Gurukula kangri vishwavidyalaya, haridwar

A COMPARATIVE BRAND ANALYSIS & MARKET RESEARCH OF FOSTERS VIS ITS COMPETITORS

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF :-

SUBMITTED BY:-

Mr. Jag Mohan Sharma ( Sales Officer)

RISHU TYAGI
MBA(BUSINESS FINANCE) ROLL NO - :23

SUBMITTED TO:GURUKULA KANGRI VISHWAVIDYALAYA,HARIDWAR

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Through this acknowledgement I express my sincere thanks towards all those people who helped me in this project, which has been a learning experience. I am thankful to my project guide Mr.Jagmohan Sharma(Sales officer) for guiding me throughout this study without his help this work would have not been completed. It was the light of there knowledge under which my project has been successfully completed. I am very thankful to my parents who always a source of inspiration.

Project Brief
Desired area of research: comparative analysis of different water companies Title of the Project:. A comparative brand analysis & marketing research of FOSTERS via its competitors Hypothesis:. The aim of the project is to analyze the effect on Fosters by different strategies adopted by other players of water industry. Introduction to the area of research: Being a new company, Fosters have to adopt few strategies because it is new entrant in the market, but as the changing rules of business and market, it has to adopt & implement different & effective strategies at the right time to remain in this competitive world. Scope of the research: Here the focus is to analyze the challenges in front of the company. In this process I will focus on the marketing mix adopted by Fosters to face the marketing strategies of the competitors by developing its own marketing strategies. Research methodology: Most of the data has been collected through the primary source and whenever needed secondary source is used. Exploratory Research: This kind of research has the primary objective of development of insights into the problem. It studies the main area where the problem lies. Justification for choosing a particular research proposal: I have chosen this topic for doing my project because of one main reason that it is new company in packaged drinking water.In this research I will try to find out the Threats caused by other players to Fosters and Strategies and measures adopted by Fosters to face the competition by its competitors.

SUMMARY
The marketing mix is probably the most famous marketing term. the marketing mix elements are price, place, product and promotion. The offer make to customer can be altered by varying the mix elements. So for a high profile brand, increase the focus on promotion and the weight given to price. Some companies will increase the marketing mix to the Five Ps, to include people. Others will increase the mix to seven Ps, to include Physical evidence and process. Broadly defined, By offering the product with the right combination of the four Ps marketers can improve their results and marketing effectiveness. Making small changes in the marketing mix is typically considered to be a small change. Making large changes in any of the four Ps can be considered strategic. The Marketing Mix, originally known as The Four Ps, is a combination of product, price, place [distribution], and promotion activities that are applied to a particular target market. The general idea is to combine (mix) the variables to generate an optimal, positive, and desired response in the target market. Diverse and numerous combinations of marketing methods, modes, and techniques can be selected and applied to create a marketing mix. The marketing strategy is mostly determined by roles (who focus on the promotion element of the marketing mix) in the marketing. For a marketing plan to be successful, the mix of the four "Ps" must reflect the wants and desires of the consumers or Shoppers in the target market. Trying to convince a market segment to buy something they don't want is extremely expensive. Marketers depend on insights from marketing research, both formal and informal, to determine what consumers want and what they are willing to pay for. Marketers hope that this process will give them a sustainable competitive advantage. The marketing mix can be used by marketers as a tool to assist in defining the marketing strategy. Marketing managers use this method to attempt to generate the optimal response in the target market by mixing 4Ps in an optimal way. The marketing mix can be adjusted on a frequent basis to meet the changing needs of the target group and the other dynamics of the market environment. The function of the marketing mix is to help develop a package that will not only satisfy the needs of the customers within the target markets, but also to maximize the performance of the organization. There have been many attempts to increase the number of Ps in the marketing mix model. The most frequently mentioned one being people or personnel. The aim of the project is to gather information and analyze the key areas of Marketing Mix strategies. 4

TABLE OF CONTENT
Chapter No.
01 02

Topics

Page No.

INTRODUCTION LITERATURE REVIEW

7-12 13-23

03

MARKETING MIX OF FOSTERS

24-40

04 05 06 07 08

FINDINGS AND RESEARCH RECOMMENDATIONS CONCLUSION BIBLOGRAPHY ANNEXURE

41-54 55-57 58 -60 61-62 63-68

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTON

INTRODUCTION TO MINERAL WATER INDUSTRY

CURRENT SCENERIO
The best beverage for India in the new millennium seems to be water. In recent years, the bottled drinking water market has been witnessing high levels of activity, with a host of new entrants. With the presence of over 200 players, the business is growing at a rate of over 50 per cent annually. The country's bottled water business is estimated to be around Rs. 1, 100 crore, of which the branded market accounts for Rs. 700 crore and about 700 million litres in volume. In India, the core proposition of bottled drinking water lies in hygiene, as the quality of tap water is bad and is rapidly decreasing. This is contrast with the West where 'mineral water' indicates the attendant minerals present in the water. Mineral water in Western countries is obtained from natural springs and is, generally, named after those springs. Most of the bottled water passed off as mineral water in India, however, is filtered, boiled or purified by other means such as reverse osmosis. A better description of bottled drinking water sold in India therefore, would be 'purified bottled water. The growth of the category indicates the need for this 'mineral water' and the fact that heavyweights are eyeing the segment points to the potential that is seen in this market. Bisleri,Coke's Kinley, Pepsi's Aquafina, Brittania, Nestle, Kingfisher, Auswater-are keen on raising their stakes in the Rs. 700 crore, 700 million litre market. The entry of Danones brand, Evian, the high-priced mineral water from the French Alps, shows the perceived potential India presents in this product category. Clearly targeted at the premium segment of consumers, the brand is being distributed in the country by Britannia Industries. Currently, Evian has more of an institutional presence (five star hotels) than on the retail shops, with a 1-litre 8

bottle being priced of Rs. 80 The market today has grown to more than Rs15bn. The organised sector -branded mineral water -- has only Rs7bn of market share. The rest is accounted for by the unorganized sector which is dominated by small regional players. The market is still growing at a rate greater than 80% per annum. Today there are more than 200 brands, out of which 10 of them are from top companies. In the branded segment, Parles' Bisleri 'is the market leader with a share of more than 45%. Parle Agros' Bailey' comes a close second with market share of 15%. Other major players in the market are' Yes 'of Kotharis, 'Ganga' of T-Series, 'Himalayan,' Hello', Prime,' Florida' etc.

MISSION OF FOSTERS
To provide the highest quality product, keeping in mind all aspects including freshness, purity and safety, and making it easily available to the consumer at a very affordable price.

RESEARCH METHODOLGY
A Research Methodology defines the purpose of the research, how it proceeds, how to measure progress and what constitute success with respect to the objectives determined for carrying out the research study. The appropriate research design formulated is detailed below. Exploratory Research: This kind of research has the primary objective of development of insights into the problem. It studies the main area where the problem lies. The research methodology for the present study has been adopted to reflect these realties and help reach the logical conclusion in an objective and scientific manner. The present study contemplated an exploratory research

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The following are the main objectives of my Research study:1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. To make a brand analysis of Fosters as a brand. To conduct a market survey of Fosters The affects on Fosters sale, profit and market share To find out the current position of Acquafina, Bisleri and Kinley mineral water. Threats caused by Aquafina, Kinley and Bisleri to Fosters Strategies and measures adopted by Fosters to counter the competition by Bisleri, Kinley $ others.

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NATURE OF DATA PRIMARY DATA:

Data which is collected through direct interviews and by raising questionnaires to retailers.

SECONDARY DATA: Secondary data that is already available and

published. Various internet sites, newspaper, magazines were searched in order to find information useful for completion of this project.

It could be internal and external source of data. Internal source: Which originates from the specific field or area where
research is carried out e.g. publish broachers, official reports etc.

External source:This originates outside the field of study like books, journals,
newspapers and the Internet.

DATA COLLECTION Primary Data:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5 R.K.Puram Humaunpur Krishna nagar Bhikaji kama Vasant Kunj The primary data has been collected by conducting a survey in the following areas.

SAMPLE DESIGN
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Sampling unit:

Residents & Retailers in the above mentioned areas.

Sample size: SAMPLING PROCEDURE

100 persons

Simple Random Sampling to select the sample

DATA COLLECTION Sources of data:

1) Primary Data which included the data received from directly the residents through Interview. 2) Secondary data from the Industry manual, policy manuals, books and internet etc.

Method of collecting data:

Interview method

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CHAPTER:2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Marketing Mix
The marketing mix principles (also known as the 4 ps.) are used by business as tools to assist them in acieving their objectives. The marketing mix principles are controllable variables, which have to be carefully managed and must meet the needs of the defined target group. The marketing mix is a part of the organizations planning process and consists of analyzing the defined:

How will you design, package and add value to the product. Product strategies. What pricing strategy is appropiate to use Price strategies. 13

Where will the firm locate? Place strategies. How will the firm promote its product Promotion strategies.

Introducing the marketing mix

Product - An object or a service that is mass produced or manufactured on a large scale with a specific volume of units. 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. Promotion Promotion represents all of the communications that a marketer may use in the marketplace. Promotion has four distinct elements - advertising, public relations, word of mouth and point of sale. Advertising covers any communication that is paid for, from television and cinema commercials, radio and Internet adverts through print media and billboards. One of the most notable means of promotion today is the Promotional Product, as in useful items distributed to targeted audiences with no obligation attached. This category has grown each year for the past decade while most other forms have suffered. It is the only form of advertising that targets all five senses and has the recipient thanking the giver. 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

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mouth momentum. Sales staff often plays an important role in word of mouth and Public Relations These four elements are often referred to as the marketing mix, which a marketer can use to made a marketing plan. The four Ps model is most useful when marketing low value consumer products. Industrial products, services, high value consumer products require adjustments to this model. Services marketing must account for the unique nature of services. Industrial or B2B marketing must account for the long term contractual agreements that are typical in supply chain transactions. Relationship marketing attempts to do this by looking at marketing from a long term relationship perspective rather than individual transactions.

Seven Ps
As well as the standard four P's (Product, Pricing, Promotion and Place), services marketing calls upon an extra three, totaling seven and known together as the extended marketing mix. These are:

People: Any person coming into contact with customers can have an impact on overall satisfaction. Whether as part of a supporting service to a product or involved in a total service, people are particularly important because, in the customer's eyes, they are generally inseparable from the total service . As a result of this, they must be appropriately trained, well motivated and the right type of person. Process: This is the process involved in providing a service and the behaviour of people, which can be crucial to customer satisfaction. Physical evidence: Unlike a product, a service cannot be experienced before it is delivered, which makes it intangible. Therefore, means that potential customers could perceive greater risk when deciding whether to use a service. To reduce the feeling of risk, thus improving the chance for success, it is often vital to offer potential customers the chance to see what a service would be like.

COMPANY PROFILE
Fosters mainly deals in beer and Wine industry.It has got a popular brand name in wine world.Its wine division,Beringer Blass is the seventh largest producer of wine in the U.S. It was founded in Melbourne in 1886 by two American brothers,William and Ralph Foster of New York,who happened to brew beer in Australia hot climate.They sold the brewery the following year and returned to the U.S.

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In 1983,Elders IXL,a giant australian diversified conglomerate,purchase carlton and United Breweries,and renamed it Elders Brewing group.Then in 1990,the elders brewing group changed its name to Fosters Group internationally recognaized product. In 2005,Fosters Group acquired the australian wine making group SouthCorp.This acquisition added famous brands such as Penfolds,Lindermaus and Rosemount to the Fosters stable and around $1 bn to revenues. Now it has come up with Packaged Drinking Water and Soda. Fosters is expanding its business in water industry due to its good brand name in the market. They have set up their plants in many regions in order to expand theis business. Suzal Aqua Minerals pvt.ltd. is the franchisee of Fosters in South Delhi.

PRODUCT PROFILE
Its a compliment being generic to the category, but its not very good when consumers think any mineral water brand is Fosters Fosters, a product established in India by SUJAL AQUA MINERALS PVT.LTD. The brand has become synonymous with mineral water; consumers accept any brand offered by the retailer when they ask for Fosters. So far Sujal Aqua enjoys the little market share of 3% in the Rs1100 crore mineral water market and is growing at the rate of 180% per annum.

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MANUFACTURING
A quick look at Fosters manufacturing reach indicates that it is represented across the country North accounts for 35% of sales for the industry, West accounts for 30%, South 20% and the East 15%.In order to be available in untapped areas Fosters has setup 7 plants located all over the country - threefourths of which are company owned. The balance are run by franchisees. Fosters has 3 plants in the North, 1 in the West- which was setup in the last year at Ahemdabad and Surat, 1 in the South and 2 in the East. The company has bottling units located in Chennai, Bangalore, Calcutta, Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab. The new plants are being set up in states like Kerala, Orissa, Bihar and North Eastern States, which have been unexplored by the company. It is also changing its production strategy and shifting to a 10-hr production schedule with sudden increase in demand planned to be met by additional production. Fosters has planned to expand its operations by investing Rs 10 crore in the upgradation of facilities. The 120-bottles per minute (BPM) capacity of the 7 units across the country will be increased to 240 BPM. Conscious of the environmental implications of its PET bottles, the company is to set up recycling plants at Delhi and Chennai, each with an outlay of Rs.50m. These will process 500 kg of PET per hour. The processed material will be an input for polyester yarn manufacturers. In centers other than Delhi and Chennai, the company will set up crushing units to crush the used PET bottles. The company's expansion plans will see its water bottling capacity go up from the present 40 million litres to 90 million litres. Fosters is planning to invest Rs 20 crore to increase its bottling capacity and double its turnover. The expansion will also increase the number of company's bottling plants from 7 at present, to 12. The company will set up all the new plants as green field plants. It doesnt have any intentions to acquire any existing plants.

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DISTRIBUTION
It's obvious that availability plays an important role. For any product to be successful the distribution system has to be really good. Fosters strategy is to build a direct distribution system at an all-India level. Currently, Fosters has around 8000 retail outlets in the country with about 1000 each in the Metros of Delhi and Mumbai. It is intended to increase this number to 1 lakh outlets in order to expand brands reach. That means serious investments in company-owned trucks and carts. In order to service the home segment, the 5 litre packs are being pushed through the route of Fat Dealers( wholesale dealers) who are retailers as well as stockist and serve as supply points from where customer can pick the required quota. The customer can call the fat dealer and place order for home delivery of the 5 litre pack. 180 of these dealers are already functional, and more are in the process of being appointed. "The idea is to make Fosters demanding product,". The company plans to have its own distribution network in places where it has its own plants. Franchisees would manage the distribution in their respective areas of operation.

PACKAGING Variety is spice of life. Today for any business organisation to be successful it
has to provide its customers with the differentiated product that is a value buy for them. In order to cater to the changing needs of the customers the business has

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to continuously come out with the variants of the product so that it can target the maximum segments. Today, Acqua Minerals offers a variety of packaging options:150 ml, 300 ml, 500 ml, 1 litre, 2 litre, 5 litre, and 20 litre. The 5-litre bottles account for 35 per cent of sales showing a growing health concern among the Indian society. 1 litre bottles account for 30 percent of the share, whereas the 500 ml bottles taking up 15 per cent. The remaining sizes share the rest of the contribution. The 2 litres bottles were introduced to slowly and steadily replace the conventional 1 litre bottles. This would give them an advantage over others. The 500-ml category was re-focused as a trendy product, targeted at the teenage crowd and for the roadside consumers. Fosters is currently a supplier to Indian Airlines with 125-ml cups. The five-litre packs, launched in December 2007 in jaipur, are currently available in six cities, including Delhi, Bombay and Bangalore, and sell over 3,000 bottles a day.

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Following is a quick overview of the various packaging options provided by Fosters along with the target consumers:
Size of the bottle 500 ml Price bottle Rs. 10 Teenagers, college students and roadside consumers. Also aimed to supply to the Indian Railways. 1 litre 1.2 litres 2 litres 5 litres 20 litres Rs. 15 Rs. 18 Rs. 20 Rs. 30 Rs. 40 General consumers and travelers. Consumers demanding a little more water at just a little more price. Small offices, shopkeepers, households Households, institutes, offices, retail shops, showrooms Households, institutes, offices, schools and colleges per Target consumer

In addition to the above mentioned sizes, Fosters also provides 150 ml cups for Indian Airlines travellers, and 300 ml cups for marriages and parties.

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The following pie chart clearly shows the sales wise distribution of the various pack sizes:

% s h a r e o f p a c k s iz e s in s a le s
10 15 500 m l 1 litr e 2 litr e s 35 10 30 5 litr e s o th e r s

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CHALLENGES IN FRONT OF THE FOSTERS

The company had the share of more than 5% of the national market. But now the share of the company is going up. Until recently there was competition with both the organized and unorganized sector.. Other than the financial constraints up to an extent, the company has to focus on the marketing management of the product. In light of the challenge in front of the company and its current strengths and position, we have incorporated the marketing mix to counter the marketing strategies of the competitors by developing its own marketing strategies.

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i .e e x

CHAPTER NO 3 MARKET MIX OF FOSTERS

MARKETING MIX OF FOSTERS

The set of controllable tactical tools- product, price, promotion, and place (4 Ps) that the firm blends to produce the response it wants, in the target markets.

The 4Ps

PRODUCT
The main product of the company is the mineral water by the name of Fosters Mineral water. Other than mineral water the company has also the soda water 23

under its brand name called the Fosters Soda Water. The concept of bottled mineral water was introduced in India, first by Bisleri, and that is the reason, it has become a generic name for the mineral water. Bisleri has become a perfect synonym of the mineral water for the Indian consumers. The main challenge facing the company or any other player in this mineral water industry is that there is no scope of invention and innovation in the product, which can be added as the additional benefits of the product. It is just water after all. This is what the Indian customers think of the bottled water. If we are talking about a product like television we can think that the innovations could provide extra benefits derived from the product. For example other than its core usage the product cannot provide foranything else.

VARIANTS OF THE PRODUCT

The company is offering wide variants of the product. These include the different quantities available of the product. Starting from the Jumbo pack (18 lt. Jar) to the 500 ml. Bottles. In between, it also has 1 lt., 2 lt. and 5 lt. Packs. In terms of another variant the company has also come up with small glasses of 300ml. that are priced at Rs.3. per glass. The company has introduced these glasses for the social occasions like marriages and get together. This again is very competitive in the price field and also the customer is getting a convenient product with the benefit of purity at such a low price. Now the customers would not have to drink impure water served in unhygienic glasses.

PACKAGING
The packaging of the product is an important factor in the marketing of the product. The packaging of the product was absolutely accepted by the customers till now.

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To conclude: Looking at the facts above the company according to me should

pay attention on the packaging of the product so that it is able to attract more customers. Second, the company should go for Brand Extension. The company should take the benefit of the brand name it has created over a long period of time in the Beer industry. It can introduce new products in the category of beverages.

PLACE
Place stands for the company activities that make the product available to the target customers. To make the product available to the target consumers a good distribution network has to be there to support the good quality of the product. Here in the case of the mineral water industry the distribution network is the important factor in being competitive and it lies in making water available to maximum number of places in the country.

DISTRIBUTION NETWORK:
The small-scale players built their sales by piggybacking on the generic category built up by Fosters. Its a battle that Fosters can win by good distribution network. One of the reason why Fosters is emerging strong in this industry is its strong distribution network built over the years.Further, Fosters plans to increase its distribution network over the southern and eastern region.

Conclusion

: It is very important for the companies to understand that

winners would be those who will endure a strong regional presence. Therefore the companies should take some immediate actions to make presence in the whole country and more important is every hook and corner of the states where they are present today. 25

PRICE
AN ECONOMIC FACTOR AFFECTING THE BUYERS BEHAVIOUR Price is the sum of values that consumer exchange for the benefits of using the product or service. Price is the only element in the marketing mix that produces revenue. All other elements represent costs. In India, where the majority of the population comprise of the middle-income group and lower income groups it is not hard to understand that pricing is one of the most important factor in the buying decisions. Fosters has met the expectations of the consumers in terms of pricing the product and also making the product available in variations of litres, making Fosters both convenient and affordable. The company is following a very aggressive pricing. Its product is available at a very reasonable price. Company charges Re.1for every 100ml. This strategy by the company is very effective in the Indian context where the consumers are highly price conscious. The company has come up with another variant of the product. It is 1.2 lt. Bottle that is priced at Rs.10 keeping the price fixed at Re.1 per 100 ml.

Conclusion:

To conclude from the facts that the pricing strategy of the

company is very competitive and therefore the company is giving value to the customers for money.

PROMOTION
Modern marketing calls for more than just developing a good product, pricing it attractively, and making it available to the target customers, companies must also communicate with their customers. A Companys total marketing communications program- called its Promotion Mix consists of specific blend of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, and public relations tools that the company uses to achieve its advertising and marketing objectives. 26

PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITY
Fosters is coccentrating on its promotional activities very seriously.It has adopt many ways to promote its packaged drinking water.The ads were coming during IPL Cricket Fosters is concentrating on its promotional activities matches.It was one of the sponsor of Chennai Super Kings team and the Tag line saysArt of Chilling.Company is introducing many schemes in order to attract customers,like:Road shows,banners,bill boards,providing refrigerators to the wholesalers,ad campaign.

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ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN
While designing the advertisement campaign, it is necessary to keep in mind the opinion leaders. Youth are the opinion leaders of the present time. And thus it becomes necessary to design the campaign keeping the youth in mind. The opinion leaders would further give the message to the less active members of the society. This is exactly what Fosters is doing. Fosters has started an advertisement campaign stressing the point of purity and flaunting the patent right the company has over the breakaway seal. The company has tried to put the message across louder, by using the ad campaign that catches the eye of everyone, specially the youth.

MESSAGE CONTENT OF THE CAMPAIGN: Fosters that was looking for a differentiator decided to make the breakaway seal the symbol of purity. The campaign stresses the safety provided by the breakaway seal by illustrating the ease with which conventionally sealed bottles can be refilled and recycled. The objective with the campaign would have been to highlight the tamper-proof seal and create doubt in the consumers mind of the purity of the other brands. That is, Fosters is the only one that guarantees purity and keeps you Safe

Conclusion: New advertisement campaign of Fosters is eye catching. This is

what the company should do. And also the company should make the message clearer to the customers that it has the patent right over the breakaway seal. Apart from this, if Fosters wants to penetrate every possible segment of the market, it can do that by introducing more pack sizes and establishing the brand strongly with trendy new packaging.

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And at the same time. it would have to give the retailers and other stockiest high trade margins and incentives for keeping the product. This is very important in case of this product because consumers would take up what is available to them and whatever retailer is giving. Fosters has introduced attractive schemes to push the 5ltr. bottles and margins are as high as Rs 8.

3 Cs
CONSUMER:
The central question the company has to understand is: How do consumer respond to various marketing strategies the company might use? The company that really understands how customers will respond to different product features, prices and advertising appeals has a great advantage over its competitors. The question can be further broken down to: Who buys? When do they buy? Where do they buy? Why do they buy?

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Who buys?
In the survey conducted by me, I found that the middle income and the upper income groups are the users of the bottled water. The lower income group is still dependent on the water from wells and hand pumps. In the middle-income group also, people buy bottled water while travelling. Among the various income groups, there comprise the students, the office going executive ,tourists and the retired people. So the company should go in for strategies to target customer segments based on appeal, prices, convenient packaging and other characteristics conforming to the customer segment the company is targeting.

When do they buy?

In the survey I found that the middle-income group buys mineral water while travelling. At home or at the work place they mainly use water filters that are installed. Or, they use large pack of bottled water like the jumbo pack (18 lt.) by Fosters. The upper income group uses mineral water only. So, they constitute a large part of the total market.

Where do they buy from?

According to the survey conducted by me, the bottled water users buy the water from retail outlets and also through tie ups with dealers. Large consumers of bottled water like Hotels, institutions, corporate order their water requirements through dealers. The small time but frequent consumer buys bottled water from retail outlets.

Why do they buy?

The basic reason consumers ask for bottled water is the safety. With the growing health diseases in the country and as the people are becoming more health 30

conscious they are switching over to bottled water. This is the reason that the industry is growing at fast pace. The other reason after this is, that the bottled water is convenient to carry. They can throw the bottles after use.

Consumer Concerns and Perceptions

The thinking here is that with consumer perceptions about mineral water changing, the brand Fosters has to invent itself. Earlier, mineral water used to stand for water enriched with certain minerals and was picked up by healthconscious consumers. This no longer holds. Mineral water has come to mean just thatwater. The consumer does not really care if the water contains minerals. The most important consideration is purity of the product.

What the company is doing to take care of the consumers concern.

Tampering of seals: Around 76 per cent of consumption happens in transit. Consumer research conducted by me showed that the concern for this set of buyers is the tampering of the seal. Many have witnessed used bottles being refilled at railway stations. So when a consumer buys mineral water, he would like to be assured that the water has not been tampered with. Fosters has rightly introduced the concept of the breakaway seal to reinforce the purity of Fosters mineral water and given a surety to its consumers that what they are consuming is SAFE.

Taste of the mineral water:

Many consumers want the mineral water to taste more like Water. The consumer research done byme showed that consumers ask Fosters because of its brand name.

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COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
COMPETITION:
The mineral water market is set to explode and hit the Rs.2,000-crore mark in the next couple of years. This is drawing the big attention. First Britannia launched Evian. And recently, soft drinks giant Pepsi entered the fray with Aquafina. and, Bisleri too is reportedly planning a foray. Meanwhile, Parle Agros Bailley has been growing steadily. Small local players too are coming in the market on better trade margins and intensive distribution (in their respective areas of operation).

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The competition facing Fosters can be categorized into a few brand names like

Bislery Himalaya Pepsi Aquafina Coca Cola Kinley

Aquafina
The advantage for Aquafina is that though there are over 300 labels of bottled water in the Indian market, few can be called brands. It is necessary to remember that every product with a name is not a brand, even Fosters has become generic to this category. It does not have any emotional values attached to it. So there was no difficulty for Pepsi in creating space in such a market which is completely different from the soft drinks market, where it will be very difficult for any new player to find a Place.

Although Aquafina is only available in a 1 litre pet bottle, priced at Rs.10, is competitive. And it is safe. In addition to the tamper proof seal, there is a reliable method of checking whether the bottle has been refilled. The date of manufacturing has been written on the cap as well as on the bottle. Thus a person who is refilling it would have to find a matching cap and bottle, the probability of which is very low.

Coca Cola Kinley

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Coca-Cola joined the race by announcing the imminent launch of its own brand of water and, in the process, putting to rest rumors of its so-called takeover of Bisleri. Kinley is targetting institutions.

Parle Agros Bailey

Bailey the brand that is owned by Ramesh Chauhans brother Prakash Chauhan is very popular in the southern part of India. Southern part of India accounts for 20% of the sale of the whole water market industry. Each company has a tough competition from Bailey since the company plans to spread its presence in that part of the country. Another thing that makes the competition difficult for the company is the price at which its competitor is offering the product. Like others it also gives the 1 lt. For Rs.10. The only strength point of the company which it can capitalize is its generic name. And also the company would have to enter that market with a strong distribution base. We know the fact that Bailley has grown at a rapid pace using the route of franchising which others have not adopted yet. This is another point which the company would have to take care of to face the competition.

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STRATEGIES THAT FOSTERS SHOULD FOLLOW IN ORDER TO REMAIN IN THE MARKET

1.The soft target: Selling bottled water requires constantly expanding the market. The company should also target the market for soft drinks. All the soft drinks addresses three issues: fun, thirst and refreshment followed by status to some degree. The thirst and the status value of the mineral water is well accepted. There is very little the mineral water brands can do to add the fun element around the product. Again here, it becomes important for the company to have a good distribution network. It should be understood that if the mineral water is easily available everywhere then it can be said with confidence that it would be able to replace the soft drinks as thirst quencher. If we try and look at the reasons that why consumers buy soft drinks as thirst quenchers: we would find the answer as that either water is not available or if it is available then safety is not assured. Therefore backed by a good distribution network mineral water industry can grow at a rapid rate. 2. Getting in shape: The another improvement the company needs is in terms of packaging. It is often seen that the youth are the opinion leaders, therefore it becomes very important for any consumer product to make a mark in that generation, if it really wants to grow. 3.Distribution network: The need for improving the distribution network is not only when the company wants to target the soft drinks market. If it wants to enter every part of the country and would face competition from competitors it becomes important for the company to have a strong distribution network.

35

THREATS
Fosters will be taking the packs back and refilling them. But the packs cannot be sterilized since the material used is PET and cannot withstand high temperature. So how can they ensure purity?

Strategy to counter threats

Bottles are subjected to chlorine washes, hot water washes and ozone washes before refilling the bottles. The company is betting on the home segment. It is often seen that customers are not satisfied with filters and water purifiers. The reason being that filters and water purifiers also need to be cleaned periodically and still do not guarantee absolutely clean water. In order to service this segment, the five liter packs are being pushed through the wholesale dealers who are retailers as well as stockiest and serve as supply points from where customers can pick up the required quota. In future, consumers will be able to call wholesale dealer and place orders for home delivery of the five-liter pack.

OPPORTUNITIES
So far, company has not used the franchising route very aggressively unlike other competitors which have grown very fast using this route. They can use it as an opportunities.

PURIFICATION PROCESS

Fosters is producing 7 stages purification process. It is then packaged in tamper 36

proof packs with the unique "breakaway seal" And all is done in completely automated plants to ensure it reaches you perfectly pure and safe. The process is Natural spring water is drawn from deep wells then l. CHLORINATION-Kills microorganisms, removes organic matter. 2. SAND FIL TER---Removes suspended matter and turbidity. 3. CARBON FILTER-Removes residual chlorines and odors 4. ULTRAFICATION-Removes bacteria and make water sparkling clean 5. MICRON FILTERS---Additional safety measures of filtration 6. REVERSE OSMOSIS SYSTEM---Controls total dissolved solids (TDS). 7. 0Z0NATION-Ensures water remains bacteria -free for longer shelf life.

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FUTURE PLANS
Fosters is the new to market bottled water in a partially tapped markets and naturally people associate the brand with bottled water .now Fosters is looking few steps ahead of its competitors ,in order to compete with its competitors. Some of the future plans of the Fosters 1. New pack sizes in bottles and cups. 2. Increase the distribution network with an investment of over 20 crores. 3. Strengthen presence in traditionally weak areas by setting up 5 new bottling facilities at the cost of Rs 15 crores. 4. Fosters is planning to diversify into fruit juice business 5. The company plans to go in the neighbouring countries like Nepal and Bhutan. 6. The company planning to open the Fosters retail outlets - where only Fosters will be sold.

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SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS:
Fosters has a brand name. A generic product. Spreaded Distribution network all over India

WEAKNESS:
Less margins of retailers or distributors, so they avoid it. High cost of production than the competitors.

OPPORTUNITIES:
In flavoured water segment. In neighbouring countries.

THREATS:
Local players entering in to the market & selling at a very low price. Duplicity resulting in bringing down the Brand name. Heavy market potential in this segment invite the big players and the competition increases.

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CHAPTER:4 FINDING AND ANALYSIS

40

FINDINGS OF RESEARCH 1.
Out of 100 retailers, everyone stored mineral water and basically these shops were centrally located to the market and were basically general store, confectionery shop and small kirana shop. The survey showed that almost every shop stored mineral water, therefore it can be understood that mineral water in current market scenario is on general demand and retailer enjoy selling it, if they get good margin out of it.

2. Brand of mineral water kept by the retailers

The survey revealed that out of 100 retailers surveyed, in South Delhi, retailers keep Bisleri,Aquafina,Kinley,Aqualife,,Bailey,Fosters,Hello,etc.

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3. Weekly sales of mineral water from the outlet

Out of 100 shopkeepers surveyed in south Delhi, the weekly sales of the mineral water averaged approx 225 bottles of 1 lit. each which means that a total number of bottles case or cases sold from the single outlet averaged around 15 cases. Out of this Bisleri mineral water is sold most i .e. approx. 45% of the cases sold from the single outlet belongs to Bisleri mineral water, whereas Kinley acquired average of 7-8% of the total sale. Aquafina sale constitute of 10%, Bailey's sale on an average constitute of 20% of the total sale. However other mineral water sales comprised of 18% of the total sale. Thus from the above analysis it is very clear that Fosters has to go long da way in the mineral water market, but at the same time like Aquafina and Kinley with market share of 10% and 8% respectively may pose threat to Fosters in the long run.

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4. Frequency of distribution visit

Distribution is an important parameters which plays an important role in the sale of this particular type of product highly depend on distribution network and its availability, also frequency of distribution is taken into consideration for the sale of this kind of product. Therefore it can be understood that sale of any product depend on its distribution and thus we can say that distribution and sales are interrelated. The total number of retailers covered for the purpose of my analysis is 100, and out of this almost every shop considered gets the mineral water of each brand on a regular basis i.e. on a daily basis, therefore linkage is always there with the company regarding the demand for mineral water. This is good sign for an almost all the company as they are in regular touch with the retailers.

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5. Analysis on the credit policy of the distributor/company

It was found out that no company gives the mineral water to the retailers on the credit basis that is basically they like to sell there products on a cash. However, this can one of the area where one can come and find a way to capture market share by offering credit to the small retailers who doesn't have sufficient money to invest in items like this, there if credit policy is being offered by any one of this companies for small period of time, say for a day or two, then this small retailers combined together may able to push the product in the market in a successful manner. The company must think in this content and should follow push strategy, where by they will able to have larger market size from a limited market share.

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6. Analysis regarding information about the scheme

Retailers are very sensitive regarding the schemes. They prefer those product which gives them more margin and for this they depend mainly on schemes provide by the company. However, from the analysis it was found out that retailers prior information regarding the schemes is maximum in case of Kinley that is 63% of retailer gave consent regarding the prior information on of the scheme in the case of Kinley where as rest of the 37% are not informed about the scheme Thus it can be interpreted that, new entrants like Aquafina, Kinley are on aggressive path in order to increase their market share and at the same time its creating effect on the sale of Fosters by giving incentive of schemes which the retailers prefers a lot and like to keep their product.

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7. Availability of the various mineral water among retailers shows varying percentage

From the data, it can be interpreted that availability of Fosters mineral water among the retailers is 60% of retailers gets the product easily, whereas 20% of them feels that they do not get the product offer and rest of the 20% retailers feels that they do not get this product at all. Thus it can be said that, distribution system of Fosters is not as good as its competitors and should try to make it better in order to compete with Kinley and Aquafina which have strong distribution network due to their soft drink link. However, in the case of Aquafina 65% of retailers gets the product regularly, 18%f get the product on an irregular basis whereas rest of the 15% retailer do, not get the product at all, therefore Aquafina should use its full distribution network of Pepsi in order to capture large part of market size. In the case of Kinley 60% retailers get the product easily whereas 15% of the retailers get this mineral water on an irregular basis and rest of the 25% retailers do not get the product at all. In the case of Hello 65% retailers get the product easily whereas 20% of the retailers get this mineral water on an irregular basis and rest of the 15% retailers do not get the product at all.

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8. Analysis regarding the sale of Fosters and other mineral water to the launch of it;s competitors
The total number of outlet covered for this purpose is 100; and coverage sale of mineral water from a single outlet is approximately 15 cases of 1 lit. each.

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9. Analysis regarding the forecast of demand in the near future

The analysis regarding the forecast of demand of particular brand is derived out by taking an average of 100 retailers ranking. The percentage of demand for the particular brand of mineral water in the near future are as follows: Bisleri Aquafina Kinley Baileys Fosters Others 3/5 4/5 4.5/5 2.5/5 2.5/5 2/5 60% 80% 90% 50% 50% 40%

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The demand for the Bisleri mineral water will be little higher than the medium i.e. it will have approx. 60% of the demand, where as Aquafina demand will be high suggesting that its demand will go up to 80%, Kinley is predicted to be higher in demand due to its pricing, quality and brand image, the average of 100 retailers feels that, it will have 4.5 (on a scale of 5,) demand i.e. its demand will be approx. 90% in the near future. Bailey's and Fosters demand will be some where around 50% as its average is coming out to be approx. 2.5 on a scale of 5, whereas other mineral water including others demand is predicted 40%. Thus its very clear from the chart that in near futrue demand for new entrants like Bisleri,Kinley and Aquafina will be very high and this may lead to major threat to Fostersand other mineral water.

10. Analysis of the particular brand that retailers are satisfied with regard to the following parameters
Margins Satisfied Bisleri Aquafina Kinley Bailey's Fosters Others 37% 73% 78% 80% 67% 80% Not satisfied 63% 27% 22% 20% 33% 20%

Margin is key factor due to which the retailers keep the product and keen to sold to the final consumer. 49

The survey conducted among 100 retailers convey that only

37% of the

retailers are satisfied with the margin of Bisleri mineral water as they feel that the margin provided by them is minimum as compared to other mineral water. They only get a margin of Rs. 1 in a 1 lit. of bottle, whereas in other mineral water they get the margin of Rs. 1.50 to Rs 2. 0.

They enjoy keeping local brand as they get maximum margin on them. in the case of Aquafina they get a margin of Rs. 1.50 and Rs. 2 in the case of Kinley and Bailey's. Therefore rest of 63% retailers are not satisfied in this particular point.

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Aquafina
In the case of Aquafina, 73% of the retailers feels that margin that they are getting is good enough and rest of the 27% retailers are not satisfied with the margin.

Kinley
In the case of Kinley, 78% of the retailers are satisfied with the margin level whereas 22% retailers are not happy about the margin level.

Bailey's
Bailey's stands parallel with Bisleri with a 80% of satisfaction level from the retailers and rest of the 20% retailers, does not feel good about margin level. This is again on positive point for Bailey's to compete in the market and increase its market size.

Fosters
In the case of Fosters, 67% of the retailers feels that margin that they are getting is good enough and rest of the 33% retailers are not satisfied with the margin.

Others
Other mineral water like Hello, Yes, Ganga, gives good margin to the retailers and therefore 80% of retailers enjoy its margin level where 20% are still not happy about it.

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Analysis of satisfaction level among the retailers with regard to brand name
Bisleri Aquafina Kinley Bailey's Fosters Others 70% 95% 90% 30% 60% 13%a

Out of 100 retailers covered all over Delhi, it was found out that, Bisleri has got strong brand image in terms of mineral water. Infact mineral water has become generic with a brand name of Bisleri. 70% of the retailers are satisfied with the brand image of Bisleri whereas 30% are not. In the case of Aquafina 95% of the retailers are satisfied with the brand image of Aquafina, which is considered to be very good and thus it can give major threat to other mineral water by aggressive promotional strategy. Kinely too enjoy strong brand image as 90% retailers feels that being on CocaCola product, the brand value is more and therefore they find it easy to sell this particular product. Bailey's brand name infront of competitors like Aquafina, Kinely and Bisleri is not that much; therefore only 30% of the retailers are satisfied with its brand name. Fosters brand name infront of competitors like Aquafina, Kinely and Bisleri is not that much; therefore only 60% of the retailers are satisfied with its brand name. 52

Other mineral water like, Glacier, Yes, Ganga etc. does not have strong brand image. It can be seen from the table that only 13% of the retailers are satisfied with its brand image rest of them does not.

Therefore it can be concluded by saying that brand image of Aquafina, Fosters, Kinley and Bisleri is very high and a good strategy can lead to increase in the market share.

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CHAPTER: 5 RECOMMENDATIONS

54

RECOMMENDATIONS
1. Advertisement to build the brand image that will provide the required ground to establish the image of the product. 2. Flavoured water without sugar and artificial ingredients could be introduced so that the consumers also has a healthy substitute to the softdrinks. 3. Bulk water delivery to home at no additional cost. 4. Company like Acquafina & Kinley should come up with other big bottles variant. 5. POP (Point of Purchase) displaying the cost of water at Rs. 2 per mlt as the perception of the people is that mineral water cost Rs. 10 per Lt. 6. Awareness programs at health club , schools & Nursing homes. 7. To win over the consumer belief and faith over the quality of the product. 8. Display of hot and cold dispensers and bottles at places like hotels, clubs and airports where upper class group visits as they are the potential customers. Place like departmental stores, petrol pumps and super bazaars can also be considered. 9. Mineral water in polybags like milk be more convenient to the consumers. 10. The company should organise camps at various part of the city also road show to bring about the difference between mineral water and filter/purified water and to tell the people how mineral water is more hygienic than filtered water/purified water.

55

11. To aware people the cost benefit analysis to the customer of how the mineral water would cost less and benefit more, because people using purifier system cost too much. 12. From the study it has been found that majority of the people does not have any brand preference. The company should establish brand image in mineral water with the help of advertisement & better service to the customers. 13. Water storing fridges should be provided to retailers by big brands. 14. 'Buy two bottles get one' like offers can also be introduced by big brands. 15. Pirated or copied variants of branded water to be stopped. 16. Plastic quality of bottle can be improved as specially middle class segment don't want to throw plastic bottles after water consumption and like the same bottle to be used in future or domestic purposes. The redressal forum should be located zone wise and the company should see the zonal head reports every day regarding the complains of the customers. The company should make proper arrangements to get away with the complains of the consumers as soon as possible.

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CHAPTER: 6 CONCLUSION

57

The players who will endure will be those who have a strong regional presence. Take the case of Team, which enjoys immense popularity in TamilNadu. Similar brands with a regional presence are Siruvani, and Koday. Thus, new players will be looking for a distinct positioning. One such brand is Pepsis Aquafina, the largest selling bottled water brand in the US. After its successful test launch in Mumbai and Bangalore, Aquafina was released in Chennai, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Pune. Pepsi has invested over Rs.5 crore in the new Aquafina water project in Maharashtra, which is the only Aquafina plant outside the US. With the big players, who have the support of the financial muscle and a large consumer base in other categories with them, like Pepsi, Britannia, Nestle and Coke the market is the tougher area of brand building. All the multinationals are looking at high-octane advertising targeting specific consumer segments.

58

Fosters is busy working on a strategy to fight in the competition and protect his Brand name.
At the end I would like to say that being a new entrant in packaged drinking water,Fosters have to adopt few things as follows because of the cut-throat competition. And should also adopt some effective and bold strategies,because someone has to adopt & implement different & effective strategies at the right time to attain a position in this competitive world. I would recommend the few things to the company. shows Develop new marketing strategies due to raising competition in water trade. Give more margins to the retailers and distributors so that they eagerly participate in increasing the company revenue by generating sales. Reducing the cost of production by finding, changing & adopting new advance technologies. Should respond to the competitors when they give some thing new to the consumer by giving the same or better. Should give more stress & attention to the media and advertising. Should give proper service to the existing consumers. Reducing the delivery time and the water will be refilled with in half an hour of the phone call. Awareness programmes about the hygiene water in schools & colleges. Displays of hot & cold dispensers and bottles at places like airports ,metro stations. . The company should organize camps at various parts of the city, Also road to bring out the difference between mineral water and purified water

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CHAPTER:7 BIBLIOGRAPHY

60

BOOKS & JOURNALS.

"THE EFFECTIVE USE OF MARKET RESEARCH" BY ROBIN BIM.. MARKET RESEARCH BY KOTHARI VARIOUS ISSUES BUSINESS WORLD, BUSINESS TODAY

WEBSITES
WWW.FOSTERSGROUP.COM WWW.FOSTERS.COM WWW.WATERINDUSTRY.COM WWW.GOOGLE.COM WWW.HELLOMINERALSWATER.COM

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CHAPTER ANNEXURE

CUSTOMER QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Do you use mineral water

Yes No

2. If no then why not

Price is the concern Carry home water Health is not an issue 62

3. If yes then why mineral water

Health conscious Convenience is the key Others

4. On what occasions do you usually use mineral water

When travelling In college To the office At home Hotel others

5.Do you think of a specific brand when you think mineral water
Aquafina Kinley Yes Bailey Bisleri Hello Fosters Others None

6. If any specific brand then the reason

Price Purity of water Trust in the brand Availability Others 63

7. Do you have aqua guard, zero B, etc., at home

Yes No

8. If the price of another brand of mineral water is reduced would you shift your brand?
Yes No

THANK YOU

64

RETAILER QUESTIONNAIRE

Name of Retailers: Name of Shop/distributor/stockist: Location:

1. Are you aware of the fact that there are 200 brands in today's

mineral water industry? Yes No 2. Which is the brand you stock more?
(a) Bisleri (d) Yes (g) Fosters (b) Acquafina (e) Hello (h) Bailey (c) Kinley (f) Kingfisher (g) Any other

3. Which brand offer best retailer margin?

(a) Bisleri (d) Yes (g) Evian (b) Acquafina (e)Fosters (h) Bailey (c)Kinley (f)Kingfisher (g) Any other

4. Which brand offer best credit scheme for retailers?

(a) Bisleri (d) Yes (g) Evian (b) Acquafina (e) Fosters (h) Bailey (c)Kinley (f)Kingfisher (g) Any other

65

5. Which brand offer maximum variants of plastic bottles?

(a) Bisleri (d) Yes (g) Evian (b) Acquafina (e) Fosters (h) Bailey (c)Kinley (f)Kingfisher (g) Any other

6. Which brand spends more on advertising?

(a) Bisleri (d) Yes (g) Evian (b) Acquafina (e) Fosters (h) Bailey (c)Kinley (f)Kingfisher (g) Any other

7. Have ever receive complaints regarding any existing brand? If Yes which brand?
(a) Bisleri (d) Yes (g) Evian (b) Acquafina (e) Fosters (h) Bailey (c)Kinley (f)Kingfisher (g) Any other

8. What is the weekly sale of your famous brand?

.

9. How often do you promote local brands and why?

.

10.

Do you feel any major differences between branded and

unbranded mineral water?

.

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11. How often do your customers asked for Bisleri, Kinley, Acquafina

& Fosters?
.

12. What advantages do you get by stocking Bisleri, Kinley, Acquafina

& Fosters?
.

13. How frequently you receive Bisleri, Kinley, Acquafina & Fosters

from their respective distributors?

(a) Monthly (b) Weekly (c) Twice a week (d) daily

THANK YOU

67