camlin report

Marketing Management II

Camlin Ltd.

Submitted by:

Raunak Narain – 2010160 Rachit Anand – 2010169

Rohit Kejriwal – 2010189 Rohit Ramachandran – 2010187

Varun Bhargava – 2010258


Camlin Ltd.

INTRODUCTION:

Camlin Ltd is one of India’s leading stationery companies with a wide product

range and strong pan-India distribution network. Its wide distribution reach and

quality products have made it a household name in school and education

stationery products. Camlin’s products have been used by over three

generations and enjoy strong brand loyalty. It is a market leader in the art

materials product segment like water colours cakes/tubes, poster colours, wax

crayons, oil pastels, plastic crayons etc. Its strong distribution network with a

presence in 150,000 retail outlets and good relationship with schools have

distinguished it from competitors like Faber Castell and Hindustan Pencils Ltd. It

has four manufacturing units, three of them in Maharashtra and one in Jammu.

Camlin is also present in the office stationery segment and fine art and hobby

product segment.

Increasing affordability of Indian masses through higher disposable income has

resulted in increased demand for quality school and educational stationery. Over

the last 3 years, Camlin has seen strong growth in it business and profitability

through increase in capacities, increased in-house production, and focus on high

margin products.

BACKGROUND:

Camlin began 74 years ago in 1931, as a single product company. Today, the

company have achieved vision and have over 2000 innovative products. Camel

is a part of Camlin and are the most recognised stationery and art brand in

India.It has over 50,000 retailers under them and global presence too. The

company started with the famous brand CAMEL inks.

From inks, our activities expanded into a range of products, such as pain balms,

chalks, rubber stamp pads, gums, adhesives and so on. To take these products

across the length and breadth of the country, a distribution network was set up.

IMPORTANT EVENTS in CAMLIN’s history are as follows:

1962 - Entry into the art material market with products such as artists' and

students' oil and water colours, poster colours, geometry boxes, wax crayons, oil

pastels and water colour cakes.

1974 - Wooden pencils were introduced. A fully integrated factory was started in

Tarapur (100 kms from Mumbai) for manufacture of wooden pencils.

The Camlin Fine Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Division were born. A new


Camlin Ltd.

integrated ultra-modern plant was started in the Tarapur factory to drug

intermediates and antioxidants for the global market.

1987-Camlin became a public limited company and was listed on the Bombay

Stock Exchange.

1989-Technical collaboration was established with Pilot Corporation, Japan for

manufacture of 0.5 mm high-polymer leads.

1995-Camlin started a brand new, state of the art manufacturing facility at

Taloja M.I.D.C. near Mumbai for synthetic emulsion and adhesives. Marketing

collaboration was with world leaders Winsor and Newton (U.K.) in artists’

colours.

1998- All India Camel Colour Contest (AICCC), the most popular child-art

contest for school children, that blazed new trails, with a staggering 30 lakh

entries received for the contest.

1999-Glass colours were introduced in the hobby range. The All India Camel

Colour Contest featured in the Limca Book of Records, for the highest number of

entries received.

2003-Launch of Camlin Exam brand, the premium quality school stationery

brand.

2005-Saw the introduction of the new, state-of-the-art, plastic body marker

range.


Camlin Ltd.

KEY STRENGTH & STRATEGIES:

1. Market leader in the profitable art colours products.

2. Quality products, wide product range and strong distribution network have

resulted in good brand equity.

3. Increase in capacities, increased in-house production and focus on high

margin products leading to strong growth in business and profitability.

4. Entered into technological and marketing arrangements with Pilot

Corporation, Japanese company for products where it lacks technological

and production expertise to leverage its strong distribution network and

its popular brand name.

5. Entered into production of markers in a significant way in the office

stationery segment.

6. The Jammu unit was set up in 2008. Manufacturing of products attracting

high excise duty is being done in the Jammu unit where it enjoys excise

exemptions

7. Entered into running of pre-schools to leverage its brand strength in the

field of education and associate with its consumer – the school kid – at an

early age.

8. It imports products from China as accessories to offer a broader product

range and complement the existing portfolio.

9. Camlin’s distributors had expanded from 600 to 1200 over the last few

years. Camlin plans to take it further to 2000.


Camlin Ltd.

COMPETITORS:

The main competitors of Camlin are Hindustan Pencils Ltd, Faber Castell, Pidilite

and Navneet. They face a tough competition from these players. Navneet,

Hindustan Pencils Ltd and Faber Castell are the main competing players in school

and education products. Faber Castell again is a tough competitor in Office

products. In the Fine art and hobby products Pidilite is giving a tough fight.

The company also faces a tough competition from local players too in school and

education product but these organised market has been eating market share of

these unorganised players, who make cheaper inferior quality products, through

better quality products and distribution.


Camlin Ltd.

PRODUCT:

Camlin is primarily present into 3 stationery segments:

School and education stationary-

In the school and education stationery segment,Camlin is a market leader in art

colours products like water colours cakes/tubes, poster colours, wax crayons, oil

pastels, plastic crayons, sketch pens,colour pencils etc.The plant at Jammu has

been set up to manufacture art colour products. Other products in the school &

education stationary segment include wooden pencils, scales, erasers,

sharpeners , math sets, dissection boxes, notebooks, mechanical pens,hi

polymer leads , fountain pen, ink etc. In FY10, about 62% of Camlin’s revenues

came from the school and education stationery segment.

Office Stationery–

In the office stationery segment,Camlin’s major focus are markers.Its Vasai

plant manufactures a wide range of markers. Its product range in the office

stationery segment include white board markers, permanent markers,

highlighters, ball pen, gel pen, stamp pads, refills, paint markers, CD markers,

carbon papers, glue sticks, etc. In FY10, Camlin derived 25% of its revenues

from the office stationery segment.

Fine art & hobby –

Camlin’s fine art & hobby segment comprises products like artist oil colours,

artist acrylic colours, canvas rolls, canvas boards, easels, artist water colours, oil

sketching papers, drawing inks, brushes, painting mediums, glass colours, fabric

colours, powder colours, fabric glue, artist poster colours, etc. The Tarapur plant

manufactures fine art and hobby products. In FY10,Camlin derived 13% of its

revenues from the fine art & hobby segment.

Product Range

Camlin’s vast portfolio consists of over 2,000 products in the Consumer Products

broadly categorized as:

* Technical & Drawing instruments

* Writing instruments

* Office stationery

* Adhesives

* Notebooks


Camlin Ltd.

* Fine art

* Hobby art

* Scholastic art

Camlin have a very extensive & efficient customer feedback system which acts

as a very useful source of inputs for product development because of which it

has been able to maintain its leadership in the market for major product

groups.Sales team acts as an interface with the customers for the same, as well

as conducts market survey and maintains interactive relationship with various

artists through mediums like Art workshops for feedbacks that helps in constant

improvement in quality, innovative packaging, competitive pricing and effective

distribution.

Special attention is given to the packaging of the product as well.For

example,bright & vibrant colours like Yellow,Red and Green are used on the

covers ,banners etc.Designers are coming up with innovatively printed product

covers so as to attract young customers like school children.


Camlin Ltd.

PRICE:

Technical & Drawing instruments

Office stationery

Product

Price (Rs.)

Product

Price (Rs.)

Permament Markers 20

Camel Mathematical Drawing Instruments Set - Premium Range

80

WhiteBoard Markers 25

Mathematical Instruments Spares 1 12

CD/OHP Markers 15

Mathematical Instruments Spares 2 25

Rubber Stamp Pads 16.5

Rubber Stamp Ink 25 ml – in Plastic Bottles

13

Impress Carbon Papers 150

Writing instruments

Camel Adhesive Paste 50ml 9

Product

Price (Rs.)

Regular Ink Filling Mechanism

Fountain Pen 36-R 35

Adhesives

Fountain Pen 22-R 27

Product

Price (Rs.)

Piston Mechanism

Krafty Glue Stick (15gm) 30

Fountain Pen SLEEK 46

Krafty Glue with applicator (25gm) 10

Fountain Pen 47-P 50

Adhelin Synthetic Glue - 30 ml - Tube

5

Trinity Pen F Pen TRINITY Plastic Barrel, Metal Cap 70

Fine art

Brio Boxes 200

Camel Oil Colours for Artists'

Set of 12 Assorted Colours in 20ml Tubes (20-L-12)

600

Set of 12 Assorted Colours in 9ml Tubes (20-M-12)

275

Camel Oil Colours for Students'

120ml 155

60ml 95

Camel Artists’ Gesso 500 ml 295

Artists' Water Colour Set 24 Half Pans in LW Metal Box 6395

Artists' Water Colour Set of 12 x 5 ml Tubes (Metal Box)

4600


Camlin Ltd.

Pricing Strategies :-

The pricing strategies followed by Camlin can be described as follows :-

Premium Pricing Policy: - In order to be in line with its goal of

providing high quality stationery and also to make customers perceive it

as a high quality provider, Camlin sells its products at a premium range in

its various product segments.

Margins for Retailers: - Camlin provides a margin ranging from 20 to 50

percent depending on individual product, which is strategically different

from its main competitor Navneet which provides a flat margin of 25

percent on its various products.

Manufacturing Costs :- Manufacturing plants of Camlin are strategically

located in places like Jammu where various kinds of incentives are

provided like tax benefits or other forms of subsidies and also by

downward integration, i.e by acquiring supplier side industry, the overall

cost for the products has decreased and this added benefit may be used

for leveraging the distributors.

62%13%

25%

Sales Revenue

School & Education Product

Fine Art & Hobby Product

Office Product


Camlin Ltd.

PLACE:

Camlin is present in all parts if India and touches over 55 million households.

The Company has been extending this reach to more consumers every year

providing the customers with quality product.

Camlin has a strong distribution network as compared to its competitors and its

products are today available across over 150,000 retail stores. Camlin’s

distributors had expanded from 600 to 1200 over the last few years. Camlin

plans to take it further to 2000.

As India grows and this growth travels from larger cities to smaller cities and

class C towns, Camlin is extending its reach. Its products are today reaching

these smaller towns and connecting with consumers there. This is a whole new

market that is waiting to explode. Camlin is also increasing its interaction with

schools expecting to touch over 25,000 top schools and soon going forward.

The company has its presence in many foreign countries and exports its finished

goods to USA, Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific.

The company has made several sales team for different region are allotted the

region who are in constant touch with the distributor and the retailers.

The high end products are available at the select outlets whereas the regualr

products are available at all the retail stores.

It has one of the most extensive distribution network of Branches, Depots,

Distributors, Retail outlets and B2B.

Camlin’s Corporate Office is in Mumbai and it has its Branch Offices in Banglore,

Chennai, Delhi, Pune and Kolkata.

It has 3 manufacturing units located in Vasai, Tarapur, Taloja of Maharashtra

region and 1 in Jammu. The main reason for setting up a manufacturing unit in

Jammu to gain maximum tax advantage.

It has a strong network of its warehouses situated in every part of the country;

Zirakpur, Chandigarh, Ambala, Dehradun,New Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, Indore,

Ahmedabad, Indore, Ranchi, Raipur, Guwahti, Kolkata, Patna, Cuttack,

Hyderabad, Pune, Banglore, Chennai, Madurai, Cochin


Camlin Ltd.

The finished products from the manufacturing units are then transported to

depots and finally to the end consumers.

Majority of the products are manufactured at these manufacturing plants and

the balance is procured from various small scale units who cater to the

company’s requirements under strict supervision and quality control.

According to the management, large growth is expected from the Tier 3 and Tier

4 cities and the rural areas. The surplus income together with Government’s

emphasis on education is making the rural community to spend more on

education products. Camlin has increased its reach and logistic presence through

its distributors and dealers.

Wherever the Government schools are getting opened in both urban and rural

areas, the company ensures that it has reach and location over there and are

planning to grow at much faster pace in the coming years. This is a whole new

market that is waiting to explode. Camlin is also increasing its interaction with

schools. It expects to touch over 25,000 top schools soon going forward.

Capacity expansion well in place and that too in the high margin business Camlin

has invested extensively over the last three years to modernise and increase

capacity by four times. In FY 2010 the company made an investment of Rs

15.06 crore to modernize the manufacturing process, develop new office

products and writing instrument as well as create additional manufacturing

capacities for fast moving high-margin products.


Camlin Ltd.

DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL OF CAMLIN

Camlin

Manufacturing Centres

Mother Depot

Sales Depot

B2BDirect

DealersDistribution

Office Supplies Retailers

Corporate


Camlin Ltd.

PROMOTION:

To grow and sustain its brand loyalty in art colours products in the school and education stationery segment and fine art and hobby products. Camlin has been

undertaking various promotional activities like the following – All India Camel Colour Contest in which about 5mn students participate

Camel Art Foundation’s regional art exhibitions Art teacher workshops

Hobby workshops Craft competitions

Given the scale and nature of the company’s product portfolio, these are a popular means to increase the penetration and reach. Camlin has also carved

out a strategy for the modern retail formats which are increasingly emerging as strong consumer touch points. The overall promotion and advertising spends have been 110mn over the past two years and management expects this to

increase by a modest another 10-15%. Extensive distribution network of branches, depots, distributors, retail outlets

and B2B and good relationship with schools gives Camlin an advantage over its competitor Faber Castell in terms of market penetration in tier-2 and tier-3

cities.


Camlin Ltd.

Snapshot from Taare zameen par

Camlin undertakes all India camel colour competition 1-2 times every year across India. For this purpose it has formed SAT (School Activity Team). This

event is aimed at their major target audience which is school children. The students are required to draw and paint a picture using Camlin colours. An entry

label available with Camlin colours is to be submitted with each entry. This is done just to ensure that the students are using Camlin colours for painting. This helps them create

1. Increasing awareness of Camlin among students

2. Creating experience of using Camlin colours. A good experience generally leads to students buying the product again and again

3. Word of mouth publicity from one student to another student.

Same kind of competition is held for artists (mandatory to use Camlin colours for painting). The selected few paintings from all over India are displayed in art

exhibition organised by Camlin. If a painting is bought by someone then the artist of that painting gets money plus additional incentives to do a word of

mouth publicity of their products. Camlin doesn’t believe in giving cash discount to either retailers or consumers.

They offer it in terms of offering free products. For example: They give extra sharpener with a box of pencil. Customer will use the sharpener for a long time.

This serves a dual purpose i.e customer feels he is getting something extra for his money and as long as he has the sharpener, he remembers about Camlin.

As far as retailers are concerned, if a particular retailer is able to sell according to the expectations of the company then they offer him with free additional products which he can use for sale. This serves a dual purpose, increase in sales,

as retailer would be keen on getting his stock out. Moreover, retailer feels he is earning more as the company has offered him free products which can be used

for sale.


Camlin Ltd.

Painting competition from Taare zameen par

Retailers use price discounts to attract new tiers of product, brand switchers. Many times Camlin introduces free trails with their existing products to increase

their product awareness and hoping that the consumer will like a product and will buy it in future. Example: Offering of one glossy colour with a box of oil

pastels. As a part of promotion Camlin conducts 1-2 day workshop known as art teacher

workshop at various art institute which is conducted by Camlin experts to demonstrate their products.

A few handpicked artists are sent to euro tour (fully sponsored by Camlin) for visiting museums, art galleries etc. When these artists return they are involved

by Camlin for publicity and they form an integral part of further campaigns organised by the company in future.

Camlin has ventured into pre-school business to 1. Leverage and capitalize on the brand strength and equity in the field of

education. 2. Benefit of emotional disposition of consumers towards the brand due to

long association. 3. Associate with major consumer-school kid at an early age.


Camlin Ltd.

WAY AHEAD FOR CAMLIN.

1. Product:

Camlin is doing a good thing by venturing into stationery market which is very profitable. But it has not launched a wide variety of products in that particular segment to attract consumers. Launching of new products into a

particular segment will help them compete with the current competitors in that segment in a better manner. Some of the existing products are not selling well.

The company should try and discard these products and utilise the resources in developing new products which can cater to future demands.

2. Price:

Camlin products are sold at a premium. But the different varieties take care to cater to needs of different segments. The company should maintain this status quo while launching products in different segment. Trying to compete

based on price would not be a good idea as it would affect the brand equity. Pricing for new products should be based on the market leader’s price. Its major

focus should be trying to improve the quality of the product at the same cost so that it can act as one of the entry barriers to the new companies coming into the

colour segment-which is since a very long time dominated by Camlin.

3. Place: Camlin has targeted schools of mostly tier 1, tier 2 cities of mostly

Maharashtra region. Though it has presence in other regions of the country as well its presence is not as much. It should try to target tier 3 cities and other regions of the country as well. It should use its strong distribution network to

cater to the needs of children living in remote areas. They should set up factories in eastern and southern parts of the country so as to minimise cost.

Moreover Camlin transports majority of their goods from their factory situated in Mumbai to all over India. This increases their overall cost. Instead if they have warehouse of their own where they could keep their goods it would be a better

idea. If they build a warehouse in Nagpur it would prove very beneficial for them as Nagpur is centre of India and goods can be transported from here to all parts

easily.

4. Promotion: To prevent new entrants from capturing its market share Camlin can

adopt the following measures 1. Stock the retail outlet with Camlin product so that new entrants find very little shelf space.

2. Instead of heavy promoting product through television ads employ more people to do on field marketing and try to search for new unexplored markets

for its product (Television ads should be shown on cartoon channels which would help to reach the target audience). 3. Organise contests other than the traditional all India camel colour

competition such as slogan competition etc to lure more consumers into purchasing their products.


Camlin Ltd.

4. Create events for school children such as workshop where kids can come enjoy and actively participate. This would help them to develop a good rapport

with their major consumers. 5. They should sponsor various all India events which are viewed by kids.This

can also include sponsoring movies made for kids like my friend Ganesha, Hanuman etc.

camlin report

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