University Business School,

Panjab University

MARKETING MANAGEMENT
ASSIGNMENT

Marketing Practices in the Indian market

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Prof. Purva Kansal Yashvendra Singh Rawat
MBA-IB 1st SEM
Abstract
India, being one of the largest democracies and the fastest growing economies, has great
opportunities for companies to work and earn profits. Marketing helps an organisation to
create awareness about its products and services. But marketing in India can be challenging
with such a diverse cultural background. It is really important to understand the local markets
and endorse your product accordingly. In this research, some of the common marketing
strategies are discussed and how those marketing strategies are being used by an Indian MNC
in order to maximise its revenues. The research also discusses the marketing strategy of
CEAT, one of the biggest tyre manufacturing companies.
Keywords: marketing strategy, local market, CEAT

Introduction
India is one of the two giants in Asia and one of the world's fastest-growing economies. The
biggest democracy in the world and a country with the oldest traditions and cultures. In 2020,
India was the 6th largest economy in the world with a GDP(gross domestic product) of over
2.62 trillion USD. With a diverse population, India is one of the largest consumer markets in
the world. It is believed that the Indian middle-class population will increase to 475 million in
2030 from 200 million today. By 2030, India will have over 140 million middle-income
households and over 30 million high-income households, creating a huge demand for high-
quality products and world-class services such as healthcare, infrastructure, financial services,
education, and hospitality.
Currently, almost all businesses want to enter the Indian market due to the abundant
opportunities associated with its strong demographic presence. However, with such a diverse
and complex population, it is vital to tailor your marketing strategies to local preferences. It is
of utmost importance to understand the Indian local markets in order to compete with small
and large local retailers and international companies. Understanding and considering diverse
cultural backgrounds, differing levels of wealth, and sophistication are of utter importance
when entering the Indian market. The Indian consumer is one of the most difficult groups to
work with because the Indian mentality is to get the best quality product at the lowest possible
price, and catering to their needs is extremely difficult. So, in order to sell your products and
services, it is important to focus on marketing and promotion of the products or services.
Hence, companies need to work on their marketing strategies at all times in order to be
successful businesses. Many big brands have failed after entering the Indian market because
of their poor selection of either product or marketing strategy. Companies like Kellogg's,
Timberland, and Chevrolet failed in the Indian market due to their poor marketing strategy.
 
Marketing strategies
It is important to understand what a marketing strategy is; it is a company's game plan to
reach out to prospective consumers and convert them into customers. "The marketing strategy
lays out target markets and the value proposition that will be offered based on an analysis of
the best market opportunities." (Philip Kotler & Kevin Keller, Marketing Management,
Pearson, 14th Edition).
Now a question arises: what does a successful business follow in order to stay in the Indian
market even after facing so many difficulties with the customer's mindset?
 
1. Viral Marketing
Viral marketing aims to give knowledge about the good or service person to person through
email. One of the most important aim of viral marketing is to get people to send messages to
their friends and families about the product or a firm. It is done by sending messages through
various social media or messaging apps.
As the name suggests, something viral is something that spreads really fast. Viral marketing is
a way of spreading information about your product or service organically through the
distribution of messages. Viral marketing has its roots in word-of-mouth marketing. But
today, in the age of technology and social media, viral marketing has become a way of
marketing your product or service through the help of users. wherein users or consumers post
about your product, and product awareness is increased in this way.
 
2. Co-branding
A marketing tactic or activity wherein two or more brands come together for promoting their
products or services through strategic partnership. Co-branding involves a strategic alliance
between 2 businesses. The point of co-branding is to utilize the market's strengths and
combine them to create maximum awareness about the product.

3. Conversational marketing
Conversational marketing is a strategy for interacting with customers and generating leads
through conversational methods. This kind of inbound marketing emphasizes consumer
interactions rather than just one-way brand communication. It is done by evolving trust
through conversations and making the purchasing process easy. Conversational marketing
aims on making relationships with its customers through a dialogue based activity.

4. Digital Marketing
This is one of the newest form of marketing wherein advertisements are promoted through the
use of internet and other digital media. Digital marketing is also called as online marketing. It
helps brands to connect to its customers or future customers just through a tap or click on a
mobile phone or a laptop. Digital marketing uses various forms of the internet like search
engines, social media, e-mail, mobile apps, etc. Currently, consumers rely heavily on digital
searches to research products. According to Google research, more than 51% of consumers
search for a product or service online before purchasing it.

5. Paid media advertising

Organizations can advertise their material through paid media, which includes display
advertisements, paid search results, video commercials, pop-ups, and other promoted
multimedia. An organization's reach may be increased through paid media, which can also
increase clicks and traffic on its website. Advertising on television is one of the most
prominent types of promotion a business does. Many companies have increased their
popularity just through paid television ads.
 
CEAT Tyres 
Ceat Tyres is an Indian multinational tyre manufacturer owned by the RPG group. It has a
global presence and manufactures more than 165 million tyres a year. Ceat Tyres
manufactures tyres for almost all vehicle segments, including passenger and commercial
vehicles. Some of the vehicles for which it manufactures tyres are passenger 4-wheelers,
passenger 2-wheelers, trucks, buses, forklifts, tractor trailers, auto rickshaws, etc. Currently, it
can produce 800 tonnes of tyres per day. It has set up six different parameters for self-
evaluation, which include trustworthiness, quality, value, credible brand image, innovation,
and understanding. Ceat's local competitors include MRF and Apollo, and in the international
markets, its competitors are Bridgestone and Michelin. Ceat has always worked on high-class
marketing for the endorsement of its products. Before discussing its various marketing
strategies, it is important to understand the 4 P's of the CEAT marketing mix.

CEAT Tyres 4P's                                                                                                        

Product
CEAT is currently the world's 2nd largest tyre manufacturer. It has various certifications and
gradings from ISO/TS certifications. With the current manufacturing units' capacity, CEAT
produces 95,000 tyres per day. CEAT also serves to the tube and flap markets. Flaps are used
in almost every vehicle, whether it's a 2 wheeler or a 4 wheeler. CEAT has always worked
closely on customer feedback. It has always tried to manufacture a perfect tyre which caters
to the demands of the customer. Some of its products are Ceat Vertigo Sport, Ceat Grip, Ceat
Zoom, Ceat Little Master, Ceat Secura Sports, and some long-lasting heavy duty tyres for
heavy commercial vehicles.

Price
With an annual turnover of over 4,000 crores CEAT has been set up with India's top 5
companies in terms of generating high sales revenue. It has close competition with MRF,
Bridgestone, and TVS tyres. It needs to set prices for its products competitively. But with its
ISO and TS certifications, it can command the desired price for its products as it provides
international standard products. Still, CEAT keeps its prices reasonable so that it can generate
more volume and achieve higher sales revenue. Some pricing strategies which CEAT follows
are competitive pricing, perceived value, and target pricing strategy.

Place
CEAT is a well-recognised local and international tyre brand. With its strong network of
distributors and effective production centers, it aims to become one of the biggest tyre
manufacturers in the world. It has manufacturing units in six places, like Baroda, Nashik, and
Mumbai. It relies upon high GDP growth and increased local as well as international market
demand. It has a strong distribution channel with over 3500 distributors in the country. With
110 countries importing CEAT's products, it has maintained a strong network with
distributors and manufacturing units. The company has focused highly on providing the
product at a fast pace, for which it has set up 33 local regional offices in the subcontinent. The
factories send the tyres to the Regional Distribution Centre. From here they are sent to Carry-
Forwarding-Agents who supply them to the dealers as per demand.

Promotion
CEAT focuses a lot on marketing its products and has managed to do so with effective
promotional strategies. In such a competitive market, it is very challenging for the company
to send the message of high quality and safe tyres to the customers. Promotion helps in
creating a brand image and sending a strong message about why CEAT's products are better
than its competitors'. CEAT spends 40-50 crores a year on promotions, out of which 2/3rds is
spent on BTL (below the line) and the rest on ATL (above the line). With the current boom in
digital marketing, CEAT has also actively participated in social media marketing and co-
branding.

CEAT Marketing Techniques

Traditional Marketing
With the major chunk of the promotion budget spent on BTL( below the line) marketing,
CEAT has made sure to use one of the most popular things in India as its means of marketing.
Cricket is not just a sport, it is a major event in the country, and CEAT has used this sport as
its major promotion network. By sponsoring major Indian cricket team players, it has made
sure the message of a safe and quality product is sent to the viewers. Apart from sponsorship,
CEAT has a special tab on its website which focuses on cricket. It has various masterclasses
from good Indian cricket players, which attracts most of the customers.Also,television
commercials starring India's Mr. Perfectionist, Bollywood actor Amir Khan, were also aired.
With this campaign, an image of safe and high-quality products was conveyed to the
customers . After this campaign, there was an increase of more than 40% in average sales.
One of the most recent TV commercial promotion which was released on India’s 75 th
Independence Day was #RidingHopeRidingChange. It is a TV commercial which has focused
upon people who are bringing the change in the country and helping the youth of the country
to do good extremely good in their life. The CEAT’s COO Mr. Arnab Banerjee said that this
advertisement is dedicated to all the people who strive daily, often against great odds to make
change in the life of deserving people. On the occasion of 75 th Independence day CEAT wants
to wish all the people trying to bring the change in the society.
Co-Branding
CEAT has also made tie-ups with shows like Roadies and food chains like Cafe Coffee Day.
In this promotion campaign, CEAT made sure to pass on the message of "Being Idiots Safe,"
wherein CEAT focused upon conveying that their tyres have extreme grip and can save a
consumer from accidents with idiots on the road. CEAT has done digital collaborations with
companies like Royal Enfield, about which has been discussed further.

Digital Marketing
Apart from these traditional ways of marketing, CEAT has increased its digital presence with
an active Twitter and Instagram page. It has made sure that everyone is aware enough of their
brand and products. According to the COO and CMO of CEAT, they want to target the
youngsters who are mostly active on social media apps and sites. Also, they said they want to
focus on the quality and safety features of their product. CEAT's digital marketing team is
pretty active on its Twitter account and makes sure to follow every trend with a special focus
on special days and events. In a recent twitter post, CEAT co-branded with Royal Enfield on
the occasion of friendship with the message of #KaroSafetySeDosti. CEAT has also invested
heavily in SEO(search engine optimization), a major part of digital marketing. With each post
and tweet, CEAT has created its brand awareness and has also achieved the desired results.
CEAT has made sure to dominate the tyre market with a current market cap of 55 billion USD
and an average growth rate of 8% per quarter in the current financial year.

CEAT’s Insight Marketing

Using this mixture of traditional marketing like paid media advertising,
sponsorships,influencer marketing, etc. and digital marketing like social media marketing ,
SEO, etc., CEAT's VP Marketing, Amit Tolani, believes they'll be able to cater to the
demands of the customers as they focus on insight marketing, wherein they understand the
customer's needs and fulfil them. With this, they introduced a new product called the "one
lakh kilometre tyre," which is designed specifically for OLA and Uber drivers who travel
more than average car drivers.These tyres don't require frequent changes and can go longer
than other tyres. Hence, being an asset for OLA and Uber aggregators.

Conclusion
CEAT has made sure to choose the correct marketing mix and has focused upon insight
marketing to cater to the needs of its customers. In this age of technology, they have made
sure that the digital marketing space is utilised to its fullest. Their marketing strategy is a
perfect mix of various marketing strategies that are followed in the country and have been
discussed earlier. Hence, they became a giant in their industry with a market share of 12%.

References
1. https://www.mbaskool.com/marketing-mix/products/17039-ceat.html
2. https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-ceat/
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grip-factor-43399.html
4. Marketing strategy for startup India (SI)
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356587511_MARKETING_STRATEGY_FOR_STARTUP_INDIA_SI
5. Brand Saga: CEAT Tyres – An advertising story of creating a ‘Tough’
brand https://www.socialsamosa.com/2021/07/brand-saga-ceat-tyres-advertising-journey/
6. "Most of our marketing is insight based"- Amit Tolani, VP - Marketing,
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vp-marketing-ceat
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