Xaviers Institute of Business Management Studies

MARKS : 80

SUB: Marketing Management

N. B.: 1) Attempt all four case studies

2) All questions carry equal marks.

CASE 1 : TRUST TOOTHPASTE

 
Study the Case entitled "Positioning 'Trust' Toothpaste" and give your specific
recommendations regarding the action to be taken by the company. Your
decision must be based on a careful analysis of the situation given in the case
and your answer should be precise and up to the point.

Positioning Trust' Toothpaste

In September 1990, Mr. Sarin, the Marketing Manager of Deepa Products (P)
Limited was wondering what marketing and product positioning strategy the
company should follow for launching their two new brands of toothpaste.
Trust Night and Trust Regular in a market which was becoming highly
competitive.
Deepa Products (P) Ltd. was one of the successful manufacturers of various
types of packaging materials for both industrial and consumer products.
Established in 1960, the company has shown substantial growth over the
years. Much of the company's growth was attributed to the high quality of its
products and also the systematic manner in which its marketing decisions
were made.
In 1990, keeping in view the growing market for consumer goods, the top
management of the company decided to diversify into new consumer
products areas. In the first instance the company thought of entering into the
toothpaste market. Depending upon their success in the market, the
company would decide their expansion plans into other areas of consumer
goods sector.
The company chose to enter toothpaste market simply because the market
for toothpaste was growing fast almost by 15 to 20% in India and it provided
enough profit opportunities. The market was dominated only by a very few
players. Further Mr. Sarin felt that there was scope for capturing a significant
market share in the growing toothpaste market, since the company's
products had some unique features to meet the emerging new market
segments.
Questions
1.         What marketing strategy should be designed by Mr. Sarin to be able to
achieve the targeted 5% market share?
 
2.         How should Deepa Products (P) Ltd. position Trust Regular and Trust
Night to induce customers to buy it? What should be the key benefits of their
toothpastes?

 3.         Should the company price its products economically, or should it aim

for premium pricing?

CASE 2: THE CATERPILLAR TRACTOR COMPANY

 
Caterpillar Tractor Company (CTC) is a large manufacturing firm headquartered
in Illinois, USA. Its familiar 'CAT" logo and yellow paint are known throughout
the world. Indeed in its business, CTC has an estimated 37% of world market.
Its closest rival, Japan's Komatsu has an estimated 15%. A multinational
company CTC has manufacturing and dealer representatives throughout the
world. The products, which the firm designs, manufactures and markets, can
be classified into two basic segments:
Earth moving, construction and materials handling equipment-track type
tractors, bulldozers, rippers, track and wheel type loaders, pipe layers, wheel
dozers, compactors, wheel scrapers off highway trucks and tractors, motor
graders, hydraulic excavators, long skidders, lift trucks and related parts and
equipment.
Engines– for earth moving and construction machines on highways trucks,
marine, petroleum, agricultural, industrial and electric power generation
systems. Engines either, diesel or natural gas, have power ranges from 85 to
1600 horsepower or in generator set versions from 55 to 1200 kilowatts.
Turbines range from 10 to 7,900 kilowatts.
CTC's market success is based to a great extent on its four-point product
strategy. First, advances technology is incorporated into machines so that
users derive optimal productivity and efficiency. To maintain the flow of
product application the organization commits hundreds of millions of dollars
each year to research and development. A second product guideline is quality.
Within the last ten years several billion dollars have been spent on plant and
equipment to ensure reliability in the hostile environments the
machines endure. The third aspect of product strategy is to offer a full line of
products. This implies machines capable of performing on job sites as small as a
residential plot or as large as the Alaskan product line offers over 100 different
machines within nearly infinite option/modifications. The fourth and final
principle of the product strategy is to design and build only machines that can
be produced on an assembly line, to take advantage of manufacturing
expertise and efficiency of Caterpillar plant and to provide significant
economies of scale.
Questions to be answered
1.      How important is new product development to Caterpillar?
      
2.      What sources of new product ideas might a company like caterpillar use?
      
3.      Evaluate CAT as a brand name.
      
4.      Evaluate each of the four points of CTC's strategy.
      

CASE 3: ABC HANDLOOMS Ltd.

 
ABC Handlooms Ltd. (ABC) was established in the year 1991 to manufacture
and market handloom furnishings throughout the country. Over the years, it
has developed a wide network of handloom units in and around Delhi. ABC
manufactures a wide range of furnishings catering to the needs of different
strata of society. The pattern of sales of the company during the last three
years was as under:
State   Percentage Sale
Punjab   65
Haryana   5
U.P.   10
M.P.   10
Rajasthan   5
Other states and Union territories 5
total 100
The market for furnishings was highly competitive. ABC had not only to face
competition from well established houses but it had also to face competition
from various state government corporations. Besides, the product had to face
competition with the imported material, which was freely available. Prices of
different types of furnishings differed widely. Private and cooperative channels
marketed different brands. The Coops accounted for more than 60 per cent of
material sold. Though there was no brand loyalty yet a large manufacturer in
Western India was able to market similar products at a marginal premium in
Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
Questions:
1. How do you explain the present situation faced by the company?

2. Was it a good idea to enter into a three-year contract with the Cooperative
Society? Why?   

3. Is it possible to renew the contract with the Cooperative Society? If so, how?
Suggest a detailed programme on a crash basis with the budget constraint of
Rs. 50, 00, 000.

CASE 4: APEX ELECTRICAL COMPANY LTD.

 
Mr. Nathan, Sales Manager of Apex Electrical Co. Ltd. had just received a
proposal from his Regional Manager at Bangalore for opening a sub-
office in Madras and was considering what would be the best decision in the
company's short run as well as long run interest.
The company was in the business of manufacturing and marketing electric
motors of a wide range of horse power that could be used as a prime mover in
numerous applications. The company's factory and head office were situated
in Bombay and it had its branch offices at New Delhi, Calcutta and Bangalore,
each headed by a Regional Manager.
The Regional Office at Bangalore was responsible for sales in Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu and Kerala. The company also maintained a godown at Bangalore which
was used as the stocking centre for feeding sales in the complete region. The
company's distribution network had grown over several years and as such there
was no one rule by which the arrangements could be explained. In Karnataka,
due to the proximity of the Regional Headquarters, the distribution, network
was closely controlled by the Regional Office. Company had several dealers
covering the State and they all purchased goods directly from the Regional
Office. All the dealers got a fixed percentage of discounts. The ultimate prices
to the consumers were fixed by the company. Each dealer covered a specific
area which was generally one to several districts and the company discouraged
one dealer interfering in other's territory. However, in main cities
of Bangalore and Mysore, there was more than one dealer who collectively
covered the sales in the city. The company salesmen regularly contacted the
dealers and the office maintained good marketing information.

Questions:
1.    What decision would you take if you were in place of Mr. Nathan?
     
2.    Do you feel the proposal of a new sub-office is economically justified
against the stated policy of the company? If yes, why? If no, then how could it
be made justifiable?