SIP Final Report by Piyush Prasanna - HCL

A REPORT ON
CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND AWARENESS OF BRAND HCL
By PIYUSH PRASANNA 10BSPHH011070
HCL Infosystems Limited Hyderabad.
SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD
A REPORT ON
CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND AWARNESS OF A REPORT BRAND ON HCL
By:
PIYUSH PRASANNA 10BSPHH011070
HCL Infosystems Limited, Hyderabad

A report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of MBA Program of IBS Hyderabad
Distribution list
Dr. G Radha Krishna IBS Hyderabad Mr. Mohammad Sadath HCL Hyderabad Date of Submission: 13th May , 2011
AUTHORISATION
Dated: 13-05-2011 Dr. G Radha Krishna, Faculty, IBS Hyderabad
TO WHOMSOEVER IT MAY CONCERN
I, Dr. G Radha Krishna, here by authorize the submission of the Project Work titled CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND AWARENESS OF BRAND HCL, undertaken by Mr. Piyush Prasanna (Enrollment Number : 10BSPHH011070) as partial fulfillment of the requirement of MBA Program of IBS Hyderabad. The project work was executed by the student under my guidance and no part of this report has been submitted for any other degree or recognition before.
Sincerely,
(Dr. G Radha Krishna)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I hereby take this opportunity to thank HCL Infosystems LTD. (hence forth referred as HCL) for providing me with a fruitful association by way of Summer Internship. This association, however short lasting, has provided me with a comprehensive insight into the Indian Gaming and Educational Laptop sector, its operations, opportunities and challenges. I would like to express my deep gratitude to my company guide Mr. Mohammad Sadath who gave me the opportunity to pursue my internship at HCL and also provided me with his constant support, valuable inputs and encouragement in exploring and understanding the nuances of the project. I would like to thank Mr. Kashish Sharma for his cooperation and guidance during the entire stages of the internship. I would also like to thank Mr. Arshad for their support and help. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to my faculty guide Prof. G. Radha Krishna of IBS Hyderabad, for his constant guidance, immense support; motivation and encouragement which inspired me pursue my project with added interest and enthusiasm. I would also like to express my gratitude to IBS Hyderabad for giving me a wonderful opportunity to work with HCL. I would also like to thank all my friends, and my family members for their, support and help as and when required as well as for inspiring me to put in my best efforts for this project.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Competition, is the by product of the globalization and liberalization. Todays world is paced up to a rocket speed, and is highly technology driven. One has to differentiate himself in all the means possible to withstand these highly competitive and paced up technological markets. This is how the Business operates in todays world. The one who provides products with better differentiation, earlier than the others; is the one who survives in the industry. This Competitive Differentiation is the golden rule to be followed in the highly dynamic industries. The gaming and education laptop industry has so many players in the market today, all of them providing similar kind of products. Every product has another Me Too product available for its claim. In order to sustain in the market with a good market share, a Product Differentiation which is in sync with the customers preferences and priorities is highly essential. Hence understanding the consumers preferences is very important. HCL Infosystems (HCL) is new player in the educational laptop and gaming consoles segment. It has consistently been trying to come up with innovative products and be a market leader in toys and gaming segment. Sustaining its market position is not that easy in this competitive world. The organizations must invest a lot of time, money and efforts in continuous product innovation and product differentiation. Along with this, the right Product Positioning is highly essential in order to continue being the market leader. This project helps HCL in this regard by aiding in structuring of an efficient marketing strategy further. Through this project, we understand the acceptance levels of the new gaming console and educational laptop launches made by HCL, and the consumer awareness and perceptions of various brands in the toy and gaming industry. This study is specifically targeted to the SMB & Enterprises and the Computer Dealers. A Market Research program through the structured questionnaires and the Face to Face interviews was taken up in order to implement this project. Various SMBs in the area of Hyderabad are surveyed in order to understand the satisfaction levels and customer preferences in the SMBs specifically. The Computer dealers across various areas of Hyderabad are surveyed so that a broader range of consumers choices could be studied also understanding the information flow the cyclic business relationship of Consumers-Dealers-Vendors. The project was designed in such a way that the feedbacks from the customers are unbiased to the maximum extent possible. A complete Analysis of the project would be done in order to make the Summer Internship Program and project undertaken, more complete and fruitful in terms of academic learning. This would be well documented in the form of a report
Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION TO MARKET RESEARCH ............................................................................................. 12 1.1. TYPES OF MARKET RESEARCH: .................................................................................................... 14 Desk Research ..................................................................................................................... 15 Field Research ..................................................................................................................... 15
1.1.1. 1.1.2. 1.2.
PHASES IN A MARKET RESEARCH PROGRAM.............................................................................. 17 Design:................................................................................................................................. 17 Administration .................................................................................................................... 20 Analysis ............................................................................................................................... 20 Reporting............................................................................................................................. 20
1.2.1. 1.2.2. 1.2.3. 1.2.4. 1.3.
MARKET SEGMENTATION ........................................................................................................... 21 Business Market Segmentation .......................................................................................... 22 Segmentation criteria ......................................................................................................... 23 Levels of Segmentation: ...................................................................................................... 24
1.3.1. 1.3.2. 1.3.3. 2. 3.
LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................................................... 25 INDUSTRY OVERVIEW ......................................................................................................................... 35 3.1. INDIAN GAMING INDUSTRTY ........................................................................................................... 35 3.2 PORTERS FIVE FORCES MODEL GAMING INDUSTRY ................................................................. 45
3.2.1. Threat of Intense Segment Rivalry ............................................................................................ 46 3.2.2. Threat of New Entrants ............................................................................................................. 46 3.2.3. Threat of substitutes ................................................................................................................. 46 3.2.4. Threat of Buyers growing bargaining Power ........................................................................... 47 3.2.5. Threat of suppliers growing bargaining Power ........................................................................ 47 4. COMPANY PROFILE ............................................................................................................................. 48 4.1. THE 4Ps OF MARKETING MARKETING MIX OF HCL........................................................................ 49 4.1.1. Product ...................................................................................................................................... 50 4.1.2. Price .......................................................................................................................................... 51 4.1.3. Promotion ................................................................................................................................. 51 4.1.4. Place .......................................................................................................................................... 51 4.2. BOSTON CONSULTANCY GROUP MATRIX ........................................................................................ 52
4.2.1. HCL IN BCG MATRIX .................................................................................................................. 54 4.3. SWOT ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................................... 55 4.3.1 4.3.2 4.3.3 4.3.4 5 STRENGTHS ......................................................................................................................... 55 WEAKNESSES ....................................................................................................................... 56 OPPURTUNITIES .................................................................................................................. 56 THREATS .............................................................................................................................. 56
PROJECT DETAILS ................................................................................................................................ 56 5.1. Objective of the Project ................................................................................................................... 56 5.2. Value Addition by Choosing the Project .......................................................................................... 57 5.2.1. Value addition to HCL ............................................................................................................... 57 5.2.2. Value addition to intern ............................................................................................................ 57 5.3. PROJECT OUTLINE ............................................................................................................................ 58 5.4. Scope of the Project ......................................................................................................................... 58 5.5. PROJECT DURATION ......................................................................................................................... 58 5.6. PROJECT DESCRIPTION ..................................................................................................................... 58 5.6.1. Stage 1-Preliminary Research & In House Training .................................................................. 58 5.6.2. Stage 2-Segmenting and Questionnaire Design........................................................................ 59 5.6.3. Stage 3-Approaching the customers for data collection .......................................................... 59 5.6.4. Stage 4-Data Analysis ................................................................................................................ 60 5.7 5.8 Data Sources for the Research .................................................................................................... 61 Questionnaire Design.................................................................................................................. 61
5.8.1. LITERATURE REVIEW-DEVELOPING QUESTIONNAIRES ............................................................. 61 5.8.2 5.9 QUESTIONNAIRES DESCRIPTION ......................................................................................... 63
Week Wise Description of the Project Activities ........................................................................ 64
5.9.1. Week 1 ...................................................................................................................................... 64 5.9.2 5.9.3 5.9.4 5.9.5 5.9.6 5.9.7 5.9.8 Week 2 ................................................................................................................................ 64 Week 3 ................................................................................................................................ 64 Week 4 ................................................................................................................................ 65 Week 5 ................................................................................................................................ 65 Weeks 6, 7 ........................................................................................................................... 65 Week 8 ................................................................................................................................ 66 Week s 9 & 10 ..................................................................................................................... 66 SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD
5.9.9 5.9.10 5.9.11 5.10 6.
Week 11 .............................................................................................................................. 66 Week 12 .............................................................................................................................. 66 Weeks13 & 14 ..................................................................................................................... 66
ROAD BLOCKS IN THE PROJECT ................................................................................................... 67
DATA ANALYSIS SURVEY OF SMB CUSTOMERS ................................................................................ 69 6.1 6.2. 6.2.1. 6.2.2. 6.2.3. 6.2.4. 6.2.5. 6.2.6. 6.2.7. 6.2.8. 6.2.9. 6.2.10. 6.2.11. 6.2.12. 6.3. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 69 FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION......................................................................................................... 70 Type of Business...................................................................................................................... 70 Current Brand of Gaming Hardware ................................................................................... 71 Current Products ................................................................................................................. 72 Purchase Frequency ............................................................................................................ 73 Satisfaction Levels with the Current Brand......................................................................... 73 Purchase Intention .............................................................................................................. 79 Brand Considered during Purchase..................................................................................... 79 Decision Making Structure .................................................................................................. 80 Preferred Purchase Route ................................................................................................... 81 Top-of- the-Mind Brand Recall............................................................................................ 82 PARAMETER RANKING ........................................................................................................ 83 Brand Ranking ..................................................................................................................... 87
CLUSTER ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................... 93 Case Processing Summary................................................................................................... 94 Agglomeration Schedule ..................................................................................................... 95 Dendogram ......................................................................................................................... 96 FINAL CLUSTERS .................................................................................................................. 97 Cluster Interpretations ........................................................................................................ 98
6.3.1. 6.3.2. 6.3.3. 6.3.4. 6.3.5. 6.4. 6.5. 7. 8. 9.
FINDINGS OF THE PROJECT ......................................................................................................... 99 REASONS FOR NOT CHOOSING BRAND HCL ........................................................................... 103
Limitations of the Study .................................................................................................................... 103 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................... 104 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................... 105
APPENDIX -1 .............................................................................................................................................. 106
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1:Functionality of market research in the business plans ............................................................... 13 Figure 2: Marketing Cycle ........................................................................................................................... 13 Figure 3: Phases of Market Research .......................................................................................................... 17 Figure 4: Stages of Market Research Process ............................................................................................. 21 Figure 5: Segmentation ............................................................................................................................... 23 Figure 6: Levels of Segmentation ................................................................................................................ 24 Figure 7: Role of Consumer Research in Marketing Strategy ..................................................................... 31 Figure 8: Elements of Consumer Analysis ................................................................................................... 32 Figure 9: Segment wise evolution of Indian Gaming Industry .................................................................... 36 Figure 10: Indian Console Gaming Market ................................................................................................. 40 Figure 11: Global Software Sales Market.................................................................................................... 40 Figure 12: Production Cost Index - Consoles .............................................................................................. 41 Figure 13: Indian Mobile Gaming Market ................................................................................................... 41 Figure 14: Growth in Indian Mobile Subscriber, Mobile Penetration Level: India ..................................... 42 Figure 15: Indian PC Gaming Market .......................................................................................................... 43 Figure 16: Indian Online Gaming Market .................................................................................................... 43 Figure 17: Revenues, Online Unique Visitors.............................................................................................. 44 Figure 18: Porters Five Forces Model ......................................................................................................... 45 Figure 19: Marketing Mix-4Ps of Marketing ............................................................................................... 50 Figure 20: BCG Matrix ................................................................................................................................. 52 Figure 21: HCL in BCG Matrix ...................................................................................................................... 54 Figure 22: SWOT Analysis for HCL ............................................................................................................... 55 Figure 23: Number of students ................................................................................................................... 70 Figure 24: Current Brand of Gaming Hardware .......................................................................................... 71 Figure 25: Current Products ........................................................................................................................ 72 Figure 26: Purchase Frequency ................................................................................................................... 73 Figure 27: Satisfaction on Aesthetics .......................................................................................................... 74 Figure 28: Satisfaction level on Quality ...................................................................................................... 75 Figure 29: Satisfaction level on value for money ........................................................................................ 76 Figure 30: Satisfaction Level on Technical Support .................................................................................... 77 Figure 31: Satisfaction level on after sales support .................................................................................... 78 Figure 32: Purchase Intention ..................................................................................................................... 79 Figure 33: Brands Considered during purchase .......................................................................................... 80 Figure 34: Decision Making Structure ......................................................................................................... 81 Figure 35: Preferred Route of Purchase ..................................................................................................... 82 Figure 36: Top of mind Brand Recall ........................................................................................................... 83 Figure 37: Parameter Ranking on Configuration ........................................................................................ 84 Figure 38: Parameter Ranking on Style and Aesthetics .............................................................................. 85 Figure 39: Parameter Ranking on Brand ..................................................................................................... 86
Figure 40: Parameter Ranking on color ...................................................................................................... 87 Figure 41: Brand Ranking on Aesthetics ..................................................................................................... 88 Figure 42: Brand Ranking on value for money............................................................................................ 89 Figure 43: Quality and Reliability ................................................................................................................ 90 Figure 44: Brand Ranking on PROMPT DELIVERIES .................................................................................... 91 Figure 45: Brand Ranking on AFTER SALES SUPPORT ................................................................................. 92
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Gaming Value Chain ...................................................................................................................... 39 Table 2: Influence of the Porters Five Forces on the PC Industry .............................................................. 47 Table 3: Stages of the Project ..................................................................................................................... 60 Table 4: List of SMB customers ................................................................................................................... 69 Table 5: List of Preschools........................................................................................................................... 93
1. INTRODUCTION TO MARKET RESEARCH

Market research is any organized effort to gather information about markets or customers. It is a very important component of business strategy. Market research, as defined by the ICC/ESOMAR International Code on Market and Social Research, includes social and opinion research, and is the systematic gathering and interpretation of information about individuals or organizations using statistical and analytical methods and techniques of the applied social sciences to gain insight or support decision making. Market research is for discovering what people want, need, or believe. It can also involve discovering how they act. Once that research is completed, it can be used to determine how to market your product. The purpose of market research is to help companies make better business decisions about the development and marketing of new products. Market research represents the voice of the consumer in a company. With market research you can get some kind of confirmation that there is a market for your idea, and that a successful launch and growth are possible. A Market research encompasses the Markets, customers, competitors and the business operations. Market Research plays a major role in the strategic development of the Business plans. Any business functionality is based on a series of cyclic stages. A market research is a major stage of this cyclic process. [1] The stages in the cyclic process are: 1. Strategic Changes 2. Review/Monitor 3. Objective Needs 4. Key Customer interviews 5. Customer Surveys 6. Analyzing & Understanding 7. Strategic Advice and 8. Strategic Development
MARKET RESEARCH
Figure No.1 shows the cyclic functionality of Market research in any of the Business Plans
Figure 1:Functionality of market research in the business plans
(Source: http://www.therightgroup.com.au/diagrams/trg-diagram-marketresearch.jpg)
As shown in the above figure, marketing cycle, Market Research fits into the overall marketing cycle by
providing input to the analysis. This, when accompanied by internal analysis of strengths, weaknesses and offerings, and competitive analysis provides the basis for deciding and then developing the marketing strategy.
Figure 2: Marketing Cycle
Impleme ntation
Market Research
Analysis
Marketing Plan
Customers
Product Development
Market strategy
Internal Analysis
(Source: http://www.training-management.info/market-research/marketing-cycle.gif)
By collecting and analyzing information that is relevant it enables you to make informed and robust decisions as an input into subsequent action. The objectives of research include: Defining and evaluating the companys place in a market; Providing information regarding future trends in demand; Identifying customer needs and requirements; Discovering what they think of the brand and the offerings; Uncovering ways to delight customers further; Providing an evaluation of advertising and promotional strategies Revealing opportunities for business development and improved competitiveness; Discovering opportunities for increasing profit/product penetration. We may use research to address any or all of these issues A Well structured Market research Program answers the following questions for any business [2]: 1. Where is the next market opportunity? 2. Which markets should you target and with which products or services? 3. Should you invest in product development? 4. How can you better meet your customers needs? 5. How can you differentiate your brand from your competitors? 6. How satisfied are your customers? 7. Why are you losing customers? (If any) 8. How can you build market share?
1.1. TYPES OF MARKET RESEARCH:

Market research can be broadly classified into two types: Desk Research Field Research
1.1.1. Desk Research

This is usually easier and quicker. This allows accessing all (published) information globally on a subject. Information can come from two sources - external and internal. Typical examples of external desk research include: Public library searches; press clippings; sector and published surveys; trade information; Internet trawls; Books and other publications. But an unfocussed search over the various Secondary sources of data may take a long time and result in masses of data which will take very long time to analyze. Desk research is usually easier and almost invariably much cheaper. It may not provide precisely what is needed and, therefore, we may have to resort to field research.
1.1.2. Field Research

This is where we have to go out and find out information first hand by talking to current and potential customers. Some of the major types of field research include: Telephone research: Telephone surveys are less expensive than in-person surveys, but costlier than mail. However, due to consumer resistance to relentless telemarketing, convincing people to participate in phone surveys has grown increasingly difficult. Telephone surveys generally yield response rates of 50 to 60 percent. Structured questionnaires: A questionnaire is a group or sequence of questions designed to elicit information from an informant or respondent when asked by an interviewer or completed unaided by the respondent. When an interviewer is involved, the questionnaire is sometimes referred to as an interview. A structured questionnaire, on the other hand, is one in which the questions asked are precisely decided in advance. When used as an interviewing method, the questions are asked exactly as they are written, in the same sequence, using the same style, for all
interviews. Nonetheless, the structured questionnaire can sometimes be left a bit open for the interviewer to amend to suit a specific context. [40] Street interviewing: They are one-on-one interviews typically conducted in high-traffic locations such as shopping malls. They allow you to present people with samples of products, packaging, or advertising and gather immediate feedback. In-person surveys can generate response rates of more than 90 percent, but they are costly. Face to face interviewing: Face Face interviewing is a more formal approach where the respondents participate in a formal one to one discussion with researcher. There are very few communication barriers in Face to Face interviews Field trials: Placing a new product in selected stores to test customer response under real-life selling conditions can help you make product modifications, adjust prices, or improve packaging. Small business owners should try to establish rapport with local store owners and Web sites that can help them test their products. Focus groups : In focus groups, a moderator uses a scripted series of questions or topics to lead a discussion among a group of people. These sessions take place at neutral locations, usually at facilities with videotaping equipment and an observation room with one-way mirrors. A focus group usually lasts one to two hours, and it takes at least three groups to get balanced results Observation: Individual responses to surveys and focus groups are sometimes at odds with people's actual behavior. When you observe consumers in action by videotaping them in stores, at work, or at home, you can observe how they buy or use a product. This gives you a more accurate picture of customers usage habits and shopping patterns. All these techniques have a role to play in collecting market information but they result in different 'cuts' of information and some may not be appropriate. We must decide on which are the appropriate techniques relevant for our problem, and having obtained the information -
analyze the results. The type of data you need and how much money youre willing to spend will determine which techniques you choose for your business. [3][4]
1.2. PHASES IN A MARKET RESEARCH PROGRAM

Any Market Research has 4 phases of execution. They are 1. Design 2. Administration 3. Analysis 4. Reporting The following figure illustrates the sequential flow of the 4 phases of market research
Figure 3: Phases of Market Research
DESIGN
ADMINISTRATION
ANALYSIS
REPORTING
(Source: www.overseastargetmarketing.com/solutions.asp)
1.2.1. Design:
This phase includes 3 stages. 1. Define the Research Problem : The first step in any marketing research project is to define the problem. In defining the problem, the researcher should take into account the purpose of the study, the relevant background information, what information is needed, and how it will be used in decision making. Problem definition involves discussion with the decision makers, interviews with industry experts, analysis of secondary data, and, perhaps, some qualitative research, such as focus groups. Once the problem has been precisely defined, the research can be designed and conducted properly The step defining the research problem exists of 2 main steps: (1) formulating the problem and (2) establishing research objectives. Defining the problem is the single most important step in the market research process. A clear statement of the problem is a key to a good research. A firm
may spend hundreds or thousands of dollars doing market research, but if it has not correctly identified the problem, those dollars are wasted. After formulating your problem, you need to formulate your research questions. What questions need to be answered and which possible subquestions do you have. With the problem or opportunity defined, the next step is to set objectives for your market research operations. Research objectives, related to and determined by the problem formulation, are set so that when achieved they provide the necessary information to solve the problem. A good way of setting research objectives is to ask, What information is needed in order to solve the problem? 2. Design the Research: A research design is a framework or blueprint for conducting the marketing research project. It details the procedures necessary for obtaining the required information, and its purpose is to design a study that will test the hypotheses of interest, determine possible answers to the research questions, and provide the information needed for decision making. Conducting exploratory research, precisely defining the variables, and designing appropriate scales to measure them are also a part of the research design. The issue of how the data should be obtained from the respondents (for example, by conducting a survey or an experiment) must be addressed. It is also necessary to design a questionnaire and a sampling plan to select respondents for the study. In this stage we have to choose the relevant research design. There are three types of research design: o Exploratory research design: Exploratory research is defined as collecting information in an unstructured and informal way. o Descriptive research: Descriptive research refers to a set of methods and procedures that describe marketing variables. Descriptive studies portray these variables by answering who, what, why and how questions. These types of research studies may describe such things as consumers attitudes, intentions, and behaviors, or the number of competitors and their strategies. o Causal research: Causal research design is conducted by controlling various factors to determine which factor is causing the problem. It allows you to isolate causes and effects. By changing one factor, say price you can monitor its effects on a key consequence such as sales. Although causal research can give you a high level of understanding of the
variable you are studying, the designs often require experiments that are complex and expensive. The next step in this stage is identifying the data sources. There are two types of information available to a market researcher: primary data and secondary data. Primary data is original information gathered for a specific purpose. Secondary data refers to information that already exists somewhere and has been collected for some other purpose. Both types of research have a number of activities and methods of conducting associated with them. Secondary research is usually faster and less expensive to obtain than primary research. After determining which type(s) of information are needed, the methods of accessing data must be determined. The several methods of collecting data are mentioned in the previous section. More formally, formulating the research design involves the following steps: 1. Secondary Data Analysis 2. Qualitative Research 3. Methods of collecting quantitative data (Survey, Observation and Experimentation) 4. Definition of information needed 5. Measurement and scaling procedures 6. Questionnaire Design 7. Sampling process and Sampling size 8. Plan of Data Analysis 3. Designing Data Collection Forms The actual design of the research instrument, the data collection form that is used to ask and record the information is critical to the success of the project. There are two basic methods to collect information: by asking questions or by observing. The most common research instrument is the questionnaire. There are two types of forms: structured and unstructured. Structured questionnaires list close-end questions. These include multiple choice questions which offer respondents the ability to answer yes or no or choose from a list of several answer choices. Close-end questions also include scales refer to questions that ask respondents to rank their answers at a particular point on a scale. Unstructured questionnaires have open-ended questions. Respondents can answer in their own words.
1.2.2. Administration
Administration Phase includes two stages: 1. Specify the Sample: Choosing the right sample with the right sample size is very essential for any research. Many times sampling errors creep in and hinder from arriving to appropriate results. Probability Sampling methods are most commonly used in structure questionnaire studies. The basic principle underlying Probability Sampling is that the selection of any respondent in the study population is based on known (usually equal) probability.
2. Collect the Data: Collection of data is performed using various techniques of Market research which are mentioned before. For Primary Data collection we generally use structured questionnaires and Face to Face Interviews.
1.2.3. Analysis
Data analysis is needed to give the raw data any meaning. The first step in analyzing the data is cleaning the data/Data Preparation. This is the process of checking the raw data to verify that the data has been correctly entered into the files from the data collection form. Data preparation includes the editing, coding, transcription, and verification of data. Each questionnaire or observation form is inspected, or edited, and, if necessary, corrected. Number or letter codes are assigned to represent each response to each question in the questionnaire. The data from the questionnaires are transcribed or key-punched on to magnetic tape, or disks or input directly into the computer. Verification ensures that the data from the original questionnaires have been accurately transcribed. After that the data have to be coded. This is the process of assigning all response categories a numerical value. (For example males = 1, females =2.) Once Data Coding is done, various statistical tools are applied to the data gathered to arrive at the results.
1.2.4. Reporting
The entire project should be documented in a written report which addresses the specific research questions identified, describes the approach, the research design, data collection, and a data analysis procedure adopted, and presents the results and the major findings. The findings
should be presented in a comprehensible format so that they can be readily used in the decision making process. In addition, an oral presentation should be made to management using tables, figures, and graphs to enhance clarity and impact. [5] The following figure illustrates the various stages in the phases of Market Research:
Figure 4: Stages of Market Research Process
1.Define The Problem (or) Oppurtunity
2.Design The Reaserch
3.Design The Data Collection Forms
4.Specify the Sample
5.Collect The Data
6.Analyze The Data
7.Write The Research & Present its Findings
(Source: http://media3.bmth.ac.uk/marketing/general-images/fig6-1.gif)
1.3.
MARKET SEGMENTATION
Market segmentation is the division of the market or population into subgroups with similar motivations. Widely used bases for segmenting include geographic differences, personality differences, demographic differences, use of product differences, and psychographic differences. Segmentation is essentially the identification of subsets of buyers within a market that share similar needs and demonstrate similar buyer behavior. The world is made up of billions of buyers with their own sets of needs and behavior. Segmentation aims to match groups of purchasers
with the same set of needs and buyer behavior. Such a group is known as a 'segment'. Segmentation is a form of critical evaluation rather than a prescribed process or system, and hence no two markets are defined and segmented in the same way. However there are a number of underpinning criteria that assist us with segmentation: [6] Is the segment viable? Can we make a profit from it? Is the segment accessible? How easy is it for us to get into the segment? Is the segment measurable? Can we obtain realistic data to consider its potential? A company will evaluate each segment based upon potential business success. Opportunities will depend upon factors such as: the potential growth of the segment the state of competitive rivalry within the segment how much profit the segment will deliver how big the segment is how the segment fits with the current direction of the company and its vision. Market segmentation makes it possible for firms to tailor the marketing mix for specific target markets, thus better satisfying customer needs. Not all elements of the marketing mix are necessarily changed from one segment to the next.
1.3.1. Business Market Segmentation

While many of the consumer market segmentation bases can be applied to businesses and organizations, the different nature of business markets often leads to segmentation on the following bases: [6] Geographic segmentation - based on regional variables such as customer concentration, regional industrial growth rate, and international macroeconomic factors. Customer type - based on factors such as the size of the organization, its industry, position in the value chain, etc. Buyer behavior - based on factors such as loyalty to suppliers, usage patterns, and order size.
Figure 5 illustrates the concept of segmentation based on various factors:
Figure 5: Segmentation
GEOGRAPHY region,type of settlement,media, c onsumption
DEMOGRAPHICS gender,age,type of house hold,no. of children
SOCIO ECONOMICS education,inco me,occupation
BEHAVIOUR Share of customer,Frequency of usage/purchase,patt erns of usage
WHAT
PSYCHOGRAPHICS WHO Attitudes, values, interests, activities, lifestyles
WHERE WHEN HOW
WHY?
NEEDS Characteristics, advantages, benefits
(Source: http://www.valicon.net/uploads/whowhatwhy_eng_popravki.gif)
1.3.2. Segmentation criteria

Ideally, good market segments meet the following criteria: 1. Homogeneous (similar) withinthe customers in a market segment should be as similar as possible with respect to their likely responses to marketing mix variables and their segmenting dimensions. 2. Heterogeneous (different) betweenthe customers in different segments should be as different as possible with respect to their likely responses to marketing mix variables and their segmenting dimensions.
3. Substantialthe segment should be big enough to be profitable. 4. Operationalthe segmenting dimensions should be useful for identifying customers and deciding on marketing mix variables. It is especially important that segments be operational. This leads marketers to include demographic dimensions such as age, income, location, and family size. In fact, it is difficult to make some Place and Promotion decisions without such information.
1.3.3. Levels of Segmentation:

Segmentation process essentially performed at 3 levels they are [43]: a. Structural Segmentation b. Need Based Segmentation c. Sales Effectiveness Segmentation Structural Segmentation: Structural segmentation follows a Porter type analyses .This segmentation is targeted towards the business questions like: Should the investment be made or not. Need based segmentation: This segmentation identifies the needs of the customers which would be further useful in the Product development or the service delivery. Sales Effectiveness Segmentation: This segmentation is focused on identifying and allocating resources on the prospects that are willing to buy the product, there by improving the sales.
Figure 6: Levels of Segmentation
1. Should we play? 2. What should we offer 3.Who is our next customer
STRUCTURAL SEGMENTATION Defines market oppurtunity NEED BASED SEGMENTATION Drives Product or service development
SALES EFFECTIVENESS SEGMENTATION Identifies the best prospects
(Source:http://www.qdistrategies.com/images/threelevelsofsegmentation.png)
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
The structure of the gaming industry has changed dramatically in the 1990s after several decades of stability [1]. Despite the concentrated industry structure, technical progress opened many commercial opportunities. Firms that had previously supplied different segments now compete for the same customers. This change in industry structure resulted in much more aggressive behavior and a more competitive market generally. One important feature of the gaming industry is rapid and sustained technical innovation. Integrated circuits and many other electronic components continually become better, faster, and cheaper, providing opportunities to improve existing gaming devices as well as to design new kinds of hardware. While the development of new technical opportunities must play a role in any analysis of the gaming industry's history, the development of technological opportunities cannot provide, by itself, much of an explanation of changing industry structure. It is only one factor behind changes in firm behavior, changes in buyer choices of vendors. (Technological competition and structure of computer industry).
The handheld gaming console market has continued to grow at double digit rates. As stated by Jason Dedrick and Kenneth L. Kraemer in their research paper, New Product Development in a Global Knowledge Network: The Gaming Industry; Businesses are increasingly relying on knowledge networks to support innovation and create competitive advantage. To sustain with the competition a good marketing strategy plays the differential factor.[2] A robust marketing strategy is built on the strong foundation of proper Market Definition and Market Research is what Geoffrey R. Brooks shows in his study titled Defining Market Boundaries [3].It is shown that markets should be defined based on geography in terms of product or service types. Defining markets allow finer-grained measurement of competitive conditions than would be possible under the usual assumptions that industries (groups of firms producing similar products) and markets (sets of customers served by sets of suppliers) are coterminous and uniform across their constituent firms. Since conditions of competition that firms face are generally defined and measured in the context of markets (whether termed
industry or market, and whether the markets are explicitly or implicitly defined), market definition is an essential element of studies of competition. Like in Gaming industry, firms compete because they have something to compete over-the customers that they have in common. If we say that firms which produce similar products are competitors, we leave implicit the underlying assumption that because they produce similar products, they will be targeting the same customers. It is because the firms attempt to sell their similar products to the same customers that they compete-having similar products is not sufficient to identify them as competitors products. Identification of competitors, then, is a consequence of identifying both customers in common, and similar products.
According to Stigler and Sherwin, Determining the extent of the relevant competitive environment for a firm is the first of two steps in assessing the competitive conditions that it faces. The second is to measure conditions of competition within the defined boundaries [3]. Specifically while launching a new product in a highly competitive market, understanding and identifying the right competitor is highly essential to build the right strategy. Since there exists cut throat competition in the gaming industry, analyzing the competitors helps in Proper Product Positioning. It also aids in better Product Innovation. In a highly dynamic industry like that of Gaming industry, competitor analysis and a Market research to understand the consumer behavior and priorities are the two main pre requisites during a new product launch. Firms invest in new product effort in an attempt to attain industry leadership, thus securing high profits and benefiting from advantages relevant for the success of future product generations [3].
The analysis done by Elie Ofek and Miklos Sarvary of Harward Business School reveals that when the current Market leader possesses higher research and development (R&D) competence, it tends to invest more in R&D than rivals in order to retain its lead position [4]. Although potential profit rewards motivate investment in new product activity, it may not be the case that all firms in a given industry possess the same research and development (R&D) or marketing capabilities needed to master future success. In general, the analysis of competitive dynamics reveals two main forces that affect effort levels and leadership patterns. The first is
related to how being a leader impacts a firm's investment productivity, defined as the marginal change in the probability of winning the next round because of a marginal increase in current investment. The second is related to how the prospect of becoming a leader and attaining the advantage affects future payoffs, either by prolonging the expected future stay in the lead position or by allowing less future investment to achieve the same chances of winning.
It is found that, when the advantage is in the form of higher R&D competence (innovative advantage), the investment productivity effect tends to induce greater leader effort and lower follower effort, dominating the future- payoff effect, which in this case gives all firms greater incentive to win because of the longer expected time of retaining the lead position. When the advantage of being a leader is in the ability to exploit factors that yield an increase in probability of success independent of current R&D efforts (reputation advantage) [4], such as brand recognition or channel relations, leader investment productivity is found to be strongly decreasing in the advantage. Leader and follower are found to allocate resources between R&D and advertising differently. The leader takes advantage of the strong demand for its current product by focusing more on advertising, whereas the follower expends more on R&D.
With Bertrand competition, the firm with the highest-quality product can price so as to force all other firms to make zero profits. A second possible approach posits the existence of a considerable consumer segment with higher willingness to pay for the product they deem best. Third, if network externalities are present, and consumer expectations track quality improvement, a similar conclusion can be obtained which shows the prevalence of "winnertake-most" outcomes in technology- based markets (Arthur 1996, Shapiro and Varian 1999). Although cumulative investment outcomes do matter in business, R&D effort does not stock from period to period. Because of the inherent risk associated with R&D, it is possible that a firm that invests more than a competitor will be unsuccessful. If R&D efforts were then to be treated as a pure "stock" variable, the unsuccessful firm would be at an advantage compared with the successful one. With the outcome of risky R&D investment relevant, it is assumed that the increase in relative capability obtained from success is not linked to the exact amount previously invested (although more investment increases the likelihood of such capability gain).
As long as reputation advantage is moderate, all firms are equally likely to attain leadership in the next period. When reputation advantage is high, the future-payoff effect does not offset the large investment needed to match leader probability of winning, and prolonged incumbent dominance is expected. These findings convey an important consideration that has to be taken care of while conducting a Market Research. A Research program plan differs from firm to firm. It has to be planned taking into consideration the availability/unavailability of reputation and innovation advantages. Hence resulting in better future pay offs. Although a lot of research and study was made to which explains how the research has to be planned and give a general perspective of R&D that should be under taken during a new product launch and also how to establish their product in highly dynamic and competitive industry. But there exists a lacuna in understanding the preferences and buying behavior of the customers from SMB segment in the preschool industry. Hence this project would aid in specifically understanding the choices and preferences of the SMB/Enterprise segments which are indeed a huge potential markets. Since HCL has launched a series of new gaming products, this study would help in better product positioning as it will be having a better understanding of the SMB/Enterprise customers choices and preferences. Also through this study, HCL can know the perceptions and feed back of the existing customers. This data would help HCL in order to find out any dissatisfaction amongst the existing customers, and the areas of improvement, which improves customer satisfaction thereby developing Brand Loyalty. Apart from analyzing the competitors and Market boundaries it is also essential to study the influence of product attributes. The study done by S. SriramPradeep K, ChintaguntaRamya and Neelamegham in the paper Effects of Brand Preference, Product Attributes, and Marketing Mix Variables in Technology Product Markets , shows that With changing consumer
preferences, managers need to evaluate to effects of product attributes and marketing activities on the performance in the marketplace. A related issue is the need to assess the effects of attribute improvements as well as the introduction of new models with enhanced product attributes on the performance of the brand. Given the high cost of new product development (Urban and Hauser 1993), Intrinsic brand preferences have a much bigger effect on the
performance of the brand than the inclusive value which reflects model level prices, product attributes, and the length of the brands product line. Monitoring consumers brand preferences is highly essential. In practice, intrinsic brand preferences can be inferred from tangible performance measures such as sales after accounting for the effects of other factors that may have influenced these measures. Given the rapid introduction and withdrawal of models in these markets, one needs to, while measuring the dynamics in brand preferences, partial out the effect of the changing portfolio of models on a brands performance. [10] Besides monitoring these preference changes, it is also essential to understand the drivers of preferences over time. The next important step is to understand the role of advertising in driving the dynamics of brand preferences. Given that the markets for technology products evolve rapidly, we usually observe some interesting dynamics in the performance of the key brands. Changes in performance are tied to changes in intrinsic preferences. At the same time, they could also be due to (a) the changing portfolio of models in a brands product line; and / or (b) modifications in the attributes and prices of the models in the product line. This calls for an assessment of the relative influence of product line and intrinsic brand preferences on the performance of brands in a category. Such an assessment, will guide managers on which aspect to emphasize in order to improve their brands performance. Studies by Kekre and Srinivasan (1990), Bayus and Putsis (1999) and Draganska and Jain (2005) find a positive impact of a firms product line length (included as a covariate) on its demand. The high carryover of the intrinsic brand preferences is consistent with the notion that brand equity is an enduring constructs (Keller 1998). [10] The research also shows that advertising has a significant positive effect on the intrinsic brand preferences. Given the carryover in intrinsic brand preferences, the effect of advertising on the intrinsic brand preferences and hence on sales also carries over from period to period. Brand Awareness can be increased only by heavy advertising along with marketing mix. A long period of exposure is absolutely necessary for a brand to get registered in the minds of a significant number of people. In an experiment conducted on brands, among the 106 brands quoted by twenty respondents, not even one brand had been introduced in the past five years. Results of a similar experiment show that a new product has a better chance for acceptance if it comes in under an old brand name. So it is mandatory for marketers to spend a significant
amount of money on advertising in order to familiarize the brand with the target customer segment. The amount to be spent precisely is left to the discretion of the marketer based on the budget available for advertising expenditure (Leo Bogart and Charles Lehman, 1973). Besides advertising, the important factor that influences the consumer behavior is the product specification. CHRISTOPHER K. HSEE, YANG YANG, YANGJIE GU, JIE CHEN have shown how quantitative specifications influence consumer preferences, in their research work Specification Seeking: How Product Specifications Influence Consumer Preference.As part of the research findings they project that most of the consumers have money illusiona tendency to base judgment on the nominal value of money rather than on its real purchasing power .Hence stating that the product pricing structure influences the consumer behavior. Specifications are objective, quantifiable, and out there and therefore are sound grounds on which choosers can justify their choice to themselves or to others Therefore, when making a choice, consumers resort to specifications. Contrary to making a choice, when expressing attitude [11] Due to the intense competition in the gaming industry it becomes mandatory for the manufacturers to understand the needs and requirements of the customer properly and cater to those requirements. Customers generally have a perception in their minds about a particular company and it is very important for the manufacturers to understand this perception and match customers requirements with the perception in their minds (Subhasis Ray, 2009). [22] Hence analyzing the consumer behavior is an important part of framing the marketing strategy. In the book Consumer Behavior and Marketing Strategy, the authors J.Paul Peter and Jerry C .Olson, explain the role of Consumer research and Analysis in marketing strategy. [12]
Figure 7: Role of Consumer Research in Marketing Strategy
CONSUMER RESEARCH & ANALYSIS
CONSUMERS:AFFECT AND COGNITION ,BEHAVIORS AND ENVIRONMENT MARKETING STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
MARKETING STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT
Consumer analysis and research are the key activities for developing marketing strategies .The above figure illustrates the role of consumer research and analysis in the Marketing Strategy. The logical sequence is to first research and analyzes the consumers think, feel and does relative to a companys offerings and those of competitors. In addition, an analysis of consumer environments is called to see what factors are currently influencing them and what challenges are occurring. Based on this research analysis the marketing strategy is developed that involves setting objectives, specifying an appropriate target market and developing a marketing mix to influence it. This is followed by the implementation of the strategy. Consumer research and analysis should not end with the implementation of the strategy; rather the research should continue to investigate the effects of the strategy and whether it could be made more effective. Thus, marketing strategy should involve a continuous process of researching and analyzing consumers and developing, implementing, and continuously improving strategies. The consumer analysis essential includes 3 elements. They are: 1. Consumer Affect and Cognition 2. Consumer Behavior 3. Consumer Environments
Figure 8: Elements of Consumer Analysis
Consumer Affect and cognition
Consumer Behavior
Consumer Environment
The above figure illustrates the reciprocal system of the elements of the Consumer Analysis. Consumer Affect and Cognition refer to two types of mental responses consumers exhibit towards stimuli and events in their environment. Affect refers to their feelings about the stimuli and events .Cognition refers to their thinking and beliefs. Consumer Behavior refers to the physical actions of consumers that can be directly observed and measured by others. It is also called the Overt Behavior to distinguish from the mental activities. Consumer Environment refers everything external to consumers that influence what they think, feel and do. It includes Social stimuli such as actions of others in cultures, sub cultures, social classes, reference groups and families that influence consumers. It also includes other physical stimuli such as stores, products, advertisements, and signs that can change consumers thoughts, feelings and actions. Each of these two elements are connected in two ways. Any one of them can be either the cause or an effect of change in one or more of the elements. Hence this consumer process is a dynamic, interactive and a reciprocal system. In a Reciprocal System, any of the elements can be either a cause or an effect of a change at any particular time. Affect & Cognition can change Consumer Behavior & Environment .Behavior can change consumers Affect, Cognition and Environments. Environments can change consumers Affect, Cognition and behavior. [12] One of the most effective ways of understanding the customers perceptions and preferences is to conduct a Market Research. The analysis done by Elie Ofek and Miklos Sarvary of Harward
Business School reveals that when the current Market leader possesses higher research and development (R&D) competence, it tends to invest more in R&D than rivals in order to retain its lead position [13]. Although potential profit rewards motivate investment in new product activity, it may not be the case that all firms in a given industry possess the same research and development (R&D) or marketing capabilities needed to master future success. In general, the analysis of competitive dynamics reveals two main forces that affect effort levels and leadership patterns. The first is related to how being a leader impacts a firm's investment productivity, defined as the marginal change in the probability of winning the next round because of a marginal increase in current investment. The second is related to how the prospect of becoming a leader and attaining the advantage affects future payoffs, either by prolonging the expected future stay in the lead position or by allowing less future investment to achieve the same chances of winning. It is found that, when the advantage is in the form of higher R&D competence (innovative advantage), the investment productivity effect tends to induce greater leader effort and lower follower effort, dominating the future- payoff effect, which in this case gives all firms greater incentive to win because of the longer expected time of retaining the lead position. When the advantage of being a leader is in the ability to exploit factors that yield an increase in probability of success independent of current R&D efforts (reputation advantage) [13], such as brand recognition or channel relations, leader investment productivity is found to be strongly decreasing in the advantage. Leader and follower are found to allocate resources between R&D and advertising differently. The leader takes advantage of the strong demand for its current product by focusing more on advertising, whereas the follower expends more on R&D. With Bertrand competition, the firm with the highest-quality product can price so as to force all other firms to make zero profits. A second possible approach posits the existence of a considerable consumer segment with higher willingness to pay for the product they deem best. Third, if network externalities are present, and consumer expectations track quality improvement, a similar conclusion can be obtained which shows the prevalence of "winnertake-most" outcomes in technology- based markets (Arthur 1996, Shapiro and Varian 1999). Although cumulative investment outcomes do matter in business, R&D effort does not stock from period to period. Because of the inherent risk associated with R&D, it is possible that a firm that invests more than a competitor will be unsuccessful. If R&D efforts
were then to be treated as a pure "stock" variable, the unsuccessful firm would be at an advantage compared with the successful one. With the outcome of risky R&D investment relevant, it is assumed that the increase in relative capability obtained from success is not linked to the exact amount previously invested (although more investment increases the likelihood of such capability gain). As long as reputation advantage is moderate, all firms are equally likely to attain leadership in the next period. When reputation advantage is high, the future-payoff effect does not offset the large investment needed to match leader probability of winning, and prolonged incumbent dominance is expected. Understanding the customers needs and then a Market research for its support are the two important criteria for any business. The next important task is providing the products to the customers, i.e. the mode of distribution. The availability of the products is a significant influencing factor of the business. The Firms in multichannel, multiproduct settings must often decide which channel to enter, which channel to exit, and which product to sell in which channel. None of these are easy decisions because a firms channel strategy is often intertwined with its product-line, market segmentation, positioning, and targeting strategies (Kotler 2000). A firms channel actions affect not only its own profits and customer welfare but also its relationships with channel intermediaries and other firms in the market. The issue of managing multiple channels along with multiple product lines is a particularly noteworthy aspect of the market for personal computers (PCs) because all PC makers offer multiple product lines through multiple distribution channels, and most customers, typically the highest-value customers, use multiple channels for shopping and purchasing (Yulinsky 2000). The same marketing channel may work well for one firm but not for another. When Dell started its online business in 1996, the response from customers was overwhelming (Rangan and Bell 1998), but when Compaq decided to go direct, it faced resistance from its channel partners (Cassmir 1997). Therefore, the questions that are to be focused while taking a managerial decision are: Which channel works better for which firm, and how can the financial implications of changing the channel structure or channelproduct line combinations be evaluated? Evaluating proposed changes in channels of distribution and the corresponding matching of products to channels is a difficult task for the management of any company. Unlike changes in
other elements of the marketing mix, such as price, advertising, and many forms of promotions, the likely consequences of changes in channel structure cannot be easily determined by running localized experiments. [14] In the gaming market, the different distribution channels collectively serve both institutional and home segments. These channels differ in price, promotion, assortment, convenience, and services. For the same product, consumers derive different utility and
therefore shop across channels. Thus, changes in channels and/or product mix and variations in their matching affect consumer welfare, and it is important for firms to understand the implications of such changes. Whereas institutional customers can access all the channels, individual customers may not have access to some channels (e.g., value-added resellers). [14]
These findings convey the importance of the Consumer analysis, Market research and the Mode of distribution as a part developing the marketing strategy, specifically in the PC industry. A Research program, Distribution channel plan differs from firm to firm. All the findings of the research are taking overall customers into consideration. There exists a gap in understanding the SMB customers in specific. Hence this project bridges this gap with the survey of the SMB customers
3. INDUSTRY OVERVIEW:
3.1. INDIAN GAMING INDUSTRTY
Gaming is developing into one of the key growth segments in India with the country having majority of its population as youth. The Indian toy and gaming market is estimated at USD 240 million in the year 2010 and is expected to grow by a 53% per annum to reach USD 1298 million by 2014.This includes the revenue from both the consumer as well as the services market. The gaming industry in India comprises of four Key segments PC Gaming These are software games available in compact discs or DVDs running on personal computers. Depending on the games. It requires high-end graphic and accelerator cards. These are generally single player in nature, however they can also be network based games.
Single player games are at times played against the computer on our own personal computer. Mobile Gaming - It refers to the games played on mobile phones, smart phones and other high-end mobile phones. The games are small java based application unlike console gaming where there is full fledged software engine behind the game. Online Gaming These games are classifies ass Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORG) and played over internet. Herein, large number of players interacts over internet. Apart from the graphic card and accelerator card, one also needs to have high-speed broadband connection. Console Gaming Games played on dedicated hardware devices are known as consoles. In some cases output devices are computers or television. These consoles can be fixed such as Sonys ps3 and Microsofts XBOX or it can be portable such Sony PSP, Nintendo gameboy and HCL Me handheld gaming consoles. Segment Wise Evolution of Indian Gaming Industry
Figure 9: Segment wise evolution of Indian Gaming Industry
(*Source: NASSCOM Industry Report, 2009) ANALYSIS OF SEGEMNTS Console gaming currently accounts for around 15% of the market share in 2009 (Source: Nasscom Industry Report 2009). This includes only the software application and does not take into account the purchase of consoles or peripherals used to play the games. It is estimated that hardware console market in India is around Rs. 3.5 4 billion. Further, It is estimated that console gaming will grow at a good 22% CAGR.
Mobile gaming is the largest segment commanding around 57% of the market share backed by robust volume of players and mobile phones in the market. However, the revenue share is skewed towards the VAS providers with telecom players like Bharti, Reliance and others taking away the chunk of 70- 75% of revenues, while the rest goes to content providers. It is estimated that, in future, the market for mobile gaming would accelerate at lightening speed and is set to capture 67% of the market by 2014 thanks to the exorbitant penetration of mobile phones. Online gaming market is less affected by piracy due to better control over the licensed products to play the MMORG games online. Hence, the market for online games is larger than PC gaming which is severely debilitated by piracy. However, though online gaming is expected to escalate at a steady rate, due to faster growth of mobile gaming, the market share is likely to slip. PC gaming is the smallest segment which is again being impaired by piracy. Illegal copies of PC games are available in the market for as low as Rs. 50 100. Moreover, since the games are played mostly on private network or personal computer, user is less concerned about getting the legal copy of the game. Besides, since the original copy is priced at 10 to 15 times the illegal copy, it becomes more economically viable for the user who, hence, prefers to buy the copy from the local market. Thus, the market for PC gaming is the smallest compared to others. Though the Government is cracking down on the pirated market and bringing in more stringent laws, there are still lots of loopholes on the implementation side and, therefore, the market is not expected to change soon.
KEY TRENDS IN INDIAN GAMING INDUSTRY

Arrival of 3G The 3G auction finally got underway and concluded successfully with the Government achieving a huge windfall gain. 3G will provide higher speed and more spectrum space for data and voice. Currently, the telecom operators are commanding a very low ARPU from the existing telecom users. Hence, it is expected that mobile operators will push more VAS applications and gaming, in particular, to the users. This would boost the mobile gaming industry in the country.
Increasing broadband penetration India registered a total of 7.82 million broadband subscribers in 1st quarter of 2010, up from 3.1 million in 1st quarter of 2008 indicating a rising CAGR of 59% over the past two years. Broadband penetration is the key to growth of online gaming as well as augmenting the general awareness about gaming
Social gaming - the next big thing Social gaming is a new segment which is growing at a very fast rate. Internet users are getting addicted to social networking sites like Facebook, Orkut, Ibibo and others. A large portion of their time (30-40%), driven by gaming, is spent on these social networking sites. It is estimated that in the next 3-5 years, social gaming would be a major revenue generator for content creators
Key Growth drivers for the Indian Gaming Industry

Increased demand for Gaming (Global & Domestic): Globally, gaming is expected to continue its growth especially with the trend of Massive Multi-Player Online Role Playing Games (MMORG) picking up. This is expected to lead to more development, testing and porting work for Indian players. Gaming, especially mobile gaming in India is expected to go up on account of increasing mobile and internet penetration coupled with increased affordability due to falling prices of games. Increased share for Indian players: Indian players currently command only ~1% of the outsourcing market. As the skill-sets of the Indian players improve, this share is expected to go up. Increased Outsourcing: Gaming players overseas are increasingly focusing on cost reduction leading to greater outsourcing. There are some more important growth drivers for the Indian gaming industry and they are as follows Rise in disposable income Favorable demographics Cost competitiveness Proliferation of Internet
Key Challenges for Indian Gaming Industry

Expensive hardware and software
Console hardware prices are in the range of Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 20,000 in the Indian market. Comparatively, the grey market, offers the same at a substantial discount. Going by the current prices, these gaming consoles are just a cherished dream for most teenagers in the country. To add to it, the software games for these consoles are in the range of Rs. 500 to Rs. 2,500 making it expensive for the general masses. What makes things more difficult is that the games are launched in the Indian market much later compared to the world release. Hence, grey market still presents a better route for users to lay their hands on the latest games.
Broadband Quality Average broadband speed per use in India is around 256-512kbps, while that required for a MMORG is over 512kbps. Better service quality and higher speed at relatively cheaper prices would help the online gaming industry grow at a faster pace
Piracy
Piracy is the single most negative factor for the gaming industry. Most of the games which are legitimately available for Rs. 500 to Rs. 1,500 are available in pirated market at 10% of the original price. Most new games reach the pirated market within a week of their release. Due to the existing price difference, users either prefer to buy the game from the grey market or download the same from the internet. Remaining factors which pose a great challenge towards Indian Gaming Industry are as followsManpower Management High duty rates in consoles Handset compatibility Revenue sharing issues in Mobile gaming are there Fragmented Distribution network
GAMING VALUE CHAIN
Table 1: Gaming Value Chain
(*Source: NASSCOM Industry Report, 2009)
CONSOLE GAMING Indian console gaming market is estimated at USD 97 million (2009) and expected to grow at 50% p.a. to reach USD 489 million by 2013. A significant percentage of the console gaming consumer revenues is shared with the console hardware manufacturers / software publishers: International Players viz. Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts etc. Moreover, the margins involved in this distribution business are very low. Hence, it is the Consumer Gaming Services market which has been analyzed from the growth perspective
Figure 10: Indian Console Gaming Market
GROWTH INDICATORS Currently, the revenues from console game development services are only USD 7 million. These revenues are completely derived from providing services to international companies. It is the growth of console gaming overseas and extent of outsourcing to India, which would determine the growth of console gaming services in India Increase in production of console games overseas Global console software market was expected to grow at 11% p.a. till 2010. This implies a greater need for game development services, which indicates a growing opportunity for Indian console gaming services players
Figure 11: Global Software Sales Market
Increase in outsourcing to India There is a significant cost differential between the production costs in India and that in US. Nasscom estimates that it costs USD 11 million to 18 million in India for a console NGN (Next Generation) game development compared to USD 18 million to 44 million in US for the similar work. Growth of console software globally coupled with the high cost savings offered by Indian console game services indicates large opportunity for gaming service providers in India
Figure 12: Production Cost Index - Consoles
MOBILE GAMING Indian mobile gaming market is estimated at USD 66 million (2009) and expected to grow at 66% p.a. to reach USD 496 million by 2013. Unlike console gaming, which is completely dominated by games from international publishers, mobile gaming consumer market in India comprises games from both the Indian publishers (e.g. Indiagames, Mobile2win) and overseas publishers. Mobile consumer gaming revenues in India includes the consumption of games from international and Indian publishers
Figure 13: Indian Mobile Gaming Market
is In India, Indian mobile gaming players earn revenues from Distribution of mobile games for international publishers (Small percentage of the overall revenue accrues to the Indian gaming player with a low profit margin) and Publishing their own games and distributing through telecom operators (~70% revenue from sale of the game shared with telecom operators in India). GROWTH INDICATORS Domestic Demand Mobile is the platform with the largest reach in India. It is believed that over 3 million users are engaged in mobile gaming every month. The top categories of games include cricket, Bollywood and action based games. Increasing mobile penetration, introduction of 3G in India, falling price points of mobile games and increased adoption of Value Added Services by telecom operators are expected to drive the mobile gaming consumer market in India and demand for mobile gaming services from domestic players Increased mobile subscriber base The Indian mobile subscriber base has been growing at a high rate of > 60% p.a. This growth rate is expected to continue as the overall mobile penetration in India continues to be way below that of the developed countries
Figure 14: Growth in Indian Mobile Subscriber, Mobile Penetration Level: India
As the mobile penetration increases, more and more people will get exposure to mobile games, which is expected to lead to greater mobile game downloads.
PC GAMING
The Indian PC gaming market is estimated at ~ USD 28 million (2009) and expected to grow at 49% p.a. to reach ~ USD 139 million by 2013.
Figure 15: Indian PC Gaming Market
A significant percentage of the PC consumer gaming revenues is shared with the international PC Game publishers, who own the IP for the PC game. Moreover, the margins involved in this distribution business are very low. Hence, it is the Gaming Services market which has been analyzed from the growth perspective
Growth Indicators The Indian PC Gaming Services revenues are completely derived by providing services to international companies. It is the growth of PC gaming overseas and extent of outsourcing to India, which would determine the growth of PC gaming services in India. Skill sets required to develop PC Games are relatively easier to master: Thus, the Indian gaming players look at this as a significant opportunity
ONLINE GAMING
The Indian Online gaming market is estimated at ~ USD 48 million (2009) and expected to grow at 41% p.a. to reach ~ USD 192 million by 2013. Currently, advertising forms the major chunk (85%) of the revenues from online games consumer market in India. However, as penetration of the internet in India and consumption of online games increases, this percentage is expected to change favorably towards subscription
Figure 16: Indian Online Gaming Market
GROWTH INDICATORS Demand from Overseas
More than 95% revenues of the Indian online gaming services come from the international market
Increasing MMORG Trend Globally
Increasing demand for MMORG globally is expected to drive the growth of this market. China is the fastest growing online gaming market, primarily due to growth of MMORG. This trend is catching up with North America and European countries as well. The 22% growth in online gaming is expected to grow at a faster rate with greater MMORG adoption. With an increase in these games, more development, testing and porting work can be expected to get outsourced to India.
Figure 17: Revenues, Online Unique Visitors
Improving skill sets of Indian Gaming Players
The Indian gamers are improving their skill-sets for developing casual online games. As the Indian players improve their capabilities, India can be an attractive destination for third-party volume off-shoring work.
Domestic Demand
Increasing internet penetration and higher adoption of MMORG (Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Games) Games are expected to drive growth of online gaming consumer market in India.
3.2
PORTERS FIVE FORCES MODEL GAMING INDUSTRY
Porters five forces model is used to analyze the Market attractiveness. This model identifies the possible threats for any industry and in turn analyses the scope for long run profits. There are five forces in this model that affect any industry [23]. They are: a) Threat of Intense segment rivalry b) Threat of new entrants c) Threat of substitutes d) Threat of Buyers growing bargaining power e) Threat of Suppliers growing bargaining power
Figure 18: Porters Five Forces Model
3.2.1. Threat of Intense Segment Rivalry

A segment with strong and aggressive competitors is unattractive. In the gaming console industry there exists very strong competition from players like SONY, NINTENDO, MITASHI, Funskool and Mitashi. These players have a much focused approach towards the gaming console market though they have diversified business segments. These are large companies and hence there are chances of the segment having advertising battles, price-wars and new product introductions. Short product life cycles are also one of the reasons for this intense segment rivalry. However very strong market growth makes it possible for all the players to increase their revenues without necessarily lowering the revenues of competitors. Taking into account all these factors, the segment rivalry in the gaming industry can be considered to be moderate.
3.2.2. Threat of New Entrants

For any sector there exists few entry and exit barriers and these barriers are the influencing factors that estimate the threat of new entrants. The most attractive segment is one in which entry barriers are high and exit barriers are low. In the Indian Gaming market brand awareness is high whereas brand loyalty is relatively low and hence this restricts the entry of new players into this segment to some extent. But the strong long-term growth in the markets revenues provides strong incentives for market entry. New players entering this segment should be financially strong in order to spend on advertising and invest in research and development (R&D) activities in order to counter the established players. Since this market is purely based on supply-demand interdependence, the chances of new entrants in this segment are very high. Hence we can say that, the threat of new entrants in gaming industry is strong.
3.2.3. Threat of substitutes

The higher the availability of substitute products, lesser is the market attractiveness. In the gaming console market the threat of substitutes is weak because the complete functionality provided by handheld gaming consoles cannot be substituted by an alternate device. The only potential threat to the gaming console market lies within the sphere of mobile phones which have slowly started attracting gamers away from the handheld gaming consoles. On the whole,
gaming industry is still versatile with the list of functionalities it is providing with a single device. And hence the threat of substitutes is relatively weak in the gaming industry.
3.2.4. Threat of Buyers growing bargaining Power

A segment with a strong bargaining power of buyers is considered to be unattractive. Bargaining power of buyers in the computer hardware market is significant because there is a lot of Product Homogeneity in the market and more over the switching costs for individual customers are insignificant. Although brand awareness is high customer loyalty is low because customers are more interested in quality and specifications rather than brands. Overall, buyers bargaining power is moderate in the gaming industry.
3.2.5. Threat of suppliers growing bargaining Power

A segment is unattractive if the companys suppliers are in a position to raise prices or reduce quantities supplied. Gaming industry is modular in nature and the components supplied to the industry need to be delivered from various suppliers. However some of the large suppliers have considerable supply power over manufacturers due to substantial brand power of their products which are incorporated into a large proportion of hardware in the market. Suppliers of such large nature have considerable supplier bargaining power in the gaming and educational laptop market. Considering these factors the overall supplier bargaining power is strong. The following table illustrates the level of influence of each of the five competitive forces in the Gaming and Educational laptop industry:
Table 2: Influence of the Porters Five Forces on the PC Industry
FACTOR Threat of suppliers bargaining power Threat of intense segment rivalry Threat of new entrants Threat of substitutes Threat of Buyers bargaining power
INFLUENCE HIGH MODERATE HIGH LOW MODERATE
4. COMPANY PROFILE
HCL Infosystems is one of the pioneers in the Indian IT sector market with its origin in 1976. For over a quarter of a century it has developed and implemented solutions for multiple market segments across a range of technologies in India, with revenue (LTM) of US $ 2.6 billion (Rs. 12,378 crores). It is India's premier hardware, services and ICT System Integration Company offering a wide spectrum of ICT products that include Computing, Storage, Networking, Security, Telecom, Imaging and Retail. HCL Infosystems draws its strength from 33 years of experience in handling the ever changing IT scenario, strong customer relationships, ability to provide cutting edge technology at best value for money and an excellent service and support infrastructure. HCL today is a one-stop-shop for all the ICT requirements of an organization.
Product details India's leading System Integration and Infrastructure Management Services Organization, HCL has specialized expertise across verticals including Telecom, BFSI, E-Governance & Power. HCL has India's largest distribution and retail network, taking to market a range of Digital Lifestyle products in partnership with leading global ICT brands, including Apple, Cisco, Ericsson, Kingston, Kodak, Konica Minolta, Microsoft, Nokia, Toshiba, and many more. HCL today has India's largest vertically integrated computer manufacturing facility with over three decades of electronic manufacturing experience. HCL desktop is the largest selling brand into the enterprise space. With India's largest ICT service network that reaches every corner of India, HCL's award winning Support Services make it the preferred choice of enterprise and consumers alike. HCL Infosystems has a 100% subsidiary that addresses the physical security technology system integration market. The subsidiary leverages technology to build a security framework called "Safe State" that will safe guard life, infrastructure & society. Achievements/usp Over the past 33 years HCL Infosystems has bagged a large number of achievements and accolades and has been a pioneer in a large number of activities: 1st to start mainstream advertising 1st offshore site started in Belfast - laying the foundations of GDM 1st truly indigenous computer 8C. Shipped same time as Apple, three years before IBM PC.
1st home computer for India "The Beanstalk" 1st to value employees over customers 1st to cross the 100,000 unit milestone in the Indian Desktop PC market. 1st to engage in mature global partnerships 1st to offer multi service delivery Bagged the first RAPDRP Order in India to implement a state wide solution involving integration of IT GIS AMR & the associated technologies HCL INFOSYSTEMS this year was ranked number 1 employer amongst the top global companies in India by Dataquest magazine .It also topped the charts in customer satisfaction in IT services and was again ranked number 1 as per the DQ-IDC study This project is under the DMS divison of HCL Infosystems. The company details are as follows:
HCL INFOSYSTEMS LTD. 2nd Floor, K1 Square Building, Plot No.5, Sikh Road, Vahini Nagar Colony Secunderabad 500 009 Contact Number- 09676649797
4.1. THE 4Ps OF MARKETING MARKETING MIX OF HCL

In order to sustain competition, new generation product developments are taken up. Lot of investments and resources are put into developing these high quality products. The true return on investment is achieved, only when the product is marketed properly. Hence a robust Marketing strategy is as essential as the quality product development. [23] The major marketing management decisions can be classified in one of the following four categories: Product Price Place (distribution) Promotion
These variables are known as the marketing mix or the 4 P's of marketing as termed by McCarthy. They are the variables that marketing managers can control in order to best satisfy customers in the target market. The firm attempts to generate a positive response in the target market by blending these four marketing mix variables in an optimal manner.
The figure shown below illustrates the 4Ps of the Marketing Mix
Figure 19: Marketing Mix-4Ps of Marketing
4.1.1. Product
The product is the physical product or service offered to the consumer. In the case of physical products, it also refers to any services or conveniences that are part of the offering. Product decisions include aspects such as functionality, Brand, Packaging and services.[44] HCL provides is customers with best quality educational laptops and handheld gaming consoles that are stylish, rugged, affordable, durable and easy to use and are fully loaded with a lot of innovative features that provide value for money. Since HCL is well known for innovation, they
provide its customers with gaming consoles that have the latest technology and are convenient to use.
4.1.2. Price
Pricing decisions take into account profit margins and the probable pricing response of competitors. Pricing includes not only the list price, but also discounts, bundling, and credit terms. [44] HCL has various models at different price ranges targeted at a particular market segment. HCL caters to both the commercial customers and the individual users. However HCL, in general, uses the market skimming strategy where customers are willing to pay a slightly higher price for a quality product.
4.1.3. Promotion
Promotion decisions are those related to communicating and selling to potential consumers. Promotion decisions involves Advertising, Sales force, Publicity, Sales promotion. [44]. HCL promotes its products aggressively through print and media and uses strong brand personalities to endorse its products. The company also changes its promotional; strategies based on the market scenario.
4.1.4. Place
Place (or placement) decisions are those associated with channels of distribution that serve as the means for getting the product to the target customers. The distribution system performs transactional, logistical, and facilitating functions. The Placing decisions include market channel member selection, logistics, inventory, and distribution.[44] HCL is easily accessible to the customer through a variety of channels. Consumers can procure HCL educational laptops and handheld gaming consoles directly from the company, order them online or procure them from Channel partners and distributors. HCL has strong dealer network that is spread out across the whole country which makes it easier for consumers to procure HCL handheld gaming consoles and educational laptops.
The next section of the report explains the Boston consultancy Group Matrix and its relevance to the HCL products.
4.2. BOSTON CONSULTANCY GROUP MATRIX

Identifying the companys strategic business units is very essential. This aids in developing separate strategies and assign appropriate strategies. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Matrix is also known as the growth-share matrix. [23]
Figure 20: BCG Matrix
The market growth rate on the vertical axis indicates the annual growth rate of the market in which the business operates. Relative Market Share, on the horizontal axis, refers to the business units market share relative to that of its largest competitor in the segment. It serves as a measure of the companys strength in the relevant market segment. It also allows the analyz ed business unit be pitted against its competitors. Market growth axis predicates the cash requirement a product needs relative to the growth of that market. A fast growing market is generally considered attractive, and pulls a lot of organizations resources in an effort to increase gains. The growth-share matrix is divided into four cells, each indicating a different type of business. The four cells are:
1. Question Marks: Question marks are businesses that operate in high-growth markets but have low relative market shares. Question marks are cash guzzlers because of market growth conditions. They do not have a dominant market position and hence do not generate much cash for the organization. 2. Stars: Stars are leaders in high growth markets. Stars tend to generate a lot of cash for the organization but it always does not necessarily produce a positive cash flow. However the company needs to spend substantial funds to keep up with the high market growth and fight off competitors attacks. 3. Cash Cows: Cash cows are market leaders in a low-growth market. A cash cow funds its own growth. Cash cows also supply investments for other products. Surplus cash from this segment is normally channeled in to question marks and stars in order to develop them as cash cows for the future. 4. Dogs: Dogs are businesses that have a weak market share in a low-growth market. Dogs often have little future and are big cash drainers on the company. They typically generate low profits or losses. The Next part of this section describes the various business units of HCL as per the BCG matrix. Figure No 21 illustrates HCL in BCG matrix.
4.2.1. HCL IN BCG MATRIX

Figure 21: HCL in BCG Matrix
HIGH
LOW
STARS
HIGH
QUESTION MARKS
HCL Educational Laptops
MARKET GROWTH RATE
HCL PCs and ME Laptops
CASH COWS
LOW
DOGS
HCL Software solutions
HP Gaming Consoles
RELATIVE MARKET SHARE

1. Question Marks: HCL Educational Laptops HCL educational laptops can be classified as question marks as they are new to the market and need to compete with established brands like funskool and Mitashi to gain market share. 2. Stars : HCL PCs / ME Laptops HCLs PC segment can be considered to be in the Star category. ME laptops are considered stars as they have a high market growth rate and enjoy a high market share as well. 3. Cash Cows: HCL Software Solutions HCLs software solutions can be termed as a cash cow. It has a high market share but the growth rate of this business unit is low.
4. Dogs: HCL Gaming Consoles HCLs gaming consoles may be considered dogs as they do not generate much revenue and have very low market shares when compared to market leaders like SONY and NINTENDO.
4.3. SWOT ANALYSIS

HCL has a robust market position in most of the product segments it serves, which provides economies of scale, besides increasing its chance of winning more customers. However, intense competition in various market segments in which the company operates will adversely affect its revenues and profitability in long term. [26]
4.3.1 STRENGTHS
1) 2) 3) 4) Robust market position Significant Brand Recognition Successful inorganic growth Design Strategy: Looks
STRENGTHS
1.Robust market position 2.Significant Brand recognition 3. Succesful inorganic growth 4. Design Strategy: looks
WEAKNESSES
1. Lack of significant presence in various market segments 2. Developing a direct distribution model
SWOT ANALYSIS _HCL OPPURTUNITIES

1.Positive outlook for gamingmarket 2. Steady growth in educational laptop services 1.Intense compitetion 2.Dependence on the third party suppliers
THREATS
Figure 22: SWOT Analysis for HCL
4.3.2 WEAKNESSES
1) Lack of significant presence in various market segments 2) Developing a direct distribution model
4.3.3 OPPURTUNITIES
1. Positive outlook for PC market 2. Steady growth in IT services
4.3.4 THREATS
1. Intense competition
2. Depends on third-party suppliers
PROJECT DETAILS
5.1. Objective of the Project
The Project has 3 objectives: 1. To gauge the acceptance /awareness levels of the Brand HCL in the SMB and Enterprise segments and their intent to buy the new launches of educational laptops and handheld gaming consoles from HCL. 2. To identify the general preferences and priorities of customers from SMBs, when they buy handheld gaming consoles and educational laptops and to analyze the satisfaction levels with their current brand of usage..
5.2. Value Addition by Choosing the Project 5.2.1. Value addition to HCL
Since the Educational Laptop and handheld gaming console market is highly competitive, every product tends to become a ME TOO product with similar features and similar price ranges. To overcome this, next generation products are launched from time to time in the highly dynamic technology industry. HCL, which survives to be the market leader with it high quality products, is launching a new series of Educational laptops and handheld gaming consoles and hence wants to gauge how far the new launches can fare in the SMB and enterprise segments. Apart from this, in order to cater better to its customers HCL wants to study the general preferences and priorities that influence the customers. These motives of HCL could be achieved only by conducting a Market Survey. This Market study in turn is the project I have taken up. The information gathered through the market research and the results of the analysis done would help the organization in identifying the prospective customers. This project also helps in making/ altering the marketing strategy for the prospective and the existing customers. Over all, the project would enhance the understanding of the organization about the customers and the market so that they can cater better for producing better profit margins.
5.2.2. Value addition to intern

As an intern, I would be exposed to various aspects of Market research and other Marketing issues. It would also aid me in understanding the Indian toy and gaming industry and the marketing strategies applicable in this specific market. Through this project I get a benefit of implementing practically the marketing concepts of Segmentation. Over all it would be a process of gaining better knowledge, by implementing the theoretical concepts learnt into practice and also a source of on the job learning. This academic value addition has driven me to take up the project.
5.3. PROJECT OUTLINE

This project is essentially a Market Survey/Research program. Market analysis and survey form to be an important and crucial part of any business plan, especially when there is a new product launch scheduled like .HCL launching the new educational laptops and handheld gaming consoles, desires to conduct a Market Research to analyze the target markets. This project includes two parts: 1. Survey of the SMBs which is focused at the primary objectives of the project 2. To find an alternate distribution channel based on the consumer preference and behavior.
The first part of the project is aimed at analyzing the SMB segment specifically and the second part of the project focuses on obtaining the perception of dealers on various brands and to understand the choices of customers from various segments.
5.4. Scope of the Project

Geographical: The Market survey of the SMBs is limited to Hyderabad. Segment of respondents: The Research is specifically done on the customers belonging to various preschools which fall into the SMB and the Enterprise segments.
5.5. PROJECT DURATION

This Summer Internship program is a 14 week program starting from Feb 15th 2011 to May 20th 2011.
5.6. PROJECT DESCRIPTION

There are various stages to be covered in this project. They are as follows:
5.6.1. Stage 1-Preliminary Research & In House Training

This is done to know the market trends, understand the Indian Toy and Gaming industry, and obtain knowledge about the various products of HCL. This phase also includes the preliminary competitors analysis. As apart of the In house training I had to gain thorough knowledge of
various HCL products from the PSG segments and specifically the new launches. Understanding the distribution patterns here at HCL, is another task which I had to take up in this phase. At HCL, the product distribution is done either by directly selling to the organization/enterprise or through the distribution channel partners.
5.6.2. Stage 2-Segmenting and Questionnaire Design

Identifying the target group of customers is an obvious part of segmentation. In this project I had to segment the customers with respect to 2 variables they are geographic segmentation and segmentation based on type of users. Geographically, I had to target the customers located in Hyderabad and according to the user type segmentation the buyers of educational laptops and handheld gaming consoles can be segmented into business users and home users. This type of market segmentation is essential because the marketing plan, marketing strategy would be based on this segmentation. While collecting the primary data we also focus on the segment specific information like profile of the target customer which includes number of students, location, or industry. This information is required to draw a general understanding of a typical customer and their preferences. In this project the target customers belong to SMB and Enterprise user type segments. The important part of this stage as well as the whole part is the structured questionnaire design. The complete analysis and results of the project is dependent on the questionnaire framed. Hence lots of efforts were put into the questionnaire design. I had to develop questionnaires addressing the SMB respondents. It was framed in such a way that it could extract the maximum information which is unbiased. The questionnaire had undergone much iteration to arrive at its present form and also a lot of literature study has been done to ensure the quality of the questionnaire.
5.6.3. Stage 3-Approaching the customers for data collection

Survey of the SMBs This stage includes 3 steps: 1. Collecting the contact details of the preschools.
2. Seeking appointments from the preschool principles for conducting the survey 3. Going to meet the official for a face-to-face interview/Email the questionnaire as per the customer preference, and in case of delay or no response, I had to follow up further. As a part of this stage, initially I had identified companies randomly from both primary and secondary data sources. As the project progressed, the target sample of customers list was figured out to be 55 preschools belonging to either SMB/Enterprise segments located in Hyderabad.
5.6.4. Stage 4-Data Analysis

This is the final stage of the project. Here the data collected through the market survey would be analyzed to get the final results. I have used SPSS software for analyzing the data. As a part of this analysis various statistical tools like Cluster Analysis, Frequency distributions have been applied to arrive at the results. The project findings and the analysis of the survey are provided in the Data Analysis section of this report. The following table illustrates the various stages that were taken up in the project
Table 3: Stages of the Project
STAGE Stage1
TASKS Preliminary Research and In house Training
Stage 2
Segmenting and Questionnaire Design
Stage 3
Identifying and approaching the respondents
Stage 4
Data Analysis and arriving at Results
5.7
Data Sources for the Research
The data collected by market research can be broadly categorized into two types, primary data and secondary data. Primary data collection is done through direct communication with the consumer. Secondary data collection includes collecting published statistics and analyzing them. In my project the major efforts are put into primary data collection which is in turn executed through face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire, approaching the
customers/channel partners. Framing and developing the questionnaire is done by me, with approval from the company guide before approaching the customers. Secondary Data is mostly used for the market trend analysis and the preliminary research. Questionnaire designing is a preliminary and necessary step to take up Primary Data collection. This report further explains the Questionnaire Design.
5.8
Questionnaire Design
Framing a Questionnaire is the crucial part of the project. Only a well framed questionnaire can gather the right information and the right amount of information. The questionnaire development of this project was allocated with a lot of time and efforts .As a part of this a lot of literature steady was done as a foundation step for developing well structured questionnaires. This section of the report includes the summary of the literature study and the final questionnaires description.
5.8.1. LITERATURE REVIEW-DEVELOPING QUESTIONNAIRES

Because of the difficulty of obtaining or giving additional clarification and information, careful questionnaire development is essential to ensure that questions will elicit all the required information, and that the questions are clear and unambiguous. In particular, it is essential to examine closely the research objectives to clarify what specific items of information are required that can be reasonably obtained through a questionnaire approach. Furthermore, development of a quality questionnaire requires knowledge of the area being questioned and of the capability of respondents to provide the information required. It also
requires having enough understanding of the respondents to word questions so that they will be understood. The amount of advance knowledge is greater to the extent that close-ended questions (yes-no, check off the option or rating scale) will be used as compared to open-ended questions (fill in the blank, short answer or paragraph answers). The effective use of close-ended questions also requires that the range of possible answers can be correctly anticipated. If respondents do not have the requisite knowledge and if terminology is not clearly understood or defined, there is a heightened risk of incorrect answers. On the other hand, close-ended questions are more readily tallied and analyzed than open-ended ones. Sorting through a large number of answers to open-ended questions in which respondents will have used widely divergent terminology and may have nearly illegible writing is both technically challenging and time consuming. Many questionnaires will try to strive for a balance between the two types of questions. Developing a good questionnaire is a structured process. It includes the following sequence of steps: [42] 1. Specify what information will be sought 2. Determine type of questionnaire and method of administration 3. Determine content of individual questions 4. Determine form of response to each question 5. Determine wording of each question 6. Determine question sequence 7. Determine physical characteristics of questionnaire 8. Re-examine steps 1 to 7 and revise if necessary 9. Pretest questionnaire and revise if necessary Along with this there are few guide lines to be followed while framing the questions. The guide lines to be followed are: [42] 1. Use simple words and questions 2. Avoid ambiguous words and questions 3. Avoid leading questions
4. Avoid implicit alternatives 5. Avoid implicit assumptions 6. Avoid generalizations and estimates 7. Avoid double-barreled questions.
5.8.2 QUESTIONNAIRES DESCRIPTION

a) Questionnaire for the SMBs
The Questionnaire essentially has 4 sections. Each section contains set of questions which focus on drawing specific information.
1. Section 1: The 1st Section contains 6 questions which extract information regarding the customer. (Size of the organization, gaming hardware brand of current usage, Product that is being used etc.) 2. Section 2 : This section includes a single question which tries to draw information regarding the customer satisfaction levels with the current brand of usage. This is done with respect to 5 parameters namely: aesthetics, quality, value for money, technical support and after sales service. Likert scale has been used in framing this question. 3. Section 3 : This includes 6 questions which are framed in order to understand the consumer behavior in the gaming industry. It also extracts details of the configuration preferred and the decision making structure in the SMB/Enterprise organizations when they buy gaming hardware. 4. Section 4: The 4rth section has 2 questions which draw information regarding the customers perceptions on various brands and their priorities while buying an educational laptops and handheld gaming consoles.
5.9
Week Wise Description of the Project Activities
5.9.1. Week 1
The first week (Feb 15th Feb 19th, 2011) of the internship program was focused on a) Understanding the Organization. b) Meeting the Company guide c) Project Briefing d) Understanding the essence and objective of the project.
5.9.2 Week 2
Activities performed in the second week (Feb 22nd Feb 26th, 2011) of training are: a) In House training of the various HCL gaming products, specifically on educational laptops and handheld gaming consoles. b) Desk Research: Research done through Secondary data sources to obtain knowledge of the gaming industry and to identify & analyze various competitors of HCL
5.9.3 Week 3
The 3rd week (Mar 01st Mar 05th, 2011) of the project duration was spent in designing the questionnaire for the market survey to be conducted. The questionnaire was framed according to the instructions and requirements of the company guide .The questionnaire framed had to under go much iteration as per the suggestions of the company guide, which finally resulted in a satisfactorily well framed questionnaire which can extract more information and unbiased data to the maximum extent possible. .
5.9.4 Week 4
The 4rth week (Mar 08th Mar 12th, 2011) of the project includes the following activities: a) Collecting the details of the target preschools belonging to the SMB/Enterprise segments which were located in various areas of Hyderabad. These companies were chose randomly by me. b) Seeking appointments c) Could collect data from about 15 companies d) Review of the initial filed work done by meeting the Company Guide. As per the suggestions of the Company Guide, I had to reframe the questionnaire in order to make it more neutral by eliminating the direct HCL specific questions. This was done so as to capture more information from customers who were reluctant to provide information on confidentiality basis .
5.9.5 Week 5
The following activities were done in the 5th week (Mar 14th Mar 18th, 2011): a) Field work. b) Discussion with the company guide regarding the customers to approach since the random selection of customers was not of much value addition to the company. c) Accumulation of the details of the various target preschools from which the company guide had short listed the required 25 organizations. d) Seeking appointments at the organizations specified in the newly generated list of target companies. .
5.9.6 Weeks 6, 7
The 6th week was a short one with only 4 working days available due to festival holidays. Both 6th and 7th weeks (Mar 19th March Apr 2nd, 2011) were spent in the field survey of approaching the organizations for the data collection.
5.9.7 Week 8
This was the period from Apr 05th Apr 09th, 2011. In order to carry on with the field survey; I had to approach my Company Guide to get the details of leads in the organizations where ever available, as I had exhausted the details available with me by then. After this I had to again start seeking appointments from the companies including the contacts provided my SIP organization, and other contact details collected by me.
5.9.8 Week s 9 & 10

Ninth and tenth (Apr 10th Apr 23rd, 2011) week of the project were spent in meeting people from SMBs who were present among the short-listed firms. Week nine also had the interim presentation and time was spent in preparing for the presentation that was given at the HCL office. By the end of 10th week all 55 preschools had been covered and there was positive response from 23 companies.
5.9.9 Week 11
The eleventh week (Apr 26th Apr 30th, 2011) of the project was used to design a questionnaire to conduct a survey of the Computer Dealers. The questionnaire had to under go little iteration as per the guidelines and suggestions of the faculty guide. After the questionnaire design was approved by the Faculty Guide survey was conducted by approaching the respondents in person.
5.9.10
Week 12
The twelfth week (May 03rd May 07th, 2011) of the project was spent in conducting the survey. The sample size of the survey was 50 dealers spread across various areas of Hyderabad. While this survey is under process, the coding and analysis of the data collected from SMB customers was also started.
5.9.11
Weeks13 & 14
The last two weeks (May 09th May 20th , 2011) of the internship were spent in analyzing all the data collected, preparing graphs and running statistical tools on the data, tabulating the results and interpreting the results to arrive at the findings and recommendations. Time was also spent on preparing the final project report and power point slides for the final presentation.
5.10 ROAD BLOCKS IN THE PROJECT

Since this project pertains to Market research, collecting unbiased information from a large sample essential .In the process of data collection I had to face many road blocks. These obstacles had forced the reduction of the sample size. As a part of my research I had to approach various preschools located in Hyderabad which belong either SMB/Enterprise segments. In this regard I had to face many obstacles in various aspects. They are as follows: 1. Obtaining the Contact details was a problem in the case of many companies. I have tried various sources like Google, Just Dial, Yellow pages; but all the efforts were unfruitful. 2. Contact details of certain companies gathered from various sources turned to be wrong/invalid 3. In case of the correct availability of contact details, I had to face a problem in reaching the concerned official as the front office did not connect me due to privacy issues. And also in some case they were specific about mentioning the host employee name with whom I had to speak. 4. Unavailability of the concerned official at their respective extension numbers was another road block. Some of them try and keep postponing the appointment by asking me to approach later but never respond again. 5. Certain preschools have denied giving any information for the survey stating the confidentiality issues.
PROJECT FINDINGS
6. DATA ANALYSIS SURVEY OF SMB CUSTOMERS

6.1 INTRODUCTION
Starting from February through April, a survey was conducted on 55 preschools located in Hyderabad. The study was conducted to assess the awareness levels of brand HCL and the check how inclined Small and Medium Business (SMB) customers were towards buying HCL handheld gaming consoles and educational laptops. A part of the study was also aimed at understanding the critical parameters of an educational laptop and handheld gaming console that would affect a customers purchase decision. A total of 90 preschools were identified in Hyderabad. Among the 90 preschools, a select 55 preschools were shortlisted by HCL, for the study. The survey was conducted among these shortlisted preschools by having a face-to-face/ telephonic interview with the principal and their secretaries in order to gather information related to their preference for gaming hardware. Following are the companies that were identified for the study. A brief note about the status of the survey has been provided beside the name of each company for quick reference.
Table 4: List of SMB customers
Edify preschool Kidzee Preschool Daksha Preschool I Play I learn Tree House Baalyam Pre School Bloomingdale Preschool The Playroom Guru School Tender care Preschool Little cherubs Preschool Funskool Modern Preschool Building blocks Preschool
Done Done Done Done Done Done Done Done Done Done Done Done Done
The data analysis and the findings of the survey have been presented from the next section in this report. Frequency Distribution has been used to arrive at these results. Of the 55 preschools shortlisted only 23 preschools could be surveyed. These findings are based only on the survey conducted at the 23 preschools.
Completed Denied Obsolete No Response No contact details Total no. of preschools
23 12 04 01 15 55
6.2.
FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION
6.2.1. Type of Business

How many students does the organization currently have?
Figure 23: Number of students
<10 Students >10 students and 100 students >100 students and 500 > 500 students
3 7 10 6
12% 27% 38% 23%
In the above responses, we can easily see small and medium segment and enterprise segment constitute the major portion of the customers for our existing products with 38% and 27% respectively.
These findings suggest that there are equal number of Small Businesses and Medium Businesses and hence the area offers scope for potential business as far as the SMB segment is considered
6.2.2. Current Brand of Gaming Hardware

Which brand of Gaming hardware do you currently use? (Please tick ALL brands if multiple brands are used) ?
Figure 24: Current Brand of Gaming Hardware
HCL HP MITASHI FUNSKOOL SONY NINTENDO Other
5 5 5 8 15 12
21% 21% 21% 33% 63% 50% 14%
According to the responses we received, SONY and NINTENDO are major players in our target segment with a major portion with 63% and 50%. Funskool is a little ahead of HCL, MITASHI, and HP. So it is very clear that the major contender in this segment for HCL would be SONY and NINTENDO.
6.2.3. Current Products

Which of the following products do you currently use?
Figure 25: Current Products
Educational Laptops Wireless Gaming Consoles Handheld Gaming Consoles Motion Sensing Gaming Consoles
14 11 15 4
54% 42% 58% 15%
As a part of the survey information was also collected about the current range of products being used by the SMB customers. Four classes of products namely Educational Laptops, Wireless gaming consoles, Handheld Gaming Consoles, Motion sensing gaming consoles were included in the survey. Only these four products were included because these are the major products of the Personal Systems Group (PSG) at HCL. According to the responses gathered, Handheld gaming consoles and educational laptops are most preferred products as well as the major products in use.
6.2.4. Purchase Frequency

How often do you buy the above items?
Once in 3 months 2 8% Once in 6 months 7 27% Once in a year 17 65%
Figure 26: Purchase Frequency
The purchase frequency of the 26 firms has been elicited in order to understand the buying patterns of the SMB customers. From the data gathered, it is evident that SMB customers acquire new gaming hardware once a year. The statistics of purchase are as follows: 08% of the customers buy Gaming hardware once in every 3 months (2 samples) 27% of the customers buy Gaming hardware once in ever 6 months (7 samples/) 65% of the customers buy Gaming hardware once in a year (17 samples)
This frequency of purchase presents us a good opportunity to convince the customers of the benefits offered by HCL and shift them to HCL products
6.2.5. Satisfaction Levels with the Current Brand

This part of the survey elicits information about the customers satisfaction level s with their current brand of Gaming hardware. Satisfaction levels on five important parameters are assessed in order to arrive at their overall satisfaction levels with the current brand of Gaming hardware being used by these companies. The five parameters that have been selected for the study are: a) Aesthetics b) Quality c) Value for Money d) Technical Support e) After Sales Service
a) Aesthetics The graph below illustrates the customers satisfaction levels as far as the aesthetics of their current brand are concerned. The data shows that overall the customers are satisfied with the aesthetics and style features of their current brand of Gaming hardware
Figure 27: Satisfaction on Aesthetics
Extremely Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Extremely Satisfied
0 27 42 31 0
According to the graph, 31% customers are satisfied with the aesthetics of their current gaming hardware and 42% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied and 27 % are dissatisfied with their gaming hardware.
b) Quality The graph below illustrate the customers satisfaction levels as far as the quality of their current brand is concerned
Figure 28: Satisfaction level on Quality
Extremely Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Extremely Satisfied
19 12 12 42 15
The data shows 15 % of the customers are Extremely Satisfied with the Quality of their current brand of Gaming hardware 42 % of the customers are Satisfied with the Quality of their current brand of Gaming hardware, while 12% of the customers are Dissatisfied with their current brand of IT hardware 19% of the customers are extremely dissatisfied with their gaming hardware.
c) Value for Money The table and graph below illustrate the customers satisfaction levels as far as the Value for Money aspect of their current brand is concerned
Figure 29: Satisfaction level on value for money
Extremely Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Extremely Satisfied The data shows
8% 23% 19% 38% 12%
38% of the customers are Satisfied and feel that their current brand of Gaming hardware offers value for money 19% of the customers are Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the value for money aspect of their current brand of Gaming hardware, while
12% of the customers are Extremely Satisfied with Value for Money aspect of their
current brand of Gaming hardware
d) Technical Support The table and graph below illustrate the customers satisfaction levels as far as the Technical Support aspect of their current brand is concerned.
Extremely Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Extremely Satisfied 8 31 19 31 12
The data shows 12% of the customers are Extremely Satisfied and feel that their current brand offers good technical support 31% of the customers are Satisfied with the technical support offered by their current brand
19% of the customers are Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the technical support
aspect of their current brand, while

31% of the customers are Dissatisfied with the technical support provided by their
current brand.
Figure 30: Satisfaction Level on Technical Support
e) After Sales Support The table and graph below illustrate the customers satisfaction levels as far as the After Sales Service aspect of their current brand is concerned.
Extremely Dissatisfied 14 Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Extremely Satisfied 35 31 27 4
The data shows 04% of the customers are Extremely Satisfied and feel that their current brand offers good after sales service 27% of the customers are Satisfied with the After Sales Service offered by their current brand, while
31% of the customers are Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the After Sales Service of
their current brand
Figure 31: Satisfaction level on after sales support
6.2.6. Purchase Intention

Information was gathered about the IT hardware purchase intention of SMB customers in the near future; near future meaning in the next 6 months to 1 year period.
Yes No 73% 27%
The data shows 73% of the customers will be making gaming consoles and educational laptop purchases in the next 6 months 1 year period, while 27% of the customers will not be making any gaming and toy related purchases in the next 6 months 1 year period.
Yes 19 73% No 7 27%
Figure 32: Purchase Intention
6.2.7. Brand Considered during Purchase

The purchase intention has been determined in the previous section. A positive purchase decision leads us to elicit the information about the brand being considered when a purchase decision is made. The following table presents information about the brand that would be considered when gaming hardware is purchased for the organization.
Nintendo HP HCL Sony Mitashi and Funskool
38 4 4 54 0
The data shows 38% of the customers would prefer purchasing NINTENDO for their gaming needs
04% of the customers would prefer purchasing HP for their gaming needs 04% of the customers would prefer purchasing HCL for their gaming needs 54% of the customers would prefer purchasing SONY for their gaming needs
Figure 33: Brands Considered during purchase
6.2.8. Decision Making Structure

A companys decision making structure is important to consider potential business opportunities. Hence data related to the decision making structure has also been gathered. The table below presents a summary of the decision making structure of the 26 preschools that were surveyed for the project.
GLOBAL LOCAL 11 15
The data shows 42% of the companies have a global decision making structure, while
58% of the companies have a local decision making structure
Global 11 42% Local 15 58%
Figure 34: Decision Making Structure
6.2.9. Preferred Purchase Route

Purchase route is an important parameter in understanding the procurement strategy of an organization. Through the survey information has been gathered about the purchase route adopted by preschools to procure their gaming hardware for the organization. The survey had two options Directly from the company and Through Partners for the customers to choose from.
Directly from company Through Partners 54% 46%
The data shows

54% of the customers prefer to make their purchases directly from the company, while
46% of the customers prefer to make their purchases through partners
Directly From the Company Through Channel Partners

Figure 35: Preferred Route of Purchase
14 54%
12 46%
6.2.10.
Top-of- the-Mind Brand Recall
Top-of-the-mind recall helps a company understand the popularity of its brand. The survey tries to capture the customers top-of-the-mind recall brand for Notebook PCs. The customer is provided with the following options to make a choice. The options are: a) HCL b) MITASHI c) SONY d) NINTENDO e) OTHERS
HCL MITASHI SONY NINTENDO OTHERS 0 0 73 27 0
The data shows

73% of the customers first recall the brand SONY when spoken about Gaming consoles 27% of the customers first recall the brand NINTENDO when spoken about Notebook
Gaming Consoles
HCL MITASHI SONY NINTENDO Other

Figure 36: Top of mind Brand Recall
0 0% 0 0% 19 73% 7 27% 0 0%
6.2.11.
PARAMETER RANKING
SMB customers were asked to rank 5 important parameters, mentioned below, that would affect the purchase of gaming devices and educational laptops. a) b) c) d) e) Configuration Price Style/Aesthetics Brand and Color
a) Configuration Out of 26 samples, SMB customers felt that configuration was the most important factor.
Most Important Important Moderately Important Not so Important Least Important 50 4 4 23 19
The data shows

50% of the customers felt that configuration was the most important parameter 13% of the customers felt that configuration an important parameter, while 4% of the customers felt that configuration was only a moderately important factor
Figure 37: Parameter Ranking on Configuration
b) Parameter Ranking on Configuration a) Price The table below shows the ranking for the Price parameter. Most Important Important Moderately Important Not so Important Least Important The data shows 31% of the customers felt that price was the most important parameter 12% of the customers felt that price was an important parameter 8% of the customers felt that price was only a moderately important factor, while 46% of the customers felt that price was not so important a factor when making a gaming console purchase 31 12 8 46 4
c) Style/Aesthetics The table below shows the ranking for the Style/Aesthetics parameter. Most Important Important Moderately Important Not so Important Least Important The data shows 8% of the customers felt that style was an important parameter 42% of the customers felt that style was a moderately important parameter 15% of the customers felt that style was a not so important factor, while 8 35 42 15 0
Figure 38: Parameter Ranking on Style and Aesthetics d) Brand The table below shows the ranking for the Brand parameter. Most Important Important Moderately Important Not so Important Least Important 23 27 31 19 0
The data shows 23% of the customers felt that brand was the most important parameter 27% of the customers felt that brand was an important parameter 31% of the customers felt that brand was a moderately important factor 19% of the customers felt that brand was not so important a factor while
Figure 39: Parameter Ranking on Brand
e) Colour The table below shows the ranking for the Colour parameter.
Most Important Important Moderately Important Not so Important Least Important 4 31 35 15 15
The data shows

4% of the customers felt that colour was an important parameter 31% of the customers felt that colour was not so important a parameter, while 15% of the customers felt that colour was the least important factor while purchasing a gaming console
Figure 40: Parameter Ranking on color
6.2.12.
Brand Ranking
In order to assess the inclination of customers to buy HCL products, all 26 SMB customers were asked to rank four brands HCL, NINTENDO, SONY and MITASHI with respect to five parameters. The parameters on which the brands were ranked are: a) Aesthetics b) Value for Money c) Quality and Reliability d) Prompt Deliveries and e) After Sales Service a) Aesthetics SMB customers ranked four brand as far as Aesthetics is concerned. The preferences of customers are listed in the table below:
SONY NINTENDO MITASHI HCL 74 21 0 5
The data shows
74% of the customers felt that SONY was the best brand as far as Aesthetics was
concerned.
21% of the customers felt that NINTENDO was the best brand as far as Aesthetics
was concerned, while

5% of the customers felt that HCL was the best brand as far as Aesthetics was
concerned.
AESTHETICS
1 0 4 14 0 5 10 15 RANK 1
Figure 41: Brand Ranking on Aesthetics
b) Value for Money SMB customers ranked four brand as far as Value for Money is concerned. The preferences of customers are listed in the table below:
SONY NINTENDO HCL MITASHI 68 32 0 0
The data shows

68% of the customers felt that SONY offered the best value for money 32% of the customers felt that NINTENDO offered the best value for money
VALUE FOR MONEY

0
0 6 13 RANK 1
10
12
14
Figure 42: Brand Ranking on value for money
c) Quality & Reliability SMB customers ranked four brand as far as Quality & Reliability is concerned. The preferences of customers are listed in the table below:
SONY
NINTENDO MITASHI HCL
58
32 0 10
The data shows 58% of the customers felt that SONY was the best when it came to Quality and Reliability 32% of the customers felt that NINTENDO was the best when it came to Quality and Reliability
10% of the customers felt that HCL was the best when it came to Quality and Reliability
QUALITY & RELIABILITY

2 0 6 11 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 RANK 1
Figure 43: Quality and Reliability
d) Prompt Deliveries SMB customers ranked four brands for Prompt Deliveries. The preferences of customers are listed in table below:
SONY NINTENDO MITASHI HCL
68 16 10 6
The data shows 68% of the customers felt that SONY was the best in making prompt deliveries 16% of the customers felt that NINTENDO was the best in making prompt deliveries 10% of the customers felt that MITASHI was the best in making prompt deliveries, while 6% of the customers felt that HCL was the best in making prompt deliveries
PROMPT DELIVERIES
14 12 10 8 RANK 1 6 4 2 0 3 2 1
Figure 44: Brand Ranking on PROMPT DELIVERIES
13
e) After Sales Support SMB customers ranked four brands for After Sales Support. The preferences of customers are listed in the table below:
SONY NINTENDO MITASHI HCL 63 27 5 5
The data shows 63% of the customers felt that SONY offered the best After Sales Support 27% of the customers felt that NINTENDO offered the best After Sales Support 5% of the customers felt that MITASHI offered the best After Sales Support while 5% of the customers felt that HCL offered the best After Sales Support
AFTER SALES SERVICE

1 1 5 12 0 5 10 15 RANK 1
Figure 45: Brand Ranking on AFTER SALES SUPPORT
6.3.
CLUSTER ANALYSIS
Cluster Analysis is a class of techniques used to classify objects or cases into relatively homogeneous groups called as clusters. It is also known as Classification Analysis or Numerical Taxonomy. Cluster analysis is an exploratory data analysis tool, wherein we sort different objects into groups. The degree of association is maximum for two objects in the same group. Cluster is not a typical statistical tool as it discovers structures in the data without explaining why they exist. This tools is used when 1. No prior hypothesis has been formed 2. The research is still in exploratory phase of research Method used: Hierarchical Cluster The samples are coded as per the table given below when data is entered for analysis. Each company that has been surveyed is allotted a serial number and finally they are grouped into clusters based on their serial numbers. The serial numbers for the 23 companies are as follows:
Table 5: List of Preschools
SERIAL NUMBER 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
NAME OF THE COMPANY Edify preschool Kidzee Preschool Daksha Preschool I Play I learn Kids House Bloomingdale Preschool The Playroom Guru School Building blocks Preschool Little cherubs Preschool Funskool Modern Preschool
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Baalyam Pre School Butterflies Preschool Akshar Gyan Play School Kids Camp Preschool Time Preschool Tree House Preschool Vidyaranya Preschool
6.3.1. Case Processing Summary

Case Processing Summary (a,b) Cases Valid N 18 Percent 100.0 N 0 Missing Percent .0 N 18 Total Percent 100.0
a Squared Euclidean Distance used b Average Linkage (Between Groups)
The table Case Processing Summary indicates the number of samples selected, valid samples and invalid samples among the samples and the final number of samples that have been used for the analysis. Here it can be seen that 18 samples have been selected initially and all of them are valid samples. Hence the analysis has been performed on 18 samples.
6.3.2. Agglomeration Schedule

It gives information on the objects or cases being combines at each stage of a hierarchical clustering process. The table below gives the agglomeration schedule for the 18 companies that have been subject to hierarchical iteration process.
Agglomeration Schedule Stage Cluster First Appears Coefficients .000 .000 .000 .000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.000 1.500 1.750 2.000 2.100 3.000 3.029 4.500 5.056 Cluster 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 1 10 0 8 7 13 14 16 Cluster 2 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3 0 6 0 0 5 9 11 12 15 Next Stage 10 3 8 8 13 10 14 13 14 11 15 16 15 16 17 17 0
Cluster Combined Stage 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Cluster 1 8 14 6 2 5 10 1 2 3 8 8 7 2 1 2 1 1 Cluster 2 17 16 14 13 15 12 11 6 4 10 9 18 5 3 8 7 2
6.3.3. Dendogram
Dendogram is a graphical representation of the clustering results. Some of the features of a dendogram are: a) Vertical lines represent clusters that are joined together. b) The position of the line on the scale indicates the distance at which the clusters are joined. c) A dendogram is read from the left to right.
* * * * * * H I E R A R C H I C A L C L U S T E R Dendrogram using Average Linkage (Between Groups)
A N A L Y S I S * * * *
Rescaled Distance Cluster Combine C A S E Label Num 8 17 10 12 9 5 15 14 16 6 2 13 7 18 1 11 3 4 0 5 10 15 20 25 +---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
6.3.4. FINAL CLUSTERS

Based on the hierarchical clustering techniques, the 23 preschools are divided into 4 clusters as indicated above, based on the responses received and the satisfaction levels expressed by the respondents. The four clusters are summarized below: CLUSTER NUMBER CLUSTER 1 CLUSTER 2 CLUSTER 3 CLUSTER 4 COMPANIES INCLUDED 8,17,10,12,9 5,15,14,16,6,2,13 7,18 1,11,3,4
Based on the numbers arrived against each cluster, the names of the corresponding preschools are taken from the coding table mentioned at the start of the data analysis part of the report. The names of the preschools retrieved are as follows:
Guru Preschool
CLUSTER 1 (Satisfied)
Tree House Preschool Little cherubs Preschool Building Blocks Preschool Baalyam Preschool
CLUSTER 2 (Extremely Satisfied)
Kids House Preschools Kids Camp Preschool Akshar Gyan Preschool Bloomingdale Preschool Kidzee Preschool Butterflies Preschool Time Preschool
CLUSTER 3 (Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied)
The Playroom Vidyaranya Preschool
CLUSTER 4 (Moderately Satisfied)

6.3.5. Cluster Interpretations
Edify Preschool I Play I learn Daksha Preschool Funskool Modern Preschool
Cluster 1: This cluster represents the companies, which are Satisfied with their current brand of gaming hardware. Cluster 2: This cluster represents the companies, which are Extremely satisfied with their current brand of gaming hardware. Cluster 3: This cluster represents the companies, which are Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied with their current brand of gaming hardware. Cluster 4: This cluster, represents the companies, which are Moderately satisfied with their current brand of gaming hardware.
6.4.
FINDINGS OF THE PROJECT
1. There are a good number of preschools in Hyderabad that belong to the SMB segment and these companies present a potential business opportunity for HCL to market and sell their HCL educational laptops and handheld gaming consoles. This point is clear from the survey results which show that among the 23 samples, 38% of the companies belong to the Medium Business Segment and 27% belong to the Small Business segment. 2. As far as current brand of handheld gaming devices and educational laptops are concerned, SONY has a share of 63% while HCL has a share of only 21%. A study can be conducted by HCL in this area to identify the reasons for this trend and try to take some corrective action. 3. Among the products mentioned in the survey, handheld gaming consoles and educational laptops are the most widely used products. Though preschools are using Wireless gaming consoles and Motion sensing gaming consoles their share is relatively less when compared to handheld gaming consoles and educational laptops. HCL can try and target the untapped opportunities that Wireless gaming consoles and Wireless gaming consoles offer. 4. Since once in a year purchase frequency is as high as 65% HCL can utilize this opportunity to tap into the SMB segment and garner sales orders by offering better deals than any of its competitors. 5. SMBs seem to be extremely happy and satisfied with their current brand of Gaming hardware with regard to two parameters namely: a) Aesthetics 78% satisfaction levels b) Value for Money 78% satisfaction levels Customers seem to be only moderately satisfied with Quality, because this parameter has registered only 57% satisfaction results. So HCL can concentrate on quality and educate its customers about the quality of its products. HCL has a huge opportunity to capture the market in terms of Technical support and After Sales Service because both the parameters have registered a very mediocre score for satisfaction levels. Providing good technical support and After Sales Service may help HCL garner more market share for its gamin consoles among SMB customers. 6. All the companies surveyed have a strong purchase intention. 73% of the customers surveyed would
be buying Gaming hardware for their organizations in the next 1 year. This presents a great opportunity for HCL to pitch in with their products. 7. The preferred purchase brand is SONY for most of the organizations as far as Gaming consoles is concerned. 54% of the respondents said that they would opt for SONY while only 38% customers said that they would opt for NINTENDO when purchasing Gaming consoles for their organizations. 8. Of the 23 preschools surveyed 42% have a global decision making structure when it comes to gaming consoles purchases while only 58% have a local decision making structure. Nevertheless HCL can concentrate on these 58% preschools that have a local decision making structure. 9. 54% of the SMB firms make their gaming hardware purchases directly from the company while only 46% of the SMBs procure it from partners and distributors. 10. Top-of-the-mind-recall technique was used to identify the gaming console brand that respondents could recall immediately when spoken about gaming devices. SONY had a top-of-mind- recall share of 73% while NINTENDO had a share of 27%. 11. When making an educational laptop and handheld gaming console purchase, the following parameters in the order ranked below affect a customers buying decision:
a) RANK 1 Configuration b) RANK 2 Brand c) RANK 3 Price d) RANK 4 Style/ Aesthetics e) RANK 5 - Colour The results indicate that a customers first preference would be the Configuration. Second is the Brand followed by Price in the third place. Style and Aesthetics are not so important to a customer while Colour is the least important and the last factor that the customer would consider when making a Notebook PC purchase.
12. In order to ascertain a customers inclination towards a particular brand, the customer has been asked to rank four brands SONY, NINTENDO, HCL and MITASHI with respect to five parameters
namely Aesthetics, Value for Money, Quality & Reliability, Prompt Deliveries and After Sales Support. Following are the results:
a) RANK1 SONY b) RANK 2 - NINTENDO
13. Cluster Analysis has also been performed on 18 samples of data collected in order to ascertain the satisfaction levels of SMB customers with their current brand of gaming hardware. The analysis yielded 4 clusters. Companies in Cluster 1, given below, are Satisfied with their current brand of gaming hardware.
Guru Preschool
CLUSTER 1 (Satisfied)
Tree House Preschool

Little cherubs Preschool
Building Blocks Preschool Baalyam Preschool
Companies in Cluster 2, mentioned below, are Extremely Satisfied with their current brand of gaming hardware.
CLUSTER 2 (Extremely Satisfied)
Kids House Preschools Kids Camp Preschool Akshar Gyan Preschool Bloomingdale Preschool Kidzee Preschool Butterflies Preschool Time Preschool
Companies in Cluster 3, mentioned below, are Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied with their current brand of gaming hardware.
CLUSTER 3 (Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied)
The Playroom Vidyaranya Preschool
Companies in Cluster 4, mentioned below, are Moderately Satisfied with their current brand of gaming hardware.
CLUSTER 4 (Moderately Satisfied)
Edify Preschool I Play I learn Daksha Preschool Funskool Modern Preschool
Findings indicate that customers in CLUSTER 3 and CLUSTER 4 are not satisfied with their current brand of gaming hardware. These are potential customers who can be targeted to opt for a change in their brand of gaming hardware while making the next purchase.
6.5.
REASONS FOR NOT CHOOSING BRAND HCL
SMB customers, who did not have a preference/inclination for HCL, were asked to explain their stand. Their opinions have been noted verbatim. Some of the important reasons have been presented below: 1. Incident reports are not presented to customers for Hardware Failures. 2. Bad responsive time of support. 3. Post- Sales Customer Support not up to the mark. 4. Very High Priced Quotations are sent across to customers and there is a difference between the price quoted and the price charged at the time of sales. 5. Some of the customers feel that the range of gaming consoles for the kids belonging to age group of 16 and above, available, currently is not sufficient and the range should be increased. 6. HCL should improve its product standards; support provided and offer hardware at competitive prices. 7. HCL should be prompt in deliveries after an order has been placed.
7. Limitations of the Study

The limitations of the study are as follows: 1. As it is a Market research, the major draw back would be reliability of data. Many of them may not give the appropriate information which may lead to a wrong analysis. 2. Availability of data is an equally bothering draw back, because every body is not willing the information due to the confidentiality issues. 3. There is a scope for sampling error and the results may differ when we change the sample size. to reveal
4. This study requires a lot of time; hence there would be a time constraint. 5. Gathering and processing data could be expensive at times.
8. CONCLUSION
In the Indian Gaming industry there is a lot of homogeneity in the products available. All the vendors have to resort to product differentiation in order to survive in the highly competitive environment. Understanding the consumer needs and a preference is a foundation step for the product differentiation. Hence Market Research forms to be an important part of the Marketing Strategy development. This project for HCL is a Market Research program where the perceptions and preferences of the SMB customers were analyzed. The findings of the research aid HCL in understanding the needs of customers better and hence help in building a better Marketing strategy. Through this project efforts where made to understand the needs of SMB segment customers in specific, so that a better product position and product offerings could be done in the future. As a student intern this Summer Internship program has been a period of high value addition, as lot of intricacies of the Marketing research and other Marketing concepts were learnt in practical exposure. But No Research is ever complete, as said by many researchers is absolutely true. This research could be further enhanced with a larger sample size and a geographically more diverse sample. This survey is pertaining to only Hyderabad city and the SMBs belonging to the Preschools (Education industry) .Hence there is always a scope for further extension of the research in this area. More over the gaming industry is so dynamic that there are many new product developments and the consumers needs keep changing which makes the research in the field of gaming industry always necessary.
9. REFERENCES
1. Timothy F. Bresnahan and Shane Greenstein (Mar., 1999), Technological Competition and the Structure of the gaming Industry - The Journal of Industrial Economics, Vol. 47, No. 1 (Mar., 1999), pp. 1-40. 2. Jason Dedrick and Kenneth L. Kraemer (December 2005), New Product Development in a Global Knowledge Network:The Console Gaming Industry- the Sloan Industry Centers Annual Meeting 3. Geoffrey R. Brooks (Oct., 1995) Defining Market Boundaries- Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 16, No. 7 (Oct., 1995), pp. 535-549 4. Elie Ofek and Miklos Sarvary (summer, 2003) ,R&D, Marketing, and the Success of Next Generation Products- Marketing Science, Vol. 22, No. 3 (summer, 2003), pp. 355-370 5. Barry L. Bayus, Gary Erickson, Robert Jacobson (Feb., 2003), The Financial Rewards of New Product Introductions in the Personal Computer Industry- Management Science, Vol. 49, No. 2 (Feb., 2003), pp. 197-210 6. Datamonitor, (2008), PCs Industry Profile: Global, Datamonitor Plc, Available at:
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=34402064&site=bsi-live 7. IDC Press Release, Available at: http://www.idcindia.com/Press/19Feb2010.html 8. Indian laptop market grows 85% Available at: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Indian-laptopmarket-grows-85/250897 9. Findings of MAIT Industry Performance Review: 2007- 2008, The Notebooks Market. Available at: http://www.eetindia.co.in/ART_8800533598_1800007_NT_c49d2714.HTM 10. The Economic Times (20th Feb 2010), PC sales India record 26% yearly growth 11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hewlett-Packard 12. http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/survtype.php 13. IT Industry Performance: 2008-2009, Available at: http://www.mait.com/industry-statistics.php 14. Juliet Mumford-10 Steps towards designing a questionnaire, Available at:
http://www.marketresearchworld.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=883&Itemid=74 15. HCLs official website available at: www.hcl.com 16. Data sheets and HCL gaming and educational laptop pamphlets 17. William G. Zikmund, 7th Edition 2007, Business Research Methods: Cengage Learning 18. Naresh.K.Malhotra, 5th Edition; 2007, Marketing Research: An applied Orientation: Prentice-Hall India.
APPENDIX -1 Questionnaire
Dear Sir/Madam, I am a student of IBS HYDERABAD, conducting a survey about Educational Laptops and Handheld Gaming Consoles. I humbly request you to spend a few minutes of your precious time to fill- in this questionnaire. Information furnished here would be kept confidential.
1. Name of the organization: ______________________________________ 2. Address: ____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________
3. How many students does the organization currently have? 10 students [ ] >10 students and 100 students [ ] >100 students and 500 students [ ]
> 500 students [ ]
4. Which brand of Gaming hardware do you currently use? (Please tick ALL brands if multiple brands are used)
HCL [ ]
HP [ ]
MITASHI [ ]
FUNSKOOL [ ]
SONY [ ]
NINTENDO [ ]
others [ ] please specify the name __________________
5. Which of the following products do you currently use?
Educational Laptops [ ] Wireless Gaming Consoles [ ] Handheld Gaming Consoles [ ] Motion Sensing Gaming Consoles [ ]
6. How often do you buy the above items?
Once in 3 months [ ]
Once in 6 months [ ]
Once in a year [ ]
7. How satisfied are you with the current brand?

Extremely Satisfied Neither satisfied nor Dissatisfied Extremely Dissatisfied
Satisfied
Dissatisfied
Aesthetics
Quality
Value for Money
Technical Support
After Sales Service
8. Do you intend to buy Gaming hardware for the organization in the near future? Yes [ ] No [ ]
9. Which brand will you consider when buying a Gaming device? (Please select only ONE brand) NINTENDO [ ] HP [ ] HCL [ ] SONY [ ] MITASHI [ ] OTHERS [ ] please specify ________________ 10. What is the decision making structure of the company? Global [ ] Local [ ] FUNSKOOL [ ]
11. What is the preferred route for the organization to make Gaming Device purchases? Directly from the company [ ] Through Partners [ ]
12. Which brand comes to your mind first when we talk about Gaming Devices? HCL [ ] MITASHI [ ] SONY [ ] NINTENDO [ ] Others [ ]
13. Which brand do you see in the media most? HCL [ ] MITASHI [ ] NINTENDO [ ] SONY [ ] Others [ ]
14. Please rank the parameters mentioned below from 1 to 5 (1 = most important and 5 = least important) when purchasing a notebook.
Configuration
Price
Style/Aesthetics
Brand
Color
15. Please rank the brands from 1 to 4 (1 = most preferred and 4 = least preferred) for the attributes mentioned below.
Aesthetics
HCL [
NINTENDO [
SONY [
MITASHI [
Value for Money
HCL [
NINTENDO [
SONY [ ]
MITASHI [
Quality & Reliability HCL [ ] NINTENDO [ ] SONY [ ] MITASHI [ ]
Games Available with the device HCL [ ] NINTENDO [ ] SONY [ ] MITASHI [ ]
Prompt Deliveries HCL [ ] NINTENDO [ ] SONY [ ] MITASHI [ ]
After Sales Support
HCL [
NINTENDO [
SONY [ ]
MITASHI [
End of questionnaire

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A REPORT ON

CONSUMER PERCEPTION AND AWARENESS OF BRAND HCL

By PIYUSH PRASANNA 10BSPHH011070

HCL Infosystems Limited Hyderabad.

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

HCL Infosystems Limited, Hyderabad

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

Dated: 13-05-2011 Dr. G Radha Krishna, Faculty, IBS Hyderabad

TO WHOMSOEVER IT MAY CONCERN

(Dr. G Radha Krishna)

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

1.1.1. 1.1.2. 1.2.

1.2.1. 1.2.2. 1.2.3. 1.2.4. 1.3.

1.3.1. 1.3.2. 1.3.3. 2. 3.

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

Week Wise Description of the Project Activities ........................................................................ 64

5.9.9 5.9.10 5.9.11 5.10 6.

ROAD BLOCKS IN THE PROJECT ................................................................................................... 67

6.3.1. 6.3.2. 6.3.3. 6.3.4. 6.3.5. 6.4. 6.5. 7. 8. 9.

APPENDIX -1 .............................................................................................................................................. 106

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

1. INTRODUCTION TO MARKET RESEARCH

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

Figure 1:Functionality of market research in the business plans

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

1.1. TYPES OF MARKET RESEARCH:

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

1.1.1. Desk Research

1.1.2. Field Research

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

1.2. PHASES IN A MARKET RESEARCH PROGRAM

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

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1.Define The Problem (or) Oppurtunity

2.Design The Reaserch

3.Design The Data Collection Forms

4.Specify the Sample

5.Collect The Data

6.Analyze The Data

7.Write The Research & Present its Findings

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

1.3.1. Business Market Segmentation

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

GEOGRAPHY region,type of settlement,media, c onsumption

DEMOGRAPHICS gender,age,type of house hold,no. of children

SOCIO ECONOMICS education,inco me,occupation

BEHAVIOUR Share of customer,Frequency of usage/purchase,patt erns of usage

WHERE WHEN HOW

NEEDS Characteristics, advantages, benefits

1.3.2. Segmentation criteria

SUMMER INTERNSHIP REPORT|IBS HYDERABAD

1.3.3. Levels of Segmentation:

Figure 6: Levels of Segmentation

1. Should we play? 2. What should we offer 3.Who is our next customer

SALES EFFECTIVENESS SEGMENTATION Identifies the best prospects