Brand Promotion through Direct Marketing in Retail Business by Arya Chowdhury

HCL Brand Promotions through Direct Marketing

REPORT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF REQUIREMENTFOR

POST GRADUATE PROGRAMME IN MANAGEMENT

BY

MR. ARYA CHOWDHURY

EIILM / PGP / 08 – 09 / 4H015

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

PROF. CHITTRESH COOMEREIILM, Kolkata

&

MR. SANDIP DANCentre Manager

HCL CDC

EASTERN INSTITUTE FOR INTEGRATED LEARNING IN MANAGEMENT6, WATERLOO STREET, KOLKATA – 700069

JUNE, 2009

Mr. Arya ChowdhuryRegn: EIILM / PGP / 08 – 09 / 4H015

DEDICATION

This project report is dedicatedto my beloved parents & teachers,Who educated me and enabled me

to reach at this level.

Only to be used for Academic Purpose Page 2 of 46


CERTIFICATE BY THE CANDIDATE

Mr. Arya ChowdhurySection: H4

Regn: EIILM / PGP / 08-09 / 4H0152nd Semester

EIILMKolkata - 01

I, Arya Chowdhury student of EIILM hereby state that, the Project Report, on Summer Internship Project (SIP) of "HCL Brand Promotions through Direct Marketing" is done by me at HCL Career Development Centre (HCL CDC), during the 2nd semester studies from 23/03/2009 to 23/05/2009.

…………………………………………………………(ARYA CHOWDHURY) Signature

Date:

Place:



ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It’s my real honor and pleasure, to be associated with HCL Career Development Center of HCL Info systems Ltd. I deeply express my gratitude to the company for giving me an opportunity to work as summer trainee at their corporate office under Summer Internship Program (SIP). I express my deep sense of gratitude to Mr. Deepankar Gupta, Head of Department and Eastern Region HCL-CDC for offering us opportunity of completing my project under Mr. Sandip Dan (Centre Manager) HCL-CDC, Chowranghee Road, and Kolkata.

I wish to thank my regards to Mr. Arun Xavier Biswas (Business Development Manager: Retail), Mr. Souvik Bhattacharya (Business Development Manager: C.I.G), Mr. Surodeep (Technical Head), Mr. Mrinal, Ms. MoniKonika Guha (H.R.D East), Ms. Rumi Gupta (HRD East), Mr. Bikash Kr. Parida (Business Development Executive), Ms. Joyita Bannerjee and all the persons who directly or indirectly helped me to complete the Project.

Next I would like to express my gratitude towards Prof. R.P. Banerjee (Principal EIILM) Prof. Tapas Banerjee (Head of Dept. Marketing) & Prof. Chittresh Coomer (Faculty Marketing) under whose constant guidance I Ire able to proceed further which ultimately led us to complete the project.

Finally, I must say that no height is ever achieved without some sacrifice made at some end, it is hire where I owe my special debt to my parents and other family members and our friends for showing their generous love throughout entire period.



PREFACE

This report basically contains the following points:

Introduction: this contains the introduction part, i.e. basic information about HCL brand. About HCL Career Development Centre and the various programs its offering to the customers.

The second part of the project is ‘Objective of the project’; here the basic objective of the project is described.

The third and one of the most important part is Methodology its means what’s the methods, tools or process used in driving the project.

Findings / Analysis (Structured and organized presentation of the findings supported with data, leading to interpretation). Analysis contains Competitor analysis, Retail Activities, SWOT Analysis, and Market Share analysis.

Limitation: it deals with various meaningful constraints that we have faced during our project.

Recommendations: this is the most important part of this report, it contains Value added suggestions / recommendations are to be made based on the analysis & findings of the project work.

Then it comes Achievements & Targets this contains the achievements achieved at HCL CDC, in terms of business conversation and the targets given us during our SIP activity.

Bibliography, it contains,

a. secondary data used;

b. any printed text or web URL used.

Annexure – it contains

a. survey questionnaires developed / used;

b. photographs used.



TABLE OF CONTENTS


Sl. No. Title Page

1.

Introduction

7HCL & HCL CDCProgram OfferingsBrand Equity Model

2. Objective of the Project 9

3. Methodology 11

4.

Findings

13Retail ActivitiesCompetitor AnalysisMarket Share AnalysisSWOT Analysis

7. Limitations of the Study 30

8. Recommendations 32

7. Achievements & Targets 33

9. Bibliography 34

10. Attachments / Annexure 35


INTRODUCTION

HCL Enterprise is a leading Global Technology and IT enterprise that comprises two companies listed in India - HCL Technologies & HCL Info-systems. The current annual revenue for the company is over US $ 50bl. The 3-decade-old enterprise, founded in 1976, is one of India's original IT garage start-ups. The range of offerings spans Product Engineering, Custom & Package Applications, BPO, IT Infrastructure Services, IT Hardware, Systems Integration, and distribution of ICT products. The HCL team comprises approximately 59,000 professionals of diverse nationalities, who operate from 21 countries including over 360 points of presence in India. HCL has global partnerships with several leading Fortune 1000 firms, including leading IT and Technology firms.

HCL CDC

HCL Career Development Centre is a division of the HCL Info-systems Ltd. • Vision of the company

o To create industry ready professional The vision of HCL CDC aim is to bridge the gap between academics

and industry

• Mission of the company o To provide world class Information Technology solutions and services in

order to enable our customers to serve their customers better

HCL CDC in Training

The company has ventured into the field of IT training with an objective to meet the increasing demand for skilled professionals from organizations across the country.

HCL Info-systems provide specially designed programs in high-end Software, Hardware and Networking solutions. HCL Info-system brings the most comprehensive training that enables to build technical solutions and stay competitive, today and in the future. HCL has alliances with Microsoft®, Red Hat, Oracle and Prometric, which augments the content and methodology.

HCL Info-systems offers rich & engaging instructor-led training on complete suite of all popular technology products including Windows 2007 Server Systems & Microsoft®.NET, Oracle , RHEL 5.0 and many other . They deliver more than 200 Training & Learning Products in a classroom environment facilitated by expert Microsoft® Certified Trainers (MCTs), Red Hat Certified Trainer and Oracle Certified Trainer. Targeted to meet the unique learning needs of corporations and academic institutions, they provide cost-effective and powerful training solutions.



Programme Offerings by HCL CDC (Annexure 1)

General Courses

Software i. Dot.net ii. Java iii. Oracleiv. Web Spherev. Lotus Notesvi. Rational etc

vii. IBM Tivoli Storage Management

Hardware and Networking viii. A+ ix. N+ x. Security xi. CCNA xii. MCSE xiii. RHCE

Others HCL specialized courses (offering exclusively by HCL):

b. HCNE (HCL Certified Network Engineer)(Duration 36 months/300 hrs)

c. HCE (HCL Certified Engineer)(Duration 18 months)

d. HCSE (HCL Certified Software Engineer)(Duration 24 months, 8 months each on Java, Oracle, Dot Net)

e. HCSP (HCL Certified System Professional)(Duration 8 months Part Time/ 400 hrs)

f. HSA (HCL Systems Administrator)(Duration 8 months/400 hrs)

g. HCA (HCL certified Associate)(Duration 480 hrs)

NON IT Courses:

h. Sales Pro (Duration 4 months)i. SDF (Service Desk Foundation)

(Duration 1month/24 hrs)



OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT

1. Brand awareness of HCL CDC.

HCL is a very popular name in the industry but HCL CDC is new to the business of IT training. For the reason we the members of the retail team were given the task of promoting HCL CDC’s name. Our task was to promote HCL CDC as a premium training and development institute, a division of HCL frontline division.

1. Promotion of the products offered by HCL CDC.

The products of HCL CDC are the career and the modular courses that they offer.HCL CDC provides not only IT related courses but courses also related to Sales & Marketing (Sales pro), Inter-Personal Skill building (SDF) etc.

2. Competitive analysis.

A competitor analysis is been done to know exactly that where HCL CDC stands to its competitors. Competitors Analysis will help us know the positives and the negatives of HCL CDC. Comparison are made regarding brand name, courses offered, prices, infrastructure etc. The competitor analysis will help to formulate further plans as how to improve the parameters so that HCL can be better positioned in the market.

3. Market share analysis.

The market share analysis is done to know the exact market size of the industry and the share of HCL CDC in the industry. The market share analysis along with the competitive analysis will tell how to penetrate in the market.

4. Generation of customer base for the centre.

One of the major objectives of the project also includes creation of DATA Base for the company and generating Business for the company. The data base created would held HCL CDC to further transact with the prospective candidates. This also helped us to know that how target customers can be approached, how to convince a customer and how an actual business is done with the clients.

Scope of the Project

1. Kolkata market is a very huge market where HCL CDC can have great potentials to expand. Here if HCL CDC acts proactively in the market, then it can become a premium IT training institute in Kolkata.



2. Advertisements: HCL CDC is brand which is unaware to the public so it needs to understand how to reach the mass audience. For the purpose, HCL CDC can advertise through hoarding mainly in front of the schools and colleges. The other forms of displays can be behind the bus and auto backs.

3. Booth Sponsoring: Sponsoring booths in the trade fairs and school & college events can be a perfect option to reach the target audience and the potential customers.

4. HCL Tech community: The HCL Tech community introduced during our Summer Internship Project can help HCL CDC to directly get the data of the candidates from the schools and colleges. Regular contacts should be made by the HCL Tec community members so that HCL CDC leaves an impression in the minds of its members.

5. Regular Writings; Regular writing of articles in the daily journals and magazines about IT requirements and shortfalls in the market and about HCL CDC will promote the brand as a dutiful brand and also a brand to join.

6. Instant Activities: Road shows and on the spot admissions can be an good option to reach to the audience.

7. Other Forms of Advertisements: Advertisements through RADIO can also be a part of a promotional activity.

8. Survey: Survey programs can be of great help to access the need in the market and the latest trends demanded in the market. This would help HCL CDC to act proactively in the market to adapt new Technologies.



METHODOLOGY

Methods used to promote the products of HCL CDC are as follows:

1. Surveys (Need Analysis) By the primary surveys conducted the actual requirements of the students were accessed. By the surveys, we could analyze what the demand in the market is. Weather it is Software or Hardware or any other IT course. For the purpose of the survey, a data base of over 3300 individuals was collected.

The secondary data collected helped to analyze which institutions and consultancies should be approached for different purposes.

2. Tele Calling The data collected were further processed through Tele callings. During the Tele calling, the candidates were first counseled and were talked about the specific courses that could best fit them. During the Tele calling session, they were also invited to visit the centre and experience the facilities provided at the centre.

3. Counseling The candidate who came to the centre after the Tele calling session, were counseled face to face. They were introduced to the counselor who further has discussions with the candidate. This session helps to analyze the customer. By counseling a candidate, we come to know about the back ground of the student which helps up to suggest them the right path to choose.

4. Seminar / Workshops After the Tele calling session, many candidates are invited for a free career seminar. These seminars are organized on specific dates when a quiet a number of candidates promises to visit the centre. These seminar and workshops conducted helped them understand the importance of the Information Technology. The candidates there feel the importance and real experience of pursuing the courses. Before the workshops are conducted, pre-counseling is done which helps us analyze the perception of the candidate. For the purpose of seminars and workshops, different institutes were approached for different offerings. (Refer Annexure)

5. Institutional Visits

Some of the institutes were visited by the retail team of HCL CDC. But most of the institutes were approached by the C.I.G team which works on corporate and institutional alliances. These institutes were visited for the following programs:

• B-Tech and other engineering colleges for Summer IT Projects, HCL Tech community and placements through HCP Program.



• BBA and MBA institutes for HCL Sales Pro. • Placement Agencies for HCL Sales Pro. (Refer Annexure)

6. On the Road Activities

On the road activity is the activity from where we started our activities (SIP Project). During on the road activities, we distributed pamphlets of different courses to the candidates and also collected the data of those candidates Here we interacted with over 15000 people and came to know the different mind sets of the people. Data of over 3300 is collected till date.

7. Home Connect

The Home Connect (door to door visits) was performed mainly for the HCL Sales Pro Program. But at times the Home Connect was also done for the general courses. Sometimes the data bases for the Sales Pro Program were provided. The data bases were of the candidates who had visited the centre for the program but not opted for it. But most of the times we went making cold calls. The Home Connect activity was performed at Jadavpur, Behala, Girish Park, Sova Bazar and DUM-Dum areas. During the Home Connect activity, many of the Hostels and Mess were also covered.

8. Canopy Activities / Tech Community

Canopy activity was done only during the Pailan Fest where the concept of Tech Community was introduced. The concept of Tech Community was introduced to maximize members where they will be intimated about the latest technologies and offering from HCL CDC. The data collected will be further used to convert the members as the students of the HCL CDC.



FINDINGS

Through Retail activities

HCL is a brand which is known to the customer. This brand is well recognized is an accepted brand in the market. But CDC is not a well renowned brand in the market. But when CDC is associated with HCL it is well accepted. HCL CDC is a new entrant in the industry and there are pre established giants in the market. So to increase the market share, HCL CDC needs to make more and more people aware of the name a HCL CDC. So it needs to advertise and popularize the brand name in the minds of the people.

Process flow of the retail activity(Data Collection and Data Processing)


Total Demand

0 50000 100000 150000

RequirementDemand met

60%

40% Demand metRe-quire-ment


At first the target is approached and checked whether the details are of any use or not. After that the data is collected from the sources whether primary or secondary sources. After the data is collected, then the entire data is filtered as to what data are relevant for further process. The next step includes Tele calling and counseling. After the pre counseling, the candidate is then invited at the centre for a career counseling o a free seminar cum workshop. Once the candidate comes to the centre the candidate is first introduced to the counselor and then shown the ambience and the facilities of the institute. Finally the candidate is convinced for registration or is asked to give a probable date for registration.

During the entire process, these finding were made.

Findings from Primary Data collection: (Refer Annexure 11: survey form)

1. Students engaged in final year examinations. 2. Students not satisfied with the course curriculum. 3. They are not interested in making IT as their Career. 4. Their ignorance about the brand HCL CDC. 5. Their mobile phone either switch off or not reachable. 6. Students make various types of excuses for not coming to the help desk for

counseling. 7. Students don’t have time to come to the college. 8. Most of the people were Bengali speaking which creates difficulty in

communicating with them.


50%

40%

10%

Heard about HCL CDCDont HeardNo responce


We get the data after follow-up the primary data (3300 Datas):1. Out of the total data called, 38% of the candidates replied that they were not

interested in pursuing IT as a career. For the Non IT courses, they made some excuses and finally said they were not interested.

2. Approximately 18% of the phone Numbers were wrong. Some did not exist and some were of other persons.

3. Approximately 15% of the data totally collected did not responded to the calls made.

4. Around 29% responded and showed interest in the offering. Some of them turned up for counseling and some replied they will come after there examinations get over.

Some findings during the Home connect activity are:

1. People do not want to talk to strangers who come to their house. 2. Watchmen do not allow us to talk to the residents. 3. They treated us like sales men. 4. Some threatened to call the police if we do not leave. 5. Some left their dogs behind us. 6. Students or the prospective candidates not at home. 7. Most of the people sleep or rest during day time. 8. All are not same. Many people invited us and also offered us tea and sweets. 9. Many were very interested for the new courses offered by HCL CDC. 10. Some people already had bad experience with HCL CDC. 11. Some said would come after their Exams get over.

Data projection in Home connectTotal Date: 250

• Out of 250 houses connect,• Probable House = 180 (72% of total house connect)• Not probable house = 70 (28% of total house connect)


Row 1

0 50 100 150 200 250 300

Not prob-able HouseProbable House

72%

28%

Probable HouseNot Probable House


• Out of 180 probable houses,• Candidate at home = 60 (33.33% of probable house)• Candidate not at home = 120 (66.6% of probable house)

• Out of 60 present candidate at house,• Interested candidate = 30 (50% of present data)• Not interested candidate = 30 (50% of present data)

Some finding of the Institutional and Placement Consultancy visits:

1. Many institutes also unaware of HCL CDC. 2. Many institutes already have tie-ups with other institutes. 3. Some have bitter experiences with HCL CDC. 4. Institutions said to sent proposals but they never replied back to the proposals sent

to them. 5. Placement agencies reply that it’s against the policy of charging money for

placements. 6. Much wrong information of the placement agencies published on the web sites. 7. Many proposals sent to the agencies but no response from their side.


Presence

0 50 100 150 200

not at homecandidate at home

33%

67%

at homenot at home

Interested

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Not In-terestedInterested

50% 50%

InterestedNot In-terested


Total placement consultancy visit: 20• Out of 20, doesn’t know about HCL CDC: 2 (10% of total visit), Know about HCL

CDC: 18 (90% of total visit) and• Out of 20, Interested: 12 (60% of total visit), Not interested: 6 (30% of the total

visit), No response: 2 (10% total visit)


Aw areness at PC

0 5 10 15 20 25

know about HCL CDCdoesnt know about HCL CDC

10%

90%

doesnt knowknow

Aw areness

0 5 10 15 20 25

interestednot in-terestedno responce

10%

30%

60%

No re-sponcenot in-terestedinterested


Findings through Competitor’s AnalysisThe details analysis is based on the survey form (annexure 10)

1. Visiting any Institute, like NIIT or IIJT etc.2. Distribute the survey form of that particular institute and ask them to fill the form.3. Out of the total student, taking 10 students as a sample size.

So, if NIIT is visiting, we are taking 10 NIIT students as a sample size of NIIT, like this way all the others 7 institute, including HCL CDC is visited for survey.

4. Collecting all the survey forms and then calculating the ranks.

Calculation:The 5 main Parameters are: Infrastructure, Industry interface, Placement assistance, Faculty, Location & Price.And under each Parameter there are few components for evaluating the parameters. Like Infrastructure has 5 components like, 1. Classroom with high speed internet, 2. No. of LCD projector, 3. General enquiry facilities, 4. Computer labs for practical training, 5. Canteen & drinking facilities.

Let, no. of sample size = NParameter Value = PComponent Value = CNo. of component of any parameter = XSummation of sample data = S

Then, Component Value = Summation of sample data / NOr, C = S / N _____________________ (1)

And, Parameter Value = Summation of component value / no. of componentOr, P = ∑ C / X _____________________ (2)

So for example, 1st component of infrastructure parameter we got 10 different values from 10 different students, like 4,4,3,5,5,5,5,3,3,3.

So from (1) we get,Classroom with high speed internet = (4 + 4 + 3 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 + 3 + 3 + 3) / 10 = 4

Likewise above calculation we got other 4 components of infrastructure, i.e. No. of LCD projector (4), general enquiry facilities (3.5), and computer labs for practical training (3.5), canteen & drinking facilities (4).

So, from (2) we get,Infrastructure = (4 + 4 + 3.5 + 3.5 + 4) / 5 = 3.8By this calculation we got the others parametric value like faculty, location, price, industry interface etc of others institutes.



Table 1: Components of parameter vs. Competitors (1-5 scale)

Sl.Components for Evaluation

HCL CDC

NIIT IIJT JETKING TECHNOLAB CMC APTECHICA

ShineINFRASTRUCTURE (1 – 5)

1Classroom with High speed internet

4 4 3.5 3 3 3.5 3.5 3

2 No of LCD projector 4 4 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3 3

3General inquiry facilities

3.5 4 4 3.5 3 3 3.5 3.5

4Computer labs for practical training

3.5 3.5 3.5 3 3 4 4 3.5

5Canteen & drinking water facilities

4 3.5 3.5 4 3.5 3 3.5 4

INDUSTRY INTERFACE (6 – 8)

6Industrial visit & interaction

3.5 4.5 3.5 3 3 3.5 3 3

7Corporate seminar & workshop

4 3.5 3 3 3 3 3.5 2.5

8 Career counseling 4.5 4 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 3 3.5PLACEMENT ASSISTANCE (9 – 11)

9Placement track record

4.5 4 3 3 3 3.5 3.5 3

10 Quality placement 4 3.5 3 3.5 3 3.5 3.5 3.5

11Strong placement cell

4 3.5 3.5 3.5 3.5 4 3.5 3.5

FACULTY (12 – 13)

12Teaching style of trainer

4.5 3.5 4 3 3 3.5 3 2.5

13Real time exposure & knowledge

4.5 4 3 3.5 3 3.5 3 2.5

LOCATION (14 – 15)

14Conveyance facility to/from centre

5 5 5 5 5 4 4 5

15Service centers & accessory shops available

4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5 4.5

PRICE (16 – 20)16 Course contents 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

17Brand name & global certification

4.5 3.5 3.5 3 3 3 3.5 3

18Strength of the courses

4 3.5 3.5 3 3 3.5 3.5 3

19Relevant of the industry needs

4 3.5 3.5 3 3.5 3.5 3.5 2.5

20Training costs involved

4.5 4 4 3.5 3 3.5 3 3



In below table it is shown that the current standing of HCL CDC, with comparison of others company, it is based on the market survey. See the annexure

Table 2: Parameter Vs. Competitor (1-5 scale)Parameters evaluated

HCL CDC

NIITIIJT INFOTECH

JETKING TECHNOLAB CMC APTECH ICA

INFRASTRUCTURE 3.8 3.8 3.6 3.4 3.2 3.4 3.5 3.5

INDUSTRY INTERFACE 4.3 4.3 3.3 3.1 3.1 3.3 3.1 3

PLACEMENT ASSISTANCE 4.1 3.6 3.1 3.3 3.1 3.6 3.5 3.3

FACULTY 4.5 3.7 3.5 3.2 3 3.5 3 2.5

LOCATION 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.7 4.7 3.7 3.7 4.7

PRICE 4.2 3.7 3.7 3.3 3.3 3.5 3.3 3.1

This rating was done on a 1-5 scale after visiting these training institutes (other than HCL CDC) as candidates for taking admission to their courses. In table 3, the avg. parametric values are shown.

Table 3: Avg. Parametric Value (1-5 scale)

Infrastructure Industry Interface Placement Assistance Faculty Location Price

3.52 3.43 3.45 3.36 4.45 3.51

From, table 2; we can get the various parametric position of HCL CDC (shown in table 4), and its clear that location is best & infrastructure is worst.

Table 4: HCL CDC (1-5 scale)

Infrastructure Industry Interface Placement Assistance Faculty Location Price

3.8 4.3 4.1 4.5 4.7 4.2

From Table 2, we get the final standing of HCL with others competitors, shown in the below Table 5

Table 5: Final Standing (1-5 scale)

HCL CDC NIIT IIJT INFOTECH JETKING TECHNOLAB CMC APTECH ICA

4.26 3.96 3.65 3.5 3.4 3.5 3.35 3.35



Graph 1: Competitors Vs. Parameter


HCL CDC

NIIT

IIJT

JETKING

TECHNOLAB

CMC

APTECH

ICA

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

InfrastructureIndustry InterfacePlacement AssistanceFacultyLocationPrice


Graph 2: Parameter Vs. Competitor


Infrastructure

Industry Interface

Placement Assistance

Faculty

Location

Price

0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

HCL CDCNIITIIJTJETKINGTECHNOLABCMCAPTECHICA


Graph 3: Avg. Parametric value vs. HCL CDC

Graph 4: Final Standing of competitors


InfrastructureIndustry Interface

Placement AssistanceFaculty

LocationPrice

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Avg. parametric ValueHCL CDc

HCL CDCNIIT

IIJT INFOTECHJETKING

TECHNOLABCMC

APTECHICA

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Final Standing (1-5)


AnalysisFrom the above graphical representation of the competitive market, the below table 6.A & 6.B can be get

TABLE 6.ACompany BEST WORST

HCL CDC LOCATION INFRASTRUCTURENIIT LOCATION PLACEMENT ASSISTANCEIIJT LOCATION PLACEMENT ASSISTANCEJETKING LOCATION INDUSTRY INTERFACETECHNOLAB LOCATION FACULTYCMC LOCATION INFRASTRUCTUREAPTECH LOCATION FACULTYICA LOCATION FACULTY

TABLE 6.BParameter BEST WORST

Infrastructure HCL CDC, NIIT TECHNOLABIndustry Interface HCL CDC, NIIT ICAPlacement HCL CDC IIJT, TECHNOLABFaculty HCL CDC TECHNOLAB, APTECH

LocationHCL CDC, NIIT, IIJT, JETKING, TECHNOLAB, ICA

CMC, APTECH

Price HCL CDC ICA

From the above Table 6.A & Table 6.B, its clear that1. HCL CDC has the best ranking in Location, which is also best for other 5 industries.2. HCL CDC has the worst ranking in Infrastructure, by HCL CDC student among the

other parameter of HCL, but Infrastructure wise, HCL CDC & NIIT is best among the competitors.

3. So to compete NIIT, infrastructure, Industry interface & location have to improve, more than NIIT.

4. HCL CDC & NIIT best for its Infrastructure & Industry Interface among the other industry.



Comparison between the parameter:

To have the competitor analysis, we had visited most of the training institutes that provides IT courses in hardware, software and networking. The institutes that we had visited are NIIT, APTECH, JETKING, IIJT, IIHT, CMC and ICA.

Table 7: Parametric Comparison of various CompetitorsParameter / Comparison

HCL CDC

NIIT IIJT JETKING TECHNOLAB CMC APTECH ICA

PlacementPast 2 4 3 2 3 2 3 2Present 4 4 3 3 2 2 3 3

BrandAwareness 2 5 4 3 4 3 4 3Acceptance 4 5 3 4 3 3 4 3

Course & Price

Course Acceptance

4 4 3 2 2 1 4 3

Price Offered

3 5 4 4 4 1 4 4

Marketing Activities Done

BTL 4 1 4 4 3 3 3 4

ATL 2 5 4 3 3 4 4 3

Past placement records to present records

Past placement records to current records:Current Placement : CMC, TECHNOLAB < JETKING, ICA, APTECH, IIJT < HCL CDC, NIITPast Placement : CMC, JETKING, ICA, HCL CDC < TECHNOLAB, APTECH, IIJT < NIITSo, HCL CDC has better current placement record than its previous record.


PAST

PLACEMENT

5

4 NIIT

3 TECHNOLABAPTECH,

IIJT

2 CMCJETKING,

ICAHCL CDC

1

POINT 0 1 2 3 4 5

CURRENT PLACEMENT


Brand Awareness & Acceptance

AWARENESS

5 NIIT

4 IIJT, TECHNOLAB APTECH

3 CMC / ICA JETKING

2 HCL CDC

1

POINT 0

1 2 3 4 5

A C C E P T A N C E

Brand Awareness vs. Brand Acceptance:Brand Awareness : HCL CDC < CMC, ICA, JETKING < IIJT, TECHNOLAB, APTECH < NIITBrand Acceptance : IIJT, TECHNOLAB, CMC, ICA < APTECH, JETKING, HCL CDC < NIITSo, people have very less brand awareness of HCL CDC than its acceptance.

Course acceptance with the prices offered

Course Acceptance vs. Price offered:Course Acceptance : CMC < TECHNOLAB, JETKING < IIJT, ICA < NIIT, APTECH, HCL CDCPrice Offered : CMC < HCL CDC < TECHNOLAB, JETKING, IIJT, ICA, APTECH < NIITSo, if price is concern, HCL has highest course acceptance with price offered


PRICE

5 NIIT

4 TECHNOLAB / JETKING

IIJT / ICA APTECH

3 HCL CDC

2

1 CMC

POINT 0 1 2 3 4 5

COURSE ACCEPTANCE


Marketing Activities Done

Marketing Activities done:Above the Line (ATL) : HCL CDC < TECHNOLAB, JETKING, ICA < IIJT, APTECH, CMC < NIITBelow the Line (BTL) : NIIT < APTECH, CMC, TECHNOLAB < IIJT, JETKING, ICA, HCL CDC

So, HCL CDC mainly does BTL activity, i.e. direct marketing, road activity etc. whereas NIIT has exactly different strategy, by doing ATL activity, i.e. Banner, Hording, Newspaper advertise etc.

Findings through from Market share Analysis (Refer Annexure 10 & 5)

Sl. Net SalesTotal Revenue FY 08

(Rs. Crore)Percentage

(%)1. NIIT 309.5 44.722. CMC 97.71 14.123. APTECH 99.51 14.384. BRAINWARE 30.20 4.375. ICA SHINE 8.20 1.186. IIJT INFOTECH 10.75 1.557. HCL CDC 42.59 6.158. JETKING 13.68 1.989. TECHNOLAB 7.78 1.1210. NIHT 11.17 1.6111. IIHT 21.58 3.1212. GT 8.15 1.1813. CMS INSTITUTE 10.65 1.5414. INFOUNIV 20.50 2.96Total Market size (Sales revenue Rs. Crore) 692.06 100%


ABOVE THE

LINE

ACTIVITIES

(ATL)

5 NIIT

4APTECH,

CMCIIJT

3 TECHNOLABJETKING /

ICA

2 HCL CDC

1

POINT 0 1 2 3 4 5

BELOW THE LINE ACTIVITIES (BTL)


Graph 5: Market Share

Analysis:HCL CDC was launched in the year 2007 and is currently into its third year of operations. During the continuation of the third year HCL CDC has been able to capture 6.15% of the market share. There are pre established very big giants like NIIT, APTECH, CMC ruling almost 75% of the market and HCL CDC is still very young infront of them. NIIT is India’s premier IT training company, with a 44% market share in the Indian IT education and training market and is more than three times the size of its next-largest competitor, APTECH. NIIT derives a significant share of its revenues from the retail segment. NIIT also operates in the institutional/government segment, where it executes projects relating to provision of IT education to schoolchildren throughout the country. NIIT and APTECH also have their presence outside the country. HCL CDC too operates on both the segments i.e; Retail and Institutional/Government segments. To have a greater pie of the entire market, HCL CDC needs to market it self very aggressively and it also need to make more and more people aware of its presence. HCL CDC further can think of expanding to western markets too as NIIT and APTECH.


NIIT 45%

CMC 14%

APTECH 14%

BRAINWARE 4%

ICA 1%

IIJT 2%

HCL CDC 6%

JETKING 2%

TECHNOLAB 1%NIHT 2%

IIHT 3%GT 1%CMS INSTITUTE 2%INFOUNIV 3%


Findings through SWOT Analysis

Strength:1. Brand Name: HCL & more than 22 years in IT industry.2. High quality infrastructure.3. Quick adaption of Technologies: E.g.: Windows 2003 upgraded to windows 2007 4. Faculty: From different parts of the country. Faculties- regularly updates 5. Sales and Marketing: Innovative ways to attract customers. E.g.: Seminars, Work-

shops 6. Flexibility: Course Contents, Course Fees, Course Duration 7. Course Materials: supplied by the vendors 8. Placements: 87% for April and over 75% for March.9. Certified IT & non IT courses globally accepted by fortune 500 company.

Weakness1. HCL CDC- Low Awareness 2. Communication gap and internal conflicts 3. Centralized decision approval system4. No proper follow-ups for the data collected 5. High Prices for some IT and non IT courses 6. More focus on Hard-ware and networking. Less focus on Soft-Ware.

Opportunities1. Advertise- Need to aware about HCL in IT education with the name of HCL-CDC 2. Discuss the IT demand first and then the courses. 3. Greater requirement of tech support executive in back office.4. Institutional tie-ups for setting up training academy. 5. College management should be convinced first regarding IT and then students

should be convinced 6. Candidates other than engineering colleges can be made members of the Tech

community 7. Tech Community- Regular contact to be made popularize HCL-CDC.

Threats1. Existence of established players. ( NIIT, APTECH ) 2. Chance of Course being copied. CDC Sales pro – ICA Retail Mgmt Expert 3. Price Slash of newly launched course may hamper companies image 4. Prices of others been less 5. Faculty shifting institutes 6. Other giants entering in this educational business. E.g.: IBM ACES, TATA, HP



LIMITATIONS OF THE PROJECT

1. Lack of Awareness: Awareness regarding the IT industry is very limited in Kolkata. With the limited knowledge of the industry among the general public, HCL CDC too is an unknown name in the industry. As HCL Info-systems Ltd has recently come up with its education wing, it is in the introduction stages. At many institutions when only about CDC is expressed, it creates difficulties to deal regarding business.

2. Time Constraint: Kolkata market is a very huge market. Due to the time constraint, the entire market cannot be covered. Rabindra Sadan, Tollygunge Metro, Park Street and Dum-Dum areas were the main areas where we conducted our activities.

3. Response: Poor response from the respondents generally from the Non-Technical back grounds. Girls too were very apprehensive to contact or to share their data during cold calls.

4. Wrong Information: The project was based on the surveys and data collection. The data was collected through primary and secondary resources. Most of the times the data provided by the candidates on the road or during formal tech registration are wrong. Sometimes it so happen that a few companies information available on internet sites were not updated.

5. Communication: At the time of counseling of the students, many of the students were not conversant with English or Hindi. It created a new hurdle to convey the proper message in Bengali.

6. Co-ordination: a. There are two separate teams working at HCL CDC to get business. An

organization approached by a team was also approached by the other team. This could create problems for the company as the organization will think that HCL CDC itself cannot manage relations then how can they teach relation-ship management.

b. One more co-ordination problem faced is that when a candidate enters the center for counseling, he/she is already pitched for a program. But while getting the counseling the candidate is pitched for a different course by the counselor.

c. The security persons did not allow us to talk to people of their building during the Home Connect (door to door visit). Even some times the residents did not allow us to talk to them as they thought we were sales-men.



7. Examinations were conducted at most of the schools and colleges. So most of the candidates were not interested during the examinations seasons. Most of the institutes too were not interested to allow us to conduct a seminar regarding any of the courses offered by HCL CDC.

8. Most of the placement consultancies we visited were not interested in providing details of the candidates for the programs HCL CDC offered. They replied as it was against the rules of charging any amount from the candidate for the placements.

9. Some of the institutes were unhappy with HCL CDC’s prior performance. This created some more difficulties to talk regarding any business with those institutes.

10. Poor response and many complains registered against HCL CDC on the net had also created some problems to promote the Brand.



RECOMMENDATION

1. HCL CDC needs to advertise more and need to spend more on “Above the line Activities”. This will also increase the popularity of the brand HCL CDC.

2. Prices of some of the courses are well matched with that of the competitors but prices of some courses are priced higher. So the prices of some of the courses should be reduced to increase registrations.

3. Proper follow ups are required at the right time. As time lag will put a negative impact in the minds of the customer.

4. Tech community students should be updated very frequently as it will not cost much but will be able to build a long term relationship with the candidate and also promote itself.

5. Both the teams should not approach the same organization. The other team must have the information of one organization being approached by the other.

6. A plan made should be executed properly. It should not be diluted by execution of a new plan.

7. Colleges should be approached during the month of June and July as no exams are conducted during this period.

8. We feel that less emphasis is given on Soft-Ware courses as compared to Hard-Ware courses. Soft-Ware courses must also be given priority.

9. Regular touch with the mass should be maintained in forms of journals and publishing in daily NEWS papers and Magazines. This will put an impact in the consumers mind.

10.Promote its educational product through brand name of HCL by putting up kiosks & conducting interview processes for interested candidates in job fairs & educating candidates about the importance of industry specific HCL Certified Courses & global certification programmes in their career.



ACHIEVEMENTS & TARGETS

Achievements 1. Collection of more than 3300 data.2. Enquiry related to the courses and registrations have been generated to 75 for the

month of April and 25 for the month of May.3. Five registrations till date have been made. (Refer Annexure)4. Colleges have been visited and students from CIEM & Shyamaprasad college visited

the institute for seminar.5. Twenty placement consultancies were visited for the course launched Sales Pro.6. Successful promotion HCL CDC around the area of Rabindra Sadan, Park Street,

Dum-Dum and Tollygunge metro station.7. Home Connect areas covered were Dum-Dum, Behala, Jadavpur and Tollygunge.8. BTECH vocational training proposal submission to the engineering college.9. HCP and Sales Pro training proposal submission to the college.10.Counseled 15 students till date for the purpose of final registrations.11.Got Appraisal mail from HCL Infosystems, Noida Head office for making business of

Rs. 89,000 during 60 days SIP activity.

Targets1. Ensuring 70 footfalls (candidates visiting HCL CDC centres in month of May)2. At least three formal registrations (admissions) of candidates in the month of May3. Getting a share of incentives being allocated to the retail team of HCL CDC



BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Search engine google.co.in • www.hclcdc.in • www.niit.com • www.iijt.net • Aptech.com • Wikepedia.com • Primary Data collection

o http://infotech.indiatimes.com/articleshow/18454249.cms o http://www.prdomain.com/companies/M/Microsoft/newsreleases o http://dqindia.ciol.com/content/top_stories o http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/biz/2002/02/07/stories o http://www.equitymaster.com/r-detail.asp?date=1/19/2006&story=3

• Marketing Management (13th Edition), A South Asian Perspective By Philip Kotler, Kevin Lane Keller, Abraham Koshy & Mithileshwar Jha.



ANNEXUREAnnexure 1:









Annexure 2:Date Collection sheet



Annexure 3Feedback Form used after seminar or workshop



Annexure 4

List of Candidates enrolled by us:

Sl. Name Course AmountDate of

Registration2. Mr. Rajesh Sharma Sales Pro Rs. 41,000 /- 27 / 04 / 2009

3. Mr. Indranil Basak CCNA Rs. 10,000 /- 30 / 04 / 2009

4. Mr. Saptarshi Maity IBM TIVOLI Rs. 30,000 /- 04 / 05 / 2009

5. Mr. Pradeep Kr. Ghosal N+ Rs. 08,000 /- 05 / 05 / 2009

Total Business Convert Rs. 89,000 /-



Annexure 5Proposal for HCL Tech Community


To,_______________________

________________________

Sub: HCL Tech Community

Sir,

In an endeavor to spread IT awareness among the masses, make people aware of the industry needs and in order to create a well informed INDIA, HCL Career Development Center (HCL CDC), a division of HCL Infosystems Limited has come up with the idea of ‘HCL TECH COMMUNITY’ to create a platform where one can also discuss career related problems & these problems will be answered by our expert counselors. Anybody whether it’s class 12th student or a post graduate or a professional can join this community free of cost. Initially the communication will be through a means of seminars, mails, short messaging services, telephone and written but soon it will be available on line. This Tech Community is another means by which HCL is trying to be socially responsible corporate. Members are entitled to get following benefits:

1. Free e- magazine from HCL.

2. Information regarding all the technological changes happening in the society or in the market will be given.

3. All the important issues whether it’s political, social, and industrial will be shared.

4. Free career counseling will be given.

5. Free seminars will be provided.

6. Workshops on different technologies and all the different training programs of HCL CDC will be provided at subsidized prices.

7. All the future manpower requirements of different industries and their expectations will be shared.

8. And when it becomes on line, a platform for members to share their views with us and with each

other will also be provided.

--With regards,Mr. Arya ChowdhuryHCL CDC(HCL Infosystems Limited)50 Chowringhee Road, IISCO House 4th Floor,Kolkata – 700071 (Beside Sahara Sadan)Ph: +91-9804222715


Annexure 6Placement Agency List



Annexure 7List of college visited

Sl Name Location Purpose Feedback1 Academy of Technology Adisaptagram Btech proposal Good2 Narula Institute of

TechnologySodpur Btech Proposal Good

3 Gurunanak Institute of Technology

Agarpara Btech Proposal Good

4 Calcutta Institute of Engineering & Management

Tollygunj Btech Proposal Good

5 MCKV Institute of Technology

Liluah Btech Proposal Moderate

6 Bengal Institute of Technology

Bantala Btech Proposal Good

7 Hooghly Engineering & Technology College

Hooghly Btech Proposal Good

8 Technique Polytechnique Institute of Technology

Hooghly Btech Proposal Good

9 Chinsurah Institute of Management & Technology

Chinsurah Btech Proposal Good

10 Chandannagar Institute of Management & Technology


11 Noble Institute of Management & Technology


12 Calcutta Institute of Technology

Uluberia Btech Proposal Good

13 Bengal School of Technology

Chinsurah Btech Proposal Bad

14 Seacom Engineering College

Sakrail, Howrah

Btech Proposal Bad

15 Marine Engineering College

Amtala Btech Proposal Good

16 Nopany Institute of management

Bankra Btech Proposal V. Good

17 JIS Group Kalyani Btech Proposal V. Good18 Shyamaprasad College Shyambazar Btech Proposal





Annexure 9Survey Form


Survey FormHave you heard about HCL Career Development Centre?

YESNO

Do you know that HCL CDC provides world class IT education?

YESNO

How do you rate the following parameters in your institute?

Sl. Components for Evaluation Excellent Very Good Good Average Poor1 Classroom with High speed internet2 No of LCD projector3 General enquiry facilities4 Computer labs for practical training5 Canteen & drinking water facilities6 Industrial visit & interaction7 Corporate seminar & workshop8 Career counseling9 Placement track record10 Quality placement11 Strong placement cell12 Teaching style of trainer13 Real time exposure & knowledge14 Conveyance facility to/from centre15 Service centers & accessory shops.16 Course contents17 Brand name & global certification18 Strength of the courses19 Relevant of the industry needs20 Training costs involved

How do you compare this parameter?

Parameter / Comparison Excellent Very Good Good Average poor

PlacementPastPresent

BrandAwarenessAcceptance

Course vs. PriceCourse ContentPrice Offered

How do you come to know about your institute before taking admission? (Tick the appropriate)1. Telecalling 5. Hording / Banner / Flex / Poster2. E-mail 6. Print / Electronic Advertisement3. Market executive4. Canopy Activity

Personal Details:

Name Sex Institute Contact No. E-mail Id Date

Documents

Brand Promotion through Direct Marketing in Retail Business by Arya Chowdhury