A Project on the Marketing Strategies of

ASIAN PAINTS

PROJECT REPORT

Paper No.: CH 6.3 (b)

B.Com (Honours) 2013-14

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Department of Commerce Sachin Chauhan

Acharya Narendra Dev College Roll No.: S-1352

(University of Delhi) B.Com (Hons.) Sem VI

DECLARATION

This is to certify that the information embodied in the present report is based on my original work and the same has not been submitted in part or in full for any other purpose.

Also I declare that I have spent [240 hours for earning work experience from {name of institution from where work ex is taken} as a trainee / 100 hours on reading and understanding the relevant literature / 200 hours on field work for collection of information], for the purpose of preparing the project report hereby submitted to the college.

Sachin Chauhan

(Student)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I take this opportunity to express my profound sense of gratitude and respect to the esteemed institution- AcharyaNarendraDev College (University of Delhi), for allowing me to work on the project report- [title of your project].

I sincerely thank my academic mentors, [Ms / Dr {first mentor}] & Ms KanikaKhera for their constant support, guidance and motivation during the entire period of my research. Their guidance has enriched my knowledge tremendously.

Sachin Chauhan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter No. Title Page No.

IIIIIIIVVVIVIIVIII

IntroductionObjectives of the StudyLiterature ReviewMethodologyAnalysis and ResultsFindings and DiscussionsRecommendationsBibliography & Webliography

15689252728

1. INTRODUCTION

Asian Paints is India's largest paint company and the third largest paint company in Asia today, with a turnover of Rs 30.2 billion (around USD 680 million). The company has an enviable reputation in the corporate world for professionalism, fast track growth, and building shareholder equity. Asian Paints operates in 22 countries and has 30 paint manufacturing facilities in the world servicing consumers in over 65 countries. Besides Asian Paints, the group operates around the world through its subsidiaries Berger International Limited, Apco Coatings, SCIB Paints.

The Company's paint business in India consists of Decorative, Industrial & Automotive coatings. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006, paints accounted for 79.1% of the Company's sales. Decorative paints include wall finishes for interior and exterior use, enamels, wood finishes and ancillary products, such as primers and putties. Industrial Coatings comprise high performance coatings, powder coatings and auto refinish coatings. The automotive coating segments are catered to by the joint venture Asian PPG Industries Ltd. The Company also has chemicals businesses consisting of phthalic anhydride and pentaerythritol manufactured at Ankleshwar, Gujarat and Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu, respectively.

The Indian paint market is highly saturated with many paint companies with varieties of product. Kansai Nerolac paints Ltd. Berger paints India Ltd. ICI India Ltd. Shalimar Paint Ltd, Snowcem India Ltd are the main competitors of Asian Paints. Among them Nerolac Paints have a very good market share in the Industrial Paint segment.

Asian Paints adopted some marketing objectives & strategies. Asian paint is ready to achieve its corporate objective by taking care of the Customers, Employees, Brand image, Dealer Vendor relationship & technology.Company’s three divisions are not equally performing well.So it has different objective & planning to gain the top most position in the Indian paint market. Asian Paints has different marketing strategy for the urban as well as the rural market in Ind

The company always maintaining some alternate strategy & keeping in track with the strategy maintaining by its competitor. In decorative sector company is strong enough, but it need to take care of the Industrial sector so as to increase the overall sales.

Considering the pricing strategy of Asian paints, company has several priced products. It starts from very low end to the premium level. Asian paints Colour World concept helped the consumer to choose the colour combination & other appropriates according to their wish from a very wide range of product. Company’s famous logo GATTU helped it overcome while entering into the rural market, as visualization has its own effect. Other than this Asian Paints is using its website as a very good medium to reach the high/upper middle class consumers. With these tools company is expecting to generate much more revenue than the earlier years.

Asian paints wonderful promotional strategy helped the company to extend its business in several other countries with success. A very attractive distribution policies & proper distribution

channel with more than 15000 dealers helped Asian paints to spread its business in more than 3500 big & small cities in India.

The company used to maintain a very strong market research cell, which helps them to take care of the consumers need & intensify their R&D accordingly. Asian Paints approaches the environment issue from the perspective of waste minimization and conservation of resources. Thus, the continued attempt is to reuse, recycle and eliminate waste, which results in less and less waste being generated.

Asian Paints, took a huge stride towards promoting the cause of total water management by giving Mumbai (and neighboring districts like Thane) its first Total Water Management (TWM) Centre, which is located in the premises of Asian Paints manufacturing facility at Bhandup.

Asian Paints Ltd. has a combined turnover of 630 million US dollars. With its strong presence in the Indian subcontinent, south East Asia, Far East, South pacific Caribbean, Africa & Europe. Along with Asian paints the group consists of SCIB chemicals, Berger International & APCO coatings. Together the group has 30 manufacturing unit globally.

The company was incorporated in the year 1942 in India. Asian paints have extensively computerized its operations in India using the cutting edge solution provided by SAP & i2. It helped the company drive benefits of faster market analysis for better decision making.

The product portfolio of the Asian Paints group covers a large spectrum of finish coasts & ancillary products in decorative paints, wood finishes, automobile OEMs & refinishes, marine & Industrial coatings.

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The broad objective of this study is to evaluate the marketing strategies of Asian Paints. Other objectives of the study are mentioned as under-

1. To Evaluate the Marketing strategies of Asian Paints Company on the basis of Various categories:a. Paintsb. Chemicals

2. To analyze of Marketing strategies of Asian Paints Company on the basis of two situations of the company :

(i) Competitor analysis

(ii) Customer Analysis

3. To analyze the Positioning Strategies of the Asian Paints

4. To evaluate and analyze the customer segmentation and Targeting of Asian paints.

5. To analyze and evaluate the Core strategies of Asian Paints

6. To evaluate 4 P’s: Price, Promotion, Product and Physical distribution of Asian Paints

3. LITERATURE REVIEW

1. “ Strategic marketing as seen as a process consisting of: analyzing environmental, market competitive and business factors affecting the corporation and its business units, identifying market opportunities and threats and forecasting future trends in business areas of interest for the enterprise, and participating in setting objectives and formulating corporate and business unit strategies. Selecting market target strategies for the product-markets in each business unit, establishing marketing objectives as well as developing, implementing and managing the marketing program positioning strategies in order to meet market target needs”.( Drucker 1973)

2. " A statement in very general terms of how the marketing objective is to be achieved, e.g. acquiring a competitive company, by price reductions, by product improvement, or by intensive advertising.The strategy becomes the basis of the marketing plan".(Hart & Stapleton)

3. “The role of strategic marketing is to lead the firm towards attractive economic opportunities, that is, opportunities that are adapted to its resources and know how and offer a potential for growth and profitability”. (Lambin 1977).

4. “The establishment of the goal or purpose of a strategic business unit and the means by which it is to be achieved through management of the marketing function".(Baker 1984).

5. “Understanding the strategic situation confronting an organization is an essential starting point in developing a marketing strategy” (Cravens 1986).

6. “Although definitions for the term vary, we define marketing strategy as a consistent, appropriate and feasible set of principles through which a particular company hopes to

achieve its long-run customer and profit objectives in a particular competitive environment”. (Hamper & Baugh).

7. “Although marketing has basically an strategic conception of the selling activity, we use to distinguish between strategic marketing and operational marketing, depending on long term or short term objectives. Strategic marketing starts in thoughts about current situation of the company and situational analysis and possible evolution of the markets and the environment, with the goal of detecting opportunities which can establish objectives” (Aramario & Lambin 1991).

8. “There is no unified definition upon which marketers agree. Instead, there are nearly as many definitions of it as there are uses of the term. Clearly, marketing strategy is a

9. commonly used term, but no one is really sure what it means”. (Schnaars1991).

10. " the strategic marketing process, therefore implies deciding the marketing strategy based on a set of objectives , target market segments, positioning and policies"(Bradley 1991)\

11. “ The primary purpose of a marketing strategy is to effectively allocate and coordinate marketing resources and activities to accomplish the firm’s objectives within a specific product market. Therefore decisions about the scope of a marketing strategy involve specifying the target-market segment(s) to be pursued and the product line to be offered. Then, firms seek a competitive advantage and synergy, planning a well integrated program of marketing mix elements.” (Walker, Boyd, Larreche 1992).

4. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1. Data collection:

The study is based on the secondary data taken from the annual reports of selected units and from their website. And all the data relating to history, growth and development of Industries have been collected mainly from the books and magazine relating to the industry and published paper, report, article and from the various news papers, bulletins and other various research reports published by industry and research organization, various web sites like SEBI and RBI. The data relating to the selected units have been obtained from prospectus, pamphlets and annual reports of the selected units.

2. Selection of Strategies: Marketing strategies of Asian paints has been evaluated on various basis:

A. Category wise analysis:a. Paintsb. Chemicals

B. Situation wise Analysis:a. Competitor analysis

b. Customer Analysis

C. Other strategies:a. Positioning Strategies b. Customer segmentation c. Targeting strategies at Asian paints.d. Core strategies of Asian Paints

In order to see the effectiveness of the marketing strategies at Asian Paints, 4 P’s: Price, Promotion, Product and Physical distribution of Asian Paints has been analyzed.

5. ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

SITUATION ANALYSIS-1

CATEGORY ANALYSIS

The different categories of Asian paints Ltd. are –

PAINT :

Company’s paint business in India consists of decorative, Industrial & Automotive coating. In

2005-06, these accounted for 79.1% of the group sales. It is estimated that the local market for

all paints including cement paints & other powder products manufactured by all companies big

& small would have been around Rs.95 billion in 2005-06.

1) DECORATIVE PAINTS:

Decorative paints account covers almost 75% of the overall paint market in India. In this

segment Asian paint has been a leader for almost four decades. Decorative paints include wall

finishes, for interior & exterior uses, examples, wood finishes & ancillary products such as

primers, putties, etc.

2) INDUSTRIAL COATINGS:

Industrial coatings have a moderate growth rate than decorative coating, led by the growth in

automotive original equipment sector, powder coatings & protective coatings. Industrial coatings

are classified into automotive & non-automotive coatings are classified into automotive & non-

automotive coatings. While Asian paints Industrial coating Ltd. (APICL) services the powder

coating segment, Asian paints Ltd. caters to be remaining non-auto industrial coatings segments.

3) AUTOMOTIVE COATING:

The actual look and feel of a vehicle undergoes a sea of change over time. The paint on a vehicle

loses gloss, is subjected to a lot of wear and tear and hence starts deteriorating. Asian Paints is

not having a very good market share in this segment.

CHEMICALS :

Asian paints have chemical business consisting of Pthalic Axhydride & pentaerythritol

manufactured at Ankleswar, Gujrat & Cuddalore, Tamilnadu. During 2005-06 approximately

42% of company’s chemical was sold in-house & rest at open market.

SALES ANALYSIS

Sales over the last 6 years (in Rs. crores) :

Year and

Months

March

2001

March

2002

March

2003

March

2004

March

2005

March

2006

Gross

sales

1526.01 1662.33 1887.7 2111.08 2366.16 2807.05

Percentage

increasing

- 8.93 13.55 11.83 12.08 18.63

Net sales 1322.38 1450.71 1641.27 1841.92 2037.55 2433.37

Parentage

increase

- 9.7 13.13 12.22 10.62 19.42

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 20060

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

Net sales

Results of operation :

Net sales & operating income of stand alone entity increased to Rs.24333.7 million from 20375

million showing a growth of 19.42% in the year 2005-2006 (March). This is driven mainly on

account of good paint volume sales growth of 13.8% & price revisions effected during the year.

For the group, net sales & operating income shows an income shows an increase of 17.4% to

Rs.30210 million. Asian Paints has a steady growth over the last 6 years, so the financial

condition is very much stable & it is expected to reach at the top position in the Indian paint

market.

SHARE PRICE ANALYSIS

In the following share price analysis of Asian paints we have considered the closing price of

share of Friday’s for the month of May, June, July 2006. Following table is showing the share

price (on Fridays of May, June, July 2006)

Date 5 May 12 19 26 2 9 16 23 30 7 14 21 28

May May may June June Jun Jun Jun July July July July

Closing share price (in Rs)

6487.7 637.5

5

577.2

5

553.3

0

582.

70

550.

75

566.

65

573 597.

05

581.

65

571.

85

581.

25

585.4

5

5/5

/20

06

5/1

2/2

00

6

5/1

9/2

00

6

5/2

6/2

00

6

6/2

/20

06

6/9

/20

06

6/1

6/2

00

6

6/2

3/2

00

6

6/3

0/2

00

6

7/7

/20

06

7/1

4/2

00

6

7/2

1/2

00

6

7/2

8/2

00

6

500520540560580600620640660

Closing share price (in Rs)

Discussion :

Though there is a downfall in the share price of Asian paints but it is among the most actively

traded stocks in India market. In terms of absolute daily returns the best performer in the paint

market is godless Nerolac, Where Asian paints comes at 4 th place with a return of 17%. The least

risky stock among the paint market was Asian paints with daily volatility of returns of around

1.43%.

The investment on the stocks of Asian Paints could be a good investment option from a medium

there prospective. It is the largest player in the industry with a vital strangle hold over the

decorative segment.

With its high level of efficiency & developed marketing infrastructure Asian Paints is well

placed in the market & have a very high growth prospect.

SITUATION ANALYSIS-2

Asian paints limited with its three business units decorative, Industrial & International business

is one of the largest paint company in India. It had a sell over 300 million litres of paint in 2005-

06. Significantly the group has crossed the Rs.3000 crore turnover mark-a preset mile stone for

the company.

Here we will be analyzing two situations of the company –

(i) Competitor analysis

(ii) Customer Analysis

1) COMPETITOR ANALYSIS :

The Indian paint market is highly saturated with many paint companies with varieties of

product. Asian paints ltd, Kansai Nerolac paints Ltd. Berger paints India Ltd. ICI India Ltd.

Shalimar Paint Ltd, Snowcem India Ltd are the market leaders.

Here we are only considering the nearby competitors of Asian Paints which are Nerolac paints

Ltd, Berger paints Ltd & Indian chemical Imperial (ICI) Ltd.

Sales of different companies in the Financial year 2005-2006

Name of the

company

Asian paints ltd Nerolac paints

ltd.

Berger paints ICI India ltd.

Net sales (in

Rs. Crore)

2433.37 1064.22 948.54 971.19

2) CUSTOMER ANALYSIS :

Asian paint with its natural competitive advantage of size (Number 1 in India), Strong brand

equity & largest distribution Network has acquired the number one position in Decorative

segment in India.

There are few reasons due two which the customers in the decorative segment has been

choosing Asian Paint as their brand –

1. As we know brand name has its own value & Asian paint is the number one in decorative

segment, so a purchaser automatically leans in purchasing it.

For example, we have two different types of paints, namely Apolite glass Aenamel &

Apolite care Emulsion, which are from Asian Paints, Nerolac paints, Berger paints & ICI

paints. Again due to the competitive market the price is very closed for all the companies.

But due to the Branch awareness of common people they mostly tend to purchase the

products from Asian paints.

2. Company have provided with different varieties of product for different income groups.

For e.g. “UTSAV” which is a low value paint, is growing at a faster rates & penetrating

with high speed at the lower income group. This policy is helping the company to move

from metros to small towns for branded products.

3. In India frequency of painting has still not increased, which is once is 5 years only. So

consumers are normally changing over to the better quantity & branded paints.

4. In 2001, Asian Paint launched a new product “Tractor Emulson”, which pulled the

customer who used distemper to move to emulation paints.

Accessibility of Asian paints to the customers :

Asian paints have started a 24 hours customer help centre at Hyderabad. It is information to

consumers to answer their needs for any query related, to their products. Through this company

is also getting a lot of data related to the customers need & appreciations of the products.

In order to provide better consumer service, company has connected all colour world

installations with Asian Paint’s main system through software & providing computes to dealers.

This is speeding up order execution, electronic banking will speed up recovery & money

transfer.

Market Share Analysis :

The market share clearly shows that Asian paint is the leader in Indian paint industry. The

nearest competitors of Asian paints are Nerolac & Barger paints. Asian paints has the largest

sells in Decorative paints.

Nerolac paints being widely used in Industry it has a greater share price value. Industries like

Bajaj auto limited, Maruti Udyog & many other car manufacturing companies use Nerolac

paints.

The Industrial paint are priced with premium in comparison to the decorative paint which is

mainly used in house hold decoration.

Berger paints & ICI paints are also providing a shift competition to Asian Paints in decorative

paint, but still there is no sign of threat from them.

Again in the Industrial sector Nerolac paint far ahead of all its competitor. Asian paint presently

building up a new manufacturing unit solely to produce Industrial paint.

Asian paints annually spends on an average Rs325 Cr on its selling & marketing expenses. It

givers us an idea about the effort the company put on expanding its market in all segments.

When customers buy the products of Asian paints – As the customers normally uses the products

of Asian paints on certain occasions like. Marriage ceremony, Dewali or any other special

occasions, other than normal paint in houses, customers are very choosy & brand specific. This

appreciation by the customers helped Asian paints to become the number one paint company in

India.

6. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

MARKETING OBJECTIVES

Company basically focuses on following Marketing Objectives which are discussed

below-

(i) Corporate objective

(ii) Divisional objective

(iii) Marketing Objective

(iv) Programme Objective

Corporative objectives:

“Asian Paint has become one of the top decorative company worldwide by leveraging its expertise in the

higher growth emerging market. Simultaneously, the company intends to build long term value in the

Industrial coating business through alliance with established global partner.”

With Economic performance as objective the organization now has to develop short-term goals to reach

the overall objective. These Goals are usually functional target such as production, Sales, new market

develop, new product development and technology up gradation, once the goal are determined the

strategies can be evolved to meet the goals. The organization is now on the way to achieve the overall

objective of Economic performance.

Steps followed by Asian paints for achieving its objective :

Asian paint is following certain steps for achieving its corporate objective. They are as follows :

(i) Customer Asset : The settings up Asian paints colour world, a chain of state art paint shop, is a

major step towards building customer asset. At the same time company is focusing more in rural areas

than urban area and continuing to provide good and quality service to the customer.

(ii) Technology asset : Asian paint is one of first Indian company to go hi-tech. Asian paint has always

kept its competitor at bay by constantly re-innovating its business process and system.

(iii) Employee Asset : Asian paint always praise its employee for its success in the market. Company

always considers employee as a biggest factor of its success.

(iv) Dealer vendor relationship : Asian paint always maintain a close relationship with its dealers

because company think that they play a major role in Asian paint recent success.

(v )Brand Asset : Although it is operating in the commodity market but still Asian paint is investing

heavily in branding. Gattu- Asian paint official mascot is very popular in India.

Divisional objective: Asian paint has following divisions that are as follows:

(i) Decorative segment

(ii) Industrial segment

(iii) Automotive segment

Decorative segment : Asian paint is the leader in this segment. It is ahead that its competitor Nerolac and

Berger in Decorative segment company still have certain objective for this sector that to increase it sales

and to acquire maximum position in the market share in Indian paint market.

Objective for decorative segment :

1. To expand its range in the economy segment.

2. To strengthen its position in the emulsion segment in both exterior and interior emulsion.

3. To continue its strategy of pricing aggression and increase it sales and to gain the market share

along with a good operating margin.

4. To focus on the rural market as company believes as it as been its objective since the

beginning.To focus more on adcampaign for enhancement of their sales in urban as well as rural

market.

Industrial segment:

Asian paint second line of production deals with the industrial coating. The constraint in these segment is

that it is not as successful as the decorative segment. In these sector it has to face a stiff competition from

its nearest competitor Nerolac and Berger Paints.

Objective for Industrial segment :

To build new infrastructure in the country for Industrial coating to increase the production

capacity.

To develop the quality of the product with a higher technological up gradation.

To increase the sales of the Industrial coating with the help of proper Ad. campaign

programme.

Automotive segment:

Automotive is the third segment of the Asian paint. It is a product which company target for the

automobile market in India as well as abroad.

Objective of automotive segment :

To put emphasis on continuous improvement in quality and productivity.

To put emphasis on detect prevention

To reduce variation and wastage in the supply chain.

Marketing Objectives:

Asian paints the leader in Indian paint Industry has a very strong marketing division. With more than

35% market share Asian paint is still growing in leaps and bounce to achieve higher targets. It is changing

fundamentally with two objective in mind a huge ramp in the market share and better growth over the

next three years. Previously company used to function as undifferentiated organization. But now they

have divided it into three section each. And each section has its own independent support system, targets

and performance parameter.

Company is using PC, V-sats based line and internal mesh to become most networked

corporation in India.

Company is trying to cutdown the inventory and improve the working capital cycle for a

continuous production.

Asian paint is highly accepted in the urban sector and now the company is trying to access the

rural market with low price product like Utsav targeting every customer of all income level.

To enhance their marketing in rural sector a huge amount investment is made in adcampaign

and demonstration cum sales technique is going on.

To increase its sales in the urban sector Asian paints today have 30 colour world located in

different cities of India where any body can have the real taste of the colour.

Online marketing has become an integrated part of the company and company is trying install

a strong integrated for online marketing.

Asian paints international unit, which have a dedicated marketing team is also targeting for a

rapid growth in overseal market.

Asian paint is concentrating on the development of technological in their industrial coating so

that to make the product more stronger positon in the market. And do it they are following the

product with huge ad compaign.

Asian paint is now targeting to provide paint solution with insurance.

Asian paint is following unlque strategy of marketing in the rural areas by using their official

mascot. According to the company it feels that picture are more dominant than name.

Asian paint website Asian paints com provides several information regarding the product and

various other information that is being required by customer and dealer.

Programme Objective:

Programme objective is one of the main objective of the company. Here the company frames the strategy

about the products related issue and various other thing relating to the business. Most of the company

follows the 4’P’s policy namely price, product peace and promotion.

Product: Asian paint details with product that is (i) Decorative (ii) Industrial (iii) Automative. In

decorative segment company has a wide range of product from low price to high price low price product

like utsav which is basically targeted to the rural customer and high price product Apex cefirma for

exterior and interior emulsion. Asian paint investing a huge amount of fun in R & D sector for Quality

and the technological development of product so that it compets globally.

Price: the price range of Asian paint varies according to the product. Asian paint had always a stragegy in

domination in the rural sector. The product that is supplied to the rural area have low price range. Where

as in the urban sector some of the high price product circulates.

Place: Asian paint is available to all types of customer and the main advantage of the Asian paint is that it

is easily accessible to its customer. At present there are 20,000 dealer and a large no. of retailer. Asian

paints distribution channel extends to the thirty state of India. Asian paints is also exporting to contrites

like Caribbean, Africa, Middle east Asia and south pacific.

Promotion: Asian paint follow good promotional strategy regarding their sales of the product. Their

promotional strategy are made looking at the different category of the product and price associated with

it. In urban areas Asian paint established colour world where the customer can enjoy the taste real colour

while in rural sector it follow sales demonstration programme along with van displaying the product of

Asian paint in the rural market. It also invest a huge amount of funds in the advertising sector for the

promotion of this product.

POSITIONING STRATEGY OF ASIAN PAINTS LIMITED :

Although operating in commodity market. Asian paints have invested heavily in branding, GATTU, the

Asian paints official Mascot is a familiar icon across India. The company recently augmented their web

pressure. Their website, Asian paints.com is an exhaustive hub of ‘Painting solutions’. The site use

Maximum interactivity to enhance user experience. There are painting lips, online shades cards, cost

calculation based on floor area and number of rooms0 dealer locator and a short of other innovative

services.

From the perceptual map we can understand that Asian paints, have wider range of products for all type

of customers consisting of different income levels. It has a product range from Royal Emulsion, Priced

250-400 which is targeted for up market buyers. Hpcolilen is a product which is targeted for high income

and upper middle class people. For lowers income group it has UTSAV, TRACTOR EMLSION which

priced vary from 40-100 Rupees. These products are mainly targeted to Rural customers.

In Industrial segment companies position is relatively weak here Werolac paints captured more than 50%

market share. In this segment Asian paints have products like Apcomin synthetic enamel which is used

for industrial coating, and Apco synthetic power which is used in automobile sector. In this segment also

Asian paints faced stiff competition from Berger and ICI Paints. Bajaj automobiles in the main customer

of Asian paints in automotive sector.

POSITIONING STRATEGY OF ASIAN PAINTS

INDUSTRIAL PAINTS

PREMIUM PRICE

ROYALE

CUSTOMER SEGMENTATION & TARGETING:

Customer segmentation is the most important part of the marketing strategy of any company. Asian

paints, the market leader in the Indian paint market segmented their products mainly in three sectors.

(i) Decorative (ii) Industrial (iii) Automotive. Their customers are all also segmented based on the usage

of these products.

CUSTOMER SEGMENTATION :

Base Decorative coating Industrial coating Automotive coat

Premium Medium Popular High performance

coating

Powder coating Quality

coating

Finished

coating

Buyer

Characteristic

Up market

buyers

achiever

quality &

fashion

High income

group &

Upper

middle class

Socially

Middle

class &

rural

market

mostly

Used by fertilizer

petrochemicals &

atomic energy

installations

mainly used

Used by

manufacturers of

while goods &

other industrial

Large &

small scale

car industrial

mostly tied

up

Old cars are

mainly

recoloured

Secker conscious low

income

group

where to reduce

corrosion led

losses

products companies

Key

Purchasing

Factor

Quality

surfaces

influences

Quality

surfaces

shades

Cost Quality &

utilization power

Quality & cot Quality,

surfaced &

conting

strength

Brightness &

cost

Search &

Evaluation

Brand loyal Brand loyal

+ Cost +

variety

seeking

Cost Utility Variety seeking Brand loyal Cost+ variety

seeking

Purchase

Company’s

Authorised

dealer paints

the customer

house

through

dealer paint

or

purchasing

paint com of

1,2, 5, 10,

litre

Packet or

paint can

Company

approaches &

points directly

sold

Other

manufactures

paints can

Tie up with

the anto

company

Old vehicles

send to work

shops or

purchase

Post

Purchase

A warranty

period for

some years

Limited or

no warranty

No

warranty

High scale service

of warranty

Medium or no

warranty

Service

provided for

limited years

Service

provided for 0-

2 years.

Market

Asian paint is the market paint leader,

with more than 50% market share.

Nerolac, berger, ICI & Shalimar are there

Nerolac is the market leader. Asian

paint have only 12% market share.

Other players – ICI

Nerolac market leader, 50%

share

Asian paint penetrating slowly

Tires 1

TARGETING :

Asian paints have an unique customer targeting strategy. They used to follow V tier customer – Target

strategy.

Tire 2 Tire 4 Tire 3

Tire – 1: In the recipient end there are strategic solution seekers. Company thinks of cost reductions,

performance & productivity improvement for client’s improving customers & share holder profitability.

Tier –2 : Here the Customers whom can be considered as the value or brand sensitive. Asian paints target

this customers with value added VDS integration customer level service.

Tier –3 : These part of the consumer are price sensitive. They least bothered about the service. These are

mainly middle or low income group people Asian paints have several brand like UTSAV – to serve them.

Tier-4: Here the company targets the small manufacturing & local companies, which can generate

revenue, company utilizes its & business & telesales technology to address & satisfy their needs.

Tier-5 : This tier is composed of specific targeted companies that although small in size, deserve special

attention because they are highly innovative in nature. Asian paints have a good prospect over here.

CORE STRATEGY OF ASIAN PAINTS LIMITED:

An origination like Asian paints will always restrict itself for its core strategy on ‘innovation’. For an

organization like Asian paints to create a strong future, it has to bred innovation continuously. This

Tires

strategy of innovative facts will help any organization to fulfill their commitment and integrity in dealing,

with internal and external customers.

For this core strategy of innovation Asian paints encouraged entrepreneurship. They also give grater

autonomy to managers in their reasonability. organiation also develop high tolerance for failures and

encouraged risk taking.

Asian Paints another important core strategy is of managing people and technology which are also the

two important assets.

As it is always a people focused company its employees are the main leaders who bring a difference to

the company.

Asian paints has stressed on employee development and creating leaders of tomorrow. It always have

strong belief in individual ability and creating an environment in which an entrepreneurial spirit in

encouraged. This is why Asian paints have believed to be a best employees for personal and personal

growth.

Along with Mass customization, Asian paints has created a plat form where Talent is shared across the

organization as Manager are given in different areas of operations. It gives Asian paints on overall good

perspectives of business along with challenges of chandelling new Ares of operations.

The second most important core strategy of Asian paints limited is its technology. Technology includes

both research and development and information technology. Asian paints has used technology throughout

its year to gain a competitive edge in the market place today, the company has formulated the entire range

of decorative coatings though home grown technology. It has used IT as a tool to bring efficiencies and

stress line operations. This applications will continue in future and Asian paints will not hesitate in

making investment in these areas to gain advantages of the organization.

The Third but important core strategy of Asian paints. In Reconfiguration of value chain activities :

It is a key task for Asian paints to retain competitiveness and achieve highest value cost leveraging. Here

a Question arises that as per this given requirement who were the Key initiatives taken by Asian paints

during the last 5 years in this regard.

In last 5 year, reconfiguration of value chain activities to increase competitiveness has been one of the

Major core area of Asian paints. An fact Asian paints has been drain stormed as an organization with

highest sales and profit figures. But most important has been initiatives under taken in all areas of

operations to increase efficiencies some of the key initiatives undertaken are :

Initiatives in manufacturing to reduce losses at factory.

- Sourcing efficiencies

- Surat existing assets for better productivity

- Introduction of new technology to drive efficiencies and increase productivity.

- Implementation of new supply chain solution.

- Implementation of an ERP solution.

Besides the above Asian paints have focused on continuously improving environmental Management

standards at our plants. Today all Asian Paints manufacturing facilities are accredited with ISO 1400/

certification for environment management standards. These systems have enable company to reduce

affluent from the manufacturing facilities. The introduction of new supply chain has transformed

management of inventory and forecasting has brought significant benefit for the company through

reduction of working capital. It has completely changed the manner of functioning of the supply chain

division.

MARKETING PROGRAMME

PRICING

Asian paints limited with its three business units decorative, industrial & International business is one of

the largest paint company in India. It has a sell over 300 million liters of paints in 2005-06. Significantly

the group has crossed the Rs.3000 crores turnover mark a preset mile stone for the company.

Products and its price ranges :

The various products and its price ranges are as follows :

Product Price range

Exterior:-

Asian Paints Apex Price of 20 lts. Range from

Rs.3142.00 – 3328.00

Asian Paints Ace Price of 20 lts. Ranges from Rs.1761.00 Rs.

2059.00

Asian Paints Tractor Emulsion Price of 20 lts. Ranges from Rs.1435.00 – Rs.

2047.00

Asian Paints Super Decoplast Plastic Emulsion

Paints

Price of 20 Ltd. ranges from Rs.2239.00 –

Rs.2544.00

Asian Paints Interior Wall Finish – Matt

(White)

Price of 20 lts. Is Rs. 2244.00

Asian Paints Interior Wall Finish – Luster

(White)

Price of 20 lts. Is Rs.2311.00

Product Price range

Asian Paints Tractor Synthetic Distemper Its price ranges from Rs.690 to 757

Wall Finishes It range from Rs.4638- Rs,4975

Asian Paints Royale The price for 20 lts. Ranges from Rs.4638-

Rs.4975.

Asian Paints Premium Emulsion Range of 20 lts of this product ranges from

Rs.2648-Rs.3118

Enamels

Asian Paints Apcoute Premium Gloss

Enamel

For 20 lts the range varies from Rs.2068 to

Rs.2350.

Asian Paints Gattu Synthetic Enamel For 20 lts the range varies from Rs. 1458 to

Rs.1836

Asian Paints Utsav Enamel For 20 lts the range varies from Rs.1425 to

Rs.1652.

Stainer, Aluminium Paints & Others

Stainers

Apcolite Universal Stainers For per bottle in plastic bottle of 200ml the price

ranges from Rs.41-Rs.77.

Utsav Stainer For per boltle in plastic bottle of 20 ml its price is

Rs.34.

Asian Paints Wood Stains For per bottle in plastic bottle of 5 lts the range

varies from Rs.1000-Rs.1250.

Aluminium Paints (Asian paints 3 mangoes

Aluminium)

For 20 lts its price is Rs.2593

Effect of price on future:

In the present economic situation, the GDP growth is expected at 6% for cude oil price are soaring.

Industrial sector has declined at a low rate with continuous slowdown increment sector. There is

depreciation in rupee.

Despite such discouraging macroeconomics it is creditable that Asian paints has posted very good result.

Asian Paints is trying desperately to keep the same price overcoming the constraints.

PRODUCT

Asian paint produces a wide range of products which have more than 1100 shades. Their product were

targeted to the different segment of the society. The cost of the produce of Asian paint varies according

different income level of the consumer. Company follows the principle providing the customer different

kind of products and different price. In company’s Decorative premium sector company have products

like Asian paint Royals and Asian paint Emulsion. The cost of these product is Rs.275 and the latter Rs.

201 where the product like GATTU and Utsav-family product are targeted to lower income segment

people the cost varies from Rs.15 – Rs. 20.

Products of Asian paints in decorative segment :

As Asian Paint is the leader in the decorative segment in the Indian paint market it has wide variety of

product. The products are :

(i) Asian Paints Royale

(ii) Asian Paints Premium Emulsion

(iii) Asian Paints Apcolite Premium Enamel

(iv) Asian Paints Gattu Synthetic

(v) Asian Paints Utsav Enamel

(vi) Asian Paints Trator Acylic Distemper

(vii) Asian Paint Utsav Acrylic Distemper

(viii) Asian Paint Apex

(ix) Asian Paint Ace

(x) Asian Paints Tractor Synthetic Distemper.

Asian Paints Royale : This product of Asian paint is targeted to higher income group and customer of

urban area. The product contains different shades and price of each shade very. E.g. Regal white

Asian Paints Emulsion : it is another product which is targeted to urban area. It is high price premium

product. The shades are white, palm group and base.

Asian Paints Gattu synthetic : It is a product which is targeted customer of reral area. It price varies Rs.15

to Rs.120 and it has different shades like white, Aquamarine, Azure Blue and etc.

Asain Paints Utsav Paint : it is product which is targeted to lower income people as well as rural

customer. The various shades were Adyrey, back\, white, super white and etc.

Asian Paints Apex : This product is one of the major product of the saian paints as this product is targeted

to middle class people and avg income level. These paint have wider range of shades such as classic

white, blue ice, Alliance, Antique white, sweet time and etc. The price varies from Rs.180-Rs. 115.

Products of Asian Paints in Industrial sector : it is the second category of the product that Asian paint

produces. In this segment Asian Paints targets to industry where the paint are used for protective coatings

of the machinery. Road mapping and various other industrial uses. In these segment the product are

normally sold at the premium price. Asian paint in these sector is behind its competitor Nerolac. Now

Asian Paints is trying a lot to improve the product technology and by bringing new product in this sector

to compete with its competitor. The products are

(i) Apcomin Synthetic Enamel

(ii) Apcomin Synthetic Powder

(iii) Stainer

(iv) Premium surface & fillers

These products are based on high technological products and are used for asset (Machinery, tools,

equipments) coloring and upcoming synthetic powder is used as lubricating agent in the machinery.

Premium surface and fillers and strainers are used in for road marking and various other tings in the

Industrial sector.

Product for automotive sector : This is the third category of product which is produced by Asian paint.

These segment is slowly being emerging great user of paint in the Indian market previously automotive

company used to import the product from other country. But now some companies like Asian paint,

nerolac, Berger have their products in this segment. This sector is emerging market in India.

Products : The products of Asian paint in this segment are

(1) Allumium Paint

(2) Fibre Paint

(3) Apcolite Hammertone finish

Basically the product in this segment are new but the product are in the great demand automotive vehicles

in India. The product are available in different colour basically they are used for colouring the vehicles

and the spare parts.

Product life cycle : Product life cycle suggests the different stages that a product undergoes during its life

cycle Introduction stage: In these stage the product are introduced to the market.

(i) Growth state :In growth stage the product gens the memeenturn an grows rapidly in these

stage.

(ii) Maturity : In these stage the product attains the saturation level it reaches its maximum point

and from that point it starts downfall.

(iii) Decline stage : In these stage product slowly goes downward in to the slope because of low

demand and various other things. It end stage of a product.

BRAND

A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, design or a combination of all which is build intended to identify

products or services of a company to differentiate it from its competitor. Asian paints, the largest paint

company in India have established its position as a great brand. Asian paints promise to deliver

consistently a specific set of features, benefits & services to buyers.

Asian paints as a brand name is very much attached with allits products. What evr may be the product,

like ultima, Emulsion, wall finish lustce, Apcolite premium in the urban area or the UTSAV at the rural

area, the brand name is directly attached.

The brand name Asian paints brings to the mind of people certain attributes lie – wonderful coloring,

royal treatment, 1000’s of colour combinations, pricing not an important factor of concern as the

company provides products for all category of consumers. Post purchase service is also an important issue

related to brand name.

Asian paints Brand extension policies helped them to reduce the effective cost of launching new colours

products in new form, with new name. Line Extension technique of branding helped them to go with new

forms like – Asian paints UTSAV Enamel, Asian Paints Tractor Emulsion, Asian paints Royal.

Company’s universal logo “GATTU’ which is not going to be a logo anymore, helped Asian paints to

promote its products in through out India, particularly in rural areas it got the most popularity.

Asian paints is using its website as a very strong mode for the promotion of Brand. The wonderful

information related to pre-painting & after sales services helped the company to build its unique brand.

The on-line services, colour world & Advertisements also helped to build the Brand of Asian paints.

PROMOTION

Asian paints the market leader of the decorative segment in the paint market of the India. As it is not for

behind in the other tow section that is industrial coating and automotive coating. In achieve the current

position a lot things are being done by the Asian paints. The promotion strategy of Asian paints is

bringing a lot of positive output to the company. Company is using different techniques such ad.

Compaign, sales promotion, personal selling, driect marketing and public relation.

Promotion strategy :

Direct response marketing : Asian paints is using V-sts based in the and 24 hours online customer help

line service open. In enable the customer to interact with the company and know the details about the

product, pricing and many things related to the company.

Asian paints is dominating the television advertisemnt by increasing other ad campaign cost over 50%

from next year. A total amount of 85 crores is spent ont eh ad campaign by asian paint. With huge ad

campaign support behind the product the company is able to making a brand name in the mind of

customer. Their particular ad campaign ‘Mera Walla Blue” “har ghar kuch kehta hia” are being liked by

the customer.

Online marketing for urban customer : Asian paint online marketing system is helping company in lot of

ways many customer all the necessary information to the customer. It is an unique way of promotion.

Colour world : Asian paint had established 30 colur world thorugh out the country giving the people real

taste of colur. The punchline for the colour world is “Jjahan Milen world ke saare colour”

Promoting in different cities : Asian paint have large area of Network of distribution. It has almost retail

outlets through out the country situated in the different city of India. All the customer could easily access

the product of Asian paint anywhere and any time.

Promotional strategy followed by Asian paints in rural market

One of thing which is contributing to the profit of Asian paint is that its entry to the rural market. As

Asian paint gets an competitive advantage from its competitor in this sector. As Nerolac and Berger were

only targeting the urban customer.

First of al Asian paint is bring different low cost product like Utsav group in the rural market.

There packaging very from 200gm to 1 kg \and prices are also relatively low.

To enhance their sales in the rural market they are spending a huge amount of money in ad

campaigns.

In rural areas they follow sales demonstration programme where they demonstrate their different

product where a large no. of discount is given on the product, lucky coupons, free gifts are given

to the customer.

Moving vans are being employed to sell their product in different village.

Promotion in international arena

Asian paint is taking we from the domestic market and promoting its product in the international market

with establishing colour world in those place particularly Caribbean, Africa Middle east Asia and south

pacific. A huge amount fund is invested adcapaign for these product in the international market.

Promotion through Ad campaign : Asian paint has different brands over 1100 shades targeting different

segments. The company decide to promote all the brand under one name of “Asian paint’ This was a

advantage for Asian paint in the Low involvement segment as the people asked the paint by brand.

Target Audience : The primary target audience for all of the brands marketing and communication

activities has been the adult male who is the primary decision maker. However female members of the

house play an important role in selecting a shade so a large number of ad are done keeping in mind that

thing..

The non-sue of caps in the headline as in the original ad “Asian Paint” logo which is sin similar

font, the design is meant for better readability and structure of colour used.

The company mascot “Gattu” an impish boy with the paint tin and the brush, is most popular and

easily reconciled and is one of the ideal mascot.

Sates promotion : Asian paint uses it sale promotion as key ingredient in its marketing campaign. It

consist of various incentive designed to stimulate faster or greater purchase of their products.

Giving discount to the dealer ; Asian paint gives certain amount of discount to the dealer if he increases

the sales of the company product.

Specialty advertising : Giving Asian paint T-shirt, Caps and other small things to painter for their

advertisement.

Trade show : Asian paint always open its stall in the Industry trade so that it products would be promoted

globally.

Consumer preference : The customer of Asian vary from a period to a big industry in order to enhance it

sales it gives price discount on bulk amount of purchase. The company give coupons inside the paint pack

so that could be taken by the customer as a gift from the company. Asian paint always try to improve the

packaging of the product. If the product would be fancy and stylish then it would increase the sales of the

products. As industrial coating is one of tis major product the company uses the name of the company it

supply the paint for its promotion.

The promotional strategy adopted by Asian is quite unique apart from having such good strategy the

company is using high profile brand ambassador like Akshay Khanna, Saif Alikhan” to promote their

product in the paint market. Promotional strategy of Asian paint is always aimed looking at customer and

this needs and for this strategy company is enjoying the No 1 Position in the Indian paint market.

DISTRIBUTION

Asian paints have an extensive distribution channel through out the country. It used to maintain unique

channel from the manufacturer to the customer. Distribution system at Asian paints : -

1. Multiplant Distribution setup.

Neither geographic nor product specific.

Offers flexibility & variable cost advantages

2. Servicing has been key competitive advantage.

3. Around 15000 dealers serviced from around 85 sales location.

4. Role of distribution department is to ensure timely product availability at these locations at

minimum cost.

5.

The company ahs 4 manufacturing facilities & more than 2800 stock keeping units (SKUs) These are

supported by 6 regional distribution centers, which cater 55 deposits. Each depot is having branch

manager for supervision over more than 15000 dealers in more than 3500 small & big cities in India.

Asian paint implemented & concisely improving its IT systems over the years. It has already linked all

sites & Depots through V-SAT technology, which helps them to monitor constantly & has given benefits

in streamlining the distribution channel.

Asian paints also implemented 12 solutions to increase its networkings & solutions, which is a very good

replacement of ERP.

SERVICE

Asian paints is India’s largest paint company & the third largest paint company of Asia today , has an

enviable reputtion in corporate & society level for its wonderful serving.

Asian paints have three different segments : (i) Decorative paints (ii) Industrial & (iii) Automotive paints.

Its service strategy is also different according to these segments.

(i) Decorative paints:

Asian paints some solutions – which actually offer a hastle free painting experiences to the consumer is

presently available in 11 different cities in India. It is particularly meant for premium consumers. In this

case painting is done by experienced, trained applicators & according to the wish & choice of customer in

presence of him. Here time bound completions of the job is assured.

In the website of Asian paints (www.asianpaint.com) all the details related to the availability of the above

facility & the help desk is designed to provide the customer ample choices.

Asian paints clour world is the unique paint shop of Asian paint available through out the India, where

consumer can directly see the different paint combinations through software & chose accordingly.

In all t here cases Asian paints also provide warranty for their products & for home solutions free after

paint services to the consumer, if anything wrong happens with the paint.

For the rural areas, where the most popular product UTSAV, dominate the market, Asian paint used to

organize rallys, car or van advertisement of their product & make aware the people about their services.

ii) Industrial paint :

Here the products are tested under extreme conditions to ensure their durability & how they can withstand

different climatic changes. As corporate level the main consumer here Asian paint used to provide

importance in servicing this sector too. Its website gives all the product details. It provides technical

details regarding the uses of the paint. Coating specification, health & safety are also given importance as

a part of services.

iii) Automotive coatings :

In this segment Asian paints is improving its market share with high speed. Here the vehicles ultimately

goes to the consumer, so Asian paints used to provide direct consumer service, private cars, motor bikes

& MUV (Multi usage vehicles) vehicle manufactures are directly provided with the post paint service.

Asian paint have implemented is solutions. Which helped them to overcome the homegrown supply

chain, which had certain drawbacks, in terms of customer service. The is solution helped them to

continuously monitor the changing needs of the market place & serve the customers accordingly.

In future so as to become open of largest paint company in the world Asian paints is also taking care of

the services they provide. They want to have more feedback from the customers through their website &

colour world. It is now turning its helpline into an integral part of its operations. Roughly 75 lakh rupees

is considered as the annual service cost. Quality service is the future mothe of the company.

RESEARCH

Asian paints, the largest paint company of India have a very strong research methodology. There are two

ways they follow : - (i) Market Research (ii) Research & Development of the products according to

customers need & choices.

(i) Market Research :

Asian paints used to hold a very strong market research team. The colour worlds available throughout

India is also keeping the consumer databases & their feed backs. There are three important respect which

came out.

(i) Consumer presences

(ii) Increasing global competition

(iii) Rapidly disappearing completive advantages.

The market research suggests company need to improve its presence in Industrial sector. Products related

to surface coatings & Intermediates need to be modified. UTSAV range of products achieved a great

success in rural market in this area Asian paint need to take the competitive advantage.

(ii) Research & Developments :

Asian paints have invested 140.54 million Rs. In 2005-06 in the R & D sector, Which gives an idea about

the company’s paid interest in R & D.

The various sector where company is taking care of are –

(i) Development of analytical test methods, characterization technique & application techniques essential

for product development, bench marketing & customer servicing.

(ii) Up gradation of products & processes to reduce environmental & safety concerns.

(iii) As the price of crude oil is increasing day by day. Asian paints is looking for identification of

alternate & new raw materials for the products.

(iv) Quality improvement, cost benefits, supply chain flexibility & crisis management are also the matter

of concern.

Future planning :

Asian paints is growing rapidly throughout the world. In international market company is planning to

introduce new & attractive products though its subsidiaries, like Berger, Apco coating etc. In Jamaica &

Fuji company’s market is yet not satisfactory, which is also a matter of concern. In domestic market

company will concentrate on development of new products/ product systems. With improved supply

chain management.

Asian paints is looking to invest approximately Rs.160 million in R & D in 2006-2007 financial years.

Quality control system will be upgraded & implementation of in solution will be helpful to grow.

7. CONCLUSION

1. Though Asian paints is the largest paint company in India but in industrial sector its

performance is not satisfactory. Many totally new manufacturing units are coming up &

will start production very soon. This will definitely through new challenges to company

is going to effect the pfofitability as well as the marketing strategy of the company. But

before that, a proper introduction of positing is very important to sustain in market.

2. With the advancement of technology the demand & choice of people changes rapidly. So

intensive R & d will need to be continued to continuously enhance the quality of the

product.

3. Internet purchasing is new becoming one of popular way to purchase. So adequate

measure will be taken to satisfy customers regarding designing of website & providing a

brief demonstration.

4. In International market also Asian Paints has become a top paint company. But its

strategy regarding the international market must be reviewed at a certain internal so as to

maximize value.

The prospect of a paint company has many dependence like weather, occasions like puja, id etc. when we

consider the decorative segments. So there is always a possibility of ups & downs in the business.

Besides this there is another very important factor i.e. the position of the competitor. Through Asian

paints is the largest paint company still under circumstances it will have to go for some strategy

alternatives.

Alternatives available :

1. As Asian paints market is mainly the decorative segment so a downfall in that market will lead

the company in trouble them it immediate focus will turn to the Industrial segment.

2. Importance on water based paints may recover a poor situation created due to sustain poor

weather condition in some region.

3. As there is every possibility that conventional coatings are likely to lose some share – ecofriendly

coasting is going to be very good alternatives.

4. With all countries in southeast Asia beginning to adhere to the ASEAN free trade Area (AFTA)

that will reduce trade barriers for paints & coatings. A reduce in domestic market share of Asian

paints then will not be a constant for growth, became export of paints to the foreign countries will

contribute a lot.

5. Increasing the product package & application oriented service will make company different from

others.

6. A strong post sales service division will be an important factor in building customer loyalty.

7. Tie up with automobile sector with strong appearance will be effective.

8. Lastly but not the least price of oil is increasing day by day, which results to increase the price of

paints. If this can be controlled by stocking oil or directly linking up with foreign cheap refineries

so as get oil at least available price.

9. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Websites:

www.google.com

www.managementparadise.com

www.asianpaints.com

http://econsultancy.com/