A sales-effectiveness study for fonisers/air-cleaners; Crompton Greaves Ltd.

Abstract

Crompton Greaves Ltd. is a Rs.800 crore company in the field of electricals. The fans division, with a turnover of Rs.120 crores, is a profit center manufacturing a host of consumer and industrial fans. Till recently, the division was engaged only in the products that Circulate air. As a diversification to the existing operations, a new group called the "Comfort Engineering Group" was formed to bring products that work on the quality of air. (Please refer pg.3-5 for company details). The Comfort Engineering Group had brought out a new range of products called the Ionisers and the Air-Cleaners. These products clean the air of all the "Suspended Particulate Material" of the order of 0.001 microns. This would increases the freshness of the air and improve the health and vitality of the people using it. (Please refer pg.6-10) The concept of air-cleaning is new to our country. The target market is also small and very clearly defined. Hence it was decided to use direct marketing for this product range. A consultant was engaged to guide this activity as this type of activity is new to the company. The product is being test marketed in the city of Bombay for the last three months. Mailers were sent to Hongkong bank cardholders giving them product details and a special offer in terms of reduced price. Two direct marketing agencies were employed to carry the direct selling activity. One of the DMAs started operating for the last one month while the other is yet to start his activity. The payment to these agencies is based on a salary + Incentive formula. The sales in the last three months is far below expectations. (Please refer pg-11-14)