CHAPTER 1

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The descriptive nature of the research necessitated collection of primary data from retailers of

cement through market survey. Both the methods, personal interview technique and

telephonic interview technique were used with the measure emphasis on personal interview

method. Interviews were conducted through the “structure questionnaire”.

Sampling Technique

Random Sampling technique was used to select the retailers. Out of nearly 400 retailers of

cement, randomly 50% of population was considered as a sample size. 189 retailers were

visited to collect the information about the cement market. The project was carried out for a

period of 60 days. After collecting the detailed information from the market, analysis of the

data was made. The market research has reveled many facts and figures about cement market.
 CHAPTER 2

INTRODUCTION
 INTRODUCTION

To be a leading cement company in India by:

• Sustained growth that creates value for our shareholders and doubles our

turnover every 4 years.

• Building strong brands that meet consumer needs and aspirations.

• Embracing safety as a way of life.

• Being a responsible citizen and ensuring sustainable development.

• Being committed to the highest standards of corporate governance by

conducting our business with integrity, honesty and transparency.

• Fostering a performance culture in an environment of learning that encourages

mutual trust and respect, teamwork, customer orientation and sharing of best

practices - which makes us a preferred employer.

 HISTORY

The beginning (1833 to 1914)

In 1833, Léon Pavin, launched an industrial lime production operation, having taken over a

business acquired by his family in 1749 with the purchase of the Lafarge domain in south-

eastern France, an area known for generations for the quality of its limestone deposits. The

company signed its first major international contract in 1864, delivering 110,000 tonnes of lime

for the construction of the Suez Canal. Lafarge opened its first central research laboratory in

1887, the Le Teil Laboratory, with which highly reputed scientists collaborated. In 1908, the

Central Laboratory filed a patent for Cement Fondue calcium aluminates, obtained by fusing a

mixture of bauxite and limestone. This new high alumina binder gradually established a

reputation as a rapid-hardening cement resistant to both high temperatures and corrosion. In

the years until 1914, favoring a strategy of horizontal integration, the company – now the

"Société des Chauxet des Ciments de Lafarge du Teil" – set about acquiring lime and cement

companies in all parts of France.

1914 - 1955 Growth on all fronts

International development began with the opening up of North African markets. Lafarge,

which had operated in Algeria ever since 1866, now became the leading Portland cement

producer in Algeria, and set up operations in Morocco and Tunisia. Lafarge continued to

acquire companies in mainland France. With a quarter of the domestic market, the

company became established as France's number one cement producer. In 1926, Lafarge

opened its first aluminous cement® plant in the United Kingdom. It diversified into gypsum

in 1931, and developed Superblanc, new cement, in 1932. By 1939, Lafarge was the leading

cement producer in France. After 1945, Lafarge gained a new lease of life with the arrival

of Alfred François at the helm, the Marshall Plan and the post-war rebuilding boom:

production doubled over the next ten years.

1955 - 1981 Mergers, acquisitions, developments

In 1956, Lafarge constructed its first North American cement plant, creating Lafarge Cement

of North America with the start-up of the Richmond plant in Canada. In 1959, Lafarge began

operations in Brazil. By the end of the 1960s, Lafarge Canada had become the third largest
cement producer in the country, with annual production capacity of 900,000 tonnes. In

1980, a merger agreement was signed between Lafarge and Coppée, the newly formed

group becoming Lafarge Coppée. Acquisitions in the United States and Canada established

Lafarge Coppée as the number one cement producer in North America. The size of the

Group rose from 12,000 to 17,000 employees.

1982 - 1990 The conquest of Europe

During the 1980s, with the construction of a single market representing more than 300

million inhabitants, the Group chose to expand its business in Europe. Lafarge first turned to

Germany, raising its stake in Portland Zementwerk at Wössingen to 83%. Through the

purchase of the Swiss company, Cementia in 1989, the Group acquired interests in Asland

(Spain), Aslan (Turkey) and Perlmooser (Austria). Then followed the investments in Eastern

Europe: East Germany, the Czech Republic (1991), then Poland, Romania, Russia and

Ukraine. The agreement with the East German cement producer, Karsdorf, came even

before German reunification had been mooted.

1990 - 2001 Lafarge becomes world leader in building materials

1994 saw Lafarge take a foothold in China. Today, all four of the Group's Divisions operate

there, and there have been developments throughout Asia (1998: Indonesia and the

Philippines; 1999: India and South Korea). The Group's expansion in Poland began in 1995

with the acquisition of a 75% stake in Kujawy. Within six years (2001), 4 entities

representing all four Divisions were active in the country.Lafarge acquired Redland in 1997,

positioning itself more strongly in Aggregates and Concrete and gaining entry onto the

Roofing market. Thanks to the acquisition of Warren in Canada in 2000, Lafarge became one

of the leading aggregates producers in North America. Lafarge focused on its main four

Divisions, and divested its Specialty Products businesses, which became Materis. Lafarge

was the first industrial group to conclude a partnership agreement with WWF (World

Wildlife Fund for Nature). In 2001, following the acquisition of Blue Circle, Lafarge became

the world's leading cement producer. Numerous acquisitions and joint ventures in all four

Divisions, and on every continent, particularly Asia, have continued to consolidate its world

leadership position. In July, 2001, Lafarge was introduced onto the New York Stock

Exchange (NYSE).
 2001-2004: A global growth

In 2002, the Gypsum Division acquired the plasterboard businesses of Gyproc (a subsidiary

of British PlasterBoard) in Germany, Poland and Central Europe.

The Cement Division inaugurated in China the new Dujiangyan cement plant, the first

greenfield cement plant for the Group in China, and acquires a 70% interest in the

Chongqing cement plant. The Cement Division acquired two new cement plants in Slovenia

and in Serbia. In 2003, the Cement Division enters Australia and had constructed a new

cement plant in Mexico, near Mexico City.

In 2004, the Group:

• Acquired in Ecuador Cementos Selva Alegre.

• Acquired The Concrete Company of Columbus, Georgia, United States

with operations in both cement and concrete.

• Acquired Hupfer Holdings with operations in France and Switzerland in

aggregates activities.

• Acquired an additional 10.2% stake in Lafarge Halla Cement, in South Korea.

• Acquired an additional 14% stake in our gypsum operations in Lafarge

Gypsum in Asia, in a joint venture with Boral.

Lafarge Group's Growth Strategy

To maintain its leadership in construction materials, the Group is aggressively following a

strategy of growth and competitiveness. This includes international development and

expansion in all of its businesses. Lafarge Group has established its presence or

consolidated its position, alone or with local partners, in countries as diverse as Egypt,

Uganda, Mexico, South Korea, Venezuela, Brazil, Jordan, Poland, Germany, Argentina,

Turkey, Canada, United States, Australia and Ukraine. With operations on every continent,
Lafarge is committed to a strategy of international development. It aims to simultaneously,

increase its business in countries with high market growth potential, and further develop

products enjoying growth in mature markets, capitalizing on every opportunity and offering

synergies with existing businesses.

CHAPTER 3

ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE
 LAFARGE ORGANIZATION

Lafarge India provides a professional and exciting environment to its employees and is

consistently able to attract the best talent in the industry. Lafarge has always put its

employees at the heart of its strategy. Its management style has for many years been

termed "participative management", open to the cultures of the companies it has acquired

on all five continents. The keywords are Participation, Efficiency and Example. As part of

Lafarge's training philosophy, it conducts regular exchange of personnel between its

operations in Europe, North America and other parts of Asia with India to ensure that the

Indian operations reach operating efficiencies comparable with the best in the world.
 CHAPTER 4

OUR PRODUCT
PRODUCTS DETAIL

1. Lafarge Concreto

Lafarge Concreto has been launched by Lafarge to meet the need

of homebuilders in India for truly premium all-purpose cement.

Concreto was developed in Lafarge’s state-of -the art

laboratories, which are extensively networked with its Central

Research Institute in France. The company has leveraged its

combined know-how of more than 170 years and its experience

across 75 countries to develop this unique product. Concreto is a

specially engineered, premium quality ‘all purpose cement’. It can

be used for varied applications like roofing, foundations, beams,

columns, plastering and brickwork. It is specially formulated to

provide a denser concrete mix than normal cements.

Concreto is characterized by:

• High ultimate strength due to the addition of highly reactive silica containing more than

95% glass content.

• Enhanced durability due to optimum pore refinement and consequently denser

concrete matrix

– this improves the impermeability of the concrete.

• Exceptionally high resistance to chemical attack (sulphates and acids).

• Protects reinforcement from corrosion.

• Reduction of structural cracks due to lower heat of hydration than ordinary cements.

• Low heat of hydration and higher resistance against alkali-reactive aggregates.

Lafarge Cement

Lafarge Cement is the flagship brand of Lafarge. A unique outcome

of international expertise, this super performing cement has been

developed taking into consideration the weather conditions in India

and the practices of homebuilding. Lafarge Cement is available in

Portland Slag Cement (PSC) and Portland Pozzalona Cement (PPC)

variants. Lafarge PPC and PSC are very high performance blended

cements far exceeding the requirement of IS: 455-1989 & IS: 1489.
Lafarge PSC is the only PSC in its markets produced by blending high

quality pulverised clinker with the most consistent slag of over 95% glass content. This

therefore provides very high compressive strength exceeding 60 MPa at 28 days. Lafarge

PSC has a very low heat of hydration and is hence suitable for mass concreting and concrete

cast under “Hot Weather Conditions”. Workability retention is also enhanced.

Lafarge cement has very high soundness as reflected through the extremely low values of

expansion through the Le-Chatelier test and Autoclave tests.Its C3A content is low, thus

making it more resistant to sulphates compared to other cements.

Its other chemical properties contribute to a very low co-efficient of permeability of the

concrete prepared, thus making it an ideal choice for construction of dams, foundations,

tunnels, or other sub-soil constructions and structures that shall be in contact with water.

Being a blended cement with a highly reactive slag obtained from the best source in the

country so far, it improves the density of the concrete mix thus increasing the durability

factor.
 CHAPTER 5

PLANT LOCATION
Plants and Operations

Lafarge India's current cement operation comprises a modern split location cement facility

located at Sonadih (District Raipur, Chhattisgarh) and at Jojobera (District Singhbhum,

Jharkhand) and an integrated cement facility located at Arasmeta (District Janjgir-Champa,

Chhattisgarh).

A brief description of Lafarge India's existing facilities is as below:

Rated Capacities

Location Facilities

(as of 2006)

Clinkerisation unit 1.4 MTPA of clinker

Sonadih
0.5 MTPA of Ordinary Portland

Cement Grinding unit

Cement (OPC) 43 grade

Cement Grinding unit with separate 3.4 MTPA of Portland Slag Cement
Jojobera (PSC) & Portland Pozzolana Cement

circuits for clinker and slag grinding

(PPC)

Clinkerisation unit 1.6 MTPA of clinker

Arasmeta
1.6 MTPA of Portland Pozzolana

Cement Grinding unit

Cement (PPC)

The plants at Sonadih, Jojobera and Arasmeta are based on the dry process technology and

use energy efficient processes. The thermal energy of the kiln is optimized by the use of a

multistage pre-heater with in-line pre-calciner.

Lafarge worldwide places a very high emphasis on protection of the environment. In all its

Indian plants, bag filters and electrostatic precipitators are used to reduce pollution and

ensure environment friendly plant operations. Lafarge India has adopted stringent quality

control measures to ensure the highest quality cement .The plants have the benefit of the
strong technical and R&D set-up of Lafarge group called DPC which is supported by CTI &

CTEO - at Lyon in France, CTS - at Montreal in Canada, ATC - at Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia

and CTEC - in Austria. Lafarge Group employs more than 500 scientists and spends more

than 100 million euros annually in developing leading technologies in the area of building

materials and construction technology. The regular exchange of knowledge and

technological improvements between the technical centreand the Indian operations has

enabled Lafarge India to improve operational efficiencies on a continuous basis.

CHAPTER 6

MARKET SHARE
 CHAPTER 7

MARKETING STRATEGIES
 MARKETING STRATEGIES

1 DENITION OF MARKETING:

Marketing is a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they

need want through creating, offering and exchanging products of value with others. Marketing

is to identify customer needs and satisfy those needs.

MARKETING MIX:

The marketing mix is a business tool used in marketing and by marketing professionals. The

marketing mix is often crucial when determining a product or brand's offering, and is often

synonymous with the four Ps: price, product, promotion, and place; in service marketing,

however, the four Ps have been expanded to the Seven Ps to address the different nature of

services.

THE FOUR P’s OF MARKETING:

The primary goal of marketing is to optimize the marketing mix, offering the best possible

combination of the four P's to maximize the effectiveness of marketing efforts. The variables

known as the four P's of the marketing mix are: 1) Product, 2) Price, 3) Place and 4) Promotion.

 PRODUCT:

Products are the goods and services that your business provides for sale to your target market.

When developing a product you should consider quality, design, features, packaging, customer

service and any subsequent after-sales service.

 PRICE:

Price concerns the amount of money that customers must pay in order to purchase your

products. There are a number of considerations in relation to price including price setting,

discounting, credit and cash purchases as well as credit collection.

 PLACE:

Place is in regards to distribution, location and methods of getting the product to the customer.

This includes the location of your business, shop front, distributors, logistics and the potential

use of the internet to sell products directly to consumers.

 PROMOTION:

Promotion refers to the act of communicating the benefits and value of your product to

consumers. It then involves persuading general consumers to become customers of your

business using methods such as advertising, direct marketing, personal selling and sales

promotion.

IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING:

 Ensures we get our goods and services to our customers effectively and efficiently

 Builds and maintains brand value and awareness

 Delivers profitable growth

 Builds customer value

 Enhances shareholder value

 Companies that focus on customer’s needs and deliver great customer experience are more

successful than those that do not.

6.2 SCOPE OF MARKETING:

Marketing is typically seen as the task of creating, promoting, and delivering goods and

services to consumers and businesses. Marketers are skilled in stimulating demand for a

company’s products, but this is too limited a view of the tasks marketers performs. Just as

production and logistics professionals are responsible for supply management, marketers

are responsible for demand management. Marketing managers seek to influence the level,

timing and composition of demand to meet the organization’s objectives.

Marketing people are involved in marketing 10 types of entities: goods, services,

experiences, events, persons, places, properties, organizations, information and ideas.

 GOODS- Physical goods constitute the bulk of most countries’ production and marketing

effort. Each year U.S. companies alone market billions of canned and frozen food

products, millions of tons of steel, millions of hair dryers, cars, television sets , machines,

and various other mainstays of a modern economy. Not only do companies market their

goods, but thanks to the Internet, even individuals can market goods.

 SERVICES- As economies advance, a growing proportion of their activities is focused on

the production of services. The U.S. economy ,Today consists of a 70-30 services-to-

goods mix. Services include the work of airlines, hotels, car rental firms, barbers and

beauticians, maintenance and repair people, dog kennels and dog therapists, as well as
 professionals working within or for companies, such as accountants, lawyers, engineers,

doctors, software programmers, and management consultants.

 EXPERIENCES- By orchestrating several services and goods, a firm can create, stage, and

market experiences. There is also a market for customized experiences, such as

spending a week on baseball camp playing with some retired baseball greats, playing to

conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for five minutes, or climbing Mount Everest.

 EVENTS- Marketers promote time based events, such as the Olympics, company

anniversaries, major trade shows, sports events, and artistic performances. There is a

whole profession of meeting planners who work out the details of an event and make

sure it comes off perfectly.

 PERSONS- Celebrity marketing is a major business. Years ago, someone seeking fame

would hire a press agent to plant stories in newspapers and magazines. Today every

major film star has an agent, a personal manager, and ties to a public relations agency.

Artists, musicians, CEO’s, physicians, high-profile lawyers and financiers, and other

professionals are also getting help from celebrity marketers.

 PLACES- Places—cities, states, regions, and whole nations—compete activity to attract

tourists, factories, company headquarters, and new residents. Place marketers include

economic development specialists, real estate agents, commercial banks, local business

associations, and advertising and public relations agencies.

  PROPERTIES- Properties are intangible rights of ownership of either real property (real

estate) or financial property (stocks and bonds). Properties are bought and sold, and this

requires marketing. Investment companies and banks are involved in marketing

securities to both institutional and individual investors.

 ORGANIZATIONS- Organizations actively work to build a strong, favorable image in the

minds of their publics. Companies spend money on corporate identity ads. Philips, the

Dutch electronics company, puts out ads with the tag line” Let’s Make Things Better”.

 INFORMATION- Information can be produced and marketed as a product. This is

essentially what schools and universities produce and distribute at a price to parents,

students, and communities. Encyclopedias and most nonfiction books market

information. The production, packaging, and distribution of information are one of our

society’s major industries.

6.3 BRAND-

Definition:

Brand is a unique design, sign, symbol, words, or a combination of these, employed in creating

an image that identifies a product and differentiates it from its competitors. Over time, this

image becomes associated with a level of credibility, quality, and satisfaction in

the consumer's mind .Thus brands help harried consumers in crowded

and complex marketplace, by standing for certain benefits and value. Legal name for a brand
is trademark and, when it identifies or represents a firm, it is called a brand name. See

also corporate identity.

 To a consumer, brand means and signifies:

 Source of product

 Delegating responsibility to the manufacturer of product

 Lower risk

 Less search cost

 Quality symbol

 Deal or pact with the product manufacturer

 Symbolic device

 To a seller, brand means and signifies:

 Basis of competitive advantage

 Way of bestowing products with unique associations

 Way of identification to easy handling

 Way of legal protection of products’ unique traits/features

 Sign of quality to satisfied customer

 Means of financial returns

 Brand Name:

Brand name is one of the brand elements which helps the customers to identify and

differentiate one product from another. It should be chosen very carefully as it captures

the key theme of a product in an efficient and economical manner. It can easily be

noticed and its meaning can be stored and triggered in the memory instantly. Choice of

a brand name requires a lot of research. Brand names are not necessarily associated

with the product. For instance, brand names can be based on places (Air India, British

Airways), animals or birds (Dove soap, Puma), people (Louise Phillips, Allen Solly). In

some instances, the company name is used for all products (General Electric, LG).

 Features of a Good Brand Name:

A good brand name should have following characteristics:

 It should be unique / distinctive (for instance- Kodak, Mustang)

 It should be extendable.

 It should be easy to pronounce, identified and memorized. (For instance-Tide)

 It should give an idea about product’s qualities and benefits (For instance- Swift,

Quick fix, Lip guard).

 It should be easily convertible into foreign languages.

 It should be capable of legal protection and registration.

 It should suggest product/service category (For instance Newsweek).

  It should indicate concrete qualities (For instance Firebird).

 It should not portray bad/wrong meanings in other categories. (For instance

NOVA is a poor name for a car to be sold in Spanish country, because in Spanish

it means “doesn’t go”).

Brand Image:

The impression in the consumer’s mind of a brand’s total personality (real and imaginary

qualities and shortcomings).Brand image is developed over time through advertising

campaigns with a consistent theme, and is authenticated through the consumers direct

experience .See also corporate image.

Brand Awareness:

Extent to which a brand is recognized by potential customers and is

correctly associated with a particular product. Expressed usually as a percentage

of target market, brand awareness is the primary goal of advertising in the

early months or years of a product's introduction.

Importance Of Brand Awareness:

Brand awareness plays a major role in a consumer’s buying decision process. The

knowledge of an acquaintance or friend having used the product in the past or a high

recognition of the product through constant advertisements and associations coaxes the

person to make his decision in the favor of the brand.

 The eventual goal of most businesses is to make profits and increase sales. Businesses

intend to increase their consumer pool and encourage repeat purchases. Apple is a

brilliant example of how there is a very high recognition of the brand logo and high

anticipation of a new product being released by the company. An iPod is the first thing

that pops into our minds when we think of purchasing an mp3 player. iPod is used as a

replaceable noun to describe an mp3 player. Finally, high brand awareness about a

product suggests that the brand is easily recognizable and accepted by the market in a

way that the brand is differentiated from similar products and other competitors. Brand

building also helps in improving brand loyalty.

Brand Preference:

Measure of brand loyalty in which a consumer will choose a particular brand in presence
of competing brands, but will accept substitutes if that brand is not available.
 CHAPTER 8

DATA ANALYSIS
CHAPTER 9

FINDINGS
 FINDING

OTHER REASONS STATED BY RETAILER FOR BRAND PREFERENCE:-LAFARGE

Better quality

Good name in the market

Timely available

Immediately respond on the competitors strategy.

Relatively less price.

 Better packaging

ULTRATECH

Sells easily in the market the customer demand for them.

Customer choice.

Good name in the market as it carries the goodwill of L&T.

57
 High market awareness.

Sells more

CENTURY

Good relationship with the company people.

Price is low and affordable for people

Low price helps to sell easily.

Quality is good.

More profit selling the brand.

Good service and relationship

ACC
 People ask for ACC.

Service is good.

“Dhalai karne ke liye” people ask for ACC.

Very superior quality cement as compared to others

Selling form the very first day the shop came in to being & sells easily (shree

ganesh traders, bhatagaon)

They have same price prevailing for wholesale at dealers/stockiest retailers end.

AMBUJA

Customers preference

Good cement, plastering work is good

GRASIM (Birla plus)

 Customers choice.

Price is suitable as per customers pocket

Rate & profit

Good relationship with the people at Grasim.

Birla is a very renowned name so people trust it.

DUNCAN

Rate & profit

Price is suitable as per customers pocket

58
 Service is good.

PROBLEM FACED BY

STOCKIEST

None of the stockiest had any complains about any brands, in regards to

the price, transport, service etc

Dispatch being closed at the start of the month is a ”trump card “for them to

play in the market to push the sale.

Stockiest are satisfied with the companies service.

RETAILERS REGRETS (Lafarge)

The stockiest occasionally inform about the price change in the market.

They do not make personal visits to the counters frequently.

Price should be stabilized in the market.

Price stability in regard to the price set by the company as well as wholesalers (i.e.

all the wholesalers should have the same price offered in the market).

The management should not interfere in the price offered by the

counterperson to the customers.

They need price flexibility to shoot up the sale.

Dispatch being closed every start of the month is a problem is a problem for them

to stick to the commitments made by them to the customers.

Small quantity ordered is not furnished on time.

Pressurize them for taking more quantity for more quantity for transportation

facility.

Lafarge now does not give any gifts at the counters.

CHAPTER 10
LIMITATIONS

CHAPTER 11
 RECOMMENDATIONS & SUGGESTIONS

SUGGESTIONS

A very exhaustive study has been made, keeping in the essence of the objective of the project.

With the efforts put on the project a detailed analysis was conducted and result were derived,

based on the results and market response few suggestions are discussed below
A Price fluctuation creates problems for retailers as the cannot keep the commitments of price

to customers……

The reach to the rural market need to be strengthened

Transportation to rural areas need to be strengthened, a significant amount of business is lost

because of this.

At time it has been seen that the delivery commitments an the side of the company is not

prompt, this creates a bad name and again business is lost

On interviewing Dealers/Retailers the most important thing they said was about the price

flexibility, they want that the company should give them the price flexibility to play in the

market. (As the company has outlined that the price offered by the company should only be

offered to the customer, it should not increased to the customer, it should not be increased or

decreased).

The Brand Name Lafarge is quite difficult to be pronounced and remember, so it should be

made short and easy for the rural masses to remember like (L&T).
CHAPTER 12

CONCLUSION
 CONCLUSION

To attain the objective of the project detailed information was collected from the market of

Bhubaneshwar. The market research has revealed many facts and figures about the cement

scenario in the market prevailing.

In the market, Lafarge cement is well known brand of cement. This is the result of the good

quality of the Lafarge cement along with their effective marketing efforts, which covers the

whole market customers of Lafarge cement are highly satisfied with the use of it, as they do

not face any problem after using it.

There are seven major players in the market but the major completion is between the two

brands of cement. But because of good marketing efforts, Lafarge cement is able to grasp

some share of various other brands

The market survey undertaken shows that effective marketing efforts play a vital role in

creating the goodwill for the brand. The distribution channel of cement industry must be

well designed and made effective this ensures timely availability of cement to customers.
BIBLOIGRAPHY
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

WEBSITE

1. www.lafarge-cement.co.in

2. www.google.com

3. www.ibef.org

4. www.msn.com

5. www.indianexpress.com