FORE School of Management

Marketing Management – II

Section # (D) IMG IV

Case Study No: 3

TWIN CITIES BOTTOLING COMPANY

Submitted to:
Dr. Shyam Vyas, Ph.D.

Group Members:
Name Roll No. Email ID Contact
Abhinandan Jakhar 43002 043002@foreian.com 9868907342
Anirudh Singh 43010 043010@foreain.com 9811774264
Sumeet Anand 43056 0430456@foreian.com 9871447433
Vakul Sharma 43057 043057@foreian.com 7838589937
Vineet Bhadu 43060 043060@foreian.com 8800663854

Group Leader: Sumeet Anand

Mobile: 9871447433
Email-id: 043056@foreian.com

Date Submitted: 26/10/10

Date Due: 26/10/10
Case Summary:

Twin Cities Bottling Company is assessing the results of a recent promotional program
aimed at increasing sale of its soft drink in the market area which it serves. The company
has a market share of 30% and plans to move the brand into lead in the twin cities.

The company’s main aim is to get market share in the black population in the southern
part of the Twin city which form 24% of the 250000 population.

Some of the steps taken by the company are-

 Providing coupons contained in newspapers (particularly suburban editions) and

direct-mail pieces, worth varying amounts (depending on bottle size) towards the
purchase of the cola.
 Laying emphasis on the sale of 2 liter sized plastic bottle
 Using picture of attractive female star at point of purchases
 Targeting areas newest and largest supermarkets
 Using Television advertising

However the company could only increase its market share up to 35% and the black
consumers did not increase appreciably.

Twin cities Bottling would like to gain a higher share among the lucrative black segment in
any future promotion.

Q1) what marketing issues are raised in this short case? Be specific as to what issues your
group identifies and why. Mistakes the company made – or the wonderful things it that
may contribute to a successful marketing effort?

Ans 1) Twin Cities Bottling Company recently did a promotional activity to increase sale of
its soft drink in the market area which it caters. After 2 months of Campaign Company
achieved rise in sales but few issues are still there:

 Promotional activities are not able to increase the soft drink sales among the black
consumers.
 With 35% of market it still stands at the second position.
 Promotional activities are not able to achieve same respond from all the market
segments.

Among all these the major issue faced by company is the sale of its product among the
black consumers; as if they achieve an increase in the sale there it will ultimately raise the
firm to the first position in the concerned market.
Company had aimed to increase its sale in the southern city which has a strong population
of black consumers. But it failed to attract them. One major reason to it can be the
absense of black franchiser in the firm who can help in improvement of sales.

Case shows that the business of soft drink among the black consumers goes to the firm
which has deployed a black franchisers there. So absense of black franchiser is a big
mistake.

Company did strong promotional activites through newspaper, supermarkets, direct mail
and TV ads. It can also add various street promotions activities which help to increase the
sale in those parts where above mentioned activities are not effective.

Q2) What is the relationship between “segmentation” and “target market” selection ?
What in your group’s opinion are good segmentation bases ? Has this company done a
good job of identifying the segments, selecting a target market – and finally executing a
successful marketing effort ?

Ans 2) Segmentation is different from target market. Segmentation is a step which is

done before the selection of the target market.

A market segment in market segmentation the complete market is divides into various
segments based on the following factors

Geographic-The market segments are made based on the geographic location of the
consumers such as states, regions, countries, cities etc.

Demographic-We divide the market into groups on the basis of variables such as age,
family, size, gender, income, occupation, education, religion etc.

Psychographic –The buyers are segmented on the basis of personality traits lifestyle or
values.

Behavioral-Here the market is divided on the basis of behavioural variables like

occasions, benefits, user status, usage rate, loyalty status, attitude etc.

Segmentation of markets is a prelude to target market selection.

After the marketer has segmented the market he selects the target from among the
segment. For example while dividing the market on the basis of income Audi would be
targeted at people having higher income. It requires prudence of the marketer to select
the target market from the available segments such that the target market is the most
profitable and gives long term business to the company.

Multi level market segmentation helps best in the selection of target market.
For example a sports car will be for a segment having high disposable income but in that
segment it is more for younger people and people having a lifestyle in which they enjoy
high thrill and speed.

As per our group good segmentation should be a multilevel segmentation as a single

segmentation technique is not exhaustive and company can lose out on market share or
end up selecting a wrong target market.

The company did good segmentation and identified that its market share was less among
the black people which had a large population and the black people were a perfect target
market selection to become the market leader as the penetration in the black population
having a population of 60000 (24% of 250000 ) was less.

It was able to increase its market share from 30% to 35% and a little more marketing
effort would have helped the company meet its objective.

The company should go on aggressive retailing and give more margins to retailers in the
areas dominated by the blacks.

The company can also get involved in some CSR (corporate social responsibility) like tree
plantation, donations to increase its brand value and create a favorable image in the
minds of all the consumers including the black population thus providing mind and heart
share.

The company should also start giving freebies which have utility to children like

flicker books if they collect certain minimum number of bottle crowns.

Q3) As an expert group consulting on marketing & consumer behaviour matters, advise
Twin Cities Bottling Company management on future promotional and other marketing
efforts and activities.

Ans 3)Cola is a soft drink product which can be seen as a product to reduce the need of
thirst. However, thirst could also be reduced by drinking water or another soft drink, so
the consumption of cola to satisfy the need thirst is better described as a want. The choice
of drinking cola when one is thirsty depends on a consumer's cultural environment, his
learning experiences and his history. For example, in western countries it is quite normal
to drink cola when you are thirsty, while in developing countries people will satisfy this
need with water. Based on what is learned and what the cultural conditions are, people
will or will not drink cola. Therefore cola is a want instead of a need. People do not need
cola, they want it.
Cola satisfies in the first place a utilitarian need, namely it takes away the thirst of a
consumer. But cola can also be seen as to satisfy a hedonic need. Consumers who drink
cola can experience a refreshing moment, which is more an emotional response. This
satisfaction of a hedonic need can particular be seen in the commercials of cola producers,
who often show the consumption of cola as a refreshing and fun experience.

So consumers' motivation to buy cola depends on how strong they feel about satisfying
the needs and wants described before. This will depend largely on their culture and how
they are raised. Also, the consumption of cola can cause an approach-avoidance conflict.
Although it takes away your thirst and can give you a refreshing moment, it also contains
a lot of sugar which is not good for your health. Therefore people can be less motivated to
buy cola.

Some of the future promotional and marketing activities can include:

1) Various advertisement campaigns and sponsoring various events. Taking a good

look at the marketing actions involved and the consumer reactions to it will provide
important information regarding the product.
2) Target the higher level needs in order to build brand loyalty for ensuring consistent
sells.
3) Increase the motivation and involvement with the product.
4) Campaigns to attract attention of the consumer.
5) In order to create brand awareness and loyalty, it is very important for a company
to make sure that their product is stored in the long term memory of consumers.
6) By making light variants of the cola and associating their brands with sport
activities, a need is felt to take away the approach-avoidance conflict people can
have towards the product. Try to decrease the unhealthy aspect of cola. This way
people can be persuaded to buy.
7) Appealing to the local cultures is a very efficient way to gain sells. Failure to cope
with the local cultures might lead to negative associations with a product.

Q4

Identify a brand in the Indian marketplace which may have inadvertently “not targeted”
the segment that they actually wanted to direct their marketing effort at – and therefore
the results were not exactly what was anticipated.
Ans 4)Back in 2004 the market was abuzz with the news that Honda was about to launch
its first motorcycle in India. Everyone expected that Honda would make a clean sweep of
the motorcycle sales in India. There wasn't any reason to believe that Honda wouldn't be
able to pull it off. After all wasn't Honda single handedly responsible for reviving the dying
scooter market in India with its "Activa"?

On 08 Septemtember 2004, Honda finally launches its first motorcycle in India, the 150
C.C Honda Unicorn. Along with the ultra smooth and reliable engine it also sported India's
first monoshock rear suspension. Magazines carried rave reviews of the latest 150 C.C
from Honda; putting it on top of other models of its competitors.

But unfortunately and to the surprise of many, the sales of the Unicorn were dismal
compared to the 150 C.C models of its competitors viz. Bajaj Pulsar and TVS
Fiero/Apache. Compared to Bajaj Auto’s 150-cc Pulsar, which sells 35,000-40,000 units
per month, Honda’s Unicorn manages barely 3,500-5,000 (Source:BusinessWorld).

So what went wrong for the Honda Unicorn..??

This is what Mr. Masahiro Takedagawa, Head-South-West Asia, Honda Motor Co. had to
say..

The company "made a mistake", said the official (Mr. Takedagawa), in introducing the
models and its styling which were quite similar to the existing Hero Honda models
(Glamour and CBZ).

However, the problem was with the target market. Dr. Philip Kotler lays stress on the
importance of targeting:

"If you nail Targeting and Positioning, the rest will automatically follow"

The "Targeting" and "Positioning" for a product can be deduced by observing its
Advertisements.

Just try to recall the Advertisements of the Unicorn when it was first launched. The TV
Advertisement showed a Young guy riding the Unicorn to his workplace. The Young Rider
happens to be a doctor who doesn't pay attention to beautiful girls who plead for a lift on
his Unicorn. The Young Doctor would rather be with his patients. The TV Advertisement
clearly shows the "Targeting" and "Positioning" of the Unicorn.

Honda'a target customer was the young working executive who was looking more power
and style compared to the 100 C.C bikes but who was also sensible enough to look for
"Fuel efficiency".

The Honda Unicorn was neither sporty enough nor economical enough.
Honda should have realized that the target segment for the 150 C.C actually constitutes
young guys who are actually looking for a "Hooligan" bike. A bike which should have mean
looks and ample power. If the bike was able to give better fuel efficiency that the CBZ,
then it was a bonus. And yes, they would rather prefer to imagine themselves as a
Hooligan rather than a Gentleman on a 150 C.C. They would rather dream of cruising with
a girl, rather than going to work.

Due to this "Wrong Targeting", a product was finally developed which majority of the 150
C.C buying Indian consumer did not want.