Case StudyCentral Prakashan

By :- Mohit Uppal Ankit Awal Ishpreet kaur Rupinder Kaur Tuhin Tusyan

What Central Prakashan is all about?

*Publishing Booklets of Hindi FILM songs for the last 25 years and more. *Tie ups with great Legends of Film industry like Saigal, Geeta Dutt, Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar etc *Modest Printing Press which give song an immortality print.

Management at Central Prakashan

*Fida Ali single handedly started the Business in 1940s. *Was a Diversified Business from selling pins and ribbons to Publishing Hindi Songs Booklets. *A small Stall near Dreamland Cinema(Mumbai).

*Used to sneak into Cinema Halls during interval to sell Booklets.

First Business Location *Central Pictures Merchants, Head Quarters were a small tin shade near Krishna Cinema. *Fida Ali expired in 1992 and the business goes to his 4 sons. *Centrals First Booklet was for Kishore Sahus Sindur. *Used to gather Sketchy story lines and Ornamental lyrics.

Business Era

*1950-1960 proved out to be the Golden Era for both Film Industry as well as Fida Ali.

*By the end of Decade printed almost 350 song Booklets and distributed them to all major cities/towns.
*The venture was renamed as Central Prakashan with their multistory office at Mumbai.

Present Position *Diversified their songs Booklets printing with sacred Hindu scriptures. Major Problem *Audio cassettes have hit the Songs Booklet Market. (PROVED TO BE A SET BACK FOR THE PRINTING INDUSTRY)

Swot Analysis Strengths Team of 4 sons brothers. Experience of more than 25 years in the market. A well managed production and destitution channel. Good contacts in the industry. Very Fine quality publishing. Huge market share.

Swot Analysis Weaknesses *Couldnt Diversified to electronic media. *Could have diversified to journals, Printings, Books etc. Opportunities *Huge experience in the industry.

*Diversification to publishing Hindu scriptures.

*End 60s printed 350 Booklets and distributed to all major cities.

Swot Analysis Threats

*Audio cassettes have hit the Songs Booklet Market.

*In 1990 competitors were geared up with latest technology.

*Insufficient Knowledge towards Electronic media as well as print media that made the songs booklets obsolete.

What role could personal selling could play in increasing market strength? Personal Selling involves person-to-person communication with a customer, or prospect . So to enhance the market strength, personal selling is the most effective tool . The central prakashan can hire some persons who can sell the booklets door to door. The salespersons can meet the customers and try to diagonise the needs and choices of the customers. Then according to the buyer preference, they can offer them the booklets of their choice.

Personal selling has three distinctive qualities: Personal Interaction: Personal selling involves an immediate & interactive relationship between two or more persons. Each party is able to observe the others reactions. Cultivation: Personal selling permits all kinds of relationship to spring up, ranging from a matter-offact selling relationship to a deep personal friendship. Response: Personal selling makes the buyers feel under some obligation for having listened to the sales talk.

One key advantage personal selling has over other promotional methods is that it is a two-way form of communication. In selling situations the message sender (e.g., salesperson) can adjust the message as they gain feedback from message receivers (e.g., customer).

So if a customer does not understand anything regarding the booklets or the prakashan , the salesperson can make adjustments to address their questions immediately.
Through the concept of personal selling, the central prakashan will firstly Educate the customer about the product to be offered .

Creating interest: As the salesperson is in immediate contact with the customer , they can offer the booklets to the customers at that time to read so as to get the experience of using their product , hence creating interest .

While interacting with the customer, the main focus of the salesperson of central prakashan will be on giving them the product information. This will include information regarding the paper quality of booklets, clarity of words etc. this will also include the cost factor. .

By far, the most important objective of personal selling is to convince customers to make a purchase. Most personal selling is intended to build long-term relationships with customers. A strong relationship can only be built over time and requires regular communication with a customer. Meeting with customers on a regular basis allows salespeople to repeatedly discuss their companys products and by doing so helps strengthen customers knowledge of what the company has to offer.