Prcis

Module 3, Session 5 and 6

Elegant Furniture

Output of Marketing
Profit for the company
Satisfaction for the customer

Input of Marketing
The input to marketing is sensing and discovering which customers, competitors, and
collaborators you must choose and which environmental trends you must ride and which
you must avoid.
Only that strategy that gives the company profit and gives the customers satisfaction is the
right strategy.
To incur cost does not mean that you are incurring the right cost, the right cost is the one
that the customers are willing to pay for, this ultimately brings the point to knowing who
your customers are and what do the want.

MVC Model
It is important to understand that all the factors namely, Market, Value Proposition and
Connect are interconnected and without even one of these factors, a marketing strategy
can not be formulated.

Market
Market is a choice and involves decision making. One can not cater to all markets. For
choosing a market, we have to choose customers, competitors and collaborators.

Customers:
To choose customers, we must consider the size, growth, access and the difference
customers can make. Each of these aspects should be considered separately so that an
implementable and sound strategy can be formulated. For instance, one would not like to
choose customers in an area where there is humongous potential, but the resources of the
company are not adequate to access the market in that area.
A question rises here: Why we must not cater to all the segments?
Catering to every segment is not feasible in terms of resources and brand perception. It is
better to segment and target rather than catering to everyone at once. It is suggested that a
company should specialize in one segment and then diversify to other segments.
With respect to the case Elegant Furniture, the data provided in the case is as follows-
New Kitchen 65% of the Kitchen spend
Of the 65%, 50% goes into cabinetry
It suggests that we target the cabinet business in the new kitchen category.

Competitors:
A competitor should be the one with whom we can differentiate and sustain the
differentiation. The focus should be on carving out a segment from the competitor rather
than eliminating it. It should be kept in mind that competitor must not be too small or too
big to compete with.
In this case, there are two competitors- Self employed carpenters in the unorganized sector
and European high end brands that sell expensive kitchen equipment. Like Poggen Pohl.
Here we choose self employed carpenters as our competition as the target group we will be
catering to goes to the carpenters to get their kitchen furnished.

Collaborators:
A collaborator will be the one with whom you can work and create more value from the
marketing mix. A collaborator is the one whose sale goes up when your sale increases and
vice versa.
We have chosen builders and hardware stores as collaborators for this case. The builders
will help in providing the leads for business whereas the hardware stores will provide the
after sales services.
Further in this scenario, Aditya should not manufacture the kitchen equipment and get
them pre-made from China and store it in warehouses.

Value Proposition
For defining the value proposition, we must ask ourselves how do we meet expectations of
the chosen customers and collaborators, how do we differentiate from the chosen
competitors in the things that matter and how do we develop positioning and use it to
develop marketing mix. It is also important to gather the consumers insight by asking what
does the customer want to achieve when he/she buys our product. We must also compare
our product with the competitors product on the basis of the parameters that matter to the
customer.
Positioning-
Target Audience: Cabinetry segment for new kitchens
Target Competitor: Not confident if what they are paying is right. Not sure if what they are
getting is well done. Finish not good. Cost overrun. Time overrun. The work goes on for
weeks and there is a mess in the house.
Our offer: You get what you see. Better finish. Fixed prices, Installation in 48 hours.
Warranty of finish and quality. Designer advice.

Product-
Gold range: 4 types off-the-shelf mix-&-match kitchens
Platinum range: 12 types of kitchens on order (60 days)
Professional finish not found in local carpenter jobs. Customized to your choice and space
by expert designers. Warranty of finish, quality, repair and after sales service. All installed in
2 days at your site; in 90% less time.

Price: 20% higher than local carpenters. 30% lower than imported high end European
brands.

Place: 20 Towns with 70% of TA- 12 Mn SEC A+B households

Connect to Market
To connect the value proposition, we must formulate basis, who puts search energy in the
market, at which stage are the prospects in the buyer journey, what is the sales
process/funnel/connect matrix connecting the organization. It is important to be where the
customers and sell the way customer wants to buy.

Buying Journey:
(Decision Maker: Housewife who has booked a new flat)
Booked a new flat
Occupation date nears
Searches for choices
Chooses model from catalog
Negotiates
Advance

Elegant Furnitures selling process:

Booked a new flat- Contact and tie up with builders to give customer data
Occupation date nears- Send mailers, take appointment
Searches for choices- Meet, Show, Explain
Chooses model from catalog- Multiple visits needed
Negotiates
Advance- Booking and Advance Taken

Touch Points Matrix and Organization:

Builder Sales Force-
Contact/ tie up builders to get customer database. Take the follow up order from the
builder. Invoice the builder: builder sales force. Get paid by the builder: builder sales force.
Agency-
Create Mailers
Branch Manager-
Do the mailing. Take appointment on the phone: branch operator.
Elegant Lady-
Meet in customers house and show, explain, answer. Meet to provide designer sketches.
Take the order, pick up the advance, complete paperwork. Collect money from customer.
Service Department-
Install, follow up, service, CRM

Organization Structure for each 20 L Population:

Under the Branch Manager there will be:
Servicing Executives- Service opened accounts on a day to day basis
PR & Training Executive- Organizes training and PR materials and demonstrations
Manager Custom Design- Creates and manages partnership network of housewives
Accounts & Warehouse- Manages expenses, stock and transactions and payments
Manager Tech/ Service Manager- Creates and manages partnership network of hardware
stores.