ANALYSIS OF MARKETING STRATEGY OF MINERAL WATER INDUSTRY [A CASE STUDY OF BISLERI] A RESEARCH REPORT SUBMITTED IN THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT

OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF POST GRADUATION DIPLOMA IN MANAGEMENT (EQUIVALENT TO MBA)

SUBMITTED TO: DR. TAPAN KUMAR

SUBMITTED BY: SHARAD SHUKLA (BM-09285) (BM-09286) (BM-09287)

(ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS) AMIT DUTTA SHOBHIT DIXIT

SIDDHARTH AGARWAL (BM-09288) INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES GHAZIABAD 1

CONTENTS 1). Acknowledgement. 2). Need of the study. 3). Importance. 4). Research Methodology. 5). Literature Review. 6). INTRODUCTION.

Page no. 4 5 5 6 8 11

About the industry. Mineral Water Industry- Current Market Scenario Company Profile. Marketing Strategy. Advertising Campaign of Bisleri. Packaging and Distribution. Marketing Mix. Competition in Market. Product Profile. Manufacturing. 40 41 41 41 43

7). Objective. 8). METHOD OF STUDY. 9). Research Design. 10). Tools and Instrument Used for the Study. 11). Procedure and data collection. 12). RESULT AND DISCUSSION.

13). Findings and Statistical Analysis. 14). SWOT analysis Conclusion. 15). Recommendation. 16). Limitations. 17). Bibliography. 18). Annexure.

44 53 55 56 57 58

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The accomplishment of our research was possible only due to the cooperation, coordination and united efforts of different individuals, several sources of material, knowledge and time. Pertaining to this I therefore take this opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude to entire staff and employees of the Bisleri Ltd. We are very grateful to Mr. Tapan kumar (Faculty) for his guidance and encouragement for his Kind Cooperation. The moving spirit behind this research was all of them, without their constant encouragement and support this research would not have been a successful outcome.

SHARAD SHUKLA (BM- 09285) AMIT DUTTA (BM- 09286) SHOBHIT DIXIT (BM- 09287) SIDDHARTH AGARWAL (BM-09288) PGDM-MM IIIth Sem.

Need of the study

The need for Pure Drinking Water is becoming the issue for the common Man. So water is the most important liquid in the world. Without water, there would be no life, at least not the way we know it. In today's living condition, Eighty percent of the human metabolism consists of water. This is the reason why 90% of human diseases are water borne. There are 3 types of water impurities, which are root cause of water borne diseases. . To determine the market share of Bisleri Brand of Bottle Water. To find out the preference level of respondents regarding Bisleri Brand of Bottle.

To assess the brand awareness of the Bisleri in the Mineral Water Segment. To Study the brand positioning of Bisleri.

Importance: 1. This report is useful for the researchers who are willing to do research on the Mineral water Industry and its present competitors in the market. 2. This report shows the problems associated with the Mineral water industry in the market as it helps in removing these problems. 3. This report can be useful as a secondary data for Mineral water industry. 4. This report helps in knowing the current and future scenario of Mineral water industry. 5. This report helps in knowing market position of different Mineral water industry.

Research Methodology: The research conducted by Exploratory Research this type of research is Qualitative and Quantitative. Qualitative refers to the characters of the data or process by which the data are gathered. The research process consists of a series of closely related activities. Why a research study has been undertaken. Why a research study has been undertaken, how the research problem has been defined, in what way and why the hypothesis has been formulated, what data has been collected and what particular method has been adopted and a host of similar other question are usually answered when we talk of research methodology concerning a research problem or study. Sampling: The data was to be collected only from the Consumers and Retailers. A questionnaire was prepared and interviewing with Retailers and Consumers. A decision has to be taken concerning a sample unit before selecting the number of samples. It may be geographical as well as individual.

Size of Sample:

This refers the number of items (Outlets) to be selected from the finite universe to constitute a sample size. The survey was conducted of 50 outlets. Analysis: The data was tabulated manually and was also analyzed manually excel was used to make graphs and pie chart. According to market share figure, Bisleri is the leading brand which 55.45% market share. While Kinley 23.33%, Kingfisher 3.97%, Aquafina 13.95% and others 6.30%. 1. 80% retailers prefer to sell Bisleri brand because of demand, brand and profit margin. 2. Bisleri is the most selling brand in the specific region it is at 45% selling among the competitors. 6

3. Retailers those are selling Bisleri brand of bottle water is 50%. 4. The company has recently launched Bada Bisleri, Same Price at Rs. 10/- for 1.2 Ltrs means 2% extra.

LITERATURE REVIEW: NOV 4, 2008

Mktg - India;Bisleri fights 'original mountain water' war

Devina Joshi Not too many months ago, Tata Enterprises natural mineral water brand, Himalayan, made a splash in the Indian market, hailing itself as 100 per cent pure mountain water from the Himalayas. The credo there was that as the world is turning towards spirituality and ethnicity, one mustnt forget the purity in whats original and untainted. Himalayan even rolled out a commercial (made by Rediffusion Y&R) that had the earth ripped off its commercial elements, with everything going back to its natural state (including mountain water, now bottled in the form of Himalayan). A few months later, things took a rather interesting turn when Himalayan filed a case against Bisleri on an issue regarding trademark infringement. The latter had even launched a website, www.bislerihimalayan.com, which it had to discontinue. Now, Bisleri is back with a commercial that has it, quite indirectly, trying to claim the original mountain water territory once again. Shot on a budget of a whopping Rs 1.5 crore, the ad employs special effects and has been created by Red Lion, the Elsie Nanji founded design arm of Publicis India. The commercial opens on a shot of the Himalayan mountain range breaking into a thousand water droplets. Within one such drop, we see a man seated in a meditative pose. The voiceover talks of how mountain water is precious water, giving life to earth, while the visual shows trees gaining life from water. Next, the visual depicts metaphors of spiritual significance such as the Mandala art, yogic chakras and poses, and even a meditative dance in progress. Finally, two human beings embrace each other in a celebration of life, encapsulated in a water droplet. The voiceover concludes that Bisleri Mountain Water is the sweet taste of purity. Although the ad doesnt openly hail Bisleri as the original mountain water, Elsie Nanji, managing partner, Red Lion, says that the leadership claim is, in fact, strong but subliminal. Our brief was for Bisleri to own mountain water, says Nanji. Over the years, Bisleri has become generic to the 8

category and is, in fact, the original mountain water. We had to take the leadership stand in this case. One will have to wait and see what its younger counterpart, Himalayan, wants to say on that. The ad shows how water touches all our lives and the channel through which it travels in our own bodies. This is water from the Gods and it is a vital ingredient in our body, says Nanji, adding that the spiritual layers have been added to give an ethnic, authentic feel to support the original mountain water claim. White Light has done the production, and the whole film took about three months to complete. While some of the production work was done in India, a portion of it (such as the shots showing the mountains breaking into water droplets) has been done in Los Angeles. Ruchika Desai, senior brand manager, Bisleri, says that the chief problem for the brand was to go beyond the functionality of the product and move into the imagery turf. Over the years, Bisleri has stood for purity and safety (most popular among its ads were the Play Safe campaigns featuring model and actor Dino Morea). Bisleri revamped its packaging in October 2006, going from blue to green, because everyone in the category had adopted the colour blue, according to Desai. Back then, Bisleri launched a TVC showing the journey of a Bisleri bottle how it goes to its origins, the Himalayas, and comes back refreshed and ready to rejuvenate. In this commercial too, we have shown how Bisleri water helps celebrate life, rejuvenate people and benefits the human body holistically, says Desai. Annual ad spends for Bisleri are pegged at Rs 35 crore. The campaign will enjoy a two month burst on air, take a break, and return again early next year. For the record, Himalayan Natural Mineral Water, the internationally known natural mineral water brand, is now a product of Tata Enterprise. According to the company, the water is endowed with vital organic minerals. Untouched and unprocessed, it has a taste acquired after more than 20 years of percolation, as it makes its way to an underground aquifer located in the Shivalik range of the Himalayas. Bisleri, on the other hand, has been around for several years. Bisleri Ltd, a company of Italian origin, first introduced mineral water under the name, Bisleri, in Mumbai in glass bottles in 1965. 9

Parle bought Bisleri (India) in 1969. The company recently introduced Bisleri Natural Mountain Water water brought from the foothills of the mountains in Himachal Pradesh. Its recent ad campaigns revolve around the thought, The Sweet Taste of Purity.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/bisleri%5Cs-expansion-thirst/389299/

Bisleri's expansion thirst

Byravee Iyer / Mumbai March 22, 2010, 0:40 IST

The bottled water brand leader is opening 35 new plants in smaller towns and entering the highmargin segments Bottled water brand leader, Bisleris new plants at Pune and Nagpur are ready to meet the summer demand. And over the next six months, the company will start operating more plants at Thane, Ratnagiri, Nasik, North Bengal and Bhubaneswar. This is part of the companys plans to open as many as 35 new plants across the country to tap the fast-growing market for packaged water (at Rs 2,400 crore now) in Indias hinterlands. Each of these plants is expected to service a radius of 100-150 kms. The growth will come, Parle Bisleri says, as there is an increasing consciousness even in villages to the fact that over 1,600 Indians are dying every day because of waterborne diseases and almost four million people in India are affected by water-borne diseases every year. So how does the company select a location? We know theres a need for drinking water everywhere, and we just want to make sure we are there to meet those needs, says Bisleri International Director (business development) Anjana Ghosh. Rohit Chadha, Associate Director, Consumer Products of consulting firm Technopak, says its a significant move from Bisleri. Branded bottled water has been limited to urban areas so far. But the 1

extension of modern trade to lower-tier towns as well as the increased awareness and aspiration amongst the youth in Tier II and III cities mean you have to be closer to your consumers, Chadha says. Branded players now account for just 30 per cent of the bottled water market. Theres another reason for Bisleris ambitious plans. It will help the company shave costs. Typically, in this business, transporting water to a distance of 200 km costs the company Rs 30 per case freight. But with distances cut, the company will now spend only Rs 4-5 per case freight. But Bisleri invariably starts selling the product in a given location before the plant comes up. Ghoshs rationale for deploying her sales force and spending that extra buck on distribution is simple, We are ready to do the initial struggle because the long-term benefits are far more. In any case, its a win-win strategy for us. While new bottling units means assured supply to consumers at any given point of time, they also help control cost in the long-term, she says. The move is similar to what Coca Cola and Pepsi did earlier with Kinley and Aquafina in 2001. At the time, both companies spent massive amounts on bottling plants and distribution and within a year, Coca Cola sought to double its plants to 16 while Pepsi had 12. But market leader Bisleri had only 15 bottling plants. The results began to show: While Aquafina and Kinley garnered a third of the market, Bisleris market share dropped from over 60 per cent to just 47 per cent. No doubt, that was tough to take for Bisleri. The first thing it did was to change the look and feel of its brand. From the earlier conical shaped bottle, Bisleri took on a streamlined, round shape, replacing the erstwhile blue logo with an aqua green one. The move paid off. According to Technopak, Bisleri leads the pack with a market share of 60 per cent, followed by Aquafina at 15 per cent and Tatas Himalaya brand at 8 per cent. As for bottling units, Bisleri has 52 while Aquafina has about 41. For its part, the Pepsi brand is not perturbed. We are the top two brands nationally in terms of both size and distribution, and are clear leaders in several markets in South and West, says the companys Executive Vice President Homi Battliwala. Bisleris other problem was thin margins even though the market has been growing at as much as 40 per cent. To find out whats going wrong, Bisleri has undertaken a mammoth research exercise across 60 districts in the country, speaking to as many as 30000 people. As part of this exercise, Bisleri is trying to understand why consumers are compromising on their health, what are they 1

consuming, and if they are brand conscious. While the verdict is yet to be out, some initial results have begun to trickle in. Early results suggest that many consumers are known to pick up duplicate brands while spending about the same on it. Any brand that has passed the test with the Bureau of Indian Standards is allowed to sell their products. So far there are 2000 such brands against just five branded bottled players, says Ghosh. To tackle that problem, Bisleri is in the process of rolling out a communication to raise brand awareness. Our task is to increase consumer awareness as it is a low involvement category and is an impulse buy. Our two biggest problems are that people dont realise that they are paying the same price for a Bisleri and buying an unbranded bottled water. Ghosh adds. Bisleri is doing several other things as well to open up the higher margin market. For one, it is in talks with beverage makers and bottlers in countries such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Oman and the United Arab Emirates to franchise its brand name. Exports to Singapore have already started. It also launched Vedica, its first mineral water, in January and is test marketing flavoured water in Mumbai. The company is also setting up a new manufacturing facility in Delhi for its enhanced water brands, which will be fortified with vitamins and minerals. These are brands that will tap the top end of this market, which now account for just 10 per cent of the packaged water market, and bring in substantial profits. Vedica will take on Himalayan and foreign brands like Evian and Perrier in a category that is willing to shell out that extra buck.

Shikha suman 7th may 2009 In natural mineral water there are very few company like Himalayan, Aava, Evian is playing in the market. Himalayan captures 50% of the market. While a thousand bottled water producers, the Indian bottled water industry is big by even international standards. There are more than 200 brands, nearly 80 per cent of which are local. Most of the small-scale producers sell non-branded products and serve small markets. Despite the large number of small producers, this industry is dominated by the big players - Parle Bisleri, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Parle Agro, Mohan Meakins, SKN Breweries and so on. 1

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/premium-thirst/382349/ Sayantani Kar / Mumbai January 12, 2010 Rural push Shoring up volumes would also need Bisleri to reach nooks farther away. Our plan for the next two years is to ensure that no consumer is denied a bottle of Bisleri if he asks for it, says Ghosh, underlining that the brand already enjoys a generic recall in bottled water. The company is putting 35 new plants all over India, with five to six coming up this month in places such as Rajkot, North Bengal and Silvassa, to service the rural and semi-urban regions around these plants. Water purifiers that do not need electricity but can store water do not fluster Ghosh. How much can a purifier store? What happens when there is no running water? she asks rhetorically.

INTRODUCTION Water is the most important liquid in the world. Without water, there would be no life, at least not the way we know it. In today's living condition, the need for Pure Drinking Water is becoming the issue for the common Man. Eighty percent of the human metabolism consists of water. This is the reason why 90% of human diseases are water borne. There are 3 types of water impurities, which are root cause of water borne diseases. 1. Microbiological-Bacteria / virus. 2. Dissolved impurities - chemical. 3. Imbalance of Mineral Content. There are rapid changes that are taking place in our environment since long and the air and the water pollution is on an increase. The main source of drinking water is river and downstream which also have not been able to escape the pollution. When a consumer became aware of the problems caused by water pollution the market saw an advent of ceramic water filters, which filters the dust and suspended particles but dissolved impurities and microbiological impurities are not cleared out. The mineral balance is also not maintained. 1980's witnessed more changes by a tap attachment wherein Iodine resin is used to filter the water. It deactivates microbiological impurities to an extent but has side effects due to iodine and it does not take care of dissolved impurities mineral balance. Late 1980's witnessed Ultra Violent based purifier, which filters dust and deactivates bacteria to a great extent. It maintains the odor and color of water but does not clear out the dissolved impurities and mineral particles. Thus came advent of mineral water. Historically, the need for purified water within Indian homes had been kept down to a minimum. Essentially, there were three types of water that was used for different purposes. The first type was used for rinsing. The second type, which was used for cooking, was cleaner and kept covered. The third type was the cleanest drinking water and was very often boiled before use. 1

Since an average family needed a small quantity, not more than five or six liters a day, boiled and filtered water had been a convenient solution for some time .The fallouts were obvious. It was very difficult to convince the people that purification system was worth the price. There was no visible way to demonstrate the benefit. The otherwise somnolent market began to change once companies like Eureka Forbes targeted the office segment, while the mineral water players went after travelers. Ion Exchange was the only company, which had any measure of success in entering homes with Zero-B. But clean drinking water returned on the national agenda a little later. Around 1989, drinking water became an issue again. Around early 1990s,Time did a story on India as a key emerging market and that was the trigger for all the players eyeing this market.

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE West Europeans, south Asians and Japanese live in the most densely populated regions of the globe and worry constantly about the quality of their drinking water drawn from rivers and lakes. Most is polluted and unfit for human consumption. In North America, people never worried about water quality and safety until early 1970s and restaurants always provided iced water free. Some still do. Then came Perrier, the French mineral water emphasizing how restaurateurs could increase their revenues by replacing iced water service with bottled water. Restaurateurs never miss an opportunity to increase their profits, and soon studies started to surface claiming that serving iced water was costly and no one benefited. Many restaurants started serving automatically bottled water, and charged outrageous amounts i.e. $ 3.50 for 300 ml. These days, a 750 ml bottle goes for $ 10.- in some restaurants, plus applicable taxes and tip! Meanwhile, the word savvy bottled water marketers started circulating the myth that drinking bottled mineral water is safer, never mentioning what their studies were comparing. It is said that the inhabitants of seven cities between Switzerland and the Netherlands consume the water of the Rhine River. In these parts people drink beer, wine, bottled water or fruit juices and shun tap water. North Americans have recently begun to drink bottled water, but already the distinction between spring water, mineral water, and filtered tap water is blurred beyond redemption. Spring water must come from a natural springs with proven purity of contaminants; mineral water must contain 2000 parts per million in minerals; and filtered tap water means just that. Europeans always preferred mineral water or eau de source (spring water) since their rivers were polluted a long time ago. Now considerable efforts are made to clean all major European Rivers. The Rhine River, the Thames, the Loire are clean enough to allow several species of fish to thrive. As always, large companies with considerable cash reserves dominate the market. Groupe Danone, a French conglomerate, markets Evian, Volvic and Crystal Springs; Nestle, a Swiss food multinational with headquarters in Montreux markets Perrier, Nestle Pure Life and San Pellegrino. Not to be outdone soft drink giant Coca-Cola joined the cause with filtered tap water and positioned their brand as pure, safe, life-style water. Coca-Cola markets Dasani and Pepsi Cola Aquafina. When it comes to mineral water, Voss (Norway); Tynant (Ireland); Vitel, Cathledon, Volvic, (France); Appolinaris (Germany), Spa (Belgium); Gasteiner (Austria); San Benedetto, San Pellegrino, Aqua di Nepi, Lete (Italy), Ramlosa (Sweden); Borsec (Romania) stand out. They display distinct taste profiles that spring and filtered waters lack, but tend to be more expensive. When it comes to 1

consumption, Canadians consume approximately 30 litres per capita, Italians 158 litres, French 133, Dutch 119, Germans 101 and Americans 76. The low per capita consumption can be attributed to the illusion that tap water is safe. In reality, only large cities control tap water quality regularly and vigorously and treat it appropriately for safety. In small communities, scarce financial resources and lacking expertise often make tap water safety questionable. Since the introduction of PET bottles (polyethylene terephate) bottled water consumption increased by 16 percent in five years and continuing growth of the market is forecast by the Canadian Bottled Water Association in Richmond Hill, Ontario. The question for restaurant patrons remains whether to ask for bottled or mineral water, or demand ice water. It all depends on the situation. You can ask politely for ice water, if that is what you prefer, or a glass of wine, or beer. The cost is almost the same for all the three, or you can complain to management that prices charged for bottled water are ridiculous as is the case withwine.

MINERAL WATER INDUSTRY CURRENT MARKET SCENARIO A few years back, the mineral water market had been crawling at the rate of 3-4%, or even a lower figure. Indians carried drinking water in earthen pitchers, plastic or PUF bottles. But increasing cases of typhoid and other waterborne diseases began to be reported. In addition to this, liberalization happened and the mineral water industry began to be stirred and shaken. The market started growing an astounding rate of over 100% per annum. The fact that there were very few players in the market meant that their business grew by leaps and bounds. The market today has grown to Rs11bn. The organized sector -- branded mineral water -- has only Rs5bn 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. In the branded segment, Parles Bisleri is the market leader with a share of more than 45%. Parle Agros Bailley 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, Nestls Pure Life, Pepsis Aquafina, Coca-Colas -Kinley Prime, and Florida etc. Sensing the opportunity that this segment holds, MNCs began to draw up plans to enter the market. Today the market is proving to be yet another battlefield for an ongoing battle between the Desis and MNCs. Last year the industry had around 170 brands. This figure is over 300 presently. The major foreign players are Coca-Cola promoted Kinley, Pepsis Aquafina, Britannias Evian, Nestls Perrier, Herbert sons and Danone International.

COMPANY PROFILE The origins of Bisleri lie in Italy, and the brand owes its name to founder Felice Bisleri, an Italian entrepreneur. In 1967, Bisleri set up a plant in Mumbai for bottling and marketing mineral water, which was first of its kind in India. However, it didnt work well. Among other reasons, the fact that the Indian consumer was unprepared to accept bottled mineral water was responsible for its failure. Consumer mindsets were more geared towards boiling water at home. In 1969, Parle bought over the Bisleri brand. In those days Bisleri water was available in glass bottles. Parle's taking charge of Bisleri did not make a dramatic difference to the brand's fortunes immediately. While it did gain in terms of visibility and reach (piggybacking on Parle's existing distribution network), efforts to expand the bottled water market were not exactly painstaking. Parle at that particular time was interested in making soda water and not mineral water. There were just minor initiatives on part of the company for making mineral water, as it was not considered to be a very profitable business at that time as people still considered boiling water to be a safer and better than mineral water. Moreover they were not ready to pay for a commodity like water, which was so abundantly available. In 1972-73 Parle changed the packaging of its bottled water to plastic bottles and that significantly made a difference in the sales. The buyers, then, were mainly the upper class - the trendy people. In 1993, Coca-Cola bought Parles soft drink brands- Thumps-up, limca etc. While Coca-Cola actually bought over Parle's beverages, it agreed to a settlement that allowed the multinational to bottle and distribute Bisleri soda for a time frame of five years. The charge of Bisleri water, however, remained with Parle. The upsurge in the sales of Bisleri started from this point as Parle sold off its stable of brands to Coca-Cola. This was the time when it started concentrating on making Bisleri a success in the domestic mineral water market. The reason why Parle chose to retain the Bisleri name was that Parle saw a fairly lucrative business of mineral water in Bisleri's equity. The real shift in companys policy towards mineral water industry came in 1998,although the conscious efforts had already been started in 1994. This change was primarily because of the fact that the people, at this time, had started becoming more health conscious.

OPERATION OF BISLERI: The Bisleri bottled water range comprises the conventional 500 ml, one litre, 1.2 litre and two litre bottles; five litre and 20 litre jars for the home segment, and smaller packs sizes of 250 ml cups and 330 ml bottles, though in very limited numbers for now. Among all pack sizes the brand straddles, it is the one-litre non-returnable bottles priced at Rs 10 each, and the 20-litre jars for Rs 40 aimed at the home segment that are Bisleri's bestsellers at present. While the 20-litre jar comprises about 40 per cent of overall Bisleri sales, the one-litre bottles account for approximately 25 per cent brand sales. The main source of water is bore wells from where they get thee water. Then the raw materials required for the bottle is PET i.e. polyethylene terephatalable. There are 250 workers working in mumbai and 3000 all over India. The production process adopted by bisleri is batch production. The time taken to fill one bottle is approximately 5 minutes. The workers work in 3 shifts, which comprises of 60-70 workers per shift. The maintenance of the machines is done every month and every 45 days there is sanitation and cleaning of the machine INTRODUCTION STAGE: Parle Bisleri's Bisleri brand launched in 1971 was the leader with 70% market share. After 1993, the branded mineral water industry saw some hectic activity. In the early 1990s, the branded mineral water industry was worth Rs 3 billion, producing around 95 million liters in 1992On an average, every three months, a new brand was launched and another died. In the late 1990s, many international brands were planning to enter the mineral water market. According to some analysts, the main reason for the boom in branded water was the fact that people were becoming more health and hygiene conscious. Branded mineral water, which sold in only 60 towns in 1993, was available in 250 towns in 1997. In 1998, Bisleri's market share came down to 60%, while Parle Agro's Bailley3 had 20%. Regional players shared the remaining 20%. GROWTH STAGE: In 1995 Bisleri launched a 500ml bottle and sales shoot up by 400 percentage. In 1998 Bisleri introduced a tamper proof and tamper evident seal. In 1998, the branded mineral water market had grown to a 424 million litre business, valued at Rs 4 billion2. There were 200 brands available in the country. In their bid to garner greater market share, many companies, including Parle Bisleri tried to make quality and the purification processes they used their unique selling proposition (USP). The 2

following diagram represents the price range in different segments of mineral water companies are given below: MATURITY STAGE: In 2000, Bislery introduced the 20 litre container to bring prices down from Rs 10 to Rs 2 a litre. In 2000, the branded water market had grown to Rs 7 billion. New players like Pepsi's Aquafina, CocaCola's Kinley and Nestle's Pure Life entered the market. The market was segmented into premium, popular and bulk segments The premium segment was the least crowded with just four brands: French transnational-Danone's Evian and Ferrarelle and Nestle's Perrier and San Pellagrino. The popular segment was where most of the action was. Bisleri, Bailley, Aquafina, and Kinley were some of the dominant brands in this segment. In the bulk segment (5, 12 & 20 litres), Bisleri was a major player with Kinley and Aquafina stayingout of this segment. In August 2000, Coca-Cola India launched its bottled water brand, Kinley. Some analysts said that it would be difficult for Kinley to make a dent in the branded water market in India because it was already overcrowded and highly competitive. Commenting on Kinley's launch, Ramesh Chauhan (Chauhan), CEO of Parle Bisleri Ltd said, "It will be tough for anyone to beat us in this game. We will remain market leaders. According to analysts the bulk segment had vast potential, and was expected to grow fast. In 2000, 40% of the branded water consumption was in eateries, homes and restaurants. Large shops and commercial complexes were fast emerging as attractive targets for mineral water marketers and Bisleri wanted to be the first to establish itself in the bulk pack segment DECLINE STAGE: As product differentiation on the basis of quality became increasingly difficult, with each company claiming that its brand was safe and pure, companies began to use packaging to differentiate their products. Bisleri introduced a tamper proof seal in the 500 ml bottle. However, analysts felt that Bisleri's efforts to reinforce its pure and safe image with a tamper proof seal may not be all that effective as competitors also had similar tamper proof sealed bottles. They felt that it was companies with strong distribution channels that would do well in the long run. Pepsi's Aquafina was strongly placed because it had the backing of Pepsi's distribution network in the country. 2

By 2001, the mineral water market was worth Rs 10 billion and was growing at the rate of 40% a year. Kinley and Aquafina made inroads into the market and by March 2001, Kinley had a 10% market share, Aquafina had 4% and the share of Bisleri had come down to 51%. By June 2001, Bisleri's market share was 47% and Aquafina and Kinley together accounted for over a third of the market. In 2001, both Kinley and Aquafina were making huge investments in bottling plants and distribution. By 2002, Coca-Cola India planned to double the number of water bottling plants to 16 and Pepsi announced that it would add seven more plants to the existing five. In contrast, Bisleri had only 15 bottling plants and three franchisees. Kinley had 500,000 outlets compared to Bisleri's 350,000. Analysts felt that Kinley and Aquafina had an edge over Bisleri because of their strong distribution network. However, one area in which Bisleri seemed to have an advantage over Kinley and Aquafina was the bulk segment. In 2000 Bisleri's 5 and 20 litres packs accounted for 20% of its sales. In 2001, the company planned to have 75% of its sales from bulk packs of 5 and 20 litres.Bisleri reportedly wanted to focus on the bulk segment because Pepsi and Coca-Cola seemed to be strong in the retail segment and would take some time to strengthen their presence in the bulk segment. According to some analysts the competition between Pepsi and Coca-Cola in India would shift to brand mineral water. With the cola market having remained stagnant for the past few years, the branded water market, with 40% growth would be an attractive option for these companies. CocaCola planned to invest Rs 700-750 million in its water business by 2005 and Pepsi around Rs 800 million to Rs 1 billion. In 2001, Kinley contributed 5% to Coca-Cola's revenues in India and Pepsi claimed that by 2002, Aquafina would contribute 7% of Pepsi's revenues in India. Analysts felt that with the cola giants shifting their focus to branded water in India, Bisleri would be the worst sufferer. Chauhan was already planning to sell a 49% stake in Bisleri. However, according to some analysts; he would wait till 2004 when Bisleri was likely to touch a turnover of Rs 10 billion, before selling out the 49% stake. Others felt that given the pace at which Kinley and Aquafina were eroding Bisleri's marketshare, 2004could be too late. Parle Bisleri's aggressive marketing was aimed at making Bisleri a Rs 10 billion brand. However, new entrants into the branded water market like Pepsi and Coca-Cola were equally aggressive in marketing their brands. 2

Due to competition in the market with competitors Bislris sales is decreasing, but still Bisleri have been the market leaders in India as far as mineral waters is concerned, Bisleri product has never reached the decline stages timely steps or modification of product is done to suit the latest requirement, it launch different- different varieties in the water bottle according to market situation, and which suits to consumers need. As a result Bisleri has been successful in maintaining market leadership. However the from starting when the Bisleri was launched, it was number one in the market in respect of mineral water. The journey of Bisleri till now is given as: The journey till now 1969: Buys Bisleri bottled water from an Italian company, Felice Bisleri. It was bottled in glass bottles then 1971: Parle Bisleri's Bisleri brand launched in the market. Early-1980s: Shifts to PVC bottles. Sales surge (increases). Mid-1980s: Switches to PET bottles, which meant more transparency and life for water. 1993: Sells carbonated drink brands like Thums Up, Gold Spot and Limca to Coca-Cola for Rs 400 crore. 1995: Bisleri launches a 500 ml bottle and sales shoot up by 400 per cent. 1998: Introduces a tamper-proof and tamper-evident seal. 2000: Introduces the 20-litre container to bring prices down from Rs 10 a litre to Rs 2 a litre. 2000: BIS cancels Bisleri's licence of water bottling in Delhi since some of the bottles did not carry ISI label; the licence is restored one-and-a-half months later. 2002: Kinley overtakes Bisleri. The national retail stores audit by ORG-MARG show Kinley's marketshare at 35.1 per cent compared to Bisleri's 34.4 per cent. 2003: Bisleri says it plans to venture out into Europe and America to sell bottled water. 2007: recently in 2007 Bisleri launched Bisleri soda in the market.

MARKETING STRATEGY It is complete and an unbeatable plan designed specifically for attaining the marketing objective of a firm. The marketing objective indicates what the firm wants to achieve. The marketing strategy provides the design for achieving them the linkage between marketing strategies and over all corporate success is indeed direct and vital. Realizing the marketing objectives is the purpose of two generic categories. 1. Price based 2. Differentiation based

Price based marketing strategy A business that opts for the price route in its competitive battle will enjoy certain flexibilities in matter of its product and use prices as main competitive level. It will price its product to suit the varying competitive demands. It will be enjoying certain inherent cost advantages, which permits it to resort a price based fight. The major forms where such cost advantage can occurs are economies of sale, absolute cost advantages. Benefits of early entry a large market share build over a time. it provides freedom in the matter of pricing but after producing a particular product and getting stuck in the face of the competition , one can not successfully opt for a price led strategy .

The differentiation based strategy Marketing strategy based on differentiation works on the principle that any aspect of the offer and any activity of the firm can be made distinctive compared with the competition offers. Right from technology, plant location to post sale and service a company can perceptibly differentiate and many buyer values. Companies usually choose those functions, Which give them the greatest relative advantage. Different firms adopts different strategy stances as their situational design differBroadly strategy stances can be classified under three heads2

1. Offensive StrategyOffensive Strategy also known as confrontation strategy, is a strategy of aggression. A firm that is not presently the leader usually employs it, but it aspires to leadership position in the Industry. 2. Defensive StrategyThe leader who has the compulsion to defend his position against the confrontation of powerful existing competitors or to dislodge the leader from his topmost position usually employs it. 3. Niche StrategyA firm practicing the niche strategy neither confronts other nor defends itself. It cultivates a small market segment for itself with unique products / services supported by a unique marketing mix.

Formulating the Marketing StrategyFormulating the marketing strategy consists of two main steps1. Selecting the target marketIt does not fully bring out the import of the inseparable linkage between the two. When the selection of the target market is over an important part of the marketing strategy of the firm is already determined, defined and expressed. 2. Assembling the marketing mixAssembling the marketing mix means assembling the four Ps of marketing in the right combination. The firm has to find out how it can generate the best sales and profit. It plans different marketing mixes with varying levels of expenditure on each element and tries to figure out the effectiveness of each combination in terms of the possible sales and profit.

ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN OF BISLERI: Every brand needs a good ad campaign to establish itself in the market. So it becomes very imperative to look at various ad campaigns that Bisleri undertook to build itself as a brand. Bisleri started its game plan with the punch line of Pure and Safe and used the same catch-line for advertising. But with the advent of many new players, all claiming the purity, it became very imperative for Bisleri to differentiate its product so as to stand out in the market. Bisleri found the answer in sealed cap bottles. It claimed 100% purity. While the bottles of the other brands, it claimed, could be refilled with ordinary, or even germinated water, Bisleris seal capped bottles ensured the consumer of purity of water and single-used ness of the bottles. The ad showed a milk-man and a child showering their buffaloes and filling the so-called mineral water bottles with the same water and packing them with the simple polythene seal and the consumer not knowing about the purity of the water he is drinking. Next clip shows the Bisleri bottles being sealed with plastic caps and ensuring the purity of water. The ad did work for Bisleri and it got its much needed product differentiation. In 2000, some giant brands like Pepsi and coca-cola entered the mineral water industry with a big bang. Bisleri now had a big threat of maintaining its market cap. While Coca-cola introducing its brand Kinley as a health care product, Pepsi projected Aquafina as something as pure as Your own body. Pepsi targeted the young generation and introduced Aquafina as a fancy product to carry. The ad campaign of Aquafina emphasized as 70% of your body is water and thus give your body the purest water. The ad showed young vibrant models and created the atmosphere of youthfulness. Water, Pepsi claimed, was no longer a simple beverage, but was something highly fashionable. They complimented it by giving their bottles an attractive look. This soon caught the eye of the consumer. All these factors made Pepsi the biggest upcoming competitor of Bisleri (whereas Kinley lagged behind the race, showing a doctor advising a family to take Kinley for pure water not a very attractive ad campaign). Bisleri, to counter-attack the new Feel-Young fever had to even bolder steps. They first changed their base line from Pure and Safe to Play Safe. They tried a brand new ad campaign to catch the fancy of consumer. The new ad showed a young romantic couple on a marooned island, when the girl seductively attracts the guy and he follows her in trance. The moment he gets hold of her, she whispers something in his ears. The next few shots show the guy looking for something in frenzycan not find it.rushes towards the chemists shop.buys something (keeping the audience in suspenseor rather implicitly pointing for ). The girl opens it 2

and.POOF.takes out a bottle of Bisleri and quenches her thirst. Caption: Play Safe. This campaign was to catch the attention of youth and a new Indian society, which is supposed to be notso-prudish. Thus Bisleri has taken a very bold step. The T.V. ads have been complimented by print ads also. 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.

AQUAFINA ADVERTISEMENTS AND BISLERI A drop-dead gorgeous body flexes its muscles on the screen. This starkly arresting black and white image is then splashed with water. A voice-over informs you that 70 per cent of your body is water. Why not give it the purest. Aquafina Bottled water from Pepsi. This kind of advertisement campaign used by the competitors is giving the company a tough time. The competitor, Pepsi, is utilizing the brand image built by it and is again targeting the Generation X maintaining the company image. Its an unusual ad for this category. Till now, most marketers have focused on educating the consumer on how bottled water is a safer option, with the lead of course, taken by the popular national brand Bisleri. But Pepsi chose to junk this approach and it could well afford to. Bisleri, after all, had already done most of the hard work needed to build the bottled water category. What Pepsi needed was to establish its brand in this crowded, fragmented market. Our task was made easier because was made easier because Bisleri had concentrated on educating the consumer, instead of building its own brand values," says Rohit Ohri, vice president and client services director, Hindustan Thompson Associates Limited (HTA). We wanted the imagery to posit~on Aquafina as a youthful, premium and fun brand," says Vibha Rishi, executive director, Pepsi. The idea, she says, was not to objectify bodies so that one could drool over them. "Instead, we are talking about your body and the need for each one to take care of his or her body." The ad copy, which spoke of the water content in our bodies, was actually trying to establish how important water was to our well- being and how we need to continuously replenish it. While the thinking was clear that the imagery had to be built in and around purity, HTA did toy with a couple of other ideas and situations. Initially, the idea was to focus more strongly on the fun aspect and create a story line complete with a smart idea and a twist at the end. "But we gave it up because we felt that the story might take the mind away from the purity aspect that was a must to highlight," says Ohri. So HTA adopted a minimalist approach and created a film with little clutter and no props, which tried to capture the emotion of "feeling good about yourself'. While the film and the imagery are completely the work of HT A, the strategic thinking comes from the Mother Company in the US. Aquafina, in fact, is the largest-selling bottled water brand in the US with a 12 per cent market share, 2

and India is the first country outside of the US where Aquafina is being bottled. Even in the US, the ad talks of the percentage of water in our bodies, but the handling is a little more serious. For example, the film will show an emotional moment where someone starts crying, and then you will hear the voice-over, "85 per cent of your eyes are water. "There is no internal law that forces us to follow the international positioning. But seeing the quality of thinking that has gone into this, we decided to stay with this positioning, though the statements here are quite different," explains Rishi. Aquafina, like all offeFings that come from the Pepsi stable, also imbibes the core values of the mother brand. It addresses the Pepsi-user base, largely the youth, and like Pepsi, it is also being positioned as a hip brand. But Aquafina is a lot that Pepsi is not. It is a little bit older, mature and affluent, and not as mass based as Pepsi. Pepsi's role in the communication is that it is the source of credibility for the product and, of course, establishes the youthfulness of the brand. But Aquafina is a brand in its own right and with each piece of communication, its personality will emerge," feels Ohri. But while Aquafina is being given a distinct identity, it is also being targeted at the Pepsi consumer and is addressing their need for safe and reliable drinking water. Will this not cannibalize Pepsi sales? "Water does eat into the cola market," agrees Rishi, "but we can't build a business for Pepsi based on people's lack of access to safe drinking water. How can any business be built on deprivation?" Both will have to co-exist and carve a market out for themselves, And~ while Pepsi targets the 18-25 year olds, Aquafina also includes the 30-somethings together with the college crowd. Like Pepsi, Aquafina too is looking to command a premium without being unaffordable. It is being positioned as a premium product, not via pricing, but in imagery and packaging. Priced at Rs. 10 in Delhi for a 750ml. bottle, it is priced marginally higher than the competition that gives you one liter for Rs. 10. The swirl shaped PET bottle resembles the Pepsi family and is sturdier and more hip than most others in the category that take their design cues, it seems, from the one liter refined oil bottles in the market. The decision to break the norm and come up with a 750 ml pack size was more driven by the fact that water is fundamentally consumed on the go and the 750 ml size is easy to carry around. "It is ideal for an half-an-hour in the sun, one liter gets too bulky," says Rishi. Pepsi's future plans at the moment don't include commg up with size variants. They have also ruled 2

out the possibility of catering to the bulk market, which actually constitutes 30 per cent of the total bottled water market that stands at 70 million liters annually, and is growing anywhere between 30 and 50 per cent. Pepsi, obviously, is looking for a big slice of this burgeoning market, but as Subroto Chattopadhyay, executive vice president, marketing, Pepsi, says, "We have a building blocks approach, first we have to build the brand, and then the volumes. Bisleri is tackling the situation by building the brand on the purity plank. Akin to brand building in soft drinks, an aggressive print-and-TV campaign is being backed by hoarding, point-of-sale material, and every interface with the consumer is being used as an opportunity to reinforce the message. For instance, all the vehicles used for supply have been painted in bright blue, bear the Bisleri logo and sport catchy baselines like. "Play Safe".

Packaging Variety is spices of life. Today for any business organization to be successful it has to provide its customer with the differentiated product that is a value buy for them. In order to cater to The changing needs of the customer the business has to continuously come out with the variants of the products so that it can target the maximum segments. Today Aqua Minerals offers a variety of packaging options: 1 lit, 2 lit, 5 lit, 20 lit. The 5-litre bottles account for 35 % of sales showing a growing health concern among the Indian society. 1-litre bottles account for 30% of the share. The 2-litres bottle introduced to slowly and steadily replaces the conventional 1-litre bottle. The 5-litre packs launched in December 1999 in Goa, now available everywhere. Distribution Its obvious that availability holds the key to the market .For any product to be successful the distribution system has to be really good. Large tracts of the country have not been explored by the national brands, which explain the proliferation of smaller brands. Bisleris strategy is to build a direct distribution system at an all India level that means serious investment In company owned trucks and carts, this would make it the largest fleet owner in the country. Bisleri has around 80,000 retail outlets in the country with about 12,000 each in the delhi and Mumbai. It is intended to be increased this no. to 10,00,000 in order to expand brands reach. The company will invest approximately Rs.200 cr. to procure 2000 trucks and hire same number of sales people. The company plans to have its own distribution network in places where it has its own plant

MARKETING MIX 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 Bisleri Mineral water. Other than mineral water the company has also the soda water under its brand name called the Bisleri 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 can provide for Internet facilities using conversion. 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 the catch 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 Bisleri. 3

Its a battle that Bisleri can win by sheer distribution muscle. One of the reasons why Bisleri is running strong in this industry is its strong distribution network built over the years since its inception. Further, Bisleri plans to increase its distribution network over the southern and eastern region, where it is behind popular brands like Team in Tamil Nadu and in Andhra Pradesh.

Prices for following packaging variants

(AN ECONOMIC FACTOR AFFECTING THE BUYERS BEHAVIOR) Price is the sum of values that consumer exchange for the benefits of having or 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. Bisleri has met the expectations of the consumers in terms of pricing the product and also making the product available in variations of litres, making Bisleri both convenient and affordable. The company is following a very aggressive pricing. Its product is available at a very reasonable price. 1.2 Ltrs Rs. 10/2 Ltrs Rs. 20/5 Ltrs Rs. 40/-

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, and what they communicate should not be left to chance. 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 pursue its advertising and marketing objectives. 3

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 trickle down the message to the less active members of the society. This is exactly what Bisleri is doing. Bisleri 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.

CONTENT OF THE CAMPAIGN: Bisleri that was looking for a differentiator decided to make the breakaway seal the symbol of purity. The tamper-proof seal was developed, around which the communication was woven. 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, Bisleri is the only one that guarantees purity and keeps you Safe.

To conclude: We find that new advertisement campaign of Bisleri 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. In the survey we found that the consumers are aware of the breakaway seal but are not aware that the company has the patent right. Apart from a high dose of investments on expanding bottling capacities and an ad budget thats risen six-fold over last year, if Bisleri 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. Apart from creating consumer pull with campaign, the company, to increase its sales would have to 3

do the sales push as well. For that 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 at ease and whatever retailer is giving.

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 guns attention. First Britannia launched Evian. And recently, soft drinks giant Pepsi entered the fray with Aquafina. Now, Nestle too is reportedly planning a foray. Meanwhile, Parle Agros Bailey has been growing steadily. Small local players too are breathing down Bisleris neck riding on better trade margins and intensive distribution (in their respective areas of operation). The competition facing Bisleri can be categorized into a few brand names like

Parle Bailey Pepsi Aquafina Coca Cola Kinley

With Parles Bailey being the main competitor and second in market share in the organized market, Bisleri faces tremendous competition from the unorganized sector. 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 Bisleri 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 slot. So the creative team at HTA virtually had an empty canvas to work on. And it came up with a campaign that did have people talking. First, a series of teasers, followed by a film that showed healthy bodies and youthful people and, of course, lots of water. Although Aquafina is only available in a 750 ml pet bottle, the pricing, 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. 3

Coca Cola- Kinley 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 targeting institutions.

Parle Agros- Bailley Bailley 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. Bisleri would have a tough competition from Bailley 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 Bisleri 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 Bisleri has not adopted as yet. This is another point, which the company would have to take care of to face the competition.

PRODUCT PROFILE Its a compliment being generic to the category, but its not very good when consumers think any mineral water brand is Bisleri Bisleri, a product established in India by Ramesh Chauhan, Chairman of Parle Aqua Minerals has become a generic brand. Bisleri was the first marketed bottled water in a totally virgin market. The brand has become synonymous with mineral water; consumers accept any brand offered by the retailer when they ask for Bisleri. So far Ramesh Chauhans Bisleri enjoys the largest market share of 56% in the Rs1100 crores mineral water markets and is growing at the rate of 180% per annum. Annual sales of Bisleri have touched Rs400 crores. In seventies, 'Bisleri' was the only mineral water, which had national presence, and the sale was to the tune of approximately one hundred thousand cases valued at about 3

Rs.60 lacs.

MANUFACTURING A quick look at Bisleri's 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 Bisleri has setup 16 plants located all over the country three-fourths of which are company owned. The balance is run by franchisees. Bisleri has 5 plants in the North, 5 in the West- two of which were setup in the last year at Ahmedabad and Surat, 4 in the South and 2 in the East. The company has bottling units located in Chennai, Bangalore, Goa, Calcutta, Mumbai, Delhi, Jaipur, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Indore and Nepal. The new plants are being set up in states like Kerala, Orissa, Bihar and North Eastern States, which hitherto 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. Bisleri has planned to expand its operations by investing Rs.60 crores in the upgradation of facilities. The 120-bottles per minute (BPM) capacity of the 16 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 400 million liters to 500 million liters. Parle Bisleri Limited (PBL) is planning to invest Rs 200 crores to increase its bottling capacity and double its turnover. The expansion will also increase the number of company's bottling plants from 16 at present, to 25. The company will set up all the new plants as green field plants. It doesnt have any intentions to acquire any existing plants.

PURE BOTTLED DRINKING WATER 3

Is Dangerous The Safety of Bottled Drinking-water Because of the large number of possible hazards in drinking water, the development of standards for drinking water requires significant resources and expertise, which many countries are unable to afford. Fortunately, guidance is available at the international level. The World Health Organization (WHO) publishes Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality which many countries use as the basis to establish their own national standards.

International Standards for Bottled Drinkingwater The intergovernmental body for the development of internationally recognized standards for food is the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC). WHO, one of the co-sponsors of the CAC, has advocated the use of the Guidelines for Drinking-water Quality as the basis for derivation of standards for all bottled waters. CSE Report on pesticide residues in bottled Water: The Centre for Science and Environment, a non-governmental organization based in New Delhi, has set up the Pollution Monitoring Laboratory to monitor environmental pollution. Its main aim is to undertake scientific studies to generate public awareness about food, water and air contamination. The bottled water market share of major brands is Bisleri (51%), Bailley (17%), Yes (11%) followed by Kinley (10%), Aquafina (4%). Drinking water filled in hermetically sealed containers of various compositions, form, and capacities that is suitable for direct consumption without further treatment

FACTS Bottled drinking water samples of some top brands Bisleri (Parle Bisleri Pvt. Ltd.), Bailley (Parle 4

Agro Pvt. Ltd.), Aquafina (Pepsico India Holding Pvt. Ltd.), Kinley (Hindustan Coca Cola Beverage Pvt. Ltd.) And of other less popular brands like Best, Royal Aqua, Seagull etc., which were being sold and manufactured in Mumbai and nearby areas like Pune and Daman, were purchased randomly. All the samples were purchased from retail outlets in the market and from railway station and were checked for proper seal, date of manufacture and batch number. Even the top brands, which claim to use treatment methods like purification filtration, activated carbon filtration, demineralization and reverse osmosis were found to contain residues of pesticides. It might be due to the reason that the manufacturers may be bypassing the raw water after partial treatment and remixing it with the fully treated stream so as to cut down the cost of treatment. On the basis of the results different brands can be rated in terms of total organochlorine and organophosphorus pesticides from least to most contaminated as-

Aquafina Macblue Bailley Kinley Seagull Sheetal Bisleri Brilliant Bally Apurva

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the marketing strategies of the company with To determine the market share of Bisleri Brand of Bottle Water. To find out the preference level of respondents regarding Bisleri Brand of Bottle.

To assess the brand awareness of the Bisleri in the Mineral Water Segment. To Study the brand positioning of Bisleri.

RESEARCH DESIGN:

MEANING OF RESEARCH DESIGN The formidable problem that follows the task of defining the research problem is the preparation of the design of the research project, popularly known as the research design. Decisions regarding what, where, when, how much by what means concerning an inquiry or a research study constitute a research design. A research design is the arrangement of conditions for collection and analysis of data in manner that aims to combine relevance to the research purpose with economy in procedure. In fact, the research design is the conceptual structure within which research is conducted; it constitutes the blueprint for the collection, measurement and analysis of data. As such the design includes on outline of what the researcher will do from writing the hypothesis and its operational implications to the final analysis of data. More explicitly, the design decisions happen to be in respect of: 1. What is the study about? 2. Why is the study being made? 3. Where will the study be carried out? 4. What type of data is required? 5. Where can the required data be found? 6. What periods of time will the study include? 7. What will be the sample design? 8. What techniques of data collection will be used? 9. How will the data analyzed? 10. In what style will the report be prepared?

TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS USED FOR THE STUDY It is necessary for a researcher to define conceptual structure which research would be conducted. The function of research design is to provide for the collection of relevant evidence with minimal expenditure of efforts, time and money. In this research the research design was as follows: 4

1. Time available for the research is every Wednesday of the week. 2. The means of obtaining the information is through:

Primary data like questionnaire Secondary data like magazines, net and Pamphlets etc.

3. There is no cost factor related to researcher.

PROCEDURE OF DATA COLLECTION Data compilation is an intermediate stage between data collection and analysis. Data compilation involves classification and summarization in order to make data amenable to analysis. In dealing with any problem, once the sample has been selected the data must be collected from the sample population. There are several ways of collecting appropriate data, which differ considerably in context of money cost, time and other resources. They can be broadly classified in to two categories.

Two sources to collect data are namely: 1. Primary Source 2. Secondary Source

PRIMARY SOURCE OF COLLECTING DATA The Primary Data that I collected were the first hand information, which I received through personal interviews with the consumers and through questionnaires. This data gave the most vital information for making my analysis of the prevailing purchasing behavior of the consumers.

QUESTIONNAIRE TECHNIQUE The method of collecting data mailing and personally distributing questionnaire to the respondents is the most extensively employed technique in various economical surveys. This method is quit popular, particularly in case of big inquiries. A typical questionnaire consists of a number of questions arranged and printed in definite order on a form or a set of forms. The questionnaire is given to the respondents who are expected to read and understand the questions and writes the response in the given space meant for the purpose in the questionnaire. SECONDARY SOURCE OF DATA COLLECTION Secondary Data involved in my research were the information that I collected through the various broachers and pamphlets of the company, which were provided to me during the analysis.

RESEARCH DESIGN: The research design, which has been used in the project report, is descriptive in nature.

SAMPLE DESIGN: The sample design, which has been use in this project report, is simple random sampling.

SAMPLING UNIT: A decision has to be taken concerning a sample unit before selecting the number of samples. It may be geographical as well as individual. Here all NCR regions have been taken as a geographical unit and retailers as an individual unit.

SIZE OF SAMPLE: This refers the number of items (Outlets) to be selected from the finite universe to constitute a sample size. The survey was conducted of 200 outlets.

FINDING

After the tabulation and analysis of 50 respondents from Ghaziabad city:The following findings is obtained:

According to market share figure, Bisleri is the leading brand with 55.45% market shares, while Kinley 23.33%, Kingfisher 3.97%, Aquafina 13.95% and others 6.30%.

80% retailers prefer to sell Bisleri brand because of demand, brand and profit margin.

Bisleri is the most selling brand in the specific region it is at 45% selling among the competitors.

Retailers those are selling Bisleri brand of bottle water is 50%.

The company has recently launched Bada Bisleri, Same Price at Rs. 10/- for 1.2 Ltrs means 2% extra.

There is discrimination in the prices of distributor or the prices at which retailers directly purchase from the market.

Most of the customers first ask for Bisleri bottle water just because of its Generic name not because of brand loyalty.

QuickTim and a e BMP decom pressor are needed to see this picture.
Company Profile Bisleri was originally an Italian Company created by Signor Felice Bisleri who first brought the idea of selling bottled water in India. Bisleri then was introduced in Mumbai in glass bottles in two varieties bubbly & still in 1965. Parle bought over Bisleri (India) Ltd. in 1969 & started bottling Mineral water in glass bottles under the brand name Bisleri. Parle Bisleri's Bisleri brand launched in 1971 was the leader with 70% market share. After 1993, the branded mineral water industry saw some hectic activity. In the early 1990s, the branded mineral water industry was worth Rs 3 billion, producing around 95 million liters in 1992. On an average, every three months, a new brand was launched and another died. In the late 1990s, many international brands were planning to enter the mineral water market. Currently Bisleri enjoys a market share about 40% in India and is facing stiff competition from other national and international players. Mr. Ramesh Chauhan is the vintage boss of Parle Bisleri Ltd. The brand has some 18 manufacturing locations spread across the country. Bisleri continues to lead in the Rs 700-1,000 crore organized, packaged water market with an estimated 40 per cent market share, In terms of volumes, the North and West remain Bisleri's biggest performing markets, despite the brand's sustained national-level presence. The brand name Bisleri is so popular in India that it's used as generic name for bottled mineral water. Products profile

Bisleri Mountain Water Bisleri Mineral Water

SWOT analysis: Strengths:

It enjoy a huge customer base It has a good brand image. 4

Quality of product is of highest quality. Bisleri has a very good distribution structure in India. It enjoys monopoly in metropolitan and Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities along with Aquafina and

Kinley. Weaknesses:

Bisleri distinctly lacks in sales promotions in comparison to its competitors. It is expensive for common people. It is not easily available outside metropolitan and other big cities.

Opportunities:

It can explore international markets specially developing market. To minimize costs it can introduce pouches to reach common people. It should spend more on sales promotions to reinforce its brand image in the market.

Threats:

Other Indian and international bottled water players, cola drinks, juices and beverages. Small-scale producers and vendors who sell non-branded products and serve small markets Rigid government trade policies are big threats which are hampering growth of this Bisleri counterfeits are eating up its revenues and damaging its goodwill in the market.

industry.

QuickTim a e and BMP decom pressor are needed to see this picture.

Aquafina is a brand of bottled water. It was first distributed in Wichita, Kansas (USA) in 1994 and was distributed across the United States, Canada, Turkey, Vietnam, Pakistan and India. As of 2003, it had become the United States top-selling bottled water brand in measured retail channels. Aquafina uses PepsiCo's own seven-step purification system, which it calls HydRO-7, which includes charcoal filtration, reverse osmosis, and ozonation. PepsiCo states in marketing material that this system removes substances that may be in other brands of bottled water. As of July 27, 2007, PepsiCo put a disclaimer stating the water comes from a "public source" on each bottle. Aquafina uses the term "Purified Drinking Water" on its label PepsiCo produces several other products under the Aquafina label:

Aquafina Sparkling, carbonated flavored water, available in Berry Blast (Raspberry), and Citrus Twist Aquafina FlavorSplash, flavored water (without carbonation), and artificially sweetened with
Sucralose,

available in Grape, Citrus Blend, Wild Berry, and Raspberry.

Aquafina Alive, a low calorie, vitamin-enhanced water beverage, available in Berry Pomegranate, Peach Mango and Orange Lime. Aquafina plus+, a low calorie (120 calories per 591mL bottle), vitamin supplement water beverage available in "Blackberry Grape", "Pomegranate Cherry","Passionfruit Citrus" and "Orange Tangerine".

The brand is being manufactured out of seven plants in Roha (Maharashtra), Bangalore, Kosi, Bazpur, Kolkata and Kerala. The seventh plant at Guntur has gone on stream recently. While five of these plants are company-owned bottling operations, two plants in Kosi and Guntur are franchiseowned operations. 4

Aquafina has an overall market share of about 25% in India and it has emerged as the leading bottled water brand in the UP market, followed by Bisleri and Kinley.

SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths:

It has a good back up from its parent company that is Pepsoco. So it can afford to invest It enjoys an excellent distribution structure of PepsiCo. in India. It has a good brand image and also benefits from the brand image of PepsiCo. Quality of product is highly reliable and of highest quality. It enjoys monopoly in metropolitan and Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities along with Bisleri and

huge funds in marketing and R&D

Kinley. Weaknesses:

Pricing is high for the common people. It is facing huge resistance from the local people and authorities, wherever its processing

plants are located because these plants are very rapidly exhausting the ground water resources of that area.

Aquafina has virtually no presence in rural or economically backward areas.

Opportunities:

It should introduce pouches to minimize costs and hence making it more affordable to It should utilize the distribution facility of PepsiCo to reach to the rural and ultimate It should enhance its quality to establish itself in niche or premium market.

common people.

customers.

Threats:

Other Indian and international bottled water players, cola drinks, juices and beverages, local It is falling victim of cannibalization from its parent company as cola drinks are posing

brands and unorganized local water vendors.

threats to its market share.

QuickTim a e and BMP decom pressor are needed to see this picture.

Kinley is a brand of still or carbonated water owned by The Coca-Cola Company and sold in many Central European countries and India. Its carbonated forms are used for mixers, and also available in a variety of fruit flavors. The Kinley brand is used by Coca-Cola for two types of drinks:

A Carbonated water with a wide array of variants: tonic, bitter lemon, club soda and fruit flavored. Available in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech-Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, India,
Israel, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Maldives, Moldova, Nepal, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, United States

and Zambia.

An High quality bottled water available in Bangladesh, Bulgaria, India, Maldives, Nigeria and
Pakistan.

Kinley has an overall market share of approximately 25% in India. It has seven production lines in India, which include three company owned facilities at Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi. The brand also has four other production lines which are on contract agreement. Why Kinley the brand name of Coca Cola is the most trusted health plank among all the three major players of this industry i.e. Pepsi, Bisleri and Coca Cola. Probably the answer lies in the stringent quality control process of Coca-Cola and its concern towards taste and purity of drinking water. 1. Quality standard of source water is checked prior to use and its processing. It is tasted for 5

potable drinking water quality. It is tested periodically if selected for use. All the tastes are done with third party testing laboratories. Source water is protected and observed to avoid any contamination. 2. Source of water id disinfected from microorganisms and metal ions by Clorination. 3. Molecular filtration is done by one of the methods of either reverse osmosis or coagulation. 4. Multi media filtration is done. Water is conveyed through different media to catch any impurity. 5. Water is purified through granular carbon filters. Here organic traces are removed. 6. 7. 8. Water is passed through high efficiency 5-micron meter filters to trap any activated carbon Minerals are added to enhance the taste and to comply with the optimum mineral needs of Water is filled and packed in sterilized plastic bottles. particles. drinking water.

Kinley ensures to provide minerals in packaged water. This is the reason why does taste of this brand never alter. Consistency in the taste and composition makes Kinley the most favored brand among all available drinking water brands. Kinley meets the Indian standard of drinking water IS 14543. To maintain the consistency of quality Coca-Cola has selected three green field-manufacturing plants located at Bidadi near Bangalore, Dasna in UP and plants in Goa and Maharashtra. Treated water with mineral is an advantage when one consumes Kinley because other brands do not give minerals in treated water. Less number of manufacturing plants always ensures quality of treated water and consistency of source. One can witness the variation in taste of other brands and sometimes-bitter taste too. Coca-Cola has a strong international audit system to monitor compliance to international and local standards. Manufacturing facilities get audited against quality management standards. SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths:

Kinley follows one the most stringent quality control process in the industry. 5

It has maintained Consistency in the taste and composition over the years. It has a good back up from its parent company (Coca Cola). So it can afford to invest huge It enjoys an excellent distribution structure and penetration of Coca Cola in India. It has a good brand image and also benefits from the brand image of Coca Cola. It enjoys monopoly in metropolitan and Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities along with Bisleri and

funds in marketing and R&D

Aquafina. Weaknesses:

Its not affordable for lower income groups of the society as they are very price sensitive. It is facing huge resistance along with Aquafina from the local people and authorities,

wherever their processing plants are located because these plants are very rapidly exhausting the ground water resources of that area.

Kinley has virtually no presence in rural or economically backward areas as is the case with

other mineral water brands. Opportunities:

It should introduce pouches to minimize costs and hence making it more affordable to It should utilize the distribution facility of Coca Cola to reach to the rural and ultimate It should enhance its quality to establish itself in niche or premium bottled water market. It should explore new business horizons in underdeveloped and developing economies of It can look for the growth opportunities in EU an USA in the Bottled Water segment as it

common people.

customers.

Latin America, Africa and Asia.

already has its presence in Carbonated and Flavoured Water segment.

Threats:

Other Indian and international bottled water players, cola drinks, juices and beverages, local It is falling victim of cannibalization from its parent company as cola drinks are also its 5

brands and unorganized local water vendors.

competitors in the market.

Strategy to counter threats and others? We subject the bottles to chlorine washes, hot water washes and ozone washes before we refill the bottles. The company is betting on the home segment. 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 route of fat dealers (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 the fat dealer and place orders for home delivery of the five-liter pack. The company has so far appointed 180 such dealers. This is a high turnover, low-margin retailer who does not keep a store but serves a similar purpose with other items such as rice or atta.

CONCLUSION: 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. According to Deepak Jolly, executive vice president, corporate communications, Pepsi Foods Ltd. Aquafina will be helped by Pepsis network. Moreover, Aquafina will be served absolutely chilled. That makes sense too, since surveys have indicated that an overwhelming majority of the bottled water that is consumed in India is by people who are traveling. 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 battle is the tougher arena of brand building. All the multinationals are looking at high-octane advertising targeting specific consumer segments. Sensing troubled waters ahead, Bisleri is busy working on a strategy to soak up the competition and protect his water kingdom.

Strategy, which the company could adopt, is as follows: 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 are 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 5

good distribution network mineral water industry can grow at a rapid rate.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Advertisement to build the brand image that will provide the required ground to establish the authenticity to the product.

POP (Point of Purchase) displaying the cost of water at Rs. 2 per liter, as the perception of the people is that mineral water cost Rs. 10 per half Lt.

Awareness programs at health club, schools & Nursing homes.

To win over the consumer belief and faith over the genuinely of the product.

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.

The company should organize 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.

To aware people the cost benefit analysis to the customer of how the mineral water would cot less and benefit more, because people using purifier system cost too much.

LIMITATIONS

A small segment of the market has been covered only, so the conclusion cannot be generalized.

The data collected cannot be free from errors, since some of the respondents failed to give correct information.

Study accuracy totally based upon the respondents response.

Stipulated short span of time for survey.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Marketing Management Philip Kotlar Annual Report, Bisleri 2001 Business Magazines India Today Annual Addition 2004 Business Today, Business World August 2004

Websites www.bisleri.com

www.discovery.com

www.google.com

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/premium-thirst/382349/

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/bisleri%5Cs-expansion-thirst/389299

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Which brand of bottle water do you sale more? 1. Kingfisher

2. Kinlery

3. Aquafina

4. Bisleri

5. Others

2. What is your monthly sale? ________________________________________________

3. Which brand of bottle water do you prefer to sell more? ________________________________________________

4. Why do you prefer to sell more this particular brand? 1. Easily available

2. More demand

3. Quality Factor 6

5. Generally which brand of bottle water customer demand?

Bisleri

Aquafina

Kingfisher

Kinley

Others

________________________________________________

6. Frequency of services no. of days] between two service of the company/WD in the area / market?

7 When you talk of drinks, what brands come to your mind? ____________________________________________________

8 Whether the customers are already aware about this product? ____________________________________________________

9 Which are the brands available in your shop? ____________________________________________________

10 Number of buyers who buys this brand per day?

a) 0-5

b) 5-10

c) 10-15

d) Above 15

11 Are you satisfied with the current margins on this brand? Yes / NO ____________________________________________________

12 Whether you are getting any complaints from customers, specify? ____________________________________________________

13 To which brand and reason? Brand: - _____________________________________ Reason: - _____________________________________