COURSE: MARKETING PLANNING

EVALUATION OF MARKETING PLAN OF ASIAN PAINTS

P Product: Asian Paints Royale Emulsion

Prepared by: Abhishek Jain 10P122 10P134

Under the Guidance of Dr. Avinash Kapoor

Debjit Ghosh

Deepika Mangla 10P136 Kandarp Suchak 10P144 Kartik Luthra 10P147 Naveen Kr. Jindal 10P153

CONTENTS OF THE REPORT

1. Acknowledgement .3
2. Objective

..4 PAINT INDUSTRY IN INDIA................................................................................8 KEY FEATURES...............................................................................................11 MARKET SHARE..............................................................................................13 WHY THE PRODUCT?......................................................................................14 SWOT Matrix for Asian Paints.........................................................................16 SWOT MATRIX FOR ASIAN PAINTS ROYALE EMULSION..................................18 TARGET MARKET AND CONSUMER SEGMENTATION FOR ASIAN PAINTS........23 MARKET RESEARCH THROUGH SAMPLE SURVEY...........................................24 STUDY AND ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR..........................................25 OTHER ANALYSIS...........................................................................................31 LIMITATIONS OF THE SURVEY........................................................................36 FUTURE SCOPE..............................................................................................36 MARKET SHARE OF ASIAN PAINTS IN THE LUXURY SEGMENT........................37 CUSTOMER SEGMENTATION..........................................................................38 CHARACTERISTICS AND MAJOR FACTORS......................................................39 CUSTOMER ANALYSIS....................................................................................39 MARKET PRESENCE........................................................................................43 MARKETING STRATEGIES...............................................................................46 MARKET POSITION..........................................................................................47

MARKET PRESENCE........................................................................................50 MAREKTING STRATEGIES..............................................................................51 MARKET POSITION.........................................................................................54

1.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to extend our gratitude to Dr. Avinash Kapoor for his invaluable guidance, support, and feedback during the course of conducting the market research which helped us successfully complete the project.

2.

OBJECTIVE

The report is broadly divided into three sections. The first one deals with the SWOT analysis of the chosen company and the product. Secondly, we have studied and analyzed the behavior of the consumers in terms of buying roles, decision making process and kind of purchase behavior in order to understand the consumer mindset of the product. We have looked at the possible future trends in the product line. Thereafter, we analyzed the competition scenario and mentioned the competitors in this category, their product offerings in different sub-categories and their positioning. Finally, we have drawn conclusions about Asian paints Royale Emulsion and evaluated the marketing plan of the product. The report may, additionally, be helpful to any potential new entrants in the paint industry in India.

3.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In the report, we have presented an evaluation of the marketing strategy of Asian paints product Asian Paints Royale Emulsion. The aim of the report is to help the readers be acquainted with market strategies, consumer behavior and activities of the competitors of the product chosen. Asian Paints has been the market leader in paints industry for quite some time now. APLs vision, branding strategies and marketing plans has proven to be quite effective over the period of time. An evaluation of the marketing strategies of the company on the basis of what we have learnt during our course will help in better understanding of one of the important verticals of management i.e. marketing.

SECTION 1
Words: 2035

4.

INTRODUCTION

PAINT INDUSTRY IN INDIA

The Indian paint industry has been growing rapidly since past few years. The future of paint industry in India is even brighter as the per capita consumption of paints in India is as low as 1.25 kg. The size of the Indian paint industry is approximately 940 million litres/annum valued at approximately $2 billion. Over the last ten years, the industry has grown at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12-13% and in the next five years, it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11-12%. Growth in housing, automobiles and construction are all driving the rise in current consumption. The paint industry is broadly divided into two segments:

Decorative paints

Decorative paints account for approx three-fourths of the market in terms of volume and value. The demand for decorative paints is direct and mainly in the unorganized sector of the economy. Industrial paints Industrial paints make up the remaining one-fourth of Indian paints market. The demand for industrial paints is a derived demand and mainly in the organized sector of the economy.

10

5.
1942.

ASIAN PAINTS

Asian Paints ranks as the top paint company in India and among top three in Asia, with a turnover of Rs 66.8 billion. It began its operations in India in The company operates in 17 countries and has 23 manufacturing facilities worldwide, servicing 65 countries through its subsidiaries like Berger International Limited, Apco Coatings, SCIB Paints and Taubmans. VISION OF ASIAN PAINTS Asian Paints aims to become one of the top five Decorative coatings companies world-wide by leveraging its expertise in the higher growth emerging markets. Simultaneously, the company intends to build long term value in the Industrial coatings business through alliances with established global partners. Asian Paints has a number of offerings to its customers depending on their affordability and requirement:

Decorative Paints: Decorative Paints business contributes around 94% to the total paint business. In the decorative paint segment, the company operates in 4 main segments - interior wall finish, Exterior wall finish, Enamels and Wood Finishes. Besides, the company outsources around 25-30% of its total production.

Industrial Paint Segment: In this segment, the company caters to automotive, powder, protective coatings, road markings segment, floor coatings and General Industrial Paints.

We have chosen to study a product from Asian paints due to the following reasons:

11

As observed above, Asian Paints dominates the Indian market in terms of market share as an outlier and its competitors maintain relatively lower market shares.

It has adopted some rigorous marketing strategies which have helped it gain dominance over other players. A study of these strategies could best be done by choosing Asian paints as the company of our choice.

KEY FEATURES
Asian Paints Royale Luxury Emulsion is an interior wall finish decorative acrylic emulsion paint that can be applied on all types of smooth plasters, false ceilings, asbestos sheets, concrete etc. Key features of Asian Paints Royale Emulsion: Asian Paints Royale Luxury Sheen Emulsion is an exquisite emulsion paint that provides a luxurious finish and silky glowing appearance to your walls.

It is water based, 100% acrylic, interior wall finish It has excellent flow and gives brush mark free finish It has anti-fungal properties It has a high stain resistance and walls painted with Royale Emulsion can be cleaned easily.

Royale emulsion uses the trademark technology of Asian Paints Teflon surface protector to provide greater durability.

12

Now it also offers 48 metallic shades of gold and silver in its Royale glitter collection.

All Asian Paints products are free from lead, mercury, arsenic, chromium.

TECHNICAL DATA

Coverage

On smooth masonry surface by brushing: 1 coat : 26-30 sq mtr/ltr 2 coat : 14-16 sq mtr/ltr

Drying time Stability thinned paint Shelf life Gloss level Pack sizes

15-25 minutes of Use within 24 hours

3 years 8-14 on glass plate at 60 deg C 1.4.10.20 tr

13

MARKET SHARE
The paint industry in India is divided into organized and unorganized sector. The organized segment constitutes 54% of total volume in terms of sales and 65% in terms of revenue. The leaders in the organized paint industry in India are Asian Paints with over 40% market share, Kansai Nerolac (20%), Berger Paints (19%) and AkzoNobel (12%). In the decorative paints segment, the market share of Asian paints is an astounding 47%. The company expects to tap in the future growth in this sector mainly due to the boom in real estate sector. In India, painting is seasonal in nature. Companies, therefore, plan their capacities to meet peak demand. Nevertheless, the expansion plans of Asian Paints are quite ambitious. Asian Paints had commissioned its 150,000 kilo litre Rohtak plant in April, in addition to expanding capacity at its Sriperumbudur facility in Tamil Nadu. Moreover, it is also investing Rs735 crore over a five year period to build a new plant in Maharashtra, with a capacity of 400,000 tonnes. Its total capacity as of March 31st itself was around 400,000 tonnes.

14

WHY THE PRODUCT?

For over two decades, ICIs velvet touch dominated the premium segment of decorative paint industry. In spite of being a leader, Asian paints didnt have any presence in this segment. Hence, in 1992, APL launched the Royale emulsion with the aim to offset the dominance of ICI in this segment. However, the road was not that smooth. ICIs velvet touch was already a household name and it had good contacts with prime dealers. To offset the competition, Asian paints priced the Royale emulsion at a lower price than Velvet Touch and launched greater number of shades than ICI (44 shades against 36 shades of velvet). The Asian Paints' Apcolite Emulsion "Merawala cream - 151 shades" campaign augured well for the company, because it created a perception of a large range of colors. Despite all this, it took quite a lot of efforts on the part of Asian Paints to make their mark in this segment. From cutting down on Pataudis marketing campaign to providing greater incentives to local dealers, the company didnt leave any stone unturned in shifting the tables in their favor. Slowly and gradually,

15

things turned in their favor and now APL is the market leader even in the premium segment of the paint industry. Royale emulsion indeed proved to be the product with which the company forayed into premium segment and established their dominance and hence it is a topic of our study.

16

6.

SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT Matrix for Asian Paints

Asian Paints Limited Asian Paints is the market leader in India in the overall paints segment with a market share amounting to 44%. It is also the market leader in the decorative segment with 38% market share in India, and is ranked among the top ten decorative paint companies in the world. But in spite of being well placed in the global as well as domestic paint arena, there are further scopes of improvement of the organization for taking it to greater heights in terms of brand value, process improvement techniques, and on other technical and non-technical fronts. The company being well placed, should follow the strategy of Maintenance Marketing, i.e. it should maintain current demand level facing the changing consumer preferences and increasing competition (which are known as the erosive forces prevalent in the market). The Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat of the organization has been presented in the SWOT Matrix below to enable the organization devise a strategy for Maintenance Marketing and also of expansion in future.

17

S W O T Analysis: Asian P aints Lim ited

S trength
M arketleader in overallpaint m arket(44%) & in decorative aintmarke t n India(38% ) p i H ig hQ uality R & M IS M P ricing policyoriented allkind sof custom er to S trongin inventory o ntrol c . W idestproductrangein term sof products, hades, s packsizes . C omp rehensive nationwidecovera ge f themarket o .

W eakness
Industrial paintsectoronly15% share N o tie up with foreignmanufactures . Throughit has unitsin several o untries c . Seasonald em andand he ncein o ff seasonsit can leadto cashflowproblems . Innovation developing ewproducts inadequate in n i .

O pportunity
A cquiringIncre asing arkets harein Indu strial / m paint sector . D evelopingmarket in automobileindustry,wh ich accountsor50% of Industrial f paintmarket . Introducing ater basedP aints W . R epositioning existing of Brands R uralM arket in . B roadeningf Distribution etwork o N . spotm ixing .

Threat
C om petito rs have gone in for hi-tech insta -colour D omination f fewforeign o companies . Competitio n catchingup fast, hi-tech facilities is gives abunda nt hoicese.g. N erolacis advan cing c rapidly Industrial in market D om ina tion f few foreign o coun tries

18

SWOT MATRIX FOR ASIAN PAINTS ROYALE EMULSION

SW O T Analysis: Royale Em ulsion Paint

Strength
Higher Shelf Life LesserDryingTime HigherCoverage Area Huge distribution channels and dealers for this product It uses high profile brand Ambassadors Saif Ali like Khan/SohaAli Khanfor advertisement

Weakness
Costof the productis on the higherside In spite of havingunits all acrossthe globe, it does not have much tie ups with foreign manufacturers and dealers Realestate industryis in a depression phasewhich leads to the decreasein the demandof this luxury emulsion .

Opportunity
Repositioning existingBrandsin RuralMarket of . Broadening Distribution of Network . Addingmorechoicesfor shadesand effects . Enhancing Quality Demand will be generated through the new constructions omingin housingand industries c Fiscalincentives providedby Government .

Competitors have gone in for hi-tech insta-colourspot mixing . Foreign companies entering as sole players and capturingthe existingmarketand tappingthe potential marketas well Rural India providinghuge market potentialcan be tapped by competitorsbefore APs Royale Luxury Emulsioncomesup with an innovativeproductfor the ruralmarket

Threat

19

Strength Asian Paints Royale Emulsion is market leaders in the segment of decorative paints. The product is so developed so as to provide maximum shelf life of approximately three years has the minimum surface drying time of 15-25 minutes, has a very high coverage area (28sq m/liters for 1 coat, and 15 sq m/liters for 2 coats).
AP Royale Emulsions success is the combined result of its strong

corporate and marketing strategies. Maximum credit should, however, go to its marketing strategy. Within marketing, it was distribution excellence that took AP to the enviable position that it holds today in the Indian Paint Industry.
It also created the distribution outfit that was necessary for

reaching the wide range of products to customers in every nook and corner of the country. Customers could get the color of their choice through mixing at the retail outlet. With the help of an automated machine kept at the retail outlet, paint is given the desired color by mixing different shades and strainers in the required proportion. Thus they can also cut down inventory holding costs.
The promotion activities for Royale Emulsion by Saif Ali Khan &

Soha Ali Khan have also made it immensely popular amongst the masses across all generations

20

Weakness
The cost of the Asian Paint Royale Emulsion Paints is comparatively

higher than the other luxury emulsion paints of other companies like Nerolac Impressions, Berger Luxol Silk etc.
APs Royale Emulsion has got its international presence in South East

Asian Countries, Southern Pacific Countries, Caribbean Islands, but it has no substantial market share in the European and American countries. So it needs to focus on its expansion plans in these continents by development of a strong distribution and dealer base. Also due to the recessive market condition and its immense negative impact on the Real Estate Sector, the demand for luxury paint has subsided to some extent and the comparatively high price of APs Luxury Segment has send it to the back foot and somewhat hindered its progress . Opportunity The rural market constitutes almost 72 % of Indian population, but most of the potential is still untapped. The luxury Emulsions mostly being in the higher price range does not fit the bill for the rural people whose income levels are much lower than the average urban salary level. They should bring out a subsidized Royale luxury emulsion for the rural segment to make headway into the fasting growing segment in India, which stands as an opportunity in front of them.
Another opportunity for APs Royale Luxury Emulsion, lies in further

strengthening its distribution network, which currently stands at 19,000 distributors.

21 Apart from that introduction of new shades of Luxury Emulsion, further

enhancing the quality and durability of the paint is another opportunity for the company.

Threat The biggest threat is from the foreign companies entering as sole

players and capturing the existing market and tapping the potential market as well Rural India providing huge market potential can be tapped by competitors before APs Royale Luxury Emulsion comes up with an innovative product for the rural market.

22

SECTION 2
Words: 1,562

23

7.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS

It is rather challenging to understand the consumer behavior and target groups needs of Asian paints. This is primarily because of the variety in values, attitudes and behavior of customers despite certain similarities. Failure to do so could result in disaster for a companys products and marketing programs.

TARGET MARKET AND CONSUMER SEGMENTATION FOR ASIAN PAINTS

Asian Paints follows an important marketing strategy in the domain of Customer segmentation. Asian paints has segmented its products mainly in three sectors: Decorative Industrial Automotive

Their customers are all also segmented based on the usage of these products. But our topic of discussion being Asian Paint Royale Emulsion, we are only going to concentrate on the customer behavior of the Royales customers. We have performed both primary and secondary research for the consumer behavior of Asian paints.

24

8.

PRIMARY RESEARCH

MARKET RESEARCH THROUGH SAMPLE SURVEY

RATIONALE FOR THE QUESTIONNAIRE The questionnaire was designed in such a way that we can analyze the behavior of consumers in terms of buying roles, decision making process and kind of purchase behavior. Questions were of multiple choice types so that it is objective, can easily be quantified and is convenient for the target customers to answer. SAMPLE SELECTION The sample we chose to investigate in order to reach our purpose was an educated and a balanced gender population of the age group 17-40 years. Asian Paints target market consists of almost the entire population, including the ones who take the decision and even the ones who merely live in a house. The total number of respondents was 147. SCALING TECHNIQUE There were multiple options to answer a particular question. Each option corresponded to a particular mindset of the consumer, and thus inferences were drawn on the result for every question. The individual results were collated to come up with the overall conclusion.

25

STUDY AND ANALYSIS OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

Study and Analysis of Consumer Behavior done through the questionnaire is discussed below: Question 1: Are you involved in the decisionmaking while choosing paints for your home? a. Yes, entirely b. No, not at all c. Partially Results & Analysis

Question 2: Priorities while choosing a particular paint brand? a. Price b. Quality

26

c. Availability d. Ease to use Results & Analysis:

Question 3: How do you choose your paint? < If you do> a. Brand name b. Retailers advice c. Price d. Color e. I do not choose the paint Results & Analysis:

27

Question 4: What paint are you using now?

a. Asian paints b. Nerolac Paints

c. Berger paints d. ICI Paints (AzkoNobel)

e. Other (please specify)

Results & Analysis:

28

Question 5: Where did you hear about this brand? a. Advertisement b. Relative / Friend / Colleague c. Internet d. Retailer e. Other (please specify) Results & Analysis:

29

Question 6: Preference of paints a. Enamel b. Distemper c. Emulsion d. Not aware of the above Results & Analysis:

30

Question 7: For you which is the most important quality of a good paint for homes? a. Durability and stability b. Ease of clean c. Finish of paint d. Dries off easily e. Binds easily Results & Analysis:

31

OTHER ANALYSIS
Inference # 1: Price is the second best choice of preference and this factor is more or less evenly distributed among all the three major income statement of study. As seen from the graph, the priority of price as a selection criterion goes down with increasing incomes.

32

Inference # 2: Most of the customers have quality as their first preference and this affinity towards quality is most distinct for families having income of 5 lacs or more.

Inference # 3: Most of the customers have availability as their 2nd preference and 3rd preference and this affinity is also more or less constant across different income groups.

33

Inference # 4: Easiness does not follow a trend as such but we can say that people with salary range between 5-10 lacs prefer easiness much more than others.

Inference # 5: Asian Paints has the largest customer base and among the Asian Paint Customer the preferential order for choosing the paint are as: 1. Durability, 2. Finish 3. Ease to clean 4. Binding Easiness For the other paints we also find the same trend but there market share is much less. The trademark technology of Asian Paints - Teflon surface protector to provide greater durability has provided Asian Paints a competitive edge as evident from survey results. Only in case of ICI, the data shows that their customers have more affinity towards finish than towards durability and other factors.

34

Inference # 6: The general trend of frequency of paint is after 3-4 years irrespective of the nature of the paint and the brand.

35

Inference # 7: For Asian paints people generally go for emulsions and enamels, while for others the use of distempers are much more than the use of enamels and emulsions.

Inference # 8: The general promotion strategy as it appears is mostly by Advertisements and this is true for all the companies across the paint industry. The next important promotion techniques are through word of mouth publicity of shopkeepers and relatives who have already used the brand.

36

LIMITATIONS OF THE SURVEY

1.

Although, the chosen age group of the sample is 17-40, most of the respondents lied in the age group 20-27.

2.

As the survey was done online, the respondents were people of the economic class which has access to internet, and mainly the urban population.

3.

Limited cost & time restricted our sample size and sample diversity.

FUTURE SCOPE
1. This study can be extended by any paint manufacturer (Berger,

Nerolac or even Asian Paints) to launch a new product in the market.

2. This study can be extended to analyze, if Asian Paints or Nerolac need

to reposition / re brand itself in the Indian Market. 3. Primary demographic profile of survey takers are from Tier-1 cities, this study can be extended to other parts of the country and even to Tier-2, Tier-3 cities, so as to identify and analyze how the marketing and branding strategy of companies vary in Tier-1 / 2 or 3 cities.
4. The study can be extended to perform trend analysis and analyze the

lifecycle of a product and how re-branding and repositioning of a product, adds years to a products life.

37

9.

SECONDARY RESEARCH

MARKET SHARE OF ASIAN PAINTS IN THE LUXURY SEGMENT

With an estimated growth potential of 15%, the market for Asian Paints Luxury Segment is booming. segment. Also, it has a number of competitors in this

38

CUSTOMER SEGMENTATION

This type of customers are those who can be considered as the value or brand Type Customers I sensitive. Asian Paints Royal Emulsion with a number of these value added services like high shelf life, durability, quick drying property target these customers with value added VDS integration customer level service. Asian Paints Royale Luxury Sheen Emulsion is an exquisite emulsion paint that provides a luxurious finish and silky glowing appearance to your walls. This type of customers are composed of specific targeted companies that although Type Customers II small in size, deserve special attention because they are highly innovative in nature. Asian Paints Royale Emulsion have a good prospect over here. It also offers 48 metallic shades of gold and silver in its Royale glitter collection. All Asian Paints products are free from lead, mercury, arsenic, chromium. These are mainlyupper middle group people, who price sensitive but also are Type Customers III quality focused. This constitutes a small part of the customer base for Asian Paints Royale Emulsion.

39

CHARACTERISTICS AND MAJOR FACTORS

T h e m a jo r b u ye rs o f th e p ro d u c t in c lu d e s h ig h in c o m e g ro u p , u p p e r m id d le c l B u ye r c h a ra c te ris tic a n d s o c ia lly c o n s c io u s m a rk e t

Key T h e q u a lity o f th e p ro d u c t is v e ry h ig h a n d th is fo rm s th e m a jo r re a s o n fo r p u r p u rc h a s in g fo r th is p ro d u c t b a s e fa c to r S e a rc & h E v a lu a tio n

T h is a s p e c t in c lu d e s th e B ra n d L o ya l C u s to m e rs a n d th e v a rie ty s e e k in g m a r S e g m e n t. A P s R o ya l E m u ls io n h a s d iffe re n t v a rie ty a n d d iffe re n t s h a d e s o f p to c a te r to th e d e m a n d o f th e C u s to m e r b a s e C o m p a n ys th o rize d a le r p a in ts th e c u s to m ea n d up a in ts c o m e in Au de r ho se p a c k e g e s o f 1 , 4 , 1 0 litre s

P u rc h a s e

Post P u rc h a s e

A w a rra n ty p e rio d fo r yeoam e is g iv e n fo r e a c h p u rc h a s e s rs

M a rk e t

A s ia n p a in t is th e m a rk e t a d e r t in th e d e c o ra tiv e s e gith em t, re th a n le p a in w m no 4 0% m a rk e t s h a re . la(Im p re s s io n s ), B eL ue r(S ilk ), IC I (V e lv e t To u c h ) N e ro c rg x o l & S h a lim a r a re th e re

CUSTOMER ANALYSIS
There are few reasons due two which the customers in the decorative segment have been choosing Asian Paint as their brand of choice

40

1. As we know, brand name has its own value and Asian paints is the number one in decorative segment, so a purchaser automatically leans towards purchasing it. For example, we have two different types of paints, namely Apolite glass enamel and Apolite care emulsion, which are from Asian Paints, Nerolac paints, Berger paints & ICI paints. Due to the brand awareness amongst common people, they mostly tend to purchase the paints from Asian paints. 2. In India, the frequency of painting walls has remained as low as once is 5 years. So, consumers are normally seen to change over to the better quantity and branded paints. 3. In 2001, Asian Paint launched a new product Tractor Emulsion in the segment of Luxury Emulsion, which pulled the customer who used distemper to move to emulsion paints. 4. With the advancement of technology, the demand and choice of people change rapidly. So intensive R & D is being carried out to continuously enhance the quality of the product. 5. Internet purchasing is now becoming one of the popular ways to purchase paints. So, adequate measures have been taken to satisfy customers regarding designing of website and providing a brief demonstration.

41

SECTION 3
Words: 1,460

42

10. COMPETITORS IN THE MARKET

The leaders in the organised paint industry are Asian Paints India Ltd. (APIL), Nerolac Paints Ltd., Berger Paints, Jenson & Nicholson Ltd. and Azko Nobel. Asian paints is the industry leader with an overall market share of 33 per cent in the organised paint market. The Berger Group and Azko Nobel share the second slot in the industry with market shares of 17 per cent each. Nerolac has a market share of 15 percent in the organised sector.

11. KANSAI NEROLAC PAINTS LTD.

Kansai Paints Co. Ltd., Nerolacs parent company is the number one paint company in Japan. It is a global leader in innovation and is known best for its product innovation, R&D and sensitivity towards the environment, Kansai commands a leadership position in providing state-of-the-art solutions in dcor and in industrial applications in South East Asia, also parts of Africa, Europe and America.

It is one of the top paint companies in the world. It has 39 Joint Ventures, subsidiaries and licensees around the world and has recorded a turnover of over 2 billion USD.

Nerolac is the second largest coating companies in the country and leader infield of industrial paints. In Industrial Coatings it has a wide range of products in the Automotive, Powder, General Industrial and High performance Coatings space. It is an established brand in decorative paints sector. The technological edge of Kansai helps the company to constantly

43

innovate and come up with products that meet consumer need gaps. The key factors in business of Kansai Nerolac are:

Technology Research & Development Innovations Quality

MARKET PRESENCE
Kansai Nerolac is the second largest player in the domestic decorative paint industry and the market leader in industrial paint segments such as powder coatings and protective coatings. The company has strong presence in automotive paints as it controls 45% of the organized Industrial paint segment. Its major clients include OEMs like Maruti Udyog, Bajaj Auto, TELCO and Mahindra & Mahindra. With a strong commitment to innovation, style and consumers' needs, KNPL has embarked on several initiatives like introduction of lead free (no lead added) paints, opening of Color Stylers and Impressions Style Zone outlets. KNPL has also invested in IT interventions involving a slew of product implementations across the entire value chain of the organization. These will be enablers for effective and speedier transactions to various stake holders.

44

Key product Range

45

Key Product Features

46

MARKETING STRATEGIES

Key consumer services

It is the philosophy of Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd., and its associates to achieve complete customer satisfaction by providing products and services that consistently meet or exceed the customer needs and expectations, pursuant to agreed specifications, delivery schedules and competitive prices. It is the philosophy of the company to systematically operate its manufacturing facilities by inculcating commitment to total quality management at all levels and on a continuous basis with a view to achieving First Time Right results in manufacture, services and other operations

47

MARKET POSITION
Kansai Nerolac Paints has been at the forefront of paint manufacturing for more than 89 years pioneering a wide spectrum of quality paints. Kansai Nerolac is the second largest paint company in India and is the leader in Industrial segment, having a turnover of over Rs 1972 crores. The company has five strategically located manufacturing units all over India and a strong dealer network across the country. The company manufactures a diversified range of products ranging from decorative paints coatings for homes, offices, hospitals and hotels to sophisticated industrial coatings for most of the industries Nerolac has always sought to harness the benefits of Information technology. It has envisioned using Information technology in all areas of business to build up unique competencies and efficiencies thus delivering maximum value to Nerolac's stakeholders.

48

SWOT ANALYSIS

49

12. BERGER PAINTS INDIA LTD

Berger Paints India limited is an India-based paint manufacturing company. The company was founded by the legendary paint chemist Mr. Lewis Berger in 1760. Berger Paints India is a 70 year old company and is India's 3rd largest paint manufacturer. The company has its headquarters at Kolkata, India and operates with a distribution network of 66 stock points and approximately 10,000 dealers. Berger Paints has unmatched range of products and services and is a market leader in paints, offering a variety of decorative or industrial painting options. Berger is an ISO 9001 company and offers products for shops, factories, interiors, and exteriors. Berger Paints India reported net sales of Rs. 117,221 lakhs for the year ended 31st March, 2006-2007 and net profit of Rs. 8307 lakhs for the same period. Berger Paints India has collaboration with the following international companies -

50

Nippon Bee Chemical Co. - Automotive Coatings DuPont Herberts Automotive Systems - Automotive Coatings Becker Industrifarg A.B. - Coil Coatings Orica Australia Pty Ltd. - Heavy Duty, Anti Corrosive Industrial Coatings Tigerwerk - Powder Coatings Valspar Corp. - Protective/Heavy Duty Coating Weld Rite Corp. - Protective/Heavy Duty Coating

MARKET PRESENCE
Berger is the third largest player in the domestic decorative paint industry and also a strong player in non-automotive industrial segments such as powder coatings and protective coatings. Bergers decorative business has shown strong growth in the last few years due to buoyant economic growth and boom in the real estate sector leading to frequent repainting by consumers. Also, new construction and rural markets where Berger is relatively stronger have shown high growth benefiting the company. Currently 80% of Bergers sales are contributed by decorative paints. Of this half is water based paints margins and the rest are solvent based paints. Within this, the exterior paints business is growing at twice the rate of overall business. 75% of

51

decorative sales come from the retail business and 25% from projects (new construction).

Key product Range

MAREKTING STRATEGIES

Key consumer services

52

Berger paints has recognized the importance of customer service and customer satisfaction in driving sales of the company. Berger painting service takes the pain out of painting and is a complete painting service. This includes professional help on which products are to be used, qualified and experienced painters and material delivery, clean up and supervision. They also provide a warranty on the work done by them. These customer services features has helped Berger Paints to distinguish themselves in the paint industry and in the eyes of the consumers.

Key Product Features

53

54

MARKET POSITION
Berger is a major player in the mass market with brands like Rangoli, Bison etc and in exterior paints segment with Weather Coat. However, Berger had lower presence in premium decorative paints, a segment where it is trying hard to build a brand using Lewis Berger brand challenging the dominance of Asian Paints Royale and ICIs Dulux. Of the 20% sales from industrial paints, 50% each comes from the automotive paints business and the other industrial paints (powder coatings and protective coatings). Within automotive paints the company is only present in OEM business (not in replacement market) and that too merely in the 2 wheeler and commercial vehicle segments, not in the largest segment passenger car paints. This is because car paints require better technology and strong relationships with car manufacturers, which unfortunately Berger does not have. The non-automotive industrial paints market, in which Berger is a strong player, is likely to benefit from the strong growth expected in the new industrial installations as well as in the white goods segments.

SWOT ANALYSIS

55

13. CONCLUSION
Asian Paints is Indias leading paint company. It has a turnover of Rs 66.80 billion. The company claims to employ most advanced and prudent principles in its working. Asian Paints aims to become one of the top five Decorative coatings companies world-wide by leveraging its expertise in the higher growth emerging markets. Simultaneously, the company intends to build long term value in the Industrial coatings business through alliances with established global partners. It offers a vast variety of products in the industrial as well as decorative segment of paints. We have analyzed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Asian Paints Royale Emulsion. Thereafter, we have performed primary as well as secondary market research to study the consumer behavior of Asian paints. Some of our important conclusions include that most of the customers have quality as

56

their first preference and this affinity towards quality is most distinct for families having income of 5 lacs or more. Amongst the promotional strategies adopted, it appears that advertisements influence the buying behavior of consumers most heavily followed by word of mouth publicity of shopkeepers and relatives who have already used the brand. Finally, we have performed the competitor analysis of Asian paints analyzing in detail the market presence and marketing strategies of Nerolac and Berger paints.

57

14. BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/206850849_2.html http://fairsnexhibition.blog.co.in/2010/04/20/indian-paint-industrygrowing-at-fast-pace http://industrytracker.wordpress.com/2010/05/14/indianhttp://www.asianpaints.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Paints http://www.scribd.com/doc/6655788/ASIAN-Paints-Distrbn http://www.asianpaints.com/pdf/product_pis/Royale_Emulsion.pdf http://www.google.co.in/#hl=en&q=Research+Desk+of+Asit+C+Meht a+Investment+Interrmediates+Ltd. +asian+paints&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&fp=9d022f21e4f783 64 http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/39th-intl-filmfestivalindia-begins-tomorrow/06/01/49909/leisure

paint-industry-colourful-times

http://www.scribd.com/doc/18230749/Asian-Paints http://www.scribd.com/doc/19096901/Customer-Preferances-AsianPaints-

58

15. APPENDIX
Survey: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform? formkey=dGtycFVnM1hlcmI5aDFiRU5yZGZsUFE6MQ

Results: