• Exhibit 7.

5
Value In Marketing
Marketing Plan Illustration-Lifebuoy

For the Year 2013-2014 (Figures are illustrative) The zone-wise share of the total sales target will be as follows:
• South - 40 per cent
I. Summary of the Plan • West - 30 per cent
lifebuoy marketing plan for 2013-2014, aims at a sale of ~ 1,600 • North - 20 per cent
crore and a profit of ~240 crore (15 per cent on the sale). In vol- • East - I 0 per cent
ume terms, the sales will amount to 1.2 lakh tonnes, at a proposed
Positioning
price of ~ I 0 per 75 g. To attain this target, a marketing budget of
For Lifebuoy Total, which is the main brand, current positioning on
~I,360 crore (cost of materials included) is envisaged; the details
health, cleanliness, and anti-germ properties will be continued. The
of the budget are furnished in item No. 6 below. The basic thrust
family, as a whole, will be targeted
of the plan is to protect the new repositioning of Lifebuoy and to
With respect to the extensions/variants too, their respective
ensure that the tightening competition does not upset the brand's
specialised positioning, like natural, clinical, as at present will be
new growth path.
continued.

2. Situation Analysis and SWOT Analysis Marketing Mix

Competition in the popular segment is becoming stiffer by the day. Product
The various brands of Godrej, and brands like Dettol and Chandrika
Main brand: Lifebuoy Total (soap bar)
with semi-medical positioning and the entry of Dabur with brands ExtensionsNariants:

like Dabur Natural Neem, plus several regional brands are giving • Lifebuoy Nature, Lifebuoy Coolfresh, Lifebuoy Clinicare (all
soap bars)
strong fight to Lifebuoy. The repositioning campaign of recent years
to take Lifebuoy away from its carbolic-base, rural positioning to a • Lifebuoy Handwash, Lifebuoy Sanitizer (other product forms)

modern home need also has not taken roots. Despite good pro- • Lifebuoy Total will constitute 95 per cent of the product mix

motion support, the brand is facing strain on volume, value, and Price
market share fronts. lTC's new launches are also adding to the com- For Lifebuoy Total, the ongoing price will be maintained at ~ I 0 for
petition. Intense sales promotion effort by all players is resulting in 75 gm. The brand cannot take a price increase during the year. The
a margin squeeze for everyone. The current recessionary trends targeted sales have to come from volume increase. However, if
and the constraints on personal spending is having its own negative the first two quarters perform as expected, an increase of 50 paise
impact on FMCGs in general. On the positive side, the company's is planned. The extensions/variants also will continue the ongoing
traditional strength in distribution reach into semi urban and rural prices; they have to first establish in the market.
Indiais the biggest advantage Lifebuoy can leverage. In this scenario, Distribution
the expected level of income/profits has to be generated through Reach and market penetration will be strengthened, they being
volume increase at the current price level. the major support for the projected sales increase. Existing margin
structure will be maintained. But dealer incentives are planned for
3. The Marketing Objectives
the year; they are included in the budget for distribution, shown
As pointed out already, during 2013-2014, Lifebuoy targets a sale under item No.6 below.
of ~ 1,600 crore and a profit of n40 crore. An analysis of the likely
Promotion
market expansion and the activities of the competitors show that
~ 170 crore is allocated for promotion; 80 per cent of it goes for
the above-targeted sales should amount to a two percentage-point
advertising and 20 per cent for sales promotion. Region-wise alloca-
increase in Lifebuoy's market share. The market may not permit
tion: South - 40 per cent, West - 30 per cent, North - 20 per cent,
a price increase for Lifebuoy during the plan period. The planned
East - I 0 per cent.
increasein sales revenue has to come out of pure volume increase.
The marketing strategy will provide for this. 5. Functional Plans (Action Plans)
4. Marketing Strategy Production Plan
For the year: 1,25,000 MT
TargetMarket
Monthly: One-twelfth of the total each month.
The repositioning has changed the target market to some extent.
From predominantly rural, the focus now is on rural markets Distribution Plan
plusmiddle class homes of semi urban India. Monthly forecasted sales plus three per cent stock for each major
stock point.
Geography-wise Sales Target
Sixty-five per cent of the projected sales to come from rural seg- Promotion Plan
ment and 35 per cent from semi urban m.arkets. The Most Trusted Brand Survey 2012 by Brand Equity finds Lifebuoy
losing its Rank 4 position to Rank 10. Though this study has its
(Continue)

Strategic Planning at Corporate Level and Marketing Planning at Business Level

(Continue)
limitations, the marketing team of Lifebuoy views it with concern. Expenses on Lifebuoy
The plan provides to study latest consumer response to Lifebuoy. Product ~900 crore (including cost of materials for
80 per cent of promotion activities/funds will be evenly spread product and pack)
out over the four quarters; the remaining will be used for some
Distribution noo crore
extra push in certain months based on requirements/developments.
Promotion ~170 crore
No change in the major ongoing campaigns for the brand. They
will continue with more intensity. The existing media mix with re- Sub total ~ 1270 crore
gional TV channels and vernacular print media and outdoors will Other marketing overheads on Lifebuoy-~90 crore
continue to get a major chunk of the Ad budget. However, the new Total expenses on Lifebuoy-~ 1360 crore
repositioning objective will be served through appropriate media
Projected profit from Lifebuoy-n40 crore
mix and campaigns. The ongoing rural publicity programme-
Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetana-will continue as a major brand rebuild- 7. Monitoring, Evaluation, and R~view of the Plan
ing effort.
The execution will be closely monitored on a bi-weekly basis; de-
6. Marketing Budget for Lifebuoy 2013-2014 (Income, tailed evaluations on quarterly basis, with course correction strate-
Expenses, Profit Projection) gies. The metrics to be used includes brand's sales and share analy-
Income from Sale of Lifebuoy sis, industry and competitor performance, marketing cost analysis,
I.2 lakh MT at ~ I0 per unit of 75 gm bar = ~ 1,600 crore and consumer response to Lifebuoy's new campaigns.

is required. In the present times, with the support of information technology and its tools, it is possible
to monitor behaviour of millions of customers and track how marketing investments affect customer
behaviour. In spite of such facilities, most often marketing budgets are prepared based on past trends.
Other yardsticks include:
1. Affordability-What can you afford?
2. Percentage of expected revenue/sales
3. Competitive party-Based on what competitors are doing.
However, there are many companies who approach the allocation of resources from a more objective
standpoint. They opt for zero-based budgeting taking the marketing objectives set out in the plan and
the proposed marketing activities as the starting point and prepare the budget.

Developing Detailed, Function-Wise, Plans and Programmes

For getting practical direction to the marketing effort, the Marketing Plan has to be elaborated into de-
tailed functional plans and programmes. They are the instruments with which the firm translates board-
room strategy into a marketplace reality. Even the best marketing strategy may fail in the marketplace,
if detailed functional plans are not drawn up.
The functional plans for a productlbrand are:
• Production plan
• Sales forecast/sales plan
• Physical distribution plan
• Channel plan
• Advertising and sales promotion plan
• Sales force plan
• Sales organisation plan
Detailed discussions on the formulation of functional plans of marketing and their implementa-
tion are provided in the various chapters in the text-in particular, the chapters on Sales Forecasting,
Physical Distribution, Distribution Channels, Advertising Management, and Sales Management.

Importance of Detailed Plans

Marketing l1lanagers sometimes fail to understand the importance of detailed functional plans; they
readily blame the strategy if the expected results do not materialise; they do not even analyse whether
the failure was on account of the ineffectiveness of the strategy or due to ineffective implementation of
,I
Marketing Management