INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT KOZHIKODE

Post Graduate Program in Management

END-TERM EXAMINATION

Course Title Marketing Management

Instructor Atanu Adhikari
Duration 3 hrs
Maximum Marks 30
Term I
Year 2020

Instructions

a. This is an open book examination. You are allowed to carry books, and notes only
b. This question paper contain two pages.
c. Please be specific and to the point in your answers. How deeply and wisely you have
thought through the concepts matter more than the length of the answer. Since
questions are case/situation based, answer the questions in the context of the case.
Avoid giving general answers. In case of two equally prospective alternatives, take
your position as a working manager and justify why you prefer one over the other.

Questions
1. [a] In the case study Linc Pen and Plastic Ltd – Upscaling the brand, identify two
POPs and two PODs for the brand ‘Linc’. Justify your answer. [3+3 =
6]

POPs:
i) Variety in inks
ii) Different categories of product range
Linc and their competitors were customer centric. They also variety in their products,
ranging from ball pens to gel pens. They also had different ink colors.

PODs
i) Value for money product
ii) Technologically Innovative
 Linc always strived for value for money. Even when the cost of raw materials had been
increasing, they still kept their price constant. They compromised on their net profit to
provide stable price.
Linc also understood the consumer behaviour and kept on doing market study on what
the consumer wants from the product. Even when launching the new product, they were
innovative and launched a unique product which was very different from their
competitors.

[b] Develop a positioning statement for the brand ‘Pentonic’ in the case Pentonic –Creating
a Brand from a New Product. [4]

The positioning statement for any brand consists for six main elements to be addressed:
 What
 How
 Who
 Where
 Why
 When

Positioning statement for Pentonic:

The exclusive vivid black pen that provides a feathery smooth experience for Gen-Z and Gen-
Alpha primarily in India to meet the future in an age of digital advancement.

2. With justification, carryout a psychographic and behavioral segmentation in case the

Pentonic brand in the case Pentonic –Creating a Brand from a New Product
[2½+2½=
5]
Psychographic Segmentation:
 Psychographic segmentation are based on the lifestyle of customers such as: their
activities, interests, hobbies, opinions etc. Psychographic segmentation for pentonic
pens are:
i) Lifestyle: school and college students, office goers, professionals
ii) Social Status: mid-premium market, customers driving towards trends of
representing social standing even in non-differentiable, value products
iii) Activities: seizing audiences shifting towards digitalization as well as
conventional users of pens such as students, customers looking for comfortable
and smooth writing experiences

Behavioral Segmentation:
i) Brand loyal customers: These customers ask for a particular brand when they
go to buy and keeps on repeatedly buying the same brand. In the case of
pentonic, students were more brand loyal than adults.
ii) Non loyal customers: The non-loyal customers do not stick to a specific brand.
They are indifferent between different brands. When they go for shopping, they
ask for a pen at a particular price point or a pen belonging to a certain category:
ball or gel pens.
iii) Customer who purchase on special occasions: Students during their exams
prefer to buy tried and tested pens. On normal days, they can try out new pens
but for writing their exams, they prefer only tried and tested pens.

3. In light of CCDVTP suggest how Edible Agro Products Limited could communicate
and deliver value to the farmers [ 3+3 = 6]

CCDVTP stands for Creating value, Communicating value, Delivering value for the
Target customers making sure that the company’s Profitability.
The value can be created through spreading awareness as well establishing a brand for the
product. Edible Agro has been Communicating its value in the following ways:
Agarwal launched his venture with technical support from government agencies
and R&D organizations to persuade farmers about the advantages of the new
 technology and the new sesame variety. The faculty from the AICRP and
numerous universities followed EAPL staff to site meetings during the beginning
two years, emphasizing modern techniques and the profit advantages of white
sesame to farmers.
He also made leaflets in the regional language, Bengali, and gave them to farmers.
The leaflets explained the overall benefits of white sesame and described the right
cultivation procedures and techniques for this variety. The majority of farmers
were resistant to adopt the new variant, EAPL’s promotional activities promoted
some large farmers to experiment it out in their uncultivated fields.

These two methods were effective for Agarwal to communicate the value to his
target customers: the farmers
Agarwal can seek some common touchpoints of the farmers such as markets
of fertilizer, equipment, showrooms of tractors. He can then try to design
some promotional activities when Farmers are most likely to attend these
venues.
Agarwal can also recognize and target a few large farmers who have had
significant success in developing the white sesame seeds as brand
ambassadors for Edible Agro who might be beneficial in guiding small to
medium Farmers during the formal meetings that were being attended by
Agarwal as well could assist in communicating this value to other farmers as
well who may bypass Agarwal’s meetings but maybe regulars at their ‘addas’
which was their meeting point.
He can also recognize people other than the farmers, such as the head of the
village, who might have a significant impact owing to their referent power and
can request them to promote the value of the sesame seeds during events that
require common meetings.

Value can be delivered in the following ways:

 Increase his supply chain aptitudes so that more numerous farmers have access to
his facilities also provide Edible Agro with their Harvests with comfort.
Self-help videos can be created and spread to the farmers that can assist them with
the common issues that be faced in the cultivation of GT-2 sesame seeds.
Giving a helpline number to his Farmers that Helps them with their queries and
issues and also helps farmers Connect with the right people with their issues.

4. Do a market opportunity analysis for Indraprastha Cold Storage (IPCSL) for its new
modernized cold storage service.

[4]
IPCSL modernized the cold storage unit and it was now accessible at a premium.
Initially, the commission agents were the target customers, but they could not
recognize the benefits of the improvised service. The retailers and wholesalers, on
the other hand, had formal education and they would acknowledge its benefits.
Locating the target market would demand IPCSL to identify the value their
modernized service would present and who would need it. Commission agents
had no enough knowledge of it and hence Jalan focused on the wholesalers. In
order to reach the new target group which was the wholesalers and retailers,
IPCSL did not have to do boundless marketing, they had an identified name and
with few salespersons could reach the new target group as their service was
unique with no aggressive offering, high quality and fulfilled the demand.
To deliver customer benefits- Updated technology, improvised service, Upgraded
technology, Better trained staff.
IPCSL was in good stead to purvey to all the needs of the customers The superior
cold storage technology was certainly unique with the Gas controlled storage
which was the latest technology imported from the US. The service is well-
differentiated and hence would profit the wholesalers. Since there is no
competitive service in the market, IPCSL would be at advantage.
The expected rate of returns is high as IPCSL is the only provider of such high-
quality service in the market.
5. One of the most frequently used communication process model is the Communications
Model. Briefly explain how Mr. Jalan, the protagonist of the case Pentonic –Creating a
Brand from a New Product, would use this model effectively for its Pentonic brand to
take its consumer, who are aware about Linc brand, through an effective communication
process in order to achieve the final objectives of Pentonic brand.

[5]
The Communications Model breaks down the method of communication into stages to
achieve its ultimate goal of capturing heart share, mind share, and market share. The
steps and the associated plan that Mr. Deepak Jalan should follow in each step to achieve
Pentonic’s goals are the following:

Sender (Deepak Jalan/Pentonic Marketing Team) encodes the message; narrowing

down the advantages of Pentonic that they want to highlight (positioning) and
communicate to their target audience; which also requires to be decided to draft
an effective message suited to the particular segment. Pentonic’s target audience
majorly includes schools and office goers, all year but with added effort during
examination time. These should include:
 Smoother, lighter, more feathery writing experience through advanced technology
 Pen of the Future
 Sleek, matte design- mirroring boldness and determination of target audience
looking to create a new future
 Reasonable price

The channels that are used to convey the message:

 Though Pentonic hopes to differentiate itself in the minds of consumers from its
value brand Linc, it can still exert advantage of Linc’s distribution system and
relations with distributors and retailers, securing initial confidence in their minds
about the quality of Pentonic which will encourage them to push sales.
 Discounts and offers to trade partners to help with brand visibility; assisting them
to push sales to those who simply ask for pens.
 TV advertisements and digital marketing will improve brand awareness for
students. During exams, for example, those looking up study material can be
targeted.
 Print Media and billboard advertising will increase awareness in trade partners,
office goers, and even school authorities.
 Competitions can be organized at school levels, reflecting those of Linc but with a
focus on futuristic ideas to match the positioning of the brand.

The message is received by the public who then decode it:

 Highlighting the name Pentonic and its association with future and challenges will
help even those who are aware of Linc create new relationships with the product.
 A completely different, bolder advertising strategy, and driving sales strategy will
create a new brand association.
 Once the brand awareness is discovered, the technology and writing experience
will encourage further secure brand loyalty, arresting heart share as well. Added
to this, the mid-premium price range will help Pentonic capture market share.