Mini Project ReportON Integration Project – 1 and Integration Project – 2”

Submitted for the partial fulfillment of the requirement of Postgraduate Diploma in Management Program in

By:

MANENDRA SHUKLA(2010-12)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

As any other report the success of this report is the result of active involvement of many people from time of inception of an idea till the end. Many brains has worked together to make this exclusive and informative report on Integration Project-1 and Integration Project – 2.

With a great pleasure and privilege I am presenting this report with my deepest gratitude to our institute for providing us this immense. I would like to acknowledge my sincere thanks, to Mr. Manoj Sahay (Marketing Professor) for his guidance throughout the project, his interest, enthusiasm and Involvement had been greatest motivational factor during the study.

It is a privilege to have weighty appreciation to all panel members for giving me complete support and cooperation, and for helping me with the knowledge regarding the planning of the business and execution of the same.

Special and sincere thanks to all the respondents who co-operated with me and share their suggestions and recommendation.

Declaration

I hereby declare that this project report titled

“Integration Project – 1 and Integration Project – 2”

Is submitted by me to MASTER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT,

MEERUT is a bonafide work undertaken by me and it is not submitted

to any other University or Institute for the award of any Degree /

Diploma / Certificate or published any time before.

.

Place: Meerut

………………………………Date: (MANENDRA SHUKLA)

INTEGRATION PAPER- 1

INTRODUCTION-

Promotion is the marketing term used to describe all marketing communications activities and includes personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, trade fairs and exhibitions, advertising and sponsorship. Promotion needs to be precisely coordinated and integrated into the businesses global communications message, and this is called Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC). IMC integrates the message through the available channels to deliver a consistent and clear message about your company’s brands, products and services. Any movement away from the single message confuses the consumer and undermines the brand.

The promotions mix (the marketing communications mix) is the specific blend of promotion tools that the company uses to persuasively communicate customer value and build customer relationships.

Promotion is the element of the marketing mix which is entirely responsible for communicating the marketing proposition. Marketers work hard to create a unique marketing proposition for their product or service. McDonald's is about community, food and enjoyment. Audi is about the driver experience and technology

MEANING AND IMPORTANCE OF PROMOTION-

Communication plays an important role in marketing. Communication perform the function of informing the target customer about the nature and type of the firm's product and services, their unique benefits, uses and features as well as the price and place at which these products can be purchased. The nature of marketing communication is persuasive since it aims at influencing the consumer behavior in favor of the firm's offering. These persuasive communications are commonly called "Promotion". In the context of marketing promotion refers to the applied communication used by marketers to exchange persuasive messages and information between the firm and its various prospective customers and general public.

Marketing communication is the essential element of the promotion function of marketing. Effective marketing depends on effective management of its promotion function. Effective promotion comes through effective communication. Success of products like hot-shot camera, Maggie 2 minute noodles, Khaitan fans, and UTI's ULIP

scheme are purely depend on the promotion function played by the respective marketing firms. There are products which are failed due to the lack of effective promotion.

With the growing competition in the market place as well as the customers becoming better informed and more choosy, it is important now that marketing communications of the right kind only are made to the right group of target buyers. Giving below the purpose of Promotion:

Communicating information-

The job of marketing is to identify consumer wants and then satisfy these wants with the right kind of products, at the right place and at the right price.  The purpose of promotion in the marketing function is to convey to customers about the features of the product and how it will satisfy consumer wants or any other relevant information needed by consumers to affect sales.  For example, if a refrigerator manufacturer is planning to offer  off-season discount, it is essential to communicate to potential customers about the extent of discount, period during which discount is available, name of the stores where it is available etc.  If all such information is not communicated to potential customers, lowering of prices will not be beneficial to either the consumer or the manufacturer.  Promotion is, thus, an essential part of the marketing function as it is essentially communication.

Promotion is persuasive Communication-

In any free enterprise system where firms develop and offer a wide range of new and better products, there are full of messages and distractions of all sorts.   Consumer often have to select the products from among a wise range of competing products.  As consumers do not have time and energy to compare the competing products physically, they turn to advertisements for product

information.  The present business environment being highly competitive, each firm wants the customers to buy its brand. Thus, persuasion is another goal of promotion. In other words, promotion is persuasive communication.

Promotion serves as a reminder-

Consider a customer who regularly buys Colgate Toothpaste or Lux Soap.  Do marketers of Colgate Toothpaste or Lux Soap advertise to appeal to such customers.  The answer is yes, because even the most loyal customers must be reminded that t product has served them well over the years and about the features that make the product attractive.  This is more so in an environment where competitors consistently attempt to attract the customers of competing brands with their own informative and persuasive message.  Thus, in addition to informing and persuading, another important purpose of promotion is reminding customers.  This is why even when the manufactures of well established products like Colgate, Lux, Surf, Nescafe, Lifebuoy etc. also advertise quite extensively to sustain customers preference for these products.

ELEMENTS OF PROMOTION MIX-

Think of it like a cake mix, the basic ingredients are always the same. However if you vary the amounts of one of the ingredients, the final outcome is different. It is the same with promotions. You can integrate different aspects of the promotions mix to deliver a unique campaign. Now let's look at the different elements of the promotions mix.

The elements of the promotions mix are:

Personal Selling. Sales Promotion. Public Relations. Direct Mail. Trade Fairs and Exhibitions. Advertising. Sponsorship. Online promotions.

PROMOTIONAL TOOLS-

Let us look at the individual components of the promotions mix in more detail. Remember all of the elements are 'integrated' to form a specific communications campaign.

1. Personal Selling-

Personal Selling is an effective way to manage personal customer relationships. The sales person acts on behalf of the organization. They tend to be well trained in the approaches and techniques of personal selling. However sales people are very expensive and should only be used where there is a genuine return on investment. For example salesmen are often used to sell cars or home improvements where the margin is high.

2. Sales Promotion-

. Sales promotions tend to be thought of as being all promotions apart from advertising, personal selling, and public relations. For example the BOGOF promotion, or Buy One Get One Free. Others include couponing, money-off promotions, competitions, free accessories (such as free blades with a new razor), introductory offers (such as buy digital TV and get free installation), and so on. Each sales promotion should be carefully costed and compared with the next best alternative.

3. Public Relations (PR)-

Public Relations is defined as 'the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its publics' (Institute of Public Relations). PR can be relatively cheap, but it is certainly not free. Successful strategies tend to be long-term and plan for all eventualities. All airlines exploit PR; just watch what happens when there is an incident. The pre-planned PR machine clicks in very quickly with a very effective rehearsed plan.

4. Direct Marketing-

Direct marketing is any marketing undertaken without a distributor or intermediary. In terms of promotion it means that the marketing company has direct communication with the customer. For example Nintendo distributes via retailers, although you can register directly with them for information which is often delivered by e-mail or mail.

Direct mail is very highly focussed upon targeting consumers based upon a database. As with all marketing, the potential consumer is targeted based upon a series of attributes and similarities. Creative agencies work with marketers to design a highly focussed communication in the form of a mailing. The mail is sent out to the potential consumers and responses are carefully monitored. For example, if you are marketing medical text books, you would use a database of doctors' surgeries as the basis of your mail shot.

Similarly e-mail is a form of online direct marketing. You register, or opt in, to join a mailing list for your favourite website. You confirm that you have opted in, and then you will receive newsletters and e-mails based upon your favourite topics. You need to be able to unsubscribe at any time, or opt out. Mailing lists which generate sales are like gold dust to the online marketer. Make sure that you use a mailing list with integrity just as you would expect when you sign up. The mailing list needs to be kept up-to-date, and often forms the basis of online Customer Relationship Management (CRM).

5. Trade Fairs and Exhibitions-

Such approaches are very good for making new contacts and renewing old ones. Companies will seldom sell much at such events. The purpose is to increase awareness and to encourage trial. They offer the opportunity for companies to meet with both the trade and the consumer.

6. Advertising-

Advertising is a 'paid for' communication. It is used to develop attitudes, create awareness, and transmit information in order to gain a response from the target market. There are many advertising 'media' such as newspapers (local, national, free, trade), magazines and journals, television (local, national, terrestrial, satellite) cinema, outdoor advertising (such as posters, bus sides). There is much more about digital, online and Internet advertising further down this pages, as well as throughout Marketing Teacher and the Marketing Teacher Blog.

7. Sponsorship-

Sponsorship is where an organization pays to be associated with a particular event, cause or image. Companies will sponsor sports events such as the Olympics or Formula One. The attributes of the event are then associated with the sponsoring organization.

The elements of the promotional mix are then integrated to form a unique, but coherent campaign.

8.Online Promotions-

Online promotions will include many of the promotions mix elements which we considered above. For example advertising exists online with pay per click advertising which is marketed by Google. You can sponsor are website for example. Online businesses regularly send out newsletters which are targeted using e-mail and mailing lists, which is a form of direct marketing. Indeed websites are premium vehicle in the public relations industry to communicate particular points of view to relevant publics.

The online promotions field is indeed emerging. The field will soon spread into Geo targeting of adverts to people in specific locations via smart phones. Another example would be how social media targets adverts to you whilst you socialising online. Take a look at Marketing Teacher's Blog for more up-to-date examples of the emerging online promotions space.

Brochure Printing – one of the most effective promotional tools in modern trends

Brochure printing is an easiest and quickest way for advertising any business. A bad brochure cannot bring the expected results. So, if you are planning for brochure printing then must state the messages clearly giving an attractive looks to your brochure.

The color and graph that need to be used in it should be made with the use of full color and design. Making it, you not only can showcase something extraordinary but as well can give a tough competition to the competitors. You can include

everything you expect in it like short discussion of each product which keeps it special and effective from others.

Adding good photos taken by professional photographers are always a god idea to add in brochures but one thing that should be taken into consideration is its print size in which the image can easily fit into.

Uniqueness is important to develop the brand identity of the company and therefore you need to avoid copying other companies can easily increase name and fame of the company or brand.

Color brochure printing demand has also increased today by the companies in promoting their products or services in order to add up great impression on their valuable customers. Both small and big companies prefer to enjoy cheap brochure printing to maintain the economy of the company. Some of the points that need to consider when printing brochures include use of correct paper, strong headline, edifying body, use of bullet points to highlight important points, using image/graphics and more.

Advantages of color Brochure Printing-

*Offer More Sales – Choosing best quality brochures printing for marketing purpose help you in increasing sales of your products or services.

It helps in putting positive impression on the potential customers and thus they use your products or service. As a business owner, of you are keen to increase sales then its really a great idea to take a professional printing services.

*Develop Your Business Image – A good brochure printing really help in developing your business image which means you get good business and also more sales. It as well put good impact on public relations elements.

*Turn You Competitive – It is for sure that a good brochure printing services will allow you to become more competitive in the market. You also need to choose the best services at the best price to leave your competitors behind from all perspectives.

*Add An Ever Lasting Impression – The colourful brochure printing help you in adding a long lasting impression on the users. This helps your reader to spend more times on your brochures.

Social Media – One of the most cost effective tools in modern trends

Social media represents low-cost tools that are used to combine technology and social interaction with the use of words. These tools are typically internet or mobile based. A few that you have probably heard of include Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube.

Social media gives marketers a voice and a way to communicate with peers, customers and potential consumers. It personalizes the "brand" and helps you to spread your message in a relaxed and conversational way.

The downfall to social media, if you could call it that is that it must be a part of your everyday life in order to keep the momentum and attention you need for it to be successful.

If you think that social media is only for the small business owners that are trying out an experiment, I have to correct you. Here are just a few companies that have become involved in social media:

Absolut Vodka - Online Video on YouTube and Using Facebook to house their Top Bartender fan page.

BMW - Utilizing Facebook to promote their 1-Series Road Trip and they have created a Rampenfest Page for fans.

Barack Obama - In my examples, I can't leave out future President Barack Obama. He has been seen as a leader in the use of Twitter during the Presidential Election. He has over 170,000 followers and is following over 165,000. Personally I remember the "twitter buzz" during the Presidential Debates as well as the election.

As you can see we have adult beverage companies, exotic automobile manufacturers, pastry shops and our future President using social media tool, it's not to hard to figure out that there is something to it.

Advantages of Social Media-

*We can use social media to provide an identity to who we are and the products or services that we offer.

*We can create relationships using social media with people who might not otherwise know about our products or service or what our companies represent.

*Social media makes us "real" to consumers. If you want people to follow you don't just talk about the latest product news, but share your personality with them.

*We can use social media to associate ourselves with our peers, that may be serving the same target market.

*We can use social media to communicate and provide the interaction that consumers look for.

Best ways to use social media-

*You cannot just depend on social media, you must integrate it with other vehicles of marketing. While social media will create awareness, I'm not convinced that in the beginning it will sell a million dollars worth of product. That's not to say that one day

once you've built up your social media "stardom" that it won't, but it probably won't happen tomorrow.

*Be yourself, reflect personality. There are no written "right" or "wrong" rules when it comes to social media, only you can determine what will work for you.

*Be consistent, if you do not plan on being consistent don't do it at all - it's a waste of everyone's time.

Success stories are abundant when it comes using social media from headhunters that find job applicants to new businesses that want to introduce a new product as well as already established Fortune 500 companies that want to strengthen their brand. The role of social media in your marketing is to use it as a communication tool that makes you accessible to those interested in your product and makes you visible to those that don't know your product. Use it as a tool that creates a personality behind your brand and creates relationships that

you otherwise may never gain. This creates not only repeat-buyers, but customer loyalty. Fact is social media is so diversified that it can be used in whatever way best suits the interest and the needs of your business.

Factors that determine the type of promotional tools used-

Each of the above components of the promotional mix has strengths and weaknesses. There are several factors that should be taken into account in deciding which, and how much of each tool to use in a promotional marketing campaign:

(1) Resource availability and the cost of each promotional tool

Advertising (particularly on television and in the national newspapers can be very expensive). The overall resource budget for the promotional campaign will often determine which tools the business can afford to use.

(2) Market size and concentration

If a market size is small and the number of potential buyers is small, then personal selling may be the most cost-effective promotional tool.

A good example of this would be businesses selling software systems designed for supermarket retailers. On the other hand, where markets are geographically disperse or, where there are substantial numbers of potential customers, advertising is usually the most effective.

(3) Customer information needs

Some potential customers need to be provided with detailed, complex information to help them evaluate a purchase (e.g. buyers of equipment for nuclear power stations, or health service managers investing in the latest medical technology). In this situation, personal selling is almost always required - often using selling teams rather than just one individual.

By contrast, few consumers need much information about products such as baked beans or bread. Promotional tools such as brand advertising and sales promotion are much more effective in this case.

How to achieve effective promotion mix?

For achieving effective promotion mix, we need to understand following factors-

Why is it important?

If customers don’t know what products or services we provide, then our business will not survive in today’s competitive market place. Effective communication with our customers is vital to ensure that our business generates sales and profits.

By taking the time to develop and implement an appropriate promotional mix, we will stimulate our target audiences to buy our products or services and manage this within a budget which we can afford.

What we should do?

A successful promotional mix uses a balance of its five tools in a planned and structured way- a single tool rarely works well in isolation. The challenge is to select the right mix of promotional activities to suit our particular business at particular time and then use it correctly to achieve a result. The combination of tools we use will depend on the target audience, the message we wish to communicate and the budget we make available. There would be little point in advertising new gas boilers in a fashion magazine- much more appropriate to advertise in a trade magazines for builders and gas fitters.

Here is a 10 step checklist for developing and managing our promotional mix.

i) Decide how the products or services we provide can be ‘packaged’ together. The image of our business is formed by the way we promote the element of marketing mix.

ii) Developing the profile of target audience for the message we will communicate.

iii)Decide on the message to use whether we are trying to differentiate, remind, inform or persuade. We should set an objective for what should be achieved. We should clear about the benefits that we want to promote.

iv)Decide what image of the product/ service/ business we want our audience to retain.

v)Decide on a budget. This is often how much we can afford given projected sales for the products or services.

vi) Decide how the message should be delivered. We need to decide what aspects of promotional mix to use, think about taking our customers on a journey that starts by creating awareness about our business, through obtaining information about the products or services and by generating a sale. Each component of mix will achieve a different result.

vii) Decide what actions we want our audience to take as a result of receiving our communication. It is not always ‘place an order’.

viii) Put in place a means of measuring and controlling the plan once it is developed.

ix) Undertake our promotional plans. Be consistent what we say and how we say it.

x) Measure what we have achieved against the original objectives that we have set.

Inter-functional Problem of Marketing-

As an inter functional problem of marketing I have decided to take promotional activities and efforts as one of the problem . This problem effects both marketing as well as finance departments . If proper promotional activities are not taken place then the firm cannot achieve its marketing goals thereby declining the sales volume .on the other hand this problem also effects the finance department as lack of promotional efforts lead to declining of sales which ultimately pulls down the the entire profit margins thereby creating hindrances in achieving the financial goals of the firm . So from the above it is very much clear that in order to achieve any goals of the firm it must try to enhance and optimize its promotional efforts. Finance department is responsible for overall management of finances of the company. It is concerned with budgeting, costing, treasury management, risk diversification etc. Finance department has to see that money is being distributed properly.

On the other hand, Marketing department is responsible for realizing the needs of the customers and then designing a product according to these needs so that customers are satisfied.

The main conflict between finance and marketing department is allocation of funds. Finance department normally questions the expenditures by Marketing department. They think that the promotional campaigns or the overall money spent on marketing function is not bringing about any benefit to the company and is too exuberant. On the other hand, Marketing department is constantly in need of funds. They normally are in conflict with the finance department because they think their funds are justified and finance department is just being a hurdle.The marketing department's role is to create awareness and desire in the public for a product or service. It is generally creative, speculative and expensive. The finance department's role is to ensure that money is spent, but only on activities with a guaranteed return on investment. As such, the marketing department's job is to show what might potentially be achieved if they had enough money, and the finance department's job is to demand that they prove the viability of their ideas before releasing the money.

Marketing cannot under any circumstances guarantee its own impact - it can only present statistical analyses of potential and probable market take-up if certain marketing strategies are applied. Finance is, by the nature of its role of custodian of a company's future existence, cautious with its funding. Somewhere in the grey area in the middle is the space where harmonious working relationships between marketing and finance are born and thrive.

Models Used to determine the promotional efforts of any firm :

1. Product life-cycle management (marketing)

Product life-cycle management (or PLCM) is the succession of strategies used

by business management as a product goes through its life-cycle. The conditions

in which a product is sold (advertising, saturation) changes over time and must

be managed as it moves through its succession of stages.

Product life-cycle (PLC) Like human beings, products also have an arc. From

birth to death, human beings pass through various stages e.g. birth, growth,

maturity, decline and death. A similar life-cycle is seen in the case of products.

The product life cycle goes through multiple phases, involves many professional

disciplines, and requires many skills, tools and processes. Product life cycle

(PLC) has to do with the life of a product in the market with respect to

business/commercial costs and sales measures.

To say that a product has a life cycle is to assert three things:

Products have a limited life,

Product sales pass through distinct stages, each

posing different challenges, opportunities, and

problems to the seller,

Products require different marketing, financing,

manufacturing, purchasing, and human resource

strategies in each life cycle stage.

The four main stages of a product's life cycle and the accompanying

characteristics are:

Stage Characteristics

1. Market introduction stage

1. costs are very high

2. slow sales volumes to start

3. little or no competition

4. demand has to be created

5. customers have to be prompted to try the product

6. makes no money at this stage

2. Growth stage

1. costs reduced due to economies of scale

2. sales volume increases significantly

3. profitability begins to rise

4. public awareness increases

5. competition begins to increase with a few new

players in establishing market

6. increased competition leads to price decreases

3. Maturity stage

1. costs are lowered as a result of production volumes

increasing and experience curve effects

2. sales volume peaks and market saturation is

reached

3. increase in competitors entering the market

4. prices tend to drop due to the proliferation of

competing products

5. brand differentiation and feature diversification is

emphasized to maintain or increase market share

6. Industrial profits go down

4. Saturation and decline stage

1. costs become counter-optimal

2. sales volume decline

3. prices, profitability diminish

4. profit becomes more a challenge of

production/distribution efficiency than increased

sales

2.Segmenting ,Targeting and positioning Analysis

A marketing strategy is based on expected customer behavior in a certain

market. In order to know the customer and its expected buying process

of segmenting and positioning is needed. These processes are chronological

steps which are dependent on each other. The process of market

segmentation and of positioning are described below -

Segmenting

Segmenting is the process of dividing the market into segments based on

customer characteristics and needs.

The main activity segmenting consists of four sub activities. These are:

1. determining who the actual and potential customers are

2. identifying segments

3. analyzing the intensity of competitors in the market

4. selecting the attractive customer segments.

The first, second and fourth steps are described as market segmentation. The

third step of analyzing the intensity of the competitors is added to the process of

segmenting in this process description. When different segments are identified, it

is not necessary that these segments are attractive to target. A company is

almost never alone in a market -- competitors have a great influence on the

attractiveness of entering a certain market. When there is a high intensity of

competitors, it is hard to obtain a profitable market share and a company may

decide not to enter a certain market. The third step of segmenting is the first part

of the topic of competitor analysis.

The need for segmenting a market is based on the fact that no market is

homogeneous. For one product the market can be divided in different customer

groups. The variables used for this segmenting in these groups are usually

geographical, psychographical, behavioral and demographic variables.

Targeting

After the most attractive segments are selected, a company should not directly

start targeting all these segments -- other important factors come into play in

defining a target market. Four sub activities form the basis for deciding on which

segments will actually be targeted.

The four sub activities within targeting are:

1. defining the abilities of the company and resources needed to enter a market

2. analyzing competitors on their resources and skills

3. considering the company’s abilities compared to the competitors' abilities

4. deciding on the actual target markets.

The first three sub activities are described as the topic competitor analysis. The

last sub activity of deciding on the actual target market is an analysis of the

company's abilities to those of its competitors. The results of this analysis leads

to a list of segments which are most attractive to target and have a good chance

of leading to a profitable market share.

Positioning

When the list of target markets is made, a company might want to start on

deciding on a good marketing mix directly. But an important step before

developing the marketing mix is deciding on how to create an identity or image of

the product in the mind of the customer. Every segment is different from the

others, so different customers with different ideas of what they expect from the

product. In the process of positioning the company:

1. identifies the differential advantages in each segment

2. decides on a different positioning concept for each of these segments. This

process is described at the topic positioning, here different concepts of

positioning are given.

The process-data model shows the concepts resulting from the different activities

before and within positioning. The model shows how the predefined concepts are

the basis for the positioning statement. The analyses done of the market,

competitors and abilities of the company are necessary to create a good

positioning statement.

3.Swot Analysis

SWOT

analysis (alternately SLOT analysis) is a strategic planning method used to

evaluate theStrengths, Weaknesses/Limitations, Opportunities, and Threats

involved in a project or in abusiness venture. It involves specifying the objective

of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors

that are favorable and unfavorable to achieve that objective. The technique is

credited to Albert Humphrey, who led a convention at Stanford University in the

1960s and 1970s using data from Fortune 500 companies.

Setting the objective should be done after the SWOT analysis has been

performed. This would allow achievable goals or objectives to be set for the

organization.

Strengths: characteristics of the business, or

project team that give it an advantage over others

Weaknesses (or Limitations): are characteristics

that place the team at a disadvantage relative to

others

Opportunities: external chances to improve

performance (e.g. make greater profits) in the

environment

Threats: external elements in the environment

that could cause trouble for the business or

project

Identification of SWOTs is essential because

subsequent steps in the process of planning for

achievement of the selected objective may be derived

from the SWOTs.

INTEGRATION PAPER-2

INTRODUCTION-.Cox n king holidays had came into existence in the year 1758 with a single resort in munnar. Right now company is having 30 owned properties in India and 5 in abroad. So we can figure out that in this 16 years of journey, company have really achieved great success and this was possible only because of company’s correct marketing strategies.

So, I will now highlight the various promotional tools for which today Cox n king holidays is a market leader in time share industry for last consecutive 10 years.

Promotional Tools-

1. Advertising-Cox n king holidays basically advertise its products with the help of digital media. Digital Marketing Head of Cox n king holidays– Arun Nair talk about their product and also social media in India in general. We’ve been in existence on the Internet since early 2006. But digital as an initiative didn’t have any roots until we started lead generation campaigns, with no real thrust on social media. We had our presence on Facebook but Twitter came at a much later stage. What we noticed was that our customers were beginning to get more involved and active on social media.

We realized that Internet as a medium was the future. A lot of our prospects exist here. It is important, that we don’t just look at the numbers that are not there, but see the numbers that are there. They are also the most vocal of your customers and if you don’t have a presence online, then in a way you’re saying you don’t care about these people. Focus primarily is to build engagement as far as social media is concerned and to build prospects. We’ve seen prospects that have emerged through Internet are far more interested and evolved. The chances for conversion are greater and also chances of a sale are higher.

Anand Mahindra was very impressed with the initiative that was taken on social media in respect of bringing down the number of complaints. We were able to engage and close issues quickly on the Internet. We got a lot of recognition because of that within the group as well.

In terms of numbers, we crossed the threshold levels on Facebook and Twitter. Even the brand campaigns for these properties had their extensions on social media. So Facebook of Jiyo Life (brand campaign) gathered lakh fans in a small time and that to me is a commendable number. We also had a lot of contests and other engagements happening. Today we are sitting on 2lakh fans for that initiative alone.

2. Personal Selling-

For such kind of luxurious product, company consider personal selling as the most effective form of promotion because it allows the approach to be tailored as per the needs of individual customer.

There are overall 9 plans in membership of Cox n king holidaysand each plan depend on seasons the customer wish to have their holiday and their family size

so which will depict their apartment. So this particular product is complex in nature and that’s the reason why company gives so much importance on personal selling because sales executives go to client’s convenient place and give complete details regarding the product. Due to face to face interaction, sales executive have a chance to understand its customers and then pitch its sales accordingly.

Personal Selling help sales executives to build long term profitable relationship. As a result they understand their needs and feeding back this knowledge back to business in order to improve products, customer service standards, competitor knowledge etc.

3. Sales Promotion-

Events and venue sales- Cox n king holidays also depend on venue sales in order to enhance the short term sales. For e.g- In Delhi, they organize events in some good localities like Ansal Plaza, Gurgoan, Asia Pacific, Dwarka, Nehru Place, Vasant Kunj, Malviya Nagar, Noida sector- 22 and many more.

Here holiday consultant invites families and try to sell from their venues. Since it is a family product so if family comes to these venues then they have certain interest in these products and holiday consultant task is to convert this into sale.

Trade Fairs- Cox n king holiday stook active participation in various renowned trade fairs. For e.g- In Delhi, trade fairs like Suraj Kund Mela, Auto Expo 2012 Etc Company have a canopy in these trade fairs. Here the stall is more or less 1000 sq feet and there is sufficient space for 4 families.

Here the main intention is to get quality based lead. Crowds those come to these melas, our holiday promoters approach them and collect required information. So that we can later on call them and ask them for appointment. We also invite expected prospects in our canopy and give presentation regarding the products.

Discounts and coupons- In order to attract more and more customers company often provide coupons and discounts. Like if a customer make full payment then in that case company give flat 5% discount. They also

started customer referral program where if a customer give a reference and if it is converted into sale then that customer will get Rs. 5000 for each sale. That’s the reason that 20% of sale took place through reference.

Gifts- Company give lot of gifts those who buy membership like LCD of Sony Bravia or Panasonic, 3N/4D CMH, 1 week DAE, upto Rs. 8000 Resort credit voucher, Shopping voucher of Shopper Stop and many more. So such attracting gifts also help sales executives to close the deal.

Models used by Cox n king holidaysto determine promotional efforts-

STP Analysis-

Various segments of Cox n king holidaysare as follows-

Demographic segmentation-

For the membership of Club Mahindra Holidays, age group of customer should be within the age group of 28 to 58 years.

Since it is a family product therefore the customer should me married.

Customer should at least owned a car at least Maruti Alto.

Customer’s annual income should be more than 5 lakhs per annum.

So these are some of the demographic factors which company needs to consider while segmenting.

Psychographic segmentation-

Here lifestyle of customers becomes very important since it is a luxurious product therefore each and every customer will not able to afford this product. Even customers can afford but they do not purchase membership because they do not possess such mindset. So it becomes very important to understand the mindset and then segment accordingly.

Behavioral segmentation-

Occasions- There are 4 spike months where sale took place maximum like March, June, September and December. So in these occasions more and more efforts are given in order to increase the sale.

Benefits- They also segment their customers on the basis of benefit sought.

After analyzing all of these segments they target few segments and then finally positioned their products in the minds of customers. Today Cox n king holidayshave successfully positioned its products as “Jiyo Life”.

SWOT Analysis-

Strength-

Financial Background-

Company is having a good financial position and that’s the reason they are coming up with 3 to 4 resorts every year in India as well as international market.

Weakness-

Promotion-

Cox n king holidays highly depend on promotions because it is such kind of product that continuous promotions are required and as a result its selling and distribution expenses are increasing year after year.

Pricing-

Since it is a luxurious product the pricing of product is very high and in every 3 quarter it is increasing. So it is beyond the reach of many customers.

Opportunities-

Middle class people-

Now since the purchasing power of customers are increasing therefore there is a good opportunities if company start targeting middle class people.

International Market-

In India Cox n king holidayshave 30 resorts and it more or less cover all the leading destinations but in abroad we have only 5 properties. So now company is taking interest in international market. This year itself company is coming with 3 new properties in Dubai, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. So it is expected that in coming years company will come up with more and more international properties.

Threats-

External Factors-

There are several external factors which has become a serious threat for the company. This membership provides only stay free holidays for the period of 25 years. Rest of the things like fooding, travel is chargeable whereas the holiday package providers are providing all these above at lower price.

Competitors-

Some of the major competitors in the market are as follows-

Country Club India Limited

Thomas Cook Private Limited

Sterling holidays

Kuoni Travel Group

Financial Aspects of Club Mahindra Holidays-

CATEGORY Mar’ 11 Mar’ 10 Mar’ 09 Mar’ 08 Mar’ 07

NET SALES 487.13 468.75 393.06 352.73 232.31

NET PROFIT 117.84 102.76 83.41 80.52 41.76

SELLING, DISTRIBUTION & PROMOTIONALEXPENSES 210.05 185.52 179.35 150.31 101.20

Sales and Distribution, Net Profit and Net Sales of cox n kings

From the above chart, it is clear that Cox n king holidaysare continuously increasing their promotional expenditure in last 5 financial years. Though their expenditures are keep on increasing but this had shown a positive result in terms of net sales and net profit. The net sales are also keep on increasing due to their effective promotion mix and finally as a result they were getting positive growth in net profit in last consecutive 5 years.So if we tactfully decide the effective promotional tools then it will definitely provide us positive results.