Report on

“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”

Prepared For:

Md. Farhan Faruqui

Senior Lecturer,
Department of Business Administration
American International University-Bangladesh
Course Code: MKT-101
Course Title: Principles of Marketing

Prepared By:
Alam,Md.Safiul ID: 06-06992-2

Department of Business Administration

Date of Submission:

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL
August 01, 2007

Md. Farhan Faruqui

Senior Lecturer,
Department of Business Administration
East West University

Subject: Application for submitting a report on R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt.

Ltd.

Dear Sir:

We have prepared a report on “R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.” that you
authorized us to prepare for the partial fulfillment of our MKT-101 course requirement.

We have tried our best to follow your guidelines in every aspect of preparing this report.
We have collected what we believed to be the most relevant information to make this
report as consistent as possible.

We enjoyed preparing this report because it provided us an opportunity to increase our

understanding of principles of marketing concepts and practice. We feel certain that this
experience will help us in our professional life. We appreciate this opportunity to prepare
this report. We will be happy to answer any questions on this subject.

Thank you,

Yours Sincerely,
Name ID

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Making this report is not so easy if any body did not help us. We are very lucky that we
have got so much help from our instructor Md. Farhan Faruqui, Senior Lecturer,
Department of Business Administration, East West University. So at first we sincerely
thank to our instructor for her co-operation with us.

Secondly, our special thank to Mr. Syed Ali Abdullah Jami, Marketing Executive, R.A.K
Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd. for his valuable time and hospitality while our visit at
R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
 TABLE OF CONTENT

Executive Summary 01
Introduction 02-03
Chapter One 04-05
Company Profile 04
Chapter Two 06-14
Competition 06
BCG Analysis 06
SWOT Analysis 08

Chapter Three 15-16

Segmentation 15
Targeting 15
Positioning Strategies 16

Chapter Four 16-20

Marketing Mix Strategy:
Product 18
Price 19
Place 19
Promotion 19
People 20

Chapter Five 20-21

Sales Force Control 20
Distribution Control 21
Pricing Control 21

Chapter Six 21-23

Budget Allocation 21

Conclusion 22
References 23

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

R.A.K. Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd. is the biggest manufacturer in its sector in our
country. R.A.K. Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd. manufactures countrywide and
exporting its products to many countries. During the last 6 years it has established itself
as a major brand in products like floor tiles, wall tiles and sanitary ware in our country.
These make R.A.K. Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd. an ideal study for the marketing
management course.

The key observations made in the report are:

 R.A.K. Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd. is an UAE Bangladesh joint venture.
 91% owned by Ras Al Khaimah Company and remaining 9% owned by Mr.
S.A.K. Ekramuzzaman.
 It is one of the leading sanitary ware and ceramic tiles company in the world.
 Established in 1989.
 Exported to more than 125 countries across 5 continents.
 R.A.K. Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd. is located at Sreepur, Gazipur.
 It started its operations in November 2000.
 Its closest competitor is Fu-Wang Ceramics
 They segment their market based on geographic, demographic and psychographic
variables.
 R.A.K. Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.’s strengths are brand image, financial
power or backup, products quality, technological advantage, service and so on.
 It has weaknesses in case of advertisement, Production Capacity.
 Its opportunity is technology, credit policy, international trade and threat is
potential competition, political situation and economic condition.

Our tour at R.A.K. Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd. was a wonderful experience. This
opportunity certainly increased our understanding of marketing management. We are in
debt to our instructor for arranging such a wonderful tour for us.

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
 INTRODUCTION

Origin
This report is assigned to us by our respected MKT-101 course instructor Md. Farhan
Faruqui. We were given adequate instructions for this report and were asked to prepare
and submit the report by the end of the semester.

Objective
The objective of this report is to know about various aspects of R.A.K. Ceramics
(Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd. and gather our experience on our visit at the company.

Scope
This report covers the marketing aspects of R.A.K. Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd., its
historical background, company profile and competitive environment. The report also
gives a view of the marketing mix and SWOT analysis of R.A.K. Ceramics (Bangladesh)
Pvt. Ltd.

Historical Background
R.A.K. Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd. is the biggest manufacturer in its sector in our
country. R.A.K. Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd. manufactures countrywide. It is an
UAE Bangladesh joint venture where 91% owned by Ras Al Khaimah Company and
remaining 9% owned by Mr. S.A.K. Ekramuzzaman.

Sources and Methods of Data Collection

All data used in this report were collected from primary as well as secondary sources.
Primary sources include formal and informal interviews from the different company
personnel. Secondary sources include internet and other publications on the companies.

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
Limitation
One of the limitations of this report would be that the primary data, which have been
collected from interviewing the company personnel’s, could be the opinion of the
interviewer rather than the solid fact. Another limitation could be that the information
used from the secondary sources might not reflect the recent scenario. Besides this
problem, we had another limitation too. We didn’t find enough time to do the job more
perfectly. We had to work on other course’s report, group presentation, regular class,
quiz, mid term examinations, assignments in total we didn’t manage enough time to do
this report more perfectly.
Even though we tried a lot. Actually our instructor motivated us largely. He reminded us
every week in the class. Only for him, finally we have done this Report.

Report Preview
This report is organized in six parts. After the introduction chapter the Company profile
of R.A.K. Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd. is presented. Then the analysis and findings
of the study is presented. Finally the conclusion about R.A.K. Ceramics (Bangladesh)
Pvt. Ltd. in few words.

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
 COMPANY PROFILE

R.A.K. Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd. is an UAE – Bangladesh join venture. Its mother
concern Ras Al Khaimah (R.A.K.) Ceramics, UAE was established in 1989 and within
the short span of time it has firmly established itself as one of the world’s leading
producers of high quality Ceramic Wall & Floor tiles and Sanitary wares and exporting to
more than 125 countries across the world including Europe, America and Australia. It is
91% owned by Ras Al Khaimah Ceramics Company and remaining 9% of the company
is owned by Mr. S.A.K. Ekramuzzaman, the former sales manager at RAK-UAE and a
nonresident Bangladeshi businessman. It had obtained the ISO 9001 certificate by CICS
(Ceramic Industry Certification Scheme), UK in 1997.

R.A.K. Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. is located at Sreepur, Gazipur in 1999. It started its
operations in November of 2000 with a manufacturing capacity of 2.0 million square
meters per annum (sqm p.a.) of tiles. The company is equipped with most modern
machineries from Italy and successfully started producing Wall, Floor and Gres
Porcellanato tiles.

R.A.K. Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. never compromises with its quality. They satisfy their
valued customer by providing ‘High Quality Product’ at affordable price. Quality made
them market innovator. The venture will create up to 500 direct jobs.

Vision:
"Excellence" in our role and responsibility , by creating in every employee the skills and
the will, the "Passion to Excel" by benchmarking to still higher levels of Performance and
creating " The Future Today.

Mission:
"Excellence through Hi-Quality Products and Services so as to provide the best Value for
Money."

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
Goal:
"Excellence" in the use of the Best Technology to create the most innovative products
and designs.

Organizational Structure:

Managing
Director

Director

General
Manager

Sales Production Personnel Accounts Purchase

Manager Manager Manager Manager Manager

Executives
Marketing
Executives Supervisor Executives
Accountants

Assistant Assistant
Marketing Workers Assistant Executives
Executives Executives

Sales
Persons

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
 COMPETITION
 Fu-Wang Ceramics
 Mir Ceramics
 Sun Power Ceramics
 CBC Limited
 Modhumoti Ceramics

Data for BCG Analysis:

Sales
Year Floor Wall Sanitary Total
2003 66 Growth
42 Rate26 134
Year
2004 72 Floor 50 Wall 30 Sanitary
152
2004
2005 81 8.33333 60 16 34 13.3333
175
2005
2006 89 11.1111 67 16.6667 38 11.7647
194
2006 8.98876 10.4478 10.5263

Market Share
Year Floor Wall Sanitary
2004 49.2537 31.3433 19.403
2005 47.3684 32.8947 19.7368
2006 46.2857 34.2857 19.4286

RMS
Year Floor Wall Sanitary
2003 1.57143 0.63636 0.39394
2004 1.44 0.69444 0.41667
2005 1.35 0.74074 0.41975

BCG Matrix (Extended)

For the years 2004-2006

Based on past yearly growth rate and relative market share we developed the BCG Matrix
for Floor Tiles, Wall Tiles and Sanitary Ware.

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
 Strategy for Products:
Product: Floor Tiles
Position: In 2003, it was in Cash Cow, then it goes to Star in 2004 but in 2005 it again
goes to Cash Cow.
Strategy: As the floor tiles is in Cash Cow position, no need for any investment in this
product. But need to monitor the product carefully and try to protect its position.

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
Product: Wall Tiles
Position: It is in Question Mark in all three years. But it is going toward undecided
position.
Strategy: Here strategy will be need for more investment, to modify the product to
improve the quality. Also need to find out fault regarding the product’s production.

Product: Sanitary Wares

Position: It is in Question Mark position in all the three years. But it is going towards
undecided position rapidly.
Strategy: Need more investment to modify the product, improve the quality and need for
more advertisement or promotion.

SWOT ANALYSIS
In case of SWOT analysis we have consider the generic approach, functional approach
and environmental approach.

Generic Analysis

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
Strengths R.A.K Fu–Wang Mir CBC
Ceramics Ceramics Ceramics Limited

What are your Quality Price Price Price

business
advantages?
What are your core Technology Price Price Price
competencies?
Where are you City Area City Area City Area City Area
making the most
money?
What are you Quality Price Price Price
doing well?

Threats R.A.K Fu–Wang Mir CBC

Ceramics Ceramics Ceramics Limited
Obstacles to Nil Quality Quality Quality
overcome?
Aggressive Nil R.A.K Ceramics R.A.K R.A.K
Competitors? Ceramics Ceramics
Successful Fu – Wang R.A.K Ceramics R.A.K R.A.K
Competitors? Ceramics Ceramics Ceramics

For the functional approach customers are outside the organization and for the
environmental approach customers are from inside the industry. Here we have taken
customer survey about the product of the company and its competitors in 10 points scale
(from -5 to +5).

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5

Competitive (SW) Analysis

Fu – Wang Ceramics

Important
Factors Strength Weakness to Customer
Product 3   3
Price 4 4
Quality 3   2
Service 3   3
Reliability 2 2
Stability 3   3
Expertise   4 -4
Company 4   4
Reputation      
Location 2   2
Advertising 2   3
Image 4   4
Total 30 4 26

Competitive (SW) Analysis

Mir Ceramics

Important
Factors Strength Weakness to Customer
Product 1   1
Price 3 3
Quality 2   2
Service 2   2
Reliability 4 4
Stability 3   3
Expertise 2 -2
Company 3   3
Reputation      

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
 Location 2   2
Advertising 3   3
Image 2   2
Total 25 2 23

Competitive (SW) Analysis

CBC Limited

Important
Factors Strength Weakness to Customer
Product 2  -2
Price 5 5
Quality 2   2
Service 3   3
Reliability   2 -2
Stability 2   2
Expertise 2 2
Company 3   3
Reputation      
Location 1   1
Advertising 3   3
Image 2  -2
Total 21 6 15

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
Competitive (SW) Analysis
R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd.

Important
Factors Strength Weakness to Customer
Product 5   5
Price   2 -2
Quality 3   3
Service 3   3
Reliability 4 4
Stability 5   5
Expertise 3 3
Company 5   5
Location 5   5
Advertising  2 -2
Image 4   4
Total 37 2 35

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
According to the functional approach strength and weakness of the organization are as
follows:
Strength:
The Company has more strength in case of products quality, reliability, stability, image,
company reputation, and location.
Weakness:
The Company has weakness in case of advertisement and pricing.
Strategy:
So, comparing total weakness and strengths under functional approach, we have found
that R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. has more strengths than its three competitors. But if
the company can improve its service and increase advertising, it will be more strengthen
in all factors comparing its other competitors.

Environmental (OT) Analysis

R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd.

Importance
to
Factor Opportunity Threat Customer
Technology 5   5
Economy   1 -1
Political   2 -2
Legal   0
Service Provider 2   2
International Trade 3   3
People 1   1
Industry   1 -1
Purchasing Power   3 -3
Credit Policy  5   5 
Total 16 7 9

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
According to the environmental analysis opportunity and Threat of the organization are
as follows:

Opportunity:
R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. has more opportunity in case of technology, credit policy
and international trade because it has advanced technology. It is an international
company. Not only that, it financed its resources from abroad. If there is a change in
credit policy in this country, it will create no effect on the company. So, for changing
credit policy may affect on the other companies but it will be an opportunity for R.A.K
Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. to go forward leaving behind its competitors.

Threat:
The threat factors for R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. are economical, political and
purchasing power. Because if purchasing power and economical conditions go down, it
will be a threat for the company. Because people’s purchasing power will go down,
inflation will take place. As a result they may not be able to produce quality products at a
standard cost and sell the products at a standard price.
S W
Brand image Production Capacity
Financial power or backup Advertisement
Products quality Less dealer
Technological advantage High Price
Company reputation

O T
International trade Potential competition (Fu-Wang
Tax Holiday Ceramics, Mir Ceramics, CBC
Increasing Demand Limited)
People Chittagong Port
Political Situation
Economic Condition

SEGMENTATION

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. segments their market based on the following
segmentation:
 Geographic: - City or metro Size.
 Demographic:- Higher income people
 Psychographic: - Social class- middle class to upper class people.

MARKET TARGETING
R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. is using concentrated marketing strategy for its target
customers. They are using same types of marketing mix for all customers of their
segment. That means R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. designs its product and a marketing
program that will appeal to the largest number of buyers
The main target market of R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. is divided into two groups: 

1) Business market:
 Real state developer,
 Garments, factory,
 Business Organization and so on.

Real State Developer: Real state developers are one of the biggest customers of tiles. In
our country, now-a days, many apartment, shopping mall, multistoried building are
constructing by the real state developer. Most of the cases, in fact all the cases they
prefer to use tiles. So real state developers are one of the target markets of R.A.K
Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd.

Garments, Factory: As there are many garments factories and others are coming day by
day, R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. targeted this sector as their target market.

Business Organization: Business organizations and many private-public sectors, clinics,

banks are also the target market of R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd.

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
2) Individual market: Individual people also purchase the product for individual
purpose. With that in mind, R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. targeted individual as
their target market like, House & Flat Owners etc.

POSITIONING STRATEGY

To create positions in the customers mind R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. emphasis on
its products quality, style and design. So that customer becomes the brand loyal to the
company. R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. positions its product in the customer’s mind
because of their quality they provide to their customers with the help of advance
technology in the world and introducing product items and deep product lines. That’s
why customer waits to get the tiles they want. So R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. has
strong perceptions, impressions and feelings in the mind of its customer. Mainly their
positioning strategy is quality and price positioning.

MARKETING MIX

The marketing mix is probably the most famous phrase in marketing. The elements are
the marketing 'tactics'. Also known as the 'four Ps', the marketing mix elements are
price, place, product, and promotion. However, we can alter the final cake by altering the
amounts of mix elements contained in it. The offer we make to you customer can be
altered by varying the mix elements. So for a high profile brand increase the focus on
promotion and desensitize the weight given to price.
We will increase the marketing mix to the 'five Ps', to include people. Others will
increase the mix to 'Seven Ps', to include physical evidence (such as uniforms, facilities,
or livery) and process. But here we only consider five Ps’ for R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt.
Ltd.

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
 Product
Physical
Evidenc Price
e
Marketing
Proces Mix Place
s

People Promotion

Fig: Marketing Mix Diagram

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
1) Product:

Product Line & Product Mix

R.A.K Ceramics

Tiles Sanitary Ware

Wall Tiles Floor Tiles

Tiles
Asian European WC
WC
Ceramic Homogeneou
s s

Mirror Polish Mirror Polish Mirror Polish

(Salt & (Soluble Salt) (Double Charge)
Pepper)
R.A.K. Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. is offering a wide range of size for wall & floor tiles.
Wall Tiles:
20*30 cm; 25*33 cm; 25*40 cm; 30.5*51 cm; 30*60 cm
Floor Tiles:
30.5*30.5 cm; 31.6*31.6 cm; 40*40 cm; 59.5*59.5 cm
Sanitary ware:
Company manufactures 1000pcs of sanitary ware per day in different
models and colors.

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
2) Price:
Although their price is higher than their competitors, they are maintaining high quality.
They are the market leader in case of product quality. They are using going-rate pricing
where it bases its price largely on competitors prices. This pricing strategy is quit
popular. R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. feels that the going price is a good solution
because it is thought to reflect the industry’s collective wisdom.

3) Place:
R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. has a strong distribution channel to make the product
available all over the country. Now it is being marketed by indirect marketing
channel. That is why R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd is now able to sell its product all
over the country.
Enlisted dealers of R.A.K. Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd.
 Mohammed Trading (Dhaka)
 Saikat Trading Co. (Dhaka)
 Kanika Commercial (Dhaka)
 Ipsheeta Trade (Dhaka)
 Adnan Enterprise (Narayangonj)
 Mohammed Trading (Chittagong)
 Mohammed Trading (Sylhet)
 Ripa Enterprise (Khulna)
 Lalmay Sanitary (Comilla)
 Tiles Viw (Rajshahi)

4) Promotion
At present the Ceramics Market is very competitive. That’s why promotion is must.
R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. also performs promotional activities. They use different
media for advertising. Mainly R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. uses two media for
promotion which are listed below:
a) Electronic media
 BTV, NTV, ATN, Channel I, and others.

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
b) Print media
 Newspaper
 Magazine
 Billboard etc.
5) People:
People are the most important element of any product, service or experience. Product
with less Service tends to be produced. Aspects of the customer experience are altered to
meet the 'individual needs' of the person consuming it. R.A.K. Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. is
really very much aware about their employee and dealer because they are the key to
provide the best product for its consumer and buyer. R.A.K. Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. has
approximately six hundred employees working in the organization.

Training: R.A.K. Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. is very serious about the training of their
employee and dealer. That’s for they arranges training for their employees and some time
workshop for dealer. To make sure the team is working properly and efficiently they
arrange training time to time.

SALES FORCE CONTROL

To motivate the dealers, R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. gives discounts and allowances
on the basis of quantity of products purchased by the dealers. Sometimes they give some
fixed discounts.
DISTRTIBUTION CONTROL
R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. distributes their products to the dealers and dealers
distributed the products to the consumers.

Manufacturer

Dealers

Consumers
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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
 PRICING CONTROL
R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. set up their product price according to their production
cost. Although their price is higher than their competitors, they are maintaining high
quality. Mainly they are using going-rate pricing where the R.A.K. Ceramics
(Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd. bases its price largely on competitors prices. They feel that the
going rate price is as good solution because it is thought to reflect the industry’s
collective wisdom.

BUDGET ALLOCATION

R.A.K. Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd. is an UAE – Bangladesh joint venture. Its
budget allocation is basically determined by the mother concern in UAE. They give first
priority to production department; second priority to personnel department then gives
priority to sales department.

CONCLUSION

From the very beginning to end of this report an attempt is made to describe pros and
cons of marketing management of the R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. products. Each and
every aspects of a research process is followed in this study. It becomes very clear to us
that R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. holds quite a favorable position in the consumers
mind. It is very tactfully promoting its product in Bangladesh. R.A.K Ceramics (BD)
Pvt. Ltd. produces the high quality product. For this reason it holds the top position in
Bangladeshi tiles market. The way R.A.K Ceramics (BD) Pvt. Ltd. is trying to position
and promote itself is very logical and success is extending day by day though it has some
weaknesses and threats. Finally, we are grateful to our instructor who gives us lots of
help in preparing this report.

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”
 REFERENCES

http://www.rakceram.com/
http://www.rakceramic.com/
http://www.rakporcelains.com
http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/
http://www.ceramic-tile.com

Company's factory site:

RAK Ceramics -Bangladesh
Village Dhanua, P.S. Sreepur, District Gazipur, Bangladesh.
Phone: 880-2-891-1642
Fax: 880-2-891-7096

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“R.A.K Ceramics (Bangladesh) Pvt. Ltd.”