A DISSERTATION REPORT ON

MARKETING STRATEGY OF BINGO BY ITC

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE
OF

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

PREPARED BY:

MD JAFAR SHARIF
EXAM ROLL – PG 24/MBA IVS NO – 229
VU Registration NO –01127 of 2017-19

Major specialization: MARKETING

UNDER THE GUIDANCE

OF

PROF. SREEMOYEE MUKHERJEE

FACULTY, EIILM

SUBMITTED TO:

EIILM, Kolkata
Affiliated under Vidyasagar University

(March, 2019)

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 DECLARATION

I, MD JAFAR SHARIF, do hereby declare that this dissertation titled- “MARKETING

STRATEGY OF BINGO BY ITC” has been done by me and all the information provided is
correct and true to my knowledge.

The dissertation is submitted by me for the partial fulfillment of the award of degree in Master of
Business Administration.

The dissertation is exclusively prepared by me and has not been submitted to any other Institutions
or published anywhere before.

DATE: (MD JAFAR SHARIF)

Roll- PG/24/MBA-IVS, No. 229
Registration No: 01127 of 2017-18
PLACE: KOLKATA MBA, 4th SEMESTER
EIILM, KOLKATA

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I express my sincere gratitude to PROF. SREEMOYEE MUKHERJEE, Faculty, and EIILM who
has sincerely provided me with critical suggestions and valuable insights which enabled me to
complete this project and bring out this report in the best way possible.

I would take this opportunity to thank Dr. R. P Banerjee (Director, EIILM) and other faculty
members for their cooperation and support.

I am also thankful to my colleagues for their motivation and to all those persons who directly or
indirectly helped me during developing this dissertation.

Signature:

Name: MD JAFAR SHARIF

Date:

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 CONTENTS

CHAPTER PARTICULARS PAGE NO.

1 INTRODUCTION 5-6
2 INDIAN SNACKS INDUSTRY 7-8
3 MARKET & COMPETITION 9
4 ABOUT BINGO 10-12
5 BINGO PRODUCT PORTFOLIO 13-15
6 COMPETITORS 16
7 VALUE PROPOSITION 17
8 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY 18
MARKETING STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY ITC
9 19-22
FOR BINGO
10 MARKET WELFARE 23-24
11 VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS FOR BINGO 25-27
12 SWOT ANALYSIS 28-29
13 PEST ANALYSIS 30-31
14 FINDINGS 32
15 RECOMMENDATIONS 33
16 CONCLUSION 34
17 BIBLIOGRAPHY 35

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 Introduction to ITC

Establishment:

Incorporated on 24 August 1910 as the Imperial Tobacco Company of India Limited, the
company's name was changed to ITC Limited in 1974. Rated among the 'World's Best Big
Companies' by Forbes magazine, ITC ranks third on all major profit parameters among India's
private sector corporations. ITC employs over 20,000 people at more than 60 locations across
India. It has a turnover of $3 billion.

Growth and Diversification:

ITC is one of India's foremost private sector companies with a market capitalization of nearly US $
18 billion and a turnover of over US $ 4.75 billion. ITC is rated among the World's Best Big
Companies, Asia's 'Fab 50' and the World's Most Reputable Companies by Forbes magazine,
among India's Most Respected Companies by Business World and among India's Most Valuable
Companies by Business Today. ITC also ranks among India's top 10 `Most Valuable (Company)
Brands', in a study conducted by Brand Finance and published by the Economic Times.

ITC has a diversified presence in Cigarettes, Hotels, Paperboards & Specialty Papers, Packaging,
Agri-Business, Packaged Foods & Confectionery, Information Technology, Branded Apparel,
Personal Care, Stationery, and Safety

Matches and other FMCG products. While ITC is an outstanding market leader in its traditional
businesses of Cigarettes, Hotels, Paperboards, Packaging and Agri-Exports, it is rapidly gaining
market share even in its nascent businesses of Packaged Foods & Confectionery, Branded Apparel
and Stationery.

As one of India's most valuable and respected corporations, ITC is widely perceived to be
dedicatedly nation-oriented. Chairman Y C Deveshwar calls this source of inspiration "a
commitment beyond the market". In his own words: "ITC believes that its aspiration to create
enduring value for the nation provides the motive force to sustain growing
shareholder value. ITC practices this philosophy by not only driving each of its businesses towards
international competitiveness but by also consciously contributing to enhancing the competitiveness
of the larger value chain of which it is a part."

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ITC's diversified status originates from its corporate strategy aimed at creating multiple drivers of
growth anchored on its time-tested core competencies: unmatched distribution reach, superior
brand-building capabilities, effective supply chain management and acknowledged service skills in
hoteliering. Over time, the strategic forays into new businesses are expected to garner a significant
share of these emerging high-growth markets in India.

ITC's Agri-Business is one of India's largest exporters of agricultural products. ITC is one of the
country's biggest foreign exchange earners (US $ 2.8 billion in the last decade). The Company's 'e-
Choupal' initiative is enabling Indian agriculture significantly enhance its competitiveness by
empowering Indian farmers through the power of the Internet. This transformational strategy,
which has already become the subject matter of a case study at Harvard Business School, is
expected to progressively create for ITC a huge rural distribution infrastructure, significantly
enhancing the Company's marketing reach.

ITC's production facilities and hotels have won numerous national and international awards for
quality, productivity, safety and environment management systems. ITC was the first company in
India to voluntarily seek a corporate governance rating.

ITC employs over 21,000 people at more than 60 locations across India. The Company
continuously endeavors to enhance its wealth generating capabilities in a globalizing environment
to consistently reward more than 3, 88,000 shareholders, fulfill the aspirations of its stakeholders
and meet societal expectations. This over-arching vision of the company is expressively captured
in its corporate positioning statement: "Enduring Value. For the nation. For the Shareholder."

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 INDIAN SNACKS INDUSTRY: An Overview

Snacks are a part of Consumer Convenience/ Packaged Foods segment. Snack is described as a
small quantity of food eaten between meals or in place of a meal. Snack food generally comprises
bakery products, ready-to-eat mixes, chips, namkeen and other light processed foods According to
the ministry of food processing, the snack food industry is worth Rs 100 billion in value and over
4,00,000 tones in terms of volume.

Though very large and diverse, the snacks industry is dominated by the unorganized sector.
According to an Apeda survey almost 1,000 snack items and 300 types of savories are sold across
India. The branded snacks are sold at least 25% higher than the unbranded products. Savory snacks
have been a part of Indian food habit, since almost ages. Though there is no particular time for
snacks, normally they are consumed at teatime. The variety is almost mind-boggling with
specialties from all regions, which have gained national acceptance.

The industry has been growing around 10% for the last three years, while the branded segment is
growing around 25% per annum to stand at Rs 5,000-Rs 5,500 crore, due to various reasons like
Multiplex culture, snacking at home while watching TV, pubs and bars (where they are served
free). AC Nielsen's retail audit shows that the large sales volumes are due to a marked preference
for ethnic foods, regional bias towards indigenous snacks and good value-for-money perception.
Of course the branded segment is much smaller at Rs 2,200 crore, which is what makes it so
attractive to food Companies that are looking at bigger shares. In the branded snacks market, to get
down to basics, Frito Lay commands a share of 45%, followed by Haldiram’s at 27% and ITC at
16%. The rest is divided between a handful of new entrants, wannabes and many regional players.

Of the wide range of snacks available, potato chips constitute a sizeable segment of the Indian
snack food industry, according to India Info line. The potato chip market is generally an
unorganized industry. Nearly all potato chip snack products are manufactured and sold locally.
There is also no uniform standard for packaging, as there is in Europe, the United States and other
more developed regions. Many snack foods are sold loose or packaged in poly-pouches, which may
only be folded, or in some cases, stapled closed. As the Indian economy continues to grow, and
production standards improve, many snack food companies are making significant investments into
plant equipment and packaging machinery.

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Pepsi Foods Ltd., now known as Frito-Lay India Ltd., produces India's largest snack food
manufacturer’s brands, including Ruffles, Hostess, Cheetos and Uncle Chips. Frito Lay's story is an
example of how American recipes were adjusted to satisfy local tastes. Procter & Gamble's Pringles
brand of potato crisp was launched in Delhi in 1999. Pringles is also a baked potato crisp, unlike
many other potato based Indian snack foods that are fried. P&G currently imports the Pringles
product and therefore the product has been priced at a premium and is marketed to a micro-niche.

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 Market and Competition

Indian Foods market is not a monopolistic market. There are many competitors in all the categories
and although they all have similar products available at similar prices, they are trying to prove
themselves different through their marketing strategies. However, entry to this business is easy and
ITC has utilized this fact very efficiently to their benefit as they entered into the several categories
among this Foods business.

READY TO EAT

ITC entered into the branded and packaged foods business in with the launch of Kitchens of India
brand. In 2004, the company launched KoI brand fruits and spice conserves and cooking pastes. The
fruits and spice conserves, were developed jointly with Karen Anand, a food expert. Priced at Rs.
70, these were targeted at the premium segment. The KoI cooking pastes, which were priced at
Rs.30 for a 100g pack, also targeted the high-end market. Multi-purpose cooking pastes were also
launched under the Aashirvaad brand and these were priced at Rs. 10 for 80g pack. The
manufacturing of these products was outsourced to contract manufacturers for saving the operating
cost.

ITC entered the branded spices market in 2005 and the Instant Mix segment in 2006, both under the
Aashirvaad Brand. As on April 2006, the total turnover in the Indian ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook
segments was only around Rs. 700 million, but it continued to post an annual growth of 20%. By
early 2006, though ITC had captured a 35% market share in the ready-to-eat segment, MTR was the
clear market leader with close to 60% in market share. ITC exported 40-50% of KoI brand products
(in terms of volumes) to the US, Canada, the UK, Switzerland, and Australia.

In May 2006, ITC planned to introduce ten more varieties under the KoI brand within a price range
of Rs. 35 to Rs. 98. In 2007, some new products have been launched under Ready toeat category
like chutneys, curries, conserves, biryanis (Noor Mahal, Bhori Biryani and some new range of
products under Gharana (PaneerMalai, Keema Mutter). After launching all these products ITC
FOODS is looking to share 50 to 60% of market by 2008-2009.Following arethe major competitors
ITC is competing with in Ready to eat category:

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BINGO!
No Confusion

Great Combination

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About Bingo

The Bingo brand of chips was launched by ITC on 14th March 2007 with an aim to capture at least
25 percent market share of the Rs 2000 crore branded snack market within five yrs. The launch is
symbolic of ITC Foods' distinct approach of introducing innovative and differentiated products in a
largely undifferentiated market place. Bingo’s launch was strategically timed around the World
Cup. The idea was to get the consumer to take that first bite.

This was an extremely ambitious target according to observers as the market was dominated by the
Frito Lay group (owned by Pepsi Co) with a slew of brands like Lays, Kurkure and Uncle Chipps
holding 50 per cent of the market share. The other was the Haldiram group with 25 percent of the
market share. Bingo’s portfolio includes an array of products in both Potato Chips&Finger Snacks
segment.Bingo! Is positioned as a youthful and innovative snack, offering the consumers a choice
of flavors that are fast becoming popular.

Bingo used combination of leveraging synergies, building on consumer insights and high decibel
advertising can win the game. The company leveraged its existing distribution network and
relationship established with farmers. Its earlier foray into categories like atta and biscuits had
already given it access to the supply chain.

Before the Launch

Research: After making the decision to launch Bingo it started by sending a cross-functional team
of eight individuals were sent across the country to research the snacking habits of the Indian
consumer. After travelling to 14 cities and speaking to more than 1,000 people, the team came back
with an insight that Indian consumers were looking for novelty and excitement in existing snacks.

The team found that while vadapavs and samosas still sell vadapav with cheese and paneer-filled
samosas, or for that matter, tomato-flavored khakra were the ones that excited the Indian consumer.
Based on this information, the company decided to look at chips with innovative flavors.

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Taste: For the recipes, the company went to the chefs in its hotels. The chefs came up with 16
flavors with innovative twists like bindaasmastichaas, chatkilanimbuachar and tandoori paneer
tikka-flavored potato chips, chilly and tomato-flavored mad angles — inspired by khakras — and
other snacks.

The organized snacks category is subdivided into the Traditional segment (Bhujia, Chanaetc.)
dominated by Haldiram. The second category is the Western segment (potato chips, cheeseballs,
puffsetc.) and the Finger snacks segment which is an adaptation of traditional snacks to the western
format. The latter two categories are dominated by the Frito Lay group. ITC has launched an
aggressive marketing campaign to gain entry into and capture a sizeable market share in the
extremely competitive world of snack foods.

Bingo’s success in the market is backed by ITC’s strong distribution network, which allows it to
stock its products in shops that previously did not sell snack food. Additionally, ITC Foods provides
shopkeepers with plastic molded shelves that allow local vendors a convenient way to stock their
product, and the company benefits by increased visibility for its brand.

The packaging is very attractive with dominant variant color, crimp border colors and a pictorial
view of the flavor. This property of flavor depiction is very informative for consumers and a layman
can also associate with it. Bingo has a unique musical sound that is loved by everyone. It is one of
the properties that are remembered by everyone and it is used to recall the brand by every age
group.

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Bingo Product Portfolio:
Bingo! Was launched in March 2007 with a wide range of exciting packaged salted snacks. The
range includes multiple flavor variants of Potato Chips & Finger Snacks.

The brand is associated with youth, fun and excitement. It fulfills the consumers need for variety
and novelty in snacks. At present Bingo! Has 4 sub-brands in its portfolio, each of which have
unique values based on consumer need differentiation.

Bingo! Potato chips

Authentic flavors gently sprinkled on chips made from golden quality potatoes. Available in 4
exciting flavors.

1. Yumitos Salted
2. Yumitos Cream and Onion
3. Yumitos Masala
4. Yumitos Tomato

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Bingo! Mad Angles - "Har Angle se Mmmm..."

One of the biggest successes from the Bingo! Portfolio, Bingo! Mad Angles has carved a niche for
itself in the consumers mind and is synonymous with the perfect triangular snack.

A combination of innovative flavors on a traditional khakra base, Mad Angles is a snack that is
true to taste with perfect flavor delivery as well as shape, making it a snack that's truly "Har Angle
se Mmmm ..."

1. Mad Angles Tomato Madness

2. Mad Angles Chat Masala
3. Mad Angles Achari Masti
4. Mad Angles Kasundi
5. Mad Angle Very Peri

Newly Launched product:

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Bingo! Tedhe Medhe - "Eat. Phir Repeat."

Bingo! Tedhe Medhe is the popular spindle shaped format from Bingo! That is a delicious blend of
handpicked spices with an aroma that makes one crave for more. The taste of fiery sparks which
masalas leave on ones tongue is an experience with savoring!

1. Tedhe Medhe Achari Masti

2. Tedhe Medhe Mast Masala Tadka
3. Tedhe Medhe Lime Chatpata
4. Tedhe Medhe Tomato Masti

Bingo! No Rulz - Banao masti ke apne rules

The latest entrant into the Bingo! Portfolio, No Rulz is a snack targeted towards kids. It is available
in 3 exciting flavors of Masala, Tomato and cheese. With 4 shapes - stick, moon, ring & star - in a
single pack there is guaranteed to be fun times always with No Rulz. To add to the fun every pack
comes with a free toy.

1. No Rulz Tomato
2. No Rulz Cheese
3. No Rulz Masala

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Main Competitors:

1. Frito-Lay
 Lays
 Kurkure
 Uncle Chipps
 Cheetos

2. Haldiram

3. Regional Players like Pran

Comparison of Prices:

Product Price Product Price Product Price

(ITC Ltd) (Frito Lay) (Haldiram)

Bingo Lays Namkeen

Rs. 5 Rs. 5 Rs. 5
Rs. 10 Rs. 10 Rs. 10
Rs. 20 Rs. 20 Rs. 20

Uncle Chipps
Rs. 10
Rs. 20

Kurkure
Rs. 5
Rs. 10
Rs. 20

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Value Proposition

 Variety & innovation in a largely undifferentiated Variety & innovation in a largely

undifferentiated market.
 ITC launched BINGO in 16 flavors to cater to tastes of the country.
 Foray into the “Health Snacks”segment by introducing Bingo as baked-chips.

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 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To understand the marketing strategy adopted by ITC for Bingo

2. To understand the SWOT and PEST analysis of Bingo

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Marketing Strategies Adopted by ITC for Bingo

1. Product - Assortment of flavors and eye catchy packaging.

2. Price - Pricing Strategy
3. Place - Widespread availability at big and small retailers across the country.
4. Promotions - T.V. Advertisements

1. Product
Bingo Positioned itself with its Indian flavors such as Tandoori Paneer, Tikka, and SpicePaneer etc.
For the South Indian market, Bingo! had flavors such as ChatkilaNimbuAchaar, AchariMasti etc.
The segmentation was mainly done on basis of the age of the people. The primary target for Bingo
is 18-30 year old people, who are willing to try out new flavors more easily than the small kids.

The initial offerings from Bingo include an array of products in both Potato Chips & Finger Snacks
segment. The Potato Chips offerings comprise of four innovative variants inspired by the snacking
habits of different parts of the country as well as Masala, Salted and Tomato flavors. Additionally a
dairy option has also been introduced under the potato chips offering.

The offerings under the Finger Snacks segment are equally unique presentations with innovative
finger foods like the pakoda inspired Live Wires, Khakra inspired Mad Angles and the specially
developed time pass snack in the form of TedheMedhe. Each offering under this segment is
available in two variants making it a total of 6 products in the Finger Snacks portfolio.

Packaging- ITC has done the packaging such that the product attracts the buyer. Apart from it has
also launched packs with different quantity keeping in mind the specific consumer demand.

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2.Price
When ITC launched Bingo, its main challenge was to compete with the players who were already
there. To overcome this challenge, ITC realized that they have to offer products at a price which is
either equal or less than what the competitors are offering. To do this, they planned to capitalize by
leveraging the strength of the group’s other businesses. ITC’s printing and packaging business
provided high-quality, cost-effective, and innovative packaging. ITC also enjoyed cost advantages
over its competitors owing to its electronic procurement system called e-Choupal. This helped ITC
to compete with the best.

Initial pricing of ITC bingo is a direct frontal attack on Frito Lays with pricing of Rs 5, 10 and 20.
Now Frito Lays has launched small packs of Rs 3 each. It needs to be seen whether ITC can
leverage upon its huge distribution network to counter this.

3. Place
ITC has adopted a Market Challenger strategy with the launch of Bingo! And has chosen a
combination of flank and frontal attack against the market leader Frito Lay’s. The Company has
distributed more than 4 lakh large racks, to display the brand at all points of sale. The racks created
so much impact that even competitors like market leader Frito-Lays introduced its own version of
wafer racks. Within six months of the launch, Bingo was available in more than 2, 50,000 retailers
across the country.

ITC has made a strategic alliance with Future group according to which all retail stores of Future
group like Food Bazaar, Big Bazaar, and Kishore Biryani’s Fair Price etc. will stock only ITC’s
Bingo. HORECA (hotels, restaurants and cafes), entire cigarette distribution network including
betel shops are being used to distribute the product to a wide range of consumers. Initially Bingo
sponsored many Bingo Remix nights in various clubs as well.

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4. Promotion
T.V. AD Campaign: Bingo’s launch was strategically timed around the World Cup to cash in on the
tremendous popularity that such leisure and cocktail snacks would find among cricket lovers in the
country. The idea was to get the consumer to take that first bite. Not only the flavors but also the
advertising was supposed to have an Indian touch. Within a month of the launch of the initial
advertisements, 70% of the viewers could recall the brand thus capturing a share of the mind of the
consumers. Brand recall along with 16 flavors in three SKUs helped ITC to capture 16% of market
share in just 18 months.
The advertising strategy used humor to sell Bingo. Bingo’s advertising follows the AIDA model
(Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action). The clutter-breaking ads with their slapstick humor and
irrelevant themes garnered enough eyeballs to create awareness of the product and generate an
interest towards the product in the minds of consumers. The ads are simply insane & nonsensical to
the point of being bizarre & utter crap. And that is why they are so funny. This resulted in high
product trials.

What’s interesting is the fact that Lays uses a brand ambassador approach with the celebrities
having mass appeal such as Saif Ali Khan, Juhi Chawla & M S Dhoni whereas Bingo has managed
to do well without one. It still doesn't have an ambassador.

Bingo! Mad Angles Twisteris a crazy application with which can turn the status messages upside
down on Facebook which can make the users and viewers go crazy trying to figure out your secret
of that twisted message. So this was another kind of strategy being used for promotional purposes
apart from advertisements, ringtones and videos promoting the same.

On television, the company booked 10 to 15 spots per channel per day on youth channels such as
MTV and Star World, mass Hindi channels like Zee and Star TV, and news channels. It also had
around 20 spots on a variety of radio channels and advertised in most leading national dailies. In the
top-30 cities, over 1,000 outdoor hoardings advertised the product. According to industry estimates,
ITC spent close to Rs 100 crore on marketing.

Bingo has managed to do a dent in Lays market share. Is the fact that ITC spend close to 3 years
researching, finding and analyzing the Finger snack segment to come up with its own indigenous
variety responsible for Bingo's success

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The 'insanity' in Bingo's promotion is a carefully knitted strategy that was instrumental in Bingo's
instant success. Marketing Guru's call it "Disruptive Advertisement" This is one those cases where
advertisement/promotion has been the biggest factor in the success of a brand. The fact that ITC has
a well-established distribution network has also helped it increase consumer interaction points.

The adverts which were full of humor, cheesy & non-sense jokes, and relevancy with the brand
helped in establishing the brand Bingo. While I agree the theme of the adverts were irrelevant from
the product point of view, they were relevant and totally associated with the brand image (which
was also present in its tagline - No confusion, only great combinations).

With the help of all the above strategies, ITC finally tasted success in Bingo in 2008 when it
became a profitable business for the first time since its launch in 2007.

Major Hurdles faced by Bingo

 Brand Loyalty of Lays customer is posing threat to Bingo

 Stagnant Market Share

 Unawareness of the variety of flavors introduced by Bingo

 Threats of local players

 Dependent on Cigarettes outlet

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MARKET WARFARE

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 FIRTOLAY (PEPSICO) AND BINGO (ITC)

 Currently, the size of the snack food market is estimated to be Rs 4,500-5,000 crore of
which branded players account for Rs 2,000 crore. The snack food market is growing at 30
per cent annually and foods and beverage giant PepsiCo’s Frito Lays is the dominant market
leader with a market share in excess of 80 per cent.

 Lays has revamped its branding strategy with new promotions featuring actress like Juhi
Chawla, Kareena Kapoor etc. About 35 AC BEST buses in Mumbai and metro in Kolkata
are now branded by Kurkure.

 In order to add further zing to its product portfolio, in January 2008, the company launched
Kurkure Extreme, a limited edition variant in two flavors—Risky Chilli and Electric Nimbu
(lime). This was perhaps a move to outdo competition from ITC’s snack brand Bingo, which
was launched in March 2007, in Indianized flavors like Tandoori Paneer Tikka (spiced
cottage cheese) and Chatkila Nimbu Achaar (tangy lime pickle).

 Since Bingo was a youth brand, digital media was used heavily for promotions. The Bingo
National Gaming Championship was one such example. The event was held in four cities
and saw participation from 25,000 contenders. Bingo Remix Nights were held in clubs
across the country.

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 Value Chain Analysis Of Bingo

The value chain is a systematic approach to examining the development of competitive advantage.
It was created by M. E. Porter in his book, Competitive Advantage (1980). The chain consists of a
series of activities that create and build value. They culminate in the total value delivered by an
organization. The 'margin' depicted in the diagram is the same as added value. The organization is
split into 'primary activities' and 'support activities.'

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Primary Activities

Inbound Logistics.

Here goods are received from a company's suppliers. They are stored until they are needed on the
production/assembly line. Goods are moved around the organization. Bingo receives its raw
materials from potato vendors from the plantation area. Bingo has its own vehicles for carrying the
goods which reduces its cost of transportation.

Operations

This is where goods are manufactured or assembled. Bingo chips has a big factory unit at Gurgaon
where Frito-Lay’s also has a factory. Since the factory is located in National Capital Region which
itself is a big market for snack lovers.

Outbound Logistics

The goods are now finished, and they need to be sent along the supply chain to wholesalers,
retailers or the final consumer.

Marketing and Sales

Bingo promoted its products through many promotional events, it has tie ups with many retailers ,
opened many outlets and mass media campaign through actors ,heavy advertisements done during
the cricket world cup 2007.Bingo also went online and opened their own website. Bingo also
launched many online games to spread their product to people who were below 25 years. ITC spent
around 50 lakhs for advertising Bingo chips through web.

Service

Bingo has varied flavors which caters to the needs to all the types of customers in the country. ITC
has started the campaign for providing education to the school children.

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Support Activities

Procurement.

This function is responsible for all purchasing of goods, services and materials. The aim is to secure
the lowest possible price for purchases of the highest possible quality. They will be responsible for
outsourcing (components or operations that would normally be done in-house are done by other
organizations), and purchasing (using IT and web-based technologies to achieve procurement
aims).Bingo uses poly bags which contain the chips.

ITC’s procurement and manufacturing synergies across divisions have helped it to reduce costs for
Bingo as well. Its e-choupal model for direct procurement is also well known, under which ITC
partners with over 100,000 farmers for spices and wheat procurement. This kind of rural pedigree is
hard to beat.

Technology Development

Technology is an important source of competitive advantage. Companies need to innovate to reduce

costs and to protect and sustain competitive advantage. This could include production technology,
Internet marketing activities, lean manufacturing, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and
many other technological developments.

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SWOT ANALYSIS

ITC, the brand owner of Bingo, and various other brands, primarily the Tobacco industry, is strong
enough to compete with global players. This as an added advantage can prove ITC to be an Indian
Multinational company though. The diversified presence in various industries viz., Tobacco,
Stationaries, food processing etc. makes the base of the company stronger, and this invariably adds
as a biggest strength to the BINGO brand. Moreover the distribution centers of this age old
company is available with experience that can easily absorb the current trend in the market and the
taste of the customer can be annotated without much negotiation. The strengths of the Brand is
readily overshadowing the weaknesses, so does the opportunities to threats. But, the company
should not conclude on this cold base to enjoy the benefits in the hand, rather a focus on the minor
weaknesses and threats should lead to a path that paves way for the possibilities of being a brand
leader, overcoming stiff competitions from Multinationals like Frito-Lay’s and Pringles, National
competitors and the local products.

STRENGTHS:

 Availability of Raw materials

 Availability of Manufacturing facilities
 Domestic markets
 Urbanization
 Catering the market distribution

WEAKNESSES:

 Insufficient infrastructure
 In-prominence in quality control, unable to meet the international standards
 High working capital
 Lack in innovation on variants
 Large number of intermediaries thus causing a slog in distribution
 Dependent on Cigarette outlets

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OPPORTUNITIES:

 Change in consumer patterns

 Rise in income level of customers
 Change in lifestyle and demographics
 Opening of new international markets
 Integration of new technologies

THREATS

 Prevalence of cultural taste brands

 High taxation
 Inventory cost
 Stiff competition with regional players
 Close competing Multinational brands

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PEST ANALYSIS

PEST analysis is one that is merely a framework that categorizes environmental influences as
political, economic, social and technological forces. Sometimes two additional factors,
environmental and legal, will be added to make a PESTEL analysis, but these themes can easily be
subsumed in the others. The analysis examines the impact of each of these factors (and their
interplay with each other) on the business. The results can then be used to take advantage of
opportunities and to make contingency plans for threats when preparing business and strategic
plans.

PEST analysis is a useful strategic tool for understanding market growth or decline, business
position, potential and direction for operations. The headings of PEST are a framework for
reviewing a situation, and can in addition to SWOT and Porter’s Five Forces models, be applied by
companies to review a strategic directions, including marketing proposition. The use of PEST
analysis can be seen effective for business and strategic planning, marketing planning, business and
product development and research reports. PEST also ensures that company’s performance is
aligned positively with the powerful forces of change that are affecting business environment. PEST
is useful when a company decides to enter its business operations into new markets and new
countries. The use of PEST, in this case, helps to break free of unconscious assumptions, and help
to effectively adapt to the realities of the new environment.

POLITICAL

The ITC brand is a house hold brand in India. The political scenario in India is such that the open
invitation to the MNCs to be a part of Indian Snack Industry and on the other hand the government
is conservative in Indian brands too.

ECONOMICAL

ITC rightly introduced Bingo in the market when there was less or no supply for Lay's in the market
for a prolonged time. With this way, they developed this product, the advertisements were give a
keen focus. The same worked when the Mom-and-Pop stores across the country agreed for the
trendy display of Bingo.

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SOCIAL

To cater the Indian demography is a herculean task with taste spread all over the country. Thus to
satisfy the customers in their taste and demography, Bingo offers sixteen variants, each specially
made for the respective demography. The product profile, in longer run may be truncated by
keeping those products that doesn't market well.

TECHNOLOGICAL

The close competitor of Lay's which banks on the sentiment of being trendy and cool, though with a
larger market share of 45%, is running behind Bingo in Innovation they incorporate with the
product. Bingo has special variant which is baked and non-fried variety of chips that can prove to be
against trans-fat in its covers. This in turn will not fail to attract those people who consider
themselves to be strict against the usage of oily snacks.

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 FINDINGS

 Brand promotions is not so much compared to competitors.

 No regular advertising on TV.

 Limited Variants/Flavors of the product.

 Dependent on limited outlets.

 Packaging is not as attractive as compare to the competitor.

 No Brand Promotions at the Outlets.

 Very less advertisement as compared to the competitor.

 Poor coverage in rural area.

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 RECOMMENDATIONS

 Brand Packaging:
Bingo can come up with different shapes of packaging. Different packaging always attracts
consumers. Usage of different colors for packaging will be helpful as the customers will be
able to differentiate among various products.

 Brand promotions:
Company can opt for seasonal promotions. Gift packs or combos with 4-5 flavors can be
introduced. Can tie up with beverages like Coca Cola during festive season or can sponsor
events like cricket tournaments etc.

 Paid Display:
Company should pay for the brand rack to the retailers because ‘Frito Lays’ pay for the
display.

 Advertising:
The existing advertisements have been successful in creating brand awareness. Now it’s
time to focus more on taste and variety of flavors, tempting the consumers to purchase the
product. An animated character can be used to describe the flavor.

 Flavors:
Having too many flavors is causing some problem because the customers are not able to
differentiate between different variants. Even though it’s a good strategy as people are
forced to try each flavor, the ones which are not going good in the market should be
removed from the company’s portfolio. This would reduce the problem of confusion
amongst the consumers.

 Contests:
The company should launch a contest like “Send in your Bingo recipe” which can help the
company to increase its market share.

 Target Grocery Outlets:

Bingo should cover all the grocery outlet as they are much dependent in “Cigarette Outlets”.

 Rural Market Penetration:

Bingo should penetrate the rural market also.

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 CONCLUSION

Although Frito Lays is the most popular brand Bingo has carved a niche for itself. Bingo is in the
growth stage of its life cycle. Given more time it is capable of capturing a larger market share and
giving tough competition to other brands. Its focus is more on product innovation and distribution
and invests heavily in promotion. In the coming years it will become a dominant player in the
domestic market.

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. www.itcportal.com

2. www.allbusiness.com

3. http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Just-munch-it/271873/0

4. www.moneycontrol.com

5. www.economictimes.indiatimes.com

6. www.bingeonbingo.com

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