Assignment of Research methodology

on the product BOOST in Pune

Introduction

Boost is India's leading malt-based Health Food Drink in a chocolate flavour. It was developed by the company's R&D team in 1974 and launched in 1975-76. Its success characterizes the manner and skill with which GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare has responded to the changing contours of this product segment in recent times.

Boost has a market share of 13% countrywide amongst all Health Food Drinks (HFD), while in South India - the biggest region for the category - it commands a market share of 24%.

(Source: ACNeilsen Retail Audit)

The Firsts!

Boost is the first HFD to have used celebrity endorsement to convey its energy proposition and has thereby successfully differentiated itself from other brands. It has been successfully endorsed by India's most famous cricket stars, particularly those with a humungous following among children. Kapil Dev, the most charismatic cricketer of his time flagged this off in the 1980s. The baton passed to Sachin Tendulkar in the 1990s. Sachin has remained steadfast in his support for Boost with the explosive Virender Sehwag joining the Little Master as brand ambassador in 2001.

Boost was the first brand to introduce yellow granules in its formulation as part of the 'Power BoostersTM' relaunch in November 2002.

It is also the first brand in this segment to have developed a 'shrink-sleeved' packaging way back in 1999. In recognition of this, Boost has won the prestigious World Star award for its packaging.

Continuous Innovation

With the brand philosophy being to continuously innovate and pioneer changes, in line with the changing market dynamics and on-going consumer feedback, Boost has been restaged in May 2005. The brand now offers:

an even better product - with the addition of Advanced Energy BoostersTM*

a more sporty, more convenient bottle structure - now in plastic exciting new graphics compelling advertising with a high visual appeal that depicts the winning

energy we all aspire to have.

Type of MarketBoost is a part of Indian Health Food Drinks (HFD). HFD is targeted at children aged 5-18. The market is huge since this is the age group that demands some kind of energy drink. The kids are active and playing during this age and the pressure is on the home maker to keep the energy level of the kids high using some drinks. Boost was innovative not only in the promotion front but also in product improvements. In 2002, as a part of its repositioning, the brand came out with Power Boosters: which contains Copper and Biotin. It was first of its kind in this segment. Boost also innovated in packaging. Over these years, the packaging became contemporary and stylish to reflect the changing consumer preferences. This was good enough to attract children. With competitors like Bourn vita, complain, Horlicks, this brand had to attract the children and provide them with a better, healthy, tasty, and nutritional energy drink.

Product

A brand will become successful only if the owner invests in the brand for the long term. Boost is a testimony of that. Over these years, the brand has been positioned and repositioned in tune with the consumer. During the late nineties, consumer insights showed that although the kids liked the promos involving Sachin, they felt somewhat distant from the brand (because Sachin was perceived to be extraordinary). Realising this brand changed its tagline to” Boost is the secret of my energy' to “Boost is the secret of OUR energy". In 2005, the brand came with Choco Blast (more chocolate) and Advanced Energy Boosters to counter the threat from Bourn Vita who now has the Chocolate taste of "Five Star" in it. During this time, boost successfully created its brand name and became popular between the children. After the initial growth, the brand landed in the mature stage of PLC during 1980's with sales plateauing. The brand repositioned itself through a careful planned strategy backed by consumer insight. The brand realised that kids are strong influencers of the purchase process for such products and once kids get hooked onto such drinks, brand loyalty can be assured.

Consumer Profile :

60 households and 40 dealers in Pune.

Areas covered under the survey :

Dange Chowk

Aundh

Old Sangvi

Chinchwad

Variants of Boost :

Name of the variant

Features of the variant

Pack sizes available

New Boost ChocoBlast

'The energy of Boost, now in an Exxxtra Chocolate Taste!'

A new flavour of Boost - Boost ChocoBlast has been introduced in May 2005. It is one of the best tasting chocolate drinks in the market today. In addition, it is a more granular product and is powered with Advanced Energy BoostersTM*. So, now you can have the energy of Boost, in an extra chocolate taste, at no extra cost!

80 g,

500 g,

1 kg

Advanced

Energy BoostersTM*

New Boost and Boost ChocoBlast are charged with Advanced Energy BoostersTM - Iron, Zinc and Magnesium along with other key vitamins and minerals that give extra energy.

Just 2 cups with # Advanced Energy BoostersTM provide: Nutrients (%)* Benefit

Iron (100%), Copper, Folate, Vitamins B12, A, C (50%)

Healthy blood for more energy and optimal physical performance

80 g,

500 g,

1 kg

Questionnaire :

Part A-Questionnaire for customers

General questions --

1) Name of Customer:2) Contact no :

Question for data collection --

1) Which brand comes 1st in your mind when you think of health drinks?

a) Boost b) Complan

c) Horlicks d) Bournvita e) Milo.

2) .......................... Is the secret of my energy!

3) What comes in your mind when you think of Boost?

a) Energy drink b) Sports drink c) Chocolate drink

4) Have you seen any promotions of Boost?Yes ( ) No ( )

4.a) Through which medium :a) TV. b) Radio c) Hoardings

d) Paper Advertisement

e) Others (Please Specify)....................

5) Do you like the promotion schemes of Boost?a) Completely satisfied b) Satisfied

c) Not satisfied d) Not aware

6) Are these promotional schemes strong enough to change your buying decision:

a) Yes ( ) b) No ( )

7) If your preferred health drink is not available you go for1st choice...................... 2nd choice.................

8) Scale the following factors which may or may not influence your decision to purchase BOOST.

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

a) Price : b) Brand value : c) Nutritional value d) Advertisements e) Taste

Part B-Questionnaire for retailers

General Questions –

1) Name of Outlet :2) Name of the Dealer:3) Contact no :

Question for data collection --

1) Which brand do you prefer to sell?a) Boost b) Bournvita c) Complan d) Horlicks e) Milo

2) Are you satisfied with the company’s (Boost) promotional schemes?

Not satisfied Satisfied Completely satisfied

Reasons :1) Less margins / More margins2) Less credit period / More credit period3) Poor service / Good service4) Less free sample / More free sample

3) Are you satisfied with the way company’s (Boost) representative interact with you?a) Not satisfied b) Partially satisfied

c) Satisfied d) Completely satisfied

Table no.3.1

Year Saless in Rs Sales in units Market share in%

2008 1632.83 175.92 13 %

20071338.96

151.45 12.6 %

20061155.74

137.82 12.1 %

Graphical representation of sales in Rs., sales in units and market share in percentage for the year 2006 to 2008.

From the above graph we can see that there is a continuous rise in sales of Boost @ 15-22% from the year 2006-2008. In 2006-2007 sales rose by 15.85% whereas in 2007-2008 sales rose by 21.94%. Thus the company is constantly growing in terms of sales in Rs. in crore.

From the above graph we can say that sales in units have shown a trend in growth of 9-17% . In the year 2006-2007 sales in units have rose by 9.89% whereas in the year 2007-2008sales in units have rose by 16.16%. Therefore, the sales have risen by 13.63 million tonnes and 24.47 million tonnes in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

From the above graph we can say that there is a fall in market share of Boost @ 3-4% for the years 2006-2008. In the year 2006-2007 market share fall by 3.07% whereas in year 2007-2008 the market share fall by 3.97%. therefore, we can conclude that there has been a fall in market share.

Analysis and interpretation of Data

Q . 1 Which brand comes 1st in your mind when you think of health drinks?

a) Boost b) Complan c) Horlicks

d) Bournvita e) Milo.

From the graph given below we can conclude most of the consumers prefer Bourn Vita (41.67%) than any other Health Food Drink. Then follows Horlicks with 28.33% and Complan with 25%. Boost has a minimal share of 3.33%. Least preferred drink is Milo. From the percentages we can say that only few customers prefer to consume Boost.

MiloHorlicksComplanBourn VitaBoost

Brand

25

20

15

10

5

0

Count

1Milo

1.67%

17Horlicks28.33%

15Complan25.0%

25Bourn Vita

41.67%

2Boost3.33%

Q . 2 .......................... Is the secret of my energy!

(This question is to check the Brand Recall value for Boost i.e. to see whether the slogan of Boost was able to make a place in consumer’s mind.)

Yes: Yes stands for ‘ yes they remember the slogan’.

No: No stands for ‘ no they don’t remember the slogan’.

From the pie chart we found that around 51.67% customers don’t remember the slogan and 48.33% customers remember the slogan. This shows that there is a mixed response among the customers.

29Yes

48.33%

31No

51.67%

Yes

No

BrandRecall

Q.3 What comes in your mind when you think of Boost?

a) Energy drink b) Sports drink c) Chocolate drink

This question was asked to find out what do the customers perceive Boost as i.e. Sports drink, Chocolate drink and Energy drink. From the graph below we can conclude that most of the customers (46.67%) perceive Boost as an Energy drink. And around same percentage of customers considers it as Sports and Chocolate drink.

16Sports26.67%

28Energy46.67%

16Chocolate26.67%

Sports

Energy

Chocolate

Image

Q.4 Have you seen any promotions of Boost?

Yes ( ) No ( )

This question was asked to see the visibility of Boost i.e. is the company successful in bringing the brand in front of the eyes of the customers. From the bar graph we can see that most of the customers (96.67%) have seen the advertisement of Boost. Only a minimal percentage of customers (3.33%) have not seen the advertisement.

YesNo

Visibility

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Count

58Yes

96.67%

2No

3.33%

Q.4a. Through which mode:

a) TV. b) Radio c) Hoardings

d) Paper Advertisement

e) Others (Please Specify)................

Here we are checking that which mode of advertisement is most effective. By the pie chart we can say that TV is the most effective mode of advertisement with 96.67%. 3.33% customers have not seen the advertisement of Boost.

58TV

96.67%

2-

3.33% TV

-

WhichMode

Q. 5 Do you like the promotion schemes of Boost?

a) Completely satisfied b) Satisfied

c) Not satisfied d) Not aware

From the below graph we can say that 51.67% of the customers are satisfied i.e. they find the promotions quiet good. While 35% are not satisfied i.e. they want more and better schemes and 10% are completely satisfied. Only 3.33% of the customers say that they are not aware of the schemes.

SatisfiedNot SatisfiedNot AwareCompletely Sat.

SchSatisfaction

30

20

10

0

Count

31Satisfied51.67%

21Not Satisfied

35.0%

2Not Aware

3.33%

6Completely Sat.

10.0%

Q. 6 Are these promotional schemes strong enough to change your buying decision:

b) Yes ( ) b) No ( )

Here we try to find out that are the schemes strong enough to change their purchase decision. The graph shows that 73.33% of the customers will not change their decision. While only 26.67% of the customers will change their decision if the scheme is good enough.

16Yes

26.67%

44No

73.33%

Yes

No

SchAttractiveness

Q.7 If your preferred health drink is not available you go for

1st choice...................... 2nd choice.................

From the line graph we can conclude that for most of the customer’s first preference is Bournvita followed by Boost, Complan and Horlicks. While some customers don’t prefer any thing other than their choice.

HorlicksComplanBourn VitaBoost-

Preferrence1

20

15

10

5

0

Count 10

Horlicks

11Complan

19Bourn Vita

13Boost

7-

2nd choice.................

From the line graph we can conclude that for most of the customer’s don’t prefer anything else other than their choice and first preference. While some go for Boost, Complain and Horlicks. Only a few go for Bourn Vita and Milo for their second preference.

This shows that though Boost is not the choice of most of the customers still they will buy it they don’t get the health food drink of their choice.

MiloHorlicksComplanBourn VitaBoost-

Preferrence2

20

15

10

5

0

Count

1Milo

10Horlicks

13Complan

4Bourn Vita

13Boost

19-

Q.8. Scale the following factors which may or may not influence your decision to purchase BOOST.

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

f) Price : g) Brand value : h) Nutritional value i) Advertisements j) Taste

Here the scale -3 to 3 shows the level of liking or disliking of the customers of Boost for different aspects like price of the Boost i.e. what do the customers think about the price of Boost if they think the price is high the scale will be in positive number and vice versa. Another example of Brand Value if they think that Boost has got a good brand value scale will be positive and for low brand value scale will be negative. At ‘0’ they have a neutral stand.

From the diagram given below we can say that most of the customers have a neutral stand for price i.e. they think that the price is apt. They think that the brand value is quite good. While they think that the nutritional value is satisfactory. When asked about the advertisements and taste they like the both.

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Low Price High Price

Low Brand Value High Brand Value

Low Nutritional Value High Nutritional Value

Bad Advertisements Good Advertisements

Bad Taste Good Taste

PART-B

Q. 1 Which brand do you prefer to sell?

a)Boost b) Bournvita c) Complan d) Horlicks e) Milo

We can conclude from the graph given below that most of the sellers prefer to sell bournvita which is 75% followed by complan, horlicks and boost which is 12.5%,5%,7.5% respectively. This shows that bournvita is the sellers choice.When we asked the sellers we found that customers demand more for bournvita thats why they prefer to sell bournvita as compared to other health drinks.

Q. 2 Are you satisfied with the company’s (Boost) promotional schemes?

Not satisfied Satisfied Completely satisfied

Reasons :1) Less margins / More margins2) Less credit period / More credit period3) Poor service / Good service4) Less free sample / More free sample

From the graph given below we can conclude that 65% of sellers are not satisfied from the promotional schemes of Boost while 25% are satisfied the reason behind that was the margins given by company are less, they do not offer any credit period ,gives poor service as they visit only twice in a month as well as do not offer any free samples also they give very high monthly target to achieve.

Q: 3 Are you satisfied with the way company’s (Boost) representative

Interact with you?

a) Not satisfied b) Partially satisfied c) Satisfied d) Completely satisfied

Graph given below shows that considerable no(50%). Of dealers like the behaviour of company’s representative while minimal no(5%). Of dealers are completely satisfied.only 32.50% dealers are not satisfied and 10% are partially satisfied. When asked. why? they told us that the representative irritate them to increase sales.

Conclusion :

Not very large no of people prefer to drink Boost. (Bournvita, complan & Horlicks)

When comes to brand recall there is a mixed response. Most of the people perceive it as an energy drink.

Most effective medium of advertisement is T.V Promotion schemes are not enough to change buying decision People perception about Boost is as follows :

Prise is apt. High in brand value. Nutritional value is good People likes taste & advertisement

Dealers are not very satisfied. Dealers are mostly prefer to sell Bourn Vita, Complan & Horlicks.

Recommendation :

GSK’s total market share is high but that is because of its another brand that is Horlicks. Boost has a very small market share of 13 % they should come up with new marketing strategies to capture the market share.

They have to put more efforts to increase the sales Only one medium of advertisement is effective they have to concentrate

on other mediums also. They have to work hard to make loyal customers. They are facing tough competition from other brands. So, they have to

come up with new innovative ideas to beat the competition. They have to come up with better dealers promotion schemes to satisfy

the dealers. They should come up with better promotion schemes to increase their

customer base. They should assist the dealer after supplying the product.