The Baron group entered the Indian consumer durables market in December 1994, and the markets were never the same again.
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Marketing Management
CASE STUDY (20 Marks)
The Baron group entered the Indian
consumer durables market in December 1994, and the markets were never the same
again. Over the next few years, at the corporate offices of competitors like
Videocon, Philips and Mirc Electronics, it was the same story - they
were all making frenzied attempts to
hold on to declining market shares. Baron's initial product offering, an Akai
color television (CTV), was priced at Rs 13,000 - while the market price was Rs
16,500. This was clubbed with an exchange1 offer on old music systems and TVs
and free-gift schemes whereby 14-inch CTVs, mobile-phones, refrigerators and
Bajaj Sunny mopeds were offered free on the purchase of a 21-inch CTV. These
moves, combined with Baron's full-page advertisements that appeared regularly
in the national media, lured buyers all over the country. The move changed the
CTV market share pattern very soon, with Akai's sales increasing from 2500 CTVs
in 1993-94 to 4.29 lakh CTVs in 1997-98. In December 1998, Baron repeated the
success story with the Aiwa brand in the hi-fi audio systems segment. Within 5
months of the launch, Aiwa replaced Philips as the segment leader, garnering a
45% market share, as compared to Philips' 17.2% share. The launch of the TCL
range of consumer electronics in 1999 also took the market by storm as the
China based TCL was known for its dirt-cheap products. With almost every new
scheme and every new tie-up, Baron unleashed a new war in the Indian consumer
electronics market. A majority of the players began indulging in
'one-upmanship' on the pricing and promotion fronts. However, they soon
realized that it was not very easy to match Baron's schemes and prices. The
question on everyone's mind was the same. How did Baron do it? The Mulchandani
family (Baron group)had started its consumer electronics business in the 1970s.
The group began with marketing and distributing products under the Bush brand
name. Under the leadership of J.R.Mulchandani, Bush emerged as one of the top
brands in the audio cassette player
market. However, in the next two
decades, Bush failed to withstand the onslaught of companies that were
financially superior and had greater marketing savvy.
Answer
the following question.
Q1.
Give detailed reasons for the boost in sales of Akai color televisions marketed
by The Baron group.
Q2.
What was the marketing strategy adopted by the Baron group to boost sales.
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