MARKETING MANAGEMENT

HANIKA ARORA
EPGDM-32(JUNE’17)BATCH

MARKETING MANAGEMENT
ASSIGNMENT 2

Choose a brand of your choice and discuss as to how this brand currently uses various elements of the integrated
marketing mix while delivering value to its target market. Study across all the marketing mix elements and analyze the
extent to which they are used in this brand’s integrated marketing programs. You should consider how all the
marketing mix elements such as the brand name, price, retail channels and other marketing elements communicate
with the company’s target audience. Are all the marketing tools used by the brand integrated and sending a consistent
image and message for the brand? Provide your recommendations for betterment of the same

Integrated Marketing is an approach to creating a unified and seamless experience for consumers to interact with
the brand/enterprise; it attempts to meld all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion,
public relations, direct marketing, and social media, through their respective mix of tactics, methods, channels, media, and
activities, so that all work together as a unified force. It is a process designed to ensure that all messaging and
communications strategies are consistent across all channels and are centered on the customer.
Integrated Marketing Communications recognizes the value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic
roles of a variety of communication disciplines advertising, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion and
combines them to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communication impact.
About Maruti Suzuki India:
Subsidiary of the Japanese automotive manufacturing company Suzuki, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd was founded in 1981
and is headquartered in New Delhi. Beginning a new chapter in the history of automobiles in India, Maruti Suzuki India
launched the 800, a runaway success which stood for reliability and ease of ownership. Also known as the people’s car
manufacturer, it faces stiff competition from other automotive giants such as Hyundai, Ford, Honda, Tata etc. Customer
satisfaction, low cost of ownership and high resale value are some of the major characteristics associated with Maruti
Suzuki.
TARGET MARKETING
One of key factor Maruti studied was “Target Marketing” It involves breaking a market into segments and then
concentrating your marketing efforts on one or a few key segments. The beauty of target marketing is that it makes the
promotion, pricing and distribution of your products and/or services easier and more cost-effective. Target marketing is the
selection of customers you wish to service. The decisions involved in it are
•Which segments to target
•How many products to offer
•Which products to offer in which segments

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There are three steps to targeting:

•Market segmentation

•Target choice

 Product positioning

One of the first things you need to do is to refine your product or service so that you are NOT trying to be 'all things to all
people’. Next, you need to understand that people purchase products or services for three basic reasons:

•To satisfy basic needs.

•To solve problems.

•To make themselves feel good. The next step in creating an effective marketing strategy is to zero in on your
target market

Four Ways to Identify Target Markets

1. Geographic:

The location, size of the area, density, and climate zoneof your customers.

2. Demographics:

The age, gender, income, family composition and size,occupation, and education of your customers.

3. Psychographics:

The general personality, behavior, life-style, rate of use, repetition of need, benefits sought, and loyalty
characteristics of your customers.

4. Behaviors:

The needs they seek to fulfill, the level of knowledge, information sources, attitude, use or response to a product of
your customers

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MARKETING MANAGEMENT
HANIKA ARORA
EPGDM-32(JUNE’17)BATCH

Product in the Marketing mix of Maruti Suzuki

Maruti Suzuki occupies 37% share in the Indian market of passenger cars. It manufactures various types of cars and
sells them in the market. Its various cars are-
 Alto
 A-Star
 Ritz
 Swift
 Celerio
 WagonR
 DZire
 Zen
 Sx4
 Kizashi
 Omni
 Eeco
 Ertiga
 Grand Vitara
Maruti Suzuki India has a diverse product portfolio and is present in such categories of cars as hatchback, supermini,
SUV, sedan and van. The entire product portfolio of automobiles are a part of the products in the marketing mix of Maruti

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Suzuki. Its products are Maruti Alto, Celerio, Wagon R, Maruti Swift, Baleno, Maruti Gypsy, Eeco, Maruti Ciaz, Ertiga, Dzire, S
Cross, Ignis and Maruti Omni. In most categories its cars are segment leaders and priced competitively.

Maruti Suzuki manufactures 1.5 million cars each year with 15 car models and a total of 150 variants. In January
2016, Maruti Suzuki India had a total market share of 47% amongst all passenger cars sold.

Maruti also offers services such as Maruti finance, Maruti Insurance, Maruti True Value (used cars), Maruti
Accessories and Maruti Driving School to promote the growth of its bottom-line

One of the key features of products of Maruti Suzuki is that these products are made keeping the common man in
mind. None of the products are high in price, and neither they have features which make them pricey. However, the
products are known for their durability, service, pick up, car design and most things which you expect from a basic car.
The tertiary product of Maruti company is its service. Besides its products, Maruti also provides services such as an
on road service by its vehicle that is operated for emergencies round the clock. The company has also opened a call center
specially to provide services to its internal members and the customers. Information centers for the customers are open in
cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai.

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Another service product is annual maintenance contracts as well as service centers which offer services to Maruti
cars. Maruti service centers are present across the country and they have the highest number of service centers in India.
This makes a huge difference in decision making when you are not in an urban area.
Place in the Marketing mix of Maruti Suzuki
In the earlier stages, the company Maruti imported all its cars. This caused dissatisfaction in the minds of local
manufacturers. In the year 1983 Maruti 800 was released in the Indian market and local production started henceforth from
the month of December in 1983. The plant in Gurgaon managed to extend its capacity to forty thousand units. In 1987,
Maruti exported its first batch of nearly five hundred cars to Hungary. In the year, 1995 Maruti opened its second
manufacturing plant with a capacity of manufacturing 200,000 units per year.
In the year 1988, the capacity of the Gurgaon plant was extended to 100,000units per year. Presently the Gurgaon
plant has three integrated plants for manufacturing purposes and manufactures 900,000 vehicles per year. The plant also
has 150 robots and the cars that the plant manufactures are Eeco, Gypsy, Omni, Estilo, WagonR, Alto and 800. By the year
2004-5 Maruti had export deals with at least fifty countries all over the world. In the year 2006, Maruti along with Suzuki
decided to build two new plants for manufacturing purposes.

The manufacturing plant at Manesar was opened in the year 2007.

Although its initial capacity was 100,000 vehicles, this increased to 550,000 vehicles. By March 2014, Maruti Suzuki had
offered dealerships to nearly nine hundred and thirty three dealers in India and in six hundred and sixty six cities and towns
of the country. It has three thousand and thirteen service stations in the name of its company that extends to nearly one
thousand, four hundred and thirty six cities and various towns. Maruti also has thirty stations for express services on thirty
highways across various cities in India.

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Price in the Marketing mix of Maruti Suzuki

We can call the pricing strategy of Maruti as both penetrative and competitive. Maruti Suzuki has a pricing policy
that is based on many factors. It makes a proper evaluation of the market by studying the most important fact that how
much is a customer able to pay for a car and what are his needs. The research team of the company makes an analysis of
the current market trends, the competition, the cost of raw materials, the economic factors governing the market, the
distribution charges, cost of advertisement, the dealers profit and the profit of the company.
As the pricing policy is a very subjective and sensitive issue, special care is taken to insure that the pricing policy
remains reasonable and affordable. Maruti has always emphasized more on volume than on prices and it is the reason for
their continued success. Inspite of the rising costs, service is also an important generator of revenue for the company. The
numerous service stations are handled on franchisee basis and have become major revenue earners for Maruti Suzuki.
One of the key drivers of volumes of sale for Maruti Suzuki has been its ‘value for money’ strategy. This comes from
its low cost learning from years of engineering in India. By providing light weight yet safe cars, Maruti is able to cut down on
costs and price its cars competitively, in some cases undercutting the competition by 7-10 percent. Maruti’s low cost of
ownership, affordable spares, long service intervals ensure that the pricing strategy of Maruti is implemented not just at the
time of sale but also after the car has been bought. This gives Maruti an edge and makes it such a popular car company.
Thus the pricing strategy in the marketing mix of Maruti Suzuki is dependent upon the competitors, market dynamics and
the segment catered to.
In Feb 2012, Maruti Suzuki, launched its new Sedan i.e Swift Dzire, with 150 more features, attractive looks and
Rs.30,000 cheaper than previous Swift Dzire. The company launched new Swift Dzire in New Delhi with showroom costing at
Rs.4.79 to Rs.7.09 lakhs. Commenting on the new Dzire, Maruti Suzuki’s Mayank Pareek told that the new Dzire is cheaper by
Rs.30,000 because it is 4,000 mm in overall length and fitted with the engine less than 1,200 cc, hence the car comes under
small car segment & eligible to get 16 percent excise duty under the Government’s small car norms. Initially Maruti Suzuki

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adopted Value pricing strategy for Swift Dzire and later the company adopted competitive pricing strategy. In case of Maruti
Swift, Ritz the company adopted Value pricing strategy where as for its SX4 Grand Vitara & Kizashi, Maruti adopted Premium
pricing strategy to grab the attention of high profile customers. Value pricing is based on the assumption that the objective
of pricing is not to recover costs, but to realize the value of the product perceived by the customers. The merit of this
method is the belief that the customer is interested not in the cost of the product but only in the value. 68 To compete with
Hyundai Santro and Tata Indica, Maruti Suzuki initially adopted Parity pricing strategy for its Wagon R model. Later to face
the competition, Maruti Suzuki for its Wagon R, Alto K10 and Omni adopted discount pricing strategy
Sept 2012, Maruti dealers brought offers for customers. The dealers reduced the prices of Alto K10, Wagon R and
Omni model under Utsav offer. Under consumer offer, the dealers reduced the price of Alto K10 by Rs.25,000, Wagon R by
Rs.35,000 and Omni by Rs.10,000. Under this offer, the customers were given heavy discounts. This offer was valid till 30
Sept 2012.
Maruti Suzuki adopted innovative & aggressive pricing strategy for its Ertiga (Petrol) model. To push the sales of
petrol engine model of Ertiga, Maruti Suzuki has priced the base petrol Ertiga at INR 5.89 lakhs whereas the base diesel
model at INR 7.30 lakhs. Ertiga’s pricing strategy was to encourage sales of petrol engine cars for better capacity utilization.

Promotions in the Marketing mix of Maruti Suzuki

One of the first things which Maruti does to promote its product is to use all types of media when launching a new
product or a new variant. The brand and the service promise of the company does the rest. The brand has been built over a
period of decades and people now know that a Maruti Suzuki product will be a reliable one. The most prominent way to
advertise is the ATL and mainly television, after which newspaper, outdoor and print takes preference.
Having decades of presence in India enables Maruti to leverage its brand value and brand perception well. It also
helps Maruti cut down on promotional costs. Maruti uses unique advertising methods to promote its cars and often ropes in
stars and celebrities as brand ambassadors for various cars models. Maruti has utilized heavily the online promotion space
for the launch of its Brezza, Ignis and S Scross. Maruti also uses traditional advertising spaces such as newspapers, television,
radio, ATL etc. Maruti Suzuki also used pint of sale and mobile promotions and the message across all the above platforms is
focussed on fuel efficiency, looks, comfort and space for its cars. Hence, a 360 branding approach is followed in the
promotional strategy of marketing mix of Maruti. The ad campaigns often highlight the huge service network of the brand.
Maruti uses a very distinctive promotional strategy to market its products. The main emphasis is on the road safety
measures. Advertisements are telecast in the visual media and the print media such as televisions, radio, newspapers,
magazines, road shows, seminars and workshops. The famous actor R Madhavan has acted in promotional campaigns for this
company and has been its brand ambassador. The advertising strategy of Maruti Suzuki has been distinctive and informative.
They have continued to touch the hearts of the consumers through its products, services and even its promotional activities.

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HANIKA ARORA
EPGDM-32(JUNE’17)BATCH

Media tools used by Maruti Suzuki

Cyber Media- Commenting on marketing tools, Mr.Mayank Pareek, Executive officer (Marketing & Sales) Maruti
Suzuki India Limited said that Cyber media plays vital role to promote Maruti brands. Also the banners have been displayed
on various internet sites. He stated that we have various schemes for people like Maruti Financial Ltd, Maruti Countrywide
and tie-ups with banks like SBI, HDFC and ICICI.
Outdoor Media- Regarding advertisement of Swift, Mr.Pareek opined that Swift car is better in terms of
technology and has the appeal of a very cool and smooth brand. According to him, Swift is a successful venture because of
its outdoor media campaign. Maruti Suzuki created 500 innovative displays of Swift spread all over India. Also to make Swift
very popular, In Delhi, Maruti Suzuki displayed cardboard models of Swift at the busy Rajiv Chowk and the ITO crossing. The
quality of plastic, steering wheel, fabrics, controls and instruments are good and feel classy.
Digital Marketing- with an object to reach to target customers Maruti Suzuki have collaborated with Google for
digital marketing. According to Shashank Srivastava, the digital media is changing fast and hence it is must to focus on this
area. He said that, Maruti and Google have been working closely on, “search engine optimization
Print Advertisement- Maruti Suzuki, whenever launched the car, it supported the launch of the product with an
ad campaign. The campaigns also include print ads. Currently print ads are also playing vital role in promoting the products
as well as services. Considering the growing number of readers of newspapers and magazines, Maruti Suzuki currently
advertising its brands through leading newspapers and automobile magazines like Auto India, Auto Car, Overdrive, Auto Bild
India etc
Social Media- Today social media plays vital role in promoting & creating awareness about the brands and
services along with providing a platform to discuss and share the views, opinions, ideas of each other. According to NM
incite- a joint venture between Nielsen and McKinsey & Company, Maruti Suzuki has been ranked the top most Indian brand

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HANIKA ARORA
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in the social media space. According to the report, Maruti Suzuki enjoys strong sentiments and high volumes of conversations
on auto forums that include blogs, boards and social media sites like Face book, Twitter and You Tube etc. Before buying
any valuable product, the consumers today are focusing on various discussion forums, social media for getting proper
information and to solve their query
Marketing Strategies of Maruti Suzuki India Limited

Maruti Suzuki India Limited is a leading manufacturer of passenger vehicles in India. Lovingly referred to as the people’s car
maker, over the past three decades Maruti Suzuki has changed the way people in India commute and travel. Over three
decades, Maruti Suzuki has won the hearts of customers through high quality products and services. Today due to innovative
marketing strategies Maruti Suzuki India Limited has become the leading car manufacturers in India. 16 184 In previous days,
when the Indian automobile market was dominated by Ambassador & Premier Padmini, Maruti Suzuki India Limited entered
into Indian automobile sector with different strategy.

The strategy of the company was to offer a compact, modern and fuel efficient car. Maruti released its first Maruti 800 on
14 December 1983 to fulfill the needs of Indian customers. Since 1983 till date Maruti Suzuki gradually offered several
choices to the customer.

With an object to face competition, Maruti Suzuki started restructuring exercise. As a part of strategy the company focused
on improving its operational efficiency by upgrading manufacturing using innovative manufacturing techniques, increasing
capacity, using information technology in manufacturing, continuous eye on launching of new and innovative products at
regular intervals along with venturing into other related businesses like car finance, insurance. Realizing the potential of the
used car market, Maruti Suzuki established Maruti True Value in 2001.

Considering the growing demand for passenger cars from various segments, Maruti Suzuki offers cars for different segments-
like the small, the less costly Maruti 800, Maruti Omni, the middle level Maruti Zen, Swift and the higher level Swift Dzire,
SX4 to Sports Utility Vehicle Grand Vitara

Sales Promotional Strategies of Maruti Suzuki

Every company is it a big or small needs an innovative promotional strategy because promotional campaigns tend to have a
huge effect on the reception of the product. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd has a formidable line-up of vehicles in its stable and has
been quite aggressive about promoting each of its automobile brands.

In 2003, to attract the customers Maruti Suzuki launched attractive campaign like “Change Your Life”. The company also
offered vehicle insurance for One rupee only. In this campaign the customers were asked to write down the chassis and
engine number of their vehicles on the entry form and had to answer the question. In this contest the winners were chosen
by a draw of lots and were entitled to gifts worth Rs.50 million.

In year 2003, Maruti Suzuki and State Bank of Travancore enter into an agreement to provide low interest loan to the
persons who intend to buy Maruti cars. Also in same year, the company alliance with Union Bank of India for providing loans
to the customer of Maruti Suzuki at competitive rates.

Maruti Suzuki introduced an offer ‘2599’ in 2004 for Maruti 800. The offer not only conveyed that the car can be bought at
only Rs.2,599 per month but also highlighted the aspirations of scooter owners who can upgrade to car. In this offer the
customer could buy a Maruti 800 with an Easy Monthly Installment of Rs.2,599 for seven years period.

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In year 2004, Maruti Suzuki introduced the ‘Teacher Plus’ scheme in a tie up with SBI. Under this scheme, Maruti Suzuki
focused on teachers who were interested to buy a new car. In this scheme the State bank of India offered reduced rates of
interest for teachers which lead to boost the sales of Maruti Suzuki.

Promotional Offers

As a part of promotion strategy and to increase the sales, Maruti Suzuki launched various offers for its customers through its
authorized dealers. In this offer, before declaring the budgets, Maruti Suzuki dealers launched “Khulja Sim-Sim offer” in which,
dealers highlighted that, the customer who will buy the Maruti car before declaring the budget will get assured gifts under this
offer. The company dealers offered assured gifts to its customers like Refrigerator, Washing machine, LCD screen 22”, Micro
Wave, Digital Camera, Titan watch (Pair), Suitcase, DVD player, Mobile, Video Game, Dinner Set, Maruti Genuine Accessories
worth Rs.1500 and Maruti Genuine Accessories worth Rs.1000.

Service Feedback & After Sales Service

With an intention to encourage customers to provide feedback or compliments, Maruti Suzuki has provided a nice platform
to its customers. The customer’s if noticed any problem or complaints they can register it online on company’s website &
those complaints are reviewed immediately. The company has also provided a toll free number where customer complaints
can be registered. This service feedback facility helps Maruti Suzuki to identify the customer satisfaction level. 203 Maruti
Suzuki has the largest sales and service network in India.

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

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Though the automobile industries have been in luxury segment, since entry in India over a decade ago, it need to widen its
product portfolio to expand presence and increase market share of car products and car sales. When evaluating the
opportunities emerging in different segments, including the compact car segment, the industry has to invest more to enhance
the production capacity in the coming years to introduce new models.

No centralized data warehouse/agency on vehicle registration and related parameters exist. This makes timely access and
retrieval of information a daunting task. In the absence of centralized data availability, the manufactures face a problem
whenever they need to recall any model/batch vehicles to rectify major manufacturing defects. Major benefits of the
availability of centralized registration details (owner, address, phone numbers and other details) will enable to recall of the
exact vehicle by problem, especially pertaining to safety of the vehicles

Meanwhile Maruti should focus on automation with electric car as that’s upcoming demand in near future.

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