.

Rs.5

margins (per unit) Distributor

Margin

DISTRIBUTION CHALLENGES • Clamoring for shelf space. • Growing service expectations of customers. • Importance of visibility at the point of purchase. • Superior logistic support. • Minimization of cost of distribution.

Rs.5

SALES MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Sales management involves planning, implementation and control of sales function. Sales function comprises of all the activities and process involved in bringing product and services to a point where prospective customer want the product and services. The sales function performed at Aqua Minerals Ltd. are:  Sales planning  Sales analysis  Implementing the sales system  Sales reporting  Order processing  Customer servicing  Merchandising (for 5 lt., 20 lt., and cup )  Organizing and implementing the sales promotion activities.  Debtors management-payment collection  Sales cost control  Stock and inventory management  Sales development  Customer complaint handling  Competitor activity feedback  Market trend feedback

SALES ORGANIZATION CHART

All India Sales Director

Director Sales (company owned plants)

Marketing Manager

Sales Manager

Depot Manager located at C&F

Sales Representative

Sales Executive Route 1

Sales Executive Route 2

Sales Representative

Sales Executive Route 3

Roles and Responsibilities All India Director o Monitoring and controlling all franchisee operations. o Controlling company owned plants in Metro & A-Class Cities. o Setting all India sales targets. o Creating sales organization.

Director Sales o Monitoring and controlling individual bottling plants. o Setting regional sales target o Strategize the projected sales. o Has to create the distribution infrastructure. o Sales system control, working and monitoring.

Sales Manager o To organize sales & distribution infrastructure in his region to consistently deliver expectations. o Setting sales target for the areas. o Implement below-the-line promotional activities.

o Has to look for innovative ways to expand the market.

o Sales cost control. o Implementing MIS in the area. o Customer Service. o Help Company owned as well as franchisees plant to achieve their respective sales target. o To collate and analyze figure before competitors action in the region.

Sales Executive o Handling institutional sales. o Market service and coverage. o Implementing promotional schemes. o Payment collection. o Route management. o Customer service. o Ensuring product visibility. o Daily market reports. o New opportunity identification.

Field Sales Representatives o Route service and coverage. o Customer service and complaints handling. o Payment collection.

o Market intelligence.

SALES PROMOTION To expand the market, various below the line promotional activities are carried out in the form of schemes. The schemes are carried out differently for various SKUs. The schemes which the company follows in Delhi region for targeted growth are as follows:

500 ml. & 1 lt.  Promotions specifically for schools and colleges are given for this.  Executives are given specific targets and incentives for activating restaurants, cinema hall and other institutional segments.  Small sub-distributors are given incentives in form of discounts and schemes to promote specifically in walled cities.

1.2 lt.  Cross schemes are given on other packages mainly 500 ml. and 1 lt., which will be in terms of 1.2 lt.  Some routes are exclusively served by only 1.2 lt. and no 1 lt. this helps in giving boost to sale of this SKU.  Display of 1.2 lt. on specified route on at least 5 outlets per market.

2 litre & 5 litre  As both the packages cater to almost similar needs and in terms of outlets their clientele is very much similar generally cross schemes are given on these two packages which help in one package pulling the other, thus in turn increasing the sales of both.  To club these above SKUs with refill schemes of 20 lt. jar.  Plan to carry out a shop-to-shop promotion in market like Gaffar market, Karol Bagh, Pahar Ganj where Bisleri will supply 5 lt. jar for their self consumptions.

20 litre jars  Regular advertisement in print media.  Launched Break-away seal cap to obtain a niche over competition and to put a full stop at duplicity.  Tie-ups with caterers and banquets in markets of East and West Delhi.  Street Promotion done at elite residential colonies of South Delhi to promote Household clientele.

SALES FORECASTING Sales Forecast is a starting point for any business. Marketing operation and financial and personnel planning will collapse if Sales forecast is not reliable within reasonable/ acceptable level of tolerance. Sales Forecasting is a quantitative estimate expressed in volume or value terms of future sales for a specific time period under assumed marketing programs and environmental problems. In Bisleri Forecasting is done on annual basis and is further broken down into monthly basis as field executive targets. Forecasting is done by using Trend Analysis and Sale Force opinion method. The forecasting method starts with taking the inputs from sales executive in terms of sales they will be able to achieve the following year through a prescribed format.

ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN OF BISLERI Every brand needs a good advertisement campaign to establish itself in the market. So it becomes very imperative to look at various ad campaigns that Bisleri undertook to build itself as a brand. Bisleri started its game-plan with the punch-line of ‘Pure and Safe’ and used the same catch-line for advertising. But with the advent of many new players, all claiming the purity, it became very imperative for Bisleri to differentiate its product so as to stand out in the market. Bisleri found the answer in ‘sealed cap bottles’. It claimed 100% purity. While the bottles of other brands, it claimed, could be refilled with ordinary or even germinated water. Bisleri’s seal capped bottles ensured the consumer of purity of water and one time using the bottles. The ad showed a milk-man and a child showering their buffaloes and filling the ‘so-called’ mineral water bottles with the same water he is drinking. Next clip shows the Bisleri bottles being sealed with plastic caps and ensuring the purity of water. The ad did work of Bisleri and it got its much needed product differentiation. In 2000, some giant brands like Pepsi and Coca-Cola entered the packaged drinking water industry with a big bang. Bisleri now had a big threat of maintaining its market cap. While Coca-Cola introducing its brand ‘Kinley’ as a health care product, Pepsi projected ‘Aquafina’ as something as pure as ‘your own body’. Pepsi targeted the young generation and introduced Aquafina as a fancy product to carry.

The ad campaign of Aquafina emphasized as ‘70% of your body is water’ and thus give your body the purest water. The ad showed young vibrant models and created the atmosphere of youthfulness. Water, Pepsi claimed, was no longer a simple beverage, but was something highly fashionable. They complimented it by giving their bottles and attractive look. This soon caught the eye of the consumer. All these factors made Pepsi the biggest upcoming competitor of Bisleri (whereas Kinley lagged behind the race, showing a doctor advising a family to take Kinley for pure water – not a very attractive ad campaign). But now Kinley is also giving a very good ad campaign “boond boond main vishwaas” a child pouring Kinley in its aquarium. Bisleri to counter attack the new ‘Feeling Young’ fever had to even bolder steps. They first changed their base-line from ‘Pure and Safe’ to ‘Play Safe’. They tried a brand new ad campaign to catch the fancy of consumer. The new ad showed a young romantic couple on a marooned island, when the girl seductively attracts the guy and he follows her in trance. The moment he gets hold of her, she whispers something in his ears. The next few shots show the guy looking for something in frenzy…can not find it….rushes towards the chemist’s shop…buys ‘something’ (keeping the audience in suspense…or rather implicating point for…) the girl opens it and …POOF… takes out a bottle of Bisleri and quenches her thirst. Caption: “Play Safe”. This campaign was to catch the attention of youth and new Indian society which is supposed to be ‘not-so-prudish’. Thus Bisleri has taken a very bold step. The T.V. ads have been complimented by print ads also. The campaign is reported to be doing pretty well. The latest ad campaign which shows the break away seal of 20 litre bottle is step taken to stop duplicity of a large extent. This break away seal gives an

impression for high quality packaging thus making it more says for consumers. This ad campaign is also attractive and lay emphasis on quality packaging. North accounts for 35 % of sales for the industry, West accounts for 30 %, South 20%, and the East15%. Bisleri has five plants in North, three in the West, four in South and one in the East. In order to be available in untapped areas, Chauhan is planning to set up manufacturing units in Bihar and Orissa where Bisleri has no presence as of now. Currently, Bisleri has 14 manufacturing units- two of which were set up in the past two year at Ahmedabad and Surat.

OTHER COMPETITORS

The mineral water market is to set to explode and hit the Rs.2000 cr. mark in the next couple of years. This drew the big gun’s attention. First Britannia launched Evian. And then Pepsi entered the fray with Aquafina. Then Nestle with Pure Life but now with Perrier, pure thrust. Meanwhile, Parle Agro’s Bailey has been growing steadily. Small local players are breathing down Bisleri’s neck riding on better trade margins and intensive distribution (in their respective areas of operation). Bisleri faces tough competition from these in organize sector  Coca-Cola Kinley  Pepsi Aquafina  Nestle  Parle Agro’s Bailey.

KINLEY Kinley water was launched in August 2000 in one litre bottles for Rs. 10 but not been rolled out nationally. Coca-Cola joined the race by announcing the imminent launch of fits own brand of water and, in the process, putting to rest rumors of its so-called takeover of Bisleri. The water is produced at Coca-Cola's three green field manufacturing plants at Bidadi near Bangalore, Dasna in Uttar Pradesh and Goa. The company plans to either add more water bottling operations or go for contract bottling as it goes national.

In September, CCI made an announcement that literally grabbed the headlines. CCI announced that Kinley had overtaken the near-generic Bisleri brand in terms of market share. Quoting ORG-MARG/ AC Nielsen data, CCI claimed that for the period ended July 31, 2002, Kinley's market share had been recorded at 35.1 per cent, against that of Bisleri's 34.4 per cent. The peak summer months saw CCI rolling out Kinley in 200 ml cups. The cups, priced at Rs 3 each, were first rolled out in pockets of Gujarat. With this initiative in place, the company is hoping to generate market share from the institutional segment such as restaurants and hotels, caterers, and transport channels such as buses and trains. CCI said it was doubling the bottling capacity for Kinley through a combination of company-owned plants, franchisee operations and contract packers. Two of CCI's key bottling partners, namely the Gandharis and Goenkas, invested Rs 10 crore for a new bottling water plant in Punjab for Kinley. Its consumers are also quality conscious and brand loyal.

AQUAFINA The advantage for Aquafina is that though they are over 300 labels of bottled water in the Indian market, few can be called. It is necessary to remember that every product with a name is not a brand; even Bisleri has become generic to this category.

It does not have any emotional values attached to it. So there was no difficulty for Pepsi in creating space in such a market which is completely

different from the soft drinks market, where it will be very difficult for any new player to find a slot. So the creative team at HTA virtually had an empty canvas to work on.

And it came up with a campaign that did have people talking. First, as series so teasers, followed by a film that showed healthy bodied and youthful people and, of course, lots of water. Although Aquafina started with only 750 ml. pet at Rs. 10 but now it launched its 1 lt. pack also with the price range of Rs.12. in addition to the tamper proof seal, there is reliable method of checking whether the bottle has been reliable. The date of manufacturing has been written on the cap as well as on the bottle. Thus a person who is refilling it would have to find a matching cap and bottle, the probability of which is very low.

NESTLE Nestle India is the latest to enter this market with the launch of its brand `Pure Life' in New Delhi. It plans to grab a 50 per cent market share in the next two years and emerge as a strong player. The company has not ruled out acquiring existing brands. The product will be available in other cities as well soon. The water is bottled at Nestle's new plant at Samalkha in Haryana. Nestle has already launched two of its global premium mineral water brands `Perrier' and `San Pellegrino' which are targeted at niche markets.

PARLE AGRO’S BAILEY Bailey the brand that is owned by Ramesh Chauhan’s brother Prakash Chauhan is very popular in the southern part of India. Southern part of India accounts for 20% of the sale of the whole water market industry. Bisleri would have a tough competition from Bailey since the company plans to spread its presence in that part of the country. Another thing that makes the competition difficult for the company is the price at which its competitor is offering the product. Like Bisleri it also gives the 1 lt. for Rs.10. The only strength point of the company which it can capitalize is its generic name. And also the company would have to enter that market with a strong distribution base. We know the fact that Bailey has grown at a rapid pace using the route of franchising which Bisleri has not adopted. This is another point which the company would have to take care of to face the competition.

SWOT ANALYSIS

MICRO ENVIRONMENT FACTORS: Those forces which effect the organization from within i.e. due to its own activities and performance. Those forces can be controlled by the organization and an organization can improve on its strength and weaknesses in the market. STRENGTHS : Those activities, which put the organization a step ahead of others with its performance in the field of marketing mix, are products, price, promotion, and physical distribution. Strength of the Bisleri in the market are:  Produce packaged drinking water in different packaging.  Having the largest distribution network.  Low cost of distribution for packaged drinking water bottles.  Heavy investment on ad campaigns.  Its name has become synonym for packaged drinking water.  Its 20 lt. Bottle has also reached to the retail outlets.  Low cost incurred on production on pet bottles.  Charging better prices from the customers.

 Now paying more emphasis on break-away seal and attracting consumers to use only Bisleri.  Company is having large surplus of funds.  Large stock maintained by the company.  Availability of water bottles at the nearest possible outlets.  They maintain constant quality checks on quality of purified water.

WEAKNESSES :

 Produce low quality per bottles, which cannot be sterilized.  They don’t manufacture dispensers.  They charge more for 5 lt. And 20 lt. Bottles as compared to other emerging companies.  Bad publicity done before by the newspaper.

MACRO ENVIRONMENT FORCES: Those forces, which affect the performance and ability of an organisation from outside, i.e., those forces are uncontrollable and the organization cannot manipulate these forces.

OPPORTUNITIES : A major purpose of environment scanning is to discuss new marketing opportunities. A market opportunity is an area of buyer need in which a company can perform in profitability. Various opportunities of Bisleri in market are:  The business is growing at the rate more than 80% per annum  There is a high growth in 500 ml., 2 lt., 5 lt., 20 lt., water bottles.  Their break-away seal concept is accepted by the market.  There is large market share of unorganized sector in packaged drinking water industry. And Bisleri share is increasing gradually.  Now middle class people also use packaged drinking water at their shops and homes and it become the need of the metros.

THREATS :

 Kinley is the biggest threat to Bisleri as it is Coca-Cola company and they have surplus funds to invest in this company.  Its higher prices and low retailer’s margin has made the competitor to strengthen their feet in the Bisleri’s market.  Being an Indian company, it is getting affected by international brands like Pepsi, Kinley, and Nestle.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research is common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. The purpose of research is to discover answers to questions through the application of scientific procedures. Research methodology refers to the tools and methods used for obtaining information for the purpose of the subject under study. Research methodology deals with the various methods of research. The purpose of the research methodology is to describe the research procedure used in the research. Research methodology overall includes the research design, data collection method and analysis procedure which are used to explore the insight information form the research problem. Research Methodology helps in carrying out the project report in by analyzing the various research findings collected through the data collection methods.

RESEARCH DESIGN Research design is an important and the vital part of the research. Research design is a comprehensive master plan specifying the procedure for collecting and analysis the needed information. Research design provides an excellent framework for the research plan of action. The function of the Research design is to ensure that the required data is in accordance; research design is a blue print for the research study, which guides research in collecting and analysis the data.

Here in our project we have used the two type of research design:

EXPLORATORY RESEARCH DESIGN Exploratory research design helps the research in getting the insight Information from the research problem. Generally all the marketing Research projects innuendos exploratory research that helps the researcher in providing the sharp focus of the problem under research. Exploratory Research lays emphasis on the discovering of ideas and possible inside to get the information needed to carry out the research has used the exploratory form to research design in the project under study.

CONCLUSIVE RESEARCH DESIGN

Conclusive research design is the design, which helps the researcher in studying the research problem in the conclusive form; this helps the researcher in choosing the possible cause of action from various alternatives to make a rational design. Hence this type of research is being used in this research project.

DATA COLLECTION METHOD

The success of any project or market survey depends heavily on the data collection and analysis. It is necessary that the data collected is a reliable data in order to achieve the research objective. All data sources can be classified into two data:

1. PRIMARY DATA 2. SECONDARY DATA 1. PRIMARY DATA- Primary data is the data which are fresh and collected for the first time, and are original in character. It consist of the actual information. There are various Primary data collection techniques, which have helped in data gathering. The primary data collection techniques used in the project is as follows: a) PERSONAL INTERVIEW METHOD b) SURVEY METHOD c) QUESTIONNAIRE METHOD 2.SECONDARY DATA- Secondary data are those data, which have been already collected or published for the purpose other than specific research need at hand. This data is simply used up by the researcher for his purpose of collected the data and its use is now not the same . The secondary data source here in this project are: -

MAGAZINES

COMPANIES INTERNAL RECORDS

WEBSITES

SAMPLING DESIGN A sample design is a definite plan for obtaining a sample for a given population. A sample is only a portion in the universe. Sampling is used to collect the primary data. The objective of sampling is to get maximum information about the parent population with minimum effort. Sample Design consists of the following factors.

1. Sampling unit The target population for the survey of: •

Consumers were the already existing customers drinking packaged drinking water as well as those not drinking mineral water. This sampling unit was taken randomly from Delhi region.

•

Dealers were the retail and wholesale outlets of the company located in Delhi region particularly the areas were taken randomly, those areas are: Palam Airport, Highway, Bhijwasan, Kapashera, Vikas Puri, Paschim Vihar, Janak

Puri, Khan Market, Lodhi Road, Lodhi Colony, Defence Colony, M.M.Market, Vasant Kunj and Vasant Vihar. •

Institutions were hotels in the Carol Bagh region.

2. Sampling Techniques The sampling technique applied in this project is mainly Non-Probability (convenience) sampling.

3. Sample size The sample size for the survey conducted for the analysis of: •

Dealers were 303 retail outlets.

•

Institutions were 69 hotels.

•

And 50 customers for consumer survey.

ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

1. DEALERS SURVEY: In this survey 303 retail outlets were taken as the sample size and the sampling unit was taken randomly within the Delhi region. In this survey the analysis was done to identify the consumption pattern of the various SKUs of Bisleri brand. The competitor’s role in the market their strategies and their promotional schemes were also analyzed. Lastly the market share of Bisleri and its competitors was found out by the primary data collected through interviewing method. Thus the analysis and the interpretation are given hereby.

Area: Palam Airport. Highway, Bhijwasan, Kapashera. Salesman: Mr. Manoj Sales Supervisor: Mr. Digvijay.

This area is having basically two of the big marketers of packaged drinking water i.e. our product Bisleri & Aquafina. In which Bisleri is leading and having a good market share. As this area is highway so the basic customers of our product are the passengers of that highway. Our basic market priority must be based on more and more visibility. This area mostly covers a large

sale of 1 litre and 1.2litre. water bottles. In this area shops like Jain Pan, Rahul Sweets, Agarwal Sweets and Gupta Jan Pan are having a good display of our product Bisleri. There is an intensive distribution strategy adopted in this market. This is one of the major sales areas of the company. In this area our nearest competitor is Aquafina giving up a high scheme of giving one case of 12 bottles free with every 2 cases. In this area we visited 57 retail outlets. According to survey conducted there we got that the market share in this market hold by the Bisleri is 48%, Aquafina 24%, Kinley 18%, Nestle 4% and Others 6%. The scheme of the company varies from shop to shop according to their sales. Generally the scheme given in this market are 1case free with every two or 1 case with every three. Here the company emphasizes more on below the line promotional activities like hoardings, banners etc. they also give other benefits to retail outlets like providing the small fridges or boxes etc. Market share of packaged drinking water in this area is shown by this graph:

6% Bisleri

18% 48%

Aquafina Kinley Nestle Others

24%

Area: Vikas Puri, Paschim Vihar Salesman: Mr. Gaya Prasad Sales Supervisor: Mr. Anil Sharma.

Bisleri and Aquafina basically cover this area. In this area 61 retail outlets are surveyed. In this area Bisleri is having a good market share but due to some schemes launched by Aquafina i.e. getting free case of water with Pepsi and making the retailers bound to sell there product. This area is having sales of all SKUs, especially 5 lt., 20 lt. The company very nicely covers this area and Bisleri leads the market in this region. This area also covers the institutional sales like of schools and colleges. In this area sale of 500 ml. pet is generally at schools and colleges. This area requires a lot of market study and competitors strategies adopted must be understood. As this area have a lot of schools and colleges, so more of the marketing strategies can be applied here. According to the survey conducted here the market share of Bisleri is 42%, Aquafina 30%, Kinley 20%, Nestle 2%, others 6%.

2% 6% 20% 42%

30%

Bisleri Aquafina Kinley Nestle others

Area: Janak Puri. Salesman: Mr.Gill Sales Supervisor: Mr. Anil Sharma.

This area is having a good market share of Aquafina, Bisleri, Kinley and Paras. In this area 44 retail outlets were surveyed and all the data has been collected from them. This area is having a good market of 20 lt. Jars and 5 lt. Jars. because this is basically a residential area. This area also has a good market of 500ml. pet because these packs are not available by Pepsi. The market of 1 lt. and 1.2 lt. is captured by Aquafina by there schemes of g free case of packaged drinking water with every case of 2 lt. Pepsi and other scheme of getting 1 case free with every two cases of water. This area requires a special attention and proper visit of sales supervisor is need to sustain in this market. New and attractive schemes should be launched in this area so as to bring back their old customers. Some of the market is also covered by Paras water so in this area proper ad is also required. In this area company should concentrate on the 20 lt. jar & 5 lt. jar market and should make strategies to maximize its sales in this product.

The market share of the companies in this market are Bisleri is having 40%, Aquafina 32%, Kinley 15%, Paras 8%, others 5%. This is shown by the given graph:

Bisleri

8% 5% 15%

40%

Aquafina Kinley Paras

32%

others

Area: Khan Market, Lodhi Road. Salesman: Mr. Gulati. Sales Supervisor: Mr. Ramola.

This area is being located in the heart of the city. The customers of this area are too much quality conscious and not price conscious. On having a view on customer’s segmentation this area belongs to royal class home users. There are many competitor of Bisleri in this market and all the brands are available on each of the retail outlet. In this area, Bisleri has a market competition from Kinley, Aquafina, Nestle, Himalayan, Catch, Kingfisher and other local competitors. This area basically has a higher consumption of 1.2 lt./1 lt. bottles and 20 lt. jars. In terms of visibility our product is having a good space and is well being displayed. As this area lays in high class society so the preference of customers are on natural drinking water rather than packaged drinking water. That is why catch and Himalayan are having a good hold in this area. For the sales promotion Himalayan (Rs.144 per case, M.R.P. 15) and Catch (Rs. 180 per case, M.R.P. 20) are giving schemes of 1 case free with every 5 case. Thus company should emphasis on better quality product and market penetration in this area. Because of the reason of the bad publicity done before by the newspaper the sale was drastically reduced, this now requires a great attention and action too by giving more advertisements and good publicity.

In this area 46 retail outlets were visited and all the inferences are drawn on the survey based on them. The market share of water in this market is that Bisleri is having a share of 34%, Aquafina 12%, Kinley 20%, Nestle 8%, Himalayan 10%, Catch 11%, Kingfisher 3%, others 2%. This is also shown

sle ri ua fin a Ki nle y Ne st Hi m le al ay an C at c Ki ng h fis he r O th er s

40% 34% 35% 30% 25% 20% 20% 12% 15% 11% 8% 10% 10% 3% 5% 0% Bi

market share

by the graph given as under:

brands

Bisleri Aquafina Kinley Nestle Himalayan Catch Kingfisher Others

Area: Lodhi Colony, Defence Colony, M.M.Market. Salesman: Mr. Laxmi Narain. Sales Supervisor: Mr. Vijay Pandey.

This area is having quality conscious customers, therefore customer orientation is not only price but the major emphasis is on quality. On having a view on customer’s segmentation, this area belongs to royal class home users. In this market Bisleri is getting a tough competition from Aquafina and Kinley. Catch is also in one the preference of the consumers. In this area visibility of our product is up to mark because the major brands i.e. Kinley and Aquafina are given equal weightage to Bisleri. The basic demand in this region is of 5 lt. and 20 lt. jars because this is a residential area and a regular demand of these jars are more visible. As in this SKU (5lt. and 20 lt. jars) Bisleri is facing less competition. In this area 61 retail outlets were visited and according the survey conducted on them we got some inferences that the dealers interest is not only in their margin but also in the variety. So, they keep all types of brand (Kinley, Aquafina etc.). This area requires a regular visit of the sales supervisor and so as to increase the market share in this area company should plan some strategies and should do some below the line promotional activities. Because of the schemes given by the Aquafina and Kinley they recently acquired a good market. Aquafina and Kinley launched their schemes of 1 case free with every two and Bisleri is still giving their old schemes of 1 case free

with every 4 cases. Thus this area requires newer schemes and much more advertisement. According to the survey, the market shares of Bisleri is 38%, Aquafina 22%, Kinley 24%, Catch 8%, Himalayan 2%, Paras 2% and others 4%. These results are very well shown by the graph as under:

40% 35%

Bisleri

30%

Aquafina

25% market 20% share 15%

Kinley Himalayan Catch

10% 5%

Kingfisher

1 brands

Paras Others

Area: Vasant Kunj, Vasant Vihar. Salesman: Mr. Mohanjeet. Sales Supervisor: Mr. Kaushal

This area is key market of packaged drinking water. This area is a mix of residential & commercial area. In this area 34 retail outlets were visited and according to the survey, the particular inference has been drawn that all types of SKUs have a good market. 5lt. Jar and 20 lt. Jar have a very wide market in Vasant Kunj area, as it is densely populated residential area. 1lt./1.2 lt. And 500ml. Pet has a regular demand in Vasant Vihar commercial area i.e. Priya PVR cinema hall.

In this market Bisleri is having a nice competition with Aquafina, Kinley, Paras and other local competitors. According to the survey, the area near Priya cinema hall, is growing and is a major market so the company should emphasize more on advertisement, below the level promotional activities and the display on the retailer’s shop.

This area shows a good market for 500ml.pet, as the SKU is not much produced by their competitors. Company should provide some more schemes to retail outlets and give some banners, plastic plates and hoardings to them. Thus they can increase their market share. Company can also

increase their availability of their product, Bisleri inside the cinema hall and should give more margins to increase their sales.

In this area the market share of packaged drinking water is Bisleri 48%, Aquafina 24%, Kinley 22%, Paras 2%, others 4%. This is also shown by the underneath graph:

2% 4% 22%

48%

24%

Bisleri Aquafina Kinley Paras Others

CONSUMERS SURVEY

This survey was done randomly in whole Delhi. The sample size taken in this survey was 50 persons (consumers or non-consumers). There brand awareness and there preference was also analyzed. For the collection of this primary data, questionnaire was the medium used to get all the information for finding out the market share of this product and its competitors. The analysis done shows that the general preference of the consumer is generally Bisleri and then Kinley. Top of the brand awareness position is taken by Bisleri as it is also used synonymous of packaged drinking water by the customers. The analysis and interpretation done on this questionnaire is shown hereby.

Q 1.) In which packaged drinking water by which brands you are well aware of? This shows Top Of The Mind Awareness (TOMA): As per the survey of 50 customers findings are as follows  50% recalls Bisleri first.  22% recalls Kinley first.  14% recalls Aquafina first.  4% recalls Nestle first.  4% recalls Kingfisher first.  2% recalls Catch first.  2% recalls Himalayan first.  2% recalls Ganga first.

2% 2% 4% 2% Bisleri Kinley

14%

Aquafina

50%

Nestle Kingfisher Catch Himalayan

22%

Ganga

Q 2.) Which brand will you prefer most for packaged drinking water? a) Bisleri

b) Kinley

c) Aquafina

d) Any other (_______)

The brand preference of the consumers is as follows:  50% of the consumers prefer Bisleri.  28% of the consumers prefer Kinley.  16% the consumers prefer Aquafina.  4% of the consumers prefer Nestle.  1% of the consumers prefer Catch.  1% of the consumers prefer Himalayan.

50%

50% Bisleri

40% market share

28%

Kinley

30%

16%

20%

Aquafina

10%

1% 1%

0% Bisleri

Kinley Aquafina Nestle

Brands

Catch Himalayan

Nestle Catch 8%

Q 3.) Which pack size do you generally consume? a) 500 ml. Pet

b) 1 lt. Pet.

c) 5 lt. Jar

d) 20 lt. Jar.

The consumption pattern of pack size is identified as:  80% of them consume 1 lt. /1.2 lt. bottles.  14% of them consume 500ml. pet bottles.  2% of them consume 5 lt. jars.  4% of them consume 20 lt. jars.

80% 60% 1 lt. / 1.2 lt. 40%

500 ml.

20%

34%

20lt. 0%

1 lt. / 1.2 lt.

500 ml.

5 lt.

20lt.

Q 4.) How often you purchase packaged drinking water? a) More often

b) Often

c) Rare

d) Very rare

The consumption period of the customers are judged as under:  8% purchase water more often.  34% purchase often.  40% purchase rare.  18% purchase very rare. Consumption pattern is also shown by the graph:

18%

More often Often 34%

40%

Rare Very rare

Q 5.) From where do you generally buy packaged drinking water? a) Highways

b) General stores

c) Cinema halls

d) Rail & bus stations

e) Any other (__________)  28% says they buy packaged drinking water from Highways.  32% says they buy packaged drinking water from General stores.  24% says they buy packaged drinking water from cinema halls.  16% says they buy packaged drinking water from railway and bus stations. This also illustrated by the following chart:

Highways

16% 28%

General stores Cinema halls

24%

32%

Railway & bus stations

Q 6.) What do you think is the most essential thing for packaged drinking water? Purity & Quality Purity Seal & packaging

( )

Brand name

Availability

( )

 Purity & Quality is the essential thing on which the sale of the water depends most. Thus 28% customers prefer packaged water because this feature.  Price is least considered feature which the customer is least bother about. 4% of the customers emphasize more on price.  Seal & Packaging is also an important thing which customers prefer for. 22% people think it to be the essential thing in packaged drinking water.  Brand name is also given the equal weightage as seal and packaging. 22% customers go on Brand name for the purchase of packaged drinking water.  24% of the consumers believe that availability is the major factor, which is most essential. So, company should give a special attention to the distribution network.

This data is also represented by this graph:

28%

22%

24%

Price

Availability

Brand name

S1Seal & Packaging Seal & Packaging

Price

4% Purity & Quality

Purity & Quality

Brand name Availability

Q 7.) Which factor can change your brand preference? Quality

( )

Quantity

( )

Price

Availability

( )

Customer changes their preference because of some reasons and according to survey the factors which can change brand preference are:  38% can change their preference if they don’t get the expected quality level.  20% can change their preference if they do get more quantity in other brand.

 14% can change their preference if the company hikes their prices.  28% can change their preference if the preferred brand is not available in the market. This is well interpreted by this graph:

Q 8.) How can we increase the availability of our product, Bisleri in the market?

28%

a) Hospitals.

38%

Quality Quantity

b) Schools & Colleges Price

c) Street Hawkers

14%

d) Any other (________) Availability

20% can increase their availability by By the customers viewpoint company increasing their market in these areas.

 38% says that increase in availability can be increased by creating new markets in hospitals.  40% says availability can be increased by supplying their product in schools & colleges.  22% says Bisleri can increase their sale and distribution by increasing their availability through street hawkers. This graph showing the concept of increasing their availability in market is as under:

Street

22%

hawkers Street hawkers

School &

40%

Colleges 38%

Hospitals

School & Colleges Hospitals

20%

40%

Q 9.) Do you use 20 lt. Jar of packaged drinking water? a) Yes

b) No

 68% of the customers use 20 lt. jars of any brand for their residential or commercial area.  32% of the customers don’t use 20 lt. jars. They use tap water or purified water. Consumption of 20 lt. jar is shown by this given figure:

No 32% Yes 68%

Q 10.) (i) Have you heard about our free home delivery service of 20 lt. Jars? a) Yes

b) No.

 62% people say that they have heard abut the free home delivery offered by the Bisleri.  38% people says that they are unaware of the free home delivery scheme This is shown by the given graph:

(ii) How do you find our free home delivery service? a) Fine c) V.Good

No 38%

b) Good d) No comments Yes

Yes  50% customers say that the service provided is fine. 62%

 16% customers say that the service provided is good.  14% customers say that the service provided is V.Good.  30% customers don’t want to comment on this term.

The rating of their liking of free home delivery is shown by this graph:

30% Fine

50%

Good V.Good No Comments

14% 16%

Q 11.) Is the price justified by the company? a) Yes

b) No

If No, then reason (__________) Views of the persons on the price justification of the company are interpreted and out of which:  44% says, yes the price is justified.  56% says that price is not justified.

This analysis can be interpreted by this chart:

56%

44%

Yes

20%

40%

Yes

60%

The persons surveyed saying that price justification is not right gives the reason that “Rs.10 is fine and comfortable for a customer to buy a water bottle”.

Q 12.) What would you like to suggest for the betterment of our company? Your Suggestions: The persons taken into consideration and being surveyed gave some valuable suggestions, which can help the company to increase their sale.

They suggested that:  They should have a check on their seal in 1 lt./1.2 lt. and 500 ml. SKUs.  As because of there bad publicity done before they should emphasize more an quality and advertisement to reduce the adverse affect ever made before.  They should introduce flavored water like Catch or they should launch some type of ready made sharbats.

INSTITUTIONAL SURVEY

The Carol Bagh region of Delhi region was taken as the sampling unit and the sample size was 69 hotels. The survey was conducted so as to identify the buyers and non-buyers of Bisleri and to analyze the consumption pattern of the various SKUs. The survey also gave the feedback regarding the complaints and margins given by the company. By this analysis we were able to interpret the buyers of their competitors and their marketing strategies. The promotional activities of Aquafina, Kinley and other competitors were analyzed.

Two major analyses were done on the data collected i.e. market share of the buyers and non-buyers and the market share of Bisleri and other competitors. This analysis gave the interpretation that:

 In the region surveyed, there were 43 hotels that were the buyer i.e. 62% buyers of Bisleri and 26 hotels were non-buyers i.e. 38% were non-buyers of Bisleri. The non-buyers in this region are not purchasing the Bisleri because of the bad publicity done by the newspaper in near past, and because of its lesser margins and seal problem faced by them. So as to increase the market share in this region, company should make some strategies and have a keen eye on their lacking and on the strength of the competitors.

The buying behavior of the consumers is also studied and is further shown by the chart given as under:

38 %

Non Buyers

62 %

Buyers

20%

40%

60%

80%

Buyers Non Buyers

The market share of Bisleri and other competitors was also studied and the following inferences were made that the only Bisleri consumers are 34% of the total market. Else the market share is stated as under: • Bisleri is having 51% of market share. • Kinley is having 22% of market share. • Aquafina is having 18% of market share. • Kingfisher is having 9% of the market share.

These figures are also represented by the help of this graph:

60% 50%

51%

In the Carol Bagh region company is having a good distribution network.

40%

Basically 1 lt. / 1.2 lt. bottles are the basic SKUs which is are having a good

30%

22%

sale in this region. Bisleri should also penetrate in18% the schools and colleges 20% market so to increase the market share and by this they can increase their

10%

sale to extremes. For giving boom to the sale company should introduce new

schemes and do some promotional activities by which customers get

Bisleri

Kinley

Aquafina

attracted and give a helping hand to the company.

Kingfisher

By this we interpreted that Bisleri is still market leader in this segment and having a good lead over its competitor in this particular region.

FINDINGS

During our training whatever we have learned we have tried to present in the report although it is just equivalent to touching the tip of ice berg but it is surely helpful to the company for which the study was conducted after studying and gathering the information through direct interview of customer and retailers and observation it may be concluded: 

Product available at most of the retail outlets, hotels in Carol Bagh.



Many retailers complain regarding the margin on the product especially 2 lt. bottles and 20 lt. jar.



Bisleri has complete network of physical distribution



Schemes are not well framed so as to give competition to competitors because of which retailers are not satisfied.



Bisleri takes the highest position in Top of the mind awareness while doing consumers survey.



Bisleri is the market leader and having neck to neck competition with Kinley.

CONCLUSION

To conclude the information which we got through the various sources, it is quite evident that an efficient promotion, physical distribution and proper communication can increase the total sale of the company in a big way and an inefficient coordination between all these spoil the efforts made by Sales force. It is also very clear that proper and systematic use of limited resources can do wonder for the company. As we have seen from the market survey that packaged drinking water industry is very huge and growing rapidly. The water market is going to reach Rs. 2000 cr. till the end of 2003. Thus we can imagine how big the water market is and imagine the growth in this industry. This market is having large share of unorganized sector. In water industry production cost is very low. But the distribution cost of operations and make sure about the availability of water. Bisleri distribution network to retail outlets is the best example. They have given 20 lt. jars to the retailers and thus reduce the distribution cost. Now there is trend in the market to give bottle without security and a dispenser free of cost to a party using 100 lt. of water. To increase Customers Company should go upon this strategy but only when it has production capabilities to give regular supply to their customers. As in

this business most of the customers give preference to delivering service and availability on time. According

Deepak

Jolly,

executive

vice

president,

corporate

communications, Pepsi Foods Ltd. “Aquafina will be helped by Pepsi’s network. Moreover, Aquafina will be served absolutely chilled.’ That makes sense too, since surveys have indicated that an overwhelming majority of the bottled water that is consumed in India is by people who are traveling. With the big players, who have the support of the financial muscle and a large consumer base in other categories with them, like Pepsi, Britannia, Nestle and Coca-Cola the battle is the tougher arena of brand building. All the multinationals are looking at high-octane advertising targeting specific consumer segments. Sensing troubled waters ahead, Bisleri is busy working in strategy to soak up the competition and protect his water kingdom. By the strategies followed by the Bisleri has become a synonym of packaged drinking water. By the institutional (hotel) survey, dealers survey and the consumers survey we got many conclusions and found out the market share of the brands involved in this industry. According to it Bisleri is the market leader having the market share of 44%, Kinley is its nearest competitor having its market share of 31%, Aquafina 15% and other brands are covering 10% of their market share. Thus company should emphasis more on its advertisements, retailers and wholesaler’s margin. Company should also have a keen quality control system because their break-away has been accepted by the public and if sometimes the complaint comes then it will affect the sales of Bisleri.

As this water industry is going up with a very high pace so company should develop some new strategies and should always look on competitor’s strategies.

RECOMMENDATIONS



Advertisement to build the brand image that will provide the required ground to establish the authenticity to the product.



Awareness programs at health clubs, schools, cinema halls & nursing homes and in front of business complex.



To win over the consumer belief and faith over the genuinity the product.



Display of hot and cold dispensers and bottles at places like hotels, clubs and airports where upper class group visits, as they are the potential customers. Place like departmental stores, petrol pumps and super bazaars can also be considered.



The company should organize camps at various part of the city. Also road shows to bring about the difference between packaged drinking water and filter/ purified water and to tell the people how packaged drinking water is more hygienic than filtered water/purified water.



To aware people the cost benefit analysis to the customer of how the water costs less and benefit more, because people using purifier system cost too much.



Special emphasis should be given to availability of water on time.



There is large market of packaged drinking water and company should look after the production unit and maintained production level in accordance with the market requirement.



There are some

institutional consumers,

which have large

consumption for them; company should have some promotional schemes. They should provide them free dispensers.



Bisleri should have a quality check over their break-away seal in 500ml. pet and 1.2lt. pet. Sometimes retailers get annoyed if it is not tempered properly.

LIST OF THE HOTELS WHILE DOING INSTITUTIONAL SURVEY HOTELS

STATUS

BRANDS

CONSUMPTION

Hotel Parkview

Buyer

Only Bisleri

20-30 Cases

Hotel Apra International

Non buyer

Kinley

60 Cases

Hotel Rahul Palace

Non buyer

Kingfisher

20 Cases

Hotel Good Palace

Buyer

Kinley,Aquafina,Bisleri

15 Cases

Hotel Arpit Palace

Non Buyer

Kingfisher

60-80 Cases

Hotel Swisston Palace

Buyer

Only Bisleri

5-10 Cases

Hotel Nice Palace

Non buyer

Aquafina

20-25 Cases

Hotel Welcome Palace

Non buyer

Kingfisher,Kinley

40-50

Hotel Taj Princess

Non buyer

Kingfisher

80-90 Cases

Hotel Ganga Sagar

Non buyer

Kinley

90 Cases

Hotel M.S. Regency

Non buyer

Sister Concern Of Gangasagar

Hotel Grand Control

Buyer

Bisleri,Kinley

15-20 Cases

Hotel Star Palace

Buyer

Only Bisleri

5-10 Cases

Hotel Golden Palace

Non buyer

Aquafina And Kinley

30-40 Cases

Hotel Lucky Holiday Inn

Non buyer

Aquafina

30-40 Cases

Hotel Metro City

Buyer

Only Bisleri

15-20 Cases

Hotel Relax Palace

Buyer

Bisleri,Aquafina,Kinley

20-30 Cases

Hotel Omni

Buyer

Bisleri

15-20 cases

Hotel Surya Palace

Buyer

Only Bisleri

10-15 Cases

Hotel Clark Inn

Non buyer

Aquafina

50-60 Cases

Hotel Magestic Palace

Buyer

Only Bisleri

20-30 Cases

Hotel Surya Shelter

Buyer

Only Bisleri

15-20 Cases

Hotel Eureka Crown

Non buyer

Kingfisher

60 Cases

Hotel Clark International

Non buyer

Kinley

90 Cases

Panickers Guest House

Non buyer

Hotel Swarna Palace

Non buyer

Kingfisher

80 Cases

Hotel Shiva Continental

Buyer

Bisleri, Kinley

25-30 Cases

Hotel Hill Palace

Non Buyer

Hotel Tribhovan Palace

Buyer

Bisleri

20-25

Hotel Ivory Palace

Buyer

Bisleri

45-60

Hotel Prince International

Buyer

Only Bisleri

60 Cases

Hotel Metropolitan

Buyer

Only Bisleri

50 Cases

Hotel Pooja Palace

Non buyer

Aquafina

30 Cases

Hotel Mehar Castle

Buyer

Only Bisleri

50-60 Cases

Hotel Metro Continental

Buyer

Only Bisleri

5-10 Cases

Hotel Welcome Plaza

Non buyer

Kinley

30 Cases

Hotel White House

Non buyer

Kinley,Aquafina

7-8 Cases

Hotel Kama

Buyer

Kingfisher,Bisleri

20 Cases

Hotel Rupam

Non buyer

Hotel Pawan Plaza

Buyer

Bisleri,Aquafinaand Kinley

20 Cases

The Suncourt Hotel Yatri

Buyer

Only Bisleri

15-20 Cases

Hotel Singh Palace

Buyer

Bisleri

150 jars of 20 ltr

Hotel Singh Continental

Buyer

150 jars of 20 ltr

Hotel Sunstar Heritage

Buyer

Bisleri Sister Concern of Suncourt Hotel Yatri

Hotel MIG

Buyer

All Brand

Hotel De Continental

Buyer

Bisleri,Kinley

Hotel Le Heritage

Non buyer

Aquafina,Kinley

Hotel Swati Delux

Buyer

Bisleri

30 Cases

Hotel Elegant

Non buyer

Aquafina

20 Cases

Hotel Eliza Continental

Non buyer

Kingfisher

40-60 Cases

Hotel Lakshmi Palace

Buyer

Only Bisleri

50 Cases

Hotel Anmol

Buyer

Only Bisleri

30 Cases

Hotel Vishesh Continental

Buyer

Only Bisleri

20 Cases

Hotel Royal Palace

Buyer

Bisleri ,Kinley

5 Cases

Hotel Astoria

Buyer

Bisleri Only

15-20 Cases

Hotel Unique

Buyer

Only Bisleri

10 Cases

Hotel City International

Buyer

Only Bisleri

50 Cases

Hotel Good Times

Buyer

Bisleri,Kinley

20 Cases

Hotel Metro Heights

Buyer

All Brands

60 Cases

Hotel Tripti

Buyer

Only Bisleri

15 Cases

First Hotel

Buyer

Only Bisleri

10-15 Cases

Hotel Sobti

Buyer

Only Bisleri

15-20 Cases

Hotel Kafila

Buyer

Bisleri,Aquafina

10 Cases

Hotel Western Palace

Buyer

Only Bisleri

5 Cases

Hotel Jagat Inn

Non buyer

Franchise of Aqua Fina

Hotel Delta Shereton

Buyer

Only Bisleri

20 Cases

Hotel Gaurav

Non buyer

Aquafina,Kinley

30-40 Cases

Hotel Gujral Regency

Buyer

Bisleri,Kinley

30 Cases

Hotel South Indian Hotel

Non buyer

Aquafina

50-70 Cases

20 Cases

QUESTIONNAIRE

Q 1.) In which packaged drinking water by which brands you are well aware of? a) __________. b) __________. c) __________. d) __________. Q 2.) Which brand will you prefer most for packaged drinking water? a) Bisleri

b) Kinley

c) Aquafina

d) Any other(_______)

Q 3.) Which pack size do you generally consume? a) 500 ml. Pet

b) 1 lt. Pet.

c) 5 lt. Jar

d) 20 lt. Jar.

Q 4.) How often you purchase packaged drinking water? a) More often

b) Often

c) Rare

d) Very rare

Q 5.) From where do you generally buy packaged drinking water? a) Highways

b) General stores

c) Cinema halls

d) Rail & bus stations

e) Any other (__________) Q 6.) What do you think is the most essential thing for packaged drinking water? Purity & Quality Purity Seal & packaging

( )

Brand name

( )

Availability

(

)

Q 7.) Which factor can change your brand preference? Quality

( )

Quantity

( )

Price

Availability

( )

(

)

Q 8.) How can we increase the availability of our product, Bisleri in the market? a) Hospitals.

b) Schools & Colleges

c) Street Hawkers

d) Any other (________)

Q 9.) Do you use 20 lt. Jar of packaged drinking water?

a) Yes

b) No

Q 10.) (i) Have you heard about our free home delivery service of 20 lt. Jars? a) Yes

b) No.

(ii) How do you find our free home delivery service? a) Fine

b) Good

c) V.Good

d) No comments

Q 11.) Is the price justified by the company? a) Yes

b) No

if No, then reason (__________) Q 12.) What would you like to suggest for the betterment of our company? Your Suggestions: _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________. NAME

:______________.

ADDRESS :_______________ _______________

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In this report, I have analyzed the TOMA (Top Of Mind Awareness), customer’s preference, company’s strategy and competitor’s activities for all SKUs, their strategies and schemes offered to retailers. The main competitors of Bisleri packaged drinking water in this segment are Kinley which is giving a very tough competition, Aquafina, Nestle, Kingfisher, etc. Bisleri is lading all the competitor brands and is still the market leader. In this study three types of survey are conducted i.e. • Dealers Survey, for which sample area was randomly selected in Delhi region. • Consumers Survey, which was also conducted randomly in Delhi region. • Institutional Survey under which hotels of Carol Bagh region was surveyed. It was a good experience to work with my colleagues and my senior officials who helped me in every phase of my project. The main objective of the study was to analyze the market share of Bisleri and its competitor brand, analyze consumption pattern and channel

behaviour of various SKUs of Bisleri across prominent region in Delhi. These all workings were done to find out the consumer’s preference, their satisfaction level, and availability of products, competitors’ activity their strategy, and give recommendation and suggestion to the company.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Kotler Philip, Marketng Management, New Delhi. Prentiee-Hall Of India Private Limited, 2000 Millenium Edition. 2. Kothari C.R., Research Methodology, New Delhi, Vishwa Prakashan, 2000, Second Edition. 3. www.Bisleri.com

4. www.google.com

5. www.indiainfo.com

LIMITATIONS

While doing survey I found some limitations. The limitations I faced are given as under:

• There was time constraint for the study work given to me while doing all the survey I did in this project work. While doing dealers survey, institutional survey and consumers survey I got the limited time period for there completion. • The area considered for this survey was taken randomly. So, the area taken for this study was limited. For the dealers’ survey and consumer survey the area was chosen randomly and for institutional survey the area was limited to the hotel region of Carol Bagh only. • The response of some of the consumers was not up to mark. So the survey may give the biased results. • The sample size taken for each of the survey in this project was very less and limited.

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

(

)

2. OBJECTIVES

(

)

3. INDUSTRY REVIEW

(

)

4. COMPANY PROFILE

(

)

 MISSION

(

)

 CORPORATE PROFILE

(

)

 ACHIEVEMENTS

(

)

5. PRODUCT PROFILE

(

)

6. PRODUCT AND PRODUCTION PROCESS

(

)

7. DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM

(

)

8. SALES MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

(

)

 SALES ORGANISATION

(

)

 SALES PROMOTION

(

)

 SALES FORECASTING

(

)

 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

(

)

9. OTHER COMPTETIORS

(

)

10. SWOT ANALYSIS

(

)

11. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

(

)

 RESEARCH DESIGN

(

)

 DATA COLLECTION METHOD

(

)

 SAMPLING DESIGN

(

)

12. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

(

)

 DEALERS SURVEY

(

)

 CONSUMERS SURVEY

(

)

 INSTITUTIONAL SURVEY

(

)

13. FINDINGS

(

)

14. CONCLUSION

(

)

15. LIMITATIONS

(

)

16. RECOMMENDATIONS

(

)

17. ANNEXURES

(

)

 DEALERS SURVEY SHEET

(

)

 QUESTIONNAIRE

(

)

 HOTELS LIST

(

)

(

)

18. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Sales Organization