Name:

Sridhar Viswanathan, Ramesh Pandey, Harpreet Kaur (Ms), Sudhakar Tummala

SMS ID/SID:

2221670/ DB11016 2221483/ DB11043 2221674/ DB11059 2221484/ DB11077

Name of the centre: Hughes Systems (HITEC City)

Batch: PGCBM 20

Faculty: Prof.Debasis Pradhan

Sector: Bottled Water

Concept: Analyze marketing challenges faced by Parle Bisleri Ltd among its International competitors and the marketing strategy adopted by it to regain the market hold in bottled water sector.

Bisleri Strategy to regain its lost market leadership:

Executive Summary:

The concept of the bottled water is becoming more prevalent among people as they are becoming health conscious. As packaged water industry is growing at a fast rate, Bisleri the dominant player in bottled water industry slowly and gradually started losing their market share in the popular segment after multinational companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi entered the market.

As Kinley and Aquafina the major competitors of Bisleri are entering with various strategies to beat the competition and with the presence of national players like Manickchand group's Oxyrich, Tata Group's Himalayan, UB Group's Kingfisher and other local players Bisleri had to focus itself by increasing the awareness of the brand through advertising, improving the distribution network and fulfilling customer's minimum requirements by giving them pure and safe mineral water to drink.

In this context, we will analyze the current marketing environment of packaged water industry. We will study the market of Bisleri and the dip in its sale, profit and market share after the launch of ‘Aquafina’ by Pepsi and ‘Kinley’ by coca cola. We will also look into the current position of Aquafina and Kinley mineral water, the strategies and measures adopted by Bisleri to counter this competition.

Market Study:

Understand the consumer needs and study their habits and practices. Analyze and study on the packaging technologies available and the importance of distribution and logistics networks.

Market Analysis:

Understand Bisleri Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threat in the packaged drinking water market and potential growth for penetration, development, diversification and expansion of packaged drinking water market

Marketing environment:

Understand Bisleri competitors in the packaged drinking water market in terms of major players, market size, growth, and market shares of players, segmentation statements and positioning of the various products available.

Marketing Strategy:

To analyze the reasons for success by understanding the marketing mix of Bisleri in terms of positioning and differentiating itself from its competitors.

Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION

Overview of Indian Packaged Water Industry

Current Marketing Situation

2. About Bisleri

Mission of Bisleri

Market Description

Product Review

Challenges in front of Bisleri

3. Market Analysis Bisleri

Consumer Needs and Wants

SWOT Analysis

Competitors

4. Marketing Strategy of Bisleri

Marketing Mix

Findings

Action Program - Marketing initiatives

5. Recommendations

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION

Water is the most important necessity for life. Even a toddler will tell you it is a prime need of the body. Sixty per cent of our body weight is made up of it. The drinking-water needs for individuals vary depending on the climate, physical activity and the body culture. But for average consumers it is estimated to be about two to four liters per day.

The growing number of cases of water borne diseases, increasing water pollution, increasing urbanization, increasing scarcity of pure and safe water etc. has made the bottled water business just like other consumer items. Getting pure drinking water from municipal taps in cities and towns is now a luxury. At home most people are forced to either boil water or install purifiers.

Scarcity of potable and wholesome water at railway stations, tourist’s spots, and role of tourism corp. etc. has also added to the growth. This need has seen an explosion of companies marketing “safe drinking water” in bottles across the country.

Overview of Indian Packaged Water Industry

Recent surge of health concerns and shortage of water drives bottled water consumption in India. Packaged bottled water in India was first introduced in Mumbai by Bisleri Ltd under the name 'Bisleri', a company of Italian origin in 1965. In 1967 Bisleri set up a bottling plant for manufacturing and marketing its mineral water but failed. The brand was later sold off to Parle in 1968-69. Mineral water market was in germinal stage as early as 1968-69 when Parle Group acquired the Bisleri brand from Bisleri of Italy for launching Soda water, but then it launched bottled water also.

The launch at that time was not well received by the Indian public. The market did not have takers for quite long (for a period of 20 years or so).The market throughout this period was formed only by the premium products that too available through 5- star hotels.

In early 1990s with onset of liberalization policy by the Indian government, coming in of cola majors, sell off of local soft drink brands of Campa, Thumps up, Gold Spot etc by Parle to Coke and other factors led Bisleri to test waters again. Bisleri re-launched its bottled water in 1994. The following factors such as exposure to media, international life styles, deteriorating levels of potable water, increase in a number of water borne cases, awareness about health led to acceptability of concept of mineral water. The market has not looked back ever since then and has grown leaps and bounds to such an extent that a number of genuine as well as fly-by -night operators have entered it to milk it.

Presently, Bottled water in India is sold in a variety of packages: pouches and glasses, 250 ml bottles, 500 ml bottles, one- liter bottles, 1.5 liter, 2 liter and even 20- to 50-litre bulk water packs. The formal bottled water business in India can be divided broadly into three segments in terms of cost.

Super premium mineral water Natural mineral water Popular or plain bottled water

Super premium mineral water includes brands such as Evian, San Pellegrino and Perrier, which are imported and priced between Rs.80 and Rs.110 a litre

Natural mineral water, with brands such as Himalayan and Catch, is priced around Rs.20 a litre. Popular or plain bottled water, which is nothing but treated water, is the biggest segment and includes brands such as Parle, Bisleri, Coca-Cola's Kinley and PepsiCo's Aquafina. They are priced in the range of Rs.10-12 a litre.

Current Marketing Situation

Water has been the most demanded beverage in India since millennium. In recent years, the packaged water market has experienced a phenomenal growth with a host of new entrants swelling the clutter. With over 200 players jostling to be the thirst quenching favorite of the Indian consumer, the business is growing at a rate of over 50 per cent annually. The country's bottled water business is estimated to be around Rs. 1, 100 crore, of which the branded market accounts for approx Rs. 700 crore and about 700 million liters in volume.

The Bottled water industry is reported to have grown into multiple proportions over the decade from around 15 million cases in 1997-98 to an estimated 130 million cases in 2007-08 (1 case = 48 liters) with a compounded annual growth of 24% per annum. In the same year, the growth rate has been as high as 40%. The market size is further expected to increase 265 million cases by the year 2014-15. There is lot of untapped potential and the industry would experience a significant growth for several years to come. Mentioned below is the demand of bottled water over the years.

TABLE1

EXPONENTIAL INCREASE IN DEMAND OF BOTTLED DRINKING WATER (1990-2015)

Year Million Cases1990-91 2.21991-92 2.61992-93 3.51993-94 4.71994-95 6.51995-96 8.51996-97 11.51997-98 15.51998-99 201999-2000 262000-01 332001-02 44.52002-03 55.62003-04 68.152004-05 822005-06 972006-07 112.852007-08 129.852008-09 146.8*2009-10 164.45*2014-15 265** Estimated Projects (Prediction) Source:indiastat.com

The stats indicate the need for this 'mineral water' and the fact that big players are eyeing the segment points to the potential that is seen in this market. Coke's Kinley, Pepsi's Aquafina, Britannia, Nestle, Kingfisher, Eureka Forbes etc are keen on creating a strong ground in the Rs. 700 crore, 700 million litre market.

The market today has grown to more than Rs15bn. The organized sector -- branded mineral water -- has only Rs7bn of market share. The rest is accounted for by the unorganized sector which is dominated by small regional players. The market is still growing – at a rate greater than 80% per annum.

Market Segmentation of Bottled Water in IndiaSegment Share (%)

North 25

East 10West 40South 25

Source:Indiastar.com

In the above table we show the consumption of bottled water across different regions of the country. The west region occupies the first place in the market while the south and the north jointly occupy the second position. The market of east region is low. However, the bulk of the bottling plants are concentrated in the southern region which is starved of water, a place like Chennai alone account for major part of total revenue

Below is the Market share of key players in packaged water industry (Source: http://www.waterofindia.com)

Market SharesBisleriKinleyAquaFinaOthers

About Bisleri

MISSION STATEMENT:

“To provide the highest quality product, keeping in mind all aspect including freshness purity and safety and making it easy available to the consumer at very affordable price”

Company Background:

Mineral Water under the name 'Bisleri' was first introduced in Mumbai in glass bottles in two varieties - bubbly & still in 1965 by Jayantilal Mohanlal Chauhan, a company of Italian origin. This company was started by Signor Felice Bisleri who first brought the idea of selling bottled water in India.

Parle bought over Bisleri (India) Ltd in 1969 & started bottling Mineral water in glass bottles under the brand name 'Bisleri'. Later Parle switched over to PVC non-returnable bottles & finally advanced to PET containers. The brand name Bisleri is so popular in India that it is used as generic name for bottled water.

Journey of Bisleri:

Market Share

Bisleri 60%

Kinley 20-25 %

Aquafina 11%

Others 20-25%

1949: Parle Group founded by Late Jayantilal Chauhan, started making soft drinks.

1951: Parle Group launches –Orange drink Gold spot

1965: Bisleri introduced in Mumbai in two varieties

1969: Parle Buys Bisleri limited .It was brought from an Italian entrepreneur named Signore Felice Bisleri.

1971: Parle Group launches Limca

1975: Maaza is launched

1978: Thumbsup is launched by Parle Group

1991: Introduces the 20-litre container as home and economical pack.

1993: Sells carbonated drink brands like Thumps Up, Gold Spot and Limca to Coca-Cola for Rs. 400 crore.

1995: BISLERI launches a 500 ml bottle and sales shoot up by 400 per cent.

2000: Launches Bada Bisleri, 1.2 litre pack

2000: BIS cancels BISLERI'S license of water bottling in Delhi since some of the bottles did not carry ISI label; the license is restored one-and-a-half months later.

2002: KINLEY overtakes BISLERI. The national retail stores audit by ORG-MARG show Kinsley’s market share at 35.1 per cent compared to BISLERI’S 34.4 per cent.

2003: BISLERI says it plans to venture out into Europe and America to sell bottled water.

2005: Bisleri launches its “Break away seal”, “Fear Factor” and Play safe campaigns. Bisleri has largest SKU range of 500ml, 1l, 1.2 l, 5l and 20l

2006: Bisleri changes its design and packaging from Blue and Green, differentiating itself from Competition, it launches Natural Mountain Water from Himalayas.

2010: Launches a limited edition of celebration and celebrate cricket labels in 250 ml and 500ml packs. Launched Vedica Natural Mountain water from Himalayas.

2011: Bisleri looking to enter Middle East countries.

Market Description:

Bisleri’s market initially had only one SKU (stock keeping unit) of 1 litre this was followed a by a number of smaller and bigger SKUs. Based on these SKUs we can divide the entire market into two segments:

Retail consumption market Household & Institutional consumption market

Bisleri have developed 8 unique pack sizes to suit the need of every individual. They are available in 250ml cups, 250ml bottles, 500ml, 1L, 1.5L, and 2L which are the non-returnable packs & 5L, 20L which are the natural Mountain Water.

Buyers can choose between pack sizes based on the quantity, taste, price and style. Below is a table which categorizes each of the packs based on the segments and the buyers.

Size of the bottle Benefits Target Consumer250 ml Convenient and light weight. Conferences, parties and for travel500 ml Convenient and light weight. Teenagers, college students and

roadside consumers. Also aimed to supply to the Indian Railways.

1, 1.5 litres Consumer - who likes to make a fashion statement by Drinking mineral water.

General consumers and travelers.

2 litres Consumers demanding a little more water at just a little more price.

Small offices, shopkeepers, households

5 litres It is an ideal spill free option with a handy design and a practical easy-to-pour tap.

Households, institutes, offices, retail shops, showrooms

20 litres It comes with a handy push-tap and a user friendly stand that ensures supply of pure water every single time.

Households, institutes, offices, schools and college

Product Review:

Bisleri are present in 250ml cups, 250ml bottles, 500ml, 1L, 1.5L, and 2L which are the non-returnable packs & 5L, 20L which are the returnable packs.

Bisleri with added Minerals: Bisleri Mineral Water contains minerals such as magnesium sulphate and potassium bicarbonate which are essential minerals for healthy living. They not only maintain the pH balance of the body but also help in keeping you fit and energetic at all times.

Bisleri Mountain Water: Bisleri Natural Mountain emanates from a natural spring, located in Uttaranchal and Himachal nestled in the vast Shivalik Mountain ranges. Lauded as today's 'fountain of youth', Bisleri Natural Mountain

Challenges in front of Bisleri:

Since the inception of bottled water in India (1960’s), Parle Bisleri's Bisleri brand was the undisputed leader with 70% market share. After 1993, the branded mineral water industry saw some hectic activity.

On an average, every three months, a new brand was launched and another died.

In the late 1990s, many international brands were planning to enter the branded mineral water market... Branded mineral water which sold in only 60 towns in 1993 was available in 250 towns in 1997. In 1998, Bisleri's market share came down to 60%, while Parle Agro's3 Bailey had 20%. The remaining 20% was shared by regional players.

In 1998, the branded mineral water market had grown to a 424 million litre business, valued at Rs 4 billion. There were 200 brands available in the country. In their bid to garner greater market share, many companies, including Parle Bisleri tried to make quality and the purification processes they used their unique selling proposition (USP).

Table 1.1 Before Kinley and Aquafina launch

In 2000, the branded water market had grown to Rs 7 billion. New players like Pepsi's Aquafina, Coca-Cola's Kinley and Nestlé’s Pure Life entered the market.

Bisleri Feels the Heatby 2001; the mineral water market was worth Rs. 10 billion and was growing at the rate of 40% a year. Kinley and Aquafina made inroads into the market and by March 2001, Kinley had a 10%market share, Aquafina had 4% and the share of Bisleri had come down to 51%( see table 1.2).

Table 1.2 - March 2001 Market share by brand

Coke Claims Kinley Is No 1 in 2002:

In 2001, both Kinley and Aquafina were making huge investments in bottling plants and distribution. By 2002, Coca-Cola India planned to double the number of water bottling plants to 16 and Pepsi announced

51%

10%6%12%

21%

Bisleri Kinley Aquafina Bailey Others

60%20%

20%

Bisleri Bailey Others

that it would add seven more plants to the existing five. In contrast, Bisleri had only 15 bottling plants and three franchisees. Kinley had 500,000 outlets compared to Bisleri's 350,000. Analysts felt that Kinley and Aquafina had an edge over Bisleri because of their strong distribution network.

In 2002, as per market estimates, Kinley overtakes Bisleri. The national retail stores audit by ORG-MARG show Kinley's market share at 35.1 per cent compared to Bisleri's 34.4 per cent.

Other than the financial constraints up to an extent, the company has to focus on the marketing management of the product. In light of the challenge in front of the company and its current strengths and position, we have incorporated the marketing mix adopted by Bisleri to counter the marketing strategies of the competitors by developing its own marketing strategies.

Market Analysis Bisleri

Consumer Needs and Wants:

In India, with exposure of media and exposure to international life styles, deteriorating levels and scarcity of tap water, increase in a number of water borne cases, increase in awareness about health and hygiene and other related factors led to acceptability of concept of mineral water.

Hence to tap in on this ever growing and demanding market, Bisleri differentiated themselves from its competitor’s by clearly understanding and fulfilling the below mentioned needs.

Thirst quenching Health conscious living Convenience Taste

Statistics gathered through questionnaire: [No of Respondents: Male: 84, Female: 116]

5.20%

37.10%

23.20%

34.50%

Consumer preference for Bottled Water

Tastes better than other drinksHealthier/safer than other drinksIt is thirst-quenchingIt is convenient and easy to consume

SWOT Analysis:

Strength

Quality of Product, Brand Image. Product range based on consumer needs

and consumption Eco friendly PET recycling process Strong footprint in Bulk Segments

Weakness

Distribution. Government Pressure Reuse of bottles by local players

Threat

New Entrants Big Players Illegal Manufacturers

Opportunities

Go Global. Rural Market Launch of premium pack

Strength:

Quality of Product, Brand Image: Every Bottle of Bisleri is put through rigorous purification process to ensure superior quality. The Ground Water goes through 6 step purification process which includes double ozonization, sand filtration, carbon filtration, reverse osmosis and mineral injection to make the water soft, clean and tasty. Good quality checks at each stage ensures the product delivered to the customer is safe and of excellent quality.

Product range based on consumer needs and consumption: Bisleri with added minerals is available in 250 ml bottles, 500 ml bottles, 1,1.5 litre bottles, 2 litre bottles and 5 and 20 lite cans to suite all kind of consumers ranging from retail, household, corporate and institutional consumptions.

Eco friendly PET recycling process: Bisleri since 2002 are actively involved in collecting the use bottles and sends it for recycling.

Strong footprint in Bulk Segments: Bulk water packs of 20 litres, targeted at the institutional and home segment, grew at a rapid pace of 30 to 40 percent. In India, certain households spend a huge amount of money on fuel in order to purify water. Households, in certain parts of India spend a huge amount of money on fuel in order to purify water. This was lapped up by Bisleri as a business opportunity in the water-scarce places in south India

WEAKNESS:

Distribution: The route selling policy adopted by Bisleri for distribution is more expensive than more commonly followed method of appointing distributors in different towns.

Government Pressure: FDA has stopped the production of BISLERI due to insects and pests were found in BISLERI bottles. Later, Government gave the permission to resume their production but consumers were not satisfied and moved towards other brands. It is tested by various authorities constantly.

Reuse of bottles by local players: Market research conducted by Bisleri team found that bottles are reused and refilled with unhealthy water. Some local sellers fill BISLERI bottles with impure and unhealthy water and they sell it to illiterate customers as BISLERI water which affects their health and brand image of the company.

Opportunities:

Go Global: The launch of Bisleri in the European market on 4th September, 2003 has created a lot of scope for it by targeting customers by increasing its quality and standards. Bisleri is looking to expand its overseas presence by tapping into the Middle East market as well.

Rural Market: In India about 70% of the population lives in villages. There are states like UP, MP, Bihar and Orissa where rural population varies from 80 to 90%. Rural area is the place where Bisleri can sustain their viability in the market. It has the large percent of proportion in the market compare to the urban and population is more.

Launch of Premium Pack: Bisleri packaged water business expansion in premium segment with the imminent launch of Vedica; this is prepared keeping 5-star hotels and other premium customer. This pack will be sold at Rs. 20 per litre. This will give a tough competition to the Nestle, Evian the major player in the premium sells its 1 litre water at a hefty of Rs.85 per litre.

Threats:

New Entrants: Eureka Forbes to enter packaged drinking water market. Water purification appliances-maker Eureka Forbes is making a foray into the packaged water segment and will roll out the bottled water product on a pan-India basis by 2012, under the brand name 'AquaSure', in 20-litre and one-litre bottles. Moreover, India to Serve as Hub for Imported Alaskan Water.

Big Players: Coke, Pepsi, Britannia, Nestle —is keen on raising their stakes in this market. With the cut throat competition between Coke and Pepsi, Bisleri is not safe.

Illegal Manufacturers: Company is facing a tough competition from illegal manufacturers in the rural areas. The illegal manufacturers provide water at a very cheaper rate then the branded manufacturers. There are 1000’s of illegal manufacturers which are providing the water at a very cheaper rate. This is a serious problem for branded manufacturers. This companies also use the fake name of branded bottled water i.e. BISLERI and supply their products in the market.

Competitors:

The mineral water market is set to explode. This is drawing the big guns attention. First Britannia launched Evian. Then soft drinks giant Coco Cola entered with Kinley, Pepsi entered the fray with Aquafina and other players such as Nestle, Kingfisher, and Tata are presenting a tough competition to Bisleri. Meanwhile, Parle Agro’s Bailey has been growing steadily. Small local players too are breathing down Bisleri’s neck riding on better trade margins and intensive distribution (in their respective areas of operation).

The major competitors of Bisleri can be categorized as

Coca Cola Kinley

Pepsi Aquafina

Coca Cola Kinley:

Company: Hindustan Coca cola Beverages Private Limited

Brand: Kinley

Product: Packaged Drinking Water

Packaging: Pet Bottles, Polycarbonate Jars

Target Market Segment: Health Conscious people

Positioning: Safe Water

Trade Promotion: Effective TV ads (Boond Boond mein vishwas), Banking on Parent Brand, Mobile Van.

Distribution: Bottling plant (Wada, Thane District)

For 1 Litre: The Company directly approaches the retailer. They have tracked Mumbai through

Various routes and accordingly they service.

For 20 Litre: Kinley sell their products through their own network only. They have appointed home delivery agent for some area to sell their product.

Advantage: Coco Cola brand image and strong distribution network.

Pepsi Aquafina:

Company: PepsiCo India Limited

Brand: Aquafina

Product: Packaged Drinking Water

Packaging: Pet Bottles

Target Market Segment: Health Conscious people

Positioning: Safe Water

Trade Promotion: Banking on Parent Brand, Banners.

Distribution: Bottling plant (Chembur, Roha)

For 1 Litre: The Company directly approaches the retailer. They have tracked Mumbai through various routes and accordingly they service.

For 20 Litre: The Company has not entered the 20-litre Packaged water Market but not as popular as Bisleri.

Advantage: Pepsi in creating space in bottled water market came up with a campaign that did have people talking. First, a series of teasers, followed by a film that showed healthy bodies and youthful people and, of course, lots of water.

Although Aquafina is only available in a 1 litre pet bottle, priced at Rs.10, is competitive. And it is safe. In addition to the tamper proof seal, there is a reliable method of checking whether the bottle has been refilled. The date of manufacturing has been written on the cap as well as on the bottle. Thus a person who is refilling it would have to find a matching cap and bottle, the probability of which is very low.

Marketing Strategy of Bisleri

Strategic options:

We have used Ansoff matrix to find out the strategic options that Bisleri used to identify new opportunities and tackle the current threats to be a leader in packaged water industry.

Existing Product New Product

Existing market

New market

Market Penetration:

The company has used the penetration strategy by making available products in different sizes. The company uses innovative concepts like 1.2 liter bottle which helps to offer consumers more content at lower price. The company is also penetrating the market by shifting its focus from retail market to the bulk water segment. The company uses its own distribution network to cater the bulk water segment. The company thus penetrates the market bypassing the competition present in the retail segment.

Product development:

The company has introduced new products like Bisleri fizzy soda and premium water under the name 'Vedica'. "We propose that the company should focus more on market development and introduce new products thus increasing its product portfolio" (Bureau, 2005). This will not only decrease the risk of operating with single product but also enables to make use of its competences to develop new products.

Market development:

Market Penetration Product development

Market development Diversification

Bisleri with its break away seal and advertising initiatives are doing more in roads in the rural sector. The distribution vehicle now having painted in green with Bisleri brand indicates that Bisleri is creating more awareness of the product. Moreover, in 2007 Bisleri expanded its market globally by launching itself in Europe and U.S. Bisleri has its manufacturing units set up at Singapore and other countries. Now its recent interest to go east indicates its market development strategy.

Diversification:

Bottled drinking water major Bisleri is foraying into the fruit juice market by investing Rs.1 billion ($23 million) over three years on its new mango drink brand Alfa. As per Ramesh Chauhan, "We will invest an Rs.1 billion for our mango juice brand Alfa in PET bottles in the next three years, besides an investment of about Rs.500 million in our plant at Chittoor (Andhra Pradesh)”. Hence Bisleri has already taken needed initiatives to diversify its market.

Strategic changes over a period of time:

The marketing strategy adopted by the company has also changed over the years. In the initial years when it was the sole player in the bottled water market it positioned itself as luxury item. The punch line was ‘Veri very extraordinari’.

The entry of players like Pepsi and Coca Cola made it to change the strategy. Now the company positioned itself as quality product to gain the trust of the consumers. The catch line now said ‘Pure and safe’.

In the recent years there were cases where insecticide contents were found in bottled waters of some major players including Bisleri. This strongly affected the sales of Bisleri which decreases about 15%. The company carried out a rebranding exercise to recover from the dent created by this incident. The company has changed its packaging and the color has been changed from blue to aqua green.

The company is now positioning itself as best product. The present catch line says ‘Play safe’. The company uses medium such as television, hoardings, magazines and company trucks for advertising purpose.

Marketing Mix of Bisleri:

PRODUCT:

The main product of the company is the mineral water by the name of Bisleri Mineral water. Other than mineral water the company has also the soda water under its brand name called the Bisleri Fizzy soda. The concept of bottled mineral water was introduced in India, first by Bisleri, and that is the reason, it has become a generic name for the mineral water. Bisleri has become a perfect synonym of the mineral water for the Indian consumers.

The main challenge faced by Bisleri in this mineral water industry is that there is no scope of invention and innovation in the product, which can be added as the additional benefits of the product. It is just

water after all. This is what the Indian customers think of the bottled water. If we are talking about a product like television we can think that the innovations could provide extra benefits derived from the product.

How Bisleri differentiated itself:

Product Varieties:

The company is offering wide variants of the product. These include the different quantities available of the product ranging from the (20 lt) to the 250 ml. Bottles. In between, it also has 1 lt., 1.5 lt., 2 lt. and 5 lt. Packs.

In terms of another variant the company has also come up with 250 ml Cups. The Company has introduced these cups for the social occasions like marriages and get together. This again is very competitive in the price field and also the customer is getting a convenient product with the benefit of purity at such a low price.

Moreover it has launched its new products such as Bisleri Fizzy soda and Vedica Mineral Water. The pricing of these products are relatively cheaper compared to others. Now the customers would not have to drink impure water served in unhygienic glasses.

Bisleri Product’s Bottles in Cases250ML 24500ML 20

1Ltr 121.5Ltr 272 Ltr 95 Ltr 1

10 Ltr 120 Ltr* 1

500ML Vedica 201 Ltr Vedica 12

600 ML Soda 24

PACKAGING:

The packaging of the product is an important factor in the marketing of the product. The packaging of Bisleri was accepted by the customers till now. But it has been a long time the company has changed the packaging of 1ltr.mineral water bottle.

Pepsi one of the competitors of the company has mineral water by the brand name of ‘Aquafina’. Packaging of the Aquafina made its look attractive and sturdier. The brand Aquafina has been targeted towards the youth and that is why they have made the bottle look more hip. Bisleri adopted a new look to its product to stopping Kinley, Aquafina from snatching its market share.

To counter the competition, the company positioned itself as quality product to gain the trust of the consumers. It introduced Tamper proof seals to make customers aware that product Bisleri is concerned on the safety and quality of water. The catch line it adopted was ‘Pure and safe’.

The company had changed its packaging and the color has been changed from blue to aqua green.

The company has used the Brand Extension cleverly. The company had take the benefit of the brand name it has created over a long period of time and introduced new products, design in this category to sustain itself in the competition.

PRICE:-

Price is the sum of values that consumer exchange for the benefits of having or using the product or service. Price is the only element in the marketing mix that produces revenue. All other elements represent costs. In India, where the majority of the population comprise of the middle-income group and lower income groups it is not hard to understand that pricing is one of the most important factor in the buying decisions.

Bisleri has met the expectations of the consumers in terms of pricing the product and also making the product available in variations of litres, making Bisleri both convenient and affordable. The company is following a very aggressive pricing. Its product is available at a very reasonable price. Below is the price chart.

To conclude from the facts that the pricing strategy of the Bisleri is very competitive and therefore the company is giving value to the customers for money.

PROMOTION:

Modern marketing calls for more than just developing a good product, pricing it attractively, and making it available to the target customers, companies must also communicate with their customers, and what they communicate should not be left to chance.

A Company’s total marketing communications program- called its Promotion Mix consists of specific blend of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, and public relations tools that the company uses to pursue its advertising and marketing objectives. Bisleri had a big threat of maintaining its market cap. While Coca-cola introducing its brand ‘Kinley’ as a health care product, Pepsi projected ‘Aquafina’ as something as pure as ‘Your own body’. Bisleri, to counter-attack first changed their base-line from ‘Pure and safe’ to ‘Play Safe’. They tried a brand new ad campaign to catch the fancy of consumer which worked.

Findings:

Distribution is important parameters which holds on key position for any fast-moving consumer goods as the sale of this particular type of product highly depend on distribution network and its availability, also frequency of distribution is taken into consideration for the sale of this kind of product. Therefore it can be interpreted that sale of any product depend on its distribution network and thus we can say that distribution and sales are interrelated.

Segment Company Brand Available Packs Price

Popular

Parle Bisleri Bisleri

250ml 6500ml 81 ltr 14

1.5 ltr

8(27 Cases –

216)2 ltr 25

   500ml 101ltr 16

Pepsi Aquafina500ml 101 ltr 16

Coca-Cola Kinley

500ml 101 ltr 162ltr 22

 

Bulk Parle Bisleri Bisleri5 ltrs 3520 ltrs 60

Premium Parle Bisleri Vedica1 Litre 20500ml 12

Distribution network of Bisleri:

Distribution network of Aquafina:

Distribution network of Kinley:

Manufacturing Unit

Company warehouse

Distributors

Retailers

Customers

Company

Distributor

Retailer

consumer

Institutional Buyers(hotels, corporates, offices of

varios companies)

consumer

Outlets

OutletsDistributors

Sales and distribution operations

Manufacturing Plant

Trucks

Institutional Buyers/ Seasonal Party Orders

Availability of the various mineral water among retailer’s shows varying percentage (surveyed among 100 retailers)

Brand Easily Get but not often

Does not get

Bisleri 73% 18% 9%

Aquafina 75% 15% 10%

Kinley 60% 15% 10%

Bailey's 70% 20% 10%

Hello 65% 20% 15%

Others 60% 20% 20%

From the data, it can be interpreted that availability of Bisleri mineral water among the retailers is 73% of retailers gets the product easily, whereas 18% of them feels that they do not get the product offer and rest of the 9% retailers feels that they do not get this product at all. Thus it can be said that, distribution system of Bisleri is good and should try to maintain this pattern in order to compete with Kinley and Aquafina which have strong distribution network due to their soft drink link.

Action Program - Marketing initiatives:

The breakaway seal: keeping in mind the consumers need to recognize a genuine product that cannot be tempered with. The unique cap has been patented and cannot be duplicated. This technical strength ensures that the consumer will only get a high safe product when they will drink BISLERI.

In 2006, the Bisleri brand was extended to mineral water with Bisleri Mountain Water, which the company is aiming to target at upper middle-class consumers in on-trade establishments and institutions. With mineral water priced at a significant premium to packaged distilled water, the company aims to move up the value chain.

In a bold move, Parle Bisleri revamped the packaging of Bisleri from blue to aqua-green, in a bid to differentiate it from other brands on the market. The company also changed the shape of the Bisleri bottle to create a wider neck, which enables the company to use less plastic in the packaging and significantly improves margins. The label on the bottle also features mountains and glaciers emphasizing the purity of Bisleri.

In 2007, the company also increased advertising in the media, especially television, and the growth of bulk bottled water sales to homes has also helped to increase volume sales. In addition, Bisleri enjoys first mover advantage in bottled water, having been present on the market for more than 30 years. It enjoys strong brand equity in the country as Bisleri is synonymous with bottled water to most consumers.

Bisleri plans to introduce vending machines for its packaged drinking water, a first initiative of its kind by any branded water company in India. Bisleri has tied up with vending machine company Grabbit to set up automated machines in offices, shopping malls, airports and other high traffic points.

Bisleri launched itself in premium segment with Vedica and also in 2011, Bisleri is planning to setup production distribution units in eastern countries

Recommendation

The brand recall of Bisleri was stronger as compared to its competitors. However, problem arises when the brand is not available and customer chooses its competitors. The company should therefore invest heavily on distribution and logistics. The company can acquire smaller players to extend the reach or can tie up with major local players.

In Indian villages, even today there is shortage of safe drinking water sources and there is spread of water borne diseases due to unhygienic water. The company should therefore focus on ‘rural’ market penetration.

The company is a single product portfolio company. The company should try to introduce more product more beverage products in the market. The company will require funds for the expansion and other projects.

The company should form a joint venture with some companies who have greater rural distribution network to introduce products catering to rural market.

Have dispensers with cold and hot water bottles at places like hotels, clubs and airports to target their potential customers. Departmental stores, petrol pumps and super bazaars are potential sources for market expansion.

'Buy two bottles get one’ like offers can also be introduced.

Use the global event such as IPL, Film Fare as an opportunity, promote and position product for those mega events to attract customers.

The company should organize camps at various part of the city also road show to bring about the difference between mineral water and filter/purified water and to tell the people how mineral water is more hygienic than filtered water/purified water.

As Nike have Nike id build online forums to discuss about mineral water and promote health drive programs, participate in environment programs such as Save Waters to get deep emotions of consumers.

Bibliography

How Bisleri reinvented itself: http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/feb/06spec.htm Road map and price list of Bisleri: www.bisleri.com

Bisleri market share: http://en.wikipedia.org/

Bisleri problems and market expansion:http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/keyword/bisleri

About Kinley: http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/brands/index.html

Indian packaged water: www.financialexpress.com The Myth and Reality of Bottled Water - Peter H.Gleick A study on the relation between demographic & psychological factors and bottled water buying behavior -

MANISHA DURGA Current Market: http://waterofindia.com

Customer Needs – Bottled water industry in India www.gits4u.com/water/water16.htm

Market segments: www.ibisworld.com.au/industry/default.aspx?indid=1860

Articles on Bisleri and its competitors http://www.business-standard.com http://www.financialexpress.com/printer/news/151843 http://www.finewaters.com/Bottled_Water/India/index.asp www.waterofindia.com/Editor_Choice.html www.bottledwater.org/public/pdf/USAtoday_final.pdf Bisleri's Chauhan sees big business in small packs: http://www.financialexpress.com/printer/news/151843 MARKETING MANAGEMENT BY PHILIP KOTLER.