A STUDY ON

THE MARKETING MIX OF

BIRLA CEMENT IN
RELATION TO SUPPLY CHAIN

BIRLA CORPORATION LIMITED,SATNA (M.P.)

PROJECT UNDETAKEN
AT
VINDHYA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

&RESEARCH , SATNA(M.P.) (VIMR)

YEAR :-2012-2014

SUBMITTEED TO:- SUBMITTED BY:-

Mrs. POOJA PANDEY SHAMBHAVI
M.B.A(IVth-SEM)

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 DECLARATION

I declare that the result embodied in this project

the Marketing Mix of Birla Cement in Relation
to Supply Chain in BIRLA CEMENT is a bonafied
work carried out by me at Marketing Department of
BIRLA .
The Project was undertaken as a part of the course
curriculum of MBA Full Time Program of Awadhesh
Pratap Singh University, Rewa (M.P). I also confirm
that this work will neither be reproduced nor
published anywhere without prior permission of
BIRLA.

Signature
Name of student : SHAMBHAVI

M.B.A(IVth-Sem)

VIMR (Satna)

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 INDEX

S.NO. SECTION Page no.

1. INTRODUCTION OF THE TOPIC

2. OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT
3. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
5. DATA COLLECTION & ANALYSIS
6. INTERPRETATION &FINDING
7. SUPPLY CHAIN OF SATNA CEMENT

8. CONCLUSION

9. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

10. SUGGESTION
11. BIBLIOGRAPHY
12. ANNEXTURE

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 INTRDUCTION OF THE TOPIC

Marketing mix of Satna cement:-

Marketing mix is one of the major concepts of modern marketing.

According to the book Principles of Marketing by Philip Kotler The
Marketing mix is the set of controllable, tactical marketing tools that the
firm blends to produce the response it wants in the target market. The
marketing mix consists of everything the firm can do t influence the
demand for its product. The many possibilities can be collected into four
groups of variables known as the 4 Ps: Product, Price, Place, and
Promotion. The following figure explains the 4 Ps of marketing:

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Product Price

Variety List price

Quality Discounts
Design Allowances
Features Payment Period
Brand-name Credit terms
Packaging
Services

Target
Customer
s

Intended
Positionin
g
Place

Channels
Promotion Coverage
Assortments
Advertising
Locations
Personal selling
Inventory
Sales promotion
Transportation
Public relations
Logistics

Figure: The Four Ps of the Marketing Mix

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 Product :-
Product is a tangible object or an intangible service that is mass produced or
manufactured at a large scale with a specific volume of units. In simple words
Product means the goods and services combination the company offers to the target
market.

The Birla Corp. Ltd. Satna division (Satna cement works) is involved in the
production of cement, which is a chemical substance used as a building material.
The company produces the following varieties of cement.

Price:-
Price is the amount of money customers have to pay to obtain the product. The
various factors affecting the pricing policy of the company are:

Brand image
Competitors price
Manufacturing Cost
Transportation Cost
Promotional Strategies etc.

Place
Place includes company activities that make the product available to target
customers i.e. the sales and distribution network of the company. Satna
cement follows two types of distribution network: Trade This is the
distribution system where the basic motive of the company is trading
through en i.e. dealers anmiddlemd retailers.
Company Depots Dealers Retailers Customer

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 Non Trade This is a distribution system basically on contract basis, It
includes bulk customers like contractors and Govt. It is for a fix period at a
fix rate. Minimum 100 tonnes of demand is only considered.

Coverage
UP
MP
Bihar
Chttisgarh
Export to Nepal
Mode of distribution
Rail rack loading
Road

Promotion:-
Promotion refers to activities that communicate the merits of the product and
persuade target customers to buy it.

Sales promotion methods

Advertising : Hoardings, wall painting, News paper, Journal/Magazines,

Mobile van.
Personal selling: Point of purchase (POP) material like calendars, diary, key
rings, pens, slip pads etc.
Sales Promotion: Mason meetings, Dealers and retailers meet, Architect
Meet, Training Work shop, Company employees visit to dealers shops.
Incentive schemes: cash discount, quantity discount, annual discount,
seasonal discount, target meeting incentives, loyalty discount, Annual visits
to tourist places, annual gifts.
Corporate Social Responsibility: Hospitals, Schools, Temples.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

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Main Objective

To analyse the Cement market and understand the Marketing Mix i.e. 4 Ps
(Product, Price, Place and Promotion) of Birla Corporation Ltd. Cement division,
Satna.

Sub objectives

1. To understand the supply chain of the company and identify the problems
arising in this chain.
2. To identify the leading company and Brand in the Satna Cement Market and
to identify their competitive advantage over others.
3. To identify best promotional system.
4. To know about the effectiveness of distribution channels of cement brands.
5. To study dealers satisfaction about the Birla Products and to collect their
suggestions to improve the companies policies w.r.t. Distribution system,
promotional method, pricing system etc.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study is based on primary data i.e. the information is collected through cement
dealers and retailers and it analyses various factors of marketing and hence the
company can make use of this study and the information provided for the
betterment of its policies and making new strategies.

METHODLOGY

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 Research Design:-

This study was conducted in two steps i.e. an internal survey and an external
survey. The internal survey was in the form of interviews with the various experts
in the company from the department of logistics, Marketing/Sales and production
to find out the influence of supply chain on the marketing mix i.e. the product,
price, place and promotion. The external survey was conducted on dealers, retailers
of cement in Satna market, contractors/builders and bulk consumers. The main
purpose of this survey was to find out the expectations of the customers from
cement product and which is the leading company with regard to marketing mix in
the Satna Market.

Sample Design:-

The internal survey involved 40 respondants from the department of logistics,

Marketing, sales and Production. The external survey was conducted by selecting a
random sample of 30 respondents which included the various dealers, retailers of
cement in Satna market.

Data Collection :-

The Internal survey was in the form of Interviews with company employees. In the
external survey the data was collected in the form of questionnaire (Annexture).
The respondants were approached at their shops/offices to collect the information.
The Survey was done in Satna city and the areas covered were:

Birla Road
Rewa Road

Circuit House
Prem Nagar & Dhawari

The MS Office Excel was used for the analysis of the collected data.

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 ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
A) Internal Survey
Sample size ( Number of respondents) =40

Supply chain of Satna cement

Upstream Downstream

Suppliers

Raw Materials Finished Goods

Gypsum Firm Direct sale (Bulk Customers)
Fly ash Dump Transfer
Lime stone
Coal
Dealers
Laterite
Packing bags
Capital goods

Figure: Supply chain of Satna cement

B) External Survey
Sample Size (Number of respondents) = 30

CONCLUSION
Buoyant state of the economy has created positive spin offs on the business
scenario for the entire cement industry. Not only major players are reaping the
benefits but even other players are also benefiting from the uptrend. Also industry
is undergoing a consolidation phase. The cement sector growth story would remain
strong on back of increasing demand in housing, infrastructure and commercial
construction sectors.

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 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
Respondents are biased and not willing to give all information.
A few Respondents have limited knowledge and understanding.
Sample size was limited and not sufficient to give the clear picture.
Survey was geographically limited to the Satna district only.
Perception and psychology of the respondents was biggest challenge to deal
with.
Time constraint was there.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES

The other students can make use of this study as references in any other study or
further study of the same topic.

The marketing mix of SCW or any other company can be studied in detail
by taking a larger sample size.
The study can be carried out in the targeted areas of SCW like U.P. and
Bihar where the responses would be more accurate.
The supply chain can be studied in greater detail by taking reference of this
study.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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 Web sites referred
http://www.energymanagertraining.com/
http://www.birlacorporation.com/
http://www.business.mapsofindia.com/
http://www.iloveindia.com/
http://www.scribd.com/
http://wikipedia.org/

Books referred
Marketing Management by Philip Kotler

Studies referred
Report on cement Industry in India by Shobit Chandak
Indian cement Industry: Overview by Dr.Pallavi Modi

ANNEXTURE
Dear Sir/Mam,

Satna Cement believes in customer satisfaction as an ultimate objective and an effective marketing mix
is the key to achieve this. I as a summer trainee take the opportunity to find the effectiveness of the 4 Ps
of marketing mix through this survey. This is a questionnaire to find the customer satisfaction index
with regard to marketing mix. Kindly spare your valuable time for this survey.

Name of the respondent:

Address:
Contact No:
Category: Dealer Retailer Architect Builder Bulk Consumer

What are the various brands of cement you are dealing with?

Would you like to be a dealer of Birla Samrat Cement? Yes No

Please rate the following questions on the 4 point scale given below

1 Very Important
2 Important
3 Average
4 Nil

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Q1) How much importance the following qualities of cement hold in your purchase decision.

Compressive strength --------

Setting time--------------------
Color---------------------------
Fineness--------------------

Q2) How much importance does packaging hold in your purchase decision ---------

Q3) How much importance do you give to popularity/ Brand image as a preference to buy cement--------

Q4) How much importance do you give to the price of cement in your purchase decision---------

Q5) How much importance do you give to advertisement in making a successful brand image ----------

Q16) Any suggestions for Birla corporation Ltd. Satna Division

*SCW Satna Cement works

Signature: Date:

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