Strategy to market:

Objective: To develop strategies to market white appliances microwave ovens in India To dos: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. Select the target market Highlight the necessary features Decide on pricing Decide on promotions Decide on distribution Short term strategies Long term strategies

Things to consider: a. Indian food preparation vs. western food preparation b. Values and Customs that might affect opinions about microwave ovens c. The effects of competition. Before making strategies for white appliances microwave oven, we have got numerous issues that have to be sorted out so as to ensure a sustained increased in sales and a sustained profitable growth. Let s get our objective correct: Whether we want to have our oven in every household in India or identify and target select segments. We all know that if our objective is to have every household have our oven, then there has to be lot of changes that has be done in every aspect of the business. Be it manufacturing, design, marketing et cetera. Lets say our objective is to have our oven in every household in India. What do we have to do? Our short term strategies should concentrate on the urban and semi-urban segment. Our long term strategies should also target rural consumers. Let us concentrate on getting people from urban and sub-urban segments! As per the case study and talking with three mothers, there are certain issues that are very much visible on the surface. a. Microwave oven changes the taste of the food. b. It consumer more power.

c. Some food items really gets hard and loses their softness (e.g. chicken) d. Food out of oven is not good for health. e. Some people do not know how to use. Clearly there are lot more issues that are not visible but lets concentrate on the visible ones The change of taste Is there really a change in taste or is it just a perception? If there is a change in taste, what actually causes it? These questions can be answered only by proper formal research. Indian cuisine preparation concentrates more on vegetarian items against western cuisines which relies more on meat and steak. Also Indian foods are spicy and Ayurveda is its strongest influencer. Whereas western foods have more sauces as condiments and lot of dairy products are used in the process. According to Ayurveda, there were predominantly six tastes sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent. Our taste buds are so sensitive we are quick to respond to even a slight change in our regular foods. Even though these tastes are universal in nature they have got special emphasis in ayurveda. what is more important to note is Indians need appropriate combinations of all the six tastes throughout their life and they will never change their food habits nor a change in taste in their regular foods since their traditional foods have always catered to this need. Microwave oven consumes more power- It is a fact and in electricity- conscious country this is one of the serious issues that has to be tackled quickly. Only innovation will help. Microwave oven is not good for health in a health conscious country, where home makers make sure that they give quality food to their children, this will be a serious impediment and block our way of progress. Taking in to account the other two issues food becoming hard, some people do not how to use and also the previous ones discussed, there is one thing which is increasingly becoming evident. People still see ovens as an option and not as a necessity. Also, connect is missing. That is microwave oven is still seen as something that is foreign and when something is foreign and you know connect is missing, then something has to be done! What is that something? Microwave oven has to be seen as Indian. Once you know that something is not foreign there is a lot of chance that consumer connect can be increased. Even though my view is abstract and it needs some research to substantiate my point, I can tell you that Indian consumers have a strong belief in their foods and food habits and something associated is foreign then people are going to slightly distance themselves from it.

Let us discuss about the values and customs that affect opinions about Microwave oven: As expressed earlier, people have a strong belief in their foods and food habits and at least inside the home, they will stick on to their traditional foods. They believe that as long as you eat Indian food, health problems will be minimal (need more research to substantiate). But more than these, there is a custom or say a practise that actually needs much more attention than any of these. Home makers during preparation stick to their traditional methods because of many reasons. One main reason could be attributed to their senses. Explanation follows. 1. Home makers like to smell their food during cooking. They like to smell the food which is in process of getting cooked. 2. They find satisfaction in using the utensils, mix the food in the vessel, smell them and after mentally-calculated time, they take off from their vessels. 3. This clearly show the level of high involvement when it comes to cooking. 4. So suddenly if microwave dictates terms, tell them that what you have to do is to simply keep the food inside the machine, then people are very likely to be less involved and home makers will never accept this. 5. What we have to note is people want themselves to get involved inside the kitchen and they always would like to dictate terms and be the queen in the kitchen rather than someone or some object. With all these points taken and noted let us go to segmentation and targeting. As a short term strategy, Our objective is to concentrate on urban and semi-urban segments. Note our ultimate objective is to make our oven present in every household. As far as urban and semi-urban is concerned, the market will be segmented into two 1. Home makers (women who take charge of the house) 2. Working women (women who take charge of the house as well go outside for work) For working women, Time is very scarce and microwave oven comes in handy. Also it is a gadget which can make meals in minutes, reheats, defrosts, bakes, roasts and grills, so definitely a multi-purpose solution. Also working women are equally concerned about their children health, so if our oven retains the nutrients in the food through innovation, then this can be highlighted in our communication. And Taste is equally important. Customers are intolerant of even slight change in taste and this if addressed could boost our prospects

Common benefits: time saving and multi-purpose solution Whites unique benefit: retains the nutrients and a utility tool which will keep intact the original taste of the food. Cookery classes on how to cook without change in taste. These have got be highlighted in our communication. Features: multi-purpose gadget which roasts, grills, does convection, etc.

Home-makers: this market is a challenge for us. First the question, why do the home-makers need ovens first of all? They like cooking in fact of their main functions is cooking, since they are not employed outside they have a lot of time to cater to their people needs. So why do they need ovens after all? We have a solution! It is not that home-makers have a lot of time every day. In fact management every weekday morning is so tough that women gets frustrated and sometimes lose out having their children running away without food and so on. The basic problem here is mismanagement of time and one of the reasons is time spent in cooking during morning. Our communication and promotions should be such a way that we should tell them cooking can be made easy in the morning with our oven and meanwhile you can express your love and bid happy goodbye to your children and husband. Necessary benefit: a multi-purpose solution Whites unique benefit: lovable mornings facilitated by our microwave ovens. Features: multipurpose gadget which bakes, roasts, grills, defrosts, et cetera. How can white differentiate from the competitor? The effects of competition can never be underestimated, already 61% of the market share is taken by Samsung and LG and if to compete in this market then we need to slightly think different. As expressed earlier, Indians can never really change their foods and food habits because their belief is strong and if something reinforces their belief it is surely going to get welcomed. What I would like to propose is to make the ovens look very Indian and traditional. Put up local manufacturing centres that can cater to the local people instead of importing from US and it should be perceived as an Indian product, an Indian realisation of micro-oven would go a long way in differentiating from the competitor. Innovation has to be done in terms of design and the functions that micro-wave performs. Women will never allow any one or any object to be their master in their kitchen. People of white appliance have to understand this and position it accordingly. So even though there are two segments, the product is going to be same, the functions are going to be same. The positioning to home-makers is different from

positioning to working wives/mothers. But to differentiate, then make a microwave which is more Indian and traditional and which just assists them in their cooking equivalent of a servant maid. Pricing has to be done taking into account the social economics of the Indian consumers. 1. Rich complete features, a multipurpose solution- Rs 17000 2. Upper middle class again a multipurpose but still not extensive as the former10,000 3. Lower middle class basic features-5000

For the future, rural segments have to be targeted but as of now it is important to do the ground works, should understand the lifestyle of the rural people, their beliefs, their customs and the onus should be on how to create a need and educate them. So our objective is to have our oven in every Indian home and for that to happen start making the product in India. Understand the taste, understand the philosophy behind Indian cooking and position your product according to the segments. At the end of the day the food should taste the same, the food should be made in time and the whites oven should be in the kitchen, a humble servant to the queen of the house.

Submitted by Lourdes Joe- 1221316 Saharsh Bhushan- 1221431