Drink Fresh!!!

The moment we were asked to write the blog, I knew it had to be on “Fruit shop On Greams Road”. There are a million vendors selling fresh fruit juices in Chennai, but Fruit Shop had managed to differentiate itself from the others. So simple, yet so unique.

I happened to visit the Fruit Shop outlet in Besant Nagar. The outlet is strategically located at the start of the theosophical road, which happens to be one of the prime localities in Chennai. The franchise had taken the apartment for rent on the ground floor and converted it to an outlet.

The ambiance was by far the best that one can experience in any of the juice shops in Chennai. It was fully air conditioned and there were portraits of famous celebrities such as Marlyn Monroe and Curt Cobain on the walls. The paintings were in black and white, in contrast to the walls that were colourful. It was obvious that they were targeting the middle and upper middle class.

The hall of the apartment was the entry to the outlet and had the billing counter and two tables. The hall led into two other rooms where they served customers. In one of the rooms, the majority of the tables were small and had only chairs in each of them. Fruit shop apparently gets a lot of their business from young couples. The flagship or the USP of this outlet is that, it has huge parking space. These days parking space plays an important role when it comes to selecting hang out places. I am sure there are malls/supermarkets/stores which you avoid, because of lack of parking space. I also saw a lot of people sitting in their cars and placing the orders. In fact majority of the orders were from drive inns. They encourage drive inns as it gives them additional capacity indoors to serve customers.

I went inside and ordered for a menu card. The menu card was simple and clear. It was a simple laminated sheet with juices on one side and milk shakes on the other. The cheapest drink was their Lime Juice/Lime Mint Cooler that was priced at Rs 25 and the most expensive juice was the Very Berry Juice priced at Rs 125.They had a wide variety of fresh juices ranging from common juices such as orange, sweet lime and grape to exotic fruits such as Kiwi and Passion Fruit. Apart from juices and shakes, the menu also listed desserts (Caramel and Custard) and ice cream sodas. The innovative names given to juices namely Jughead Special and Flosbury Flop did manage to catch my attention.

The waiters were very calm and cordial and had a good knowledge of the juices they offered. I decided to go by what the waiter considered their speciality,”The Jughead Special”. It’s a milk shake with vanilla ice as its base with bits of raisins, dates and bananas. The shake was served in a short but wide glass and topped with raisins and nuts. The way they served the juice differentiated them from the other juice vendors. The shake was rich, filling and a perfect blend of the ingredients with no taste from a particular ingredient standing out. In all it was a very enriching experience.

Narayan
FT13444

Munch away happily at Prima's

The all time favourite delicacy and dessert for every one of us are the cakes and pastries. What better dessert to have other than the yummy and creamy cakes and fudges. Prima’s bakers and confectioners in Chennai is a cake shop with all varieties of cakes, pastries, fudges, brownies ,tarts ,pies ,biscuits and also the hot puffs and samosas. This is the ideal stop for people with craving for tasty and fresh snacking and munching.

Prima’s bakery was opened as single outlet in Anna Nagar area, but soon caught the customers’ attention and retention with its fresh creamy cakes whose taste lingers in the mouth of the customers even after several hours. Initially, they started out with just making cakes for party and for eat outs but over the years they expanded their product line by making brownies, tarts, pie’s, homemade biscuits, breads, chips , samosas, puffs with some soft drinks to go along. Their trademark is the taste and freshness that they provide in all their items. This sets them aside from all their competitors in the neighbouring area. Over the years they have grown so much that they currently have a chain of 7 outlets. They hold a strong customer base and have gained customer loyalty with their unfailing customer service and dedication to provide the best products.

The simple strategies followed by Prima’s:

1.       When Prima’s started, there was not many bakeries and confectionaries that catered to the affluent population of Anna Nagar. Prima’s used this opportunity to enter the market and targeted the right consumer base – Kids, School children and youngsters alike.

2.       The positioning of the outlets are in the center of all busy areas like near the DAV and SBOA schools and the railway station in Egmore. This makes Prima’s a compulsory stop shop for a chit chat and munch for all the school kids and youngsters.

3.       Themed decorations in the bakery and special snacks and theme cakes for all the festivals that attracted very large number of customers.

4.       They placed customer satisfaction as the most important USP of their business which has made them into the most sought after bakery in the neighbourhood.

They use a very viable and successful marketing strategy to attract the customers with special items for various auspicious occasions and festivities. They make special cakes in the shape of Easter eggs for Easter, plum cakes rich in wine and walnut cakes for Christmas, special chocolate cakes and brownies for new year celebration, cakes in the shape of crackers for Diwali season and other such occasion specific delicacies. This out of box strategic thinking and execution of theirs, was a tremendous hit among the customers and the reverberations paved way to the path of success for Prima’s.

They believe that providing good quality products and ensuring a superior customer service is the key to become successful in any business.

Substitution Therapy?

Vorion, Bullet, Black Knight and Kalyani. Do these names/ words ring a bell? Well, to a large percentage of us, they do. For the ‘economically’ inclined, meaning those who closely study economics, their technical name would be ‘substitute’ brands/ products. Without digressing too much, let me inform those few who still don’t have a clue about the names I dropped in the beginning: these are beer brands and they have been moderately successful in substituting the category favourite: Kingfisher.

One of the top regrets that Great Lakers voiced after the course started had nothing to do with the college, per se. They were heartbroken (some even had ligament tears and such!) simply because they couldn’t get their hands on what is popularly referred to as ‘hard drinks.’ To add to their misery, even in the beer category the crowd favourite, Kingfisher, was scarcely available. I grabbed this opportunity to turn their misery in to a “consumer behaviour study” for my marketing management project!

Methodology of research:

Phase 1: In the popular show, ‘The Tonight show with Jay Leno,’ there is a segment called ‘Jaywalking.’ In this segment the host Jay Leno, interviews random strangers on US roads and questions them on seemingly simple general knowledge questions. The results are usually hilarious! Here’s a sample question from the show:

Q: What do you think is the meaning of the word, “philanderer?”

A: Something or someone who does charity work! (an obvious confusion between the words ‘philanderer’ and ‘philanthropist’)

I used a similar strategy to kick start my research; a simple start up survey with only 4 questions on a sample of 34 respondents.

My survey questions were:

Q1: Are you familiar with the word teetotaler?

Q2: What brand of beer do you drink most often? Rate the following in terms of    preference: Kingfisher, Carlsberg, Tuborg, Haywards and Others (Royal Challenge, Kings etc

Q3: Are you familiar with at least two of these brands: Vorion, Bullet, Black Knight and Kalyani? If yes, were you familiar with these brands before/ after joining Great Lakes?

Q4: Under what circumstances will/ have you shifted brands?

Phase 1-findings:

In short, the findings suggest that Great Lakers have a substantial hand in popularizing (by consuming) substitute brands! 28 out of 34 respondents changed brands because of unavailability of Kingfisher and 18 of the 27 who are familiar with these brands, tried them for the first time after joining GLIM.

Interesting facts about these brands:

Miscellaneous details:

Demography: Gender- M: F= 27:7 Age (range): 24-28

Places surveyed: Rose Corner, Moonrakers (both branches) and Shore Side restaurant

References: 

The Tonight show with Jay Leno: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyA1JKg4ias

TASMAC website: http://tasmac.tn.gov.in/Mrp.htm

Project submission mode: I intend to consolidate my project findings and share them in the blog on a term-wise basis, so until the next time... Cheers!

Lathish Venugopal

FT 13435/ S4

P.S: teetotaler:One who abstains completely from alcoholic beverages; no wonder 6 out of the 34 respondents had no clue!

MAMALLA HERITAGE

The search for the individual marketing project took me to Mahabalipuram. When I reached there it reminded me of the history books where I had read about it in childhood.I started my search to identify the potential topic for my project. I saw a cluster of general stores, garment stores, some super markets and finally as I walked down the roads I saw a huge crowd heading in one direction.Out of curiosity I followed them which led me to the place for which Mahabalipuram has become famous for - the sea beach. It was a great feeling to see the beauty of nature and people all around enjoying in the sea. I too got tempted to have a dip in the water, but controlled myself as I had a task at hand. Walking down from the beach, I realized I had found my topic. Mahabalipuram is famous as a tourist spot. So what attracts the tourists here??? The beaches and the famous temple. This led me to start my search for one of the basic requirements that should be present to aid the tourists. Good accommodation facilities instantly clicked on my mind and that gave birth to my project. I wanted to study one of the hotels that stood out prominently in the entire gamut of hotels that was present. I froze MAMALLA HERITAGE for my study.

MAMALLA HERITAGE:


Mamalla Heritage is situated in the heart of Mahabalipuram, some 300 metres from the main bus stand and 5 minutes walking distance from the beach. At first sight, it looks enchanting with good outdoor advertisement techniques in the form of attractive and prominent boards utilized to attract the prospective customers. The hotel looks spacious with 3 floors and enough open space at he entrance.I make my way to the reception and am greeted by one of the personnel there, Krishnamurthy. I introduce myself to him and he is kind enough to agree to my request. The first thing that strikes me is his smile. The first question that I ask him is :"What is the specialty of this hotel?" He replies :"Friendly staff" and I couldn't agree more as he indeed was very friendly.I decided to pen his discussions in the Marketing Mix - the 4 P's of marketing as below:

PRODUCT:


The product i.e. the hotel looks good with a very soothing ambience. There are a total of 38 rooms in the hotel with rooms being available in two options : Standard and Deluxe.The difference in the two is on the basis of price and the deluxe room offers more space and better interior decoration over the standard room. They also have three restaurants to their credit and 1 coffee shop:

(a) Roof top restaurant specializing in sea food.
(b) Golden Palate offering pure vegetarian cuisine.
(c) One more restaurant that offers both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food.

They also offer complementary break fast.

They have a parking space that can accommodate close to 40 cars!! They also offer to exchange foreign currency on the house.

PRICE:


There is a differentiation in the manner in which the two rooms have been priced with the Deluxe version being offered at Rs. 2374 and the Standard room being offered at Rs. 2136. The prices have been strategically devised keeping in mind that it generally attracts foreign customers and for them the less than significant difference in the two generally makes them opt the Deluxe room.

PROMOTION:


The peak season for full occupancy is from October to March. So how do they ensure that people are aware of the hotel. They have their official site www.hotelmamallaheritage.com by which the customers can book their rooms online. Also they have tie ups with the tarvel agents for the same which ensures that the hotel is running with full capacity during the peak season.

PLACE:

  As mentioned earlier, the hotel is situated  in the heart of Mahabalipuram, some 300 metres from the main bus stand and 5 minutes walking distance from the beach which offers it a distinctive advantage over its competitors.

So what is the USP of the hotel. His eyes sparkle and he is quick to say : "there is a swimming pool on 1st floor over the coffee shop and of course the friendly staff".

It sure looks like a good bet to me. Delving further into our long discussion, I ask him about the consumer feedback process and he is quick to acknowledge that they do have it in place. So what do the consumers have to say about the hotel:

The good things:

(a) Value for money.
(b) Variety of restaurants.
(c) Ease of converting foreign currency.
(d) Location (Place)


The opportunities:


(a) Alcohol is not served and there is unavailability of bars.
(b) Check out time of 12 to 12 could be made more flexible.
(c) Restaurant closing hours of 22:30 hrs should be extended.

That leads me to the other question : So what have you done regarding this?

He answers :"Customer feedback survey is an important tool that we use to evaluate ourselves and make ourselves more customer friendly. We are looking at the prospect of leveraging on our strengths and overcome the opportunities. Significant development has been made in this regard and points on check out time and restaurant closing hours have been looked at. There will be some development in this regard. Regarding the option of bars being set up, we are looking at that prospect at all, but that is a long drawn process and it will take time. After all, we are here to serve our customers and we value their feedback."


This entire interaction made me feel as if I was attending a marketing class. The concepts taught in the class became clearer and I could see him applying those principles in practice. I shook hands with him and thanked him for his valuable time and he replied :"It was my pleasure"


I am really impressed with the hotel and it would definitely be the place where I stay when I decide to come and visit Mahabalipuram in future.

As of now, I am signing off. I hope you liked my first attempt for the blog. Thanks!!

Amit Kumar Singh
FT13404

Biscuits: The Product for all the age Group

The Supermarkets and The Modern Retail.

The advent of the Modern methods of retail has led to a totally new experience of shopping for the consumers. The modern retail stores viz. Big Bazaar, More, the Supermarkets of the vicinity offer a wide range of products and that too at a considerable discount. This is achieved by bulk purchase and getting into an agreement with the Brands. Since this is a market which is growing at a fast pace the Brands end up giving good discounts to these chains

Demand Pattern:

Unlike the local retail shop where the demand is at its peak during morning and evening, the demand for the biscuits in these stores are right through. This is so because the families usually come to buy the grocery and other stock for the entire week. The instances where customers solely come for purchasing  biscuits are very few.

Visibility

These Modern Retailers give the brand a better visibility in terms of shelf space. As can be seen that the arrangement in the supermarket is much organised than that seen in the local retail store. Unlike the local retail store where the arrangement was done by the Brand, in the Modern Retail this is done by the retailers themselves. Also the people shopping at these places are mostly middle class and upper middle class , the entire range of the products is available. The high end biscuit products live the diabetic friendly biscuits, high fibre biscuits are seen in good numbers in these stores.

FT13413

Arun Thakur.

BATA: Product Differentiation

FT13431

My last week’s visit to the nearest Bata store was fruitful in understanding some of the concepts that I came across in the marketing class. The showroom is located near the Velachery main bus terminus and thus it’s very visible so that a lot of customers enter the store (though they may not buy).

At the entry point, one is welcomed by the ‘NewArrival’ section. That has products from different categories such as ladies hand bag, sports shoes, back packs etc. The sales person says that every 2 weeks new items are displayed in the section so that frequent visitors get interested to buy when they see new models and designs.

Bata’s Sub-brands:

There are various sub-brands under the gent’s formal shoes category. ‘Mocassino’ is mostly preferred by people above 50 years and the starting price is Rs.1200 and is made of pure leather.

‘Hush puppies’ brand is considered luxurious with a starting price of Rs.2800. This is also made of pure leather.

The ‘Comfit’ brand comes with extra cushioning. Both formal and semi-formal wear are available and preferred by all age groups.  It is made of pure leather with a starting price of Rs.2000.

The ‘Ambassador’ brand of formal shoes is made of pure leather with a starting price of Rs.2500.

‘Power’ is a sports wear brand. There are shoes as well as floaters. An observation that made me inquisitive was the presence of ‘Reebok’ shoes in the shelf. The sales person explained to me that they are being kept in the store for the customers to perceive the competitive pricing and design of ‘Power’ products. For instance, ‘light weight’ shoes in ‘Power’ cost Rs.1300 whereas they cost above Rs.2000 in ‘Reebok’.

The other casual wear brands are ‘North-star’, ‘Weinbrenner’, that has shoes made of fur leather and office bags.

‘Bubble Gummers’ is the brand of kids’ casual wear shoes and bags.

‘Marie-Claire’ is the ladies hand bag brand that has bags from Rs.600.

The Store Layout

The layout of the shop is different for different seasons. In summer, when there is more demand for sports shoes and shoes made of leather, canvas, leather shoes are displayed in the frontal side of the shop. Similarly, during rainy season plastic and moulded shoes sell more and hence they are displayed in the frontal side of the store.

During school reopening season (May, June) school shoes are displayed in the front. During Christmas, leather shoes have high demand and hence get the front display portion.

The showroom layout is prepared by Bata’s ‘Marketing team’taking past sales data into account and then communicated to the showroom. The Regional Manager also visits the showroom and suggests any correction in the layout that may be required.

Product Line Extension

In the past two years, Bata has launched new product categories such as ladies hand bag and formal leather belts. The ladies hand bag with the brand name ‘Marie Claire’ has received good response. The bag that was initially sold for price starting from Rs.700 is now available for price of up to Rs.2000.

Bata also regularly gets feedback from its customers the following things:

1)      Store is easy to locate

2)      Ambience and interiors comfortable

3)      Found the required size

4)      Product range is trendy

5)      Satisfied with the price

6)      Staff was helpful, courteous and understanding

The customer will either have to ‘Agree’, ‘somewhat agree’ or ‘Disagree’ for the above statements.

A disturbing trend that I observed in Bata was that the permanent ‘sales force’ is being replaced by contracted sales personnel (who work on temporary assignments). As a result, establishing personal relationships with the frequently visiting customers has become difficult.

Though, Bata has been doing well on ‘Product differentiation’ especially in terms of durability, style etc. the company at the moment seems to lose out on ‘Personnel differentiation’ and 'Market orientation'. Bata will have to sit back and fine-tune it's strategy with respect to 'Market orientation'.

Mahabalipuram: The land of the 7th century stone sculptures...... Part II

I went to Mahabs yesterday for some work and thought of seeing Mr. Wasi. So I went to Sorna Articles again. He was busy watching TV in his shop. We exchanged pleasantries and I asked him about how the sales are going in his shop. This question of mine immediately brought a sullen look on his face and he gave me a shocking news. That he was thinking of closing down this shop. I asked 'Why?'. And he started explaining me the expenses that he is incurring to maintain the shop and he is not even getting a single sale since last 20 days. Moreover, he can not stop the wages of the karigars working for him.

I asked him about the sales strategies that he is employing to improve his sales. And to my surprise, there was no strategy. He just got the sculptures from different cities and sold it here at Mahabalipuram. There was no advertising or commission used. This is how he has been running his shop for so long and he thought there is no problem in his strategy even now.

I thought over his problem and discussed with him on few points which I thought could help him. 

• I suggested him to tag along with the hotels in the area and ask them to refer tourists to his shop for sculptures. And in return, for every sale, he could share a part of his profit with the hotel. 
• Also, he could get in touch with the local guides and ask them to bring customers to his shop. He could offer some commission to them for every sale. 
• I also suggested him to think of getting in touch with some internet portals who will sell his products online.

These suggestions encouraged him a lot. I hope he starts doing good business again and makes good money during this year's peak season. I wish that SORNA ARTICLES flourishes in the future.

Abhishek Priyadarshi

FT 13396

Handicrafts in Mahabs

In my last post, I explained how the market of handicrafts and artefacts is divided between the local businessmen and the Kashmiri businessmen  at Mahabalipuram. I also wrote about my experience with the local shopkeeper named Mr Saranga Pani. In this post I will write about my interaction with the Kashmiri shopkeeper and my interpretations from that interaction.

Last time when I visited Mahabalipuram, I went to the shop named Themes and Dreams. This shop is run by a Kashmiri businessman and he is running it under the firm named Baba Enterprises. This guy was young, well dressed and good looking. He was fluent in speaking English. On asking him, he told me that all Kashmiri businessmen  in Mahabalipuram are educated and they can converse in English very well. Probably this might be the reason why foreign tourists are attracted more towards them as compared to the local businessmen. This I confirmed from the feedback of a foreign tourist named Clara who bought a blanket from that shop. The shopkeeper also told me that all the Kashmiri businessmen have cordial relations with the local businessmen. This is because they already had mutual understanding among them that they can’t interfere in each other’s domains. Apart from that he told me that since his coming to Mahabalipuram, there had not been a single incidence of stealing. This shows that people living here are honest and trustworthy.

 

The products that I found in this shop were Carpets ( from Kashmir and from Iran ), Kashmiri paper weights, Pashmina shawls ( of many varieties ), Bed sheets, Blankets, Pillow covers, Bags ( from Rajasthan ), Jewellery ( from Jaipur ), Wooden Artefacts and Silver artefacts ( Both pure and German Silver ).  Around 20-25 traders from Rajasthan come on yearly basis to Mahabalipuram to sell their products like suits, bed sheets, jewellery, bags etc and the Kashmiri businessmen buy these products  from  them and sell these products in their own shops.  There are also big players like C.I.E Ltd ( Cottage Industries Exposition Ltd ) and Mamalla Art Gallery which have now the highest market share at Mahabalipuram. But still the smaller Kashmiri shops are earning a good amount of profit.

In my further interaction, I found out that foreigners prefer to come to Mahabalipuram in the months of July to September and in November to March. There are many foreign students who usually come in the month of June for volunteering work. Russians are the people who come in the last . These tourists have made good contacts with the Kashmiri shopkeepers. So before coming to Mahabalipuram, they contact these shopkeepers on phones and tell them the products they want. And these shopkeepers comply with their demands. So customer relationship has been developed from the past few years.  Also these days the tourists come with prior information regarding the prices of the products. So they do a lot of bargaining before buying any product.

To conclude, the handicrafts and artefacts market in Mahabalipuram is well divided between the local shopkeepers and the Kashmiri shopkeepers. Each side concentrates on one’s own strengths and weaknesses. There is no interference in each other’s business. The customers for both are different. Though the local businessmen are finding it tough to do business for the last few years.  But on the contrary business is flourishing for the Kashmiri businessmen. 

Sohrab Singh

Roll No - FT13478

“Watches” : Trends and Strategies in Fashion and Luxury brand of watches-Part 2

In this second blog, I am going to pen down my observations regarding the Luxury watch store “Longines” and a Multibrand watch store which I visted in EA mall some time back.

 Let me begin with the “Longines” store. On entering the store I was welcomed by the store manager. The first thing that I noticed in the shop was a huge poster of Aishwarya Rai, flaunting the “Longines” watch on her wrist. The poster was so enticing that anybody having enough money would end up buying a longines watch in that store. Besides, there was a video of the “Longines advertisement” featuring Aishwarya Rai, being screened in the shop to captivate the customers. On conversing with store manager I inferred that “Longines” uses referral strategy of promoting their brand in India.Presently, Aishwarya Rai is brand ambassador for Longines.Through her image Longines is potraying “Elegance” as its EVP.

I also gathered from the store manager that “Longines” is positioned as a Luxury watch and their target customers are women.Moreover, I found that in India the distributor for the Longines is Swatch Group India Pvt Ltd and they are located in Delhi. In the “Longines” store at EA mall, the price started from Rs 40,000.They provide warranty of around 2 years on the watches. The ambience and the décor of the “Longines” store at EA mall emphasized class and luxury in every way. It was perfect to attract the people who like to purchase the unique and luxurious watches.

From Longines, I moved to a multiband watch store in EA mall. On entering the store, I saw that they have placed watches of different brands in a very orderly manner. There were vertical blocks on the wall; each block was having a watch of different brand. Some of the Brands which were present there included Fossil, Tissot, Armani, Casio, Citizen and Timex.

On conversing with the store manager, I inferred that since their shop is in EA mall they usually have a very good sale. As per him they are able to sell in the range of 5-10 watches in a day. But their peak sale period is Pongal and Diwali time. One striking thing which the store manager mentioned was that Indian people coming to his shop are less fussy in making purchasing decision as compared to the foreigners. He implied that Indians don’t negotiate much on the price offered in his store whereas foreigners create lot of fuss on the taxes being charged on the watches sold. He also mentioned that among all the brands present in his store Fossil and Armani are the most innovative brands. He also commented on the approach of customers from different segments of society. As per him, people coming from rural part of Chennai mostly purchase watches of Citizen and Casio. The reason behind it is, they usually follow the traditional approach and like to buy watches recommended by their father or older generation. As per the store manager they keep changing the shelves with newest and most popular watches in the market to attract customers. They give special greetings to their loyal customers.

In the end, I can say that my First blog was observations on the store of Fashion brand of watch (Tissot) and this blog is about store of Luxury watch (Longines) and multiband watch store. It was a great learning experience for me as I was doing it for the first time.

Thanks for reading this blog.


regards
Smriti Saran
FT13477

Biscuits: The Product for all  age Groups

We have them with our early morning tea or coffee, sometimes they are our breakfast, lunch or dinner.  They have become an important part of our lives. There is probably no one who can say that he or she has never had a Biscuit. Our association with biscuits dates back to childhood and continues even today.

The Biscuit market has something or the other for everyone, right from small kids to the elderly. The producers of biscuits have developed product to cater to the taste buds of all of us. The Product portfolio ranges from the general Glucose to healthy Marie, from Crackers to Creams, from Diabetic friendly to the more indulging creams like Pure Magic and Dark Fantasy.

The major players in this market are Parle, Britannia, ITC, Priyagold and many local players. The Market of Mahabalipuram is seemed to be dominated by Britannia, as at most of the shops we can see a wide variety of Britannia biscuits.

Demand Pattern

 Upon the interaction with the Retail shopkeepers I found out that the peak time for the demand for the biscuits is during the early morning and the evening  as most people prefer having biscuits with tea. Nevertheless the sale keeps on happening throughout the day.

Visibility

 The main thing that plays an important role is the arrangement of the biscuits. The more the visibility the better the prospect of sale. As can be seen from the picture the biscuits are neatly stacked in the shelf which is placed right at the entrance of the shop. The shopkeepers told that this arrangement were done by the people from the company.  The salesman who come for taking the order is accompanied by another person who does the arrangements while the salesman takes the order. Also we can see the stickers of Britannia around the shelf. All this is done to make sure that there is a good visibility of their product which in turn will boost the sales. Thus we can see that the job of the company is not finished just by making the product available but they also ensure that the visibility is good.  

(To be Contd...)

DakshinaChitra Heritage Centre: A Celebration of South India

One of my friends from Chennai suggested me this beautiful place for my Marketing Project and what pleasure it was to visit here!

Here's for the introduction as per their official brochure :

'Dakshinchitra is an attempt to preserve some of the traditional south Indian ways of life by constructing a "living" village containing some of the various traditional homes of south India.'

 
The 30 km drive from our institute to here seems to take you back 150 years to a bygone era!

The place has beautifully recreated the the 'picture of the South' over an area of 10-acre.

Established by the Madras Crafts Foundation, the institute promotes the culture and legacy of the four South Indian States of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Looking around, I could see accurate reconstructions of houses & streets from the states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Some houses have special showrooms which also exhibit certain artifacts and give details about those times from that region.

 In addition to the heritage houses, traditional artisans have  set up demo booths. Visitors are in this way introduced to traditional handicrafts like kalamkari, pottery and even silk weaving. The demonstraters were very friendly and passionate in explaining the intricacies of their art.

Also I could catch exciting puppet plays, consult palmists and parrot astrologers, tried hand at spinning traditional tops!

For those interested in purchasing souvenirs, Dakshinchitra also has a well-stocked gift-shop and an arts & crafts marketplace. An alfresco restaurant on the premises ensures visitors won't go hungry.