BUSINESS MARKETING

J K Cement
Submitted To:
Prof. Rajeev Kamble

GARRIMA PARAKH
2014091
AB1

ABOUT THE COMPANY

J.K. Cement Ltd is an affiliate of the multi-disciplinary industrial conglomerate J.K.
Organisation which was founded by Lala Kamlapat Singhania. For over four decades, J.K.
Cement has partnered India's multi-sectorial infrastructure needs on the strength of its
product excellence, customer orientation and technology leadership. The Company has over
four decades of experience in cement manufacturing. Their operations commenced with
commercial production at the first grey cement plant at Nimbahera in the state of Rajasthan
in May 1975. Today J.K. Cement has an installed grey cement capacity of 10.5 MTPA making
it one of the leading manufacturers in the country.
The Company is the second largest manufacturer of white cement in India, with an annual
capacity of 600,000 tonnes in India. J.K. Cement was the first Company to install a captive
power plant in the year 1987 at Bamania, Rajasthan. J.K Cement is also the first cement
Company to install a waste heat recovery power plant to take care of the need of green
power.
Buyers of the Product at various stages:
Stages Of Usage Of Cement

Specific Customer Influence

Primary .i.e. decision regarding Owner of structure/ architect/civil engineer/ end users.
certain brand.
Buying Cement

Distribution channel/ Quality control personal/contractor.

Using cement in making concrete

Mason/Labour/Contractor.

Finished structure

Owner/End user/Quality control personnel.

STP
Segmentation

Tier I/II/III cities, Public Sector/Private Sector, Customer/Builder.

Targeting

Customers and Builders in both Public and private sector in all tier cities.

Positioning

A Strong Cement Brand.

USP

Customer focused service

CHALLENGES FACED BY THE FIRM

PRODUCT:

i.

Selling system - The Company even though have a good name in the market, its sales
is low compared to its competitors.

ii.

Consistency of Quality - Quality deterioration.

PRICE:

i.

Competitor Pricing - Price of J.K.Cement is high as compared to other companies.

ii.

Instability in Pricing - Pricing policy of the company is not stable. It keeps on changing
frequently and without any prior information. Due to this customer are switching to
other brands.

iii.

Promotional Pricing - No promotional schemes to the middlemen as well as their profit

margin is less.

PLACE:
i.

Channel Length - Transit time is higher from depot to stockist to warehouse as

compared to competitors.

ii.

Delivery Reliability - Loading of goods is a main concern as customer has to wait for
long periods for the same.

iii.

Channel Complexity - Company neglects semi dealers/retailers and have no certain

policies for their complain. They only focus on the dealers.

PROMOTION:
i.

Role of Salesperson - They lack in sale aggressiveness.

ii.

Tools - Less advertisement of the product as compared to other companies. Brand

awareness in pan India compared to national players.

RECOMMENDATIONS
I.

J.K.Cement should understand the importance of the architect as a customer and build
strong and long term relationship with the same.

II.

Not only architects but also mason are important for the company. They should train
and educate the mason regarding the technical know-how the cement. This will help
in instilling a sense of pride and dignity in them and hence they will help in building
the brand image of the company in eyes of their clients.

III.

The company is advised re-measure customer satisfaction on a regular interval basis.

They should not only take care of the large buyers but also the small buyers which are
large in numbers.

IV.

Review meeting should be held so that the executives can be checked upon as well as
it can help them in becoming more aggressive towards the sale.

V.

Long term relationship should be built by the company with the retailer since they are
the once serving the ultimate customer. They can do so by listening to their problems
and suggestion, trying to redress their issues and take necessary actions. To motivate
the retailers, stockist must be convinced to pay the incentives to the former.

VI.

Increase their budget for promotional activities. The company should advertise more
often in various media and non media sources on pan India basis in order to be more
visible among its audience. J.K Cement should create its brand around some significant
and differentiable USP (example: quality, reliability, strength). The driver of the brand
value includes the brands ability to attract consumers and improve relationship with
them, thereby improving sales.

VII.

Pricing should be checked. Increasing and decreasing of price too frequently and
without any reason is harmful for the companys image.

VIII.
IX.

Proper loading facility and hence delivery will be on time.

Proper communication with the dealers and retailers will help the company it
gathering more information about their target market. This will help in understanding
the buying process and preferences of the customer and accordingly they can allocate
their efforts and resources.