A

Multi Disciplinary Action Project Report

On

“A STUDY ON CONSUMER AWARENESS TOWARDS ITC VIVEL SOAPS “

At

Submitted To

L. J. INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES (796)

Under the Guidance of

Dr. Indra Meghrajani

(Assistant Professor)

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENT OF THE AWARD FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MBA)

Offered by

GUJARAT TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY (AHMDEBAD)

Prepared By:

Visvanathan Acchari (187960592002) Megha Chaturvedi (187960592053)

Vrutika Dave (187960592020) Lavanya P. (187960592049)

Natrajan Samapth (187960592060)

MBA (SEM - 3)

NOV, 2019

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Company’s Certificate

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 Students’ Declaration
I hereby declare that the Multidisciplinary Action Project Report titled “A
STUDY ON CONSUMER AWARENESS TOWARDS ITC- VIVEL SOAP” in
ITC LTD.is a result of our own work and our indebtedness to other work
publications, references, if any, have been duly acknowledged. If we are found
guilty of copying from any other report or published information and showing as
our original work, or extending plagiarism limit, I understand that I shall be liable
and punishable by the university, which may include ‘Fail’ in examination or any
other punishment that university may decide.

ENROLLMENT NO. NAME SIGNATURE

187960592002 ACCHARI
VISVANATHAN
187960592053 MEGHA CHATURVEDI

187960592020 VRUTIKA DAVE

187960592060 NATRAJAN SAMPATH

187960592049 LAVANYA P.

Place: AHMEDABAD Date:………

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PLAGIARISM REPORT

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 Institute’s Certificate

“This is to Certify that this Multidisciplinary Action Project Report Titled “A

STUDY ON CONSUMER AWARENESS TOWARDS ITC- VIVEL SOAP” is
the bonafide work of VISVANATHAN ACCHARI (187960592002),Megha
Chaturvedi (187960592053),Natrajan Sampath(187960592060),Vrutika Dave
(187960592020) and Lavanya P. (187960592049) who has carried out his / her
project under my supervision. I also certify further, that to the best of my
knowledge the work reported herein does not form part of any other project report
or dissertation on the basis of which a degree or award was conferred on an earlier
occasion on this or any other candidate. I have also checked the plagiarism
extent of this report which is % and it is below the prescribed limit of 30%.
The separate plagiarism report in the form of html /pdf file is enclosed with
this.

Rating of Project Report [A/B/C/D/E]: ______

(A=Excellent; B=Good; C=Average; D=Poor; E=Worst)
(By Faculty Guide)
Dr. Indra Meghrajani
(Assistant Professor)

Dr. Siddharth Singh Bist

(Director)

Date: __/__/____

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We are grateful to L. J. Institute of Management Studies for giving us such an

amazing opportunity, The Multidisciplinary Action Project because these 11 week
end training program is not only the corporate world experience but also an up
bringing from books to the corporate world.

This project bears imprint of many people and it really gratifies me to recognize
there assistance in it. My biggest gratitude goes for Mr. Romit Rajkumar
(Assistant Manager, Ahmedabad) and Mrs. Sonali Sharma (Area Executive,
Ahmedabad) and Mr. Khelan Parikh (Area Executive, Ahmedabad) and the
staffs of ITC, who let me carry out my project in their organization, also thanks
for their fantastic cooperation during the entire project.

I am thankful to my Director Dr.P.K.Mehta, Director Dr. Siddharth Bist&

Faculty guide Associate Prof. Indra Meghrajani of L. J. Institute of
Management for providing such an opportunity for undergoing a
Multidisciplinary Action Project and great cooperation of employees in ITC.

Last but never can be least utmost eternal thanks to Gujarat Technological
University, to give the pragmatic experience to the management students, a
special ‘Summer Internship Project ’ has been the compulsory in MBA two-year
full-time course, which is one of the distinct, excellent features of quality
education of ‘GUJARAT TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY’.

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 Executive Summary

“The study on consumer awareness towards ITC vivel soap” is mainly concerned with
the retail market in Ahmedabad. We had gone through some number of consumers and retail
outlets in every area comprising small outlet and tried to cover major area in Ahmedabad. One of
the reasons for this study had been to understand and to find out the position of ITCs vivel soap
in the market and to know what is the awareness and satisfaction level of Vivel soaps. As
retailers are the last intermediary in distribution channel who delivers the products to the final
consumer and they very much depends upon the retail markets to get the desired product.

In the first part of our study, We prepared a questionnaire to know the visibility,
availability and demand and salesman visits of ITC personal care products to retail outlet. And
on that basis we came to know which soap is more in demand by the customers and where ITCs
vivel soap stands in the market.

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 Table of Contents

Sr. No. PARTICULAR Page No

1 Introduction to Industrial Profile 9-12
2 Introduction to Company Profile 13-16
3 Product Profile 19-25
4 SCOT Analysis 26
5 Introduction to topic 27-35
6 Literature Review 36
7 Diagnosis Phase 37-38
8 Design & Analysis & phase 39-61
9 Implementation Phase 62-68
10 Conclusion 69
11 Bibliography 70
12 Annexure 71-75

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 Industry profile

Brief Introduction

Soaps are categorized into men's soaps, ladies' soaps and common soaps. There are
few specialty soaps like the Glycerine soaps, sandal soaps, specially flavored soaps,
medicated soaps and baby soaps. Specialty soaps are high valued which enjoy only a small
share of the market in value terms. The market is growing at 7% a year. This means that the
incremental demand generation is 5% over and above the population growth. With
increasing awareness of hygienic standards, the market for the Soaps could grow at a rate
higher than 8% annually. Interestingly, 60% of the market is now sourced from the rural
sector. This means that the variance between the two segments is not very large. Since
upper-end market focus is the urban areas, margins come from the urban sector.

Soap is a product for many people and the lathering up can be a treasured part of a
morning or nightly routine. Whether it might be scented or unscented, in bars, gels, and
liquids, soap is a part of our daily lives. In the United States, soap is a $1.390 million (US$)
industry with over 50 mass market brands. But in Indian markets the sales potential for soap
is only beginning to be realized. At the end of the year 2000, soap was a $1.032 million
(US$) business in India.

India is a country with a population of 1,030 million people. With the household
penetration of soaps is 98%. People belonging to different income levels use different
brands, which fall under different segments, but all income levels use soaps, making it the
second largest category in India. Rural consumers in India constitute 70% of the population.
Rural demand is growing, with more and more soap brands being launched in the discount
segment targeting the lower socio-economic strata of consumers. Soap manufacturers
originally targeted their products to the lowest income strata in urban as well as rural areas,
positioning their brands as a way to remove dirt and clean the body. For some brands, that
positioning persists even today with a focus on removal of body odor and keeping the user

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healthy. However, soap positioning are moving towards skin care as a value-added benefit.

Soap is primarily targeted towards women, as they are the chief decision-makers in
terms of soap purchase and for Medicated positioning like germ killing and anti-bacterial are
marketed to families. About 75% of soap can be bought through the different types of
outlets. This is the most common source for buying soap, which usually forms a part of the
month's grocery list. Pan-Beedi Shops: These are really small shops, almost like handcarts,
and they are primarily set up to dispense cigarettes and chewing tobacco. Total annual soap
sales by companies marketing their brands at national or state levels is estimated at 14,000
tonnes of a total soap market considered to be about 126,000 tonnes.

Market Capitalization

Today in the Indian economy the popular segments are 4/5ths of the entire soaps
market. The penetration level of toilet soaps is 88.6%. Indian per capita consumption of soap
is at 460 Gms per annum, while in Brazil it is at 1,100 grams per annum. In India, available
stores of soaps are five million retail stores, out of which, 3.75 million retail stores are in the
rural areas. 70% of India's Market Capitalization population resides in the rural areas and
around 50% of the soaps are sold in the rural markets.

Size of the Industry

The Indian Soap Industry includes about 700 companies with combined annual
revenue of about $17 billion. Major companies in this industry include divisions of P&G,

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Unilever, and Dial. The Indian Soap Industry is highly concentrated with the top 50
companies holding almost 90% of the market. The market size of global soap and detergent
market size was estimated to be around 31M tonne in 2004, which is estimated to grow to
33M tonne in the coming years. Toilet soaps account for more than 10% of the total market
of soap and detergents. In Asia, the countries like China and India are showing rapid growth
in the toilet soap section. Market share of body wash was estimated to be around 2% in 2004
and is showing signs of healthy growth in these markets. India's soap market is Rs 41.75
billion.

Indian Soap Industry volume is Rs 4,800-crore. For the purpose of gaining a

competitive edge, Indian companies are now relaunching their brands with value-additions
to woo consumers across India. For instance, Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) has recently
launched a host of toilet soap brands which include Lifebuoy, Lux, Breeze and Liril-with
value additions. Also is in the process of rolling out 'Ayush' ayurvedic soap. The aim is to
meet the evolving needs of customers.

Total Contribution to the economy / sales

In terms of market share for Indian Soap Industry the data indicates that HLL had a
market share of 64 % in the soap market, followed by Nirma at 16.8 % and Godrej at 4.4%.
Nirma's market share was in the northern region was 21 %. The largest contributor to the
toilet soaps market in Indian market is Hindustan Lever with the total contribution to the
economy & enjoys almost a two-thirds share, with the second ranked Nirma Soaps placed at

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 a distantly low share of 16.8%. Lux and Lifebuoy have held the sway of the market for
almost fifty years.

Top Leading Companies

In the Rs 4,800-crore Indian toilet soaps market, the lead players include:

 HLL

 Godrej Consumer Products Ltd

 Colgate Palmolive Ltd and

 Wipro Consumer Care

Employment opportunities

Indian Soap Industry has tremendous opportunities in the manufacturing companies

of soaps for Graduates and post graduates in the areas of Marketing, Finance,
Administration, Advertising and even opportunities for the models to act in ads for the
soaps.

Latest developments

 In Indian Soap Industry the entry of new players in the 6,500-crore toilet soaps industry is
expected to bring about a new twist in the "Indian soap opera".

 ITC Ltd has started investing in aggressive brand-building and product development projects
to promote its brands, Fiama De Wills, Vivel and Superia.

 Godrej Consumer Products Ltd and Wipro Consumer Care Lighting are established players
in the Industry which are beefing up their research projects and advertising plans to take on
new rivals.

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

Company Profile

THE ITC VISION

Sustain ITC’s position as one of India’s most valuable corporations through world class
performance, creating, growing value for the Indian economy and the Company Stakeholders.

THE ITC MISSION

To enhance the wealth generating capability of the enterprise in a globalizing
environment, delivering superior and sustainable stakeholder value.

ITC was incorporated on August 24, 1910 under the name of ‘Imperial Tobacco
Company Of India Limited.’ Its beginnings were humble. A leased office on Radha Bazaar
Lane, Kolkata, was the centre of the Company’s existence.

The Company celebrated its 16th birthday on August 24, 1926, by purchasing the plot of
land situated at 37, Chowringhee, (now renamed J.L. Nehru Road) Kolkata, for the sum of Rs.
3,10,000. This decision of the Company was to mark the beginning of a long and eventful
journey into India’s future.

The Company headquarter building, ‘Virginia House’, which came up on that plot of land
two years later, would go on to become one of Kolkata’s most venerated landmarks. The
Company’s ownership progressively indianised, and the name of the Company was changed to
I.T.C. Limited in 1974.

In recognition of the Company’s multi-business portfolio encompassing a wide range of

businesses-Cigarettes & Tobacco, Hotels, Information Technology, Packaging, Paperboards &
Specialty Papers, Agri-Exports, Foods, Lifestyle Retailing and Greeting Gifting & Stationery-
the full stops in the Company’s name were removed effective September 18, 2001. The
Company now stands rechristened ‘ITC Limited.’

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 Personal care products have been an important part of our life, since ages.The Soap
industry has been growing at around 10% for the last three years, while the branded segment is
growing at about 30% per annum.

ITC employs over 25,000 people at more than 60 locations across India. The Company
continuously endeavors to enhance its wealth generating capabilities in a globalizing
environment to consistently reward more than 3, 68,000 shareholders, fulfill the aspirations of its
stakeholders and meet societal expectations. This over-arching vision of the company is
expressively captured in its corporate positioning statement: “Enduring Value. For the Nation.
For the Stakeholder.”

ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE

• India’s largest FMCG Company.

• Fastest growing food business

• 2nd largest exporter of agric-commodities.

• Account for 2% of country agric-export.

• Gross income of Rs. 16,511 corers ( US $ 3.5 Billion)

• Market capitalizations of Rs.73,207 corers(US $ 16 Billion)

• Foreign exchange earning of US $ 2.5 Billion (1997-2006)

• Direct Group Employment of 28,000 (Of which 20,000 in ITC) and indirect employment across the
value chain of 5 million people.

• Now business alone support over 120 SME’s across the country.

SOCIAL PERFORMANCE

Empowering over 3.5 million farmers through nearly 6000 e-choupals covering 3,6000
villages as at November 2006 : 6500 e-choupals covering 38000 villages)

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  41000 hectares greened with 149 million saplings (As at November 2006:63,000
hectares greened with 254 million saplings)
 10,277 hectares of drylands irrigated (As at November 2006 : 15000 hectares)
 2154 women entrepreneurs created (As at November 2006 : 4867 women entrepreneurs)
 37000 children covered under rural education (As at November 2006 : 60000 children)

ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE

 ITC turns carbon positive (sequestering / strong more CO2 than it emits.
 Water positive: four years in a row (creating rainwater harvesting potential greater than
net consumption.)
 Getting closer to zero solid waste discharge ( Through reduction , reuse and 100%
recycling)
 ITC Green Centre, Gurgaon: The first Corporate building in India with LEEC Platinum
Rating.
 ITC’s Bhadrachalam unit: the only paperboards mill in India producing food grade ECF
(Elemental Chlorine Free) pulp.

ITC constantly Endeavors to benchmark its products, services and processes to global
standards. The company’s pursuit of excellence has earned its national and international honors.
ITC is one of the eight Indian companies to figure in Forbes A- List for 2004, featuring 400 of
“the world’s best big companies.” Forbes has also named ITC among Asia’s’Fab 50’ and the
World’s Most Reputable Companies.

ITC has several ‘firsts’ to its credit:

ITC is the first from India and among the first 10 companies in the world to publish its
Sustainability Report in compliance (at the highest A+ level) with the latest G3 guidelines of the
Netherlands- based Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), a UN- backed, multistakeholder
international initiative to develop and disseminate globally applicable Sustainability Reporting
Guidelines.

ITC is the first Indian company and the second in the world to win the prestigious
Development Gateway Award. It won the $ 100,000 Award for the year 2005 for its trailblazing

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ITC e-Choupal initiative which has achieved the scale of a movement in rural India. The
Development Gateway Award recognizes ITC’s e-Choupal as the most exemplary contribution
in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for development during the
last 10 years. ITC e-Choupal won the award for the importance of its contribution to
development priorities like poverty reduction, its scale and replicability, sustainability and
transparency.

ITC has won the inaugural ‘World Business Award’ the worldwide business award
recognizing companies who have made significant efforts to create sustainable livelihood
opportunities and enduring wealth in developing countries. The award has been instituted jointly
by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the HRH Prince of Wales
International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF).

ITC is the first Corporate to receive the Annual FICCI Outstanding Vision Corporate
Triple Impact Award in 2007 for its invaluable contribution to the triple bottom line benchmarks
of building economic, social and natural capital for the nation.

 ITC has won the Golden Peacock Awards for ‘Corporate Social Responsibility (Asia)’ in
2007, the Award for ‘CSR in Emerging Economies 2005’ and ‘Excellence in Corporate
Governance’ in the same year.

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AWARDS and HONOURS

 ITC won the prestigious Porter Prize 2017 for 'Excellence in Corporate Governance and
Integration' and for its exemplary contribution in 'Creating Shared Value'.
 Chairman Mr Y C Deveshwar was conferred Lifetime Achievement Awards 2016 by
leading media organisations, CNBC TV18 and Business Standard.
 Chairman Mr Y C Deveshwar was conferred the prestigious Banga Bibhushan award, the
highest civilian honour instituted by the Government of West Bengal.
 ITC Limited was the only Corporate to receive the India Today Safaigiri Award 2016 in
the 'Corporate Trailblazer' category.
 ITC was named India's 'Buzziest' Corporate brand in a survey conducted by Afaqs!, a
leading media portal. Several of ITC's FMCG brands - Sunfeast, Bingo!, YiPPee!, Vivel,
Engage, Fiama and Savlon also featured in the honours list in their respective categories.
 ITC Limited won two 'ASSOCHAM Waste Management Excellence Awards 2017' in the
'Best Corporate Initiative in Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' and 'Best Outreach Strategy in
Waste Management' categories.
 ITC was conferred the prestigious 'Best Practices Award' for Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations Global Compact Network India (UN-GCNI). ITC
received the Award for its Integrated Natural Resource Management - Watershed
Development and Afforestation initiatives.
 ITC Grand Bharat, Gurugram, was ranked No. 1 Resort in Asia by the Conde Nast
Traveler USA Readers' Choice Awards 2016, for the second consecutive year.
 The ITC Green Centre in Manesar has once again been awarded Platinum Rating under
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) for 'Existing Building
Operation and Maintenance' by 'US Green Building Council (USGBC)'.
 ITC Limited won the Intel AIM Corporate Responsibility Award, 2016, accorded by the
Asian Institute of Management-RVR CSR Center and the Asia Inc Forum.
 ITC Maurya was awarded the 'Smartest 5 Star Hotel Building in India' by the Network 18
& Honeywell Smart Building Awards 2016.
 ITC was adjudged the 'Best in Supply Chain Sustainability' at the Asian Corporate
Sustainability Summit 2016.

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ITC BUSINESS PROFILE

 FMCG
 Cigarettes
 Foods
 Life Style Retailing
 Greeting , Gifting & Stationary
 Safety Matches
 Agarbatties

HOTELS

PAPERBOARDS & PACKAGING

 Paperboards & Specialty Papers

 Packaging

AGRI-BUSINESS

 Agri-Exports
 E-Choupal
 Leaf Tobacco

GROUP COMPANIES

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

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 Product Profile
About Personnel Care Product

In Line With I.T.C’S Aspiration To Be India’s Premier FMCG Company, Recognized

For Its World- Class Quality And Enduring Consumer Trust, I.T.C Forayed Into The Personal
Care Business In July In 2005.In The Short Period Since Entry, I.T.C Has Already Launched An
Array Of Brands, Each Of Which Offers A Unique And Superior Value Proposition To
Discerning Consumers. Anchored On Extensive Consumer Research And Product Development,
I.T.C’s Personal Care Portfolio Brings World-Class Products With Clearly Differentiated
Benefits To Quality-Seeking Consumers.

I.T.C’s Personal Care Portfolio Under The Essenza Di Wills,Fiama Di Wills,Vivel Di

Wills Vivel Ultra Pro,Vivel And Superia Brands Has Received Encouraging Consumer Response
And Is Being Progressively Extended Nationally.

I.T.C’s State Of The Art Manufactucturing Facility Meets Stringent Requirements Of

Hygiene And Benchmarked Manufacturing Practices. Contamporary Technology And The Latest
Manufacturing Processes Have Combined Distinctly Superior Products Which Rank High On
Quality And Consumer Appeal.Extensive Insights Gained By ITC Through Its Numerous
Consumer Engagements Have Provided The Platform For Its R&D And Product Development
Teams To Develop Superior,Differentiated Products That Meets The Consumer’s Stated And
Annate Needs.The Product Formulations Use Internationally Recognized Safe
Ingredients,Subjected To The Highest Standards Of Safety And Performance.

ITC TRIES TO FIND ITS FEET IN PERSONAL CARE

Cigarettes to hotel major ITC entered the consumer products business in 2007 . in three years, it
has managed to corner a two per cent market share.But ITC feels that’s no mean achievement for
a late entrant . The consumer and personal care products market is highly competitive, dominated
by well-entrenched brands from companies such as Hindustan Unilever (HUL) procter and

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gamble, L’Oreal India , Dabur India and cavin Care . The lion’s share is with HUL ,whose
brands –Lux,Dove,Sunsilk and Clinic Plus- have about half the market .

Anand Shah of Angel Broking says it takes about five years for a brand to break even. If
ITC gains 5% to10% market share in ten years, that should start earning the company profits,
Shah adds.In absolute terms, two percent of the personal care market is not a small share.
According to Nielsen, the personal Carew market between March-2009 and February 2010
touched Rs 16,313 crore,which iod\s a growth of 10% over the same period in the previous year
.while the men’s personal care market is estimated at Rs 14,29 crore and growing at 10%,that for
women is worth Rs 6,678 crore and growing at nearly 21%.

ITC knows it’s a tough fight and willing to give time. Innovation and extensive
marketing are the company’s mantra to strengthen its footprint in the personal care domain. “We
intend to build on innovations to find a foothold in the already cluttered personal care market,”
says Sandeep Kaul ,chief executive of ITC’s personal care business. The Fiama Di Wills
transport gel bathing bar is an example of product innovation which is developed with liquid
crystal freezing technology that intends to combine a shower gel in a bathing bar format. ITC’s
current personal care portfolio includes soaps,shampooa and fragrances. These products are
marketed undr the Fiama Di Wills, Superia and Vivel brands.Superia caters to the mass
consumer segment,Vivel targets the premium and Fiama the so-called super-premium market.

According to Kaul, the personal care sector holds immense appeal for ITC due to the
category’s size and growth potential.But the personal care segment in India is immensely
competitive. Anand Ramanathan, analyst with KPMG, says, “In categories like soaps, the
competition is quite intense. But ITC is likely to combat it bwith it s distribution muscle.
however, because of intense competition,ITC would be under margin pressure and so the
personal care business for the company would not b as profitable as its other businesses.”

“ITC, however,can recover from the margin pressure to some extent with the help of
premium products in niche categories,” Ramana than points out. Devangshu Dutta ,chief
executive of specialist management consultancy firm, Third Eyesight, feels that market leaders
like HUL still feels it reaches 60 per cent of the market. So, even a new entrant like ITC can find
potential care segment.

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“ITC has diversified over the last 10 years as part of its strategy to expand into non-cigarette
categories. The real challenge will be effective communication and marketing”, Dutta adds.

Ramanujam Sridhar, CEO, Brand-Comm, says:”There is a reasonable amont of loyalty among

consumers for personal care products, especially in skincare, which can pose a challenge for any
new entrant, including ITC.

However, ITC enjoys a strong brand recall and its strongest qualifier is its distribution muscle,
which should help the company establish itself in newer categories as well.”

ITC PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS REVENUE UP 86%

The business made a forey into fast growing and relatively under-penetrated domestic
skin care market with the launch of ‘Vivel A ctive Fair Cream’ in June 2010 in select markets.

ITC Persoanl care business continued to make significant progress in gaining consumer
franchise with revenues growing up 86% during the quarter .product offerings under the
‘Essenza Di Wills ’ ‘Fiama Di Wills’, ‘Vivel Di Wills’, ‘Vivel’ , ‘Superia’ brands continue to
focus on enhancing consumer benefits.

The business made forey into the fast growing and relatively under penetrated domestic
skin care market with the launch of ‘Vivel Active Fair cream’ in June 2010 in select markets.

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The product, with its unique “Fair Lock System” seeks to deliver superior benefits in the form of
faster and longer fairness & higher levels of sun protection. It has a SPF 15 sun protecting rating.

The business sustained its impressive growth in the soaps category achieving a volume
market share of 5%.Product portfolio was enlarged with new offerings in the freshness segment
with the launch of ‘Vivel Deo Spirit’. Currently,brands ‘Vivel’ & ‘Superia’ are each estimated to
be more than Rs 200 crore per annum in terms of consumer spend.

The business is investing in building a strong portfolio of products & brands through
well-defined research & development strategies backed by the company’s state of the arts R&D
Centre.It is also Continously enhancing the quality of engagements with consumers through
efficient deployment of media,direct contact and promotional activities across conventional &
new age consumer connect avenues.

The business continues to leverage investments in tax –exempt manufacturing facilities at

Haridwar(Uttrakhand0 and Manpura(Himachal Pradesh).Apart from fiscal benifits that will
acrrue on such investments,this facilities will provide a higher degree of flexibility in
manufacturing and ensures higher standard of product quality.

Itc Expands Personal Care Product Range (14th Feb 2008)

Expanding its portfolio of personal care products,ITC today launched ‘Vivel Di Wills’
and ‘ Vivel’, yet another world class range of soaps for the Indian Consumer.This follows the
successof ITC previous launches ‘Essenza Di Wills’, ‘Fiam Di Wills’ and Superia.

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 Backed by Consumer insights,’Vivel Di WILLS offers a unique value proposition of
bringing together ingridients that provides the benefits of nourishment,protection and hydration
from a single product.This unique features provide the discerning consumer complete
care,thereby enhancing beauty & confidence.

All products have been scientifically developed at ITC R&D centre after four years of
extensive research.The products are enriched with Actipro N which have
nourishing,protecting&hydrating ingridients.The equisite fragrances for the various products
have developed by leading international fragrance houses.

The unique cartoon pack has been developed by ITC’S Design team to provide a novel
consumer experience.

The Vivel Di Wills Range is availabler in two variants-

• Vivel Di Wills sheer radiance is enriched with olive oil which provides skin luster
&radiance.

• Vivel Di Wills sheer creem is enriched with shea butter which mosturises skin yo make it
soft & supple.

The Vivel Range is available in four variants-

 Vivel Young Glow is enriched with Vitamin E & Fruit infusions which provide youthful
glow to the skin.
 Vivel Satin Soft is enriched with Vitamin E &Aloe Vera which leaves the skin
beautifully soft.
 Vivel Sandal Sparkle is enriched with Sandalwood Oil & Active Clay which helps in
providing clear skin.
 Vivel Ayurveda Essence is enriched with multiple Ayurvedic ingredients helping to
protect skin from germs 7 harsh environment,keeping it healty &beautiful.

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VIVEL PORTFOLIO

Between February and June 2008,ITC expanded its personal care portfolio with the
launch of VIVEL DI WILLS and VIVEL Brands. Vivel Di Wills,a range of soaps, and Vivel, a
rangr of soaps and shampoos ,cater to the specific needs of a wide range of consumers.

Vivel Di Wills and Vivel are high quality ranges of soaps and shampoos for the upper
mid and mid market consumer segments.All products offer a unique value proposition of
bringing together ingridients that provide the benefit of Nourishment,Protection and
Moisturisation through one product,hence providing the ever discerning consumer complete
care,which makes her beautiful and confident.

The Vivel Di Wills range soaps is available in two variants:-

 Vivel Di Wills Sheer Radiance is enriched with Olive oil,to provide skin luster to make it
radiant.
 Vivel Di Wills Sheer Cream is enriched with Shea Butter,to moisturize skin to make it
soft and supple.

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The Vivel range of soaps is available in five variants:-

 Vivel Young Glow is enriched with Vitamin E and Fruit infusions which helps in
providing youthful glow to the skin.
 Vivel satin soft is enriched with Vitamin E and aloe vera which helps the skin feel
beautifully soft.
 Vivel sandal sparkle is enriched with sandalwood oil and actie clay which helps in
providing clear skin.
 Vivel ayurveda essence is enriched with multiple ayurvedic ingriendts which helps skin
protect skin from germs and harsh environment,keeping it healthy and beautiful.
 Vivel silk spring is enriched with green apple extracts and olive oil which helps in
making skin smooth.

25
 SCOT Analysis

STRENGTH

 Portfolio of Business
 Strong Brands in various businesses
 Effective Social Business Initiatives
 Inter and Intra-divisional Synergy

CHALLENGES

 High Proportion of revenues from Tobacco products

 Association with Tobacco Products affects the image
 An increase in Tax on Tobacco affects revenue
 Similar players

OPPORTUNITIES

 Strategic Acquisitions
 Growth in Purchasing power and improving lifestyle
 Growing Personal Hygiene as well as Food processing Industry in India
 Tap opportunities created in the Rural Market

THREATS

 Intensifying Competition in FMCG businesses

 Strict Regulations and Increasing Taxation in Cigarette Business
 Increasing awareness on health

26
 Introduction To Topic
Marketing deals with identifying the meeting human and social needs. It as a
comprehensive term and it includes all resources and a set of activities necessary to direct and
facilitate the flow of goods and services from producer to consumer in the process of
distribution.The American marketing association offers the following definition; “marketing is
the process of planning and executing the conception pricing, promotion and distribution of
ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goods.”

Importance of marketing:
Marketing is recognized as the most significant activity in our society, marketing is all
around us. Our delivery existence, our entire economic life our life style are continuously
affected by a wide range of marketing activities.

 Marketing is a connecting link between the consumer and the producer marketing process
brings new & new items to retail shops from where the consumer can have them.
 Marketing has achieved social importance because it is entrusted with the task of creation
& delivery of standard of living of society.
 Marketing facilitates the development of business of creates employment opportunities
for people.
 Marketing studies continuously consumer demand which is varied and dynamic.
 Marketing removes the imbalances of supply by transferring the surplus to deficit areas,
through better transfer facilities.
 Marketing include all activities in the creation of utilities from places time and
possession.

27
 The Distribution Channel of Vivel Soap

Manufacturer

Carry and Forward

Distributor

Wholesaler

Retailers

Consumers

Consumer Behaviour:

Consumer behaviour is defined as all psychological social and physical behaviour of

potential customers as they become aware of evaluate, purchase, consumer and tell other about
products and services each element of this definition is important. Buyer behaviour involves both
individual (psychological) processes & group (social) process.

 Consumer behavior is reflected from awareness right through post purchases.

 Consumer behavior includes communication purchasing and consumption behavior.

28
Importance of consumer behaviour:

 The importance of studying consumer behavior is routed deeply in the modern concept
through studying the consumer behavior business can help consumer solve their
consumption problems by understanding them and trying to analysis the buying process
and factors influencing it.
 The Emerging buyer movement necessitates market to understanding buyer behavior,
their needs aspirations. Expectations and problems it will be useful in exploiting
marketing opportunities and meeting challenges of the markets.
 The marketing is consumer oriented consumer is the king of the market the marketers
must try to offer the product favored by the customer at the price he is to pay through the
distribution channel convenient to him with the right type of promotion to do this a study
of buyer behaviour is necessary.

Scope of consumer behaviour:

The study of the consumer behaviour is the study of how individuals make decision to
spend their available resources on the consumption related items. It includes the study of what
they buy why they buy it and how after they buy it.

Need For Consumer Behaviour Study:

Each individual has a different reason and motivating factors in his or her choice of tubes
the consumer may commit his resources on a particular brand of tubes for reasons of economy.
His decision encompasses various repurchased actual purchase and post purchase.

Factors Influencing Consumer Behaviour:

The major factors influencing a consumers buying behavior are:-

1. Cultural factors

2. Social factors

3. Personal factors

4. Psychological factors

29
1. Cultural Factors;

Cultural factors have the deepest influence on consumer behavior.

Cultural:

Is the most fundamental determinant of all people’s wants and behavior the growing child
acquires all sets of value, perception. Preferences and behavior through his or her family and
other key institution. It includes value of achievement, success, activity efficiency freedom and
progress material comfort.

Sub culture:

Each culture consists of smaller sub culture that provides more specific identification and
specialization for their members. Sub culture includes nationality, religion, races, geographical
area and social group.

Social Class:

Social class is relatively homogeneous and society is divided hierarchically. All human
societies’ exhibit social satisfaction, stratification sometimes takes from of a caste system where
the members of difference castes are record for creation roles and cannot change their caste
membership.

2. Social Factor;

Reference group:

A person’s reference group that which have a direct or indirect influence on the person’s
attitude or behavior there are different types of group they are:-

 Membership group are those group which have direct influence on the group.
 Aspiration group are those group where people like to become a member of that group.
 Dissociate group are those group where people do not like to become the member of that
group.
 Family is the most important consumer buying organization in the society and it has been
researched extensively. Family constitutes a primary reference group.

30
Roles and states:

Roles:

A person participates in many groups’ family, clubs and organization and this
participation in each group can be defined in terms of roles.

Status:

It is the esteem or respects given by the society to the society to the role of individual
marketers are aware of the status symbol potential of product and brand.

3. Personal Factors:

(1) Age:

People by different goods and services over a life time. Infant consumes baby foods,
young adults may have variety food and old age people consume special diet food in the later
years.

(2) Family life cycle:

Consumption is shaped by family life cycle there are 9 stages of family life cycle
depending on financial institution and product interest.

(3) Occupation and Economic Circumstances:

Occupation:-

It also influences a person’s consumption pattern. A blue collared worker will buy work
cloths. Shoes lunch box etc. A company president wills expensive suits, air travel and country
club membership. Marketers will have to identify which occupational group will be interested in
their products and work out marketing strategies to communicate about their product and
services.

31
Economic Circumstances:

Product choice is affected by economic circumstances marketers are concerned about the
level of spend able income. Savings and assets, debts borrowing power and attitudes towards
spending v/s saving.

Life Style:

It is the people’s pattern of living and it can be understand by referring to AIO (Activity
interest & Opinion) Life style of a person conveys more than the person’s social class or
personality. An understanding of a person’s life style will help in giving a profile of whole
person’s pattern of living and interacting with the world.

Personality and Self Concept:

Personality :

Is usually described in terms of such traits as self confidence. Sociality, defensiveness,

dominance and adoptability.

Self – Concept:It can be defined as complex mental pictures of us. Self concept consists of
mainly three divisions namely.

Actual self – concept – What you think of yourself

Ideal self – Concept – What you want others to think about yourself

Other self – concept – What others actually think about you?

Psychological Factor:

Motivation:

It can be said to be the inner drive that is sufficiently pressing and direct the person to
seek the satisfaction of the need satisfaction of the need reduces the felt tension.

32
Perception:

It is a process by which an individual selects organizes and interprets information inputs

to create a meaningful picture of the world. Perception depends not only on the physical stimuli
but also on the stimuli’s relation to the surrounding field and on condition within the individual.

Belief and attitude:

Belief:

A belief is a thought that a person holds about something. People act based on their belief
these beliefs help in building up product and brand image.

Attitude:

An attitude can be said as persons enduring favorable or unfavorable cognitive

evaluation, emotional feeling & action tendencies towards some object or idea.

33
 The Consumer Buying Decision Process

1.Need
Recognition

5.Post purchase
2.Information
behaviour
Search

4.Purchase 3.Evaluation of
Decision Alternatives

Need Recognition:
In this stage first the buyer would recognize the need for a product, which will satisfy
particular desire than they would think about his position. He sets the product and his position
without that product usually by external or internal stimulus.

34
Information search:
Once the consumer recognize the need he may or may not search for more information if
the need is so intense, the consumer would get should of the particular products which world
satisfy the need where as is not so intense, then he simple store the need in his money.

Evaluation of alternatives:
In this stage buyer has information about different brand of some production in this
process of evaluation.
First:
The consumers see a bundle of attributes in a product then he would pay maximum to
these attributes that are connected with his needs.
Second:
He would assign weight or importance to each one of the attributes.

Third:
The consumer develops a set of brand belief where each brands stands on each attributes.
This may either buy comparing with actual product attributes.
Fourthly and fifthly buyer:
Arises at judgment or preference towards the brand alternatives using same evaluation
procedure.

Purchase decision:
Based on evaluation stage the consumer will rank the product of his preference he will
then from purchase intention usually he will buy the most preferred product among the several
alternatives. Purchase decision is also influenced after considering risks cost involved, that
amount of uncertainly about the product attributes etc. Post purchase decisions: - After
purchasing the product the consumer may either he satisfied with the product or dissatisfied. This
depends on the relation and the products perceived consumers. If the product matches with the
consumers he is highly satisfied the consumers expectation is mostly based on the information he
received from the producers and so any exaggeration by the later will mean the consumer will be
dissatisfied about the product after the purchase of course.

35
 LITERATURE REVIEW

 Customers perceived that the knowledge received from WOM sources is reliable and
advantageous in creating the purchasing choices (Prashant Mishra et al, 1996).

 In the FMCG sector, the key influencing factors in creating a buying deal call were
quality (D. P. S. Verma et al, 2003), value and convenience of product (Dr. Sarwade
W. K. 2002), followed by their amount and enticing packaging (Kuldeep Singh et al,
2003).

 Rising family with increase in income allow to exercise a lot of alternative in choice of
FMCG from the price perception (Prof. S. A. Telang et al, 2003).

 Age and alternative demographic variables even have their result on behavioral and
psychological buying patterns of the consumers (D. P. S. Verma et al, 2003).

 Complete awareness and complete usage is extremely related (Dr. A. Vinayaga

Moorthy, 2007).

36
 Diagnosis Phase

Title of the Study:-

“A STUDY ON CONSUMER AWARENESS TOWARDS VIVEL SOAP”

It draws together concepts, principles, customs needs and preferences of customers.

Statement of the Problem:-

To with stand competition it is important to understand the awareness level of the consumer and
satisfy the target customers needs and wants. In this background the study explores the buying
behavior, attitudes, and purchase decision and satisfaction level of consumers towards Vivel
soap.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

 To determine the awareness level of the vivel soap & find out causes of not buying the
Vivel Soap.
 To measure the effectiveness of promotional activities of Vivel Soaps & find the
satisfaction level of consumers towards vivel soap.
 To identity various factors affecting purchases of vivel soap.

37
SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study is undertaken for our team, in order to find out the ‘consumer
awareness towards Vivel Soaps’. The scope of the study involves only for 100 respondents the
time frame for study is only 11 week ends.

Geographical Coverage:

No work can be undertaken without the co-operation of respondents who were

interviewed from which data was collected through questionnaire. Therefore respondents play a
very important role in this type study. The study was conducted in Ahmedabad city. By areas
from which data was collected and respondents approaches are mainly in: Maninagar,
Kubernagar, Satelleite ,Paldi and Sardarnagar.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

1. Limited number of respondents i.e. 100.
2. Survey is confined for a period of 11 weekends.
3. The survey was conducted in Ahmedabad only.

38
 Design and Analysis Phase

Methodology of the Study

The following are the sources of data for the study:
a) Primary Sources
b) Secondary Sources

Primary Sources: The original sources from which the researcher directly collects data that
have not been previously collected. The first hand information collected through various
methods is explained as under:
Personal interviews

Questionnaire

Interview Method: The interaction with retailers about the vivel soap in the market to obtain
the information from the first hand so interviewed was taken from the retailers.

Questionnaire Method: This questionnaire consists of question for consumers which included
multiple choice questions, in order to get first hand information directly from the end users.
Secondary Sources: Refers to the existing available sources of information such as:
 Documents of the departments concerned
 Reference books
 Internet

Research approach:
This includes the approaches or the ways undertaken to collect the primary data. Here the
approach was made through survey research, this helped to learn about customer’s knowledge,
beliefs, preferences in buying decision.
Research Instrument:
The following is the instrument with the help of which the data is collected:
In this regard, the data was collected through Questionnaire.

39
Sampling plan:
 Sampling Unit:
Here the sampling units are mainly the final consumers.
 Sample Size:
The sample size was 100 respondents.
 Sampling procedure/ method:
The sampling method used was “Convenient Probability Sampling

40
 Data Analysis And Interpretation

1. Name: ________________________________

2. Gender:

Gender
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Male 50 50.0 50.0 50.0
Valid Female 50 50.0 50.0 100.0
Total 100 100.0 100.0

Interpretation:

The above table shows that 50% of the respondents are male and 50% of the respondents
are female, it is clear that buyers ratio for male and female are equal.

41
3. Marital Status:

Interpretation: The above chart shows that 80% responses are unmarried and 20% responses
are married.

4. Occupation:

Interpretation: The above chart shows that 50.5% responses are having other different
occupations, 23.7% responses are employees, 19.6% responses are professionals and 6.2%
responses are business persons.

42
5. Age Group:

Age Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent
Below 20 years 3 3 3 12.0
20 to 30 years 86.9 86.9 86.9 89.9
Valid 30 to 40 years 5.1 5.1 5.1 95
40 years and above 5 5 5 100.0
Total 100 100 100

Interpretation:

The above graph shows that 3% of respondents are from age group of below 20 years,
86.9% are from the age group of 20 to 30 years, 5.1% are from the age group of 30 to 40 years
and 5% from the age group of 40 years and above. And it can be inferred that majority of the
respondents are belong to the age group of 20 to 30 years.

43
6. Income:

Interpretation: The above chart shows that 37.2% responses are having the income range from
8000-11999 Rs, 30.2% responses are having the income range from 25,000& above, 24.4%
responses are having the income range from 12,000-17999 Rs, and 8.2% responses are having
the income range from 18,000-24999 Rs.

7. Education:

44
Interpretation: The above chart shows that 49.5% responses were Graduates, 45.5%
responses are Post-Graduates, 3% responses were belongs to SSC and a 2% response belongs to
HSC.

8. Number of Family Members:

Interpretation: The above chart shows that 53% respondents are having 3-4 persons in their
family, 29% respondents are having 5-6 persons in their family, 13% respondents are having 5-6
members in their family and 5% respondents are having 1-2 members in their family.

45
9. How often do you buy bath soaps?

How often do buy bath soap?

Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative
Percent Percent

Once in 15 days 26 26.3 26.3 26.3

Once in a month 44 44.4 44.4 70.7
Valid Once in two months 19 19.2 19.2 89.9
Once in 6 months 3 3 3 92.9
Stock for a year 7 7.1 7.1 7.1
100
Total 99 100 100

Interpretation: The above pie chart shows that 44.4% of the consumers buy bath soap once in a
month, 26.3% of the consumers buy bath soap once in 15 days and 19.2% of the consumers buy
bath soap once in two months. From the analysis of chart it is clear that most consumers buy bath
soap once in 15 days and next to that once in a month.

46
10. Which soap are you currently using?

Which soap are you currently using?

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Lux 13.4 13.4 13.4 13.4
Godrej No.1 13.4 13.4 13.4 26.8
Santoor 20.6 20.6 20.6 47.4
Valid
Vivel 13.4 13.4 13.4 60.8
Others 39.2 39.2 39.2 100.0
Total 100 100 100

Interpretation:

From the above chart we can say that 20.6% of the respondents are using Santoor Soap,
13.4% of the respondents are using Godrej No.1, 13.4% of the respondents are using Lux, 13.4%
of the respondents are using Vivel and 39.2% of the respondents are using other soaps. It is
clearly shows that Santoor soap is dominating Vivel soap.

47
11. Do you use Vivel soap?

Do you use vivel soap?

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Yes 20.6 20.6 20.6 20.6
Valid No 79.4 79.4 79.4 100.0
Total 100 100 100

Interpretation:

The above bar graph shows that 20.6% of respondents are using Vivel soap and 79.4% of
the respondents are not using Vivel soap. From the above bar graph it is clear that 20.6% of
respondents are using Vivel soap hence Vivel soap consumers are less.

48
12. If no, have you ever used vivel soap?

If no, Have ever used Vivel soap

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Yes 38 44.2 44.2 44.2
Valid No 48 55.8 55.8 100.0
Total 86 100 100

Interpretation:

The above graph shows that 44.2% of the respondents have previously used Vivel soap
and 55.8% of the respondents didn’t use the Vivel soap. Hence 81% of the respondents are not
tried Vivel soap.

49
13. If Yes, why do you not prefer to use it on regular basis?

Interpretation: The above chart shows that out of 59 responses 49.2% contributed that vivel
soaps are not suitable to their skin, 25.4% contributed that vivel soap is costlier, 37.3% were not
satisfied with vivel soap and 18.6% feels that vivel soap has low TFM rating compared to others.

14. If no, are there any specific reason for not trying vivel soap?

50
Interpretation: The above chart shows that out of 77 responses 27.3% feel that they are
unaware about the product, 64.9% of them have their loyalty towards the current soap, 15.6%
felt it is costlier and 9.1% says they get negative reviews through word of mouth.

15. How many people in your family are using vivel soap?
How many people in your family are using vivel soap?
Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative
Percent Percent

01 to 02 29 74.4 74.4 74.4

03 to 04 5 12.8 12.8 87.2

Valid
04 to 05 3 7.7 7.7 94.9

6& above 2 5.1 5.1 100

Total 39 100 100

Interpretation:

In case of 74.4% consumers are up to 1-2 members in their family use vivel soap, 12.8%
consumers are up to 3-4 members in their family use Vivel soap, 7.7% consumers are up to 5-6
members in their family use vivel soap and 5.1% consumers are up to more than 6 members use
vivel soap.

51
16. State the reasons for using vivel soap?

State the reasons for using vivel soap.

Frequency Percent

Quality 21/38 55.26

Goodness
of
Ingredients 09/038 23.68
Valid
Fragrance 21/38 55.26
Brand
Image 09/038 23.68
Packaging 05/038 13.1

Interpretation: The above chart shows that out of 38 responses 55.3% tells that they use vivel
soap for good Quality, 23.7% tells that it has goodness of ingredients, 55.3% tells that they use
vivel for its fragrance and 13.2% tells that they use vivel soap for its good packaging.

52
17. Which pack of soap do you generally prefer to buy?

Which pack of soap do you generally prefer to buy?

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
56gm 4 7.5 7.5 7.5
75gm 22 41.5 41.5 49
Valid 100gm 13 24.5 24.5 73.5
150gm 14 26.4 26.4 100.0
Total 53 100.0 100.0

Interpretation: The above bar graph shows that 7.5% of the respondents buy 56gm pack,
41.5% of the respondents buy 75gm pack, 24.5% of the respondents buy 100gm pack and 26.5%
of the respondents buy 150gm. Form the above graph it is clear that majority of respondents buy
75gm and 150gm pack of Vivel soap.

53
18. Is the promotional activity of vivel soap effective?

The promotional activities of vivel soap is effective?

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Yes 26 49.1 49.1 49.1
Valid No 27 50.9 50.9 100.0
Total 53 100 100

Interpretation: The above graph shows that 49.1% of the respondents are said that the
promotional activities of Vivel soap is effective and 50.9% of the respondents said that the
promotional activities of Vivel soap is not effective, hence the promotional activities of Vivel are
less.

54
19. What is your opinion regarding the price of vivel soap?
Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative
Percent Percent
Highly
Dissatisfied 3 5.5 5.5 5.5

Dissatisfied 4 10.9 10.9 16.4

Neutral 30 54.5 54.5 70.09
Valid
Satisfied 15 27.3 27.3 94.5
Highly
Satisfied 3 5.5 5.5 100

Total 55 100 100

Interpretation:

From the above, we conclude that out of 55 responses, 54.5% said that they were ok or
neutral with the price.27.33% said that they are satisfied with the price. 10.9% are the
dissatisfied with the price .5.5% are highly dissatisfied with price.5.5% were highly satisfied
with the price.

55
20. How do you rate the quality of vivel soap?

Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent
Highly
Dissatisfied 1 2 2 2
Dissatisfied 6 12.2 12.2 14.2
Neutral 19 38.8 38.8 53
Valid Satisfied 20 40.8 40.8 93.8
Highly
Satisfied 3 6.1 6.1 100

Total 49 100 100

Interpretation:

From the above, we conclude that out of 49 responses, 38.8% said that they were ok or
neutral with the quality.40.8% said that they are satisfied with the quality. 12.2% are the
dissatisfied with the quality .2% are highly dissatisfied with quality.6.1% were highly satisfied
with the quality.

56
21. Who influenced you to purchase vivel soap?

Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative

Percent Percent

Friends/Family 8 17.8 17.8 17.8

Shopkeeper 2 4.4 4.4 22.2

Valid Advertising 28 62.2 62.2 84.4

Others 7 15.6 15.6 100

Total 45 100 100

Interpretation:

From the above pie chart it is clear that17.8% of respondents are influenced by friends
and family, 62.2% of respondents are influenced by the advertising and publicity and 4.4% of the
respondents are influenced by the Shopkeeper and 15.6 by others.

57
22. For further improvement of vivel soap what would you like to suggest?

Interpretation:- From the bar chart we can conclude that out of 100 responses :-

 54 suggested that “Effective advertising “can improve the business prospects of Vivel Soaps.
 46 suggested that “Awareness Campaign “can improve the business prospects of Vivel Soaps.
 27 suggested that “Effective distribution channel for easy availability of the product“can improve
the business prospects of Vivel Soaps.
 37 suggested that “Proper Market Segmentation“can improve the business prospects of Vivel
Soaps.
 40 suggested that “Attractive Display of Products at the retail outlets“can improve the business
prospects of Vivel Soaps.
 4 suggested that “Quality improvement “can improve the business prospects of Vivel Soaps.
 1 suggested that “Price Reduction“ can improve the business prospects of Vivel Soaps.
 1 suggested that “Herbal up gradation“can improve the business prospects of Vivel Soaps.

58
 Other Observations from Retailers
 The wholesalers and retailers stock product, but because of other product of
ITC many of shopkeeper said that product is not demand driven. Majority of
marketing the shops in the major market areas stock Vivel Soap. The
primary reason as explained by the shopkeeper was lack of demand.
 The shopkeeper were aware about various scheme provided by the company.
 The shopkeeper said that demand for the Vivel soap is low compare to
others brands.
 The shopkeepers said that due to frequent changes in the scheme affect the
sales.
 The shopkeeper said that product was forcefully given to them.

Reasons for not stocking Vivel soap

 Majority informed that they do not stock vivel because demand for the soap
is low.
 Small retailers nearby wholesale market avoid to stock.
 Some retailers were not keeping the product because it takes long time to
sell by that time product get older.

59
 Findings
1) 26.3% of consumers buy bath soap once in 15 days, 44.4% of consumers buy once in a month
and 19.2% of consumers buy once in a 2 months.

2) 20.6% of the respondents are using Santoor soap, 13.4% of the respondents are using Vivel
soap , 13.4% are using Godrej No.1, 5.4% are using Dove and 33.8% of the respondents are
using others.

3) 53% and 29% of the consumers using vivel soap belongs to family having to 3-4 members and
5-6 members in their family respectively.

4) 55.3% of the consumer buys the vivel soap for quality & Fragrance and 31% of the consumer
buy for the ingredients & Brand image of soap and 13.2% for packaging.

5) 54.5% of the consumers feel that product is priced at reasonable rate but 5.5% of the
consumers feel that the price is high.

6) 62.2% of the consumers are influenced by advertizing , 17.8% of the consumers buy because
of friends/family.

7) 38.8% of the consumer said that the quality if vivel soap is OK and 40.8% of the consumer
feels that quality of vivel soap is satisfactory.

8) 41.5% of the consumer buys 75 Gram pack soap , 26.4% of the consumer buy 150 Gram pack
soap & 24.5% of the consumer buy 100 Gram pack soap

9) Most of the consumers are not satisfied with ingredients as the vivel soap doesn’t suit to their
skin, it create pimples and black darks on their skin

60
 Suggestions
1. The company should motivate its present consumers to increase the usage rate of the soap
through effective advertisements.

2. The company should develop effective marketing strategies to create awareness in untapped
market.

3. The soap should be making available to all the purchase points wherever the consumer can
buy the product.

4. Most of the consumers belong to the age group of 20 – 30, so there is a need to concentrate on
the other customers who belong to other age group.

61
 Implementation Phase

1-Visual Merchandising - The Company should promote its product through retailers like
attractive display.

Visual merchandising is the practice in the retail industry of developing floor plans and three-
dimensional displays in order to maximize sales.
Both goods and services can be displayed to highlight their features and benefits. The purpose of
such visual merchandising is to attract, engage, and motivate the customer towards making a
purchase. We suggested the salesman to follow this method of stocking the product at
outlets

In Rajaveer Super mart outlet we have implemented attractive display for Customer attraction.

62
Visual merchandising supports retail sales by creating environments to further maximize growth,
opportunity, educate customers, and easily stretch brand image.

At Jain Super Bazaar, Paldi Outlet We have changed the location of the vivel soap from
unreachable contact of customers to the reachable contact of customers. Below is before and
after images:-

63
 Before

After

2- Traditional Method Of Selling Soap:-

- Implemented conventional method of Selling.

- Door to Door Selling of Vivel Soap.
- At exactly with in gate price (33 Rs MRP – Sold at 21 Rs).

64
- Aim- To Spread Awareness of the product.
- For understanding of Product feature to the customer
- Sales Promotion.

65
 3. Product Selling Expansion:-

ITC Launched Vivel Ayurvedic Essence in Kerala in July 2015

 Recommended by the renowned Arya Vaidya Pharmacy (Coimbatore) Ltd.

 20 essential herbs in this bathing bar - handpicked by Vivel and The Arya Vaidya Pharmacy
(Coimbatore) Ltd.

ITC Limited's leading personal care brand, Vivel, announced the launch of its new variant Vivel
Ayurvedic Essence in Kerala . The skin nourishing bathing bar combines the goodness of 20
essential herbs renowned for skin health and care.

We Suggested ITC to establish or launch market in Ahmedabad area, as people are unaware
about this product. Most of the people who are ayurvedic interested only Know about Medimix,
Lever Aayush, Hamam, patanjali, etc. So making them aware of this product will attract
customer.

ITC has talked about this to their headquarters, they promised to launch this product here.

66
4. Stock Updation:-

-Less Stocks only available for ITC products in general.

- Mainly Vivel soaps are stocked at very lower quantity than other soaps like santoor and Godrej
no1.

- We made a format of Sheet and we used to update them at our internship time

-We suggested them to update the stock at the outlet at regular intervals through salesman.

67
5. Product Modifications:-

- We suggested working on the product size for reducing the overall size of the
soap and reducing the cost.

- As other products are available in mini size and cheap price.

-ITC has talked with headquarters to implement this very soon .

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 Conclusion

It can be concluded that the various influencing factors responsible for the purchase of
the vivel Soaps are, family/friends, advertising. It can also be concluded that most of the
consumers have not used vivel soap because it’s not so popular in the market and the ITC is not
doing that much good in promotional activities of vivel soap. Most of the consumers are not
satisfied with ingredients as the vivel soap doesn’t suit to their skin, it create pimples and black
darks on their skin.

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 Bibliography

1. Books Referred

 Marketing Management by “Philip kotler”

2. Websites Referred:

 http://en.wikipedia.org
 http://www.itcportal.com
 http://www.scribd.com
 http://www.google.com
 http://www.indianmirror.com/
 http:/www.ijirset.com

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 Annexure

Questionnaire

Dear Sir/Madam,

We Visvanathan, Megha, Lavanya, Vrutika and Natrajan currently pursuing MBA

from LJ Institute of Management Studies. Our title for a research is “A STUDY ON CONSUMER
AWARENESS TOWARDS ITC VIVEL SOAPS".

We would appreciate if you could spare some time and help out in answering the survey questionnaire.
This information will be used only for academic purpose. We hope that you will co-operate in
completing the Questionnaire with the best of your ability.

Questionnaire”

A. Demographic

1. Name :

2. Gender : (a) Male

(b) Female

3. Marital Status :

a)Married

b)Unmarried

4. Occupation :

a) Employee

71
 b) Professional

c) Business

d) Others

5. Age :

(a) Below 20 years

(b) 20-30 years

(c) 30-40 years

(d) 40 years& above

6. Income :

(a) 8000-11999

(b) 12000-17999

(c) 18000-24999

(d) 25000& above

7. Education :

a) SSC

b) HSC

c) Graduate

d) Post-Graduate

8. Number of Family members :

a) 1-2

b) 3-4

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 c) 5-6

d) 7& above

B. Main Questionnaires

9. How often do you buy bath soaps?

a) Once in 15 days b) Once in a month

c) Once in 2 months

10. Which soap are you currently using?

a) LUX
b) GODREJ NO.1
c) SANTOOR
d) VIVEL
e) Others please specify ___________________

11. Do you use vivel soap?

a) Yes b) No
If ,yes, Please go to question No. 15
If, No please go to question No 12

12. If no, have you ever used vivel soap?

a) Yes b) No

13. if yes, why do you not prefer to use it on regular basis?

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a) Not suitable to your skin b) Costlier
c) Not Satisfied d) Low TFM Rating

14. If no, are there any specific reason for not trying vivel soap?

a) Unawareness about the product b) Loyalty towards the current soap

c) Costlier d) Negative reviews through word of mouth & E-word of mouth

15. How many people in your family are using vivel soap?
a. 1-2 b. 3-4
c. 5-6 d. More then 6

16. State the reasons for using vivel soap?

a) Quality b) Goodness of ingredients
c) Fragrance d) Brand image
e) Packaging

17. Which pack of soap do you generally prefer to buy?

a) 56 gm b) 75 gm

c) 100 gm d) 150 gm

18. The promotional activity of vivel soap is effective?

a) Yes b) No

19. What is your opinion regarding the price of vivel soap?

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a) Highly Dissatisfied b) Dissatisfied
c) Neutral d) Satisfied
e) Highly Satisfied

20. How do you rate the quality of vivel soap?

a) Highly Dissatisfied b) Dissatisfied
c) Neutral d) Satisfied
e) Highly Satisfied

21. Who influenced you to purchase vivel soap?

a) Friends/Family b) Shop keeper
c) Advertising/publicity d) others (please specify)

22. For further improvement of vivel soap ,What would you like to suggest?

a) Effective Advertisement b) Awareness campaign

c) Effective Distribution Channel for easy availability

d) Proper market segmentation e) Attractive Display of products at retailers outlet

f) If others (Specify): ________________________________________________________

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