Introduction Big bazaar is a chain of shopping malls in India.

Currently, there are 150 big bazaar stores across 80 cities and towns in India. Big Bazaar is designed as an agglomeration of bazaars or Indian markets with clusters offering a wide range of merchandise including fashion and apparels, food products, general merchandise, furniture, electronics, books, fast food and leisure and entertainment sections. Big Bazaar is part of Future Group, which also owns the Central Hypermarket, Big bazaar is not just another hypermarket. Provides the best products at the best price. Reflect the look and feel of Indian bazaars at their modern outlets. All over India, Big Bazaar attracts a few thousand customers on any regular day.

Executive Summary Indian retail sector is witnessing one of the most hectic Marketing activities of all times. The companies are fighting to win the hearts of customer who is God said by the business tycoons. There is always a first mover advantage in an upcoming sector. In India, that advantage goes to BIG BAZAAR. It has brought about many changes in the buying habits of people. It has created formats, which provide all items under one roof at low rates.

In this project, we will study its advertising and sales promotional strategies used by big bazaar. Big Bazaar: Brand's Identity, Personality & Symbolism Big Bazaar is Indian personification of retail. It's like an Indian bazaar or mandi or mela, the environment created by traders to give shoppers a sense of moment. Its personality is of being an entity away from fancy or pretty and being authentically "no-frills". Kishore Biyani never hired any foreign consultant for Big Bazaar which is evident from Indian-specific personality of the brand. The brand's personality is self-explanatory by its tag-line only. This statement places Big Bazaar at the top of customer's mind. It reflects that entrepreneurship and simplicity are the essence of character of Big Bazaar. To use predatory pricing is not in the personality of Big Bazaar, they never sell goods below the price they have purchased it. Big Bazaar, the "Indian WalMart", is the modern Indian family's favorite store. Big Bazaar symbolizes modern retail, the business which isn't looked up to in our country, is now in the eyes of many multi-national biggies. Big Bazaar has shown a robust growth in recent years Target Audience Big Bazaar targets higher and upper middle class customers. The large and growing young working population is a preferred customer segment. Big Bazaar specifically targets working women and home makers who are the primary decision makers. It is part of Big Bazaars new Guerrilla Marketing Strategy. Guerrilla force is divided into small groups that selectively attack the target at its weak points. With retail market in India especially in metros where standard of living and disposable income is at an all time high, competitors will vie for the market share and can stoop to any levels while marketing their products. Guerilla marketing is just one of the strategies.

Big Bazaar: Positioning & Establishment

Big Bazaar ensures that no other kirana store / departmental store are offering considerable discount compared to its own price. This helped Big Bazaar in being the "value for money" store. Big Bazaar scores high on product mix as compared to kirana store. Cheap and local products are heavily stocked in Big Bazaar which make it easier to attract lower middle class category of customers. Promotion of kirana is rare event but Big Bazaar used this channel efficiently to establish itself as national brand. Customer loyalty resulting in high up sell, i.e., selling to existing customers. Big Bazaar refrains from high-end locations for business which reduces its rental budget and provides competitive advantage over competitors.

7P Analysis of Big Bazaar 7P Marketing Mix is more useful for services industries and knowledge intensive industries. Successful marketing depends on number of key issues. The seven keys issues are explained as: Product Big Bazaar offers a wide range of products which range from apparels, food, farm products, furniture, child care, toys, etc. . Products of all the major brands are available at Big Bazaar .Also, there are many in house brands promoted by Big Bazaar. Big Bazaar sold over 300,000 pairs of jeans, 50,000 DVD-players and 25,000 microwave-ovens. In all, the fashion, electronics and travel segments made up about 70% of sales. Last year, these categories made up only about 60%. Price

The tag-line is "Is se sasta aur accha aur kahin nahi". They work on the model of economics of scale. There pricing objective is to get "Maximum Market Share". The various techniques used at Big Bazaar are: Value Pricing (EDLP - Every Day Low Pricing): Big Bazaar promises consumers the lowest available price without coupon clipping, waiting for discount promotions, or comparison shopping. Promotional Pricing: Big Bazaar offers financing at low interest rate. The concept of psychological discounting (Rs. 99, Rs. 49, etc.) is used as promotional tool. Big Bazaar also caters on Special Event Pricing (Close to Diwali, Gudi Padva, and Durga Pooja). Differentiated Pricing: Time pricing, i.e., difference in rate based on peak and non-peak hours or days of shopping is also a pricing technique used in Indian retail, which is aggressively used by Big Bazaar. Bundling: Selling combo-packs and offering discount to customers. The combo-packs add value to customer. Place Big Bazaar stores are located in 50 cities with 75 outlets.Big Bazaar has presence in almost all the major Indian cities. They are aggressive on their expansion plans. Promotion Big Bazaar started many new and innovative cross-sell and upsell strategies in Indian retail market. The various promotion techniques used at Big Bazaar include "saal ke sabse saste teen din", Future Card (the card offers 3% discount), Shakti Card, Brand Endorsement by M. S. Dhoni, Exchange Offer - Junk Swap Offer', Point-of-Purchase Promotions. Advertising has played a crucial role in building of the brand. Big Bazaar advertisements are seen in print media, TV, Radio (FM) and road-side bill-boards.

People They are one of the key assets for any organization. The salient features of staff of Big Bazaar are: Well-trained staff, the staff employed by Big-Bazaar are well-suited for modern retail. Well-dressed staff improves the overall appearance of store. Employees are motivated to think out-of-the-box. Retail sector is in growth stage, so staff is empowered to take innovative steps. Employs close to 10,000 people and recruits nearly 500 people every month. Use of technology like scenario planning for decision making. Multiple counters for payment, staff at store to keep baggage and security guards at every gate, makes for a customer-friendly atmosphere. Process The goods' dispatch and purchasing area has certain salient features which include: Multiple counters with trolleys to carry the items purchased. Proper display / posters of the place like (DAL, SOAP, etc.). Home delivery counters also started at many places. Advertising: The Essential of Brand Building Process Advertising is an essential component of brand building. The advertisement and brand building is done through various ways, the techniques used are: Tag-line: Big Bazaar tag-lines are the key components of advertising. These tag-lines are modified according to demographic profile of customers. These catch-phrases appeared on hoardings and newspapers in every city where Big Bazaar was launched. Everybody understood and connected easily with these simple one-liners. The catch-liners include "Hindi - Chane ke bhaw kaaju", "Bengali - Rui er dame illish", "Hindi - Stall ke bhaw balcony", etc.

Print Ads: Big Bazaar newspaper advertisements are present just before launch of any new scheme. This creates aura about the Big Bazaar brand in the minds of customers. TV Ads: Kishore Biyani spends a lot of money in brand building exercise. Big Bazaar commercials are shown on various channels in India. Presently, Fashion@Big Bazaar commercial is aired. Road-side Advertisements: Big Bazaar bill-boards are displayed on prime locations in various cities as a brand building exercise. They display the catch-phrases now-a-days. Radio Ads: This technique is used in cities like Sangli (Tier 1 / Tier 2 cities). Now-a-days, it is replaced by advertisements on FM channels. This informs customers about all new happenings at Big Bazaar. Fashion Shows: "FASHION @ BIG BAZAAR - Desh Badla, Bhesh Badlo" is the latest invention of the Indian iconic brand. In an effort to take the Fashion to the masses, Big Bazaar, the flagship hypermarket brand of retail chain of Future Group, organized a three-day Fashion Show on the streets of Bandra, Mumbai. Brand Endorsement by Celebrity: Big Bazaar is always associated with celebrities for advertising and marketing of its brand name. The current campaign is starred by Brand Ambassador and Indian Cricket ODI Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Earlier Himesh Reshammiya and Sanath Jaisuriya were associated with Big Bazaar.

Promotion Promotion can be loosely classified as "above the line" and "below the line" promotion. The promotional activities carried out through mass media like television, radio, newspaper etc. is above the line promotion. The terms 'below-the-line' promotion or communications, refers to forms of non-media communication, even non-media advertising. Below-the-line promotions are becoming increasingly important within the communications mix of many companies,

not only those involved in fmcg products, but also for industrial goods.

BELOW THE LINE SALES PROMOTION Below the line sales promotions are short-term incentives, largely aimed at consumers. Methods of below the line sales promotion 1. Price promotions Price promotions are also commonly known as" price discounting". These can be done in two ways: (1) A discount to the normal selling price of a product, or (2) More of the product at the normal price. Price promotions however can also have a negative effect by spoiling the brand reputation or just a temporary sales boost (during the discounts) followed by a lull when the discount would be called off. 2. Coupons Coupons are another, very versatile, way of offering a discount. Consider the following examples of the use of coupons: - On a pack to encourage repeat purchase - In coupon books sent out in newspapers allowing customers to redeem the coupon at a retailer

- A cut-out coupon as part of an advert - On the back of till receipts The key objective with a coupon promotion is to maximize the redemption rate this is the proportion of customers actually using the coupon. It must be ensured when a company uses coupons that the retailers must hold sufficient stock to avoid customer disappointment. Use of coupon promotions is often best for new products or perhaps to encourage sales of existing products that are slowing down. 3. Gift with purchase The "gift with purchase" is a very common promotional technique. In this scheme, the customer gets something extra along with the normal good purchased. It works best for - Subscription-based products (e.g. magazines) - Consumer luxuries (e.g. perfumes) 4. Competitions and prizes This is an important tool to increase brand awareness amongst the target consumer. It can be used to boost up sales for temporary period and ensure usage amongst first time users. 5. Money refunds Here, a customer receives a money refund after submitting a

proof of purchase to the manufacturer. Customers often view these schemes with some suspicion particularly if the method of obtaining a refund looks unusual or onerous. 6. Frequent user / loyalty incentives Repeat purchases may be stimulated by frequent user incentives. Perhaps the best examples of this are the many frequent flyer or user schemes used by airlines, train companies, car hire companies etc. 7. Point-of-sale displays Shopping habits are changing for the people living in metropolitan cities. People prefer big retail outlets like Big Bazaar to local kirana stores. Most of the decisions of buying are taken by the virtue of point-of-sale displays in these retail outlets. BTL PROMOTION activities of Big Bazaar: BTL promotions are gaining popularity among all big companies nowadays considering their effectiveness because of the "individual customer promotion" at a price, which is much lesser than the normal media promotions. Low prices on Wednesday Low prices on Wednesday Concept of Big Day Promotional offers School Jao Khushi Khushi Khushi Ki Barsaat Happy Fathers Day

E.g. Big Bazaar's `junk' swap offer Big Bazaar is launching a promotional offer from Saturday, with the slogan, "Bring anything old and take something new". A press release issued by the company says the customer can bring anything old, such as newspaper, and get coupons issued in exchange of the junk. The customer can redeem the coupons before the due date on the condition that he/she shops four times the value of the coupon. The prices fixed by Big Bazaar are: clothes (Rs 200 per kg), newspaper (Rs 25 per kg), plastics/utensils/leather goods (Rs. 75 per kg), footwear/luggage (Rs. 100 per kg), Pet/beer bottles (Rs 15 per kg), tyres (Rs 50 per kg), furniture (Rs 75 per kg) and others (Rs 20 per kg). "This offer will help the housewife clean out the junk while getting a good value for it," says Mr Sanjeev Agarwal, President (Marketing), Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd. Conclusion: Indian retail sector is witnessing one of the most hectic Marketing activities of all times. The companies are fighting to win the hearts of customer who is God said by the business tycoons. There is always a first mover advantage in an upcoming sector. In India, that advantage goes to BIG BAZAAR. It has brought about many changes in the buying habits of people. It has created formats, which provide all items less than one roof at low rates. The consumers preferences are changing & they are moving from Traditional Kirana stores to Modern Retail outlet. Its the main challenge to the Modern retail outlets to attract the customers towards them from that of competitors. To attract more customers companies have to carry out the promotional activities in unique way. BIG BAZAAR has maintained that uniqueness & has succeeded in attracting customers.

The promotional activity of the company, which famous as Less Price than others as it says Nobody Sells Cheaper and Better! is made its place in minds of customer. As the competition is becoming stiff in the market the activities conducted by the company are unique, that have brought fruitful result to the company. Among them sales Promotions is one of the leading activity or unique among all other activities & has high influence on the customer walk-in.