1.0 SYNOPSIS 1.1 Background of Partex Group Ltd.

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1.1.1 History: Partex Group is among the large Bangladesh private sector manufacturing and service-based enterprises, owning and operating over twenty units giving value for money to all customers. The group started modestly in 1959 in tobacco trading and with prudent entrepreneurship of the Founder Chairman Mr. M.A. Hashem. Today they have a stake in tobacco, food, water, soft drinks, steel container, edible oil, wooden board, furniture, cotton yarn and the IT sector. After Bangladesh was established their Chairman set up M/S Hashem Corporation (Pvt.) Ltd. in Chittagong city meeting the large demand of food and materials needed for sustaining the needs of a new nation through imports. From importing to import substitution was the next logical step and the stepping-stone into the manufacturing sector, which has matured to the multi-million dollar diverse investment of the Partex Group today. A dedicated work force and committed board members led by the Chairman and backed by a market oriented corporate strategy has been the cornerstone of their success. Today the group has over twenty family-owned private limited companies with a sizable turnover. Partex is a dynamic organization always exploring new ideas and avenues to expand and grow further. (Official website of Partex Group) 1.1.2 Mission Statement Our mission is to provide value at an economic cost, progress in diversity, and continue to contribute to the growth of industrialization in Bangladesh by being the market challenger (Official website of Partex Group) 1.1.3 Financial summary According to the firm, RC cola is a profitable brand. Its growth is also satisfactory. The sales of RC Cola in 2005 was about 240 crore, in 2006 it reduced to 150 crore and again increased to 180 crore in 2007. After that, last years RC cola sales increased rapidly to 230 crores. From the sales

data it can be said that RC cola has become a huge source of revenue generation for Partex Beverage, which it can use to support other marginally profitable or unprofitable products like MUM drinking water. In 2000-2001 its targeting turnover was Tk. 8,000 million and estimated 1

growth rate 15% per annum. Net worth at current market price is Tk. 7,500 Million. The interviewee claims that the main reason behind their huge profit is their strong distribution. Other than that, low marketing expenditures are also a key to their success. They mainly focus on creating catchy advertisements at lower costs. This strategy helps them to save a significant portion of their revenue. (Interviewee, Md. Nahid Yousuf)

1.2 Background of RC Cola:

1.2.1 Introduction of the product Royal Crown Company Inc., originally called the Union Bottling Works, was born in Columbus, Ga. in 1905. A young graduate pharmacist, Claud A. Hatcher, began creating his own soft drinks in the basement of his family's wholesale grocery business. From these humble beginnings, Royal Crown Cola Co. grew to be the third largest soft drink company in America. In 1994, Mr. M. A. Hashem, Chairman of Partex Group visited an International Trade Exhibition in the US, where he happened to meet the executives of Royal Crown Cola Co. International. From then on he started conceptualizing the idea of RC beverage brand in Bangladesh. With international brand name recognition and quality he expected that it would gain acceptability in the Bangladesh market. When he returned, Partex as well as RC International carried out a wide range of marketing research. After positive results, in 1996, the Corporate Head and the Directors formed Partex Beverage Ltd. Mr. Rubel Aziz, one of the pioneers of the concept of RC, was given the position of Managing Director. Funds worth Tk. 10 Crore were raised as part of Equity from the Group. Although registered as a Public Limited Company, no public offerings have been made as yet. The factory was setup in Rajendrapur, 40km away from Dhaka city. The company commenced commercial production on 6th October 1997, and RC was launched in Dhaka on 20th October 1997. This is the story of how Partex Beverage Limited became the sole official bottler of Royal Crown Cola Co. International. (Official website of Partex Group)

1.2.2 Its Purpose RC cola was launched in the market for financial profit, but the main reason for Partex to launch RC cola was to use its unused beverage capacity. (Interviewee, Md. Nahid Yousuf) 1.2.3 Other items in the product line 2

The project we are doing is for RC cola and it has many products in its product line. RC orange, RC lemon, Upper 10 and the best pure drinking water- Mum.

RC and other drinks in the product line are carbonated drinks except Mum, which is a drinking water. RC is the most profitable product brand in the product line. (Official website of Partex Group)

1.2.4 Substitutes of the product The substitutes of soft drinks can be: Water Fruit Juices Coffee Tea Energy Drinks

2.0 SITUATION ANALYSIS

Situation analysis is the diagnostic activity of intercepting environmental conditions and changes in light of the organizations ability to capitalize potential opportunities and problems. (Advertising and promotion, George & Michael)

2.1 Internal Situation:

The internal analysis assesses relevant areas involving the product/service offering and the firm itself. The capabilities of the firm and its ability to develop and implement a successful promotional program, the organization of the promotional department, and the tccesses and failures of past programs should be reviewed. The analysis should study the relative advantage 3

and disadvantage of performing the promotional functions in-house as opposed to hiring an external agency. (Advertising and promotion, George & Michael) 2.1.1 Firms product Partex group has different and diversified business in the country. Partex is a dynamic organization always exploring new ideas and avenues to expand and grow further. Today they have a stake in tobacco, food, water, soft, drinks, steel container, edible oil, wooden board, furniture, cotton yarn and IT sector. Firms product and services are given below: Danish condensed milk Partex real estate Danish fruit juice Amber cotton yarn Partex furniture Dhaka.com (ISP) Fotoroma (Official website of Partex Group) Rubel steel drum Danish milk powder Partex beverage & MUM Star particles board Corvee maritime Web paramedics Partex Plastic

2.1.2 Capabilities of the firm Financial: Partex group finance is the nerve system centre of the corporation. It handles all kinds of financial and accounting services. It has a strong financial position in the country with different kinds of businesses. In 2000-2001 its targeting turnover is Tk. 8,000 million and estimated growth rate 15% per annum. Net worth at current market price is Tk. 7,500 Million. Machines and Technology: Partex Beverage has its own CO2 plant for producing all its beverages unlike other competitors. It also has a one stop manufacturing technology. It uses the same purification process for the water used in both MUM mineral water and other beverages. So, RC Cola is ahead in quality in this perspective than other competitors. Research and development: Partex group has a well-organized R&D department where they are continuously trying to develop their product as per customer preference. As we all know that their innovation of RC cola taste was a proven test for all of us. For this research development of taste they started to compete with Coca cola with their unique brand. Partex group has spent lots of money in their R&D not only for beverage but also for Partex Plastic, Partex furniture design, office furniture design and so on. Their R&D department best work was to introduce the plastic bottle for the first time in Bangladesh, keeping concern on the health side they were able to convince customer that their plastic bottle materials is made up with food grade plastic and approved by the FDA. The process used to manufacture this product is called Injection Molding. It is a single stage transformation process. The manufacturing process is simple yet needs the highest precision. Marketing: Partex has a very strong distribution system. It has 9 depots including its main factory in Dhaka in various regions of Bangladesh (Bogura, Sylhet, Khulna, Noakhali, Barishal, Chittagong and 2 depots in Dhaka District.) From these dipos RC Cola and other beverages are supplied within the desired time, anywhere in Bangladesh. This is a competitive edge that Partex has because other competitors dont have this facility. Over 350 distributors around the nation are engaged in distributing the products and services. There are over 45,000 outlets where products are marketed. (Interviewee, Md. Nahid Yousuf)

Human resource: Partex group consists of 17 concerns. Over 7,000 employees are working in this commercial group. Their group work is the desired because new organizational trend are implemented with the change of time. And it creates interdisciplinary capabilities that can speed up work, trouble shooting and improve management quality is desired. It is an extension of the staff type management model where multiple specialties are synthesized to achieve a simple efficient and functional capability. As partex group have 17 different businesses and human interaction between different sectors that will increase their efficiency as well as coordination among themselves. Thats type of capabilities has been created by human resource department of partex group. It is strongly supported by motivating and managing men and women so that they can readily involve into complex work situations as needed. This matrix of people having different knowledge and skills provides optimal solutions to work situations by having multifunctional skilled people in the organization. Needless to say it saves time and cost, shortcircuiting the usual red tape. (New Age, M A Monsoor)

2.1.3 Study of the firms past success and failure Success: In 2002 Partex beverage introduced plastic bottles cola and mum water for the first time in Bangladesh. They have convinced the consumer that their plastic bottles where made of food grade plastic and by that time all other beverages has started to produce their cola in plastic bottles, which was a big success for partex group. In 2002 they introduce the new PET pack size called RC mobile with a very organized marketing campaign. Failure: Partex Beverages failure is that they were not able to promote MANGOLA juice and RC ORANGE because of their marketing failure. It happened because of weak ad theme, which didnt attract the consumers that much as like RC Cola. Again in case of RC ORANGE they had some coordination problem with the distribution process and climate change. For that, what happens is that, at summer when customers look out for RC ORANGE, it is still in production and when winter comes then it is distributed in the market but that time the demand is low. (Interviewee, Md. Nahid Yousuf)

2.2 External Situation:

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External situation focuses on factors such as characteristics of the firms customers, market segments, positioning strategies, and competitors. (Advertising and promotion, George & Michael) 2.2.1 Customers 2.2.1.1Characteristics As the Cola flavor is usually liked by youngsters, so RC Cola has been able to differentiate its potential customers quite successfully. Its customers are University going students at their initial stage of entering the Youth tagged life. They fall in the age range of 19-22. At this age they get the taste of freedom and intend to come out from their traditional boundaries of home and known surroundings, which they used to aspire in their previous ages. Youngsters at this age are in midway between seriousness and vacillating decision making process or in other words a bit confused. The important needs are love, fun and to get importance from the opposite gender. They pass a very significant part of their daily life by hanging around here and there with friends and group influence is very high at this age. Sense of freedom grows inside them and that leads to building individual choice patterns, preferences and opinions. These people are windowshoppers, fashion conscious and are attracted by product packages. RC Cola also gives them the freedom to choose one of the best tasting cola at reasonable prices. Their tagline (Freedom of Choice) is also catchy to this group. Partex intends to dominate the evoke set of this group through its promotional activities, tagline, etc. (Interviewee, Md. Nahid Yousuf) 2.2.1.2 Buying Pattern Since RC cola is a beverage it is not a necessity and is not purchased by the buyers on a daily basis. The purchase of RC cola is situational. Though it is considered that people buy RC lemon after lunch and RC cola after dinner. It might also be purchased on different occasions like parties, media events etc or for formal occasions like press conference, board meetings etc. So taking these facts into account it can be concluded that there is no fixed buying pattern of RC cola.

2.2.1.3 Factors influencing purchase decision The major factors that provoke buyers to purchase RC cola are as follows: 7

RC Cola has established itself well as a brand, and customers are always inclined towards buying a brand. RC Cola offers their consumers the best tasting cola at a reasonable price that influences a lot of people towards the product. As RC cola is a product of impulse purchase, its extensive marketing activities at various Medias always keeps the consumers aware of the product that eventually enhances the purchase intention. 2.2.2 Market Segmentation Process of dividing the total market into several relatively homogenous groups with similar product or service interest based on factors as demographic, psychographic characteristic, geographic location or perceived product benefits. Marketers segment their markets in an attempt to better satisfy customers needs and adapt their marketing activities to meet the needs of the specific segment. (Contemporary marketing, Louis and David) Partex has segmented RC Colas market in the following ways: Demographic segmentation: It has segmented the market based on age and income range of customers. They have segmented the market on the basis of age as Child (5-15), Teenagers (1618), Youth (19-22), Matured (23-30) and Adults (30-50). And on the basis of Income class they have segmented the market as Upper class, Upper Middle class, Middle class, Lower middle class, Lower class. Geographic segmentation: It has segmented the market on the basis of geographic region of customers. They have segmented the market as urban group, Sub-Urban group and rural group. Psychographics segmentation: It has divided the market on the basis of personality or lifestyles. They have carefully determined the lifestyles and analyzed the activities, interests, and opinions of the segments mentioned above and then they have correlated the lifestyles with the consumers product, brand and media usage. (Interviewee, Md. Nahid Yousuf, Advertising and promotion, George & Michael)

2.2.3 Target Market Group of people towards whom a firm markets its goods, services or ideas with a strategy designed to satisfy their specific needs and preference. (Contemporary marketing, Louis and David) Age: They are considering people from age 10 to 50 years as their potential customers because RC is a not a much differentiated product for any specific customer group. But among all the groups they are mainly targeting people of Youth (19-22) age group. Income class: Those who belong to upper class or upper middle class or middle class families. Geographic region: People who live in urban areas. Psychographics characteristic: They are targeting people who are freedom and fun loving, smart, care-free, fashion conscious, not so confident rather a bit confused about life, windowshoppers, high interest in opposite sex and high involvement in extracurricular activities. (Interviewee, Md. Nahid Yousuf) 2.2.4 Positioning strategies Developing a marketing strategy aimed at a particular market segment and designed to achieve a desire position in the prospective buyers mind. (Contemporary marketing, Louis and David) Positioning is the most important factor in establishing a brand in the marketplace. The position indicates the brand or product image relative to the competing brands in the marketplace. RC Cola is mainly positioned in two ways. They are: Positioning by product user: This means positioning a product by associating it with a particular user or group of users. Partex tries to position RC Cola in consumers mind in such a way that they can associate RC Cola with their own characteristics and image. Since the main target market of RC Cola is youth, so they have chosen tagline like Freedom of choice to attract this group. The marketers focused on relating the marketing messages with the lifestyle and emotions of the target market. The advertisements were prepared considering the smart, fun loving, carefree, fashion conscious students. The marketers identified the students dream and desire for fun and freedom and implemented their marketing communication accordingly.

Positioning by price or quality: In their campaigns they claim that RC cola offers the customers value for money, which means customers can get one of the best tasting cola in the world at a reasonable price. This suggests that RC cola has used price/quality characteristics to position the brand. The company has focused on the quality or value offered at a very competitive price. (Advertising and promotion, George & Michael; Interviewee, Md. Nahid Yousuf) 2.2.5 Competitors Information RC Cola has many competitors in the market. They consider two companies as their main competitors. They are: Pepsi (Transcom Beverage): Pepsi is a franchisee company like RC Cola that entered the local markets much before RC Cola. The total market share of Pepsi in Bangladesh beverage market is 20%. (Government Policy and Competitive Business Environment in Bangladesh, Mondal and Ahmad) Mojo (Akij Beverage): Akij beverage is a local company and Mojo is the cola flavor soft drink that they offer. Partex thinks that Mojo is growing very quickly and is a profitable product too. The market share of Mojo is still under 5%, but it is increasing fast. (Interviewee, Md. Nahid Yousuf) Other competitors of RC Cola are: Coca-cola, Uro Cola, Pran Cola, Virgin Cola, etc.

3.0 SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieving that objective.

The SWOT Analysis of RC cola is described here below: 10

3.1 Strengths Strengths are attributes of the organization that are helpful to achieving the objective. RC Colas major strengths are the followings: Strong financial support: Partex is the franchisor of RC cola. Other than RC Cola Partex has many other beverage brands like MUM mineral water, Upper10, RC lemon etc. It also has some big profitable units like Partex board, Partex furniture, etc. These entities have funded RC Cola at initial stage and can also provide financial support at present. Strong distribution system: Another important strength that RC Cola has is its strong distribution system. Skilled, welltrained, motivated sales personnel make the distribution strong. RC Cola has its distribution channel all over Bangladesh. As a result, supply doesnt fall down compared to demand. Convenient package size: RC Cola has different types of package size like 250ml, 500ml, 1L, 1.5L etc. This variation of package size eases consumers to make purchase decision. Package design: It's a competitive marketplace out there, and when it comes to the "cola wars," strong brand identification is critical in building brand share. Making sure consumers quickly and clearly recognize a product brand comes down to one thing packaging. The RC Cola logo is one of the most distinctive in the industry, allowing for a contemporary package design. Personal technical support: RC Cola has its own technical support in every step of the production process. Its like a one stop service. For example, it has its own Carbon-di-oxide (CO2) plant, bottling plant etc. So, they have full control over their whole manufacturing process, they are not dependent on outside suppliers in this case. Brand image: RC Cola is a well-reputed brand. It was the pioneer to introduce plastic bottles as the container of soft drinks in the market. It also introduced cloudy lemon type soft drinks in the market. These have an impact in consumers mind. So, the brand image is one of its strength. 3.2 Weakness

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Weaknesses are attributes of the organization that are harmful to achieving the objective. Weaknesses that RC Cola has are: Lack of strong Marketing support: The marketing department of RC cola wants the promotion to be image based. They want to attract consumer attention by making ads using the Emotional approach. Whereas the management wants the ads to be more product based using the Rational approach. So, the marketing team doesnt get strong marketing support from the management. As a result, RC has less marketing activity and low brand value than its competitors. RC Cola also doesnt get any support from the international franchiser. It just uses the name and logo of International RC Cola. Product quality: RC cola loses CO2 quickly after opening the bottle. So, the quantity of CO2 in RC cola is less compared to other soft drinks. Consumers might not find the essence of soft drinks if it lacks CO2 in it. Absence of GRB (Glass Returnable Bottle): Other soft drinks like Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, 7up etc have Glass Returnable Bottle (GRB), which has a demand in the restaurants. Consumers are served drinks in glasses in the restaurants. So, restaurant owners prefer to buy and serve the customers soft drinks contained in GRB, which is also cost saving for them. RC cola lack in this sector as it doesnt have GRB now. They also cant bring back the GRB because they have damaged all bottles they had and changed the machines too. Starting it newly will be much costly. Gas machines: Most of the machines used for the production of RC cola are run by natural gas. Problem arises when the pressure or supply of gas is less. Production as well as supply of RC cola might get hampered because of less pressure of gas.

Less consumer promotion and public awareness activities:

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RC cola sponsors very few consumer events. Whereas competitors like Coke, Pepsi do it heavily and frequently. For example, Pepsi is sponsoring the IPL. Also, it works very little in various public awareness issues. This hampers the brand image of RC. 3.3 Opportunity Opportunities are external conditions that are helpful to achieving the objective. Following are the opportunities that RC Cola has. New product line: RC has opportunity to introduce new product line like RC juice. This variation of product line will help RC to compete not only in the cola market but also in the juice market with Pran juice, Shezan juice etc. This can help RC to have a better brand image. Package size: RC cola has the opportunity to introduce new package size. For example, RC is planning to relounge the 330 ml package size, which was promoted as pocket RC. Fountain machine: Like Coke, Pepsi, Sprite etc, RC is also planning to introduce its Fountain machine. These fountain machines can be seen in fast food restaurants, university canteens and also in vans in the roads. This introduction of Fountain machine will help RC in its promotion. Competitors life cycle in decline stage: The life cycle of the main competitors of RC Cola like Pepsi and Coke are in decline stage. They are in the beverage market for a long period of time and their market is almost saturated, they have few new markets to explore and thus have less chance of growing further. Coke has seen its market share eroded by nearly 25 per cent between 2000 and 2005. (New Age, Zahedul Islam) So, This can be an opportunity for RC Cola.

3.4 Threat Threats are external conditions which could do damage to the business's performance. Threats that RC Cola faces are: 13

Marketing budget of competitors: Marketing budget of other cola brands like Coke, Pepsi etc are more than that of RC. As a result, the marketing activity and brand value of competitors are more than RC cola. So, this is the threat that RC is facing from its competitors. Uneven trade offers by competitors: Sometimes competitors provide uneven trade offers to consumers. For example, Virgin offers a 1L bottle free with a 1L bottle buy. As it is not possible for RC cola to provide this type of trade offers, consumers might not find RC cola a better option. This can decrease its sales. Brand image of competitors: Coca Cola, Pepsi, Sprite etc are the pioneers of the soft drinks industry. Compared to those, RC cola joined the industry a bit later. Thats why, many consumers have soft corner to those brands. So, this is another threat that RC faces from its competitors. No subsidies from government: Partex is a private, family owned company. It doesnt get any subsidies from the government. Whereas other public owned companies receives government subsidies. So, those companies have an advantage over RC cola, which is a beverage of Partex. Recent world economic recession: Because of the recent world economic recession, the prices of raw materials (such as pharmaceuticals) used for the production of RC cola like sugar, artificial flavor, fuel to run machineries etc are rising. This increases the production cost and RC can encounter budget deficit, as a result.

Unstable political situation and terror attacks in Bangladesh: The unstable political situation in Bangladesh can increase the price of raw materials used by RC cola. Terror attacks can hamper the marketing activity. So, as a result of these unstable political situation and terror attacks in Bangladesh sales of RC cola can decrease. (Interviewee, Md. Nahid Yousuf, Wikipedia) 14

4.0 ANALYSIS OF THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF MAINTAINING THE PROGRAM IN HOUSE OR USING AGENCY:
In house ad agency is an agency that is set up, owned and operated by the firm. And outside ad agency is a firm that is specialized in planning and executing the ad campaign for its clients. The Partex group uses an outside ad agency named EXPRESSION LTD for their advertising and campaign. Along with the total bill they pay Expression ltd 5% of the total bill as service charge.

4.1 The advantages of using outside agency are: Availability of highly skilled expertise and creativity: - The ad agencies have better man power and they provide the client with services from highly skilled expertise in their chosen field. These agencies have already well-organized HR department (includes portfolio of artists, writers, media researchers, etc) and R&D department which helps the company to be more precise with their marketing strategy. Again the outside agencies sometimes have extraordinary expertise and experience in some specific product or service. Better knowledge about market: - They can educate the clients about the viewpoint of the market, which is unknown to the firm. Thats why it becomes sometimes easy for firms to identify the correct segment of the market. Flexibility and customized service: - Outside agencies have more flexibility in terms of any change and time. They can also offer customized services to their clients.

4.2 Some disadvantages of the outside ad agency are: Poor performance or services from ad agency: - This makes the client dissatisfied with the quality of the advertising provide by the agency and may affect the firms image and reputation for a long run. For these reason sometimes firms change their ad agencies frequently to change the view of the customer. 15

Problem regarding poor communication: - If there is poor communication between agency and firm then that makes the client and agency personnel fail to sustain a favorable working relation. Conflict of interest: - Conflict of interest may develop when an agency merges with another agency or when a client is part of an acquisition or merger. The client may outgrow the agency or decide it needs a larger agency to handle its business. If the agency gets too larger the client may represent too small percentage of its business to command attention. High cost and low control: - Working with an outside ad agency is very costly in terms of bills paid to the agency and other related costs. The firm also has less control over all the activities if it hires an outside agency because it is required to give the agency much freedom to exhibit highest performance and creativity. (Advertising and promotion, George & Michael) Considering all these related factors Partex group has chosen outside agency for their ads and campaign. And it shows in their work that how well the ad agencies have work for their ads. So, it can be said that choosing an outside agency is a good decision for Partex.

5. IMC OBJECTIVES
5.1 Objective 1: Aware consumers about various newly introduced package size of RC cola in 2009. Strategy to accomplish the objective: At the initial stage RC Cola used GRB (Glass Returnable Bottles) but GRB used to break easily and was not cost effective. So, Partex stopped producing RC Cola in GRB in 2001 and in 2002 they introduced RC Cola in plastic bottles. Virgin was the first in Bangladesh market to introduce plastic PET bottles for soft drinks. But Virgin was not making profits because of its distribution problem. RC cola is the first profitable beverage company in Bangladesh that introduced and maintained successfully the plastic bottle package (PET Bottle). They were the first to name the 500ml bottle Mobile pack and that was a huge hit. But in 2001 they introduced the plastic bottles. They also had bottles of 1 liter, 1.5 liter and 2 liter. But they found out that in market there is demand for different sizes of packages. So, in 2008 they introduced mini RC of 330 ml. At the last of 2008 they introduced another pack of 250 ml named Tuny first, but changed to Pocket RC in 2009. 16

To create awareness about the newly introduced pack sizes they will: Continue broadcasting the new Pocket RC ad in Television and radio. Will also start advertising the pocket RC in newspaper very soon. Continue the ad campaigns at regular basis to always recall the consumers about the products because they believe that due to lack of continuous recalls an initially profitable product can lose its appeal and can become unprofitable. (Interviewee, Md. Nahid Yousuf) 5.2 Objective 2: Redesign the Bangla Label in the RC cola bottles inside the country and Arabic Labels for export purpose to middle-east countries by 2009. Strategy to accomplish the objective: RC cola truly believes in cultural bonding. They believe in blending business with local cultures to get emotionally attached with the local consumers and customers. So, they are planning to redesign their Bangla label in RC cola bottles, which they have introduced few months ago. They are planning to focus more on the use of Bangla and highlighting it more on the labels. By doing this they believe that they can create an emotional bond with the consumers, which is going to bring long-term benefit. They are also planning to expand their business to Middle East countries like Saudi Arabia and especially cities like Dubai. And to do that they are going to introduce Arabic labels in the RC bottles exported outside. To support these activities, they have some communication plans. Such asWithin two months they are going to start an advertising campaign, which is going to comprise the main theme of International Mother Language Day and Independence Day together to showcase the language diversification in RC cola labels. They have a plan to be a sponsor of the Bhasha Protijogita, which is mainly arranged by Prothom Alo. They are taking these campaigns very seriously because they believe that these will significantly add dimensions to their positioning strategies and image development. (Interviewee, Md. Nahid Yousuf) 5.3 Objective 3: Increase visibility of RC cola in retail outlets within 2009. 17

Strategy to accomplish the objective: RC Cola is a regular product and we know that most of the times people make decisions about buying these products inside the store, not before coming to the store. For this reason it is very important for a regular product brand like RC to plan some in-store advertising to attract the consumers and make them buy the product. They have also found from research that their competitor like Pepsi has these kinds of strategies and their visibility in various retail outlets is much more than RC cola. So they are focusing very seriously in this matter. Up till now, though RC is a well-known brand, it hasnt focused on these types of advertising or promotional actions. To increase their visibility they are planning to do the following thingsProvide RC cola racks to the retailers which will be designed in flashy colors, RC Cola logo and slogans. They believe this will attract the attention of window-shoppers. Make some sort of easy condition deal with the retailers to keep their products in a suitable and visible place in the shop. They will also provide RC cola stickers and posters to display in the outlets. (Interviewee, Md. Nahid Yousuf) 5.4 Objective 4: Increase 30% growth of RC Cola by 2009. Strategy to accomplish the objective: A few large firms dominate the market for soft drinks. Coca-cola, Pepsi, RC Cola, Virgin, Uro Cola and Pran Cola, Mojo are the major producers of soft drinks in Bangladesh. The market shares of Coca Cola, Virgin, Pepsi and RC Cola are 40%, 25%, 20% and 10% respectively. However, the company is claiming that at present RC has 50% of the Cola market share. Use of PET bottles instead of glass-made ones, wider distribution network and competitive pricing strategy have boosted the market share of RC Cola of Partex Beverage, which is the second largest local soft drink company. RC is also the market leader in rural areas commanding around 45 per cent share. The country's soft drinks market started to pick up since 2003 and hit a record high of over Tk 1000 crore in 2005-06 fiscal year. The market, comprising categories such as cola, clear, cloudy lemon and orange, reached about Tk 900 crore in the fiscal year 200708 from Tk 800 crore a year ago. The marketing manager (Md. Akhtaruzzaman) of RC, brand 18

marketer Partex Beverage, whose RC lemon leads the market in cloudy lemon segment, claimed that his company secured about 15 % growth in sales in January-June period of 2008. So, RC believes that it still has tremendous potential in terms of growth and opportunity to increase the market share and wants to increase the growth by 30% within this year. They believe that they can achieve this objective by implementing the following plansIncreasing support from management in terms of advertising budget and other technical supports. Introducing new products in the market such as fruit juices. Introducing new pack sizes. They believe package is gradually becoming a very important part of communication tool. They are going to offer sales discount, coupons and premiums to their consumers through the retailers. (New Age, Zahedul Islam; Interviewee, Md. Nahid Yousuf; Government Policy and Competitive Business Environment in Bangladesh, Mondal and Ahmad; The Daily star, Sohel Parvez)

5.5 Objective 5: Continuously reinforce the brand image in consumers mind and increase it more within 2009. Strategy to accomplish the objective: RC Cola believes in continuous focus and actions. They believe that no matter how big a firm is and how popular a brand is, the popularity and attractiveness may fade out with time. So, to continuously attract and retain customers, RC Cola does continuous promotions in regular basis. They also accept that they are lacking behind than other big competitors like Pepsi (Transcom Beverage) and Mojo (Akij Beverage) in creating a brand image in customers mind. A major reason behind this is their managements reluctance in doing Image based advertising. RC 19

colas management mainly relies on traditional Product based advertising. In the changing world environment, RC colas marketing department takes this as a major drawback of their company. So in 2009, they are planning to make some actions in changing this traditional approach and switch to Image Based advertising to increase their brand image in the local market. In the course of action they are planning to do the following thingsIncrease management support Sponsor and take part in various social and public service activities Sponsor and organize various youth based concerts and various cultural activities more than before. (Interviewee, Md. Nahid Yousuf)

6.0 Media Mix:

Media mix is the combination of all the medias used by a firm to promote a product or service. The objectives sought, the characteristics of the product or service, the size of the budget, an individual preferences are some factors that determine what combination of media will be used. Partex promotes RC cola heavily. At the initial stage the promotional campaigns of RC cola were very successful in attracting new customers. And with the help of strategic marketing efforts it succeeded in acquiring significant share of Beverage market in Bangladesh. Partex uses variety of media and media vehicles to promote RC Cola. The medias they use are- Television, Newspaper, Radio, Billboard, etc. A media portfolio and advantages and disadvantages of the medias they use are given below: 6.1 Television Television is the ideal advertising medium. Its ability to combine visual images, sound, motion and color presents the advertiser with the opportunity to develop the most creative and imaginative appeals of any medium. However TV does have certain limitations. Partex mainly uses TV as the primary media. Most of its promotional campaigns are based on TV ads. They have a large number of TV ads among which some are huge hits. They broadcast their ads mainly in private channels such as Channel I, NTV, ATN etc. They almost use 10 crore Tk yearly on TV advertising. 6.1.1 Advantages of Television: 20

Creativity and Impact: - Perhaps the greatest advantage of TV is the opportunity it provides for presenting the advertising message. The interaction of sight and sound offers tremendous creative flexibility and makes possible lively and attractive representation of products and services. Coverage and cost effectiveness: - Television advertising makes it possible to reach large audiences nearly everyone, regardless of age, sex, income, or educational level, watches at least some TV. Most people do so one a regular basis. Marketers rely on TV advertising a lot because most of them believe that TV advertising has the best coverage at a reasonable cost. TV also has other advantages like creativity and attention, selectivity and flexibility, etc. 6.1.2 Disadvantages of Television: High cost association: - Despite the efficiency of TV in reaching large audiences, it is an expensive medium in which to advertise. The high cost of TV stems not only from the expense of buying airtime but also from the costs of producing a quality commercial. Lack of selectivity: - Some selectivity is available in the television through variations in program content, geographic area or time and cable TV. But advertisers who are seeking a very specific, often small, target audience find the coverage of TV often extends beyond their market or in a word wastage occurs, reducing its cost effectiveness. Other disadvantages of TV include fleeting message, clutter, etc. problems.

6.2 Print Media Print Media is also a very useful media to use in promotional purpose. It includes newspapers and magazines. The traditional role of newspapers has been to deliver prompt, detailed coverage of news as well as to supply other information and features that appeal to readers. But most newspapers rely heavily on earnings from advertising to run smoothly. Newspaper generally includes the daily publications. Partex spends a lot on Print Media advertising. It mainly uses Prothom Alo and Jugantor to promote RC Cola. Partex generally dont uses magazine to advertise RC Cola, but in case of campaigns they sometimes use it. 6.2.1 Advantages of Print Media

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High coverage: - One of the primary advantages of print media is the high degree of market coverage or penetration that they offer an advertiser. It makes them a truly mass medium and provides advertisers with an excellent opportunity for reaching all segments of the populations with their message. Time flexibility: - The daily newspapers offer the flexibility of changing the ad contents, placement of ads, etc. decisions on daily basis. 6.2.2 Disadvantages of Print Media Limited reach and frequency: - Daily newspapers and magazines have limited reach and frequency because people generally keep a copy of these with them for short period. And very few people focus on the advertisements in a publication rather than the main items. The same ads also dont repeat frequently. Cost: - In comparison with the reach and frequency measure, the cost that is incurred to advertise one product in a reputed print media is much high. 6.3 Radio Radio has been called the Rodney Dangerfield of media because it gets no respect from many advertisers. Dominated by other mediums, radio has evolved into a primary local advertising medium. Radio has also become a medium characterized by highly specialized programming appeal to very narrow segments of population. Partex uses private radio stations such as Radio Today and Radio Foorti to broadcast its ads. Like magazines, radio is used by Partex exclusively at the time of introducing a campaign. 6.3.1 Advantages of Radio Cost and Efficiency: - One of the main strengths of radio as an advertising medium is its low cost. Radio commercials are very inexpensive to produce. They require only a script of the commercial to be read by the radio announcer or a copy of a pre-recorded message that can be broadcasted by the station. Mental Imagery: - A potential advantage of radio that is often overlooked is that it encourages listeners to use their imagination when processing a commercial message. While the creative options are limited, many advertisers take advantage of the absence of a visual element to let consumers create their own picture of what is happening in a radio message.

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6.3.2 Disadvantages of radio Creative limitations: - A major drawback of radio is the absence of a visual image. The radio advertisers cannot show the product, demonstrate it or use any type of visual appeal or information. Fragmentation: - Another problem with radio is the high level of audience fragmentation due to the large number of stations. The percentage of the market turned to any particular station is usually very small. 6.4 Billboard Billboards are types of outdoor advertising. Partex has in total 18 billboards in the country. Among these 18 billboards, 3 are in Chittagong and rests are placed in various strategic points of Dhaka City like beside Mohakhali Flyover. 6.4.1 Advantages of Billboard Wide Coverage of local markets: - With proper placement, a broad base of exposure is possible in local markets, with both day and night presence. Geographic flexibility: - Billboards can be placed along highways, near stores, or on mobile billboards, almost anywhere that laws permit. Local, regional, or even national markets may be covered.

6.4.2 Disadvantages of Billboards Waste Coverage: - While it is possible to reach very specific audience, in many cases the purchase of outdoor results in a high degree of waste coverage. It is not likely that everyone driving past a billboard is part of the target market. Limited message capabilities: - Because of the speed with which most people pass the billboard ads, exposure time is short, so messages are limited to a few words and/ or an illustration. Lengthy appeals are not likely to be effective. 6.5 Others

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Other than these major medias, partex uses some other medias too to promote RC Cola. They areSponsorship of sport events: - RC Cola sponsors many sport events especially cricket matches to increase its brand image and promote RC cola through the process. Transit ads: - Sometimes Partex uses transit ads like ads on the outside walls of vehicles to promote RC Cola. Iftar schedule: - At the time of Ramadan, RC cola distributes Iftar schedule to its consumers in collaboration with print media partners. Sponsoring TV Show: RC Cola also sponsors various TV shows like RC Travel On.

6.6 Special promotional campaigns: At the time of various occasions like EID, PUJA, NEW YEAR, PAHELA BAISHAKH, RAMADAN, etc, Partex makes special ads to attract consumers. They broadcast these ads in TV, newspapers and radio.

(Advertising and promotion, George & Michael; Interviwee, Md. Nahid Yousuf)

7.0 BUDGET DETERMINATION

Partex is mainly following Top- down approach in determining the annual budget of RC Cola. Under the top-down approach they are again following two processes, Percentage of sales approach and Arbitrary allocation approach. The total amount of money to be spent on promotional campaigns of RC cola depends on the previous years annual sales. Partex allocates 10% of previous years sales on all kinds of marketing activities. From this 10% total budget, 6% is spent on consumers (general people), and 4% is allocated for customers (business customers such as retailers). Again whether this allocated budget will be spent or not depends on the feeling of top management.

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Last year, about Tk 18 crore was budgeted for all marketing activities and of that Tk 12 crore was spent on advertising purpose. The allocation of the total amount spent on advertising in various medias is shown below: Medias Television Print Media Radio Billboard Others Total Budget (2008) 10 crore 70 lacs 20 lacs 30 lacs 80 lacs 12 crore Percentage (approximate) 82% 6% 2% 3% 7% 100%

(Advertising and promotion, George & Michael; Interviwee, Md. Nahid Yousuf)

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8.0 EVALUATING AND CONTROLLING

RC cola was launched with a vision to deliver the consumers the finest quality of product. Subsequently it has been highly accepted and appreciated by the consumers of the country. Such acceptance has made the brand a market leader within a very short time. To the target customers, RC cola now stands as a symbol of freedom of choice. 8.1 Recommendation The Partex group management uses the rational approach for their products promotion, which is basically emphasizing the product attributes in the ads rather than emotional approach. So, to be more effective in the ad campaign they should use emotional approach in their ads to attract more customers. As RC cola losses CO2 after opening the bottles and losses the essence of cola taste, so they should come up with more new ways to keep the sufficient CO2 inside the bottles. Ultimately it will give the customer more taste to have a RC cola. 26

RC should make modifications in its budget determination process because a top down approach is a weak form of determining budget. As a leading company it should adopt strong and acceptable forms of budget determination. RC can also include some more beverages in their product line such as RC juice items. This will attract the children and health conscious people much more and create a new market for their new product with special items like juice. We all know that Coca cola and Pepsi has engaged themselves in some controversial issues in recent years like, these companies are financing to Israel soldiers with their profit earns. RC as a local product can create new market by taking the advantage of this kind of issues.

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