Guidelines for Project: PGCBM 29

First select a particular industry such cement, soaps, detergent, biscuit, courier, hotel and so on. After
this, you are expected to choose a product and a company from the selected industry whose marketing
strategy you wish to study. This project has following four major components and a summary.

1. Marketing environment component

2. Competition in the industry
3. Consumer behavior component
4. Marketing strategy employed by chosen players

From a marketer's viewpoint, please examine the elements of macro environment carefully,
particularly in terms of current status, and expected changes. These include political, legal, economic,
socio-cultural, technological, regulatory, demographic, international and ecological (natural
environment) elements of the environment that have some impact on the business you have chosen.
Please follow different sources like newspapers, magazines and internet to study only those aspects
that have relevant and critical impact on the business you have chosen to study. Please record the
changes for two months and include this in your report. Please state if you find the possible impact of
any environmental variable in future which does not have much impact at the moment.

Study the competition prevailing in the industry. Prepare a brief report based on your observations
regarding marketing environment and competition, not exceeding 6 pages.

Speak to about ten consumers/potential consumers, in order to enhance your understanding of the
buyer behavior with respect to the product. Prepare a brief report, not exceeding 6 pages, on your
observations, inferences and conceptualization. The portion covered so far will be a part of your
interim submission. Please submit by 12th February 2016, which is firm. This has to be uploaded in the
designated place website. This will carry a weightage of 10 %.

For your final report submission which should be 20-30 page (including the interim report) long
original write-ups, please follow the guidelines given below. The deadline for submission of your final
report is 25th February 2016. This will carry a weightage of 20 %.

Now, start working on the chosen product. In view of the changes that may take place in various
components of the marketing environment, what kind of changes will you make in the company's
marketing strategy?

Select a) the market leader, b) one of the followers, and c) a new entrant in the industry. Study the
competition prevailing in the industry using appropriate frameworks. Explain

Explain the marketing strategy adopted by each kind of players. This should include segmentation,
targeting and positioning strategy followed by each.

Thereafter, the groups should work on the marketing mix of the strategy. This should include detailed
analysis and recommendation on product, place, pricing and communication decisions.

Course outline designed by Prof. Debasis Pradhan, XLRI, India

To help you I have enlisted the following points which you can use while preparing the report.

I welcome any original frameworks or models conceptualized by you for this project. Any such effort
would be suitably rewarded.

A. Situation Analysis
i. Define the product/competitor
ii. Analyze the category
1. Aggregate market factors
a. Market Size
b. Growth
c. Seasonality
d. Profits

2. Macro Environmental Factors

a. Technological
b. Political
c. Economic
d. Social
e. Legal

3. Micro environmental analysis:

Competitor analysis:

a. Threats of new entrants

b. Bargaining power of buyers
c. Bargaining power of suppliers
d. Pressures from substitutes
e. Current rivalry in category

Customer Analysis:

a. Study of consumer behavior

b. Segmentation
c. Targeting
d. Positioning

Supplier Analysis:

Recommended Strategy – Product

a. Customer Targets
b. Competitor Targets
c. Product/service features
d. Core Strategy
-Value proposition

Course outline designed by Prof. Debasis Pradhan, XLRI, India

-Product Positioning
-Pricing
-Communication
-Distribution

Course outline designed by Prof. Debasis Pradhan, XLRI, India