MARKETING MANAGEMENT

PROJECT ON

Aqua-Guard

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

EUREKA FORBES ................................................................................................................................ 2

AQUAGUARD ....................................................................................................................................... 4
SEGMENTATION, TARGETING AND POSITIONING..................................................................... 6
CORE COMPETENCIES ....................................................................................................................... 6
SWOT ANALYSIS: ............................................................................................................................... 7
i. STRENGTH:............................................................................................................................... 7
ii. WEAKNESS:.............................................................................................................................. 8
iii. OPPORTUNITIES:................................................................................................................. 8
iv. THREATS: ............................................................................................................................. 9
BCG MATRIX OF AQUAGUARD: .................................................................................................... 10
PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE .................................................................................................................... 11
i. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................... 11
ii. GROWTH ................................................................................................................................. 11
iii. MATURITY ......................................................................................................................... 12
PRODUCT MIX ................................................................................................................................... 13
PRODUCT LINE LENGTH ................................................................................................................. 13
PRICE STRATERGIES........................................................................................................................ 14
SERVICE DIFFRENTIATION ............................................................................................................ 15
DIRECT MARKETING: ...................................................................................................................... 15
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS ................................................................................................................ 16
DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL .............................................................................................................. 16
COMPETITORS:.................................................................................................................................. 18
i. PUREIT WATER PURIFIER:.................................................................................................. 18
ii. KENT RO WATER PURIFIER: .............................................................................................. 19
iii. TATA SWACH: ................................................................................................................... 20
iv. BLUE STAR WATER PURIFIERS: .................................................................................... 20
v. LG RO WATER PURIFIER: .................................................................................................... 21
vi. A.O. SMITH WATER PURIFIERS: .................................................................................... 22
vii. OTHER COMPETITORS: ................................................................................................... 22
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 24

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EUREKA FORBES

Eureka Forbes was born in 1982 with the

vision of bringing happy, healthy, safe and
pollution-free living to customers through lasting
relationships as ‘Friends for Life’. It has since
developed to end up an over Rs. 29,612 million
multi-item, multi-channel association that is a piece
of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group and has more than
20 million fulfilled clients and a range of more than
450 urban areas and towns.

In addition to Asia's biggest direct deals constrain, they have a buyer channel of more than
18,000 merchants, an institutional channel Forbes Pro Solutions that has water adventures,
cleaning arrangements and railroads divisions and moreover a creative colleague organize and
a provincial channel. A champion among the broadest organization orchestrates in India backs
these channels. They have likewise stretched out their quality to the worldwide market as
Forbes Lux in a joint endeavor with Lux International, Switzerland.

In 2000, the Eureka Forbes Institute of Environment (EFIE) was established. It is an enrolled
open magnanimous association that makes and backings different social initiatives. . Eureka
Forbes in relationship with National Society for Equal Opportunities for the Handicapped
NASEOH propelled Euro Able, a call focus kept an eye on by individuals with unique needs.
Euro Able is India's first best in class call focus kept an eye on and worked completely by
individuals with exceptional requirements. This activity encourages their joining into the
esteem chain and standard of society.

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The products have driven and overwhelmed the water and air purification frameworks, cleaning
systems and security systems categories. Aqua guard, the lead water purifier mark sold through
the immediate deals channel, is trusted by excess of 40 million individuals while on retail
retires, the Aqua sure run gives safe drinking water to homes even without power and running
water and the Forbes extend for homes and workplaces at different price points. Eureka Forbes
also have an institutional range and customized solutions for the rural market. And they have
recently launched Aqua sure packaged drinking water. Their Euroclear scope of vacuum
cleaners has more than 3.5 million clients and they likewise give Forbes extend on retail retires
and business and modern cleaning items.

Eureka Forbes were the first to introduce state-of-the-art Euro air Air Purifiers that ensure
clean, safe air and pollution-free homes. They additionally showcase local electronic security
frameworks under the brand Euro vigil and transformed the fire safe category with Fireguard
versatile fire extinguishers with an ensured and imaginative space age innovation fire
suppressant.

The undertaking of Eureka Forbes is to create a sustainable environment which drove them to
present renewable energy technologies. Eurodiya - India’s first solar bulbs with in-built solar
panels - outfits solar energy to light homes and can store it for an extended span. And they have
now acquainted solar technology to run water dispensing units.

The conviction that unpolluted water and air are the estate of each Indian prompted the Eureka
Forbes Institute of Environment being set-up. It advances assurance of characteristic water and
air assets through exercises like checking and broadcasting of air and water levels pollution
levels in significant urban areas on TV, India's first national condition centered test for school
kids and water harvesting.

The association has always been an accomplice to society, particularly in midst of destructive
occasions. Euro Able, India's first best in class call center kept an eye around and worked
completely by individuals with extraordinary prerequisites, underpins their combination into
the respect chain and standard of society.

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Different endeavors incorporate 'Nana Nani Parks' for senior subjects to unwind, free drinking
water stands out in the open places, the 'Jagrut Mumbaikar' program, with the Mumbai Police
and Fire Brigade, to prepare occupants how to shield themselves and an association with World
Vision to give water channel units claimed and kept running by ladies self-improvement
gatherings amid crises. Without a doubt, they trust that connections goad us on to understand
the fantasy of a cheerful, solid, safe and contamination free world. [1]

AQUAGUARD

Water purifiers from Eureka

Forbes combine the best of technology
and expertise to provide a wide range of
products that give utmost purity and
supreme quality. Aqua guard is the
flagship water purifier brand of Eureka
Forbes.

Aqua guard water purifiers come in a

wide range to oblige to distinctive needs
and suit various pockets. These include
World Series, Premium Series, Essential Series and Expert Series. The World Series purifiers
are made with meticulous attention regarding the point of interest. Each piece is precisely
chosen incorporating a multitude of globally recognised patented technologies. The Premium
Series are the smartest water purifiers money can buy. With advanced protection to remove not
only all disease-causing bacteria, virus, protozoa and cysts but also the new age contaminants
like heavy metal and harmful arsenic, mercury, lead, pesticides and other unstable organic
chemicals.

Eureka Forbes has made quantum strides in its effort to lead the market and break new ground
by offering products with cutting-edge technology. The Aqua guard range of Total Water
Purification Systems was specifically created to eliminate water contamination, irrespective of
the source and kind of water.

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These, for the first time, incorporated international technologies in categories such as Nano-
Silver, Anti-Microbial Protection, Ultra Filtration and Mineral Preserver to guarantee total
health for the entire family. The most recent expansion to the range is the Aqua guard Total
Sensa with BLU-G technology. This is most suitable for Indian homes where the source of
water changes almost every week, sometimes every day. The BLU-G innovation is prepared
for taking care of water from bore wells, tankers, lakes, overhead tanks and the region and even
from blended sources. BLU-G detects the quality of water and automatically initiates the
technology that would best cleanse it to provide pure, perfectly balanced water enriched with
minerals. The Aqua guard Total Gold Nova is the world's first best quality level water purifier
with an authorized encompass virtue framework and patented silver sure technology that
removes pesticides, industrial effluents, volatile organic compounds and lead.

Basic arrangement of water purifiers is the guarantee of good prosperity the arrangement
incorporates RO water purifiers that have Reverse Osmosis technology for filtration. The
arrangement offers space sparing strong plan and finish security against physical, natural and
microbiological contaminations and water with major minerals in it. Aqua guard Expert Series
is a range of water purification solutions intended for uncommon conditions only to guarantee
that whatever be the water condition, Aqua guard has a solution for it. The Aqua Sure range
provides safe drinking water to homes even without electricity and running water. Aqua guard
also has an institutional range and customised solutions for the rural market and have launched
new products to meet these requirements. Esteeming the special bond, it imparts to customers,
team Aqua guard puts in extra efforts to maintain and deliver products of unmatched quality.
Strict adherence to quality control policies guarantees that its products meet the customer
expectations in every way.

The comprehensive range of products offered by Eureka Forbes are a perfect blend of personal
touch with professional craftsmanship making them stand out. Aqua guard’s conviction that
unpolluted water is the birth right of every Indian led to the Eureka Forbes Institute of
Environment being set up. Through this, it advances conservation of natural water and air
resources through various activities. Aqua guard’s credibility is boosted by the global
recognition it has received over the years. The company is one of India’s Top 5 Best Employers,
a case study at Harvard and Richard Ivy Business Schools, a classic direct sales reference in
marketing guru Philip Kotler’s textbook ‘Marketing Management’, a feature in Forbes
Magazine Asia edition as well as the recipient of other prestigious recognitions in every facet
of business. [2]

5
SEGMENTATION, TARGETING AND POSITIONING

Aqua guard has a reasonable division of people who require clean water. This is to a
more prominent degree psychographic and in addition statistic division. Psychographic in the
light of the way that Aqua guard is changing the brain research of people by offering them
clean water. Statistic in the light of the fact that, the promoting technique is continually
focusing on the leaders – the housewives, the buy directors and the all-inclusive community
who are prepared for taking a decision for the water purifier.

The focusing on procedure depends on the nature of water. For towns where the water
quality is great, UV water purifier is focused on. Also, for towns where water quality is terrible,
there RO or RO + UV water purifier is focusing on.

Due to its long-time presence in the market and incredible products, Aqua guard clearly
has top of the mind positioning in the mind of consumers. It is almost a generic brand, with
most people calling a purifier “Aqua guard” irrespective of the brand they are going to buy.
With the arrival of KENT, the positioning of Aqua guard has changed because both the brands
are fighting for top of the mind awareness.

CORE COMPETENCIES
Aqua guard has a solid upper hand fundamentally because it was one of the primary
movers in the Indian market for water purifiers. Aqua guard is a joint venture between 2 strong
companies – Electrolux from SWEDEN and Shapoorji Pallonji from India. As the support is
solid, the brand took off to a decent begin in the market.

In the initial few years, Aqua guard aggressively took the responsibility of the entire market
with its door to door selling. Till date, the selling policies of Aqua guard are very aggressive,
with many incentives and awards given to seller who achieves good numbers. The channel
network of Aqua guard is set, though it needs a change.

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The impression of Aqua guard as "Paani ka Doctor" or water specialist gives the most extreme
upper hand to the firm. The firm is known to give excellent products, with trust and years of
experience behind them. This is an advantage very difficult to beat. [3]

SWOT ANALYSIS:

STRENGTH: WEAKNESS:

 Strong brand name  Service

 First mover advantage  Local competition
 Market share  Imitation
 Tag line (Paani ka doctor)

OPPORTUNITY: THREATS:

 Channel expansion  Competitors

 Take on local competitors
 Service and spare parts

i. STRENGTH:

 Strong brand name: Aqua guard has nearly turned into a nonspecific brand name
in the market for water purifiers. The brand name I solid claiming Aqua guard was the
primary mass level brand in India to spread its wings. The items were additionally high
caliber and subsequently the brand value developed to amazing statures.

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  First mover advantage: Aqua guard was one of the principal organizations to do
mass offering of water purifiers. Henceforth it has the main mover advantage. Different
organizations like Kent took after soon. Be that as it may, the primary mover advantage
does not blur so effortlessly.

 Market share: As it has an incredible brand name, great item portfolio, and the main
mover advantage, it normally has a high piece of the overall industry at present. It has
near 44% piece of the overall industry.

 Paani ka doctor: One of the most astounding things about Aqua guard is its slogan
Paani ka specialist. It is a slogan which tells a great deal in 3 words. What's more, this
was the slogan behind which finish showcasing interchanges of Aqua guard was based.
As they utilized "Specialist" in the slogan, it quickly manufactured trust on them.it is
outstanding amongst other ones till date.

ii. WEAKNESS:

 Service: one of the real issues which has come up for Aqua guard as of late is
overseeing administrations for its wide number of purifiers which are sold over the
world.

iii. OPPORTUNITIES:

 Service and extra parts: The administrations and extra parts showcase for water
purifiers is enormous. Be it India or universal markets, the significance of water purifier
is rising. Be that as it may, more than water purifiers, the extra parts like light and
channels have stunning interest.

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  Channel expansion: This is ceaseless diversion for any channel player and direct
extension dependably comes being used. The better the channel, more will be the deal
which gives more income.

 Take on local competitors: Aqua guard as of now has preferred items over nearby
contenders. in any case, by enhancing its administration, and by conveying the contrast
among Aqua guard and others, the brand can specifically go up against nearby
contenders and builds its piece of the pie much further.

iv. THREATS:

 Competitors: Kent came in the photo a couple of years back and supported by strong
speculators. Where Aqua guard was centered around UV purifiers, Kent opened the
market where it began RO purifiers. Aqua guard. Beating KENT in the RO showcase
will be extremely troublesome for Aqua guard.

 Local competitors: There are numerous territorial players which are flying up in
neighborhood markets because of the ease of assembling purifiers and claiming extra
parts winds up hard to obtain from bigger organizations. As the edges from these nearby
purifiers is high and as cost low, merchants too have begun pushing purifiers which are
privately made.

 Imitation: There are numerous imitators of Aqua guard which is causing issues in
the market. Indeed, even phony and impersonation save parts are sold, wrecking the
respectability of the water purifier. Truth be told, the brand esteem is getting wrecked
because of this impersonation of the brand.

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BCG MATRIX OF AQUAGUARD:

 On the off chance that we plot the BCG lattice of Aqua guard, we see that the UV water
purifiers of Aqua guard are cash cows because nobody can beat Aqua guard in the
quantity of UV purifiers that they offer.

 The RO purifiers and in addition the gravity-based water purifiers are stars as the RO
purifiers confront solid rivalry from KENT and other nearby makers.

 The gravity constructed water purifiers with respect to the next hand, have rivalry from
Tata's Swachh and HUL pureit.

 MARKET FORCES: The Aqua guard purifiers accompany predominant craftsmanship

fueled by all inclusive, RO and UV innovation. It eliminates microorganisms and
infections with a proficiency rate of 99.9%.

The channels have the accompanying:

Activated carbon, residue, post carbon, UF. These framework work with UV beams where the
germs and organisms are annihilated with the assistance of UV beams after the RO stage and
gives unadulterated and solid water. This framework can execute hurtful contaminants and can
be joined with different types of filtration by lessening chlorine.

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PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

i. INTRODUCTION

About 10 years prior, Suresh Goklaney, visited his sister in Daytona Beach, US. There,
the Executive Vice Chairman of Eureka Forbes happened to meet Fred Tepper, Founder and
President of Argonide Corporation, which makes nanotechnology-based water purifiers. The
organization at that point embraced this innovation to dispatch a convenient water purifier,
Aqua monitor On the Go, in 2014. Seven years back, a Eureka Forbes businessperson, likewise
called a Euro champ, indicated out Goklaney that the nature of water provided to Indian homes
fluctuated as the day progressed. The organization accordingly propelled a water sanitization
gadget, Aqua watch Sensa, in 2008. The gadget, consequently recognizes debasements, detects
the water quality and modifies itself to the level of cleansing required.

ii. GROWTH

Even more as of late, in July the

organization took an activity to utilize
refrigeration methods that consolidate water
from barometrical air in Mumbai. The system
can produce 120 liters or 500 glasses of drinking
water each day. The above models show that
there has been change and improvement at the
three-decade old organization throughout the
years.

The Shapoorji Pallonji Group organization, credited for getting the idea of water
purging into the nation and known to scale up carefully, has been endeavoring to hold and
develop its piece of the overall industry in a strongly aggressive condition, especially in its
center water purifier business. In any case, specialists feel that the organization has been ease
back to change given the quickly changing business sector elements.

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Harminder Shani of Wazir Advisors, a Gurgaon-based retail consultancy, proposes that the
organization, known for its mark water purifiers and vacuum cleaners, needs to advance
quickly to keep its nose in front of rivalry. "Whatever Eureka Forces is endeavoring must be
done on the grounds that as an organization you can't quit attempting things".

iii. MATURITY

The water purifier business represented around 50 for every penny of the organization's
incomes in monetary 2012/13, the most recent time frame for which figures are accessible. It
is a pioneer in the Rs 3,400-crore showcase. The organization has more than 70 for every penny
share in the bright (UV) purifier advertise yet is confronting hardened rivalry in the quickly
developing opposite osmosis (RO) section from Kent RO Systems. Kent claims it is the pioneer
in the RO advertise with 40 to 45 for each penny share. Eureka Forbes says it has a 36 for every
penny piece of the overall industry. In the interim, a few different players have developed as a
danger to Eureka Forbes including Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Nasaka, and Ion Exchange. "As
of late, while the market has developed colossally, exceptional rivalry has altogether affected
the lead and favorable position that Eureka Forbes had. Both new business and rehash incomes
from existing clients. An issue for Eureka Forbes has been its dependence on coordinate deals.
Its salespersons (Euro champs) go from way to-entryway leading item shows and persuading
individuals that their machines are the best. Aha Forbes has a multitude of more than 8,000
Euro champs. It has constrained the organization to search better approaches for contacting
clients.

"The test in the earth is the means by which I motivate you to open the entryway with gated
networks," says Goklaney, including that the organization could never take a gander at
disbanding its armed force of business people. "My center is my euro champs who have
manufactured the brand throughout the years. To handle the issue, the organization has moved
over to advanced advertising to convince clients to request demos. The organization today is
firmly noticeable on the computerized stage, and in a few daily paper’s promotions, blazing
numbers for clients to call. Retail deals is yet not a major center zone for the organization.
Sahni of Wazir Advisors recommends that the organization's reliance on coordinate deals,
disregarding retail, is an impair for Eureka Forbes. [4]

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PRODUCT MIX

Aqua guard water purifiers have an advanced product range of water purifiers with a
patented technology known as mineral guard technology. The various types of water purifiers
by Aqua guard are as follows:

 RO water purifiers: Aqua guard Revivato purify the water from borewell, which
has a salty taste.
 UV water purifiers: Aqua guard classic and compact, to effectively purify the
water from municipal water supply drawn from lakes or rivers this doesn’t have
a salty taste.
 RO+UV water purifiers
 Universal water purifiers: Gold Nova and Total sensa these two have RO+UV+
UF features to protect the original taste of water and they automatically choose
the type of purifying technology based on the source of water whether it is from
bore well, municipal or even a tanker
 Personal water purifiers: to provide you pure water on the go.

Aqua guard was one of the first movers for Water purifiers and hence its products are far better
than its competitors. Aqua guard mid-range water purifiers have a multi stage purification
process, 6 liters capacity and with digital display you get to see the cartridge life as well. But
On the other hand, Kent’s similar purifier has 5-stage purification with 8 liters capacity. So,
Kent is a brand, which is in the field with Aqua guard in the business of water purification. [5]

PRODUCT LINE LENGTH

Water purification major, Eureka Forbes has made an entry into the fiercely competitive
bottled water market this month. The company has launched Aqua sure, priced at market rates
of Rs 10 for 500 ml and similar price lines for the other large sized packages. The product has
been rolled into leading cities such as Mumbai and Delhi, top officials said.

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The company's premium water purifier brand, Aqua guard are sold through direct sales
representatives of Eureka Forbes Aqua sure brand of water purifiers are sold through leading
consumer electronics and home appliances stores across the country. Eureka Forbes had
introduced the direct selling concept in India and has a lion's share of 52 per cent market
share in the 1,500crore water purifier segment, with its Aqua guard and Aqua Sure brands.
Eureka Forbes has entered the bottled water market through the 'franchisee' route and each
franchisee is expected to invest around Rs 2 crore in the purification and bottling set-up. The
company will sell the product under the brand name 'Aqua Sure', in 20-litre and one-liter
bottles officials said. Analysts say distribution including ware-houses and supply-chain will
determine the competitiveness of players in this segment. Details of the company's
advertising plans for the brand are not yet available. The bottled water segment is estimated
to be worth Rs 3,000 crore and growing at an annual rate of 25-30 per cent.

The market is dominated by Bisleri of Bisleri International with a 50% plus market share. Other
brands include Manickchand group's Oxyrich, Tata Group's Himalayan, UB Group's
Kingfisher, PepsiCo’s, Aqua Fina and Coca-Cola's Kinley. [6]

PRICE STRATERGIES

Eureka Forbes utilizes a focused valuing procedure in its advertising blend to pick up a
piece of the pie. Promote they incorporate their after-deals benefit cost inside the cost of the
item cited. The salesman is instructed to showcase Eureka Forbes items as an esteem-based
item where they clarify what are the extra advantages that accompany every item and the
relative estimating taking models from contenders’ items like Unilever, Kent and so forth. The
evaluating of the items is done to such an extent that it exhibits as an offer for the client
separated from being reasonable. [7]

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SERVICE DIFFRENTIATION

DIRECT MARKETING:

Eureka Forbes attempted and tried direct offering course to showcase its items in India,
in this manner getting to be one of the main direct offering organizations in India. Vacuum
cleaners and water purifiers were somewhat new ideas for Indian customers, who had till then
took after just the conventional techniques for cleaning and separating. In this way, Eureka
Forbes needed to initially build up the idea of vacuum cleaners and water purifiers in India
before it could offer Eureka as a brand. The organization trusted that its center quality was its
kin. It utilized dynamic, profoundly energetic people, called Euro champs, who anticipated the
picture of the neighbor man from Eureka Forbes.

In this way, for the normal Indian shopper, Eureka Forbes wound up synonymous with the
insightfully dressed businessperson who went to their homes and tidied up things in a jiffy or
demonstrated how air/water purifiers were crucial.

Euro champs at first focused on the metros however before long started visiting littler urban
areas and towns likewise Commenting on the choice to differentiate into filtered water,
organization sources said that it was just to reinforce the center items by gaining by their image
picture. Goklaney stated, "In the water classification, I will lead exercises which reinforce my
center items. How I do that and what I do is a make a difference of system." According to
organization sources, Eureka Forbes had the monetary quality, as well as a solid system of
offers officials to push its new items into the market.

The organization's choice to enter the retail business was essentially the consequence of its
dispatch of Tornado vacuum cleaners and Aqua water purifiers in 1995.

Water purifier brand Eureka Forbes, part of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group has rolled out its new
campaign titled 'Har Water Purifier Aqua guard Nahi Hota'. As a part of the campaign, a young
couple is seen highlighting the differentiation and how! The couple, i.e. potential tenants, refer
to the famous Kohinoor diamond to establish the difference in a rather stark manner! Water
purifier brand Eureka Forbes, part of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group has rolled out its new
campaign titled 'Har Water Purifier Aqua guard Nahi Hota'.

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As a part of the campaign, a young couple is seen highlighting the differentiation and how!
The couple, i.e. potential tenants, refer to the famous Kohinoor diamond to establish the
difference in a rather stark manner. [8]

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
 FEATURES OF A GOOD PURIFIER:
 It should retain natural quality of water
 Absolute safe for drinking purposes
 User friendly features
 Long life
 In-built storage tank
 Avoids all contamination with last point purification
 Low maintenance

Name of the brand Unit stocked by outlets percentage

Pure it 553 64.00

Aqua sure 034 04.00

Tata swatch 062 07.00

Kent 002 00.25

Usha 002 00.25

Rama and ganga 215 24.50

[9]

DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

Eureka Forbes has one of the best personal selling strategy and sales team with it.
Eureka Forbes has a very strong sales force actively engaged in door to door selling. This
people to people sales strategy has helped it double its revenues in a manner of 5 years. Further
they have also embraced digital technology. This digital technology has helped them in lead
generation.

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Eureka Forbes believes that most of its prospective customers spend a considerable time
online. So, they would like to target these group through digital marketing initiatives. They
have successfully divided the attention between direct sales and online salesforce team. This
technology & feet-on-the-ground has worked well for Eureka Forbes. Hence, this completes
the marketing mix of Eureka Forbes.

Marzin Shroff, CEO of direct sales and senior vice-president of marketing, said the change in
people’s lifestyles and increased competition is driving the shift for the company, which till a
few years back relied exclusively on direct sales. Nowadays both husband and wife are
working, so there is no one at home and therefore the direct sales force is unable to reach a
large segment of people.” Also, the company cannot ignore the retail channel given the rising
competition.

New players including Luminous Water, Panasonic. Electrolux and Kelvinator have entered
the water purifier market, which is estimated to grow to Rs 7,000 crore by 2015.The company
already faces competition from HUL, Tata Chemicals, Kent RO and LG, Eureka Forbes had
started testing the retail channel a few years earlier but had maintained it would sell only select
entry-level products through the route.

Shroff said they are now selling several models, both premium and mass segment, across
national and regional stores and Canteen Department Stores. Moreover, it is manufacturing
certain products only for the retail channel. However, the models being sold in stores are
cheaper than the those sold by direct sales force. “You have to be cheaper in retail as people
are looking for good value for money products. Also, there is a severe price competition,”
Shroff said. Apart from stores, the company is also focusing on e-commerce. Though it forms
a small part of overall sales, the channel helps in getting leads for sales. Eureka Forbes is also
looking to grow in the packaged drinking water segment which it entered in 2010.It is trebling
franchise partners to 80 from 26 to ensure better sales and distribution of its product – Aqua
sure. The Rs 6,000 crore packaged drinking market is severely competitive with biggies like
Bisleri, Tata Global, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola and several other regional players. The company
aims to capture market in key states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Shroff
said, “We are charging Rs 1 less and have also increased margins to the retailers to gain market
share.” [10]

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COMPETITORS:

The Water Purifier business in India is so big that even multinational Corporations like
Philips, Unilever (Hindustan Unilever in India with Pureit Water Purifier range), Whirlpool
and the Indian industrial giant, The Tata Group, have all joined the edge to corner a slice of
this huge market for water purifiers. Eureka Forbes brand Aqua guard is also gaining fame all
over the world for their innovative products. The internationally well-known Brita Water Filter
has also set up a joint venture with the Usha group for their joint venture Company Usha Brita.
[11]

The major manufacturers of Water Purifiers in Indian market are mentioned below.

i. PUREIT WATER PURIFIER:

Pureit is a revolutionary product from

the famous Hindustan Unilever or popularly
known as HUL in short. Since its launch, this
Water Purifier brand has its presence over 9
countries. Pureit’s revolutionary products are
built using the most innovative technologies
like RO, UV, MF and Oxytube. With their
latest range of indoor Air Purifiers, Pureit
aims to provide smart ways to fulfil their
promise of purity.

In the beginning they also had RO and UV

water purifiers but with constant research and development they have introduced a new Gravity
Based purifiers which do not use electricity for the water purification process. They have wide
variety of products which range from Rs 1,200 to 27,000. [12]

18
Pureit has not just given the importance to build and sell their product, but they have given
equal importance to customer relationship management with various diversification by taking
the customers opinion into consideration in building a new brand to serve them better. The
parent company HUL has invested and carefully nurtured this aspect of our business and made
it a part of our brand’s DNA. [13]

ii. KENT RO WATER PURIFIER:

Kent RO in India is one

of the leading manufacturers of
water filter purifiers in India.
Kent RO water filter purifiers
were first made from a small
single room factory in Noida,
India in 1999.

Despite its humble beginnings,

today Kent home water filters
has emerged as one of the best Indian water purifier Company with sales outlets all over the
country.

It is counted among the fastest growing brands in India and has become a synonym for Mineral
RO purifiers. Kent RO has RO, UV, Commercial, Gravity, Water softener and other Water
Purifier products which range from INR 14,500 to 54,000. [14]

KENT with the highest standards of professionalism, ethics, quality and fairness has develop
a good relationship with its customers by gaining their trust. They are trying to fulfil their
customer requirements and they are giving everything they must to provide their customers
with complete satisfaction. [15]

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iii. TATA SWACH:

Tata, the largest industrial group

in India, entered the water purifier
business by unveiling their unique and
innovative water purifier called 'Tata
Swach' which is the brainchild of several
Tata companies like Tata Chemicals and
TCS, who have put their ideas and
technology in the making of this low
cost, low maintenance and user-friendly
water purifier on 7th December 2009.
'Swach' means 'Clean' in Hindi.

Now Tata produces all types of water purifiers. Tata RO water purifiers are very good and are
some of the cheapest models of RO water purifiers that you can get in India. Tata Swach uses
a unique, advanced TSRF technology along with silver nanotechnology to purify water.

Tata in the recent years has also developed a new product called instant water purifier bottle
and the price range of their products varies from INR 500 to 22,000. [16] [17]

iv. BLUE STAR WATER PURIFIERS:

Blue Star is a 70-year-old

leading Indian Company. The main
businesses activities of Blue Star are Air
Conditioning, Water Coolers and Water
Purifiers. The water purifier business of
Blue Star is new and started from April
2016. Being in the market for 70 years
means that Blue Star has an excellent
distribution and service centers all over
the country. Thus, they have an outstanding service facility throughout India.

20
The initial offerings of water purifiers from Blue Star are in four series called Stella, Prisma,
Edge and Majesto. Blue Star water purifiers start at an MRP of Rs. 14,000-. The MRP of Blue
Stars costliest model Stella, which is India's first RO+UV purifier that dispenses hot, cold and
room temperature water, is Rs.45,000 Some unique features of Blue Star water purifiers are
anti-stagnant ripple technology to prevent the formation of slime in the purified water tank,
child lock function, taste enhancer which adds purified essential minerals to RO water and
electronic dispensing buttons to give ice cold water or normal water or hot water to make tea,
coffee and instant noodles and soups. [18]

v. LG RO WATER PURIFIER:

LG is the latest Multinational

giant to enter the Indian water purifier
market. LG RO water purifiers claim that
since LG uses Stainless Steel tanks (SS
tanks) in LG RO water purifiers, bacteria
do not grow on the Stainless-Steel tank
surfaces as they do on plastic water tanks
in ordinary water purifiers.

LG RO water purifiers have periodic UV

light sterilization of the stored water to
prevent bacterial growth inside the SS water tanks. Electrolysis Sterilizing Care is a process
unique to LG water Purifiers, by which they electrolyze water to obtain hypochlorous acid
solution which is used to flush the whole water line in the water purifier. This process will
sterilize all parts of the LG water purifier that meets water. Another feature available on some
of their models are filtered clean water to wash vegetables and other food items. The products
vary from a range of 22,000- 45,000 INR with their prices. [19]

21
vi. A.O. SMITH WATER PURIFIERS:

AO Smith is huge in the USA

and is very famous there for their
water heaters. AO Smith's entry into
the water purifier business is
relatively recent. AO Smith started
their operations in India in 2006. In
2010, A. O. Smith started a factory in
Bangalore making home water
heaters. They started manufacture of
Water Purifiers in 2014 in India in their expanded Bangalore factory. Their annual sales in
2016 were almost $3 billion (approximately 20,000 crores). AO Smith has introduced into the
Indian market some unique water purifiers.

They are the first in India to offer small home RO water purifier with hot and cold-water
dispenser. This is very useful to make a quick cup of coffee, tea, or instant noodles or make
baby food. The price range of their products is from 13,000 to 26,500 INR. [20]

vii. OTHER COMPETITORS:

The water Purifier market also consist of several other local and international players and are
mentioned below

 Luminous Water Technology

 Whirlpool Water Filters
 Ion Exchange
 Brita and Usha Brita

22
Table of different water purifier manufacturers with pricing

Company Brands Technology Price-Range

(INR)
Eureka Forbes  Aqua guard UV, RO, UF technology 600-27,999
 Aqua sure filters

Hindustan  Pureit UV, RO, 4 stage germs kill 1,200 - 27,000

Unilever
Kent RO System  Kent UV, RO, UF, TDS control 14,500 - 54,000.

Tata  Swach Silver Nano technology 500 - 22,000

Blue Star  Stella RO + UV 14,000 – 45,000

 Prisma
 Edge
 Majesto
LG  Electro RO, Electrolysis sterilizing 22,000- 45,000

AO Smith  AO smith RO, RO+ 13,000 - 26,500

23
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