Market Penetration Strategies Of HCL

PROJECT REPORT ON Market Penetration Strategies Of HCL SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OF BUINESS ADMINISTRATION

ABSTRACT HCL Infosystems, India's premier information enabling and integration company. The market penetration strategies and techniques followed by HCL are explained in this study.HCL Infosystems focuses on the ever-growing segment in Imaging, Telecom and Communication products solutions and services. The 3 decade old enterprise, founded in 1976, is one of India's original IT garage start ups.

HCL is a leading global Technology and IT Enterprise with annual revenues of US$ 5 billion.

Table of contents Page Acknowledgements

3

Executive Summary

5

Overview

7

1. Literature review

8

2. Company History

15

3. Research Methodology

20

3.1 Objective Of Study 3.2 Research Problem And Research Design 3.3 Data Collection 4. Data Analysis & Graphical Data Interpretation

24

5. Marketing Strategy

36

6. The Decision Making Process

50

7. Finding & Limitation

55

8. Suggestion & Recommendations

57

9. Conclusion

59

10. Bibliography

61

11. Questionnaire

62

Acknowledgement “Acknowledgement is an art, one can write glib stanzas without meaning a word, on the other hand one can make a simple expression of gratitude.”

I had a nice moments with HCL Infosystem during my five week’s summer training. Firstly I got summer placement for enjoying my summer training from HCL Infosystem. It was good news for me. It was golden time to know the real corporate world. Before that every moment I had only bookish knowledge about the organization, corporate and about the organization culture. It was the time when one can apply the theoretical knowledge for the practical purpose.

The experience which I got during these days was tremendous. I have made good relation with so many people in frontline division where I did my project & other division. Everybody over there I found nice & helping. Really, the experience I have got from my project will be very helpful to enrich and nourish my career.

Industrial training is an integral part of any Master of Business Administration program and for that purposes I had joined a company what else can be as good as HCL Infosystems Ltd, India's premier information enabling company. I take the opportunity to express my gratitude to all of them who in some or other way helped me to accomplish this challenging project in HCL Infosystems Ltd. No amount of written expression is sufficient to show my deepest sense of gratitude to them.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY HCL Infosystems, India's premier information enabling and integration company, has received the ISO 9001:2000 certification specifies requirements for a quality management system where an organization needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide product and services that meets customer and applicable regulatory requirements. ISO 9001:2000 also aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system, including processes for continual improvement of the system and the assurance of conformity to customer and applicable regulatory requirements.

Workforce ac HCL are happy that HCL Infosystem has been able to provide services of international standard to customers across India. This Certification will enable them to further excel on the stiff service targets that they have set to achieve. HCL Infosystem completed acquisition of FEC Singapore Pvt. Ltd. The Company’s acquisition strategy, too, maps into building a long-term and sustainable growth path based on the high-margin, high value-add IT services sector. In fiscal 2000, the company’s focus was on organic growth as well as acquisitions. The next step was expanding its reach globally. For this, HCL Infosystem has set up five overseas subsidiaries-in the US, the UK, Singapore, Australia and Malaysia.

The menu of HCL Insys global services broadly covers IT consulting and professional services in the area of vertical applications, technology integration, ERP implementation and software development. This also includes a complete portfolio of systems and network services for development. This also includes a complete portfolio of systems and network services for Facilities Management, Helpdesks, Systems Supports and network and Internet Implementation.

HCL Insys global customers include Samsung, Government of Singapore, and AMAL insurance Jurong Port in Singapore and Malaysian’s BSN commercial bank, SIA, DBS bank, Maybank life assurance charted semiconductors.

HCL Insys chosen platform of total technology integration lends itself to some very significant alliances with the global leaders. Among its partner are HP for high end AISCE/UNIX services and workstation and HP Open view network management solution.

Intel for PC and PC server building blocks; Microsoft, novell and SCO AG solutions.

Red hat.

Linux.

Samsung.

Pivota for CRM solution and ORACLE Sybase and Informix for RDBMS platform.

Today the company has aligned its operations into five entities that offer seamless linkages for the customers seeking entry into the wired world through total the Integration solution and services.

HCL Infosystems focuses on the ever-growing segment in Imaging, Telecom and Communication products solutions and services. Now it has an exclusive sale and support partnership with Toshiba Corporation, Japan, for sales and servicing of its imaging and photocopier products. HCL Infosystems product portfolio covers a range of other office automation and communication products through alliances with world leaders.

The Managed Network Service offerings for corporates include VPNs, ASP offerings, Co Location/ hosting, CDNs, security, corporate internet telephony solutions, technical and consumer help desks, 24/7 Network Operations Centre monitoring and a host of value added networking services. Consumer services include dialup PSTN/ISDN Internet access.

OVERVIEW HCL is a leading global Technology and IT Enterprise with annual revenues of US$ 5 billion. The HCL Enterprise comprises two companies listed in India, HCL Technologies ( www.hcltech.com ) and HCL Infosystems (www.hclinfosystems.in) The 3 decade old enterprise, founded in 1976, is one of India's original IT garage start ups. Its range of offerings span R&D and Technology Services, Enterprise and Applications Consulting, Remote Infrastructure Management, BPO services, IT Hardware, Systems Integration and Distribution of Technology and Telecom products in India. The HCL team comprises 62,000 professionals of diverse nationalities, operating across 26 countries including 500 points of presence in India. HCL has global partnerships with several leading Fortune 1000 firms, including several IT and Technology majors.

LITERATURE REVIEW Doing training was really an opportunity before me when I could convert my theoretical knowledge into practical and of real world type. Fortunately, the company I got is a true follower of the various principles of management and also one of the leading companies in its segment of the industry. The working environment that I was being provided was extraordinary and helped me a lot in delivering my work properly and with full potency of mine. HCL Infosystems Ltd is one of the renowned names in the Software and Hardware sector of computer industry.

The graph of sales of these respective product lines is the best in the industry as compared to their competitors. I did my summer training project at HCL Infosystem Ltd. Chandigarh, where I found all the professionals are very much committed to their work as well as they were all professionals enough. This helped me a lot in getting a good deal of exposure. As I had to consult the Channel partners, I felt myself, in the beginning, in a bit problem. But the cooperation of my superiors at the work induced confidence in me to deal with my problems whenever they came.

Market penetration is one of the four growth strategies of the Product-Market Growth Matrix defined by Ansoff. Market penetration occurs when a company enters/penetrates a market with current products. The best way to achieve this is by gaining competitors' customers (part of their market share). Other ways include attracting non-users of your product or convincing current clients to use more of your product/service (by advertising etc). Ansoff developed the Product-Market Growth Matrix to help firms recognise if there was any advantage of entering a market

What Does Market Penetration Mean?

A measure of the amount of sales or adoption of a product or service compared to the total theoretical market for that product or service. The amount of sales or adoption can be an individual company’s sale or industry while the theoretical market can be the total population or an estimate of total potential consumers for the product.

A Company doesn’t really have a strategy is it performs the same activities as its competitors, only a little better. It is simply operationally more effective. A business as having a robust strategy when it has strong points of difference from competitors’ strategies. Companies have finally managed to get their accounting departments to generate real numbers on profitability by segment, individual customer, product, channel, and geographical unit. Companies are now focusing attention on their most profitable customers, products, and channels. They are formulating reward packages for their more profitable customers. Most companies now outsource 60 percent of their activities and requirements.

Most buyers are showing a distinct preference for meeting salespeople on their computer screens rather than in the office. An increasing amount of personal selling is occurring over electronic media, where the buyer and seller see each on their computer screens in real time. Salespeople are traveling less, and airlines are shrinking in size. Customers are increasingly choosing vendors on the basis of long-term value, not long-term history. Quality is when our customers come back and our products don’t. Marketing has the main responsibility for achieving profitable revenue growth for the company.

Marketing must identify, evaluate, and select market opportunities and lay down strategies for achieving eminence if not dominance in target markets. “the air of

marketing is to make selling superfluous.” …marketing’s task is to discover unmet needs and to prepare satisfying solutions.

Marketing cannot be equivalent to selling because it starts long before the company has a product. Marketing is the homework that managers undertake to assess needs, measure their extent and intensity, and determine whether a profitable opportunity exists. Selling occurs only after a product is manufactured. Marketing continues throughout the product’s life, trying to find new customers, improve product appeal and performance, learn from product sales results, and manage repeat sales.

“Marketing is far too important to be left only to the marketing department.”

Any department can treat customers well or badly, and this will affect their interest in the company. A customer may phone the company and find it difficult to get information or reach the right party. The product that is ordered may arrive in a defective condition because manufacturing standards were product that is ordered may arrive in a defective condition because manufacturing standards were loose or the product was packed poorly. The product might arrive later than promised because of faulty inventory information. The invoice may puzzle the customer because the accounting department added unexplained charges. All those glitches can happen when other departments are not focused on satisfying the customer. The other departments might think the marketing department’s job is to “manufacture and satisfy customers” while they take care of their own operations.

A truly customer-oriented R&D department would have its people occasionally meet customers, work closely with other departments on new projects, benchmark competitors’ products, solicit customer reactions to proposed new product designs, and continually improve the product based on customer feedback.

“Companies can’t give job security. Only customers can!”

In marketing there are so many theories and strategies to use for the specific time and products. Market penetration is one of the strategies from ansoff’s matrix. In this marketing strategy both product and the market are old or we can say current market and current product.

Market penetration is the name given to a growth strategy where the business focuses on selling existing products into existing markets. Market penetration seeks to achieve four main objectives: • Maintain or increase the market share of current products – this can be achieved by a combination of competitive pricing strategies, advertising, sales promotion and perhaps more resources dedicated to personal selling • Secure dominance of growth markets • Restructure a mature market by driving out competitors; this would require a much more aggressive promotional campaign, supported by a pricing strategy designed to make the market unattractive for competitors • Increase usage by existing customers – for example by introducing loyalty Schemes.

A market penetration strategy seeks to increase market share of the current product or services in the existing market. This strategy adopted by the firms to raise their sales revenue without making changes in the products or services.

The other dimension of market penetration is the existing market which means firm already offering products or services to the customer but can forecast that the existing sales figures can be improved by working on marketing penetration strategy.

Market penetration strategy can be implemented by offering sales, Increasing sales force, increase distribution and promotion of products, more expenditure in marketing and advertising activities will results in increasing sales. It is not guaranteed that market penetration fully works after investing in sales and marketing of products and services, a firm should go for this strategy only if any below of the desirable situation exists.

A market penetration marketing strategy is very much about “business as usual�. The business is focusing on markets and products it knows well. It is likely to have good information on competitors and on customer needs. It is unlikely, therefore, that this strategy will require much investment in new market research Born in 1976, HCL has a 3 decade rich history of inventions and innovations. In 1978, HCL developed the first indigenous micro-computer at the same time as Apple and 3 years before IBM's PC. During this period, India was a black box to the world and the world was a black box to India. This micro-computer virtually gave birth to the Indian computer industry. The 80's saw HCL developing know-how in many other technologies. HCL's in-depth knowledge of Unix led to the development of a fine grained multi-processor Unix in 1988, three years ahead of Sun and HP. HCL's R&D was spun off as HCL Technologies in 1997 to mark their advent into the software services arena. During the last eight years, HCL has strengthened its processes and applied its know-how, developed over 28 years into multiple practices - semi-conductor, operating systems, automobile, avionics, bio-medical engineering, wireless, telecom technologies, and many more.

Today, HCL sells more PCs in India than any other brand, runs Northern Ireland's largest BPO operation, and manages the network for Asia's largest stock exchange network apart from designing zero visibility landing systems to land the world's most popular airplane.

HCL Infosystems Ltd is one of the pioneers in the Indian IT market, with its origins in 1976. For over quarter of a century, we have developed and implemented solutions for multiple market segments, across a range of technologies in India. We have been in the forefront in introducing new technologies and solutions.

In the early 70’s a group of young and enthusiastic and ambitious technocrats embarked upon a venture that would make their vision of IT revolution in India a reality. Shiv nadir and five of his colleagues got together and 1975 set up a new company MICROCOMP to start with; they started to capitalize on their marketing skills. Micro comp marketed calculators and with in a few month of starting operation, the company was out selling its major competitors.

On 11th August, 1976 HINDUSTAN COMPUTERS LIMITED was incorporated as joint venture between the entrepreneurs and UPSCE, wit an initial equity of Rs.1.83 Lacs.

Despite HCL’s rapid success, the company faced many challenges in growing and expanding its business. Before long, the company was able to secure a better financial position for itself and opened two additional offices in Calcutta and Mumbai .After 8 years, HCL become the largest computer system and services company in India.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY Vision Statement “It is the most preferred employer and principal taking leading edge IT products and services to the masses through sustained excellence.”

Mission Statement “We shall increase the shareholders value by improving the PAT through free cash flow, reducing the BR cycle, inventory levels, wastage.”

Quality Policy Statement “We will deliver defect-free products, services and solutions to meet the requirements of our external and internal customers the first time, every time.”

COMPANY HISTORY HCL Infosystems Ltd is one of the pioneers in the Indian IT market, with its origins in 1976. For over quarter of a century, we have developed and implemented solutions for multiple market segments, across a range of technologies in India. We have been in the forefront in introducing new technologies and solutions. The highlights of the HCL saga are summarized below: 1986 :The company was established on 17th April. The object of the company is manufacturing of and leading in complete range of Mini Computers Micro processor based systems, Electronics Instruments, Micrographic and reprographic equipment and manufacturing and marketing of electronic EPABX systems and electronics Teleprinters.

1989: The company entered into an agreement with Hewlett Packard of US for the sale and leaving of the Super Mini and Mainframe computers to be manufactured by Hewlett in India.

1996: The performance was adversely affected due to rise in dollar exchange rate, tight liquidity position in the market political uncertainty coupled with deferment of capital expenditure by the Government Departments.

1997: The Company commissioned its second state-of-the-art manufacturing facility at Sedarpet near Pondicherry. The Company has the largest network of spare-stocking locations, supported by Test and Repair Centres which reduces the inventory level and increases the spares availability at any time. To meet critical requirements within 4-5 hours, the company has tied-up with Indian Airlines to deliver spares in major metro cities.

1998: The Company tied-up with Intel Corporation for Server technology, resulting in the introduction of the Infiniti Global Line range of PC Servers which incorporate building blocks from Intel and are integrated and tested extensively for Indian condition.

1999: The Board of Directors unanimously appointed Mr. Ajai Chowdhry as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer with effect from 5th November.

2000: HCL has launched a new range of PCs (Ultima and Elite models) under its Beanstalk range of PC's at its Pondicherry plant. The Company entered into an agreement with US-based In focus for distribution and technological support of the latter's data and video projection products in the country.

HCL Infosystems Ltd. has launched the Nokia professional Centre (NPC) in Chennai as part of the expansion program to open Nokia centers in India which will enable customers to choose the right model and accessories suiting their life style.

HCL Infinet, the Internet start-up of HCL Infosystems, and media group, Asian Age, have set up a joint venture called Asian Age Infinet. HCL Infosystems Ltd has launched in India the Swedish major Ericsson's Generation X Business communication too, "Next Call Centre". HCL Infinet Ltd., the Internet services subsidiary of HCL Infosystems, has tied up with UBS Publishers' Distributors Ltd., one of the largest distributors of books in the country, to sell books online through its soon-to-be-launched portal. HCL Infosystems has entered into a tieup with Broad Vision for providing personalized e-business applications to is clients.

2001:HCL Infosystems and Intel have jointly launched an e- business solutions program, targeting new market opportunities in segments such as Internet service providers, application service providers, banking and finance.

HCL InfiNet Ld., the Internet services subsidiary of HCL Infosystems, has launched an authenticated payment gateway for its portal, www.hclinfinet.com, in association with Citibank to enable customers to carry out secure transactions online including buying Internet access. HCL Infosystems is setting up a managed off-shore development centre at its NOKIA software development facility for Stretch Systems -- the Singapore-based IT systems and technology developer.

2002: HCL Infosystem joins hands with Sun Microsystems India to provide end-to-end solutions to business. HCL Infosystem says it is the No.1 PC Co in India in 2001.

2003: HCL Infosystem receives the project to completely automate the Value Added Services (VAT) of Andhra Pradesh.

2004: HCL Infosystem forays into digital entertainment sector HCL touches one lakh milestone in desktop sales HCL Infosystem ties up with Union Bank 2005: HCL Launches Micro Balanced Technology Extended (BTX) Form Factor for desktops in India on February 10, 2005

Products and solutions HCL Infosystems' portfolio of products covers the entire spectrum of the information technology needs of its customers. By virtue of the immense diversity of markets and customers that it addresses, HCL Infosystems' products offerings include everything from high-end enterprise level servers for mission critical applications to multimedia home computers.

HCL India has 6 manufacturing facilities with an annual capacity of over 300,000 PCs, plus production of Servers, Color monitors, Terminals, Keyboards, racks and cabinets. Some of these facilities enjoy tax benefits for another 2-3 years. The company augments this backward integration with India’s largest network of sales and service locations – more than 5 times its nearest MNC competition. With basic customs duty down to zero on microprocessors, hard disks etc., the price gap between organized and unorganized segments has shrunk, benefiting HCLI. 59% of the commercial market is still gray, and hence there remains immense potential for growth PC Manufacturing PC manufacturing plants are located at Pondicherry, which gives following strategic advantages: • Proximity to Chennai port and proximity to vendors • Tax benefits • Established outward transport network • Economical & skilled labour Having an annual capacity of over 300,000 units, it is more than geared up to meet the company’s current & future demand for Desktop PCs & Servers.

Its manufacturing facilities are versatile & adaptable, and can very quickly scale up the production or shift the emphasis from one model to another.

The manufacturing facilities were first in India to get ISO 9001-2000 certification, validating the excellent quality processes that go in the design & manufacturing of its Desktop PCs & Servers. Relationships & Base of Executed projects Strong relationships with customers, principals and associates have helped HCLI attain the leadership status that it enjoys today. The company gets access to global best practices and a head start in technology due to strong relationships with its principals. They use this strategic edge to launch new technology ahead of competition in India HCL enjoy considerable market share in segments like Government, Banking & Finance and Education & Research. It has created credibility with its customers that have consistently resulted in repeat business. It has rate contracts with– NIC, Punjab National Bank, DGS & D, NICSI, ONGC, Punjab & Sind Bank. Some recent large orders bagged by us on the enterprise front are from Canara Bank, Asian Paints, Andhra Bank, South Central Railways, BSNL, ITC and Assam Electronics Development Corporation LTD (AMTRON), Dept. of Posts - DGS & D, SBI, Corporation Bank, Syndicate Bank, State Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Overseas bank, High Court (Madras), Sahara India Parivar

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Title of Study The title of the study is “Marketing penetration Strategy of HCL for CHANDIGARH Region an analysis & prognosis”.

According to the title the research problem is “What are marketing strategy & sales promotion techniques of HCL for retailers in market”.

Type of Research Exploratory Because I am this research I am exploring the strategies of company.

Object of the work Use of computers has increased tremendously in India. Every age of group like it, now days it become a household necessary item. In field of marketing many kind of surveys are conducted by HCL team time to time. This is end & last feedback for any kind of organization.

By the specific survey, which was conducted by HCL infosystem want to know about the right picture of market of Chandigarh region? This work study provides extensive information about the position of company’s brand in Chandigarh.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY Management Objective To fuel initiative and foster activity by allowing individuals freedom of action and innovation in attaining defined objectives.

People Objective To help HCL Insys people share in the company’s success, which they make possible; to provide job security based on their performance; to recognize their individual achievements and to help them gain of satisfaction and accomplishment from their work.

Core Values ♦

It is uphold the dignity of individual

♦

It is honour all commitments

♦

It is committed to quality, Innovation and growth in every endeavor

♦

It is responsible Corporate Citizens.

RESEARCH PROBLEM 1. HCL Corporate selling and feedback and market share of HCL and compared to other IT companies.

2. The business of HCL and the company through its researchers wants to know the potential in order to expand and retain its market share.

RESEARCH DESIGN Determined the Information Sources: The researcher gathered data through secondary

sources.

PRIMARY DATA Is collected through questionnaire, search and research through place where today's computer has been mostly used.

SECONDARY DATA Is being search sites like magazines, newspapers, journals, websites and the data has been collected through other approaches DATA COLLECTION The researcher collected information through the official websites, magazines and journals.

DEVELOPED THE RESEARCH FRAME: This included deciding upon various aspects for the project on which the entire research is based. The research frame included: NATURE OF STUDY The project on which the researcher worked is descriptive and inferential in nature DATA SOURCE: The researcher took the help of both primary as well as secondary sources.

Secondary sources being interaction with various IT people of the selected and has been chosen for the research by the researcher. Secondary sources being the internet as the medium and the official sites of the companies of IT sectors and corporate selling and feedback of HCL.

Instrument Used The researcher for the research used a Questionnaire cum Schedule for market research for both the segments horizontal and vertical. The Questionnaire was prepared by the researcher and Schedule was provided by the company in which the researcher did its research report.

The researcher for the research used a Questionnaire cum Schedule for market research for both the segments horizontal and vertical. The Questionnaire was prepared by the researcher and Schedule was provided by the company in which the researcher did its research report.

SAMPLE SIZE Sample size for the research is fixed. It counts to 50. That is the HCL companies and corporate selling and feed of HCL in comparison between other IT sectors.

DATA ANALYSIS & GRAPHICAL DATA INTERPRETATION Profile of the Respondents: The pie charts and bar graphs below indicates the profile of the 50 respondents that were surveyed:

Age wise profile of the respondents

18-25

20%

46%

34% 25-40

40 and above

Gender wise profile of the customers?

42% 58% male

female

Income profile of the customers

13%

8k-10k

10k-20k

20k-40k

above

20% 27%

40%

Total market share of different PC/Laptop brands

others

9%

9% 36%

46%

hcl

hp

ibm/lenovo

From the pie chart it is very clear that majority (46 percent) of the total respondents own a computer from Hewlett Packard, followed closely by HCL Infosystems (36 percent). Thus, HP was found to be a leader in consolidated market share of PC and Laptops in the city.

Satisfaction level of the customers of different brands

9%

46%

others

9% 36%

hcl

hp

ibm/lenovo

Major reason of dissatisfaction

poor service

40% 60%

poor performance

The major reason for dissatisfaction is as shown in the graph above. The major reason for dissatisfaction is poor service (60 percent) and poor performance (40 percent)

Sales promotion offers best communicated through

television

20%

50%

30% magazine

newspaper

As is evident from the graph majority of users (100 percent) and non-users seek Magazines and Newspapers for getting information about latest sales promotion offers. This gives an insight that the media that can be effective in conveying sales promotion offers is print media (magazines and newspapers). If we look at another feature that has been brought out by the survey is the fact that majority of people buy by looking at a feature in newspaper.

The most successful offer

45% 55% discounts

freebies

From the bar chart we can ascertain that majority (55 percent) of those who bought a computer/laptop when there was a sales promotion offer did so by getting attracted to “Price Discounts�. Freebies or free gift offers were also quite successful in raking in customers to buy. Thus it can be said that price discounts are a hot favorite amongst buyers of IT products and services as an incentive to buy.

The most effective sales promotion tool for potential customers

always

13% 13%

27% 47%

sometimes

cant say

never

74 percent of the respondents were positive about buying when there was a price discount offer, whereas 72 percent were positive about buying when there was a freebie attached to the offer.

Dealer Influence while buying computer/IT products

always

13% 20% 67%

sometimes

never

From the graph we can interpret that 67 percent of the total respondents feel that the dealer always influences them when they buy a computer or IT product.

Reason why computer/laptop/IT product is bought/upgraded Change in technology

13%

agree

disagree

20% 67%

cant say

From the graph we can say that IT product users are divided over whether Change in technology is a reason for them to upgrade their computers. On the contrary, for the first time buyers, change in technology is a definite reason to buy .This shows that change in technology is a factor highly considered by nonusers who are planning to buy soon

On Requirement Base

25%

25%

agree

disagree

50%

cant say

Majority of users and non-users (45 percent and 50 percent) disagree to the fact that mandatory requirement is a reason to by or upgrade the PC/laptop. This ascertains that mandatory requirements at workplace for upgrading or buying are not a strong reason to buy/upgrading a PC/laptop at home Promotional offers an incentive to buy

36% 64% agree

disagree

As evident from the graph both users and non-users find “Promotional Offers� a strong reason to buy a computer/laptop. Thus it is quite clear that promotional offers are a definite incentive to buy for the customers

What type of computers do you use?

27% 73% branded

assembled

It was observed that almost 73% of the people use branded computers or other gadgets for their business purpose. Hence can be concluded that more people want branded products as they are not ready to compromise with the quality and services being provided.

ROLE OF ADVERTISMENT Consumerism is the new word of today’s market. Market belongs to the consumers and he is the king. His tastes and preferences have undergone a big change. When a new product enters the market it needs a lot of promotion.

Promotion can be done by different ways. For promoting a product whether it is raw material or finished product, a lot of things have to be done like free offers, introduction of products in the market. In old days, people generally have a very limited choice. There was no much variety. There were also limited means of advertisements. Technology was not much developed. The only means of advertisement was through radios or newspapers. Now, more modern means like television and computer have come in every house. This is a great means to advertise articles whether it is clothes, television, consumers good or any other accessories. An advertisement is a means to promote a thing. There are various ways of advertisements like putting hoardings on the walls near residential areas or ad on radios or television. The budget and the sources decide which will the best medium to advertise for a company.

When a product is further improved, even then the advertisement is needed.

Advertisement plays a great role in making a good popular as it makes people aware of the product, its benefits and price. In today’s world, when we go to the market, we find wide variety of goods. Even a small thing like soap has too many varieties and brands. There are a large number of companies manufacturing the product. So it is the consumer who decides the final choice he has made. It is the consumer who is decision maker of any product. When a new product is launched, it needs some media through which it can be promoted. So, distributing pamphlets, advertisement in newspapers, television play a great role in promoting it. Technology has further improved ways to

advertise a thing; internet in computer has become a one of big source to promote a thing.

Now it is not always a product which needs popularity. If any new website or a business or any upcoming institution which has been just launched, it needs to be introduced to the consumers. Proper and clear flow of information plays a great role in today’s business world. The more precise and meaningful is the message contained in the advertisements, the more effective it would be. The type of classifieds has also changed. More and more techniques are now coming in add world. The more use of colors and graphics have made ad world more effective. Digital techniques have given classifieds a new spice. Multimedia is the new in thing. Here is something for the people who wish to advertise. This website can provide you with a solution to your problems. We provide you various offers so that you can advertise through this website. There are very effective templates and designs you can select for your advertisements. Very cheap rates for any kind of classified advertisements will be charged.

MARKETING STRATEGY Mr. Paul added, "As part of our strategy to sustain the number one slot, we plan to introduce new products that have been designed bearing the customer needs in mind. We hold numerous user meets across the country every year to get customer feedback and these new launches are a result of this painstaking, yet rewarding exercise," HCL Insys, a technology integrator, offers its customers technology solutions across multiple platforms. This is as a result of its expertise in developing stateof-the-art indigenous enterprise solutions; understanding of the networking technology; its design capabilities in product engineering; integrating diverse hardware components and its access to specialised technology for turnkey projects through partnerships with various world class players. With a definite and distinct focus on enterprise solutions and personal computers, HCL Infosystems (HCL Insys) has direct customer service centres at 143 locations, 6 software export factories and a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility.

Now days every companies playing strategies so as to attract customers and increase revenues and also customer base. Pent-up demand, attractive price points and economic stability propelled PC growth. PCs are acting as entertainment centers with TV functionality, supported by the digital sound experience and large screen displays.

At present in the market many of telecom companies are running their business.

They introduce their product forcibly, in this way HCL Infosystem Ltd. Differentiate itself with their successful marketing strategy. HCL Infosystem Ltd. telecom technology's position relative to these drivers:

Price: HCL Infosystem Ltd adopts a strategy to sell their product on DGS&D rate contract these are the government approved rate contract. So there is no doubt in government purchases.

Features: Within the given product module, company introduce best business communication technology ie. IP PBX. it consist number of feature.

Service Offering: HCL Infosystem is only a company to provide direct customer services to their customer. In this way company provide best services to their customer.

Product Flexibility: HCL Telecom Technology will strive to maintain a lead in the ability of the operator to easily add schemes and re-configure the system. In addition, HCL Telecom Technology will maintain an open environment. HCL technology is easy to install & easy to use.

Vendor Experience: HCL Infosystem Ltd. will follow a stepped strategy to be sure we under-commit and over- deliver to our customers. HCL Infosystem Ltd has a joint venture with best vendor and suppliers of like Aastra, tadiran Coral etc.

HCL Insys has five overseas business entities in US, UK, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia. HCL Insys manufacturing process are ISO 9001 certified, while its software development processes have achieved SEI CMM Level 4. The company has recently set up an Internet subsidiary called HCL Infinet Limited that will provide value added Internet services in the B2B and B2C areas. With a mission statement to provide world-class information technology solutions

and services to enable its customers to serve their customers better, HCL Insys is setting new standards of information technology in India REVISITING THE LOW-COST PC MARKET A computer at nearly one-third of current prices is a dream for most Indians. And yet, buyers are not holding their breath for these devices. For experience has proved that expectations are seldom met. However, this time around, those propagating low-cost computing solutions have taken a different route. Chris Ann Fichardo elaborates on the difference .

The buzz is in the air again. PC manufacturers are excited. Users are expectant. Even institutions like the IITs are enthusiastic. The reason: India’s dream of an affordable PC (priced below Rs 10,000) is ready to hit the market.

For nearly a decade this dream has struggled to become a reality. India Inc. has made many noteworthy attempts in the past to introduce low-cost computing solutions, but in vain. Be it Wipro’s Janata PC, iNabling Technologies’ e-mail device, iStation, or the much-talked about handheld device, the Simputer—all brilliant concepts that have not quite made it commercially yet.

The company netcore is doing groundbreaking work to make possible the Rs 5,000 PC (5KPC), says that if the price point of a PC comes down between Rs 5,000 to 10,000 per user, India has the ability to absorb 10-20 million PCs a year for the next several years. This potential gains further significance when one realises that the present market size is just two million PCs a year! In the last 20 years the installed base has barely crossed six million PCs in India.

According to Richard Brown, director for International Marketing at VIA attributes this sudden interest by vendors to the "real growth potential" of the low-cost PC market. "I remember five to seven years ago when the first $1,000 PC appeared (introduced by Compaq), people wondered if the price point was for real. And since then there has been a continuous push down in the price

points for PCs, which is a sign of commoditisation of the industry. For a long time the industry has resisted moving to lower price points, and now they are actually seeing that there is demand in that space and they are buying into it," he says CHANGING TRENDS IN PC MARKET With prices of PCs being slashed, the education sector is expected to see a high demand for personal computers. Consumers are shifting their focus of PC computing from an average system to one that is closer to a high-end system and upwards. The need for the most powerful multimedia computers is increasing.

Linux might gain ground in the government and defence sectors. Customers, both in the consumer as well as in the commercial space will demand better service levels from vendors.

Service and support is going to be a critical aspect of vendor strategy.

Depreciation period of IT products should be reduced to further boost growth.

The desktop space will see more and more entertainment-oriented features getting integrated into the normal PC. The enterprise space will witness more stress on security, TCO, manageability and multiple levels of redundancy, among others Companies, which will offer affordable innovation will gain market share. Unicode will drive PC penetration into rural markets PC MARKET: TOP TRENDS PC market revival may happen in second half of this year. Post-Budget PC prices will remain constant or rise marginally. Indian brands will survive, but they need to decide on an unambiguous competitive pitch. Thrust into the B & C class towns will be aggressive, by Indian and MNC players alike. The

notebook market will show significant gains in 2002-03. If you want to know what the future holds for the Indian PC industry, the one fact you cannot afford to ignore is the current slowdown not just falling growth, or a gentle trough, but the horrible spectra of negative growth.

The near panic the industry witnessed in the wake of this terrible time was reflected in the price slashes and bundling offers anything to kick start stagnating sales graphs was acceptable. And that took the PC to almost commodity status in India.

But then, that’s history. And in business, history is not what sells; promises of a rosier future do. According to industry association MAIT’s president Vinnie Mehta, sales have picked up in the JFM quarter, which is traditionally a high sales quarter, and as of now, they’re hoping that this will be a sustained phenomenon in spite of a lacklustre Budget that did almost nothing to push up demand for PCs. PRICES DO AN ABOUT-TURN Immediately after this year’s Budget, most PC vendors said PC prices would remain constant, and some even pointed out that prices would rise, thanks to increasing memory prices. That should be one of the key differentiators between last year and the financial year ahead PC prices are not likely to come down, and in all probability, will actually see marginal rises TRIUMPH OF THE MNC BRIGADE In recent times, one of the most important trends in the Indian PC business is the sight of MNC vendors turning leaders. Yes, HCL Infosystems, the leader in the desktop segment, is as Indian as they come, and the company’s leadership position seems in no immediate danger, but it’s not insurmountable either.

All it will take is the HP-Compaq deal going through in the United States, and HCL will become No 2 to an MNC behemoth that will then control almost double of HCL’s market share, which currently stands at 8.6 percent, according to George Paul, head-marketing, HCL Infosystems. While everyone admits that the market share of MNC brands has gone up, and mostly at the expense of Indian brands, this issue generates a lot of heat and passionate arguments.

BIG BUYERS MATTER While the move to B & C class cities attracted attention, the biggest buyers of PCs pretty much remained constant, and they’re expected to continue to be the saviours of the beleaguered PC industry this year too. The honours go to the government both at the Centre and the states, and the banking and financial sector mainly PSU banks. Another segment expected to contribute significantly to PC buying this year is the telecom sector. Retail’s still in vogue.

MOBILE COMPUTING, ANYONE Mobile computing is also expected to have some effect on the PC market in the coming year. And in many ways, this may just be the beginning of things to come in the Indian PC market.

MAJOR PLAYERS IN THE MARKET HCL D EL L IBM AND COMPAQ SAHARA SONY

Sony's Story It was in 1946 that Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita together with a small team of passionate and committed group of employees started to build “Tokyo Tsushin Kenkyujo” (Totsuko), or “Tokyo Telecommunications Research Institute” to the billion dollar global conglomerate that it is today.

It was in 1946 that Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita together with a small team of passionate and committed group of employees started to build “Tokyo Tsushin Kenkyujo” (Totsuko), or “Tokyo Telecommunications Research Institute” into the billion dollar global conglomerate that it is today. The main objective of the company was to design and create innovative products which would benefit the people.

From early attempts at creating products like the rice-cooker to the later success of creating Japan’s first magnetic recorder, the innovative company went on to create other hit products which won the company widespread recognition and international acclaim as a truly global company known for its quality and

innovative products. Significant product milestones included Japan’s first transistor radio (1955), Trinitron colour television (1968), Walkman personal stereo (1979), Handycam videocamera (1989), PlayStation (1994), Blu-ray Disc recorder (2003) and PlayStation 3 (2006).

The company name of Sony was created by combining two words of “sonus” and “sonny”. The word “sonus” in Latin represents words like sound and sonic.

The other word “sonny” means little son. Used in combination, Sony is supposed to represent a very small group of young people who have the energy and passion towards unlimited creations and innovative ideas. With the far-sight of expanding worldwide, it was in 1958 that the company formally adopted “Sony Corporation” as its corporate name. Easy to pronounce and read in any language, the name Sony, which has a lively ring to it, fits comfortably with the spirit of freedom and open-mindedness.

SAHARA COMPUTER Established in 1997 Sahara Computers assembles and markets computers & peripherals through a global distribution network that covers established and emerging markets. The company is owned by Sahara Holdings, a fully BroadBased Black Economic Empowered entity, and is based in Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the official distributor and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for a variety of top international vendors.

An accredited member of the Proudly South African campaign, the Sahara business network stretches across South Africa to include Cape Town, Durban & Port Elizabeth. The company has established a strong presence globally, with offices across EMEA, including Nairobi & Mombassa in Kenya and Botswana, Dubai, the U.K and China.

Sahara Computers is currently the largest operation of its kind in Southern Africa. Owned by Sahara Holdings group, company boast an annual

turnover over 1.4 billion Rand. Sahara Holdings strictly adheres to the principles of Broad-Based Economic Empowerment and established itself among the frontrunners of empowered organizations within the ICT sector when it confirmed its participation in an empowerment deal valued at R640 million in 2006.

For the deal Sahara Holdings sold 27% of their shares to a newly established consortium represented by mining and mineral resource Group Mvelaphanda Holdings (Pty) Ltd. chaired by Tokyo Sexwale, and Afripalm Consortium, a local investment company chaired by Lazarus Zim. The deal incorporates subsidiaries and associates of Sahara Holdings including Sahara Computers Pty Ltd., Sahara Systems Pty Ltd., Sahara Consumables Pty Ltd., Sahara Distribution Pty Ltd. and Annex Distribution Pty Ltd. DELL COMPUTER Dell Inc. listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services they trust and value. Uniquely enabled by its direct business model, Dell sells more systems globally than any computer company, placing it No. 25 on the Fortune 500. Dell's climb to market leadership is the result of a persistent focus on delivering the best possible customer experience by directly selling standards-based computing products and services. Revenue for the last four quarters totaled $57.9 billion and the company employs approximately 78,700 team members around the globe.

Dell was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell, the longest-tenured executive to lead a company in the computer industry. The company is based on a simple concept: by selling computer systems directly to customers, Dell could best understand their needs and efficiently provide the most effective computing solutions to meet those needs. This direct business model eliminates retailers

that add unnecessary time and cost, or can diminish Dell's understanding of customer expectations.

The direct model allows the company to build every system to order and offer customers powerful, richly-configured systems at competitive prices. Dell also introduces the latest relevant technology much more quickly than companies with slow-moving, indirect distribution channels, turning over inventory in just five days on average.

The Dell Effect For more than 20 years, Dell has revolutionized the industry to make computing accessible to customers around the globe, including businesses, institutional organizations and individual consumers. Because of Dell's direct model—and the industry's response to it—information technology is more powerful, easier to use and more affordable, giving customers the opportunity to take advantage of powerful new tools to improve their businesses and personal lives Dell has demonstrated this effect time and again as it enters new, standardized product categories, such as network servers, workstations, mobility products, printers and other electronic accessories. Nearly one out of every five standardsbased computer system sold in the world today is a Dell. This global reach indicates our direct approach is relevant across product lines, regions and customer segments COMPAQ COMPUTER Compaq Computer Corporation was an American personal computer company founded in 1982, and now a brand name of Hewlett-Packard.The company was formed by Rod Canion, Jim Harris and Bill Murto — former

Texas Instruments senior managers. The name "COMPAQ" was derived from "Compatibility and Quality", as at its formation Compaq produced some of the first IBM PC compatible computers.

Once the largest supplier of computing systems in the world, previously regarded as perhaps the most reputable manufacturer of mid-range hardware it existed as an independent corporation until 2002, when it merged with HewlettPackard IBM is extremely excited about enhancing its presence in your city - and looks forward to reaching out to a wide range of organizations across the public and private sector.The IBM city sites are tailored to bring to your doorstep the global technology expertise and experience of IBM - to deliver affordable solutions that address your business priorities. IBM and our local business partners are committed to providing innovative systems, services, software and solutions that improve efficiency, solve problems and enable you to seize new opportunities. This comprehensive site will provide you information on our business offerings as well as our academic and community Initiatives that help to build skills to harness opportunities in the 21st century.

Reach your city contacts now. For express attention click on the Blue Button link on this page. Finding helpful answers is now easier than you think.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF HCL STRENGTHS: HCL’s strengths are many, to mention a few : a) Global Presence: Its collaborations and joint ventures with international companies such as Perot System, and partnership with world leaders like Ericsson, Toshiba, Nokia, Oracle and Microsoft, enable it to bring the best technology available world wide to its consumers. 24 locations in 16 countries. b) Fast paced and flexible work culture which provides its employees autonomy to accomplish the task without much pressure from the higher authorities. Thus, employees are motivated to give their best to the organization. c) The core strength of HCL is the talent and innovativeness of its people which enables it to provide the “right solution at the right time.” d) The mass markets handled through a chain of dealers, resellers and retailers which helps bring technology usage closer to the individual. It has very strong distribution network. e) Its pool of competencies : Hardware, Software, Training, Networking, Telecom and System Integration. f) Ability to understand customer's business and offer right technology. g) Long standing relationship with customers. h) Pan India support & service infrastructure.

i) Best-value-for-money offerings WEAKNESSES: a) After sales service. b) Less promotional campaigns OPPORTUNITIES: a) IT industry booming at a rate of 45% every year. b) Increasing consumer awareness about IT and its use. c) Tremendous untapped potential of IT products in India. d) Increasing competition. e) Tie ups with various MNCs enable to extract their core competencies.

THREATS: a) Local assemblers are biggest menace for the company. b) Entry of MNCs i.e. IBM, Compaq giving direct competition. c) Govt. instability has a long term repercussions affecting company’s policies & its growth. d) Technological shift as a result of research & development. Daily new technologies are emerging.

Concluding the S.W.O.T. analysis in words that prosperity lies ahead for HCL. In order to retain its position as India’s No. 1 IT conglomerate, it has to come out with the state of art as well as futuristic technologies to its consumers well before time

ALLIANCE AND PARTNERSHIP To provide world-class solutions and services to all our customers, we have formed Alliances and Partnerships with leading IT companies worldwide.

HCL Infosystems has alliances with global technology leaders like Intel, AMD, Microsoft, IBM, Bull, Toshiba, Nokia, Sun Microsystems, Ericsson, NVIDIA, SAP, Scansoft, SCO, EMC, Veritas, Citrix, CISCO, Oracle, Computer Associates, RedHat, Infocus, Duplo, Samsung and Novell.

These alliances on one hand give us access to best technology & Products as well enhancing our understanding of the latest in technology. On the other hand they enhance our product portfolio, and enable us to be one stop shop for our customers

THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS Decision makers, who are used to depending on their past experiences, must make decisions and take actions in the rapidly changing world we face today. In this turbulent environment, the ability to successfully view the current situation through the traditional "good judgment" viewpoint is weakened through increasing external noise (a multitude of information sources on multiple topics) and changing.

Buyer behavior - Decision-Making Process Research suggests that customers go through a five-stage decision-making process in any purchase. This is summarized in the diagram below:

This model is important for anyone making marketing decisions. It forces the marketer to consider the whole buying process rather than just the purchase decision (when it may be too late for a business to influence the choice) The model implies that customers pass through all stages in every purchase.

However, in more routine purchases, customers often skip or reverse some of the stages.

A customer can obtain information from several sources: Personal sources: family, friends, neighbors etc.

Commercial sources: advertising; salespeople; retailers; dealers; packaging; point-of-sale displays.

Public sources: newspapers, radio, television, consumer organizations; specialist magazines.

Experiential sources: handling, examining,using the product.

Research suggests that customer’s value and respect personal sources more than commercial sources (the influence of “word of mouth”). The challenge for the marketing team is to identify which information sources are most influential in their target markets.

The final stage is the post-purchase evaluation of the decision. It is common for customers to experience concerns after making a purchase decision. This arises from a concept that is known as “cognitive dissonance”. The customer, having bought a product, may feel that an alternative would have been preferable. In these circumstances that customer will not repurchase immediately, but is likely to switch brands next time.

To manage the post-purchase stage, it is the job of the marketing team to persuade the potential customer that the product will satisfy his or her needs.

Then after having made a purchase, the customer should be encouraged that he or she has made the right decision

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) refers to the methodologies and tools that help businesses manage customer relationships in an organized way.

CRM is a term that is often referred to in marketing. However, there is no complete agreement upon a single definition. This is because CRM can be considered from a number of perspectives. In summary, the three perspectives are: 1. CRM from the Information Technology Perspective.

From the technology perspective, companies often buy into software that will help to achieve their business goals. For many, CRM is far more than a new software package, the renaming of traditional customer services, or an IT-based customer management system to support sales people. However, IT is vital since it underpins CRM, and has the payoffs associated with modern technology, such as speed, ease of use, power and memory, and so on.

2. CRM from the Customer Life Cycle (CLC) Perspective.

The Customer Life Cycle (CLC) has obvious similarities with the Product Life Cycle (PLC). However, CLC focuses upon the creation of and delivery of lifetime value to the customer i.e. looks at the products of services that customers need throughout their lives. It is marketing orientated rather than product orientated. Essentially, CLC is a summary of the key stages in a customer's relationship with an organization.

3. CRM from the Business Strategy Perspective.

The Business Strategy perspective has most in common with many of the lessons and topics contained on this website, and indeed within the field of marketing itself. The diagram below shows the Marketing Teacher Model of CRM and Business Strategy. Our model contains three key phases - customer acquisition, customer retention and customer extension, and three contextual factors - marketing orientation, value creation and innovative IT. A commonly cited definition of CRM is that of CRM (UK) Ltd (2002), as follows: Customer Relationship Management is the establishment, development, maintenance and optimization of long-term mutually valuable relationships between consumers and organizations. The relationship delivers value to customers, and profits to companies. The relationship is supported (but not driven) by cutting edge IT.

FINDINGS & LIMITATIONS Every project has some limitations even the researcher came across some limitations while working on the project which made the analysis a little inappropriate at times. Some of the basic limitations faced during the research are listed below: Only limited number of government organization and banks where it has been found 50 players was covered in the study.

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Most of the research was based on cold calls.

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There was a bias on the part of the respondents.

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The research is based on chandigarh market.

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At the time of research several time most of the Administrative officers

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were not present in their departments.

At the time of research most of the administrative officers did not sincerely respond to the researcher.

Majority of those who have bought a PC/laptop and are planning to buy consider “Promotional offer” as a definite incentive to buy. People who have already bought a PC/laptop have done so during a “Promotional Offer” Nonusers consider sales and promotion offer as the most important attribute for buying a computer/laptop Impact on Brand Image 1.Majority of users believe that the only impact Promotional Offer has on the Brand is “Increase its sales” 2.Majority of the non-users believe that Promotional Offers increase the “Awareness about the product offering” of the brand.

3.The Brand Image is not enhanced by using “Promotional Offers” and they only serve as a tool for increasing the awareness or sales of a brand as ascertained from the survey.

4.The market share of the Hewlett Packard (HP) brand of computers/laptops is the highest in Chandigarh, followed closely by HCL Infosytems in retail segment IBM (International Business Machines) leads the pack in terms of customer satisfaction followed by Hewlett-Packard (HP).

Major reason for dissatisfaction among existing customers is “Poor Service”.

Majority believes that HCL Infosystems has the best “Promotional Offer”among all the players existing in the market.

The most successful offers are “Price discounts” and “Freebies”, thus people look for monetary incentives are most sought after deals while buying an IT product. Majority of those who buy in a sales promotion offer do so by looking at a featured advertisement in a magazine or a newspaper. People look for information on what to buy (IT Products) from newspapers and magazines.

SUGGESTION AND RECOMMENDAATION •

HCL is having large number of channel partners but it is not supporting &

taking care all of them equally which results in increasing discontentment among new channel partners because its not possible for company to support all of them equally. Company should take some positive action against it.

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Company executive should pay proper attention towards checking of

various components of PC and telecom before end user delivery. Otherwise it tends towards defame of brand name in comparison to rivals.

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Need to expend customer care center as the consumer base of HCL

Infosystems is increasing with tremendously fast pace.

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Proper attention should be paid for advertisementplanning otherwise it may

lead to problem for dealer and customer as well as for company.

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Company should tie up with some event management company to organize

various promotional activities like canopy, Carnival.

From the survey many vital points were bought out in the forefront which if implemented can help companies to improve their brand image. Many companies have used promotional offers over the last decade and the proportion of promotional offer budget as a percentage of the total combined budget has been ever rising.

This can be attributed to the short-term performance pressure on the product managers. But this tool should be used with caution as Promotional

Offers do little to build the brand image of the product or the company in the long term. Thus, more long-term approach to marketing is Advertising and not Promotional Offers. Again as can be ascertained from the survey, most sought after promotional offers are those in which the customer gets instant incentives like Price discounts or Freebies. This can have its positives and negatives. This gives the manufacturer the ability to experiment with different price bands to ascertain price flexibility of the customers and also to deal with demand supply fluctuations effectively on the positive side. But on the negative side of it the customer will start discounting the product as inferior in quality, and also this increases the dissonance of the customers who have already bought from the manufacturer.

Thus, price discounts can be effective tool for raking in the moolah but it has to be used with a word of caution and not excessively as it has many a flip sides attached to it.

CONCLUSION Marketing is a very crucial activity in every business organization. Every product produced within an industry has to be marketed otherwise it will remain as unsold stock, which will be of no value. I have realized this fact after completion of my summer training project. I have tried my level best to find out the most relevant information for the organization to complete the assignment that was given to me. After completion of my summer training project I have gained several experiences in the field or sales marketing. I have got the opportunity to meet various people, which fluctuate in different situation and time. This summer training project has given me the opportunity to have first experience in the corporate world.

Theoretical knowledge of a person remains dormant until it is used and tested in the practical life. The training has given to me the chance to apply my theoretical knowledge that I have acquired in my classroom to the real business world. I have completed my summer training project in which are involved in its successful completion. In spite of few limitations and hindrance in the summer training project I found that the work was a challenge and fruitful. It gives enough knowledge about the computers market and the distribution process undertaken by an organization. This summer training project has enabled my capability in order to manage business effectively and in my career in future.

From these findings it can be ascertained that Sales promotion offers provide a definite incentive to buy, but their impact on the Brand Image of an IT product is still debatable. These findings give an indication that “Promotional Offers� can be used for increasing the short-term gain but their application in building brand image over a long term is limited Promotional tools that are most

successful are hence those which incentivize the customer immediately like price discounts. Again from the minor findings we can ascertain that Print Media the best media for communicating promotional offers, as this is the medium in which people seek information while they are in the “Information Search� mode of the consumer buying process.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 1.Author : kotler philip Title : marketing management delhi publisher : tata mc-graw hills publishing ltd.

2.F. Kent Mitchel, Advertising/Promotion Budgets: How did We get Here, and What do We Do Now, Journal of Consumer Marketing (Fall 1985): 405-47.

3.From Robert C Blattberg and Scott A. Neslin, Sales Promotion Concepts and Methods, and Strategies, (Prentice Hall, 1990.

4.Paul W. Farris and Kusum L. Ailawadi, Retail Power: Monster or Mouse, Journal Of Retailing (Winter 1992): 351-69 5. John C. Totten and Martin p. Block, Analyzing Sales Promotion: Text and cases, 2nd Ed. (Chicago: Dartnell, 1994) pp. 69-70.

MAGAZINES / JOURNALS / NEWSPAPERS ♦ Business Today ♦ The Financial Express ♦ The Times of India ♦ Company Annual Magazine WEBSITES: ♦ www.hcl.in ♦ www.indiainfoline.com ♦ www.google.co.in

Questionnaire 1.Which brand of computer/laptop do you own? a. HP b. Acer c. Hcl 4. Ibm/Lenovo 5. Others 2.How did you get to know about the computer you are using now? a. Newspaper b. Television c. Radio d. Magazines e. Others 3.What was the offer that you got when you bought your computer? a. Discount b. freebies c. extended warranty 4. Are you satisfied with your computer? a. Yes b. No 5. If not what is cause of your dissatisfaction? a. Poor service b. High maintenance cost c. Unwanted features

d. Poor performance e. Others

6. What according to you is the most important attribute for a computer? a. Low entry price b. Good and timely service c. Upgradation d. Configuration e. Ease of operations f. Sales offer and discounts 7. What sort of sales offers would you generaaly go for a. Discounts b. freebies c. warranty d. unrelated offers

8. The basis of buying or upgrading your computer is a. Change in Technology Strongly agree [ ] Agree [ ] Can’t say [ ] Disagree [ ] Strongly disagree [ ] b On requirement basis Strongly agree [ ] Agree [ ] Can’t say [ ] Disagree [ ] Strongly disagree [ ] c.Sales and promotional offers Strongly agree [ ] Agree [ ] Can’t say [ ] Disagree [ ] Strongly disagree [ ]

d. Predefined timeframes Strongly agree [ ] Agree [ ] Can’t say [ ] Disagree [ ] Strongly disagree [ ] 9. Does this increase while there are offers?

Always [ ] Sometimes [ ] Never [ ] Can’t Say [ ] 10. Where do you get the information about the latest offers? a. Newspaper b. Magazine c. Television d. Radio e. Friends and Family f. Others 11. Does the dealer have influence while buying any type of computer or IT products?

Always [ ] Sometimes [ ] Never [ ] Can’t Say [ ] 12. Do you think that sales promotion offers has following impact on the brand you use? a. Increases awareness about the product Strongly agree [ ] Agree [ ] Can’t say [ ] Disagree [ ] Strongly disagree [ ] b. Increases its sales Strongly agree [ ] Agree [ ] Can’t say [ ] Disagree [ ] Strongly disagree [ ] c. Increases the visibility of the brand Strongly agree [ ] Agree [ ] Can’t say [ ] Disagree [ ] Strongly disagree

d. Makes it easier to choose one brand from the other Strongly agree [ ] Agree [ ] Can’t say [ ] Disagree [ ] Strongly disagree [ ] e. Makes you more confident about selecting the brand Strongly agree [ ] Agree [ ] Can’t say [ ] Disagree [ ] Strongly disagree [ ] f. Makes you buy more than what you want Strongly agree [ ] Agree [ ] Can’t say [ ] Disagree [ ] Strongly disagree [ ] 13. Which company do you think has the best sales offers? a.HCL b. HP c. IBM/Lenovo d. Acer e. Zenith f. Others 14. Personal Details Age 18-25 25-40 40-60 60 and above Gender Male Female

Family Income 8 K - 10 K 10K - 20 K 20K - 40K 40K and above