Synopsis.docx

YMCA , NEW DELHI INSTITUTE OF MEDIA STUDIES & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

TOPIC : PRODUCT MARKET PENETRATION & MARKET DEVELOPMENT ANALYSIS (A CASE STUDY OF SWIGGY- ADVERTISING, MARKETING STRATEGIES & ITS GROWTH IN THE INDIAN FOOD-TECH BUSINESS) SUBMITTED TO THE INSTITUTE IN PARTIAL COMPLIANCE OF THE REQUIREMENT OF THE PG DIPLOMA IN PUBLIC RELATIONS, ADVERTISING & MARKETING UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF MR. BHISHAM TEKCHANDANI.

MENTOR : Mr. Bhisham Tekchandani

STUDENT NAME: Parul Arora

SIGNATURE :

ROLL NUMBER: PG-13 BATCH: PR, ADVERTISING & MARKETING SESSION : (2018-19)

INTRODUCTION : Market Penetration is a business growth strategy in which a company executes initiatives to expand the customer base for its products and services within a certain market space. Market penetration can be both a measurement, and a projection of how successful newcomer businesses have been, or will be, against the established competition whereas market development is a known growth strategy that identifies and develops new market segments for current products. A market development strategy targets non-buying customers in currently targeted segments and also targets new customers in new segments. This project aims to scrutinize the aspects of the same using a case study of Swiggy, (a foodtech based startup company) that entered the overcrowded foodtech business space when the industry was in the doldrums, haemorrhaging money, and rife with layoffs & restructuring. The project will further study the various strategies such as branding, business model, advertising & marketing deployed by the company from its inception to its position as the No. 1 in the business & its future projections to maintain & nurture it further. Swiggy was founded in June, 2014 by the trio of Sriharsha Majety , Nandan Reddy & Rahul Jamini in a bid to enter the hyperlocal delivery business by offering a complete food-ordering and delivery service- a complete first in the foodtech business in India. Initially aimed at catering to consumers in their homegrounds, they went onto expand their business & are currently spread across 25 cities, with more than 40,000 restaurants in their roster. Swiggy offers an integrated ordering solution by deploying multiple proprietary apps, including a vendor management app provided to restaurant partners, and a delivery app powered with routing algorithms, provided to driver partners. When a consumer places an order with Swiggy through the iOS or Android apps or website, the order is immediately transmitted to the merchant and the right driver, based on availability and distance from the restaurant wherein in-app navigation facilitates hassle-free delivery. Payment can be made through cash on delivery, net banking, credit and debit cards and digital wallets. Its primary goal is to revolutionise the Indian food delivery system while keeping customer experience at its centre. The company has at present, emerged as the highest used platform with millions of users, best average delivery time & reduced overhead costs; thus emerging as the leader even after facing tough competition from strong competitors like Zomato, UberEats & FoodPanda among others. It also created a niche for itself with its creative advertisement campaigns like Sing With Swiggy, Swiggy & Chill & the most recent, What’s In A Name that resonated with its masses. In 2016, Outlook Magazine recognized Swiggy as the Startup of The Year. Swiggy was also named the Startup of The Year at the Economic Times Startup of The Year Awards 2017.In 2018, Swiggy bagged the Startup of The Year awards at Startup awards and Star Reimagine Awards. Its cofounders – Rahul Jaimini and Nandan Reddy were listed in Forbes 30 Under 30. So, how did it overcome the challenges & accomplish such gigantic a task? What was the target audience? What were the marketing strategies adopted? What made the company’s ad campaigns work without a hugely popular star cast? What business model was adopted that revolutionized the food-tech sector & forced the key stakeholders in the business to match along? What made the company change its advertising campaign & target audience by venturing into TVC’s/ad films from its existing channels of digital & outdoor media? What are the challenges that the company is facing in the current times? With this project, we aim to understand & address these questions in the course of our study.

PROBLEMS : 1. Adopting a different business model to set it apart as they were venturing into an overcrowded space wherein there was strong competition from existing gameplayers like Zomato & FoodPanda which themselves were going through a tough time & solely focused on food delivery with no intentions of venturing deeper or experimenting. So what model was adopted by the company? What worked for the newbies? (Source: Brand Equity, The Economic Times) 2. The business started as a small startup originating from Bengaluru, which further upscaled in the future by partnering with restaurants later on & expanded to the 8 major metro cities in its initial phase but the company has lacked in establishing itself in the rural/semi-urban markets (Tier-2 & Tier-3 cities). What marketing strategies do they need to adopt to achieve the same?

3. With new mergers/acquisitions (acquisition of FoodPanda by Ola) & new ventures into the business (UberEats by Uber), what new sales & advertising strategies would they aim to adopt to maintain its position in the marketing as the leader? What new plans is the brand coming up with to cater to the expanding audience & consumer requirements?

4. In 2016, there were reports of restaurants that had given partnership rights to Swiggy & other food-tech applications started withdrawing their support due to increased overhead costs & lesser profits, leading to a decreased userbase as well as dwindling brand faith. What methodology did the company deploy to get back into the business & increase restaurant collaborations? 5. The currents advertising strategies of Swiggy as the company’s advertisements are majorly concentrated on the digital medium as well as outdoor media & not to the remaining segment not available on the given mediums.

HYPOTHESIS : With the food-tech business estimated to undergo severe changes within the next 10 years & increase manifolds, the major challenges lie in providing quality service to the consumer alongwith decreased delivery costs, pocket friendly fooding options (meals under 200) as well as ability to cater to various needs. Another major challenge lies in its business model which currently solely aims at solving delivery woes which is not a highly sustainable option for future growth & expansions. Secondly,Swiggy’s current focus is solely focused on its metro city markets & has not encroached into the rural areas which limits its availability & also lack of catching up with its contemporaries (like ZIS, a Zomato project which introduces the concept of cloud kitchens & providing backend assistance to restaurants for material & other aid) with innovative & new concepts. Lastly, the brand also needs to work on its generalized visibility & improve marketing strategies to expand its target audience by adopting new advertising techniques which can communicate with people all across the country. The ideas & suggestions regarding the same shall be further discussed in the project.

METHODOLOGY :  

PRIMARY SOURCES : Ethnographic studies such as interviews, surveys, questionnaires & interaction with users of the service. SECONDARY SOURCES : Articles, Surveys, Reports, Advertisements & Videos featured in Magazines, Newspapers & various internet websites.

CONCLUSION : Through this case study of Swiggy, the project aims to exhibit & analyse the importance of advertising & marketing in launching a product/service in the marketspace, establishing & expanding the consumer base and dealing with the new business & financial challenges posed by it.