Study on Role of Direct Marketing in Building Customer

Relationship at Eureka Forbes

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

award of the Degree

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

of
PRESIDENCY UNIVERSITY

Name: DHANUSH KUMAR S N

Reg. No: 20202MBA0638

Under the guidance of

Name of guide: Dr. Muthuswamy Ramesh
Designation of guide: Assistant Professor (SOM)
PRESIDENCY UNIVERSITY
2020–2022

1
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The successful accomplishment of this project is the outcome of contribution of a number of

people to whom I am grateful and thank them from bottom of my heart. At the beginning, I
would like to pay my humble gratitude to the almighty forgiving us ability to work hard under
pressure.

I perceive this opportunity as a big milestone in my career development. I will strive to use
gained skills & knowledge in the best possible way and in order to attain desired career
objectives. Hope to continue cooperation with all of you in the future, sincerely.

I thank Presidency University, especially Dr. Krishna Kumar, Professor, Head of the
Department, School of Management for providing me this opportunity to work on the project.

I express my profound feeling of appreciation to Dr. Muthuswamy Ramesh, School of

Management for his valuable guidance and assistance for completion of this project and helping
me to enhance my knowledge through the completion of this project.

In the best words the Respondents are the foundations of this study. Without their co-operation
and willingness to provide the required sufficient information, this project would never been
possible. I express my gratitude.

Regards
DHANUSH KUMAR S N
20202MBA0638

2
 DECLARATION BY THE STUDENT

I hereby declare that “Role of Direct Marketing in Building Customer Relationship at Eureka
Forbes” is the result of the project work carried out by me under the guidance of Dr.
Muthuswamy Ramesh in partial fulfillment for the award of Master’s Degree in Business
Administration by Presidency University.

I also declare that this project is the outcome of my own efforts and that it has not been
submitted to any other university or Institute for the award of any other degree or Diploma or
Certificate.

Place: Bangalore Name: Dhanush Kumar S N

Date: 05/05/2022 Register Number: 20202MBA0638

3
 CERTIFICATE BY THE GUIDE

Date:

This is to certify that the dissertation titled “A Role of Direct Marketing in Building
Customer Relationship at Eureka Forbes” is an original work of Mr. Dhanush Kumar S
N; bearing University Register Number 20202MBA0638 and is being submitted in partial
fulfillment for the award of the Master’s Degree in Business Administration of Presidency
University. The report has not been submitted earlier either to this University /Institution for
the fulfillment of the requirement of a course of study Mr. D Naveen Joshua is guided by Dr.
Muthuswamy Ramesh who is the Faculty Guide as per the regulations of Presidency
University.

Signature of Faculty Guide: Signature of Director / Principal /HOD:

Date: Date:

4
BIBLIOGRAPHY

This section throws light upon those internet sites and books from where help has been taken
from to make this project report (not in entirely). These have been listed below:

1. www.eurekaforbes.com

2. www.economictimes.com

3. www.rediff.com

4. www.kent.co.in

5. www.companiesandmarkets.com

6. www.eurekaforbes.co.in

7. www.google.co.in

8. www.wikipedia.com

9. Marketing Management by Philip Kotler/Kevin Keller

10. Principles of Marketing by Philip Kotler/Gary Armstrong

11. Case studies in Marketing in Indian Context by R Srinivasan

12. Money control.news.business dated 8.12.09, &10.10.09

5
MBA DISSERTATION PROGRESS REPORT

Sl. No. Particulars

1 Name of the Student Dhanush Kumar S N
2 Registration Number 20202MBA0638
3 Name of College Guide Dr. Muthuswamy Ramesh

4 Name and contact no of the Co Dr. Muthuswamy Ramesh

Guide/External Guide (Corporate) 9900845608
5 Title of the project A Study on Role of Direct Marketing in Building
Customer Relationship at Eureka Forbes

6 Name and Address of the April 2022

Company/Organization where
dissertation undertaken with Date
of starting Dissertation
7 Progress report: A brief note
reflecting ,Number of meeting with
Guides, places visited, libraries
visited, books referred, meeting
with persons, activities taken up,
preparations done for collection and
analysis of data etc.,)

Signature of the Candidate Signature of the College Guide

Dhanush Kumar S N

6
 LIST OF CONTENTS

Chapter Title Page

No.
I Introduction and Design of the study
1.1 Introduction 11
1.2 Theoretical background of the study 12
1.3 Industrial Profile 12
1.4 Importance of the study 13
1.5 Conceptual framework of the study 13
II Review of Literature and profile of the
company
2.1 Introduction 14
2.2 Literature Review 14-16
2.3 Research Gaps 16
III Research Methodology
3.1 Research Methodology 17
3.2 Introduction 17
3.3 Statement of the problem 22
3.4 Objectives of the problem 23
3.5 Scope of the study 23
3.6 Sampling Design 23
3.7 Data collection Methods 23
3.8 Statistical tools applied for data 24
analysis
3.9 Limitations of the study 25
IV Analysis and Interpretation of data
4.1 Introduction 26
4.2 Analysis and Interpretation of data 26-37
collected
V Summary of Findings, Suggestions and
Conclusion
5.1 Introduction 38
5.2 Findings of the study 39
5.3 Conclusions of the study 40
Bibliography, Journals, References, 41
Websites
Annexure – Questionnaire 42-44

7
 LIST OF TABLES

Table No. Reference Page No.

Table 4.1 Age 27
Table 4.2 Monthly Income 28
Table 4.3 Occupation 29
Table 4.4 How the know about Aquaguard ? 31
Table 4.5 Were you seeking a specific solution to a problem 31

Table 4.6 How frequently you use technological services? 32

Table 4.7 Reason to choose Aquaguard 33

Table 4.8 When you received the information you requested, 34

did you read it

Table 4.9 What was the main reason you did not purchase 35
Aquaguard?
Table 4.10 products instead of Aquaguard 36

8
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No. Reference Page No.

Figure 4.1 Age 26
Figure 4.2 Gender 27
Figure 4.3 Occupation 28
Figure 4.4 Marital Status Wise Classification of the 29
Respondents

Figure 4.5 How did you first learn about Aquaguard? 30

Figure 4.6 Were you seeking a specific solution to a problem 31

Figure 4.7 Reason to choose Aquaguard 32

Figure 4.8 When you received the information you requested, did you 33
read it

Figure 4.9 What was the main reason you did not purchase 34
Aquaguard?
Figure 4.10 products instead of Aquaguard 35

9
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

My project aims to study on Role of direct marketing in building customer relationship. In

this research study 125 respondents from the different parts of India were taken. After
analyzing the results of the questionnaire it is concluded that Eureka Forbes are providing
innovative services day by day, but still there are lots of customers who are even not aware
about these services, the usage of these services are a different issue. Today Eureka Forbes
are using huge amount of funds to provide differentiate services to their customers from their
competitors like by using new software and technology or by providing new innovative
services like Kent, mobile Whirlpool, and many other but still they are focusing only on
providing the innovative services to the customers but not focusing on telling the customers
about the use and benefits to the services provided by Eureka Forbes Aquaguard. Because it’s
the way to get competitive advantage, It common strategy where today the organizations are
focusing on the promotion elements of marketing mix, which is providing financial as well as
non-financial benefits such as brand image, so these products are not focusing over these
elements. The facilities that are availed by most of the people from these Eureka Forbes are
water purifier and vacuum cleaner . The most important companies can do is educating the
customers on various products and services can increase the comfort level of customers and
thus can increase the market of Eureka Forbes.

10
CHAPTER 1
1.1 INTRODUCTION

Eureka Forbes was born in 1982 with the vision of bringing happy, healthy, safe and
pollution-free living to customers through lasting relationships as ‘Friends for Life’. We
have since grown to become an over Rs. 29,612mn. Multi-product, multi-channel
organization that is part of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group and has over 20 million satisfied
customers and a reach of over 450 cities and towns.

In addition to Asia’s largest direct sales force, we have a consumer channel of over
18,000 dealers, an institutional channel Forbes Pro Solutions that has water projects,
cleaning solutions and railways divisions as well as an inventive business partner network
and a rural channel. One of the most expansive service networks in India backs these
channels. We have also extended our presence to the global market as Forbes Lux in a
joint venture with Lux International, Switzerland.

Our products have led and dominated the water and air purification systems, cleaning
systems and security systems categories. Aquaguard, our flagship water purifier brand
sold through the direct sales channel, is trusted by over 40mn people whilst on retail
shelves, the AquaSure range provides safe drinking water to homes even without
electricity and running water and the Forbes range for homes and offices at different price
points. We also have an institutional range and customized solutions for the rural market.
And we have recently launched Aquasure packaged drinking water. Our Euroclean range
of vacuum cleaners has over 3.5mn customers and we also have the Forbes range on retail
shelves and commercial and industrial cleaning products. We were the first to introduce
state-of-the-art Euroair Air Purifiers that ensure clean, safe air and pollution-free homes.
We also market domestic electronic security systems under the brand Eurovigil and we
recently entered and revolutionized the fire safety category with Fireguard portable fire
extinguishers with a patented and innovative space age technology fire suppressant.

Our endeavor to create a sustainable environment led us to introduce renewable energy

technologies. Eurodiya - India’s first solar bulbs with in-built solar panels - harnesses
solar energy to light homes and can store it for a longer duration. And we have introduced
solar technology to run water dispensing units.

The belief that unpolluted water and air are the birthright of every Indian led to the
Eureka Forbes Institute of Environment being set-up. It promotes conservation of natural
water and air resources through activities like monitoring and broadcasting of air and

11
 water levels pollution levels in major cities on television, India’s first national
environment-focused quiz for school children and rainwater harvesting.

Our company has always been a friend to society, especially during natural disasters.
EuroAble, India’s first state-of-the-art call center manned and operated entirely by people
with special needs facilitates their integration into the value chain and mainstream of
society. Other efforts include ‘Nana Nani Parks’ for senior citizens to relax, free drinking
water kiosks in public places, the ‘Jagrut Mumbaikar’ programmer, with the Mumbai
Police and Fire Brigade, to teach citizens how to safeguard themselves and a partnership
with World Vision to provide water filter units owned and run by women self-help groups
during emergencies.

Our company is a Business Super brand, one of India’s Top 5 Best Employers, a case
study at Harvard and Richard Ivy Business Schools, and a classic direct sales reference in
marketing guru Philip Kotler’s textbook ‘Marketing Management’, a feature in Forbes
Magazine Asia edition as well as the recipient of other prestigious recognition in every
facet of our business. The Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Social Responsibility,
the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry Good Corporate Citizen Award and the
NCPEDP-Shell Helen Keller Award underline our commitment to fulfilling our corporate
social responsibility.

Eureka Forbes Partnerships

International partnership alliance

lux and its partner companies Eureka Forbes India, AMC Classic South Africa,
AerusElectrolux US, and the Forbes Lux Group Switzerland today employ over 16'000
peoplein sales, administration, research and development. With a customer base of over
20Million Lux and its alliance partners promote some of the world's leading brands in
directsales. The Lux Partnership Alliance with its unique spirit and its focus on people
and thedirect sales of innovative products today runs sales operations in many parts of the
world.

Eureka Forbes Forbes Lux Lux International

Asia Pacific, Middle East Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia Western and Eastern Europe, Africa, South America

12
 AMC Cookware Aerus

South Africa, Mauritius North America

1.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Marketing is today an inevitable activity to every business and its success depends heavily on
its marketing ability. Other business functions such as finance, accounting, logistics and
operations would not be needed if there was not any demand for the company’s products or
services being created through marketing. A sign of the importance of marketing today is the
Chief Marketing Officer that many companies have among the Chief Executive Officer and
the Chief Financial Officer (Kotler & Keller, 2009). Marketing is a subject among others with
a never ending evolution and development. The concept of Marketing emerged in the mid-
1950s when the scope shifted from a make-andsell-attitude to a more customer focused
sense-and-respond attitude. In other words the businesses started to find products for their
customers rather than finding customers for their products (Kotler et al., 2009). Direct
marketing, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and other relationship marketing
concepts have been a topic of discussion for practitioners and academics for the later part of
the 20th century and is widely claimed to be the future of marketing. Some academics have
stated that the concept of relationship marketing is the biggest change in 50 years of
marketing and is bringing marketing back to the pre-industrial era when the producers and
consumers dealt directly with each other (Sheth & Parvatiyar, 2000). Relationship marketing
is an umbrella term with many subfields and is in general more connected with high-level
strategic thinking. CRM has in contrast a stronger connection to marketing strategies over the
customer lifetime and understanding the customer’s needs, attitudes, life stage, profitability
and lifetime value. Direct marketing is on the other hand the implementation and the tactical
management of interactions with the customer (Payne, 2006). Direct marketing takes the
advantage out of the fact that not all customers are alike and by customizing the marketing to
suit the individual customer the marketing could become more efficient. One of the benefits
from a relationship marketing approach is increased customer loyalty which is the attachment
a customer feels for a company’s people, products and services (Churchill, 2001). Some of
the advantages of high customer loyalty are: Increased certainty, increased growth and
increased profitability. A loyal customer will also increase the certainty within the business,
which means that the relationship between the customer and the supplier are increasing
(Diller, 1996a). Loyalty among customers has proved to be very cost efficient and is therefore
requested among many companies, since customer loyalty benefits in the way that it helps the
company keeping its customers.

13
1.3 IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
Every research has its own purpose or objective. It is the main aim why the research is being
conducted. It reflects the mission of the study that is going to take place. Like every other
study, my research work also consists of certain objective. The main objective of the study is
to fine Role of Direct Marketing in Building Customer Relationship.

1.4NEED OF THE STUDY

Direct marketing is a rapidly maturing industry. With increased consumer interest and use of
direct marketing, the industry is becoming more competitive and is turning from a selling
mode to one involving a more sophisticated marketing orientation. With this change it is
necessary to better understand consumer attitudes, needs, beliefs and behavior in order to
fine-tune products and services and the ways in which they are offered.

1.5 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY:-

Developing close, cooperative relationship with customers is more important in the current era
of intense competition and demanding customers, than it has ever been before. Customer
relationship management has attracted the expanded attention of scholars and practitioners.
Marketing scholars are studying the nature and scope of CRM and developing
conceptualizations regarding the value and process of cooperative and collaborative
relationship between buyers and sellers. Many scholars with interests in various sub-disciplines
of marketing, such as channels, services marketing, business-to- business marketing,
advertising, and so forth, are actively engaged in studying and exploring the conceptual
foundations of managing relationship with customers. They are interested in strategies and
processes for customer classification and selectivity; one-to-one relationships with individual
customers; key account management and customer business development processes; frequency
marketing, loyalty programs, cross-selling and up-selling opportunities; and various forms of
partnering with customers including co-branding, joint-marketing, co-development and other
forms of strategic alliances

Scholars from other academic disciplines, particularly those interested in the area of
information systems and decision technologies, are also exploring new methodologies and

14
techniques that create efficient front-line information systems (FIS) to effectively manage
customer relationships. Several software tools and technologies claiming solutions for various
aspects CRM have recently been introduced for commercial applications. A majority of these
tools promise to individualize and personalize customer relationships by providing vital
information at every point of customer interface. Techniques such as collaborative filtering,
rules-based expert systems, artificial intelligence and relational databases are increasingly
being applied to develop enterprise level solutions for managing information on customer
interactions. The purpose of this paper is not to evaluate these application tools and
technologies. Those aspects are considered in other chapters in this book as well as by several
commercial research organizations, such as Forrester Research and The Gartner Group. Our
objective; however is to provide a conceptual foundation for understanding the domain of
customer relationship management. To do so, we develop a framework for understanding the
various aspects of CRM strategy and implementation. A synthesis of existing knowledge on
CRM by integrating diverse explorations forms the basis of our framework. We draw upon the
literature on relationship marketing, as CRM and relationship marketing are not distinguished
from each other in the marketing literature

CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction:

The most knowledgeable and experienced letter shops, direct mail advertising agencies,
direct mail marketing firms and direct mail printers operate on the premise that a relationship
with a new customer actually begins, rather than ends, from the very moment they become
one. That’s why the direct marketing services you choose beyond that point will determine if
they remain your customer, or move on to relationships with one or more of your
competitors.
In return for their loyalty, you’re new and existing customers want to be reassured that they
have made the right decision, and are made to feel like a ‘preferred’ client rather than just a
file name and number. What’s more, you’re new and existing customers want to feel that way
all the time, and be reminded of it on an on-going basis!
One of the best ways to ‘keep the love alive’ with your new and existing customers is through
the use of targeted client feedback programs, one of the most effective and telling direct mail
marketing services of all. In fact, client feedback programs offer a unique opportunity to
gauge how your customers feel about you and your company, products and services,
customer care, etc.
Although they are generally helpful by nature, new and existing consumers also enjoy feeling
needed at the same time. As a result, your client feedback programs should contain a section

15
in which they can offer suggestions. This is an excellent method of expressing how much you
value your customers and their opinions. In turn, they might even offer suggestions that can
make your products, services, customer service and revenues better than ever! By the
way…attaching a coupon or link for free or discounted products and/or services to your client
feedback programs is a great way of thanking your customers for their participation, and
maximize their feedback!
Once you’ve realized the amount of goodwill and value of information well-crafted client
feedback programs can bring, you’ll understand why they play such an important a role in
generating the highest level of brand loyalty among new and existing customers!
If you’ve utilized direct marketing services as part of your direct marketing program or direct
marketing campaign, we invite you to share your comments and results.

2.2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Mueller (2010), characterises customer relationship management aspect of the business as a
highly dynamic, and convincingly argues that businesses have to adopt a proactive approach
in devising relevant programs and initiatives in order to remain competitive in their
industries.

Sinkovics and Ghauri (2009) ,relate the necessity for engaging in customer relationship
management to high cost of direct sales, highly intensifying level of competition in the global
level, and need for information about various aspects of the business in general, and
consumer behaviour in particular, that can be used to increase the levels of sales.

According to Peppers and Rogers (2011), there is global tendency in customer relationship
management that relates to the shift from transactional model towards the relationship model.
In other words, Peppers and Rogers (2011) argue that satisfying customer needs as a result of
on-time transaction is not sufficient today in order to ensure the long-term growth of the
businesses.

Instead, businesses have to strive to maintain long-term relationships with their customers in
order to maintain flexibility to adopt their increasing expectations and thus achieving their
life-long loyalty. Peppers and Rogers (2011) further stress that, businesses that refuses to
acknowledge this tendency in the global marketplace would be risking their market share and
growth prospects in the future.

16
One of the most critical sources for the research is the book “Relationship Marketing and
Customer Relationship Management” authored by Brink and Berndt (2009). The book
offers an in-depth discussion of the concept of Customer Touch Map and discusses the role of
information technology in facilitating customer relationship management.

The work of Mathur (2010) represents another significant contribution to the research area
to be used in the study. Namely, the author provides a wide range of specific customer
relationship management techniques and principles that are used by multinational businesses.
The findings of Mathur (2010) can be compared to the primary data findings in the proposed
research, thus enhancing the scope of the study.

Khurana (2010), on the other hand, discusses the concept of customer relationship
management in a great detail, and also addresses advantages and disadvantages associated
with a range of relevant software applications. The third edition of Pradan’s (2009) “Retailing
Management” is another noteworthy source that is going to be used in the study. Specifically,
Pradan (2009) identifies customer relationship management as an emerging aspect of
marketing in retail and discusses its importance for ensuring long-term growth for retail
businesses.

A global approach towards the issues of customer relationship management is adopted by

Raab et al (2008) in “Customer relationship management: a global perspective”. The value of
this specific work to the proposed research can be explained in a way that it will allow the
comparison of customer relationship management principles to the similar principles
exercised by other multinational retailers in a global marketplace.

Bhatia’s (2008) work, “Retail Management” is also going to be used in the proposed study
due to the significance of the contribution of the work to the research area. Bhatia (2008)
offers in-depth discussions related to the use of loyalty cards by retailers, and this represents a
comprehensive analysis of the issue in the secondary data.

Moreover, Cox’s (2011) “Retail Analytics: The Secret Weapon” deserves also to be
mentioned in here thanks to the most modern and fresh perspective the author adopts in order
to approach the research issues. The most valuable part of this specific article is that it
provides highly practical recommendations to retailers of various sizes in terms of increasing
the levels of revenues through adopting a range of customer relationship management
principles.

A range of academic models and writings relate to this research in direct and indirect ways
and some of the most relevant models are going to be explored in the study. One of the most
models to be used in the study is The Gap Model of Service Quality. “A model of service
quality called the gap model identifies five gaps that can cause problems in service delivery
and influence customer evaluations of service quality”

These five gaps are a) the gap between customer wants and the management perceptions
about customer wants; b) the gap between the management perceptions about customer wants
and the specifications of service developed; c) the gap between the service specifications and
the actual service provided; d) the gap between the quality of service promised and the
quality of service provided, and e) the gap between expected service and perceived service on
behalf of customer.

17
Another relevant model to be tested during the study constitutes Relationship Model of
customer relationship management proposed by Peppers and Rogers (2011). Specifically, the
model advocates adopting a pro-active approach in sustaining customer relationships and
proposes a set of specific principles that would assist to accomplish this task.

2.3 RESEARCH GAPS

In the beginning the company had the whole market to themselves. But their products catered
only to a niche market. They did not have a product for the masses. Hence they missed the
bus to HUL who provided India with low cost models suiting every purse. In terms of
promotional gap Company is falling behind its main competitor Kent. They should plug this
hole. There is no image gap as such in case of eureka Forbes because their Brand is already
established and deep rooted in the mind of consumers.

In terms of usage gap a lot of ground is to cover by the Company as vast sections of the
society is deprived of clean drinking water and low cost purifiers. In fact all the companies in
the fray have lot of potential in plugging the latent market potential. That is by going into the
rural market and tapping the full potential. The market is so big that there is still lot of room
at the top. Whoever penetrates this sector will win the race in the long run.

18
CHAPTER 3

3.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The present study is analytical and descriptive nature. A questionnaire was constructed to
elicit the required information from the respondents using Google forms. 100 responses of the
questionnaire were received from the respondents. A copy of the questionnaire is appended.

3.2 Introduction

HISTORY OF BANKING IN INDIA

Eureka Forbes Ltd is an Indian Multinational consumer goods company based in Mumbai,
India. It was founded in 1982 and is a part of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group. It provides water
purification, devices, vacuum cleaners, air purification systems, and home security products.

• 1909, Detroit : Fred Waddell launched vacuum cleaners under the name « Eureka »

• Established itself as market leader in Vacuum cleaner industry by adopting direct

marketing and personalized services

• Electrolux buys Eureka-Williams in 1974

• Comes to India in JV with FGL- named Eureka Forbes

• Euroclean & Aquaguard

• Had to establish the concepts of Vacuum cleaners and Water purifiers before selling.

• Core strength : Dynamic highly motivated sales force

EUROCHAMPS

• The friendly man from Eureka Forbes

19
 • Gained foothold after initial hiccups through many sales and marketing strategies

• To provide an innovative product range through Direct Marketing

• To make the people aware of health and hygiene

• Direct marketing through 5000 salesman and 400 branches

• “The Friendly man from Eureka Forbes”

• Instilled more confidence and acceptability in consumers

A promise of manufacturing only the best products, Eureka Forbes products are equipped
with patented technologies like Mineral Guard, i-Filter, Activeshield, etc. that help people
stay healthy.
Over a period of time, Eureka Forbes has been getting increasingly involved in CSR
activities. Some of these initiatives include Euro Able—India’s first state-of-the-art call
centre managed and operated entirely by people with special needs. Other initiatives include
NanaNani parks for senior citizens, free drinking water kiosks in public places, and a
programme with the Mumbai Police and the fire brigade that teaches citizens to safeguard
themselves. Jaldaan, an initiative by Eureka Forbes urges consumers to donate money, or
share 5 litres of drinking water every day. The collected water is supplied via the Jaldaan
water tankers to schools and neighbourhoods that lack access to healthy drinking water.
Eureka Forbes is also a recipient of many awards and accolades. Some of these awards
include ‘Best Complete Water Solution Provider’ at the UNESCO Water Digest, Platinum
Brand in Asia by Reader’s Digest, and The Frost & Sullivan 2009 Best Company of the Year.
Eureka Forbes has also been ranked as the best place to work, in India.
Eureka Forbes’ door-to-door marketing was inducted in the Harvard Business School’s case
studies, and cited as a classic direct sales reference by marketing guru Philip Kotler in his
book—Marketing Management, making it one of the few Indian companies to have that
privilege.
Eureka Forbes’ vision to provide a healthy and pollution-free environment to millions of
customers remains unchanged. And will continue to be so for years to come.
Join the journey of purity and health with Eureka Forbes and bring home advanced water
purifiers that promise the latest technology. Fight new age contaminants and other bacteria
and viruses, with ease. Click here to explore our wide range of water purifiers.

20
Concept of Direct Selling

It is observed that more than 80% of the diseases in India are water related made people
conscious of its quality. In India, in every 20 seconds, a person dies of water borne diseases.
However for most Indians, the accepted way to purify water was to boil it.
Health is wealth was the advertising message at the first launch of aqua guard. The primary
objective of initial communication was to introduce the EFL’s salesman called Eurochamp to
its target audience –home maker-and persuade them to accept the concept of direct selling.
After establishment of concept, they began to propagate the importance of drinking water in
improving the quality of life. Its “Celebrate Water” strategy laid the foundation of aqua
guard. Eurochamps were positioned more as solution provider than as sales persons –as
friends who come to house and demonstrated the impurities of water.

Target audience: Primary

● Main target has been families with young children who are most prone to water borne
disease.
● Only 1% of rural population has access to purified potable water, whereas 68% of
population lives in villages. So people living in rural areas are also main audience.
● Hospital, clinics, Govt. and non-Govt. bodies and health care agencies
● Industries which use mineral water in manufacturing their goods

Secondary target audience:

● Small children basically infants, teenagers who are immature and incapable to
have direct purchase
● People going to hospitals, clinics, Govt. and non Govt. bodies and health care
agencies

21
EFL – Friends to society:
● Aqua guard water right child bright program for educating the school students on
healthy living and building an army of young Aqua Ambassadors to spread the
message of water conservation.
● Established an institute of environment in 2000 to promote awareness about managing
our natural water and air resources. First to have daily pollution data telecast on
NDTV.
● Set up of various recreational parks for senior citizens
● Installing free water purification systems in time of calamities e.g. Bhuj earthquake in
2001, Mumbai floods in 2005, Tsunami in Tamilnadu in 2005
● Free pollution under control ( PUC) camps at petrol pump all over India
● Awareness program and seminars on water borne and respiratory disease.

3.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Direct marketing is a form of communicating an offer, where organizations communicate

directly to a pre-selected customer and supply a method for a direct response. Among
practitioners, it is also known as direct response marketing. Mail, Phone calls, texting are
among the most common modes used for direct marketing. These days many companies are
shifting towards direct marketing campaigns due to various cost factors. The data is related
with direct marketing campaigns of Belgium banking institution. The marketing campaigns
were mostly based on phone calls. Often, more than one contact to the same client was
required, in order to access if the product (Personal Loan) would be ('yes') or ('no)

Challenges of direct marketing

Some of the downsides and hurdles to overcome when using direct marketing include:

Intrusive: Many people find direct marketing annoying and intrusive. This is especially true
of telemarketing and door-to-door sales. Some people dislike marketing mail and consider it
to be 'junk mail'. If consumers find your marketing tactics annoying it can create a negative
brand association and make them less likely to buy. This is more likely with less targeted
campaigns.
Environment: Using leafleting or paper-heavy direct mail campaigns can be bad for the
environment. To avoid this, and any negative impact on your brand image, use recycled
materials or try email campaigns.
Low response rates: direct marketing response rates tend to be around 1-3%.When you
reach a consumer who isn't interested in your products of services, it wastes money and they
are likely to find it irritating. Use more targeted lists as opposed to sending out mass
messages to minimize this.
Competition: It can be hard to make your messages stand out when the recipient receives
high number of marketing emails or direct mail.
Cost: Tactics like telemarketing and direct mail may have high financial and resource costs.
Legal issues: There are laws relating to privacy and data protection in direct marketing. You

22
must ensure that your mailing list only contains individuals who have consented to receive
marketing messages from you.

3.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The other objectives of the study are:

● A study that show how Direct marketing plays and important role in customer
relationship management.
● Analyze the customers satisfaction towards Eureka Forbes products and how the
direct marketing helps them to be connected with the company
● Measure the satisfaction of the customers
● To find the problems faced by the Eureka Forbes in direct marketing

Eureka Forbes Products

Aquaguard Total Atom Aquaguard Total SENSA

23
Aquaguard Classic Aquaguard Integra Hi-Life

3.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Direct marketing is the best way to generate leads for your business, generate traffic, and to
increase the awareness of your brand. The scope of direct marketing is the most powerful
when it’s used with customer segments where past behaviour can be used to predict future
behaviour. Since direct marketing is used to stimulate immediate behaviour that can be
recorded, tracked, analysed, and stored for future retrieval and use, the scope of direct
marketing can be used to help grow your business and spread recognition of your brand.
When you understand the full scope of direct marketing, you’ll be able to utilize this effective
marketing technique more successfully.
Since direct marketing can be such a powerful way to market to your target audience, let’s
take a look at some direct marketing strategies you can use to grow your brand and your
business.

3.6 SAMPLING DESIGN

Simple Random Sampling was adopted and the data were collected from 125 sample
respondents using Google form questionnaire in India.
A questionnaire which includes some basis direct marketing and Customer relationship
building questions, the questions related to the customer’s choice and preferences. The
questions related to the customer satisfaction level.

3.7 DATA COLLECTION METHODS

The data for the study were collected through survey. Data are of two types. They are,

1. Primary data
2. Secondary data

PRIMARY DATA

24
 Primary data were collected by framing a questionnaire. A set of questionnaire was
prepared and were given to public to understand the service of Eureka Forbes

SECONDARY DATA

The secondary data were collected from websites, magazines, books and journals

3.8 STATISTICAL TOOL APPLIED FOR DATA ANALYSIS

FRAME WORK OF ANALYSIS

Regarding the study on customer’s preference and attitude towards Eureka Forbes
service in India, the researches collected primary and secondary data to make a clear view of
the project. The data collected through questionnaire. It was classified and analyzed on the
basis of statistical tools like,

● Percentage Analysis
● Weighted Average
● Liker’s Five Point Scale Technique

PERCENTAGE ANALYSIS: It refers to a special kind of rates, percentage are used in

making comparison between two or more series of data. A percentage is used to determine
relationship between the series. Percentage = No. of Respondents X 100 Total no.

WEIGHTED AVERAGE: It is a calculation that takes into account the varying degrees of
importance of the numbers in a data set. In calculating a weighted average, each number in
the data set is multiplied by a predetermined weight before the final calculation is made. A
weighted average can be more accurate than a simple average in which all numbers in a data
set are assigned an identical weight.

25
LIKERT SCALE: It is a unidimensional scale that researchers use to collect respondents’
attitudes and opinions. Researchers often use this psychometric scale to understand the views
and perspectives towards a brand, product, or target market. When responding to an item on
the Likert Scale, the user responds based explicitly on their agreement or disagreement level.
These scales allow determining the level of agreement or disagreement of the respondents.
Likert scale assumes that the strength and intensity of the experience are linear. Therefore it
goes from a complete agreement to a complete disagreement, assuming that attitudes can be
measured.

3.8 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The period has some major limitations, they are:

● Responses generated from the respondents are based on their experience, which
might have caused errors: The respondents may deliberately add or omit
information. The respondents may not remember when or if something happened in a
lapse in recall, misunderstandings may be caused by language differences, by
complicated survey structures, or by the interviewer's inability.
● Resources constraints have limited to the scope of the study: The scope of a study
explains the extent to which the research area will be explored in the work and
specifies the parameters within the study will be operating. Basically, this means that
you will have to define what the study is going to cover and what it is focusing on.
Similarly, you also have to define what the study is not going to cover. This will come
under the limitations. Generally, the scope of a research paper is followed by its
limitations.

● The services of data were not adequate: Some of the replies of the respondents may
be biased. Good research has the characteristic that its purpose is to address a single
clear and explicit research question; conversely, the end product of a study that aims
to answer a number of diverse questions is often weak. Weakest of all, however, are
those studies that have no research question at all and whose design simply is to
collect a wide range of data and then to ‘trawl’ the data looking for ‘interesting’ or
‘significant’ associations.

26
CHAPTER 4

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

4.1 INTRODUCTION

Data analysis is a process that involves examining and molding collected data for
interpretation to discover relevant information, draw or propose conclusions and support
decision-making to solve a research problem. Data analysis has multiple facts and
approaches, encompassing diverse techniques under a variety of names, in different business,
science and other domains. Data mining is a particular data analysis technique that focuses on
modeling and knowledge discovery for predictive rather than purely descriptive purpose
while business intelligence covers data analysis that realize heavily aggregation, focusing on
the business information. Data analysis and interpretation is done by giving questionnaire to
the respondents and the data analysis is done on the view of respondents by using statics and
other methods.

Figure 4.1

Age Wise Classification of the Respondents

27
 Source: Primary Data

From the above chart, it is revealed that 8 per cent of the respondents are below 20 years,
38 per cent of the respondents are in the age group between 21 – 30 years, 17 per cent of the
respondents are in the age group between 31 – 40 years, 20 per cent of the respondents are in
the age group between 41-50 years, 17 per cent of the respondents are above 50 years.

Inference

Thus, majority (38%) of the respondents are between the ages of 21 – 30 years.

Figure 4.2

Gender Wise Classification of the Respondents

4.3 Gender

28
 Source: Primary Data

From the above chart, it is revealed that 49 per cent of the respondents are female and
51 per cent of the respondents are male.

Inference

Thus majority (51%) of the respondents are male.

4.4 Occupation

Table 4.1 Figure 4.3

Particulars No. of persons

Students 60
Employed 38
Self employed 20
Professionals 7

29
 No. of persons
No. of persons

60
38
20
7

Students Employed Self employed Professionals

Source: Primary Data

From the above table, it indicates that 60 per cent of the respondents are students, 38 per cent
of the respondents are employers, 20 per cent of the respondents are self-employed, and 7 per
cent of the respondents are from professionals.

Inference

It is inferred that majority (60%) of the respondents are students.

4.5 Monthly Income

Table 4.2

Monthly Income Wise Classification of the Respondents

Income Frequency Percentage (%)

Nil 24 19
Less than Rs.20,000 50 40
Rs.20,000-rs.50,000 38 30
Rs.50,001- 11 9
Rs.70,000
Above Rs.70,000 2 2
Total 125 100
Source: Primary Data

From the above table, it is revealed that 40 per cent of the respondents earns less
than Rs.20, 000, 30 per cent of the respondents earns between Rs.20, 000 – Rs.50, 000, 19 per
cent of the respondents does not earn any income, 9 per cent of the respondents earns between
Rs.50, 001 - Rs.70, 000 and 2 per cent of the respondents earn an income above Rs.70, 000.

Inference

30
 Majority of the respondents (40%) earns income less than Rs.20, 000. It shows that
majority of the people in the study area are working in private industries where the package is
very less.

4.6 Marital Status

Figure 4.4

Marital Status Wise Classification of the Respondents

Marital status

90
80
70
60
Axis Title

50
40
30
20
10
0
Married Single
Series1 80 45

Source: Primary Data

From the above figure, it is inferred that 64 per cent of the respondents Are
Married and 36 per cent are Unmarried.

4.7 You live in?

Table 4.3

31
 The residing Wise Classification of the Respondents

Account Frequency Percentage (%)

Own house 98 78
Rented house 27 22
Total 125 100

Source: Primary Data

The above table shows that 78 per cent of the people are residing in Own
house and 22 per cent of people are residing in Rented house.

Inference

Thus, majority (78%) of the respondents are residing in Own house.

4.8 How did you first learn about Aquaguard?

Table 4.4

How the know about Aquaguard

Newspaper or magazine article Advertisement Referral

39 78 8

Figure 4.5

What originally caught your attention about Aquaguard and caused you to inquire about
Aquaguard?

32
 How did you first learn about
Aquaguard
Newspaper or magazine article Advertisement Referral

6%

31%

63%

Figure 4.7

Reason to chose Aquaguard

Series1
50 47
40
40

30
23
20 15

10

0
Benefits Features Price Brand

Source: Primary Data

Benefit hold highest numbers, 47 of 125 choose Aquagurd for it benefits,

40 for features, 15 for price and 23 for brand

33
Inference

Majority of the respondents tend to choose Aquaguard for its benefits.

4.9 When you contacted the company about Aquaguard, were you seeking a specific solution
to a problem?

Table 4.5

Customer care service Company website

103 22
Figure 4.6

Were you seeking a specific solution to a problem

Customer care service Company website

18%

82%

Source: Primary Data

From the above table, it is inferred that 82 per cent of the respondents are getting there queries
cleared by customer which is direct marketing.

Inference

Majority (82%) of the respondents got help form direct marketing

34
4.10 If you could change the product to make it valuable enough for you to purchase, how
would you change it?

Things to change
Series2 Series1

11.8
Electronic

23.5
Include alaram

23.5
Manual

41.2
Quality of filter

Source: Primary Data

41.2 percentages of people would like to change the quality of the filter to be at the best in
market, 23.5 for Include alarm and manual setting each and 11.8 per cent on Electronic.

4.11 When you received the information you requested, did you read it?

Table 4.7

Response Yes No

Percentage 70.6 29.4

Numbers 88 37

35
Figure 4.8

When you received the information you

requested, did you read it

No

Yes

0 20 40 60 80 100
Yes No
Numbers 88 37
Percentage 70.6 29.4

Source: Primary Source

From the above Bar graph, it is inferred that 70.6 per cent of consumers will read the
information of their request.

4.12 What was the main reason you did not purchase Aquaguard?

Table 4.8

Already No longer needed Technical reason Am still considering

purchased a the product not use the product the product
different product

percentage 35.3 29.4 11.8 23.5

numbers 44 37 15 29

36
Figure 4.9

What was the main reason you did not purchase

Aquaguard ?

Am still considering the…

Technical reason not use the…
No longer needed the product
Already purchased a different…
0 10 20 30 40 50
Already
No longer Technical Am still
purchased a
needed the reason not use considering
different
product the product the product
product
numbers 44 37 15 29
percentage 35.3 29.4 11.8 23.5

Source: Primary data

From the above chart, it is inferred that out of 125 responses received 44 respondent strongly
say that they already purchased a different product, 37 respondent says no longer needed the
products, 15 respondent has Technical reason not use the product, 29 respondent says that they
still considering the product.

Inference

Majority 44of the respondents says that the already purchased a different product

4.13 Which one of the following products did you purchase instead of Aquaguard?

Kent Pure It Zero / B

percentage 47.1 29.4 23.5

numbers 59 36 30

37
Figure 4.10

products instead of Aquaguard

percentage numbers

59

47.1 36
30
29.4
23.5

Kent
Pure It
Zero / B

Source: Primary Data

From the above diagram it is exposed that 47.1 per cent of the respondents go for Kent, 29.4
on Pure it, 23.5 on Zero/B.

Inference

From the above diagram it is exposed that 47.1 per cent of the respondents go for Kent.

CHAPTER 5

38
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
5.1 FINDINGS:

Following are the findings in regard to various responses from the respondents
regarding “Study on Role of Direct Marketing in Building Customer Relationship at
Eureka Forbes”

⮚ Most of the respondents are between the age group of 21-30 years (38%)
⮚ Majority of the respondents are male (51%)
⮚ Most of the respondents are Married (80%)
⮚ Majority of the respondents earn less than Rs.20000 (40%)
⮚ People who resides at their own house has Water purifier (78%)
⮚ Through advertisements only most number of peoples came to know (63%)
⮚ 47 out of 125 people choose Aquaguard for it benefits which is (58.75%)

⮚ Majority of the respondents got help from direct marketing (82%)

⮚ Most number of people wants to chance the filter quality of Aquaguard (41.2%)
⮚ 70% of the customers read their reply to request
⮚ Most number of customers already purchased a different product before Aquagaurd
(35%)
⮚ If not Aquagaurd most of the customers will opt for Kent RO (47.1%)

5.2 SUGGESTIONS:

● Eureka Forbes has to focus on their filter quality of their Aquaguard water
purifier
● The aggression on advertisement is perfect more than 60% of the customer
became aware of the product via TV advertisement. If advertisement done
on other platforms evens other people will get to know.
● Majority of the people choose Aquaguard for its benefits should focus on
the features also.
● Direct marketing helps to build the customer relationship many queries are
sorted out but direct calls or mails which is very healthy for CRM
● 70% of the customer are very interactive with the business
● Include more digital options in the products, on both water purifier and
vacuum cleaner.

39
 5.3 CONCLUSION:

Direct selling does have distinct advantages. Customers can get personal, detailed
information on the product and have it delivered to their door. It is a cost-effective, efficient
marketing channel for small businesses and new products. To some extent, it guarantees
quality products, and also creates employment.
There are two main methods of direct selling – single-layer and multi-layer. Avon is the best
known company operating under the former method, while Amway uses the latter. Avon’s
door-to-door sales mode proved a success in China. Single-layer direct selling uses a very
similar strategy to conventional sales, and is easily supervised. The riskier world of multi-
layer selling, however, is a fraudster’s paradise.
The introduction of the MLM business model into china in the mid 90’s created
unprecedented millions of Chinese joining MLM Companies. Along with the success of
multilevel marketing, other operators introduced illegal pyramid schemes which caused
damage to China’s society. By association this damaged reputable companies were operating
legal multilevel systems.
To restore social order, the Chinese Government imposed a ban on Direct Selling in 1998.
Multi-level companies like Amway, though greatly affected in sales, did not stop operations.
Instead, they took the regulations openly and made adjustments in their business strategies to
conform to the policies implemented.
It is possible that the 50-year-old MLM industry made famous worldwide by Amway and
now boasting over 1,000 such organizations will provide the strength and foundation needed
to stabilize an economy. Because of the new communications technology of the Internet,
people will no longer live in obscurity regarding the benefits as well as tribulations
experienced by other people around the world.
No longer can a biased press influence the opinions of the average thinking man. The MLM
companies of today and the future will play a great role in influencing people’s thinking. This
is a great responsibility and emphasizes the critical importance of quality MLM education for
company executives as well as their distributors regarding ethical behaviour in business
practices.
As for aspiring business investors, China embraces a ground for a great market. To grab a
foothold in the Chinese MLM market seems to be a great opportunity – a target to aim for.
With the knowledge that Direct Selling is the new wave trend of the future, it is feasible to
think a well-planned marketing campaign will go off with a bang!
We should study how marketing your services and how to promote your brand because we all
use marketing techniques in every aspects of business. If we want to work in business, we
need to know about marketing strategy because marketing people play a vital role in business
activities. Marketing jobs are inherently interesting because of the variety of people
encountered and activities undertaken. In addition, it offers the opportunities for financial
rewards and promotions. After conducting this report successfully I have found that Dot com
system Limited can be able to create a significant position to our economy and try to boost up
the economy of Bangladesh. In conclusion I can strongly predict that Dot com system
Limited contains a great future ahead of it.

40
BIBLIOGRAPHY

This section throws light upon those internet sites and books from where help has been taken
from to make this project report (not in entirely). These have been listed below:

13. www.eurekaforbes.com

14. www.economictimes.com

15. www.rediff.com

16. www.kent.co.in

17. www.companiesandmarkets.com

18.www.eurekaforbes.co.in

19.www.google.co.in

20.www.wikipedia.com

21. Marketing Management by Philip Kotler/Kevin Keller

22. Principles of Marketing by Philip Kotler/Gary Armstrong

23. Case studies in Marketing in Indian Context by R Srinivasan

24. Money control.news.business dated 8.12.09, &10.10.09

41
42