CASE ANALYSIS

PRITHVI ELECTRICALS
Business to Business Marketing (BBMK3)

Date of submission: 16th

June 2016
Submitted by: Group 44
Gurdeep Singh (15F520)
Sushmitha Shankar (15F555)
Oishik Banerji (15S630)
Sidhant Khadanga (15S748)

Context
Prithvi Electricals was established in 1976 by brothers-Jayantilal and Gordhandas as its partners.
By 1996, the organization was recognized as Prithvi- the mixie brand by the urban lower middle
class, while the remaining market was still unaware of the firm. Prithvi mixies were mainly
targeted to the lower middle class and smaller families. The firms strategies with respect to
manufacturing, pricing, promotions and distribution were solely focused on reaching out to these
target customers. The manufacturing unit comprised two sections- the motor assembly, with a
capacity of 2500 units of 250 watt motors, and the mixie assembly which provided for about
3000 units per month. By 1999, the company did not see any growth even in the mixie brand and
its sales went down by 10%. Underutilization of resources, entry of new multinational players,
strained relationship with distributors, limited product offering and lack of establishment as a
brand were the key issues which were possible reasons behind the drop. To extend their business
and create a position for Prithvi Electricals in the market, Gordhandas decided to set foot into the
motor business. Since the motor business is highly competitive with an already existing 55% of
organized sector players and stabilized designs, without much of a changing technology, it is
critical for Prithvi Electricals to enter the market with the right strategy. To enable the same,
Prithvi Electricals has made an offer to Mr Gopal for the post of Marketing Manager, which
would come with a lot of responsibilities.
Problem Statement
In what ways can Gopal strategise the entry of Prithvi Electricals motors in the B2B market in
terms of pricing, distribution channels, promotional plans and services offered, considering
optimal utilization of existing resources to make the new business sustainable.
Critical Factors
Pricing Since the market has a lot of established players in both the organized and unorganized
sectors, and there isnt much to be innovated n terms of technology and designs, it would be
highly necessary for Prithvi Electricals to give utmost importance to pricing the motors
competitively, so as to gain an initial customer base.
Quality In order to sustain in the competitive environment and also considering the buyer
preferences, quality is very often considered as the most important factor driving the business.
Delivery The AC motors would mainly sell in a B2B market. Hence, timely delivery would
help to gain loyalty and trust among the clients.
After Sales Service The service provided to customers after the sales imposes a crucial factor
to the business. The after sales service can help the company to standout in the motor business
among the competitors and also help in expanding their current business. Effcient after sales
service will have an important role in promotion of their brands and products.
Promotion Since Prithvi Electricals are shifting from the mixie business to the AC motor
business, so their targeted customers would change. This makes it most important to make the
new potential customers aware of their business. Designing a comprehensive promotional

strategy, highlighting the points of difference in the Prithvi Electricals motors and the high
quality offering would help to attract customers.
Shift in target customers Since inception i.e. in 1975 Prithvi Electricals were first into repairs
of the electrical appliances, then copper winding of motors and then into the mixie business. All
the services provided so far were mostly targeting the lower middle classes, specifically for
domestic use. However, entry into the motor business comes with a marked change in the target
customer base. The potential customers would now be businesses, the dynamics of which would
be totally different.
Resource Optimization Considering the mixie business, despite having an assembly capacity
of 3000 units, only 2000 units of 250 watt motors were manufactured, limiting the assembly of
mixies to the full capacity. This clearly meant that Prithvi Electricals underutilized its resources
and had inefficient operations management.

Proposed Solutions
Product offering- Considering the buyer preferences in the market, delivering a high quality
product on time becomes top priority for the company. Unlike for the mixie business which had
random sampling method for quality testing, Prithvi should adopt efficient quality testing
techniques to enable 100% defect-free motors, which could be their differentiating factor.
Offering all varieties of the product is also essential considering the variations in customer
preferences. Also, to enable timely delivery of products, efficient management of manufacturing
schedules and inventories has to be looked into.
Competitive pricing - As per the sample feedback from 48 motor buyers in Bangalore, 37
clients weighted their preference towards price and 40 clients weighed on quality. Hence through
derived deduction we can state that prospective customers do not buy exclusively on price but
are driven on value buoyed by the disparity between the benefits of our product/service offering
and the price that is charged. Since the image of the company is not strong in the field of motor
manufacturing, the company has to create a competitive pricing combination added with
optimized after sales service offerings.
Price promotion strategy - Going ahead Prithvi electricals needs to decide whether they want to
go ahead with a price taker strategy or a price getter strategy. As motor technology hasnt
changed and customer purchase decision is divided between organized /unorganized sector, it
indicates that the industry is mostly commoditized. In order to sustain in a commoditized market,
Prithvi needs to ensure effective discounting on a deal-by-deal basis to achieve the target
waterfall.
The consumer purchase decision is clearly revolving around the question Is this brand right for
us?

Target segment(geographically)- Prithvi is a well-known brand in Karnataka. It has been

providing its services in Karnataka since 1984. Sales can be capitalized on this factor by gaining
trust of the customers.
The promotional strategy in Karnataka will clearly be focusing on the following share points.
1. Prithvi is BIS(ISI) certified company. Since quality of product is one of the most
important factor as per the research report. Prithvi can capitalize on this factor.
2. Bench strength (inventory wise how much can we supply to the client )
3. Product demonstration (Product demo calls across the area)
4. Communication of TCO (TCO is a financial estimate intended to help buyers and owners
determine the direct and indirect costs of a product or system). Promoting a lower TCO
will provide more value to the brand.
5. Promote a higher ROI to associate the brand with profit center acquisitions of the client
companies rather being part of cost center plans.
6. Defining a clear channel of buying process: The customers need to be communicated
with a seamless and time saving channel of buying the product
7. Promoting partnering options to be long term and sustainable supply partners to
prospective clients.
Target segment(Customer Profile) Since Prithvi is new in the motor segment, it would be
better to target Contractors and Industries as they can utilize capacity of the existing production
system. It might not able to fulfill large orders by OEMs. Further there will be more competition
from organized sector companies. However, contractors will concentrate more on margins.
Hence, they would concentrate more on low cost which could be the forte of Prithvi.
Distribution channel - Direct channel from manufacturer to the user would be suitable for
Prithvi electricals as the product consists of high technicality which could be communicated
directly rather than going through information loss over indirect communication channels.
Also, for the company, initial unit costs would be higher. Thus, in order to maintain sustainable
margins it would be suitable to carry on with a direct channel.
With an absence of a wholesale service a direct channel can be useful in market penetration.
Also this would help Prithvi Electricals to maintain a lean delivery and after sales service
operation.