Case Studies on Marketing in the Indian Context Dr. Kisholoy Roy Laxmi Publications

The document contains the preface.

The document contains the acknowledgements.

The document contains the contents.

The American Marketing Association (AMA) has defined brand as a ‘name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition.’ The classic definition of brand as put forth by Kevin Lane Keller in his book, Strategic Brand Management is ‘a brand is a set of mental associations, held by the consumer, which add to the perceived value of a product or service.’

Health drinks, a part of the functional food and drinks category is one of the most valuable consumer markets of today. It mainly includes beverages such as energy foods and drinks, sports drinks and health soft drinks, etc. The category of health drinks also comprises the drinks such as soy milk and other soy based drinks, fruit juices, targeted health drinks (e.g., calcium rich drinks particularly for the bones), and new age drink with health benefit such as many herb and berries that are coming into the international markets from Asia and South America. Over a dozen of these health drinks which are marketed as hip and trendy, are promising weight loss, cell-damage-reducing antioxidants and natural energy have been found on the shelves of modern retail outlets since 2007.

American Marketing Association defines services as “activities, benefits, or satisfaction which are offered for sale, or provided in connection with sale of goods.” Services are also defined as “any act or performance which is essentially intangible and that does not result in the ownership of anything.” In other words, services are generally referred to as deeds, processes and performance that are intangible but may have a tangible component and which are generally produced and consumed at the same time.

Food on Wheels was popular among the food lovers of Delhi in the late 1990’s. The idea behind this food business was unique and appealing at that point of time. Food on Wheels served people on mobile vans at locations where there were number of offices and hence number of office-goers who were potential clients for the food business, especially during the lunch hours. Mukesh Caterers was the company behind the business. It mainly focused on vegetarian items and was concentrating at providing breakfast, lunch and evening snacks to people working in different companies. It was basically observed that since the majority of working group were unable to have a wholesome food during the morning hours and also had the trouble of carrying food along with them, they were looking out for an option provided by Food on Wheels. After a while it was seen that these people were content with the variety and quality of food provided by Mukesh Caterers.

Retail is essentially the business of selling goods or services in small quantities to the ultimate customer or consumer. Wikipedia defines retailing as “Retailing consists of the sale of goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by post, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser.”

In the beginning of the year 2008, a food and grocery retail shop named The Spicy Affair commenced its operations at Shivajinagar (Bangaluru). The area has a healthy mix of business establishments as well as residential apartments. Shopping at supermarkets for daily needs was not a very common trend in India during those days. Raghava P. Nayar, the owner of the shop, believed in the first-mover advantage and so he made sure that this retail format was the first in the area. With the passage of time, his belief paid high dividends as footfalls multiplied and there were many who visited the shop almost on a regular basis. The story remained much the same for the next three years.

Personal selling involves two-way personal communications between sales people and individual customers. The interaction can happen through face to face interaction, telephone, video conferencing or by another means. Personal selling is often considered an effective promotion tool because it probes customers to learn their problems, adjusts marketing offers to suit the needs of each customer and builds durable relationships with key decision-makers.

India has seen a rising trend in the use of credit cards and personal loans. For this reason, some of the top banks in the country have Direct Sales Associates or DSAs who facilitate the selling process. RKB Sons (P) Ltd. is one such DSA of one of the leading banks in the country. Recently, the company hired two new salesmen – Alok and Bijoy. When it came to selling, both these employees followed a different approach.