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 Market
Boost 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 Features of the Pack sizes

variant variant available
New Boost 'The energy of Boost, now in 80 g,
an Exxxtra Chocolate Taste!'
ChocoBlast 500 g,
A new flavour of Boost -
1 kg
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!
 New Boost and Boost 80 g,
ChocoBlast are charged with
Advanced Advanced Energy
500 g,
BoostersTM - Iron, Zinc and 1 kg
Energy BoostersTM* 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
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 for

1st 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 margins

2) Less credit period / More credit period

3) Poor service / Good service

4) 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
Market share
Year Saless in Rs Sales in units
in%

2008 1632.83 175.92 13 %

1338.96
2007 151.45 12.6 %

1155.74
2006 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.

25

20

15
Count

25
Bourn Vita
41.67%
10
17
15 Horlicks
Complan 28.33%
25.0%
5
2 1
Boost Milo
3.33% 1.67%

0
Boost Bourn Vita Complan Horlicks Milo

Brand
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.

BrandRecall
No
Yes

29 31
Yes No
48.33% 51.67%
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.
 Image
Chocolate
Energy
Sports

16 16
Sports Chocolate
26.67% 26.67%

28
Energy
46.67%

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.
 60

50

40
Count

30
58
Yes
96.67%

20

2
10 No
3.33%

0
No Yes
Visibility

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.

2 WhichMode
- -
3.33% TV

58
TV
96.67%
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.

30

20
Count

31
Satisfied
51.67%
6
Completely Sat.
10.0% 21
10 Not Satisfied
35.0%

2
Not Aware
3.33%

0
Completely Sat. Not Aware Not Satisfied Satisfied
SchSatisfaction
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.
 SchAttractiveness
No
Yes

16
Yes
26.67%

44
No
73.33%
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.

20 19
Bourn Vita

15
13
Boost

11
Complan
10
Count

Horlicks
10

7
-

0
- Boost Bourn Vita Complan Horlicks

Preferrence1
 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.

20 19
-

15
13 13
Boost Complan

10
Count

Horlicks
10

5 4
Bourn Vita

1
Milo

0
- Boost Bourn Vita Complan Horlicks Milo

Preferrence2
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 margins

2) Less credit period / More credit period

 3) Poor service / Good service

4) 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.