Project Name – Analysis of Buying vs.

Marketing for Sanitary Wares

Batch – PGCBM 16

Name of the Project - Analysis of Buying vs. Marketing for Sanitary Wares

Group No. – 13

Course – Principles of Marketing

Faculty - Dr Pingali Venugopal

Student Details –
Name SMS SID
ID
Prince V Thachil 22155 DB091
96 78
Prasanna 24060 DB091
Raghavendran 25 34
Madhusudan 22156 DB090
Kannan 00 20

Study Center – Hughes, Koramangala Center, Bangalore.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
The purpose of the project is to study the buying behavior, marketing
techniques and selling activities of a particular product category and finally
analyze whether selling is synchronized with marketing or not. Three brands
have been selected - an MNC, a national and a local brand for this study.

Below given table summarizes the product category identified and basic
actions done for each item. The detail of each section is given in the
following pages.

Product Category Sanitary Ware - Wash Basin

ROCA ( MNC) , Hindware
Brands Identified ( National ) & Marvel ( Local)
Primary data - Discussions with
Study of Buying shop keepers , friends ,builders
behavior neighbors etc.
Study of Secondary Data - Newspaper
Marketing Ads, Ads in TV.
Primary Data - Discussion with
shop keepers, data from
Study of Selling builders
Analyze
Marketing vs.
Selling Analyzed the data collected

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1.1 Overview of the Sanitary ware Market in India

The sanitaryware market in India has grown rapidly during the last 5-6 years,
with key players doubling their production capacities. The Companies have
also upgraded their manufacturing system by introducing Battery Casting,
Beam Casting and have gone in for latest imported Fast Firing Cycle Kiln
Technology. These Companies have also upgraded their quality and have
introduced high value range in the market, which has been accepted and
appreciated.

India has emerged as a major bath and sanitaryware market in the Asia-
Pacific region. The demand for high value Sanitaryware in India is growing
very fast. In order to educate the customers in India to go for quality
products and also for higher value sanitarywares, companies have adopted a
very aggressive advertisement campaign. Companies have also
strengthened their dealer network by offering showroom incentives and
some of the companies have also gone for their own retail outlets in major
towns. The demand for Sanitarywares in India is growing @ 15% -17% every
year.

The sanitaryware industry in India is divided in two sectors – Organized

sector and Un-Organized sector. The organized sector comprises more than
half of the total market by value. The major threat for the industry is from
the unorganized sector, which provides products at low prices.
The organized sectors produce fully vitrified sanitarywares, using latest
technology and best of Ceramic Raw Materials available in India. The
unorganized sectors have adopted local Indian technology to manufacture
the basic sanitaryware products.

In terms of market value, organized players lead the market but on the other
hand in terms of volume, unorganized players hold the major share.

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Housing and institutional sectors are the major growth drivers. At present,
housing demand is rapidly rising and with increasing purchasing power
people have started taking interest in premium sanitaryware products.
Sanitaryware demand comes from new projects as well as from replacement
market.

The cost of producing sanitaryware in India is substantially low as compared

to the advance countries, because the labour cost and the basic raw
materials for manufacturing quality sanitarywares are available at very
cheap rate and in abundance. Because of our low cost of production, Indian
sanitarywares are very competitive in the neighboring countries and hence
export from India is also growing every day.

1.2 Environmental Analysis

Stren Weakn Opportu Threa
Environmental Analysis gth ess nity t

Political Environment
India Government has a policy of economic
liberalization since 1991. This creates an
environment which encourages consumerism,
industry and commerce. This in turn boosts the
economy and creates a suitable environment for
investments. 
Economic Environment
GDP of India is growing rapidly since several
years. It has been growing at 8-9% for the last
10 years or so. 
Infrastructure in India is growing at steady
growth. 
India’s economy has been one of the stars of
global economics in recent years, growing 9.2%
in 2007 and 9.6% in 2006. Growth had been
supported by markets reforms, huge inflows of
FDI, rising foreign exchange reserves, both an IT
and real estate boom, and a flourishing capital
market. 
Since Jan 2008, there has been a decline in the
economy triggered by the Global economic crisis
which affected the construction business also. 

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Tax exemption for housing loan has prompted
the salaried class customers to buy houses. 
Housing loan interest rates have come down
from approx 15% in 1996 to approx 8.75% at
present 

Social Environment
Customer has disposable income and is ready to
spend for luxury. 
NRI started investing in India for buying houses 
Return on Investment is huge in real estate
which prompted customers to invest in real
estate. 

Technological Environment

Advertisements through medium like TV and

internet can reach customer easily 
More and more shops/outlets for easy shopping. 

2. Buying behavior Analysis

The current buying behavior can be categorized under

1. Picking

2. Variety Seeking

3. Sub-Contracted

4. Loyalty

Three brands have been selected for a comparison study:

Local Brand: Marvel

National Brand: Hindware

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International Brand: Roca

The product selected for comparison is Wash Basin.

2.1 Current Buying Behavior:

2.1.1 Local Brand - Marvel

• Customers who are not very conscious about the brand & quality
are usually buying this product. This behavior can be put in the
category of picking.
• Customers who are not willing to travel to another shop for a
different model are buying this.
• Customers who are cost conscious are usually buying this product.
• Small Contractors are also buying this brand as the cost is less and
the discount offered is generally more than the
National/International brands. Hence, the buying behavior can also
be categorized as Sub-Contracted.

Every local shop we visited had this brand available in plenty. Hence Place
Utility and Time utility are the major influencing factors.

2.1.2 National Brand – Hindware

• Customers who are brand & quality conscious and are willing to go
to different shops are buying this product. This behavior can be
categorized as Variety Seeking.

• The company’s representatives directly contact many big builders

and offer huge commissions. Hence the builders are using this
product in housing colonies, flats, hotels etc. on a large scale.
Hence, this behavior can also be categorized as Sub-Contracted.

2.1.3 International Brand – Roca

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 • Customers who want a luxurious bathroom, and are Brand
conscious (Esteem need) are buying this product. They are willing to
pay a high price, travel to an exclusive store and are also ready to
wait if the stock is not available. This behavior can be categorized
largely under Variety Seeking.

• However, there are a few people who have used this brand and are
willing to buy the products of the same brand. Hence, this behavior
can also be categorized under Loyalty.

3. Marketing Techniques
3.1 Local Brand – Marvel
• Every local shop had this product. The company uses ‘dumping
strategy’ and ensures availability at all the local shops.

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 • The price is kept lower than National/International brands. This
allows the shop keeper to sell more to cost conscious customers.

• The margin given to the shopkeeper is high, since the shopkeeper is

promoting this brand saying it is same as Hindware/Roca, even
though the quality is lower.

• No advertisements are given in newspapers or TV. Hence this is a

complete push.

3.2 National Brand – Hindware

Hindware is using a 2 level marketing strategy, by first trying to increase the
visibility of Bathroom and then promoting its products.

• Advertising is done through mediums like TV, newspaper, FM etc.

Another medium is word of mouth from people who have already
used it. The ads are intended to create a feeling of convenience &
quality in the minds of customers. One of the Ads goes - “with
Hindware bathroom is a place to get refreshed”.

• The company’s plant sites are ISO certified, showcasing the

commitment in meeting the highest operational health and safety
standards. All the sites are equipped with effluent treatment plants
making zero discharge. The treated water is used in green belt
development enhancing the aesthetics of the factory environment.
The company is projecting an image of being environmentally
friendly.

• Hindware is an established brand and commands top-of-the-mind-

recall from customers.

• It also has the largest dealer network across the country.

• This brand can be found in most of the multi-brand sanitary ware

stores.

• The price is higher than the local brands but lower than the
international brands.

• The target segment is the middle-class and upper middle class, who
are quality and price conscious.

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This would be a 50% Push and a 50% Pull.

3.3 International Brand – Roca

Roca is using a 2 level marketing strategy, by first trying to increase the
visibility of Bathroom and then promoting its products.

The company is projecting an image of being a premium luxury sanitaryware

products brand.

• Advertising is done through TV. The Ads are aimed at creating a

feeling of exclusivity & status in the customer’s mind. They project
bathroom to be a place of luxury.

• The target segment is exclusive high class.

• The products are available only at exclusive stores.

• The price is high compared to local or national brands. This is also

to give the customer an exclusive feeling and to make the purchase
status driven.

This would be more of a Pull, and the Push is less.

4. Selling Techniques

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4.1 Local Brand – Marvel
• The commission given to shop keeper is high compared to national
brand. Since the commission is good, shop keepers are happy to
keep a good stock of this product (Inventory). They also recommend
this product to ignorant customers or customers who do not care
about quality.

• The price is low and difference in price between different color

options is very less and hence gives the customer an option to
choose whichever color he wants without paying a huge price. The
price is in range of Rs 300 – Rs 500 per piece.

• The discount offered to the end customers is around 20% which is

higher than national/International brand and hence this fits the cost
conscious customer.

4.2 National Brand – Hindware

There are two channels of selling - Institutional (like Housing colonies, Hotels
etc.) and through Retail stores.

• In Retail, this brand is sold only in bigger multi-brand shops. The

availability in local shops is close to zero. The branded shops also
had other competing brands.

• Discounts and guarantee are other methods used to promote sales.

The discount offered is around 10% to 15%.

• The price is in range of Rs 900 – Rs 1300.

• The customer is given after sales support like fitting, plumbing etc.
at free of cost. Special offers are kept for specific models to
enhance sales.

In Institutional sales, the company’s representatives directly contact the

builders and offer huge discounts. Since Hindware is an established brand
and has created a quality image, many builders like Mantri, Crystal etc. are
using this product on large scale projects like flats, hotels, complexes etc.

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4.3 International Brand – Roca
• This brand is restricted to exclusive shops. These shops do not stock
other brands.

• The price is kept high in the range of Rs 5000 to Rs 7000, to

maintain the exclusivity.

• Discount offered is 10%.

• Only brand conscious customers and brand loyal customers buy this
brand.

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5. Marketing vs. Selling Analysis
5.1 Local Brand – Marvel
In this brand, Marketing is synchronized with selling since the marketing
effort is targeting the cost conscious customers, and they are happy to buy
the product.

5.2 National Brand – Hindware

In this brand, the marketing effort is trying to project an image of quality and
convenience targeting the middle-class and upper middle-class segments.
Quality conscious customers are happy to buy this product as the price is not
very high and availability is good.

This brand also commands significant brand recall. In institutional sales, the
customers are happy, as they are getting a quality product at competitive
prices.

Overall, Marketing is synchronized with selling.

5.3 International Brand – Roca

In this brand, the marketing effort is trying to project an image of luxury and
status. The target segment is exclusive high class. The selling is done
through exclusive stores and at a high price. Customers who have a taste for
luxury and who want to maintain their status symbol, prefer this product.

Although, there is significant competition from National Brands in the

Premium Sanitaryware segment, this brand is able to maintain its position.

Overall, the marketing is synchronized with selling.

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