HIMALAYAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

DEHRADUN
(AFFIALATED TO HNB GARHWAL CENTRAL UNIVERSITY,
SRINAGAR)

PROJECT REPORT ON
MARKETING STRATEGIES OF ITC (IMPERIAL
TOBACCO COMPANY OF INDIA LIMITED)
SUBMITTED FOR PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF BACHELOR OF
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
HNBGU UNIVERSITY, SRINAGAR

SUBMITTED BY- SUBMITTED TO-

PRABHAT MISHRA MR.SAURABH SHARMA
BBA 4TH SEM
 HIMALAYAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
DEHRADUN
(AFFIALATED TO HNB GARHWAL CENTRAL UNIVERSITY,
SRINAGAR)

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the project entitled “MARKETING
STRATEGIES OF ITC (IMPERIAL TOBACCO COMPANY OF
INDIA LIMITED)
submitted by Mr. Prabhat Mishra in the partial
fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the
degree BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION is a
record of a bona – fide work carried out in
organisation under my supervision has not been
submitted anywhere else for any other purpose .

Mr. SAURABH SHARMA Prof. ARCHANA JASOLA

Subject incharge Director
 DECLARATION

I here by declare that the project report entitled “

Marketing Strategies of ITC (IMPERIAL
TOBACCO COMPANY OF INDIA LIMITED)” submitted by
me to Himalayan Institute of Technology under the
guidance of Mr. Saurabh Sharma in my original work.
The finding in the report is based on the task done by
me in the “ITC (IMPERIAL
TOBACCO COMPANY OF INDIA LIMITED)” .
While preparing the report , I have not copied anything
from any source and other project submitted for
similar purpose .

Mr . Prabhat Mishra
Place : Dehradun
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am thankful to my college HIMALAYAN INSTITUTE OF
TECHNOLOGY Dehradun and our director Prof. Archana
Jasola for giving me a golden opportunity to undergo
training program which is a part of my coarse BBA (Bachelor
of Business Administration ).

I am also thankful to my subject incharge Mr. Saurabh

Sharma for guide me and supervising me to complete the
project report.

Prabhat Mishra
BBA 4th semester
 PREFACE
This project report is made on the basis of the summer
training which I undergone for full fledged period of 45 days.
It is implemented in a practical way. I had undergone training
in one of the most reputed conglomerate company in India
i.e, ITC (IMPERIAL TOBACCO COMPANY OF INDIA LIMITED) .
The topic of my training was to know the effective factors of
awareness and preferring ITC products . I was suppose to
know the customers satisfaction and dissatisfaction and
what they desire in their FOO.
The training gave me a lot of understanding about the
customers views and requirements.
 INDEX
Chapter 1 - Introduction to the topic , about the
ITC.
Marketing Mix, Product Mix, HR Policies of ITC
Chapter 2 - Research Methodology , Research
process
Data collection – Primary data and
secondary data.
Chapter 3 - Analysis and Findings of ITC .
Chapter 4 - Valuable Suggestion .
Chapter 5 - Conclusion.
Chapter 6 - Limitation of the study.

 Bibliography
 Questionnaire
 INTRODUCTION TO ITC LIMITED

Type - Public Company

Headquater - Kolkata
Industry - FMCG, Hotels, Software, Packaging, Paperboards,
Agribusiness and Cigarettes.
ITC Limited is an Indian conglomerate company
headquartered in Kolkata. ITC has a diversified presence
across industries such as FMCG, hotels, software, packaging,
paperboards, specialty papers and agribusiness. The company
has 13 businesses in 5 segments. It exports its products in 90
countries. Its products are available in 6 million retail outlets.
 ABOUT THE ITC LIMITED
Type : Public Company
Founded : 24 August 1910
Founders : W.D. AND H.O. Wills
Area served : Indian Subcontinent and Gulf Countries
Established in 1910 as the Imperial Tobacco Company of
India Limited, the company was renamed as the India
Tobacco Company Limited in 1970 and later to I.T.C.
Limited in 1974. The company now stands renamed ITC
Limited, where "ITC" today is no longer an acronym. As
of 2019–20, ITC had an annual turnover of US$10.74
billion and a market capitalisation of US$35 billion. It
employs 36,500 people at more than 60 locations across
India.
 ITC Limited in India
"ITC Limited" was originally named "Imperial Tobacco
Company of India Limited", succeeding W.D. & H.O.
Wills on 24 August 1910 as a British-owned company
registered in Kolkata. Since the company was primarily
based on agricultural resources, it ventured into
partnerships in 1911 with farmers from the southern part
of India to source leaf tobacco. Under the company's
umbrella, the "Indian Leaf Tobacco Development
Company Limited" was formed in Guntur district of
Andhra Pradesh in 1912. The first cigarette factory of the
company was set up in 1913 in Bangalore.
In 1928, construction began for the company's
headquarters, the 'Virginia House' at Calcutta. ITC
acquired Carreras Tobacco Company's factory at
Kidderpore in 1935 to further strengthen its
presence. ITC helped set up an indigenous cigarette
tissue-paper-making plant in 1946 to reduce import costs
significantly. Then, a factory for printing and packaging
was set up in Madras in 1949. The company acquired the
manufacturing business of Tobacco Manufacturers
(India) Limited and the complementary lithographic
printing business of Printers (India) Limited in 1953.
 Sales process of ITC Limited
1. A Focus product line
2. Channel member management
3. Management of field force
4. Transportation and Logistics
5. Consumers
6. Geographical Distribution of Consumer
base
7. Purchase frequency
8. Product familiarity
9. Degree of Brand loyalty

Marketing mix of ITC Limited

The marketing mix refers to the tactics, actions used by
the company to promote its product and service. The 4ps
consist of product, price, place, promotion.

1. ITC Product Strategy:

The product strategy and mix in ITC marketing strategy
can be explained as follows:
ITC is a leading FMCG company in India. ITC has a
dynamic portfolio in its marketing mix with businesses
spanning FMCG, Agri-business, Hotels, Information
technology, paperboards and packaging. The product
lines have great product length and depth. ITC products
are exported to over 90 countries worldwide. The core
products are:
FMCG
In FMCG goods ITC is India’s leading marketer. ITC
comprises of packaged food, Lifestyle retailing,
Education and stationery products, safety matches and
incense sticks, personal care products. ITC’s food brands
include Sunfeast with sub-brands Dark fantasy, Yumfills,
Bounce; Bingo, Candyman, Yippee, GumOn, Mint-O,
Kitchen of India, Aashirvaad, Fabelle, Sunfresh, B natural
and Sunbeam. Within each of these brands there are
different variants of the product. For example, ITC
Sunfeast offers biscuits, cookies and cakes; ITC Yippee
offers instant noodles and pasta; candyman offers
toffees, candies and mint. ITC has a range of popular
brands like Navy cut, Insignia, India Kings, Silk cut, Gold
flake, Classic, Lucky Strike, Players, capstan, Bristol,
Duke & Royal, which has won many awards.
Personal Care
ITC has developed an array of products in the personal
care segment. Based on extensive consumer research
and product development ITC’s brands like Fiama, Vivel,
Essenza Di Wills, Engage, Superia have received a very
positive response. Shower to Shower and Savlon are
already very popular.
Clothing
Wills Lifestyle and John Players are ITC’s lifestyle
retailing businesses. They provide a tempting collection
of apparels and a delightful shopping experience to their
consumers. Classmate and Paperkraft offer a variety of
products in the education and stationery business.
Classmate is the largest notebook brand in the country.
Carton board packaging, flexible packaging are the
different product lines of ITC’s packaging business.
Hotels
ITC has a premium range of luxury hotels in over 70
destinations. ITC hotels are the greenest luxury hotels in
the world because of its sustainable and responsible
policies.

2. ITC Price/Pricing Strategy:

Below is the pricing strategy in ITC marketing strategy:
ITC has different price points as it has a diversified
product portfolio.
ITC have products in all price brackets but more and
more new products are on the premium side as they
provide higher margins. Pricing of the product depends
on several things like pricing objective, the market one is
operating in, the purchasing power of the consumers, the
market condition, product’s market position etc. For
instance, as Bingo was entering the market, it adopted a
very clever aggressive pricing strategy to capture the
market share. They maintained their prices as per the
market leader but offered more quantity and more margin
to the retailers which gave them a competitive edge. ITC
follows different marketing mix pricing strategy for
different products. Their economy brands follow economy
pricing. Marketing and manufacturing cost is kept at a
minimum. ITC had to hike the price its premium products
in the industry due to hike in excise duty. Classmate is
priced over 5% over its competitors. The annual revenue
of the company is around $10 billion.

3. ITC Place & Distribution Strategy:

Following is the distribution strategy in the ITC marketing
mix:
ITC has an unmatched distribution network. Its products
are available in more than 4 million retail stores in India.
A strong distribution shows its marketing mix place
strategy. ITC is constantly trying to reduce the lead time
and to make the products reach to the retailers as quickly
as possible. Being an environment friendly organization,
ITC is carbon positive, solid waste positive and water
positive. Out of the total energy it consumes over 47%
comes from renewable sources. E-choupals ensure
timely supply of high quality raw materials. ITC has well
integrated manufacturing and Logistics facilities with a
wide and deep distribution network. All manufacturing
units owned by ITC are hazard Analysis and critical
control point certified. ITC has distinctive agri-sourcing
capabilities with farm linkages in over 17 states which
provide it with high quality wheat, soya, potato, coffee
etc. It has an efficient CRM program for commodity
customers. ITC's Paperboards and Specialty Papers
Division has four manufacturing units, eight regional
sales offices and over 60 dealers in India. ITC has over
100 hotels are present in 70 destinations. ITC’s food
products are exported to North America, Middle east,
Africa and Australia.

4. ITC Promotion & Advertising Strategy:

The promotional and advertising strategy in the ITC
marketing strategy is as follows:
ITC designs its promotion strategy keeping in mind its
brand proposition and its target audience. It promotes its
product through Print, television and radio as a part of its
marketing mix. ITC’s different brands have different
brand ambassadors. For example, classmate has been
endorsed by Yuvraj Singh and Soha Ali Khan; Saina
Nehwal has endorsed Salvon; Shahrukh Khan has been
endorsing the entire range of snacks under the umbrella
brand of Sunfeast. ITC roped in Ranbir Kapoor for John
players. As part of ITC’s centenary initiative, Classmate
launched the largest student contact program- Ideas for
India challenge. It provided a platform for Indian youth to
brainstorm and address the issues and challenges which
our nation faces and help in developing the nation. ITC
also launches a lot of digital campaigns to ensure
maximum participation. The Fiama De Wills Men
campaign is one such example. Fiama DE Wills has had
an association with the talented designer, Masaba Gupta
for Wills Lifestyle Fashion Week. ITC also engage in
cross marketing promotions. YiPPee! Launched a
campaign with Paytm offering recharge coupons
equivalent to the price of YiPPee noodles. The company
launched an advertisement to back the campaign. Hence
this concludes the ITC marketing strategy & marketing
mix.

RESEARCH PROCESS
The research process has four distinct yet interrelated
steps for research analysis .

• Determination of information research problem.

• Development of research designing.
• Executions of research design.
• Communication of result .

Methods of data collection

Whatever data is collected by me during the internship
in the ITC Limited.

• Primary data
 Primary data are those which are collected fresh
and for the first time .

I have collected my data through phone calling and

through direct communication with respondents in one
form . Sometime I verify the truth of statements made
by informants in the context of questionnaire .

 Secondary data
Secondary data are those data which are being
already collected by someone else and which have
already been passed through the statistical
process .
I have collected my published data from internet,
books and magazines .
 Analysis
SWOT ANALYSIS

 Strength
 Weaknesses
 Opportunities
 Threads
 Competitions

SWOT ANALYSIS OF ITC LIMITED:

For ITC Limited, SWOT analysis can help the brand
focus on building upon its strengths and opportunities
while addressing its weaknesses as well as threats to
improve its market position.

ITC Limited Strengths

The strengths of ITC Limited looks at the key aspects of
its business which gives it competitive advantage in the
market. Some important factors in a brand's strengths
include its financial position, experienced workforce,
product uniqueness & intangible assets like brand value.
Below are the Strengths in the SWOT Analysis of ITC
Limited :
1. ITC has a strong and experienced management which
ensures that the company is known for its great products
& distribution
2. Strong brand presence & excellent product advertising
has helped the brand grow consistently
3. ITC has a diversified product and services portfolio
which includes FMCG, Hotel chains, paper & packaging
and agri-business
4. Over 6500 E-Choupal CSR activities and sustainability
initiatives enhance ITC’s brand image reaching over 4
million farmers
5. ITC limited employees over 30,000 people across all
its various businesses
6. Excellent research and development facilities ensure
that the brand manufactures high quality products
7. ITC products are exported to over 90 countries
worldwide
8. The annual revenue of the company is around $10
billion

ITC Limited Weaknesses

The weaknesses of a brand are certain aspects of its
business which are it can improve to increase its position
further. Certain weaknesses can be defined as attributes
which the company is lacking or in which the competitors
are better. Here are the weaknesses in the ITC Limited
SWOT Analysis:
1. ITC has a strong competition in the FMCG segment
and hence market share growth is slow
2. Hotel industry has not been able to create a huge
market share

ITC Limited Opportunities

The opportunities for any brand can include areas of
improvement to increase its business. A brand's
opportunities can lie in geographic expansion, product
improvements, better communication etc. Following are
the opportunities in ITC Limited SWOT Analysis:
1. Tap rural markets and increase penetration in urban
areas
2. Mergers and acquisitions to strengthen the brand
3. Increasing purchasing power of people thereby
increasing demand
4. More publicity of hotel chains to increase market share

ITC Limited Threats

The threats for any business can be factors which can
negatively impact its business. Some factors like
increased competitor activity, changing government
policies, alternate products or services etc. can be
threats. The threats in the SWOT Analysis of ITC Limited
are as mentioned:
1. Strict govt regulations and policies regarding cigarettes
2. Intense and increasing competition amongst other
FMCG companies and hotel chains
3. FDI in retail thereby allowing international brands
 VALUABLE SUGGESTIONS GIVEN BY
CUSTOMERS

Communication Campaigns for customers

A dedicated command centre is developed by ITC that
monitors trends and extracts relevant customer insights.
This helps to initiate communication campaigns and
develops new products as per the needs and preferences
of customers. This command centre has coordinated
more than 500 such campaigns on different social media
platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Few such campaigns include posts on the world cup of
cricket, Yuvraj (cricketer) handing his shoes, etc.
Safety of customers
ITC maintains a strong relationship with its customers by
ensuring the safety of its customers through its world-
class quality products and services. Safe ingredients
recognized internationally; are used in most of its
products and are developed by keeping in mind the
highest standards of performance and safety.
The manufacturing facilities of ITC have top-class
hygiene standards, robust QA (quality assurance)
systems, EHS management systems that follow different
ISO and OHSAS standards. For instance, ITC has
adopted below safety measures in its different
businesses:
 CONCLUSION

ITC ltd. is a leading FMCG Company in

India and for the last three consecutive
years, it has shown accelerated growth in
the FMCG portfolio. ITC has placed itself
successfully as a market leader in various
verticals and will continue to dominate through
several brands.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

The information given in the above part is based on
market survey, meeting with the people and phone
calls and other medium like – internet .
My project is based upon the interaction with the
people .

• Measurement of customer satisfaction is

complex subjects, which uses non-objectives
method, which is not reliable .
• We have to target only a particular segment
( higher class and upper middle class ).
• Sometimes customers give fake information.
 Lack of diversification .
 Bibliography
Websites:

www.google.com
www.scribd.com
https://www.iteportal.com
en.wikipedia.org
Questionnaire
about
ITC Limited
 THANK – YOU

NAME - PRABHAT MISHRA

BBA 4th Semester

STUDENT CODE - 4450