A PROJECT REPORT ONMARKETING MIX OF PRAWNOES
SUBMITTED BY,DIVYA A BABYMBA IV SEMESTERJUNE 2014UNDER THE
GUIDENCE OF;NITIN SINGH(Business manager of CIFT)ASWATHY
MOHAN(Assistant prof.KUFOS)SUBMITTED TO,SME, KERALA UNIVERSITY OF
FISHERIES & OCCEAN STUDIESintroductionReady-to-eat Snack Food
Industry is a potential market with consumers not being brand loyal
there is always a scope for new entrants with new innovative
products. Consumers generally like to try new products emerging in
the markets.
The central institute of fisheries technology(CIFT) ,
specializes in extruded Snack Food Technology, a food processing
technique for preparation of nutritious food. CIFT have come out
with a protein rich fish based snack food FISH KURE by
incorporating fish mince, cereal flours, spices and salt. CIFT
prepares this snack using twin-screw extruders which are popular
among the food manufacturers for specialized food items with high
versatility and quality. CIFTs technology for extruded snack food
from fish was taken by a woman entrepreneur, Mrs.
OmanaMuraleedharan, Charis Food Products, Aroor, Kerala. Before
registering as an Incubatee at ZTM-BPD Unit, she was running a
small scale metal industry named Amruta Metal Works. She approached
CIFT with the idea to develop prawn flavored extruded snack foodA
brand named Prawnoes was created and registered for trademark
protection by ZTM-BPD Unit. CIFT developed and standardized three
varieties of Fish Kure for the Incubatee, Spicy Shrimp, Shrimp n
Onion and Prawn Seasoning. The product was launched in December
2013. Prawnoes has received excellent product reviews during its
test marketing period and Mrs. Omana is planning to add more snack
foods to her product range. CIFT gave her technical guidance in
developing the product, standardization of process parameters,
testing, packaging solutions, ideas for branding, assistance in
trademark filing and setting up their own production unit.Prawnoes,
is the first Prawn Flavored Ready-to-eat Snack Food. Usually,
extruded products are prepared using flour , which have less
protein content and are limited in some essential amino acid . By
incorporating protein rich Prawn Flavor, the product is enriched
snack food.The extruded food products that are currently available
in the market are prepared using cereal flour, which have less
protein content and are limited in some essential amino acids. Fish
is an ideal health food as it is high in protein and low in fat and
calories. Fish and fish based products are gaining more importance
among the present population due to its nutritional health based
advantages.
By incorporating fish mince along with cereal, CIFT has produced
a fish based protein enriched and delicious extruded snack food
product, PRAWNOES (Fish Kure). This nutritious and delicious snack
provides alternative to the high fat and low-protein convenience
store snacks. The rapid economic and population growth is set to
fuel expansion of the snack food industry in India and the extruded
food like Prawnoes can likely become highly poloraised between
premium and economy offerings.
RESEARCH PROBlem
marketingmix of prawnoes
Reseach is an academic activity as such the term should be used
in a technical sense. A company has to ensure a marketing mix is
created that appeals specifically to those people. The marketing
mix is a term used to describe the four main marketing tools the
4Ps,
1. PRODUCT PLANNING2. PRICE PLANNING3. DISTRIBUTION PLANNING4.
PROMOTION PLANNING
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study carried out in Ernakulam so its scope is mainly
limited to Ernakulam. The product selected for a project is an
innovative nonveg snack.Area for research work is allotted by our
company project guide.Sample members are consumers and
distributers.It gives information about the services given by
distributor to their retailer.It gives information about the
competitors products.It provides suggestions to the company to
improve their products sales.It gives information about the sales
promotion activities to improve the snack sale.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
a.primary To study the 4 ps of PRAWNOES To introduce new
distributors for PRAWNOES To study problem facing to launching an
innovative product To study product strategies for Growth To find
the problems faced by retailers in selling of snacks To study the
effect of marketing activities on snack salesb.secondary To study
the penetration level of PRAWNOES in Ernakulam To collect the
information about the competitors. To organize sale promotional
activities to improve snack sales. To generate and secure consumer
awareness
RESEARCH METHODOLOGYRESEARCH DESIGN FOLLOWED:-Descriptive
Research is the research method used because descriptive
studiesembrace a large proportion of market research. The purpose
is to provide an accurate snapshot of some aspect of the market
environment. Descriptive research is more rigid than exploratory
research and seeks to describe users of a product, determine the
proportion of the population that uses a product, or predict future
demand for a product. As opposed to exploratory research,
descriptive research should define questions, people surveyed, and
the method of analysis prior to beginning data collection. In other
words, who, what, where, when, why, and how aspects of the research
should be defined.SAMPLING:-SAMPLING TECHNIQUE USEDIn this project
the technique of sampling used Judgment sampling. Judgmentsampling
involves the choice of subjects who are most advantageously placed
or inthe best position to provide the information required.SAMPLE
UNITIn this project case sample were the consumers and distributors
of Ernakulam& the aim was to know the acceptance of a nonveg
snack to the customer and the competitors present in the
market.SAMPLE SIZE: 300 consumers &30 Distributors of Ernakulam
from various region mainly urban and rural areas.
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKIn order to study and attain above mentioned
objectives, it is essential to study / revise following concepts in
marketing in context of present study.Marketing mix-The term
"marketing mix" was first used in 1953 when Neil Borden, in his
American Marketing Association presidential address, took the
recipe idea one step further and coined the term "marketing-mix".
The marketing mix help us to define the marketing elements for
successfully positioning our market offer. One of the best known
models is the Four Ps, which helps us define our marketing options
in terms of product, place, price and promotion. Use the model when
we are planning a new venture, or evaluating an existing offer, to
optimize the impact with our target market.Four Ps-Elements of the
marketing mix are often referred to as 'the four Ps':A prominent
marketer, E. Jerome McCarthy, proposed a 4 P classification in
1960, which has seen wide use. Product - A tangible object or an
intangible service that is mass produced or manufactured on a large
scale with a specific volume of units. Intangible products are
service based like the tourism industry& the hotel industry or
codes-based products like cellphone load and credits. Typical
examples of a mass produced tangible object are the motor car and
the disposable razor. A less obvious but ubiquitous mass produced
service is a computer operating system. Packaging also needs to be
taken into consideration. Price The price is the amount a customer
pays for the product. It is determined by a number of factors
including market share, competition, material costs, product
identity and the customer's perceived value of the product. The
business may increase or decrease the price of product if other
stores have the same product. Place Place represents the location
where a product can be purchased. It is often referred to as the
distribution channel. It can include any physical store as well as
virtual stores on the Internet. Place is not exactly a physical
store where it is available Place is nothing but how the product
takes place or create image in the mind of customers. Promotion
represents all of the communications that a marketer may use in the
marketplace. Promotion has four distinct elements: advertising,
public relations, personal selling and sales promotion. A certain
amount of crossover occurs when promotion uses the four principal
elements together, which is common in film promotion. Advertising
covers any communication that is paid for, from cinema commercials,
radio and Internet adverts through print media and billboards.
Public relations are where the communication is not directly paid
for and includes press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions,
conferences, seminars or trade fairs and events. Word of mouth is
any apparently informal communication about the product by ordinary
individuals, satisfied customers or people specifically engaged to
create word of mouth momentum. Sales staff often plays an important
role in word of mouth and Public Relations.
SizeList priceAreaAdvertising
QualityMRPLocationSales promotion
ShapePricing policyCoveragePublicity
BrandPricing strategyTransportationPersonal selling
ColourTrade discountWarehousingPublic relations
DesignPrice discountLogisticsDirect marketing
VarietyCash discountMaterial handling
PackagingQuantity discountChannels
WarrantyCredit termsDistributor
GuaranteeMode of paymentRetailers
AccessoriesPenaltyAgents
After sale serviceInstallmentsDealers
DATA BASE
DATA COLLECTION TECHNIQUES:In this project the technique of
sampling used is Judgment sampling. Judgment sampling involves the
choice of subjects who are most advantageously placed or in the
best position to provide the information required.Information is
collected by personally contacting retailers through
interviews.Types of data analysis techniques used in the project:-
Tabular analysis.- Graphical analysis.- Percentage analysisSOURCES
OF DATAInternal source-Information is collected from a data of the
company.JournalsExternal source-1.PRIMARY DATATo collect primary
data from Retailers Questionnaires are used. Questionnaire
areprepared very carefully so that it may prove to be effective in
collecting the rightinformation.2.SECONDARY DATASecondary data
collected from different website, Books, etc. This secondary data
formed the conceptual background for the project. This secondary
data was compared with the primary data collected in
area.LIMITATION OF THE STUDY The scope of the study is limited
Ernakulam only. This study is limited to Prawnoesnonveg snack only
only. The observation is there within a specific time one month The
data given by some of the respondents are not accurate due to lack
of time. Prawnoes is an newly innovative product so marketing mix
too complicated There is a possibility of causal or careless
answers by the respondent.HPHHHHHhhhhhZjdhdjhsjdhsjdsdhhhhsREVIEW
OF LITERARUREMARKETINMIXBorden (1964) developed the concept of
marketing mix and affirmed the idea of defining marketing manager
as one who is constantly engaged in fashioning creatively a mix of
marketing procedures and policies in his effort to produce a
profitable enterprise.Now the marketing mix is defined as set of
controllable marketing tools that a company uses to create a
desired response in the targeted market. (Kotler P. , Armstrong,
Wong, & Saunders, 2008) . Set of these tools is generally
referred to as 4Ps of Marketing, being Product, Price, Promotion
and Place. (Kotler P. , Armstrong, Wong, & Saunders, 2008)
(Balachandran & Gensch, 1974)
PRODUCTProduct is some good or service that a company offers in
the market. (Kotler P. , Armstrong, Wong, & Saunders, 2008)
Product is something that can be offered to the customers for
attention, acquisition, or consumption and satisfies some want or
need. (Kotler P. , Armstrong, Saunders, & Wong, 1999).Kotler et
al (1999) suggests that a marketer should build an actual product
around the core product and then build augmented product around
core and actual product. Core Product refers to the problem-solving
services or core benefits that customers are getting when they buy
some product. On the other hand, actual product refers to a
products parts, level of quality, design, features, brand name,
packaging and other features that are combined in order to deliver
the core benefits. Augmented product means associating additional
benefits and services around the core and actual product. These
additional factors could be guarantees, after sale services,
installation, etcSource: Three Levels of Product. (Kotler et al,
1999, Pg. 562)
PRICEcustomer. Price is considered to be the most significant
factor that affects consumers choice. (Kotler P. , Armstrong,
Saunders, & Wong, 1999)Pricing StrategiesCost-based pricing is
the simplest pricing strategy. Using this strategy price is set by
adding some mark-up to the cost of the product. This strategy works
if firms prices are not too high as compared to the competition.
(Kotler P. , Armstrong, Saunders, & Wong, 2005) Another
cost-oriented pricing strategy is Break-even Pricing. Firms
determine the price at which they can recover manufacturing and
marketing cost, or make targeted profit. (Nagle& Hogan,
2006)Competition-based Pricing Price is what a customer have to pay
to acquire a product, or cost of a product to a is when a company
sets prices in accordance with the competition. Prices are largely
based on the prices of the competitors. (Kotler P. , Armstrong,
Saunders, & Wong, 2005)In Customer-value based Pricing,
products are priced on the basis of perceived value of the product.
Company shall find out what value customers assign to competitors
product and what value they perceive of companys product. Measuring
perceived value is difficult and if the more prices are charged
than the perceived value, sales will suffer. (Kotler P. ,
Armstrong, Saunders, & Wong, 1999PROMOTIONKotler (2002) defines
promotion as the activities a company performs in order to
communicate to its existing and potential customers. Multiple
channels are used to communicate to different parties
(Distributors, customers) and different means could be used to do
promotion.Branding Strategies for PromotionKotler (2002) classifies
promotional activities into different categories.Advertising is a
non-personal presentation of goods or services, such as T.V ads.
(Kotler P. , Armstrong, Saunders, & Wong, 2002). Keller (1998)
considers advertisement a powerful tool to create strong
associations with brands.Personal Selling is the type of promotion
in which a company representative meets customers personally to
sell a product. It is useful to understand customer needs deeply.
(Kotler P. , Armstrong, Saunders, & Wong, 2002). According to
Keller (1998) personal selling is more customized and
detailed.Sales promotions/Trade promotions are about giving
incentives to enhance sales, such asdiscounts or samples. (Keller
K. L., 1998). While Kotler (2002) provides various reasons for
sales promotions, he says that sales promotions to end-customers
increase short term sales and help building long term
relationships, while trade promotions aimed on distributors and
retailers so they buy large volumes and advertise the product
more.
If a company or a product gets positively promoted without the
company paying for it, such as in documentaries, it is called
communication through Public Relations. This type promotion has
high credibility because it is viewed as news instead of an
advertisement. (Keller K. L., 1998)
Standardizing advertisement brings a consistency in the way a
brand is portrayed. (Melewar& Vemmervik, 2004). However
Boddewyn et al (2004) argues that the companies which follow
standardization in advertisement loose competitive
advantage.PlacePlace refers to the availability of the product to
the targeted customers. (Kotler P. , Armstrong, Saunders, &
Wong, 1999) A company can adopt multiple channels to get its
product to the customers. (Kotler P. , Armstrong, Saunders, &
Wong, 2002) These channels can be direct and indirect. Choice of
channel has strong affect on sales. (Keller K. L., 1998)
Branding Strategies for Place
Direct channels to reach customers could be company owned
stores, phone and internet selling while indirect selling could be
through intermediaries such as distributors or agents. (Kotler P. ,
Armstrong, Saunders, & Wong, 2002)
Using indirect channel, company has to give up control over
distribution and selling. (Kotler, Marketing Management, 2000)
Company loses control over prices charged to end users, and how the
product is being displayed. (Keller K. L., 1998)
Indirect channels should be used because intermediaries have the
experience of the market, they are may be specialized in a segment
and may have scale of operations, therefore they can add value to
the product. (Kotler P. , Armstrong, Saunders, & Wong,
2002).Kotler et al (2002) calls the firms Multi- or Hybrid
structures which use both direct and indirect channels for
selling.A company having strong brand image is more likely to get
qualified intermediaries, and middlemen work more enthusiastically
to promote a product with a strong brand image and demand. (Keller
K. L., 1998)
B r a n d i n gThe word brand comes from the root word Brander
which means to burn. The burn marks were and still are used to tag
animals so they could be identified. Today word Brand is used for
the same purpose, to identify and distinguish products and
services. (Keller K. L., 2008) (Cliffton & Simmons, 2004)
American Marketing Association defines brand as a name, term,
sign, symbol, design or a combination of them, intended to identify
the goods and services to differentiate them from the competition.
While practicing managers define brands as something that creates
awareness, reputation and prominence etc in the market. (Keller K.
L., 2008) Glatstein (n.d) says that brand image is a promise that a
company makes to its customers. Brand image defines who the company
is, how it operates and how it is different from its
competitors.
To create a brand means ability to choose a name, logo, symbol,
design or other characteristics for a product to differentiate it
from others. (Keller K. L., 2008) Brand elements are those
specialties and basic characteristics of the brand that
differentiate it from the other products in the market, these are
trade mark able features of a product or service which serve as
identification. Brand elements are generally chosen on the basis of
six criteria which are Memorability, Meaningfulness, Likability,
Transformability, Adaptability and Protect-ability. (Keller K. L.,
2008) Customers experience brands in many ways such as product,
price, packaging, marketin promotion has high credibility because
it is viewed as news instead of an advertisement. (Keller K. L.,
1998)
Standardizing advertisement brings a consistency in the way a
brand is portrayed. (Melewar& Vemmervik, 2004). However
Boddewyn et al (2004) argues that the companies which follow
standardization in advertisement loose competitive
advantage.PLACEPlace refers to the availability of the product to
the targeted customers. (Kotler P. , Armstrong, Saunders, &
Wong, 1999) A company can adopt multiple channels to get its
product to the customers. (Kotler P. , Armstrong, Saunders, &
Wong, 2002) These channels can be direct and indirect. Choice of
channel has strong affect on sales. (Keller K. L., 1998)Branding
Strategies for PlaceDirect channels to reach customers could be
company owned stores, phone and internet selling while indirect
selling could be through intermediaries such as distributors or
agents. (Kotler P. , Armstrong, Saunders, & Wong, 2002)Using
indirect channel, company has to give up control over distribution
and selling. (Kotler, Marketing Management, 2000) Company loses
control over prices charged to end users, and how the product is
being displayed. (Keller K. L., 1998)Indirect channels should be
used because intermediaries have the experience of the market, they
are may be specialized in a segment and may have scale of
operations, therefore they can add value to the product. (Kotler P.
, Armstrong, Saunders, & Wong, 2002)Kotler et al (2002) calls
the firms Multi- or Hybrid structures which use both direct and
indirect channels for selling.A company having strong brand image
is more likely to get qualified intermediaries, and middlemen work
more enthusiastically to promote a product with a strong brand
image and demand. (Keller K. L., 1998)