Amul Ice Cream Marketing Strategy

Introduction

AMUL means" priceless" in Sanskrit. A quality control expert in Anand Suggested the brand name Amul (Anand Milk Union Limited) from the Sanskrit Amoolya, ´ Variants, all meaning "priceless", are found in several Indian languages. Amul products have been in use in millions of homes since 1946. Amul Butter, Amul Milk Powder, Amul Ghee, Amul spray, Amul Cheese, Amul Chocolates, Amul Shrikhand, Amul Ice cream, Nutramul, Amul Milk and Amulya have made Amul a leading food brand in India. Today Amul is a symbol of many things. Of high-quality products sold at reasonable prices, of the genesis of a vast co-operative network, of the triumph of indigenous technology, of the marketing savvy of a farmers' organization and have a proven model for dairy development. And have a proven model for dairy development and have a proven model for dairy development.

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Background of the organization 

 History of Amul

The Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union Ltd. was registered on December 1, 1946 as a response to the exploitation of marginal milk producers by traders or agents of the only existing dairy, the Polson (brand) dairy, in the small town of Anand (in Kaira District of Gujarat). Milk Producers had to travel long distances to deliver milk, which often went sour in summer, to Polson. The prices of buffalo and cow milk were arbitrarily determined. Moreover, the government at that time had given monopoly rights to Polson to collect milk from Anand and supply it to Bombay city.

Angered by the unfair and manipulative trade practices, the farmers of Kaira approached Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel under the leadership of local farmer leader Tribhuvandas K. Patel. He advised them to form a cooperative and supply milk directly to the Bombay Milk Scheme instead of Polson (who did the same but gave them low prices). He sent Morarji Desai to organise the farmers. In 1946, the milk farmers of the area went on a strike which led to the setting up of the cooperative to collect and process milk. Milk collection was also decentralized, as most producers were marginal farmers who could deliver atmost 1–2 litres of milk per day. Cooperatives were formed for each village too. The Cooperative was further developed and managed by Dr.Verghese Kurien along with H.M. Dalaya. Dalaya's innovation of making skim milk powder from buffalo milk for the first time anywhere in the world and a little later, along with Kurien's help, making it on a commercial scale,[12] led to the first modern dairy of the cooperative at Anand, which would successfully compete against established players in the market. zThe trio's (T. K. Patel, Kurien and Dalaya's) success at the cooperative's dairy soon spread to Anand's neighbourhood in Gujarat, and within a short span, five unions in other districts – Mehsana, Banaskantha, Baroda, Sabarkantha and Surat were set up.

.

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Introduction to Brand

3

Introduction on Ice Cream Industry The ice cream market growth picked up after de-reservation of the sector in 1997. Of the total size of Rs 15-16bn, around 30-32% is in the hands of organized sector valued at Rs 4.9bn, rest all is with the unorganized sector. Among the major players in this industry Hindustan Lever has a market share of around 50%, represented mainly by Kwality Walls brand. Amul with an estimated market share of 41% is rapidly gaining market share and lastly Vadilal is the player in the national market with 8-9% of the market share.

Production area In rural areas, kulfi / ice creams made by small / cottage industry are popular. The market for organized sector is restricted to large metropolitan cities. In small towns and villages, there are thousands of small players who produce ice- creams / kulfis in their home backyard and cater to the local market. Almost 40% of the ice creams sold in the country are consumed in the western region with Mumbai being the main market, followed by 30% in the north and 20% inthe south.

Growth promotional activities The Indian government adopted the policy of liberalization regarding the ice cream industry also and it is since then that this sector has shown an annual growth ranging from 15- 20% per annum for last 1- 2 years.

Types Indian Ice Cream market can be segmented in three different ways, namely on the basis of flavours; on the basis of stock keeping units / packaging and on the basis of consumer segments.

On the basis of flavours the market today has a number of flavours like vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, mango, butterscotch and a number of fruit flavours, dry fruit flavours traditional flavours like Kesar Pista, Kaju Draksh etc. The market is totally dominated by Vanilla Strawberry and chocolate, which together account for more than 70% of the market followed by butterscotch and other fruit flavours.

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

Amul Ice-Creams Variants

1) Prolife Ice-cream – Vanilla with chocolate sauce, Shahi anjir 2) Sundae – Sundae, Sundae magic ,Double sundae 3) Sticks – Frostik, Dollies, Candies 4) Cones – Butter Scotch, Choco crunch 5) Novelties – Cassata, Hum Tum, Cake magic 6) Malai Kulfi – Masti kulfi, Shahi pista 7) Kids – Sundae fundoo, fundoo chocobar, Fundoo balls (vanilla & mango) 8) Utterly Delicious Take away (Available in 500ml, 1.25L, 1.5L & 2.2L) Vanilla Royale, Two in One, Butter Scotch, Chocolate Passion, Fruit n Nut Fantasy,Alphonso Marvel. 9)Utterly Delicious Cups - Alphonso Mango, Vanilla, Strawberry, Chocolate, Draksh, Butter Scotch, Kesar Pista Royale, Kis Mis Kaju 10) But 1 Get 1 Free – a) Spanish Saffron with Cream Balls + Same b) Rajbhog + Same c) Fresh Litchi + Same d) Shahi Anjir + Same e) Kesar Pista Royale + Same f) Fresh Pineapple + Same g) Fruit Bonanza + Same h) Chocolate + Same i) Alphonso Mango + Same j) Tutti Fruti + Same k) Green Pista + Same l) Prolife Vanilla + Butter Scotch 5

Kaju

m) Vanilla Royale + Same n) Butter Scotch + Same o) Gauva + Same p) Cookie and Cream + Same q) Thandai + Same r) Afghan Dry Fruit + Same s) Shahista Pista Kulfi + Same 11) Couple Pack (250ml) – Vanilla Royale, Strawberry, Butter Scotch Chocolate

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Various Other Brand of Amul AMUL‟S OFFERINGS

Breadspreads:  Amul Butter  Amul Lite Low Fat Breadspread

Cheese Range:  Amul Pasteurized Processed Cheddar Cheese  Amul Processed Cheese Spread  Amul Mozzarella Cheese  Utterly Delicious Pizza

Mithaee Range (Ethnic sweets):     

Amul Shrikhand (Mango, Saffron, Almond Pistachio, Cardamom) Amul Amrakhand Amul Mithaee Gulabjamuns Amul Mithaee Gulabjamun Mix Amul Mithaee Kulfi Mix

UHT Milk Range:  Amul Taaza 3% fat Milk  Amul Gold 4.5% fat Milk  Amul Slim-n-Trim 0% fat milk  Amul Chocolate Milk  Amul Fresh Cream  Amul Snow-cap Softy Mix

Pure Ghee:  Amul Pure Ghee  Sagar Pure Ghee Infant Milk Range:  Amul Infant Milk Formula 1 (0-6 months)  Amul Infant Milk Formula 2 ( 6 months above)  Amulspray Infant Milk Food 7

Milk Powders:  Amul Full Cream Milk Powder  Amulya Dairy Whitener  Sagar Skimmed Milk Powder  Sagar Tea and Coffee Whitener

Fresh Milk:  Amul Taaza Toned Milk 3% fat  Amul Gold Full Cream Milk 6% fat  Amul Shakti Standardised Milk 3% fat  Amul Smart Double Toned Milk 1.5% fat

Curd Products:  Amul Masti Dahi (fresh curd)  Amul Butter Milk

Chocolate & Confectionery: 

Amul Milk Chocolate



Amul Fruit & Nut Chocolate



Amul Éclairs

Brown Beverage: 

Nutramul Malted Milk Food

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Market Share of Ice-Cream Brands

COMPETITORS

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Competitors are the once who produce and sell the same product as producer by the unit competitors affect the business with several caused. The main rivals are following. 1. 2. 3. 4.

Nestle Kwality Walls Vadilal Mother Dairy

1. Nestle India is a subsidiary of Nestle.S.A. Of Switzerland. With seven factories and a large number of co-packers, Nestle India is a vibrant Company that provides consumer in India with products of global standards and is committed to long-term sustainable growth and shareholder satisfaction

2. Kwality Walls Was previously known as Kwality owned by Pishorilal Lamba Kwality Wall's is a major producer and distributor of ice cream and other dessert products in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,Malaysia and Singapore. It is a company of Hindustan Unilever, the arm of Unilever in India, and is an extension of the Wall's ice cream brand of Great Britain. Kwality, the original Indian company, was founded in 1956, and was the first in the region to import machinery for the mass production and sale of ice cream on a commercial scale. In 1995, in view of the growth potential of the frozen confections market, Kwality entered into an agreement with Lever, and has since been known by its current umbrella name.

3.Vadilal (Vadilal Industries Limited) From a small outlet in Ahmedabad over 80 years back, Vadilal Industries Ltd has today emerged as India‟s second largest ice cream player. The company is also one of the largest processed food players in India with significant exports of frozen vegetables and ready to eat snacks, curries and breads. 10

Vadilal‟s aim is to become an Indian MNC in Ice creams and frozen foods and to provide products and services at an affordable price without compromising on quality.

3. Mother Dairy, set up in 1974, is a wholly owned subsidiary of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) of India Mother Dairy's range of products includes the brands Mother Dairy (milk, milk products, curd, ice cream, butter, etc.), Dhara (range of edible oils) and Safal (range of fresh fruits and vegetables, frozen vegetables, fruit juices).

Objective of the study  

To have a clear understanding of the ice cream industry and Amul‟s position in market 11



To find out the problems and issues faced by the wholesalers



To understand the distribution channel of the Amul Ice Cream



To study consumer perception and competitive



To increase sales of Amul ice-creams



To brand existing outlets and convert new outlets for Amul



To conduct an exhaustive market research on introduction of new “low calories” flavours.



To check awareness, price acceptance, innovation excitement amongst consumers



To check the awareness as well as level of satisfaction of retailers with distributors &the company with regards introduction of new flavours



To develop strategies and come out with suggestions for increasing the sales.

RESEARCH METHODOLGY RESEARCH DESIGN 12

The research methodology adopted is of descriptive type. The major purpose of this research was the description of the affairs as it exists at present. Even though there was no control over the variables. The cause were tried to be discovered. The facts or information gathered were analysed to make a critical evaluation of the information.

SAMPLING DESIGN Sample design is a definite plan of obtaining some items from the whole population. The sample used in this project is Cluster. In the probability sampling methods, each items in the sample is chosen one at a time from a complete list of universe elements. In marketing research practice, it will sometimes be more expedient to select items individually. Sampling methods in which universe elements are chosen in groups rather than individually are called cluster-sampling methods. They are widely used in the sampling of human populations. When no complete universe listing exists, a type of sampling is called area sampling may be the only practically feasible form of probability sampling. Sample design is a definite plan of obtaining some items from the whole population. The sample design used in this cluster sampling.

CLUSTER SAMPLING Here the whole area is divided into some geographical area and a definite number of retailers were to be surveyed Cluster sampling are frequently utilized when no list of sample population is available.

SOURCES DATA One had to depend mainly on primary data as firsthand knowledge was required about market position of various brands in the ice cream. So our actual study was conducted in 3 stages: First we discussed with our guiding officers on the various parameters of the project. We also talked informally with some consumers and retailers to have some preliminary idea. Next format was prepared based on prior discussion. Separate questionnaire was prepared for established and unexplored markets. Lastly the final questionnaire was prepared with various modifications to the previous questionnaire. People were not willing to answer, when they were contacted between 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, the time when most of the people take rest during the scorching heat.

SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

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The stratified sampling method was followed. The population of all the towns was not homogeneous. There exist people of different occupation. So stratified sampling technique had to be applied in order to obtain a representative sample.

SAMPLE SIZE The sample size varied from town to town for retailers. In Burari, Sant Nagar, Naharpur, Krishna market the sample size taken was 30. The sample size taken was 30. The sample size of retailers varied from 7 to 25 according to the size of the market.

DATA ANALYSIS The data were analysed separately for each area. The findings resulting of the analysis varied from area to area and the recommendations stated accordingly arrived at after thorough and recommendation stated accordingly.

SWOT Analysis of Amul Ice Cream 14

Strengths:-

1) Biggest Sourcing base for milk and milk products in India. 2) 38% market share in the national ice cream market. 3) Penetration pricing strategy- Amul is the price warrior in the ice-cream market and currently has a very wide range to offer for all the price points. 4) Reputation of high quality. 5) E-commerce, new products and process technology.

Weaknesses:-

1) Advertising is low profile, as the results of the survey show. Majority of the respondents have hardly seen any ad of Amul ice cream. However Kwality Walls on the other hand is into heavy advertising and consequently, is popular. 2) Shortage of stock during season. 3) Less attractive packaging. 4) Distribution problems. 5) Retailers now demand freezers without having to pay any deposit. This is especially true of those retailers who already stock one or the other ice cream brands. 6) Limited international presence as compared to leading global brands

Opportunities:1) Internet promotions are a good means of awareness which should be tapped. 2) It is a high growth segment as the population is every increasing with demands. 3) Distribution coverage

Threats:15

never- ending

1) Amul is currently facing stiff competition from Kwality Walls and may face more threat from the local manufactures in the low priced segment ice creams. 2) The customers have very well received the Kwality Walls product differentiation strategy and Mother Dairy is also pushing up its advertising pitch. 3) Also the low per capita income low per capita consumption of the people is a threat to Amul. 4) Free entry to the markets. 5) Even Vadilal is coming up with their new strategy and promotions of various variants Of ice creams

6) Health conscious people refraining from sweets

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EXISTING STP AND SWOT OF AMUL ICE CREAM

STP

I)

SEGMENTATION

1) Geographical – Urban and Rural 2) Demographic -

A) Age: 1 to 60 B) Family Life Cycle: Young, Single, Married, Older C) Education: Grade School or less, high school, college graduates, etc. D) Attitude towards the product: The attitude towards the product is positive as people have trust in Amul‟s products.

3) Psycho graphicWorking Class, College Goers, Accepted by all religion.

4) BehaviouralA) Occasions: Amul targets special occasions such as New Year‟s Eve, Diwali and Valentine‟s Day etc. B) Benefits: They provide good quality product at economical prices. C) Usage Rate: The usage rate is very high in behavioural segmentation of Amul Ice cream.

D) Buyer Readiness: The consumers are ready to buy these products and so the buyer readiness is high. E) Loyalty Status: The loyalty for Amul Ice-cream is Shifting Loyal as there is a major competitor in the market i.e. Nestle, Kwality walls

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II)

TARGET

The target of Amul Ice-cream is Lower, Middle, Upper Middle Income group people. It targets both men and women and children

III)

POSITIONING

Amul Ice Cream is positioned as an Ice Cream with various flavours for all occasions and for all age groups.

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FINDINGS OF THE SURVEY

1. What ice cream brand comes in your mind when you heard the word ICE CREAM? a) Kwality walls b) Amul c) Mother dairy d) Baskin robins e) Naturals f) Other

Brands

Naturals Amul Baskin robins Kwality Others

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2. Do you like AMUL ice-cream? Yes

No

Likes

Yes No

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3. Have you seen the ads of amul ice-creams? Yes

No

Seen the Ads.

Yes No

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4. Do you think that price of amul ice-creams are high? Yes

No

Price high

Yes No

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5. Is the brand name visible? Yes

No

Brand Visibility

Yes No

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6. Do you like the packaging of the brand? Yes

No

Like the packaging

Yes No

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7. Have you visited the amul parlour? Yes

No

Visit the parlour

Yes No

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8. Do you think amul should use the brand ambassador or it should stick with the amul girl? Yes

No

Amul Girl Vs Brand Ambassador

Amul Girl Brand Ambassador

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9. Would you prefer amul ice-cream in a less-sugary base? Yes

No

Preference on Sugar Base

Yes No

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10. Do you still prefer amul ice-creams after the worm controversy? Yes

No

Preference after warm-Contravercy

Yes No

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11. Do you think that amul has succeeded in all marketing strategies it has undertaken to get the control of the confectionery market? Yes

No

Success in Marketing Stratergy

Yes No

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12. From where do you come to know about the amul ice-creams? a. b. c. d.

News paper Advertising Radio Hoardings

Media

News paper Advertising Radio Hoardings

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13. Would you prefer a „low calories‟ ice-creams even if it is priced high? Yes

No

Preferece over low Calories Ice-Cream if Price high

Yes No

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14. Are you satisfied with the amul ice-cream? Yes

No

Satisfaction

Yes No

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15. Any other suggestion?

Suggestion

Yes No

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ANALYSIS OF THE SURVEY Through this survey, it is clear that: 1. People love Amul ice cream very much. 2. It is the most preferred brand of ice cream. 3. As most of the people are health conscious they would like to have a „less sugar based‟ or „no added sugar‟ chocolate, especially if it comes from a reputed name like „AMUL‟. 4. But Most people will not prefer a „Low Calories‟ chocolate even if it is highly priced.

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REPOSITIONING OF THE BRAND After the findings and analysis of the survey, it is clear that if a new product is launched in the market, i.e. „LOW CALORIES‟ Ice cream, it will most probably be a success. Following is the new product, its features and a SWOT Analysis and STP of the product: Company: Amul Brand: Ice Creams Product Launched:

Amul Ice Cream Healthy wealthy (Low Calories)

Tag Line: “Enjoy Moments of Happiness in a healthy way” Characteristics: 1. For the health conscious people. 2. A „Low Calories‟. 3. Priced at Rs. 200.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF CADBURY DAIRY MILK HC STRENGTHS: 1. Especially for the health conscious people. 2. Comes from a reputed company „Amul‟ 3. Good Visibility, Good Product Quality and packing. WEAKNESSES: 1. High priced. OPPORTUNITIES: 1. Flavours will be launched in the near future. THREATS: 1. Competitors- Nestle, Kwality walls

STP OF AMUL ICE CREAM HEALTH WEALTHY 35

SEGMENTATION: 1. GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION: It will target the Urban Market. 2. DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION:   

AGE: The age of the customer will be between 18 to 35 years. INCOME: Middle income, Upper Middle Income group. OCCUPATION: It can be consumed by people of all occupations.

3. PSYCHOGRAPHIC: It can be used by working class as well as house wives who are health conscious, also by those who have busy lifestyle. It is accepted by all religions. 4. BEHAVIOURAL SEGMENTATION: BENEFITS: Low on calorie, good quality, easily available in supermarkets and general stores also 

OCCASIONS: There is no specific occasion for consuming this ice creams. Whenever the person wants he can consume the product and not worry about the calories also.



USAGE RATE: The Usage Rate will be high as it will be consumed more in urban areas.



LOYALTY STATUS: Loyalty status will be „Hard core Loyals‟ as there is no much completion in the market.



BUYER READINESS STAGE: The buyer will be ready to buy this product as it will be low on calorie even if it is highly priced. So buyer readiness will be high.

TARGETING:

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“Amul Ice Cream Healthy wealthy” will be targeted on both men and women who are health conscious and also youth who are more health conscious.

POSITIONING: It will be positioned as a „LOW CALORIES‟ ice cream. Its USP will be that it will be rich in nutrients which are necessary for maintaining the health of the person.

LIMITATIONS 37



The study is limited to North East Delhi.



Due to unavailability of proper conveyance facility, it was really hard to cover the market under a scorching sun.



In many residential blocks, shops located in corners of by lanes were difficult to locate.



The time duration of two months was too short for the completion of all activities.



Being a perishable product no sample could be shown, as demanded by many prospecting clients.

RECOMMENDATIONS

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In order to maintain and increase the sales in the city of Delhi, the following recommendations

regarding

Amul

ice

cream; particularly regarding advertisement, distribution, promotional policies,

etc,

are

hereby suggested:  First and foremost

Amul should take proper action in order to

improve

service,

because although being on a top slot in Butter and milk supplies it does not get the sales in ice cream, which it should get.  Amul should give local advertisements apart from the advertisements given at the national level. Local advertisement must mention the exclusive Amul shops of the city.  Company should introduce sales promotion schemes like free extra weight, free gifts etc.  Company should provide uniforms to vendors as other company do.  Company should introduce some new flavours in its range of ice-creams.  The company needs to improve their packaging material quality. Packaging is one of the main areas of disagreement with the ice cream because the packaging of the ice cream creates problem with caring and forwarding. Company should have to open more APO‟S & A class outlets because total number of outels in delhi are very less.

CONCLUSION

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As we know that Amul is very big organization and market leader in dairy products. It has maximum market share in Milk, Butter and Cheese, which are its main/core products. As we know Amul is a co-operative organization but ice cream industry is a profitable industry we can‟t ignore it.

It is very difficult proposition to draw conclusion to the Amul Ice creams business and the impact it has on our daily life. Amul is a company that strongly pushes itself as an Indian company With the help of research, company can find out its weak points in Ice cream product and can increase its market share through rectifying mistakes. People have believed in Amul‟s product and they will accept its ice cream also if effective actions were taken. The survey resulted into following conclusions:  Amul must come up with new promotional activities such that people become aware about Amul Ice cream  Quality is the dominating aspect which

influences consumer

to purchase

Amul

product, but prompt availability of other ice cream brands and aggressive promotional activities by others influences the consumer towards them and also leads to increase sales.

With the help of this project, it can be concluded that the marketing strategies followed by Amul are very successful.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books: 1. Philip Kotler,” Principles of Marketing, Tenth Edition” , Printed in the United States of America, Year 1996. 2. Crainer, Stuart,” The Real Power Of Brands”, PITMAN Publishing, Printed in Great Britain, Year 1995. 3. Philip Kotler,,” Marketing Management, Ninth Edition”, Prentice Hall, Printed in India, Year 1999. 4.

Fomell, Claes (1992), “A National Customer Satisfaction Barometer: The Swedish

Experience”, Journal of Marketing.

Personnel: www.consumerpsychologist.com www.amul.com www.motherdairy.com www.marketreseach.com www.kwalitywalls.com www.vadilal.com www.wikipedia.com

Sample survey by questionnaire

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QUESTIONAIRE Survey on Amul Ice Cream Name: ___________________________ Gender: _________________________ Location: ________________________ Ph. No\Email id: ________________________________ Age: ________ Occupation: _______________________________________ 1. What ice cream brand comes in your mind when you heard the word ICE CREAM? a) b) c) d) e) f)

Kwality walls Amul Mother dairy Baskin robins Naturals Other (please specify)

2. Do you like AMUL ice-cream? Yes

No

3. Have you seen the ads of amul ice-creams? Yes

No

4. Do you think that price of amul ice-creams are high? Yes

No

5. Is the brand name visible? Yes

No

6. Do you like the packaging of the brand? Yes

No

7. Have you visited the amul parlour? Yes

No

8. Do you think amul should use the brand ambassador or it should stick with the amul girl? 42

Amul Girl

Brand Ambassador

9. Would you prefer amul ice-cream in a less-sugary base? Yes

No

10. Do you still prefer amul ice-creams after the worm controversy? Yes

No

11. Do you think that amul has succeeded in all marketing strategies it has undertaken to get the control of the confectionery market? Yes

No

12. From where do you come to know about the amul ice-creams? i. ii. iii. iv.

news paper advertising radio hoardings

13. Would you prefer a „low calories‟ ice-creams even if it is priced high? Yes

No

14. Are you satisfied with the amul ice-cream? Yes

No

15. Any other suggestion? ___________________________________________________________________________

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