Marketing Pencil

INDEX †¢ Acknowledgement †¢ Executive Summary †¢ Introduction to the market †¢ Definition to the marketing plan †¢ Impact of Environmental factors †¢ Marketing Plan for pencils †¢ Category analysis †¢ Current market situation †¢ Customer analysis †¢ Marketing strategy †¢ Product development process †¢ Brand name, Brand equity, Brand image †¢ Segmentation and Targeting †¢ Profile of rural market in general †¢ Marketing Mix and Integrated Marketing Communication †¢ Conclusion ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We extent our thanks to Mrs. Saima Hussain faculty guide who has given me moral support to do my project work.We also extend our thankfulness to our beloved parents and friends for their continuous encouragement at every moment It is our privilege to express our profound in deftness, deep sense of gratitude to our facility guide who had trusts in our ability in assigning us such an important and interesting project and also for allotting time for discussing and clarifying issues related to this project. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A marketing plan is a written document that contains the guidelines for the business centers and allocation over the planning period. This project is made on the basis for the marketing plan for the pencils.In our project our company is i. e. , of Torres are introducing their new pencils product. The names of the pencils are the ‘Shesham pencils’. If our company introduces new pencils and have to sell it in the market then we have to firstly write down a market plan for it. That means we have to analyze the current market situation i. e. ? We have to analyze the impact of the micro environment, macro environment. ? We have to analyze the needs of the consumers and then do segmentation, target and positioned the market. ? We have to do surveys for knowing the needs of the peoples.The more concise a marketing plan is the better it will serve you. These are the guideline s for writing a strategic marketing plan that meets the specific requirements of your business. We will take you through the development process step-by-step with easy to follow planning sheets to lead you through each stage. After that we have to choose different modes of communication for the sale, promotion of our product. The format includes a fully developed sample plan and is designed to meet the needs of most types of businesses although the emphasis on different aspects of the plan will vary from one business type to another.MARKET PLANNING FOR THE PENCILS (SHESHAM PENCILS) INTRODUCTION:Bangladesh is always said a country of villages and it is fact as Bangladesh 60% of population lives in villages, and it is said that rural market has been growing at five times the pace of the urban market more government rural development initiatives have been seen to increase rural markets. MARKET: Traditionally, a market was a physical place where buyers and sellers gather to buy and sell goods. Economist describes a market as a collection of buyers and sellers who transact over a particular Product or product class.Manufactures go to resources, marketer buy resources and turn them into good and services. MARKET PLANNING: It is well and good to include marketing in your business and a lot a few hours a day to do marketing tasks. But if we do not organize our market plan our efforts won/t get nearly as far as putting . Marketing plan in writing gives you a guideline to work from and it provides goal to strive for and it organize all those creative ideas you have floating around your brain. Firms that is successful in marketing businesses starts with marketing plan.Marketing plan cannot be made without involving many people into it. No matter what kind of feedback you get from all parts of your company. This is as important because it take all aspects of your company to make your marketing plan. Your key people can provide realistic impact on what’s achievable and how achievable and how your goals can be worked out. From all the things we can concluded that market plan is very necessary for the successful running of any business operation and to achieve various goals of the business operations in a right manner and in right ways.DEFINITION OF MARKETING PLAN: ‘A marketing plan is a written document containing the guidelines for the business centers marketing programs and allocation over the planning period’ THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS: There are two keys perspectives on the marketing environment. , namely the micro environment and macro environment: MICRO ENVIRONMENT: This environment influences the organization directly . It includes suppliers that deal directly and indirectly with consumers and customers and other local stake holders. Micro environment tends to suggest the small but this can be misleading.In context, micro describes the relationship between firms consumers and customers directly or indirectly, and ot her local stakeholders. This includes all factors that can influence an organization, but that are out of their direct control. A company does not generally influence any laws (although it is accepted that they could lobby or be part of a trade organization). It is continuously changing, and the company needs to be flexible to adapt. There may be aggressive competition and rivalry in a market. Globalization means that there is always the threat of substitute products and new entrants. The wider nvironment is also changing, and the marketer needs to compensate for changes in culture, politics, economics and technology. All factors that are internal to the organization are known as the ‘internal environment'. They are generally audited by applying the ‘Five Ms' which are Men, Money, Machinery, Materials and Markets. The internal environment is as important for managing change in the external environment. As marketers we call the process of managing internal change is calle d internal marketing. MACRO ENVIRONMENT: Macro environment includes all the external factors that affect our product .The macro environment includes the factors like technology, political, geographical, and ecological and socio cultural factors that have an impact on the manufacturing of the product. In the manufacturing of pencils we have to keep in the mind that the sociological environment, the society has been changed and due to this the needs, demands of the customers are also changed. Different kinds of pencils are made according to the need and standards of the peoples. Now a high class person wants pencils which are of high quality and provides better services. The middle class peoples want a pencil that are of low price and is not very expensive.So manufacturer produces the pencils in keeping all these things in mind. The pencils are produced with accordance of the new technology. MARKET PLAN FOR PENCILS: If our company introduces new pencils and have to sell it in the mark et then we have to firstly write down a market plan for it. That means we have to analyze the current market situation i. e. ? We have to analyze the impact of the micro environment, macro environment. ? We have to analyze the needs of the consumers and then do segmentation, target and positioned the market. ? We have to do surveys for knowing the needs of the peoples.The more concise a marketing plan is the better it will serve you. These are the guidelines for writing a strategic marketing plan that meets the specific requirements of your business. We will take you through the development process step-by-step with easy to follow planning sheets to lead you through each stage. After that we have to choose different modes of communication for the sale, promotion of our product. The format includes a fully developed sample plan and is designed to meet the needs of most types of businesses although the emphasis on different aspects of the plan will vary from one business type to anoth er.PROCESS OF MARKET PLAN CATEGORY ANALYSIS: The product of our company is the pencils. Our company is introducing a new product of Torres pencils with new unique features, and size. Our company is providing better and unique features to our customers. The competitors of our company are the other pencils stores like, GOLDFISH pencils, and DOLLAR pencils. MARKET SURVEY/ CURRENT MARKET SITUATIONS: Market survey is the first step in the market planning . Our Company conducted the market survey for knowing ? The need in the current market situation. To analyze what are the different kinds or types of pencils which are present in the current time in the market. ? The different kinds of features of the pencils, their prices. NEEDS, WANTS AND DEMANDS OF THE CUSTOMERS: The market plan will be started before the manufacturing of the particular product. If we have to make any kind of pencils products, we have to analyze the needs, demands and wants of the customers. Needs are the basic human requirements. Needs are then converted into wants. Demands are the wants for specific products backed by the ability to pay.We start our market plan by analyzing that whether there is a need; want among the customers for the pencils we decide to manufacture and for that we conduct survey, market research for knowing the needs of the customers. For that we have to visit the schools, and may know the needs of the children by Putting them questions and having their suggestions that what kind of pencils they want for writing ,and knowing from them that what are the difficulties they get from their previous pencils while writing. We need to have different types of people which are using pencils to know their needs.After collecting all the information we have to get a result for knowing the needs, wants, and demands of the customers and get ready for making pencils according to the needs wants and demands of the customers. COMPETITOR ANALYSIS: The analysis of the competitor is very import ant aspect because through it we come to know that that our competitor is. The main competitors of our pencils are the other pencils company like GOLDFISH pencils and DOLLAR pencils which are having good position in the market. Our company has to include all those factors in our pencils by which our product look unique and different.Determining the â€Å"Marketing Mix† Product Price Promotion Distribution Goldfish Rs 5 High High Dollar Rs 4 Average Average CUSTOMERS ANANLYSIS: Our Company is targeting different types of customers according to their needs and wants. We are targeting the students of school, colleges. E. G—–Children’s like pencils having shapes of toys and other attracting things.The persons who have to work in the offices like simple pencils . Other professionals like different kinds of pencils so pencils are made according to the needs and wants of these different consumers. ESTABLISHING OBJECTIVES: The main objectives of our company are a s follows: ? To provide better services to our customers. ? To provide quality pencils to our target customers at the reasonable prices. ? To build a good image in the minds of our customers. ? To increase sales of our product. ? To generate revenues and profits by the sale of our pencils.MARKETING STRATEGIES: For the introduction of new product in the market we have to develop a preliminary strategy plan for introducing our new pencils in the market. The plan consists of three parts. 1. First part describes target market’s size, structure, and behavior of the planned product positioning and sales, market share, and profits and the goals sought in the few years by our product. Therefore the target market for our pencil is mainly the children’s of schools and colleges. We will analyze the benefit which comes out by the sale of the pencils. 2. The second part outlines the planned price, distribution strategy, and marketing budget for the first years. This part describes that what are the features or special points of the pencils which we have to made . In it we determine the prices of our different kinds of pencils. Like we determine that the cost of our pencil is Rs 2 each but if the customers buy the box there cost will be of Rs 8. 00 with a sharpener and eraser free. In it we also determine the different kinds of expenses which are to done for the introduction of our pencils in the market.Like the expenses done on the sale, promotion, advertisement of pencils in print media. That what are the profits which come to us by the sale of the pencils. As we see that during the first year a substantial amount will be spent on marketing research by audits and consumers panel data to monitor market reaction and buying rates. The entire budget is made in keeping eye on all these things. 3. The third part of the market strategy plan describes the long run sales and profits goals and market mix strategy over time. As we see that our products would be selling at a very good rate and giving us lots of profits.So we can invest more and more money in it and tries to improve the quality of our pencils by adding new features in it . We will make the product mix and decided to make new kinds of pencils with new innovations and additional features. Market strategy plan is very essential in the business for the proper allocation of revenues, expenditure from the product. It determines all the expenditure done for the sale of our pencils in the market. It also describes that to which segment of the customers we have to sell our pencils and at what price. MANAGING THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS:Up to now the product has existed in only as a word description. The next step involves the jump in the investment that dwarfs the cost incurred in the earlier stages. At this stage the company will determine whether the product idea can be translated into a technically and commercially feasible product. In this step we have to make our ideas, plans about the pen cils in truth. In other word we make our pencils according to needs and demands of the customers. PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: The development of the pencils starts at this step. The jobs of translating target customers requirement are helpful in making of our pencils.We analyze all the collected data from different kinds of customers and make our pencils according to their needs. E. g. The customers have said that they faces a lots of problems during writing because their pencils do not work properly, the points of the pencils get damaged during their writing time due to which they faces a lots of problems. From this we get an idea to use that kind of lead in our pencils which is of high quality and would not get damaged while writing. We adopt the quality function method for manufacturing of our pencils. We develop a pencils according to view taken by the peoples during market research.PRODUCT MIX: In product mix we include that what are the additional benefits that we are providing to ou r customer along with our original products i. e. , in it we can provide some additional services to our customers along with our pencils. We can give customer free sharpener and eraser with the one box of pencils. Along with one pencils peoples gets a free attached eraser. By adding these additional things in our pencils the customers get happy, and it will definitely results in the increase of the customers loyalty towards our product. It will also be helpful in retaining the attention of the customers towards our product.PRODUCT STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS: Product strengths and weakness describes the strengths of our pencils that what makes our pencils different from other pencils and what is our weaknesses when compared with others. STRENGTHS OF OUR PRODUCT; We should add what kind of features in our pencils that should act as strength of our pencils. We raise the length of our pencils, and provides different shapes of pencils which distinct our pencils different from others pencils . The offer of giving a free sharpener and an eraser is also helpful in attracting the consumers towards our product.As more and more customer are getting our pencils , these all results in increasing sale of the product and increasing revenues of the company. WEAKNESS OF OUR PRODUCT Our company should also analyze the weakness of our product: The main weakness may comes during the sale of the pencils that when we offer a free eraser and sharpener with our pencils whether the company may faces a lot of expenditure. These activities involve the wastage of money by the company. The pencils of other companies like GOLDFISH Pencils and DOLLAR Pencils are the main competitors of our company.Our company has to add the extra features in our product so that our product gets a different position as compared to our competitor’s product. PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE MANAGEMENT AND NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT- In the product life cycle management we can describes the product and determines for how muc h time we should sale our product in the market, whether for a long time or for short period of time. A company positioning and differentiation strategy must change as the product, market, and competitors change over the product life cycle.To say that the products have a life cycle it asserts four things: 1. Product has a limited life. 2. Product sale pass through distinct stages and each positioning asserts different challenges, opportunities and problems to the seller. 3. Profits raises and fall at different stages of the product life cycle. 4. Product required different marketing, financial, manufacturing, purchasing and human resource strategies in each life cycle stages. Product life cycle of the pencils depends upon the needs of our customers that for how much time our product should remain in the market.If our pencils do not satisfy the needs of the customers it may comes in the decline stage that results in the extinction of our pencils in the market. Because the customers a re not satisfied by our products their demand gets changed due to which our pencils comes in the decline stage. INTRODUCTION: At the introduction period there is the slow sale growth of the pencils. At this stage the profits are nonexistent because of the heavy expenses of product introduction. In this phase the customers are not much aware about our pencils.Large amount of advertisement expense, discounts are given by our company to create awareness of the customers towards our pencils. GROWTH: Rapid market acceptance and substantial profits improvements at growth the product is selling at a high rate. MATURITY: A slowdown in the sale growths shows the maturity period. As the sale of our pencils are not undergoing up to the mark. The customers are now not satisfied by our pencils, the pencils do not function according to their needs, which results in the slowdown in the sale of our pencils. The sale declines with the arrival of competitors in the market.It may seen that if the new company may introduce a new pencils with new and better features it will results in the decline in the sale of the pencils of our product. DECLINE: Decline shows the downward drift and profits erode. At this point the profit from the existing product comes to zero. This stage comes due to the arrival of new competitors in the market and when the customer satisfactions from our pencils are not up to the mark. This stage may come when our pencil do not gives full satisfaction to the consumers. Decline may also comes when the taste and preferences of the consumers gets change.If the decline stage may come in the existing product life it is good for our company to develop a new product according to the needs of the peoples and providing better services to the customers. BRAND NAME, BRAND EQUITY AND BRAND IMAGE: Brand is the name ,term, sign, symbol or design or the combination that tends to the goods and services of one seller or group of seller and to differentiate them from others tho se of competitors. A brand is the thus product or service that add dimensions that differentiate it in some way from others products or services designed to satisfy the same needs.These differences may be functional, rational, or tangible related to product performance of the brand. We give our pencils as the name’ ‘SHESHAM PENCILS’ it’s a new product of Torres pencil company. Branding may helps the consumers to identify our product . The consumers starts finding about the brand satisfy their needs and which ones do not. The brand name can be protected through registered trademarks, and packing can be protected through copyrights and designs. SEGMENTATION AND TARGETING MARKET SEGMENTATION Market segmentation is one of the steps that go into defining and targeting specific markets.It is the process of dividing a market into a distinct group of buyers that require different products or marketing mixes. A key factor to success in today's market place is findi ng subtle differences to give a business the marketing edge. Businesses that target specialty markets will promote its products and services more effectively than a business aiming at the â€Å"average† customer. Opportunities in marketing increase when segmented groups of clients and customers with varying needs and wants are recognized. Markets can be segmented or targeted using a variety of factor. The bases for segmenting consumer markets include: Demographical bases (age, family size, life cycle, occupation) †¢ Geographical bases (states, regions, countries) †¢ Behavior bases (product knowledge, usage, attitudes, responses) †¢ Psychographic bases (lifestyle, values, personality) A business must analyze the needs and wants of different market segments before determining their own niche. To be effective in market segmentation keeps the following things in mind: †¢ Segments or target markets should be accessible to the business †¢ Each segmented gro up must be large enough to provide a solid customer base. Each segmented group requires a separate marketing plan. Large companies segment their markets by conducting extensive market research projects. This research is often too expensive for small businesses to invest in, but there are alternative ways for to a small business to segment their markets. A small business can do the following to gain knowledge and information on how to segment their markets: 1. Use secondary date resources and qualitative research. You can use the following resources for external secondary data: o Trade and association publications and experts o Basic research publications External measurement services 1. Conduct informal factor and cluster analysis by: o Watching key competitors marketing efforts and copying them. o Talking to key trade buyers about new product introductions o Conducting needs analysis from qualitative research with individuals and groups. There are many reasons for dividing marketin g into smaller segments. Any time you suspect there are significant, measurable differences in your market you should consider market segmentation. By doing this you will make marketing easier, discover niche markets, and become more efficient with your marketing resources.TARGETING: By doing the segmentation we target the consumers where we have to sell our pencils. The main target are the school children’s and college student and there teachers and professors. In it we have to remain aware of our competitors in order to take competitive advantage and we should be also aware about the consumers who would be buying our product. Why our Company go to rural market? The cost of going global is very high, and it is difficult to gauge markets in other countries. It is better to target the rural market as it is growing by the day.Today rural markets are as critical as urban markets. The rural markets provide better opportunities. In village vast competition exists. Different compan ies come with different flavors. So people have ample choice. With only around 100000 of the 638667 villages tapped so far there are huge potential and market areas. So we get high percentage of total market though profit margin is less. Now a day’s villager also spends on luxury & comfort products. After all Dettol is a one type of necessity product. As it plays a role of anti-septic medicine.Media also plays an important role in promotion of goods. The growing reach of the electronic media has created a huge change in the lifestyle of rural consumer. Profile of rural market in general:- The rural market of Pakistan is large and scattered, in the sense that it consist of over 63 core consumers from 6, 38,365 villages spread throughout the country. Nearly 60% of the rural income is from agriculture. Hence rural prosperity is tied with agricultural prosperity. During the harvest season, the demand for consumer goods in village goes up.The population securing income from non-ag ricultural sector is now increasing due to rural development programs. The consumers in the village areas do have a low standard of living because of low literacy, low per capita income, social backwardness, low savings, etc. The rural consumer values old customs and traditions. A change is beginning to take place in their outlook because of growth in literacy rate and mass media in the rural areas. Rural consumers have diverse socio-economic background. This is different in different parts of the country. This brings diversity among rural customers and market.The demand pattern of the rural consumers is fast changing. There is new and growing demand for toiletries, ready-made garments, cosmetics, packaged foodstuffs, etc. this change is due to increase in rural income. The infrastructural facilities like roads, warehouses, communication system, and financial facilities are inadequate in rural areas. Hence physical distribution becomes costly due to inadequate infrastructural facili ties. The saving habit of the rural community is increasing in the recent years as a result of the efforts put by co-operative and commercial banksMarketing Mix: PRODUCT: A business needs to consider the products that it produces and the stage of the product life cycle that a product is at. Marketing strategies will vary according to the type of product and its stage in the life cycle. 1. Pencils are very convenient to use and will be easy for customers also to use this product. 2. By providing good quality of Pencils, students will be attracted towards writing and will also be encouraged. 3. Pencils are available in different colors, so a person has choices to select various types in one particular product. . Pencils are available in different prices, so people can buy it as per their affordability. [pic] PLACE: This generally refers to the physical locations of product sales as well as the methods of distribution. However, it is also considered to be the â€Å"place† or â⠂¬Å"position† in the market of the product; refer to information below. Businesses need to make many decisions related to â€Å"place†: access, parking, competition, physical location etc. It’s the most important P in the pencil wars — Place. And nothing evokes more passion in distribution.We have chosen the different zones especially south schools and colleges and west zones as keen interest is shown by nearby villages of it. We had chosen these places due to following reasons: In these areas literacy rate is better than other areas. â€Å"So WHERE THERE IS WILL, THERE IS A WAY†. As people living in this area have mostly standard income so they can purchase our product â€Å"pencils† as they are cheaply and in a better way available. There is a lot of scope of expansion as these areas are surrounded by various other villages so great scope of expansion is there.PRICE: Most businesses use a â€Å"cost plus† method for setting the price s of their products. This involves determining unit production costs and then adding in a profit margin. However, many other factors are involved. Consider â€Å"perceived price† (what you think consumers will be prepared to pay), demand elasticity (is it elastic or inelastic? ), competitors' pricing (can you afford to undercut their prices? ), pricing objectives (what do you want to achieve increased market share? increased profits? market leadership? etc. ) Example:Price is the only factor which decides the presence of the product in the rural market. As people are having standard purchasing power, low income or high group of income persons etc. can afford Shesham pencils as they are available cheaply and in a better way. Hence keeping all the dynamic factors we have decided to go for penetration pricing for our product. We have decided to go with the application of penetration pricing as the people in the rural area are having low income, low purchasing power and we are ne wly entering the market. The pricing will be in way: Small pencils: 1 pencil = RS. . /- 10 pencils of pencils box = RS. 9/- Large pencils: 1 pencils = RS. 4/- 10 pencils of pencils box= RS. 16/- PROMOTION: Promotion is said to be the vital for all companies until now the promotional tools have been acted as the targeting tool used to attract huge demand for rural people and also huge demand for company’s product. The promotional strategies are as follows:- A new innovative broad aspect followed by me to attract huge attraction towards my product will be the use of tree borders. e will make use of tree borders as in rural areas mostly there are villages surrounded by huge and number of trees, so the hoardings at tree border will definitely attract huge demand. We will be putting hoardings on retail shops so that whenever the customer comes over the shop they should easily come to know about the arrival of new Pencils i. e. â€Å"name of the pencils† in the market. We w ill also promote my product through wall paintings. As wall paintings lasts for longer time and through this maximum customer can be attracted.There are some other strategies also like, The role of the influencer or influencing communication cannot be ignored as far as rural Pakistan is concerned. The advertisements that revolve around this very strategy actually depend on the influence of different influential people and/or events in the villages to put across the message powerfully with more effect and purchase intention. An example of this kind of advertisement may be brand endorsement by any influential person in the village like the ‘Intellectual Chaudary’ or the ‘school master’. Events like different festivals and different games and sports competitions actually have a high participation level in the rural Pakistan, as other sources of entertainment are very less in those areas. So, these events and shows offer great opportunity to reach rural Pakist an cost effectively. Different brands sponsor different events and shows in rural villages, which is actually a cost-effective way to advertise with the participatory strategy. Many brands are venturing into different ways to educate their rural consumers about their brands and their usage through different shows and events.This kind of initiatives actually creates huge awareness about the brand among the interested people in the rural Pakistan. Different health related advertisements like Polio awareness and AIDS awareness programmes involve a ‘show-n-tell’ strategy of advertising. It includes Press and print, TV, Cinema, Radio, and Point of purchase and Outdoor advertisement. Reach of formal media is low in rural households (Print: 18%, TV: 27%, Cinema: 30%, and Radio: 37%) and therefore the marketer has to consider the following points: English newspapers and magazines have negligible circulation in rural areas.However local language newspapers and magazines are bec oming popular among educated facilities in rural areas. It has made a great impact and large audience has been exposed to this medium. Organizations have been using TV to communicate with the rural masses. Lifebuoy, Lux, Dalda oil etc. are some of the products advertised via television. Many consumer goods companies and fertilizer companies are using these TV channels to reach the rural customer. Radio reaches large population in rural areas at a relatively low cost. Example: Colgate, Brite total, Shan Masala industries are some of the companies using radio communication programme.The farmers have a habit of listening to regional news/agricultural news in the morning and the late evening. The advertisement has to be released during this time to get maximum coverage in rural areas. Another advantage is that the radio commercial can be prepared at short notice to meet the changing needs of the rural folk. Example: Release of a pesticide ad at the time of outbreak of a pest or diseas e in crops. [pic] This form of media, which includes signboards, wall painting, hoarding, tree boards, bus boards, dealer boards, product display boards etc. , is cost effective in rural areas.Symbols, pictures and colors should be used in POPs meant for rural markets so that they can easily identify the products. Generally rural people prefer bright colors and the marketer should utilize such cues. Display of hangings, festoons and product packs in the shops will catch the attention of prospective buyers. However a clutter of such POP materials of competing companies will not have the desired effect and is to be avoided. It is a way of passing on information relating to goods or services for sale, directly to potential customers through the medium of post. It is a medium employed by the advertiser to bring in a personal touch.In cities lot of junk mail is received by all of us and very often such mails are thrown into the dustbin whereas a villager get very few letters and he is re ceptive to such mailers. It is an effective and economical medium for communication in rural areas, since it stays there for a long time depending upon the weather conditions. The cost of painting one square foot area is just Rs. 10. Retailers welcome painting of their shops so that the shop will look better. Walls of farm houses, shops and schools are ideal places for painting and the company need not have to pay any rent for the same.The walls have to be painted at least one or two feet from ground level. It is better to take permission of the owner. Very often the owner takes responsibility for taking care of the wall painting. Paintings are to be avoided during election time and rainy season. The matter should be in the form of pictures, slogans for catching the attention of people. Companies marketing TV, fans, branded coffee/tea, toothpaste, pesticides, fertilizers etc. use wall painting as promotion medium in rural areas. These are painted boards of about two square feet in d imension having the picture or name or slogan of the product painted on it.The cost of such a painted board is about Rs. 80. These boards are fixed to the trees on both sides of the village road at a height of about 10 feet from ground level. These boards attract the attention of slow moving vehicles like cycles, bullock carts and tractors and people walking on the road. The condition of roads, even the buses move at slow speed through village road. Fertilizer and pesticide companies in rural areas extensively use tree boards. These are low priced promotion items and can be used by consumer goods companies too. [pic]These media with effective reach and personalized communication will help in realizing the promotional objectives. Companies to suit the specific requirements of rural communication are using a variety of such media effectively and some of the more important media and methods are given below. Rural people prefer face-to-face communication and farm visits facilitate two-w ay communication. The advantage is that the sales person can understand the needs and wants of the rural customer by directly discussing with him and answer his queries on products and services. Potential customers in the illage are identified and the company’s/distributor’s representative makes farm-to-farm visits and highlight the benefits of the products. The person carries with him literature in local language and also samples of products. The person does not sell the product but only promotes the use of the product. Very often the local dealer also joins the representative in making farm-to-farm visits. The dealer clarifies the terms and conditions of sale and also makes independent follow up visits for securing orders. [pic] Group meetings of rural customers as well as prospects are an important part of interpersonal media.The company is able to pass on the message regarding benefits of the products to a large number of customers through such meetings. Group meet ing of key customers are conducted by banks, agricultural inputs and machinery companies in rural areas. The bankers visit an identified village, get the village people in a common place and explain the various schemes to the villagers. Such meetings could be organized in prosperous villages for promoting consumer durables and two wheelers also. Example: Millat Tractors conduct a meeting for tractor owners and they meet in villages to discuss repairs and maintenance of tractors. [pic]Package is an integral part of the product. Its main purpose is to protect the product during transit, to preserve the quality and to avoid any loss in quality and quantity. The main purpose of this contest is to remind the customer to buy the product as soon as he enters the shop. Another objective is to influence the dealer to stock the product and support the company in increasing the sales. The display contest has to be announced well in advance and promotional materials to be distributed to all the selected dealers in a geographical area. Prizes for best displays are announced to motivate the dealers; the contest lasts for about a month.A well-planned product display contest not only increases the involvement of dealers in the company’s products but also increases the sales during the contest period. This is used for promoting consumer goods such as shampoos, soaps and toothpaste Each rural market segment has certain special features i. e. they share common life-style traits. They include village sports, religious events, prominent personalities and role models. Examples: Textile mills maintaining community gardens, Mineral water companies supplying clean drinking water during summer festivals in villages and Consumer goods companies sponsoring Kabaddi. pic] PACKAGING: The Silent sales man: What does a sales man do when you go to a shop or he comes to your house, he first s how’s you the product then starts to tell you the features of the product like its brand name, method of production, ingredients (if it is eatable), price etc. In short he tries to persuade you to buy his product, this same activity is performed by packets of any product but without any use of language this is called silent salesman ship Thus we say that â€Å"packaging – A silent salesman† pic] Packaging is done for the three reasons: – 1) To protect the product 2) To make the product easy to carry 3) To make the product attractive. Pencils do not require heavy packaging but still we have come up with the two packaging strategies for our pencils: – 1) To have a packet of 3 pencils sets 2) To have a packet of 10 pencils sets. The rural Bangladesh is not much developed; hence their purchasing power is also not high. Hence, for their convenience we have come up with these packaging strategies.This was also done to reduce the cost of the product so as to supply the product at cheap rates and also for a profitable deal for our company. FEATURES O F PENCIL The pencil is used for writing and if the writing is not dark i. e. it is light then the reader will not be able to understand the written matter. Hence we have invented the pencil which would be darker than any other pencil. The goods which are cheaply available with no compromise in quality then those goods or products are liked by every consumer. This is the reason why we are coming up with a pencil which would be cheaper.The body of the pencil would be covered with velvet piece or a rubber piece to make the pencil body of either velvet or rubber. This is the extra feature added because this would help the writer to have a firm hold over the pencil and to write faster. The body and its shape also add to the beauty of the product. Hence it is said that in the business world what ever is seen is taken. So the shape or the body of the pencil would be squared shaped which is not at all seen in the market till the date. The pencil is seemed to be incomplete without the rubb er.The writer might commit a mistake while writing and hence to correct the same rubber is provided at the end point of the pencil so that there is not an extra expenditure on the purchase of the rubbers. This pencil would be extra long then any other pencil and also at the minimum cost. So with that the buyer would be able to enjoy the good writer pencil for a longer period of time. This pencil would be available at each and every store of the rural market so that there are no extra efforts taken by the customer to come at a long distance for the purchase of this unique pencil.The pencil is a kind of a product which is mostly used by children and the children enjoy watching cartoons or such characters which seems to be funny. So then the children are going to get their favorite cartoon characters on this lovely pencil which is effectively made for kids but it is not that only kids could enjoy the writing with this pencil but it is for everyone to enjoy the writing with this penci l. The pencil has come up with new innovative feature of fragrance. This means that kids will enjoy good hand writing with sweet fragrance.This is an added advantage to our product as this idea is not applied to any of the pencil to the date. [pic] Conclusion: Thus looking at the challenges and the opportunities which rural markets offer to the marketers it can be said that the future is very promising for those who can understand the dynamics of rural markets and exploit them to their best advantage. A radical change in attitudes of marketers towards the vibrant and burgeoning rural markets is called for, so they can successfully impress on the millions rural consumers spread over approximately thousands of villages in rural Bangladesh.Eurosif European Social Investment Hamida Kawser Student of UIU Second samaster BBA Departmeny Road Number 27 Dhanmondi Dhaka 30. 03. 2013 Respected Sir. I am submitting you my report on automobile companies and associated risk and opportunities the se pose for long-term return. Perpose behind preparing automobile report is to have an idea about how automobile companies grew through decades. So that we can use this quality information in Bangladesh industry and even in our personnal business field. ———————– [pic] [pic] [pic]