Special Studies in Marketing University Question Paper April 2008


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Section I

1) Give brief account on the following: (10 marks)

a) Positioning with example

b) Brand equity

c) GRP

d) Pulsing

e) Communication Objective

2) Case study (20 marks)

In April 2013, Cadbury India’s foreign parent acquired Pfizer’s interests in the confectionary business for $4.2 billion. That included the Warner – Lambert product portfolio, known best for Halls, Clorets and Chiclets.

The new strategy centers on Halls, a throat lozenge that enjoyed immense popularity in India until some years ago when it was overtaken by Vicks, Polo and now, Chlormint.

Historically, Halls has been a strong brand in South and West India. That’s probably because, according to research conducted by Warner-Lambert, consumers n those regions prefer the menthol flavor, rather than just sweet candy. Cadbury is now planning to aggressively make a dent in the northern and the eastern regions, where awareness levels of the brand Halls have been dismal.

The company is still chalking out its strategies for this, but promotional schemes and heavy advertising will play an important part.

But while Cadbury plans to pull out the stops to make Halls a successful brand, it’s important to know the irritations caused to the brand in the past. Up until the early 1990’s, Halls was one of the leading cough lozenge brands: industry sources say its ‘brand awareness’ was as high as 90 percent. But things went downhill from 1997 onward.

The focus remained on enhancing the brand’s visibility – crucial for an impulse purchase category. For this, the company introduced long, vertical dispensers and jars for storing Halls at even Kirana shops. In what may appear to be a contrarian move, it also brought down its advertising spends –from about Rs.18 crore in 1997-98 to Rs.6-7 crore in 2000.

But there was a reason: marketing wisdom dictates that it is better to avoid high ad spends on small-category product. The sales network was also realigned to make it more region-focused with the result that inventory levels came down from 20 weeks in the mid-1990s to three weeks by 2000.

The next step was a positioning shift in 2001. Since Procter and Gamble’s lozenge brand, Vicks, was already selling on the medicinal platform of curing coughs and colds (and was sold mainly through chemists), Warner-Lambert decided to create a distinction for Halls. From the cough-and-cold platform, Halls has always targeted young adult men. And, most importantly, Warner-Lambert reverted to the original 50 paise price tag.

Warner-Lambert’s efforts did pay off. From a Rs. 30-crore brand in 1999-2000, Halls is now valued at Rs. 40 crore. Industry sources say its market share, too, has increased to about 30 percent. Now Cadbury plans to take Halls forward. As the Marketing Consultant answer the following questions:

Questions:

a) Suggest any 2 IMC tools to promote Halls. (5 marks)

b) How would you change the image of halls to make it more favourable? (Media/Packaging/PR/Ad campaign)?

c) What sales promotion would you recommend to induce purchase of halls?  (5 marks)

d) How would you measure the success of your advertising and promotion? (5 marks)

 

Section II

3) Describe the media planning process. What are the advantages/disadvantages of TV advertising? (10 marks)

4) Describe various pretesting and post-testing methods for measuring the advertising effectiveness? (10 marks)

5) What is copy writing? Explain the criteria for writing an effective copy. (10 marks)

6) Explain the organizational structure of an advertising agency with their functions? (10 marks)

7) Write short notes (any 2): – 10 marks

a) DAGMAR model

b) Any 3 methods of setting advertising budget

c) Consumer oriented sales promotions

d) Various types of advertising agencies.


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