BANDING OF SUGAR

SUBMITTED BY: Riddhi patel

SUBMITTED TO: Prof. Jasmin padiya
GLS-ICT(MBA)
 Sharkara natural- a hypothetical start- up company- located near
Amritsar – Punjab, is planning to launch low calory sugar in Indian
market, initially focusing on national capital, Dehli. A summary of
Sharkara’s marketing plan for the coming year is presented here,

CURRENT MARKETING SITUATION-

Branded sugar is relatively new product in the Indian market;
reliable statistics about the market demand and supply were not
available. But the industry is well established and was doing well with
non branded sugar. Although industry output and sales are range bound
and are showing marginal growth, the recent promotion of low calorie
food ingredients has shown encouraging results and has offered
excellent opportunities to a small player like Sharkara to target the upper
end market, particularly in a large metro like Delhi in its initial year.
The major advantage of Sharkara is a tie- up with an established
and well known herbal product manufacturer, its ingredient in the
product which, it claims can help young children and adult feel more
energetic and help them to concentrate better. It also claims to realize
glucose and sucrose slowly into the blood. Its major weakness is the lack
of brand awareness and image, limited financial resources and initial
difficulties in attracting managerial talent.
OPPORTUNITY AND ISSUE ANALYSIS-
Sharkara is aware that Delhi had estimated population of about 20
million in 2009. About 20 percent of Dehli’s population has a monthly
household income of Rs. 10000. If Sharkara is able to reach around 0.5
million households withan average monthly consumption of 1kg the
potential sales would be of 500000 kg per month. The company’s initial
planned production of about 300000kg per month is well within this
potential. However there is always a threat from existing niche players
in market, imitative future launches and substances. The key issue facing
Sharkara are as follows,

 Should it only target Delhi’s market or also include other major

cities and class-1towns from north India?
 Within these geographical markets, should focus only on elderly
persons?
 Should it go for patenting some ingredients so as to retain its
competitive edge?
 What should be its proposition the customer?

MARKETING STRATEGY-
 Target market- youth and elderly in the Rs. 10000 and above
monthly household income families who are trendy, ambitious and
health conscious.
 Positioning- tangy, energy drink from the Himalaya for bright
youth and which is beneficial for body and mind
 Product- double refined, sulphur free, syrup; powder and cubes of
high quality and purity packed in morden cartons of 250 grams,
 500 grams, 5 kg. A 100 grams pack will be trial pack. This will be
discontinued from market later. It contains low calorie sucrose and
glucose extracted from honey or fruit juices. It also contains
additional vitamins.
 Pricing- available in Rs. 5 for trial pack of 100gms, Rs. 35 for
500gms, and Rs 70 for 1kg pack.
 Promotion- holding will be put near to the hospitals, gyms and
beauty stores. Company can go for tie up with ice cream parlors,
coffee shops and sweet shops. Company can give some discounts
on wholesale purchase.
 Distribution- in select upmarket retail chains, health and beauty
stores and upmarket kirana stores.
 Marketing communication- focus on creating brand awareness
and a distinctive image based on the twin benefits of nutritional
value and concentration with emphasis on exclusivity; high profile
product launch strategy involving toppers of competitive
examination from the target group with focus on publicity and
media coverage.
 Marketing research- initial marketing studies to measure
differentiation, preference, market penetration and repeat purchase
rate; to monitor the customers.

ACTION PROGRAMS-

Sharkara will use a set of action programs to achieve its objective

of getting more profit. One month before the launch, it will begin efforts
at educative the trade using health and communication experts. One
week before the launch, a major advertisement campaign will be
launched integrating print and television media. Product launch will be
supported by attractive point of purchase displays.

IMPLEMENTATION CONTROL-

This will have a detailed budget, activity schedule with strict

deadlines and specific managerial responsibilities outlined. The
plan will be monitored on a weekly basis with explanation for
variance from projection. A contingency plan for facing
competitive surprise will also be a part of this plan.