Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PROJECT REPORT
2008-10
OF
SUBMITTED BY
ASHUTOSH SHARMA
Department of management
DATE:
PLACE: SIGNATURE:
INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT EDUCATION
G.T. Road, Sahibabad, Ghaziabad (U.P.)
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT
CERTIFICATE
----------------------------------------
Signature of the guide
ACNOWLEDGEMENT
Perseverance, inspiration and motivation have always played a key role in the success
of any venture. A successful and satisfactory completion of any dissertation is the outcome
of invaluable aggregate contribution of different person fully in radial direction, explicitly
or implicitly.
Whereas vast, varied and valuable reading efforts lead to substantial acquit ion of
knowledge via books and allied information sources, true expertise exclude from collateral
practical work and experience.
I am extremely thankful to Dr. D.P. Goyal (Director, IME) for his cooperation,
inspiration, keen supervision and the practical approach he gave to the dissertation.
I am also grateful to Dr. Taruna Gautam (Asst. Director IME), for providing
every support and her cooperation, motivation and a good guidance.
I also pay my special thanks Mr. Kapil Kapoor (Senior Sales Manager, Kerakoll
India P Ltd.) for his helpful hand, kindness and throughout cooperation.
I also pay my sincere thanks to Mr. Lalit Tyagi and Miss Simmi Bachani, for their
throughout co-operation.
Further by blessing of GOD.I express my deep regards to my parents, my father
Shri Bharat Bhushan Sharma, my mother Smt. Santosh Sharma my sister and thanks to
other family member and friends and all of my seniors who have painstakingly stood by me
and made it possible through my studies.
Last but not the least I would like to thank all staff members of IME SAHIBABAD
for their kind help and co-operation.
Ashutosh Sharma
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
I started my project on 4th may by observing and understanding the various types of
products and its specifications and knows how to do site mapping and what is needed to do
the product promotion at Rohini Sector-9 Delhi, Corporate office of the KreaKoll india
private limited. There I met to Mr. Rahul Sharma and asked him to give detailed
information about the execution of the work. He has the sample outfits of the whole
products by means of which he gave me the detailed information. Four staffs are working
over there, one is to look after the computer center, and two are involved in the process of
generating sales & one Mr. Rahul Sharma himself, the regional sales manager.
The site mapping team is to do the site map, means to find out the various running
construction, from there the site mapping team collected information like site name,
contractor name, owner name, and architect name even the stage of the site. He then
provides the information to the architect team to do the further proceedings to generate the
sales. The architect team then goes to architect after having the appointment and tell them
about the various products of kerakoll. In the mean while the site mapping team is also
done some product promotion at the place of running sites and by telling about the product
to the contractors and site engineers. Apart from this the retail team is doing its further
effort to go for the retail penetration of the kerakoll products.
First of all I prepared the questionnaire according to work assigned to me. As per research
work, my respondents were site engineers or project managers. Initially I was assigned to
collect the information about the running projects in the Delhi and NCR region. I was also
asked to collect the information about the held up projects and the reasons for their helding
up. On the first day I started with the area of Sahibabad, Mohan nagar and Vashundhara
Ghaziabad. There I come to know about the problems of the customer acquisition &
retention and by means of which the running projects are delayed by so many renounced
construction companies like supertech, green vally, mahalaxmi group etc.
In the next phase of the training new work was assigned to me. I was asked to give the
details of the held up projects and its reason and also the new trends in construction
industry. That time I was little bit familiar to the construction industry. And by this time I
found so many held up projects some due to strategy problem related to acquisition &
retention of customer and some due to some other problems. The new trends in the
construction industry began to spread all over the country, as the people do not have much
and more time so they began to use more sophisticated technology and more advanced
products. Overall the Six weeks session, for me, was the opportunity to manipulate in
practical manner, whatever knowledge & learning I gain in 1st year.
CONTENTS
Page No.
CHAPTER 1- Introduction………………………………………………………... 1
Introduction to the Company ………………………………………. 2
Introduction of the topic ……………………………........................ 4
Need of the Study …………………………………………………… 5
Scope of the Study ………………………………………………….. 6
CHAPTER 2- Organization Information…………………………............................ 9
Company overview ………………………………………………… 10
Marketing Strategies …………………………………..................... 15
Major Competitors ………………………………………………… 25
Distribution Strategies …………………………………………….. 33
Future Prospects...……………………………………...................... 35
Awards & Recognitions …………………………………………… 38
CHAPTER 3- Descriptive work of subtopics of the study………………………… 41
Descriptive work of subtopics ………………………....................... 42
My own Contribution ……………………………………………… 43
CHAPTER 4- Research Methodology……………………………............................ 44
Objective of the Study ……………………………………………… 45
Type of Research …………………………………………………… 45
Methods of Data Collection ………………………………………... 47
CHAPTER 5- Data Analysis and Interpretation………………………………….. 50
Data Analysis ……………………………………………………….. 51
Data Interpretation ………………………………………………….. 62
CHAPTER 6- Conclusions, Suggestions and Limitations…………………………. 63
Conclusions………………………………………………………….. 64
Suggestions.………………………………………………………… 65
Limitations ………………………………………………………….. 66
References…………………………………………………………………………. 67
Appendix………………………………………………………………...................... 69
CHAPTER - 1
INTRODUCTION
.
Kerakoll, an international leader in applied chemistry for the building industry, was
founded in 1968 in Sassuolo, Italy in the heart of the worldwide ceramic industry. At just
29 years of age, Romano Sghedoni founded Kerakoll in 1968 in Sassuolo, Modena.
Today the company is world leader in products and services for sustainable
architecture, historical restoration and interior design. The first single-component
adhesives for ceramics, designed and produced in his garage, were the result of his passion
for construction and chemistry, combined with a huge love of engineering.
His insight and amazing determination drove him in a continual pursuit of innovation,
inventing one new product after another, each one with a unique technology and ease of
professional application to make laying homogeneous tiles and natural stone easy,
whatever the circumstances.
The constant growth that followed enabled the company to extend its operations into the
restoration sector, where it turned its attention to tackling waterproofing problems, the
deterioration of concrete mistakenly considered indestructible, and the restoration of
buildings plagued by damp.
Sghedoni also applied his innovative approach to building a motivated team with a shared
mission, vision and values. The strong corporate culture that resulted led to the
foundation of Kerakoll Global Service in 1990, establishing Kerakoll as a leading name in
the consultancy and end-to-end technical support field.
His children Fabio, Gian Luca and Emilia assure the business continues to be guided by
the same Sghedoni name and dedication; together they have championed the
internationalisation process, building an international team, and adopting an increasingly
global approach and innovative way of adding value to the brand.
In September 2000 and April 2006, Kerakoll increased its respective stakes in Slc
Rinaldi and Rankover, both leading European manufacturers of adhesives and varnishes
for hardwood floors, and decorative coatings for the construction industry.
Kerakoll employs more than 1,100 people with an average age of 35 throughout its15
branches in Europe, USA, Asia and Australia; it exports almost 40% of its products to
more than 100 different countries and supplies 20,000 builders merchants and 5,000
wood flooring centres worldwide, serving the nigh on 2,000,000 building professionals
who choose Kerakoll products every year.
From the outset, the pillar of the Kerakoll vision has always been to make the difference
through innovation. This belief led first to the launch of Biocalce and
Building Wellness in April 2005, i.e. the new take on sustainable building in which the
focus is to safeguard health and improve the quality of life, and Kerakoll Design in
February 2007, the new eco-friendly solid surfaces in Cementoresina®that are a particular
favourite with architects, design engineers and interior designers.
Products, services and specific know-how formed the basis of Kerakoll's rise to
become The Innovative Group, the only company to provide a global offering for
contemporary architecture, building wellness, historical restoration and interior design.
Over the years , the group has achieved acclaim for its rapid and steady growth, proof of
which can be seen in revenues which have risen from about 11 million Euros in 1990 to
285 million Euros in 2006. Kerakoll has 910 employees, 16 operating companies, 9
manufacturing plants in Italy and abroad, 3 research centers, 1 training institute and 1
technical centre.
With the gradual internationalization of the business, 35 % of the groups revenue are now
generated through foreign sales, thanks to the company’s presence in 14 countries:
Innovation and research have always been the driving factors behind kerakoll expansion.
Investment in these areas account for about 5.5% of annual turnover and translate into
continuous product improvement in line with market requirements, as well as the
development of new products/services which have broken new ground in buildings
practices.
Kerakoll products are used in the most important construction sites in Italy and around the
world. To name but a few of the architectural projects signed by internationally acclaimed
architects who chose kerakoll as their technological partner:
I had visited so many sites during my projects and I found that this is the most difficult job
regarding sales generation for a company which is new in India and that is facing a very
high competition. I had great opportunity to work with Mr. Kapil Kapoor, Senior manager
Sales and I was impressed by the excellent management of the company for generating
sales.
Under such topic, the main motive of study is to find out such features of product which
are important in customer’s point of view and could increase sales and find the position of
Kerakoll in Delhi & NCR region and also reasons for problems faced by this company in
sales due to customer perceptions about the product and expectations from the company in
the whole world.
Need of the Study
The need of the study is to discover the major recent trends affecting the construction
adhesives and chemicals markets also to understand consumers' consumption and
expenditure patterns and to understand the future direction of this market. The need of
study is to know about Market forces, customer retention, competitor’s price, product, and
place and also to know about the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats of Kerakoll,
and for this systematic and logical analysis is to be done which provide solution to the
various problems and will help to analysis various issues in construction Industry.
Scope of the Study
Completion of the project could help marketing team to develop marketing strategies as
per the market condition and demand. Also it will help to understand the current market
scenario and essence of marketing in stiff competition and this present scenario of customer
acquisition & retention. Being a student of management we can draw the relevant
conclusions from the market survey and give the appropriate suggestion to the
organization.
The company can take decisions according to the suggestions and it will provide better
experience to the students for their bright career.
My study will help me to:
To identify prospective markets for the company
To understand customer perceptions about the product and expectations from the
company.
Kerakoll is the international leader in applied chemistry for the building industry, it
provides a wide variety of the adhesives and products for the construction industry.
Kerakoll has a wide variety of 360 types of products available in the market. It is kerakoll’s
endeavor to (a) ensure that each and every product of Kerakoll reached to consumers at
competitive prices and; (b) the company must provide the products as per the requirement
of the industry norms. However certain problems are faced by Kerakoll like problems
related to market conditions and present scenario, product differentiation and value
addition, new emerging trends in the market and also increased disposable income of
consumers, results in uncertainty in demand, . The project will help to find out the reasons
which affect the sales adversely. On the basis of the study company will take remedial step
to sort out the problem.
Literature Review
Before starting the project I wanted to make every possible arrangement for the success of
study .Initially I took help from my guides and did literature survey. I visited the Institute’s
library and studied the project reports of my seniors. Few of them were related with the
Construction Industry. It helped me to understand the research process and formulate the
problem. I took help from some of the course books like Marketing Research by N K
Malhotra, Research Methodology by C R Kothari and Marketing Management by Philip
Kotler.
I started my project with certain presumptions like Pidilite and Kwality Wall’s would have
good market share and being the most prominent player in Building material segment,
Kerakoll’s products also would have effective demand among the Customers. Although
these two players have significance presence in the region, but comparatively Kerakoll is
better somehow.
CHAPTER – 2
ORGANIZATION
INFORMATION
Company Overview
Kerakoll India Private Limited, 100% subsidiary company of Kerakoll S.p.A. - Italy.
Kerakoll being 40 year old company has presence in India to cater the need of industry
growing professional in construction field. Kerakoll having plant, offices and customer
worldwide is one of the world's biggest building chemical companies for the building
industry. Kerakoll International currently doing turnover of more then 400 Million US$
with major international divisions manufacturing professional laying systems for tile &
stone, wood & parquet and also specialised in other building chemical products and
solutions for the restoration of historical buildings. Currently Kerakoll operating 9 plants
worldwide with production over 5000 tones a day, 2 R&D Center & 1 Technical center
along with more then 900 employees around the globe. Our company can be considered
international in the true sense of the word; we manufacture more than 500 'specialty'
products for building professionals all over the world. Kerakoll India having full set-up and
it's head office at Mumbai and warehouse and having full time professional working team
available in technical and sales department to provide best pre and after technical-sales
service support to its customer at South East Asia continent. With Kerakoll expertise of 40
years in this field, certainly it can satisfy customer need for challenging and rapid growing
construction requirement.
In 1978, Kerakoll set the pace in the Italian ceramic industry by inventing H40 Flex, the
world’s first ever single- component adhesive that finally provided a safe solution to
securing single-fired and homogeneous tiles in all domestic and commercial applications
with no technical restrictions.
To promote and spread a better quality of building, Kerakoll sees technical refresher
courses and vocational training as key tools, proof of which is the fact that in the four year
period from 2003 to 2006, the company invested 3.2% of its turnover in these areas.
With 2,500 sq.m. Of teaching worksite and 30 specialized trainers, the Kerakoll technical
centre held 3,256 courses in the five year period from 2002 to 2006, qualifying some
120,000 building professionals around the world.
Mission and Vision of the company:
Our goal is to channel our enthusiasm, team spirit and culture into improving the quality of
life by producing superior quality building materials capable of transforming the
appearance, comfort and design of a home into an ideal habitat in which to live healthier.
Our guiding principles are a passion for excellence, meaning we love things that both
look and feel good, and an ethos that inspires us to build value over time through
sustainable building, transparent procedures, and valuing our human resources.
Driven by the passion that inspires our every action, we want to improve the quality of
life for our stakeholders.
We want to be a worldwide benchmark for culture and excellence in low
environmental impact construction materials industry and historical restoration,
promoting sustainable technological innovation.
Ours is a pioneering group, offering the best services and the best construction systems,
thanks to which the company now occupies a forefront position in the high end of the
market, whilst never losing sight of our identity and remaining true to our founding
principles.
Multi Business:
Kerakoll's firm belief in a culture of quality is one of the pillars of its competitive
advantage and success. Quality means responsibility, personal commitment to creating it,
total customer satisfaction and continuous improvement. Quality means paying attention to
the projects, the needs and the expectations of application professionals and suppliers, it
means continuous innovation with new ideas, new products, and state-of-the-art
technologies to capture the desires of consumers who are increasingly attentive to their
quality of life, the environment and new lifestyles. In these concerns, Kerakoll Innovative
Group saw the pillars of competitive advantage, and evolved its organisation accordingly
to create 4 business units:
-Contemporary Architecture
-Building Wellness
-Historical Restoration
-Interior Design
Screeds, self-levelling products, adhesives and joint fillers for ceramic and natural stone
floors and coverings.
• Substrates, smoothing products, adhesives and varnishes for hardwood, resilient and textile
floor coverings.
• Special hydraulic binders.
• Special mortars to restore concrete structures.
• Paints, glazes and decorative coverings for modern building.
• Waterproofing products and protective coats.
• Thermal insulation systems.
• Industrial resin flooring.
• Pure NHL breathable mortars, plaster/render coats, and adhesives.
• Sound-absorbent, dehumidifying, breathable, pure NHL plaster/render coats.
• Natural lime-based and pure silicate paint and finish coats.
• Eco-friendly solid surfaces in Cementoresina
•
Companies Brands:
Kerakoll, the most famous of the Group’s brands and the one
best known in Europe, has been helping its partners to achieve
success for over 40 years, thanks to intelligent solutions and
high quality building systems: adhesives, sealants, mortars,
decorative paint coatings, waterproofing systems, and thermal
insulation products. We make innovative technologies
that conform to the principles of sustainable
development and meet the requirements of increasingly
discerning consumers mindful of the environment they live in
and new lifestyle choices.
Companies Values:
Kerakoll Innovative Group is determined to improve its performance in all ways, firm in
the belief that to create value over time you have to first create a firm business culture.
Business culture in Kerakoll means being committed to recognizing and reclaiming the
value of key experiences and practices of the past, and at the same time being constantly
willing to go out on a limb.
Research and innovation only make sense in such a context, where progress goes hand-in-
hand with restoration, preservation and reclaiming the heritage of the company's past.
The Kerakoll Innovative Group mission is to meet the needs of its consumers with a
constant supply of new and original ideas, remaining ever faithful to a business culture
always ready to consider the ideas of all its members.
When it comes to knowledge assets, people are a key resource for Kerakoll along with the
values, expectations, hopes, ideas and originality they bring with them.
Kerakoll Innovative Group business ethos, and the five pillars of this approach represent
our modus operandi in both life and work.
Worldwide presence:
In its 40 years in the industry, Kerakoll Innovative Group has been so successful that it has
gone from being top of the domestic market to a top Italian-based business in Europe,
before also becoming a leading European group (and Italian at heart) bound for the
international arena.
International expansion and an ever more global approach have certainly not eroded the
longstanding Kerakoll identity. The company has remained faithful to the values that saw it
rise to 3rd place in the rankings of manufacturers producing high-end professional
tile-laying systems around the world.
The international dimension of the company also emerges in the makeup of our
management team. In global markets, the majority of managers are selected locally, which
explains why you'll find local experts heading up our branches in USA, India, Singapore,
UK, Portugal, Sweden, Germany and Hungary. Our intense investment policy and 15
branch operations around the world have enabled us to continue to grow and consolidate
our position, the aim being to keep in close range of our markets.
Over the years, Kerakoll has carved out an extremely competitive position for the company
in its benchmark markets, managing to take our standards of customer service to new
levels by making sure our full product range is constantly in stock in the local market.
Large amounts of money were also invested in 2007 to improve our technical support
service, our intention being to offer a standardized global support service by qualified
Kerakoll Worldwide Global Service experts onsite within 24 hours of the call-out.
Marketing Strategies
Focused Approach
Kerakoll wants to get into bigger markets and have bigger shares in those markets. The
cooperative is also expanding its product portfolio further to match rival offerings. For the
first 10 years of its existence, it only works for applied chemistry for the building industry.
It was in 1978 that it came up with Sup reflex Adhesives, and now a day Kerakoll has a
wide variety of products. So while the product portfolio has been growing, Kerakoll has
plans for reach out to newer markets - but the strategy here is more product-specific.
Initially Kerakoll entered into Delhi market but now it is expanding its markets like in
Rajasthan and Haryana.. Their objective of getting into newer locations is not to make
Kerakoll larger, but to ensure that there is a large viable distribution network and consumer
brand of Kerakoll.
Wider Spread
However, as far as applied chemicals and adhesives for building industry products are
concerned, Kerakoll plans to expand across the board. International expansion and an ever
more global approach have certainly not eroded the longstanding Kerakoll identity. The
company has remained faithful to the values that saw it rise to 3rd place in the rankings of
manufacturers producing high-end professional tile-laying systems around the world.
Product Differentiation
Kerakoll’s idea is not just to enter new markets, but to do well in those markets - which
mean bigger market shares in the different product categories in whichever market it is
present. The drivers will be value created through quality of the offerings as well as
innovations in products. This will, of course, be backed by relevant marketing and
promotion campaigns. Kerakoll is bringing in mass Indian flavors which are building up in
terms of absolute percentage of contribution. Their attempt is to make the quality products
in building industry as familiar as possible so as to increase quality buildings. Likewise in
case of adhesives, it invented H40 Flex the world’s first ever single component adhesive.
Smart Marketing
On the marketing front, Kerakoll is trying to take its product campaigns and
communications to a higher platform. For instance, in the case of grouting and elastic
joints, the campaigns do not talk about the obvious benefits but rather it targets hotels and
hospitals and are created around ideas such as "The country needs you, you can build
better”. As far as other products is concerned like professionals adhesives and leveling
products, it has created a strong presence in the market.. Here, Kerakoll has dared to go
different. Since the adhesives are the most frequent selling product of the Kerakoll the
company is giving more attention at this product. While Kerakoll has been carrying out
various programs to encourage the sales of its product. Clearly, Kerakoll has aggressive
plans. But, strong regional brands and other co-operatives will continue to give it tough
competition.
Kerakoll products
Kerakoll has a wide variety of products which are categorized into three main categories.
These are:
1. PREPERATION OF THE SUBSTRATE- It includes
• Professional, high resistance binders, leveling and self leveling products.
• Professional products for substrate preparation.
• Professional waterproofing products for substrate.
KERACHEM
KERATECH R 30
KERALEVEL
KERALEVEL LR
KERABUILD FINITURA
RASOBUILD LBF
P5
IDROBUILD
IDROBUILD RETE
IDROBUILD GIUNTOFLX 120
IDROBUILD GIUNTOFLEX 160
KERABUILD EPOADESIVO
IDROBUILD OSMOCEM
IDROBUILD SI
LAYING CRAMIC TILES AND NATURAL STONES
• Professional adhesives.
SUPER
EXTRA
TACK
Future prospects
Basically Kerakoll is focusing on its supply system and to increase its market share as this
company is new in India. Though the company is an internationally named brand but for
India it is the first time that a company is launches applied chemistry for building industry.
Efforts are on to ensure greater availability of Kerakoll products at pushcarts and small
outlets.
Business Model
Act like a retailer and think like a brand – Kerakoll focuses not only on
delivering sales for the immediate present, but also protecting its long term brand
reputation.
Kerakoll in India
Kerakoll India having full set-up and its head office at Mumbai and warehouse and having
full time professional working team available in technical and sales department to provide
best pre and after technical-sales service support to its customer at South East Asia
continent. With Kerakoll expertise of 40 years in this field, certainly it can satisfy customer
need for challenging and rapid growing construction requirement.
Customer awareness – India has a huge population, max are in middle class. To
cater to this customer segment, the company came up with a completely new line of
customaries & economical products. The separation of consumers class is
maintained throughout the various stages.
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
Kerakoll uses demographic segmentation strategy with age as the parameter. The main
target segments are Retailers, Architectures and Contractors.
80% 70%
70% 55%
60% 50%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Cements Adhesives & Waterproofing system
sealan
“IGI’s Third Terminal” projects Kerakoll as a place for the whole Construction
standard as well as product quality. When Kerakoll entered in India it was mainly
perceived as targeting the urban upper class project. Today it positions itself as an
affordable place to use without compromising on the quality, service and standard. This
commitment of quality of product and service in time, standard and relaxing atmosphere
has ensured that Kerakoll maintains a positive relationship with the customers.
Customers expect it to be an ambient, standard and a little sophisticated brand that respects
their values. The customer’s expect the brand to enhance their self-image. Customer
responses obtained at the, Mumbai outlet confirmed the fact that they connect strongly with
the brand. However, fulfilling some of the customer expectations like a broader product
variety provide Kerakoll a great scope for improvement.
Kerakoll’s Marketing Mix (5 P’s)
After segmenting the market, finding the target segment and positioning itself, each
company needs to come up with an offer. The 5 P’s used by Kerakoll are:
1. Product
2. Place
3. Price
4. Promotion
5. People
Product: How should the company design, manufacture the product so that it
enhances the customer experience?
Product is the physical product or service offered to the consumer. Product includes certain
aspects such as packaging, guarantee, looks etc. This includes both the tangible and the
non-tangible aspects of the product and service.
Kerakoll has intentionally kept its product depth and product width limited. Kerakoll
studied the behaviour of the Indian customer and provided a totally different menu as
compared to its International offering. It dropped professional adhesives, adhesives with
SAS and Self-levelling tectnology from the menu. India is the only country where Kerakoll
serve different menu as per condition. Even the all the product in India are 100% eco-
friendly. Kerakoll continuously innovates its products according to the changing
preferences and standard of its customers.
The recent example is the introduction of the Kerakoll H40 Flex is a professional single
component adhesive with SAS (Shock Absorbing System) technology and high
deformability, suitable for laying of Craftstone products onto most surfaces including brick,
block and fibre-cement sheet.
Kerakoll bring with it a globally reputed brand, world class construction chemical
quality and excellent customer specific product features.
Place: Where should be the product be available and the role of distribution
channels?
The place mainly consists of the distribution channels. It is important so that the product is
available to the customer at the right place, at the right time and in the right quantity.
Nearly Kerakoll’s has the entire running project on the bases of contract.
There is a certain degree of quality and standard that a customer feels each time he dines at
Kerakoll. There are certain value propositions that Kerakoll offer to its customers based
on their needs. Kerakoll offers standard product, good quality and great service. Now
Kerakoll have also started giving 0nline suggestion in Interior Design & construction at
their web portal. There are certain dedicated areas for customer where they can assets
while their construction/project can have some quality time together.
Promotion: What is the suitable strategy and channels for promotion of the
product?
The various promotion channels being used by Kerakoll to effectively communicate the
product information are given above. A clear understanding of the customer value helps
decide whether the cost of promotion is worth spending.
There are three main objectives of advertising for Kerakoll are to make people aware of
an item, feel positive about it and remember it. The right message has to be
communicated to the right audience through the right media. Kerakoll does its promotion
through television, hoardings and bus shelters. They use print ads and the television
programmes (costume in F1 race ) are also an important marketing medium for promotion.
Core Product
Supplementary Process
During the Service Delivery Process, each moment of interaction between the firm and the
customer, called “Moments of Truth”, helps understand the opportunities that a firm has
to win or lose the customer. For example, these “moments of truth” are created for
Kerakoll’s every time then customer came at the, Kerakoll’s meets the customer, every
time an attendant takes down the order from the customer , every time the manager
interacts with the customer, every time the attendant helps the customer guided the
customer towards“Moments
the construction/project,
Of Truth”etc. – The Service Encounter
Customer
Kerakoll’s has changed the nature of not only the service industry but also the construction
chemical industry as well. Kerakoll’s realized that the battle between construction chemical
chains would increasingly be one of efficiency of supply, lower cost production and greater
desire to innovate. It pioneered with innovative and sophisticated product distribution and
packaging systems when the traditional product processors were unwilling or unable to
supply product items that Kerakoll’s demanded. They achieved amazing consistency by
devoting more attention than anyone else to field service and training at store level.
Production was concentrated in huge plants devoted exclusively to Kerakoll’s. Kerakoll’s
also started with tiny suppliers and grew with them displaying great loyalty.
Nowhere is the supplier loyalty more evident than in development of new, improved
products. Some of Kerakoll’s classic product items like etc. are results of supplier
innovation. Interestingly, it took Laticrete(competitor) more than three years before in
finally introduced its own version of construction chemicals. Thus supplier technological
expertise had given Kerakoll’s a product which was not a mere marketing innovation but a
technical one. Kerakoll’s attempted to squeeze labour out of the stores by moving more
preparation back into the processing plant, creating the opportunity to develop unique
products based on suppliers’ processing skills. For the first time, Kerakoll’s suppliers
became the focal point of new product development. This converted the construction
industry’s most fragmented distributed system into more efficient one which helped
Kerakoll’s reduce its inventory and manage costs effectively.
Importance of PLC in Kerakoll’s
The requirements of customers change over time and thus the product offering has to be
changed accordingly. What is the fashion today may be out of market within few weeks.
Thus continuous innovation is required.
To counter these changes Kerakoll has continuously introduced new products and has
phased out the old ones which were at the decline stage of their PLC. The introduction is
timed such that the new product does not cannibalize the product already in the maturity or
growth stage. Thus the secret lies in getting profits with different products in the different
stages of the PLC.
The professional adhesives have been an important part of the Kerakoll menu worldwide.
But now it was in the stage of decline and was actually not generating proper return. In an
attempt to revitalize it, a new variant was introduced namely SAS Technology. This is
being placed with professional adhesives which has resulted in increase in the sales of
professional adhesives and has elevated it from to the decline stage. This is used to delay
the decline of a well established product which has the potential of generating further
revenue.
Competitors Analysis
Kerakoll’s has been a leading construction outlet in Mumbai. But the outlet understudy has
other competitors eating away into its market share. In addition to its traditional rivals—
Laticrete, Waber, Bal Endure—the firm encounters new challenges. Pidilite competes using
a back-to-basics approach of quickly serving up burgers for time-pressed consumers. On
the higher end, the Laticrete has become potent competitor in the quick service field, taking
away customers from Kerakoll’s. Perhaps in the new environment, fast, convenient service
is no longer enough to distinguish the firm. At this time, a new critical success factor may
be emerging: the need to create a rich, satisfying experience for consumers. This brings us
to service and experience based competition which Kerakoll’s can use for competitive
advantage against Pidilite. Keeping in mind the demographics of the area, Kerakoll’s has
testing labs enabled facility which impresses customers. It is for this overall “Passion, Ideas
& Innovation” experience that customers pay a premium over the other competitors.
Competition also reduces product lifecycle; inducing firms to revise their products
portfolios and to revisit their product market to understand changing needs, expectations
and perception of different market segments. The new SAS Technology would be
introduced in adhesives in professional & high class project. This would open up a whole
new revenue stream for Kerakoll’s by tapping into the construction and big commercial
projects (like-World square mall, etc) by providing a standard and wholesome solution.
This shows how demographic shift can affect the demand for products and services.
Kerakoll’s has anticipated these changes to maintain its competitive edge.
Entry to Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities – The main target customer for Kerakoll’s is the
new urban Indian construction/projects. With the customer demographics constantly
changing and tectonic social and cultural shifts being observed in Tier 2 and Tier 3
cities due to globalization, the company is now expanding to Tier 2 cities.
Rolling out Kerakoll’s innovation technology across all out – In India, the
company has recently launched its entry into the adhesives category. This is now
launched on a pilot testing labs basis on select area. In Mumbai, it available at the
main head office/outlets. The company views this category as a key growth driver
in future.
Milestones
1968
Realizing the huge potential to be tapped, Romano Sghedoni started producing tile
adhesive in his garage and founded Kerakoll in Sassuolo, province of Modena, at the heart
of worldwide ceramic industry.
1978
H40 Flex was invented, the world's first single-component SAS (Shock Absorbing System)
technology adhesive. This was a landmark moment for the ceramic industry as it provided a
secure way of fixing single-fired materials and homogeneous slabs in high stress
applications. It was also the first step on the road to success (Kerakoll Ceramic Range).
1990
Kerakoll ventured into the construction industry with high-resistance laying systems for
ceramic tiles and natural stone, leading the way and partnering construction companies
around the world. Single-technology, BME (Low Elastic Modulus) technology was
introduced, revolutionising the concept of special mortars for concrete (Kerakoll
Construction Range).
2000
Kerakoll acquired SLC, a top European company founded in 1963 in Brugine (PD) making
professional laying and finishing systems (screeds, primers, adhesives and paints) for wood
floors, carpeting, rubber and PVC. HP (High Protection) technology, the ultimate in low-
VOC varnishes for parquet, was launched after 4 years of research in Charlotte North
Carolina (Kerakoll parquet range).
2005
Biocalce was born, the world's first green brand and comprehensive range of natural
construction materials (mortars, NHL-based plaster/render and paint coats) for Building
Wellness and Historical Restoration. Building Wellness established itself as the new design
philosophy to safeguard health and improve the quality of life and living comfort.
2006
Kerakoll acquired Rank over, a company founded in 1972 in Zimella (VR) and leading
European business in the formulation, production and development of decorative coatings
for contemporary building and at the cutting edge of the production of natural paint coats
for building restoration.
2007
Kerakoll Design was born, the new cult brand for eco-friendly solid surfaces in
Cementoresina®. Love York, the contemporary home design collection, was unveiled for
the first time at the Milan FuoriSalone.
Number one for people management, speed of innovation, product reputation and high
standards of service. Having customers name us as their partner is a testament of the
quality of our products, services, attention to detail, reliability, efficiency and reputation.
These principles have taken Kerakoll Innovative Group to the very forefront of the
industry for competitiveness and quality of the company's Made in Italy strategy, a
rare accreditation awarded to the small number of elite businesses that continue to generate
value.
2009
At the end of May in Montecarlo during the World Entrepreneur Of The Year
Award Gian Luca Sghedoni, Kerakoll CEO, was named Best Italian Entrepreneur in
the world
2008
Kerakoll CEO Gian Luca Sghedoni was named national winner of the "2008
Entrepreneur of the Year" award, for "having succeeded in taking Kerakoll from the top
of the domestic market to being a top Italian-based business in Europe, before also
becoming a leading European group (Italian at heart) bound for the international arena."
2007
lthe Kerakoll Innovative Group business culture was commended in the 2007 Italian
competition watchdog based on the compared financial results of the top 1,700 businesses
as compiled by Mediobanca;: 1st for competitiveness and quality of strategy in the
chemical industries rankings and 6th in the stability table.
In November 2007, Kerakoll Innovative Group won the “2007 Entrepreneur of the year”
award, organised by the US service firm Ernst & Young. The Group CEO Gian Luca
Sghedoni triumphed in the Innovation category, winning the award for "dedication to
creating innovative products and making constant advances in scientific research, which
translate into newer, higher standards of performance and a competitive advantage capable
of sustaining further growth".
2006
The 2006 Italian competition watchdog saw Kerakoll place 12th overall, 1st for
competitiveness and quality of strategy in the chemical industries standings, and 3rd for
stability, having maintained excellent ratings over the three-year period.
2005
Kerakoll, the only business in the applied chemical sector for the construction industry,
ranked 8th in the 2005 Italian competition watchdog.
2004
2003
Kerakoll was the second-most dynamic company in Italy (+38%) for research,
innovation, marketing and internationalization in Mediobanca rankings.
CHAPTER - 3
DESCRIPTIVE WORK OF
SUBTOPICS OF THE
STUDY
Descriptive work of subtopics of the study
The project undertaken was to know the recent trends and the effect of financial crunch on
construction industry to achieve competitive edge over various competitors and to know
about the present market demand and situation to determine the best marketing strategies
for the sales. Basically my research work is divided into three parts:
Market Survey
This was the first part of the project. This part deals in visiting so many running sites in the
NCR region to know the status of that site like stage owner contractor names etc.. The
survey will be helpful in understanding the current market scenario as well as the new
emerging trends in the construction industry. The main purpose lies in interacting with the
project managers and site architects who are the real promoter of the product. The
comments regarding the various products of various brands are gathered and in particular
of Kerakoll and by that we have to do the product promotion of Kerakoll. The positives and
negatives of each brand are noted. The issues such as water proofing leveling an laying of
tiles are to be observed. The basic purpose of market survey was to understand the markets
and the pros and cons of construction industry.
Analysis of Various Brand Preference of Product
This is the second part of the project. This part deals with the knowledge of various
product & consumer preference. The reason of their held up, their restart time etc.. There
may be various reasons of customer acquisition & retention and some personal problem.
Working procedure
Here we have to approach various architects, contractors, owners, project managers, and
various structural consultants etc. we are doing there the product promotion of Kerakoll.
We have to then go to some retailers and also tell them about the Kerakoll product. After
talking with the architects we try to analyze the recent marketing trend and try to establish
the new procedure for the sales and demand forecast. We have to submit Daily report about
each market and full information about each Site in those markets. Questionnaire and
observation method was used for collecting the information.
My own contribution
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
Objective of the Study
To understand customer perceptions about the product and expectations from the
company.
Type of Research
Exploratory research is a type of research conducted because a problem has not been
clearly defined. Exploratory research helps determine the best research design, data
collection method and selection of subjects. Given its fundamental nature, exploratory
research often concludes that a perceived problem does not actually exist.
It seeks to find out how people get along in the setting under question, what meanings they
give to their actions, and what issues concern them. The goal is to learn 'what is going on
here?'
On the other hand descriptive research is aimed to find the complete description about an
existing problem or phenomenon
Here, during my project, the main focus was to find what is the effect of customer
acquisition & retention and how the market is facing the new emerging trends in the
building industry, and the retailers, contractors and architects are actually thinking about
the Kerakoll products. What are the attributes and reasons other brands are having by
means of which they are defeating Kerakoll products?
Causal research is to associate the cause and effect relationship of two reasons. In my
project I am proving relationship the relationship between site slowdowns and financial
crunch and the association between new emerging trend and financial crunch, by using chi-
square test.
Sampling methods
When I started my project, my external guide asked me to do the site mapping, means to
visit the running sites and to collect the information from there and to forward that
information to the next level to perform their tasks. And above all to do the product
promotion there, and find out the stage of the sites and try to correlate the site stage and the
usage of the Kerakoll product in those projects.
Sample area
The sample areas are Ghaziabad including Vashundhara, Ram prashta, Indirapuram and
Sahibabad, Noida (Sec-18, 58, 59, 60 62, 63) and Greater Noida including Surajpur Villege
and Kasna Vilege and different locations of Delhi including East, West, South and Central
Delhi.
The task of data collection begins after we define the research problem. While deciding
about the methods of data collection to be used for the study, the researcher should keep in
mind two types of data viz. primary and secondary. The primary data are those data which
are collected for the first time and thus it is original in nature. The secondary data on the
other hand are those which have already been collected by someone else and which have
already been passed to the statistical process. The researcher would have to decide which
sought of data he would be using for his study and accordingly he will have to select one or
the other method of data collection. The methods of collecting primary and secondary data
differ since primary data are to be originally collected, while in case of secondary data the
nature of data collection were is merely that of compilation.
There are several methods through which we can collect primary data. Some of these are:
Observation methods:
In observational studies, the investigator doesn’t ask question to seek clarification
on certain issue instead he records the behavior, as it occurs, of an event in which he
is interested. Sometimes mechanical devices are also used to record the desired data.
Interviewing:
Interview can be conducted either face to face or over telephone. Such interviews provide
an opportunity to establish a rapport with the interviewer and help extract valuable
information.
Questionnaire:
It is formalized set of question for extracting information from the target respondent. The
form of the question should correspond to the form of required information. The three
general form of question are dichotomous (yes/no type), multiple choice and open ended.
Here, in this project, I have used structured questionnaire to collect the responses from the
project managers, contractors and architects. The questionnaire has been planned very
carefully and I have tried my best to include every necessary question which are relevant
for the purpose of this study. The questionnaire has three types of questions – dichotomous,
multiple choice and open ended question.
Secondary data means data that are already available i.e. they refer to the data which have
already been collected and analyzed by someone else. When the researcher utilizes
secondary data, then he has to look into various sources from where he can obtain them. In
this scale he is certainly not confronted with the problems that are usually associated with
the collection of original data. Secondary data may either be published or unpublished.
Usually published data are available in various publications of the central, state, and local
bodies. In technical and trade journals, books magazines, newspaper, reports and
publication of various associations connected with business and industry, banks, stock
exchanges etc.
Most of the secondary data I have used in this project have been collected from various
websites through net. Some of the basic information was provided by the Company
(Kerakoll).
Sample Size
The target sample size is 100 and the research was conducted in almost Delhi and NCR
Region. .This is totally a judgment sampling .The Site selection was totally depending
upon us.
Project period:
From 4th May 2008 to 25st June 2008
CHAPTER 5
Data Analysis
&
Interpretation
DATA ANALYSIS
RESEARCH ON CONSUMER :
Study-I
IDROBUILD
10% 6%
8% 18% H40 FLEX
P5
12%
12% SUPER
EPOXY
34%
OTHERS
CONCLUTION:-
In this analysis, I found that most of the likes product which is used in making basic
structure of building, that is P5.
2. Is the product line in Kerakoll’s adequate?
28%
38%
YES
NO
AVERAGE
34%
CONCLUTION:-
In this analysis, I found that 38% of product line in Kerakoll’s adequate is average.
3. What is the main problem you faced at Kerakoll’s?
PRICE
24%
DELIVERY
40% TIME
Congestion
4%
Other
16%
No Problem
16%
CONCLUTION:-
In this analysis, I found that there is no problem in Kerakoll excepted price of product.
4. Which area do you think needs the most improvement?
Improvement Required
Delivery Time
10% 10%
6% Capaciousness
Prices
30%
Offers and
discounts
24%
Others
CONCLUTION:-
In this analysis, I found that most of the need in improvement of product variety because
customer has problem justify the product on their use.
5. What is the first thing that strikes your mind about Kerakoll’s?
22%
30% Adhesives
Quality
4% Price
Value for Money
18% Service
26%
CONCLUTION:-
In this analysis, I found that if customer go to the market the first thing strikes in its mind
that is Adhesives.
Study-II
Hypothesis:
There is no significant association between the consumer preference and the brand
preference for construction chemical industry.
Table-1
Type of Construction
Brands Institutional Commercial Residential Industrial Total
Laticrete 9 10 7 6 32
Kerakoll 5 8 6 7 26
Pidlite 6 3 4 5 18
Bal Endure 2 5 2 4 13
Waber 4 2 2 3 11
TOTAL 26 28 21 25 100
INFERENCE:
From the above table the percentage of highly preferred respondents is more in the
commercial. It was followed by the groups Institutional, In medium preference the highest
percentage is in commercial group.
2. Relationship between Income level and brand preference:-
Hypothesis:
There is no significant association between income level and brand preference for
construction chemical industry.
Table-2
INFERENCE:
From the above table the percentage of highly preferred respondents is more in the group
above Rs.50, 00,000 To 1,50,00,000. It was followed by the groups Rs1,50,00,000 &
above, In medium preference the highest percentage is in Rs.50,00,000 To 1,50,00,000
group.
CHI-SQUARE TEST:
Chi-square test is applied to test the goodness of fit, to verify the distribution of observed
data with assumed theoretical distribution. Therefore it is a measure to study the divergence
of actual and expected frequencies; Karl Pearson’s has developed a method to test the
difference between the theoretical (hypothesis) & the observed value.
For all the chi-square test the table value has taken @ 5% level of significance.
CHI – SQUARE TEST IS CONDUCTED TO EXTENT THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN
INFERENCE:
Since the calculated value is less than the table value. So the Null hypothesis is accepted.
Hence, there is no significant relationship between Customer preference and Brand name.
CHI – SQUARE TEST IS CONDUCTED TO EXTENT THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN
INFERENCE:
Since the calculated value is more than the table value. So the Null hypothesis is rejected.
Hence, there is significant relationship between Income level and Brand preference.
FINDINGS:
Customer Preference:
The two-way table tells us the high satisfaction is derived by the respondents who use
construction chemical for building commercial sites group.
Chi-squire test reveals that there is no significant relationship between the Customer
preference and brand name.
The two-way table tells us the high preference is derived by the respondents who are
more in the group above Rs.50, 00,000 To 1, 50, 00,000 in a session of project.
Chi-squire test reveals that there is significant relationship between the Income Level of
customer and Brand preference.
CHAPTER 6
Conclusions, Suggestions
and
Limitations
Conclusion:
After analyzing all things about Kerakoll the leading construction chemical industry in the
World. We can say that its product quality, service, standard, etc are much better than its
competitors as customer point of view and there expectation & perception but Kerakoll has
to more for Indian market, as we know it is a some of biggest market for construction in the
world.
As we know max products of Kerakoll are in premium segments, so it has to do more for
main for middle class market also, because in India more 70% are middle class & there is
great scope for improvement.
At last Kerakoll as a leading name in the consultancy and end-to-end technical support
field construction market & its products are compairless to its any of competitor in sense
of-
1.Product Quality.
2.Service.
3.Product Variety and many more…..
SUGGESTIONS:
Improve direct marketing response by ensuring they are targeting the right households at
the right time, using the right media with the right message.
Leverage current consumer data to make better strategic decisions about products,
marketing and locations.
Increase customer loyalty and retention with a scientific, data driven approach to analytical.
References:
From companies website www.kerakollgroup.com
From “Marketing Research”- C.R.Kothari.
From Sales Manager- Kerakoll India.
From “Marketing Management”- Kottler