A Report of Acer

genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus genus Acer India (Pvt) Ltd. pic An Internship Project Re manner on Study of stain sensory faculty of Acer in Bangalore, Chennai and Coimbatore JANANI SESHADRI In partial tone fulfillment of the Masters Program in Business Administration, Ohio University, Athens, regular army OHIO University Christ College Academy for Management Education Christ College Campus Hosur Road, Bangalore-29 May14th, 2007 DECLARATION I Janani Seshadri here by decl ar that the project en highborn Study on the aw atomic sum up 18ness of the shuffle Acer at Acer India Pvt. Ltd. , is an original and received comme il faut-enough(prenominal) sour carried give away under the guidance of Mr.Darryl Gray from march twelfth to April 25th 2007 in partial fulfillment for the Ohio University Christ college academy for way education. I decl ar that the report su bmitted by me is a bonafide acidulate of my admit effort and it has non been submitted to other university or published whatsoever season before. Place Bangalore Date 03-07-2007 Janani Seshadri ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Thanks to God for showering his b littleings and for granting me the chance and energy to success full(a)y complete the summer internship program I had interpreted up.I wish to express my deepest gratitude to ACER INDIA Pvt. Ltd. , head office Bangalore for giving me this worthy opportunity in doing my internship amongst them in their esteemed organization. I would corresponding to blend my special thanks and gratitude to Mr. Rajendran general manager selling for giving me this opportunity. excessively I would like to sincerely thank Mr. S. Raghu groceryplaceing projects and Mr. Darryl Gray food marketing programmes for their genuine hit the hay, valuable adfeebleness and sincere comments which helped me a circularize to accomplish this project.This internshi p would non be complete without the contain and guidance of our Director Mr. Shivprakash. I besides want to express my gratitude to the official referees and the project coordinators Dr. Amalendu Jyotishi and Mr. Girish (Ohio University Christ College) whose valuable comments and effectual criticism helped me in refining my project from the draft stage to this lowest report. I withal want to express my thanks to Prof. Venkatesh Bhagwat (Ohio University Christ College) for assisting me in the instruction compilation and analysis which helped me a lot in beauteous tuning my report.I piece of ass non forget the assistance and encouragement that make this work possible towards the end. My special thanks to my co-student and dear friend Mr. B. Venkata Ramana who supported me end-to-end my Internship project with his valuable suggestions and ideas which helped me to approach my project wisely and accomplish it successfully without which I could perplex non completed my work e fficiently and effectively. His conformable help kept me motivated byout the internship period. Last plainly non the least, my endless thanks and gratitude goes to my parents Mr.S. N. Seshadri and Mrs. Sasikala Seshadri who has stood by my side, encouraged and given me moral support at any points of time. I would also like to thank my chum Mr. Koushik Ram for all his support and ad debility. Thank You EXECUTIVE SUMMARY merchandise is an activity present in all companies where marketing strategies determine the yield of the convergences and the family itself. To test to see if marketing is successful, it is necessary to measure where the company was and where it is in a flash.This can be carried out with tracking studies monitoring the market frame and changes to the pit image all over time or, for particular campaigns, measuring pre- and post- shell to see what has changed. This is project report is a market survey press to check the Brand sentiency of Acer and ther eby figure out the measures that can be implemented to lift the current aim of awake(predicate)ness. This guinea pig is based on the entropy collected from the (customers) great deal regarding their awareness of the PC vendors in the market today then zeroing it into the nock Acer.The means of collect info were finished individualized interviews, distributing the questionnaire, and online survey questionnaire. Also observation during the interviews helped a lot in the analysis. To facilitate the analysis of the submit I laborious in two different separates which were based on the introducegraphic sectionalisation (occupation-Students, working visibility and SME) and geographic particleation (places-Coimbatore, Chennai and Bangalore). Acer stands bite quadruple behind Dell. The visibleness and awareness for the brand Acer among slew is comely. come uply 20% of the populate have non comprehend round Acer. and on an back up-rate al nigh 55% of the plane sectioned mass embrace Acer to be a national brand in quislingismism with Wipro India (Wipro Acer). The experiences on fewer harvest-festival parameters were also measured which resulted in a high-pricedish grapheme, uncontaminating or reasonable service, and acceptable affordable price, fair exertion and good features. Though Acer has the mettlesomeest network of retail outlets less hail of slew has actually viewed them. Comparatively HP has more look of visits. Lenovo though cosmos a peeled-fashioned entrant in the market has already made its place. There is a tuff competition being face up by Acer with Lenovo.All these things finally zero into comely awareness of the brand and the awareness which is already there is also done word of babble, so this may carry to negative or controlling propagation of the brand. The selective information (300 samples) was compiled in SPSS and analyzed with respect to the two categories of segments. Acer is number one i n Europe and other countries globally. Considering the primary data available Acer India is one of the youngest players in India. It has performed rattling well in the recent years (2001 to 2006). In the past five years it faced a tremendous steady ripening rate of close 49% in India.Therefore though the awareness amongst people was not all that good Acer still lies in the area where if prompt and good advertising strategies were formulated and implemented the awareness forget lift to a great completion. tabloidLE OF CONTENTS ? PREFACE7 ? ABOUT THE COMPANY 1. Back design Acer India8 2. Growing with time milestones9 3. Product portfolio and key features11 ? PROJECT ? seek DESIGN METHADOLOGY17 1. Research task17 2. Research brute17 3. Research character17 4. Research scope17 5. Analysis19 6. Findings53 ? CONCLUSION63 ? SUGGESTIONS / RECOMMENDATIONS64 ? APPENDIX65 PREFACETHE smirch progressively is becoming the key source of differentiation that guides customer leveraging choice. It is the focal point virtually which an organization defines how it provide uniquely deliver the value to the customer for a profit-effectively embodying the heart and soul of that organization. The brands promise is delivered by its yields and services, and consumer communication- the descend consumer relationship and experience. The act of creating public awareness of a precise brand in order to maximize its recognition, successful brand awareness strategies should define a companys uniqueness and traffic circle it apart from competitors.Quite simply, if latent customers do not know closely a company, they will not buy from it. Therefore, one of the preeminent goals of any business should be to prepare brand awareness, although in as cost-effective manner as possible. Consumers be to make acquire conclusions based on peer urgeations and direct experience, as well as traditional advertising methods. This is why it is necessary to pee-pee brand awareness st rategies out by instilling practice among consumers. This trust must be achieved by dint of credibility, rather than just a attention-getting advertising campaign.Promotional marketing involving a one-to-one component is proving increasingly effective at building trust and acquiring new customers. Brand building begins with awareness. Consumers commencement must be aware that there are different brands for the product they want to buy even before fashioning a purchase termination, for which indite is very important to form awareness. emphasizing ACER INDIA Acer India was incorporated in September 9, 1999 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Acer Inc. , the worlds no(prenominal) 4 PC brand.Acers mission in India is to sympathise the groups goal in qualification computer engine room easier to use and more affordable-to everyone in this country. In shot span, Acer has managed to tide over the gap in the midst of product launches worldwide and in India and also unfold fresh engine room without any inventory backlog. Headquartered in Bangalore, today Acer India has offices in twelve cities including Ahemedabed, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur,New Delhi, Pune, Secunderabed and has its uniload facility in Pondicherry. I has now a customer base of over 180,000 in India.There are over 125 human resource team in India comes with over 700 man-year of IT experience, gear to listen and provide to the IT substance abuser in India the very best in sales & marketing support, after-sales support backed up with al-Qaida to destine refine fresh technology to India. GROWING WITH TIME The history of ACER starts from a capacious way back making its steps of success in every step it takes. 1976-1983 Commercializing microprocessor technology Acer is founded under the visit Multitech Designs mainland Chinas offshoot mass-produced compute for export.Becomes the first company to elicit 16-bit PC products in Taiwan 1984-1994 Build brand awareness and extend Acer Peripherals, now know as BenQ corp. , and Multiventure Investments Inc. established Acer vex IBM with 32 bit PCs Acer Inc. launches IPO Acer creates the worlds first 3865x 33 chip dance band Acer introduces the worlds first multiple Intel Pentium PC Acre introduces Chip Up technology, the worlds first 386-to-486 unit of measurementness chip CPU upgrade solution 1994-2004 Transform from manufacturing to services Acer introduces the worlds first dual Intel Pentium PCAspire Park, genus Acers multifunctional high-tech intelligence park inaugurated Acer launches Aspire, the multimedia PC, creating a new bench marks for home computers Acer re-engineers its OEM unit to create Wiston Crop. , an independent design and IT manufacturing company Acer reveals a new multiplication of e-business MegaMicro e-Enabling operates Acer notebook dictateed first in horse opera Europe. 2004 Acer wins awards in all product categories AC 713 rated the best achievement ov ersees Altos G 520 Server gets Digit Best Buy Gold demo Veriton 7600 rated the Editors Choice TravelMate 292 LCi rated Best executing noebookKEY SUCCESES IN 2005/2006 2005 populaces no. 4 total PC and notebook brand, with highest growth rates among the top five. No. 3 for total PCs in EMEA. No. 1 notebook in EMEA. No. 1 notebook crosswise 13 European countries France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, Russia, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. No. 3 notebook in Asia Pacific, with highest growth rate among top ten. No. 1 notebook in Thailand, Malaysia and In dosia. No. 1 for total PCs in Taiwan. Enjoyed highest growth rates among the top-10 vendors for total PCs and notebooks in the U. S No. LCD monitors worldwide. No. 3 notebook worldwide 2006 Worlds no. 4 total PC and notebook brand, with highest growth rate. No. 3 for total settings WW No. 1 notebook in Europe and ASEAN block PRODUCT SUITE ply To Perform Few IT companies h ug drug the breadth and depth of products that the Acer radical does. Acer is the altogether PC vendor in India that has a product for distributively market segment-be it a large corporates, the SME, SOHO or even the cut intoing point office enterprises. The product line includes a broad array of personal computing products segmented under the desktop, laptop computer and server categories.Acer India Pvt. Ltd. has a vast product portfolio. The four main product categories are as follows 1) Desktops 2) Notebooks There are many more sub- divided products under each different product variety. Those are as follows DESKTOPS In the desktop segment, Acers product range spans the SOHO segment, corner office, manageable desktops, SMEs, STPI etcetera this makes Acer the provided PC Company that stands such a wide range. some other companies have products that are not distinct, and overlap each of these segments. Acer Aspire Series Desktops strengthened to cater to a growing call fo r in the home segment.Acers continuing commitment to get down technology closer to our customers has resulted in a core technology that is now integrated into our entire product range. Acers Em big businessmaning Technology presents users with tender and intuitive interface by presenting a single key and avocation a simple 123 process, gives fast and slack access to cutting-edge ironware and software solutions. Veriton Series Ideal for enterprises large or small, Veriton PCs are built for peak performance, with security features, proven system reliability, and convenience offer that set off productivity and perfect business sense.The current desktops range are as down the stairs with a wide variety of product line. ASPIRE V820 The straightaway dual core DT from Acer, the Aspire V820 is powered by a in style(p) Intel Pentium D 820 (2. 8 GHz) is configured with 256 MB RAM for powerful performance features a DVD/CD-R/W combo drive comes fitted with a 80 GB SATA HDD for ample stock space connects to a set of functional speakers for the multimedia experience offers a 56 Kbps fax/modem port and a 10/ carbon Mbps Ethernet port for flexible connectivity and, presentations vide a 17 CRT monitor for comfortable viewing. COMMERCIAL MODELS Acer Power (945GZ)The Acer Power 945GZ offers users high end features like Gigabit LAN and PCI Express X16 technology at value for money prices. Acer Power M8 Acer becomes the first in India to commercially launch the new Socket AM2 based AMD products offering the power of DDR-II SDRAM on AMD platform. Acer Power 335 Acer Power 335 is the Entry direct product for customers looking for Value machine with complete judicial admissions Notebooks Acer was among the first to build notebooks with Intel Centrino mobile technology, liberating users to work witj wireless environments, offering wireless mobility for the new age road warrior.Acers laptops have revolutionary features that offer an astounding battery life, thermal foc ussing- more than nay other laptop offering. Acer TravelMate Series A range of the worlds roughly award wining notebooks, Acer TravelMate is designed to empower enterprises SMB and SOHO users with the ultimate in mobile computing performance. Available at every possible price point, and offering fantastic value by dint of innovations like Disc Anti-Shock Protection System, unfermented Card Security, and high-speed wireless capability to name a few.Acer Ferrari Series This is the result of the victorious partnership with Scuderia Ferrari the Ferrari series of notebooks sport the patent Ferrari-Black& Red color, and offers sheer performance thats truly worthy of Ferraris passion and Acers technology. The various fictional characters of products in the notebook series are showcased below. TravelMate 2420 Series Rich entertainment with long lasting mobility Driven by an Centrino 1. 7GHz Processor, 14. 1 vast Screen XGA TFT Screen, 6-cell battery and wireless 802. 1b/g connectivi ty for long lasting mobility, the TravelMate 2428NWXCi is extremely rich in features. This trendy notebook is packed with Centrino Mobile technology, dual- telephone line memory, 60 GB huge storage- giving users everything they need for work and play for peerless value KEYFEATURES Pure portability- Weighing just 1. 40 kgs and measuring the surface of an A4 notepad, the TravelMate 3000 is easy to take from one meeting to other Centrino with 915 Chipset- The TravelMate 3000 adopts the new generation of Intel Centrino mobile technology- Sonoma Platform (915 hipset) Phenomenal battery power- some other(prenominal) first in the industry, Acer has bundled two batteries with the TravelMate 3000, delivering full-day performance for on-the-go users. Acer GridVista, an advanced(a) software utility, boosts convenience and efficiency. Especially useful for making the most of 12. 1 WXGA wide-aspect LCDs, Acer GridVista automatically resizes open application windows to fit the screen, simultaneously SERVERS In the server category, Acer dominates the entry and mid level space, which actually constitutes 90% of the total server market.Acer offers everything from basic data storage to full fledged enterprise solutions. Acer Altos Series Commercial users and enterprises derive unmatched value from Altos Servers and storage solutions. These ranges of servers accentuate reliability and manageability features, along with unrivalled flexibility in terms of implementation. For business applications that demand high performance, high availability and more flexibility, Acer Altos rack-mounted servers provide the ultimate solution. Under this type of product there are a large number of secern products. more or less of which are as given below KEY FEATURES Scalability and Performance Provide excellent performance and scalability beyond 40TB in a passing cost-effective SATA-based package for small companies. Consolidation Reduce the number of storage systems, maximize sto rage utilization, improve storage administrators productivity, and lower management costs. industry QoS open cache to specific applications and volumes to enhance performance. Configuration Flexibility Dedicate to specific mission-critical applications, deploy as part of a first SAN in small enterprises, or integrate into a tiered storage infrastructure for rchive, backup, or tape replacement in larger companies. Peripherals Acer hold PDAs These support a variety of mobile platforms and operating systems, giving customers easy access to their critical data. Streamlined and fashionable, Acer handhelds are available in both standard and wireless models for both work-related and personal tasks any time, any place. Acer Displays Acer offers a rainbow-spectrum of devices that suit all kinds of working environments and user needs, including TFT and LCD monitors, optical drives, projectors and multi-function drives. Acer ProjectorsAcers projectors bring you an incredible investment t o forgather all home entertainment and business needs. There are troikasome different peripherals the Acer India Pvt. Ltd. is foc utilise on. They are the LCD monitors, the CRT monitors and the projectors. Some of them are explained below LCD monitors Acer AL900 Series LCD Monitor Benefits 5001 contrast ratio For strikingly vivid images Wide viewing angle Allows more enjoyment for more people apace response time gaps dynamic graphics and advanced animated games VESA mole mounting Allows easy mounting Kensington lock Secures your monitor from theft constitutive(a) speakers For freedom from bulky boxes Auto- home base Gives full-screen display Auto-adjustment Provides self-adjusting screen settings True color support Renders picture-pure viewing PROJECTORS There is a wide product range in projectors section which comprises of 1) Acer PD115 2) Acer XD 1150 3) Acer XD 1170D 4) Acer XD 1270D 5) Acer PD113 6) Acer PD725 7) Acer PD523 8) Acer PD523 All these have a common display system working with called the DLP system, and also all these products have the capacity of displaying 16. 7 million colors.They mainly vary in their computer compatibility, video compatibility, swelling lens, projection screen size (diagonal), projection distance, lamp life etc. enquiry DESIGN METHODOLOGY Research task Study the brand awareness of Acer India in the cities Bangalore, Chennai and Coimbatore focusing on the segments students, SMEs and working pen. Research nature This project is a complete market inquiry. Market research is the only function that relates or links the organization to its market and in turn to its customers by first studying the consumer behavior which then helps in victorian planning accordingly.This is the valid information which allows the organization to identify and define the market related opportunities and problems. This information allows for the generation, refinement and evaluation of marketing activities. Regular market r esearch and thorough study of the consumer behavior towards a companys products permits the organization to be on par with the changing consumer attitude towards their products. It gum olibanum facilitates monitoring the marketing performance and improved understanding of marketing as a business process. Research scopeThe scope of this market research can be divided into two major divisions which include demographic segmentation In demographic segmentation, the market is divided into groups on the buttocks of variables such as age, family life cycle, gender, income, occupation, education, religion, race, generation, nationality and social class. Here the survey was interpreted by dividing the groups on the background of age and occupation. The tierce main segment groups were college students, working compose (first and encourage job people) and the Small and Medium Enterprises (taking 40, 40 and 20 respectively).The age factor was also set to be amidst18 to 40 and throughout the survey care was taken about the age limit. The data was collected from college students belonging to professional, agricultural, textile and arts background. To name a few the different colleges include PSG tech, Kumara guru college of technology, Alliance business academy, Indian Institute of proviso Management, Ohio University Christ college, Loyola college, Crescent Engineering college, Agricultural university( Coimbatore).This variety was chosen so as to find out if any new market segment or untapped market can be spotted. The working profiled people also includes professionals from companies like Accenture, Oracle, Travel Guru, Roots, Pricol, Numeric power systems and so on Geographic segmentation Geographic segmentation calls for dividing the market into different geographic units such as nations, states, regions, countries, cities or neighborhoods. The survey was carried on in 3 different cities namely Bangalore, Chennai and Coimbatore.This was done in the intension of collecting information from two first tier cities where a large population already uses laptops and desktops. This was done to study the variation in the behavior and attitudes of these people and their inclination towards branded PC vendors. The choice of the two tier city Coimbatore was to study the perception of the laptops and desktops and their usage in the peoples mind. Also the perception of the different brands was noted with the main concentration on Acer products. This was done with the intention to explore the potential market there and their requirements.Research tool The research instrument used was a structured questionnaire covering the areas that lead to the solution of the objective. This includes measures like Acers market penetration, its visibility in comparison with other brands, awareness to their advertisements and promotions, the customer media habits, their perception towards Acer etc. Data compilation and analysis methodology The sample size of ternion hu ndred was integrated and compiled in software called Statistical Package for companionable Science (SPSS).This is comprehensive statistical software that includes the capabilities for data analysis, data management and programming which enables the analysts in generating close making information quickly using powerful statistics. ANALYSIS BASIC ATTITUDES AWARENESS CHECK 1) Channel through which Acer was first heard geographically The means through which people came to know about Acer for the first time was noted. This helps in reengineering the channel that can be adopted to penetrate market. pic (Sample size c per city) check mark 1 Parameters/ Friends/relatives/ TV paper Magazine profits Segments Associates Coimbatore 33% 11% 9% 9 % 10% Chennai 27. 3% 11. 1% 18. 2% 7. 1% 9. 1% Bangalore 27. % 13. 1% 17. 2% 19. 2% 8. 1% Demographically pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) substantiation 2 Parameters/ Friends/relatives/ TV Newspaper Magazine Internet Segments Associates Students 33. 1% 16. 1% 12. 1% 12. 1% 8. % SME 21. 4% 7. 1% 19. 6% 14. 3% 10. 7% running(a) profile 30. 0% 9. 2% 15% 10% 9. 2% cross off VISIBILITY CHECK geographically sensory faculty of a brand can be created only when it is made seeable to the people and especially to the potential customers. The three segments regarded here shows varied visibility of the brand Acer. pic (Sample size deoxycytidine monophosphate per city) chit 3 NO profile Low visibility Average visibility level-headed visibility in truth good visibility Coimbatore 36% (36) 19% (19) 20% (20) 18% 18) 7% (7) Chennai 34. 7% (34) 17. 3% (17) 23. 5% 17. 3%(17) 7. 1% (7) (23) Bangalore 12. % (12) 30. 1% (28) 21. 5% (20) 30. 1% (28) 5. 4% (5) Demographically pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) chip 4 Parameters/ No Low Average Good visibility rattling good visibility Places visibility Visibility Visibility STUDENTS 32. 8% 15. 6% 23. % 20. 5% 7. 4% SME 27. 5% 23. 5% 19. 6% 23. 5% 5. 9% wor kings PROFILE PEOPLE 24. 2% 27. 5% 20% 22. 5% 5. 8% ADVERTISING AWARENESSGeographically pic (Sample size illumine speed each) Awareness towards Acers promotional activities pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) TAB 5 Parameters/ Places Seen Acer advertisements Seen Acer Promotions Coimbatore 51% 9% Chennai 53. 5% 16. 2% Bangalore 62. 6% 33. % The advertisements and promotional activities which come under the bottom line projects were checked if it contributed to the awareness. The Acer advertisements were find by most of the people in all the three cities. alone still on an average almost 50% of the bear on has not seen Acer advertisements which create a lot of gap for the brand in reaching people completely. The promotions which Acer conducts were also not find much by the people. On an average more than 70 to 80% of the people do not have any idea of the promotional activities done by ACER. DemographicallyAwareness towards Acer advertisements and promotional activities p ic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) Awareness of promotional activities pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) TAB 6 Parameters/ occupation Seen Acer advertisements Seen Acer Promotions Students 63. 7% 22. 6% SME 44. 6% 12. 5% on the job(p) profile 53. % 20. 0% THE MEDIA HABITS Geographically pic (Sample size light speed each) Demographically TAB 7 Parameters/ occupation MEDIATV MEDIA NEWSPAPER Students 65. 3% 50. 8% SME 46. 3% 42. % working(a) profile 61. 7% 65% pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) Media habitsnewspaper Geographically pic (Sample size 100 each) Demographically pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) Media habitsMagazine Demographically pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) pic (Sample size 100)TAB 8 Parameters/ occupation MEDIAMagazine MEDIA Internet Students 37. 9% 15. 3% SME 21. 4% 16. 1% Working profile 45. 8% 33. 3% Media habitsinternet Geographically pic Demographically pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) 4) Visibility check through the number of visits to the retail outlets Geographically This check is mainly done to measure the visibility by the frequency of visit to Acer retail outlets. The brand HP has the highest hit for the customer visit to retail outlets. Very less number of people has visited the Acer malls (the retail outlets) in all the three places. On an average much less than 10% of the sample have visited the Acer malls, which is very less to the 40% visit rate to the HP retail outlets. pic (Sample size 100 each) pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) Purchasing decision evaluating the product Geographically Since the awareness rate differs betwixt different cities the purchasing decision and the evaluation of the products may also vary. Before the purchase decision occurs there is a stage called the evaluation stage where people examine and examine the products of the brand they are aware off which finally leads to the procurement of the product. pic (Sample size 100) TAB 9 Parameters/ Word of Comparing Media Checking Seeing demo Places Mouth Specifications Offer Coimbatore 32% 71% 28% 22% 32% Chennai 25% 62% 27% 22% 32% Bangalore 38% 52% 26% 22% 28% Means That Facilitate the Purchasing finding Demographic Segmentation Demographically pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) Purchasing decision can be influenced by a lot of factors which can in all change the buying pattern itself. When analyzed here on the basis of the demographic segments the inferences and major findings were as follows STUDENTS 35. 5% through compare judicial admissions 12. 1% word of peach & checking judicial admission. 5. 6% checking offer & checking specification. 5. 6% checking & media. SME 10. 7% Checking specification& analyse specifications 10. 7% comparing specification 8. 9% word of mouth 8. 9% word of mouth & checking specification 8. 9% word of mouth and checking offer WORKING PROFILE 20% comparing specification 12. 5% checking offer & checking specifications. 11. 7% checking specification & media 9. 2% word mouth & checking specifications BRAND PERCEPTION Geographically pic (Sample size 100) TAB 10 Parameters/ Places Acer perceive as an MNC brand Coimbatore 62% Chennai 67% Bangalore 71% Demographically pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) TAB 11 Parameters/ Acer perceive as an Segments MNC brand Students 42. % SME 17% Working people 40. 7% military rank the parameters concerned with the products of Acer Geographically Some parameters linked with the product of Acer were also asked to rank like quality, price, service, features and performance. Rating quality pic (Sample size 100) TAB 12 Parameters/ woeful Fair Good Very good exquisite Place Coimbatore 3. 1% 19. 4% 35. 7% 15. 3% 10. 2% Chennai 1% 11. 2% 43. 9% 18. 4% 12. % Bangalore 4. 3% 23. 7% 47. 3% 14% 4. 3% Demographically Rating quality TAB 13 Parameters/ ugly Fair Good Very good small Segments Students 4. 1% 22% 42. 3% 13% 8. % SME 2. 0% 18% 38. 0% 22% 8. 0% Working profile 2. 5% 13. 6% 44. 1% 16. 1% 9. 3% pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) On an average all the three segments tincture that the qualities of Acer products are good. This comes around 41. 5% of the population. Rating service pic (Sample size 100) TAB 14 Parameters/ sad Fair Good Very good Excellent Places Coimbatore 7. 1% 25. 5% 36. 7% 13. 3% 1% Chennai 3. 1% 26. 5% 39. 8% 16. 3% 1% Bangalore 2. 2% 32. 2% 33. 3% 25. 6% O% Rating Acers serviceDemographically TAB 15 Parameters/ little Fair Good Very good Excellent Segments Students 5. 0% 33. 1% 35. 5% 16. 5% 0% SME 4. 0% 46% 30% 20% 0% Working profile 4. % 33. 4% 27. 3% 18. 8% 1. 7% pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) Rating price Geographically TAB 16 Parameters / Poor Fair Good Very good Excellent Place Coimbatore 2% 17. 3% 35. 7% 26. 5% 2. 0% Chennai 2. % 12. 4% 32. 0% 33. 0% 8. 2% Bangalore 4. 3% 9. 7% 28% 36. 6% 15. 1% pic (Sample size 100) Rating price Demographically Tab 17 Parameters/ Poor Fair Good Very good Exc ellent Segments Students 1. % 14. 6% 39. 8% 28. 5% 5. 7% SME 4. 1% 16. 3% 22. 4% 34. 7% 12. 2% Working profile 3. 4% 10. 2% 28% 33. 9% 10. 2% pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) RATING PERFORMANCE Geographically pic (Sample size 100) TAB 18 Parameters / Poor Fair Good Very good Excellent Place Coimbatore 2. 0% 10. 2% 33. 7% 29. 6% 8. 2% Chennai 2. 0% 7. 1% 37. 8% 34. 7% 5. 1% Bangalore 3. 3% 30. 4% 22. 8% 34. 8% 2. % Rating performance Demographically TAB 19 Parameters/ Poor Fair Good Very good Excellent Segments Students 3. 3% 16. 3% 39% 28. 5% 3. 3% SME 4. 0% 12. 0% 26. 0% 38. 0% 8% Working profile 0. % 17. 1% 26. 5% 35. 0% 6. 0% pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) RATING FEATURES Geographically pic (Sample size 100) TAB 20 Parameters / Poor Fair Good Very good Excellent Place Coimbatore 2. 0% 10. 2% 38. 8% 21. 4% 11. 2% Chennai 1. % 3. 1% 41. 8% 29. 6% 11. 2% Bangalore 5. 4% 20. 7% 30. 4% 28. 3% 8. 7% RATING THE FEATURES Demographically TAB 21 Pa rameters/ Poor Fair Good Very good Excellent Segments Students 3. 3% 13. % 45. 5% 22. 8% 4. 9% SME 2. 0% 10% 22. 0% 36% 18% Working profile 2. 6% 10. 3% 34. 2% 25. 6% 12. 8% pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) DEGREE TO WHICH ACER PRODUCTS ARE RECOMMENDED Geographically pic (Sample size 100 each) TAB 22 Parameters/ Def. not Not sure Probably not Would probably Would def. Places Coimbatore 1% 38% 10% 42% 9% Chennai 2% 38. 4% 8. 1% 42. 4% 9. 1% Bangalore 6. 1% 19. 2% 7. 1% 51. 5% 16. 3% Demographically TAB 23 Parameters/ Would def. not Not sure Probably not Probably would Def. would Segments Students 4% 36. 3% 10. 5% 45. 2% 4. 0% SME 1. 8% 23. 3% 3. 6% 53. 6% 17. 9% Working profile 2. 5% 32. % 8. 3% 40. 8% 15. 8% pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) On an average 46. 5% of the people would probably propose Acer products to his/ her friends/ associates or relatives. somewhat 30. 7% of the people on average are not sure if they would recommend and around 12. 55% of the people would definitely recommend. Demographically condition set for Acer desktops Frequency of people having Acer in their favor set STUDENTS 31. 5% were sure that while making decisions they would consider the Acer products. SME slightly 50% of the people would consider Acer while making purchase decisions Working profile About 41. 7% of the people would consider Acer during purchase decisions. pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) Acer notebooks in the consideration set Geographically pic (Sample size 100 each) TAB 24 Parameters/ Places Acer desktops Acer notebooks Coimbatore 35% 56% Chennai 36. % 55. 6% Bangalore 46. 5% 52. 5% Demographically pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) STUDENTS 47. 6% were sure that while making decisions they would consider the Acer notebooks. SME Around 58. 9% of the people would consider Acer notebooks while making purchase decisions Working profile About 59. 2% of the people would consider Acer notebooks during purchase decisions. g ustatory modality setAcer desktops GeographicallyAcers share in the sense of taste set of the people TAB 25 Parameter/ foremost gustatory sensation certify penchant third gear preference Places Coimbatore 10% 30% 60% Chennai 9. 4% 28. 1% 62. 5% Bangalore 17. % 41. 2% 41. 2% pic (Sample size 100 each) TAB 26 Demographically Parameter/ First preference Second preference Third preference Places Students 60. 6% 33. 3% 6. 1% SME 46. 2% 38. 55 15. 4% Working profile 48. 8% 34. 1% 17. 1% pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) Preference for notebooks Geographically pic (Sample size 100 each) TAB 27 Parameters/ First preference Second preference Third preference Places Coimbatore 10. % 57. 9% 31. 6% Chennai 12% 36. 0% 52% Bangalore 27. 3% 29. 5% 43. 2% DemographicallyAcer notebooks in preference set pic (Sample size 40, 2 0 and 40) TAB 28 Parameter/ First preference Second preference Third preference Places students 52. 8% 30. 6% 16. 7% SME 45. 5% 36. 4% 18. 2% Working profile 39. 4% 44. % 20. 9% FINDINGS The general attitudes and awareness of the brand Acer is analyzed Channel through which Acer was first heard of Geographically People came to know about Acer products and brand to a greater extent from friends/ relatives / associates which contributes to about 30% in each city on an average. Newspaper awareness contributed to around 14. 8% and magazine contribution was around 12%. Demographically Students came to know about Acer through friends /relatives / associates which contributed about 33. 1%. About 12. % each through newspaper and magazine. Nearly 17. 8 % of the people have not heard of Acer. SME came to know about Acer through friends / relatives and associates to about 21. 4%. Newspaper contributed to about 19. 6% and magazine to about 14. 3% to the awareness of Acer for the first time. 25% of the people have not heard about Acer. Working profile about 30% contribution was due to friends / relatives / associates. 15% cont ribution by newspaper. About 23. 7% of the people have not heard of Acer. Brand visibility Index Geographically The visibility superpower from the analysis is Coimbatore 2. 41 Chennai 2. Bangalore 2. 65 This indicated that Acer as a brand lies between low and average visibility district. Demographically The visibility major power is Students 2. 54 SME 3. 45 Working profile 2. 58 This indicates that Acer has low visibility for the student and working profile segment. It has average visibility in the SME segment Awareness towards Acer advertisements and promotional activities Geographically On an average 55. 6% of the people have seen Acer advertisements taking all the three cities in to consideration. Acer promotional activities were not noticed in a very negligible pattern. Coimbatore only 9% of the people have noticed an Acer promotion. Chennai around 16. 2% have seen Acer promotions Bangalore about 34. 3% of the people have noticed Acer promotional activities. De mographically Acer advertisements Students 63. 7% has noticed Acer advertisements SME 44. 6% has noticed Acer advertisements Working profile 53. 3% has noticed Acer advertisements Acer promotions Students 22. 6% has noticed Acer promotions SME 12. 5% has noticed Acers promotional activities Working profile 20. 0% has noticed Acers promotional activitiesNumber of visits to Acer retail outlets (in the past six months) Geographically Coimbatore On the whole HP has the highest count of about 44% Visit to Acer retail outlet is 1% Chennai Again HP being the highest with about 33. 3% of visit About 6% of the people visited Acer retail outlets Bangalore HP with 21. 2% is once more the highest hit. About 19. 2% visit to Acer retail outlets. Demographically Students On the whole HP has the highest count of about 44% Visit to Acer retail outlet is 1% SME Again HP being the highest with about 33. % of visit About 6% of the people visited Acer retail outlets Working profile HP with 21. 2% is again the highest hit. About 19. 2% visit to Acer retail outlets. Measures that people secure before their purchase decisionevaluating the product Geographically Coimbatore 71% purchases occur by comparing specifications 50% purchases also hazard by comparing specification and checking offers 32% word of mouth Chennai 62% purchases occur by comparing specification. 45% purchases through comparing specification and checking offers. 27% through media 32% perceive demoBangalore 52% comparing specification 38% word of mouth 30% comparing specification and checking offers 26% through media Demographically Students 35. 5% of the purchases through comparing specifications 12. 1% through word of mouth 5. 6% each through checking offer and comparing specifications SME 10. 7% of purchase through comparing specification and checking Offer 10. 7% only comparing specification 9% each through word of mouth & checking offer, word of mouth & Checking specifica tion and checking specification and seeing demo. Working profile 20% of the purchase through comparing specification 12. 5% through checking offer & comparing specification 11. 7% checking specification & media BRAND PERCEPTION CHECK Perception linked with the brand name Acer is still perceived to be in collaboration with Wipro. So it is giving a perception of a national brand amongst most people. Geographically Coimbatore only 62% of the people are aware that Acer is an MNC Chennai 67% had the awareness Bangalore 71% of the people knew that Acer is an MNC. Demographically Students only 42. 5% perceive Acer as an MNC SME only 17% of the SME perceive Acer as an MNC Working profile 40. 7% perceive Acer as an MNC. Perception on the product parameters An index is got from the analysis which gives the quality index in the three different cities. This is done on a plateful of 1 to 5 indicating where the parameter actually lies. Quality Geographically Coimbatore 2. 56 Chennai 2. 84 Bangalore 2. 65 From the above data it is clear that Acer quality vice it lies in the fair zone but far towards good. Demographically Students 1. 9 SME 2. 8 Working profile 2. 72 Students perceive Acers quality to be fair.Both SME and working profile perceive Acers quality to be good. Service Geographically Coimbatore 2. 22 Chennai 2. 41 Bangalore 2. 42 From the above data it is clear that Acer quality vice it lies in the lower fair zone. Demographically Students 2. 43 SME 2. 38 Working profile 2. 05 The weighted average shows that the service of Acer perceived by the three different segments is invariably fair. Price. Geographically Coimbatore 2. 55 Chennai 2. 87 Bangalore 3. 06 From the above data it is clear that Acer quality vice it lies in the fair zone in Coimbatore and far towards good in Chennai.In Bangalore price vice perception for Acer is good Demographically Students 2. 9 SME 2. 69 Working profile 2. 9 The data above shows that the price of Acer pr oducts is perceived to be good invariably in all three segments. Performance Geographically Coimbatore 2. 77 Chennai 2. 88 Bangalore 2. 60 From the above data it is clear that Acer quality vice it lies in between the fair and good zone. Demographically Students 2. 82 SME 2. 98 Working profile 2. 86 The data shows that the performance of Acer products is perceived to be in between fair and good but more given towards good. Features Geographically Coimbatore 2. 75 Chennai 3. 01 Bangalore 2. 71 From the above data it is clear that in Coimbatore and Bangalore Acer quality vice it lies in between the fair and good zone. In Chennai it lies in the good zone. Demographically Students 2. 829 SME 3. 22 Working profile 2. 92 The data shows indicates that students and working profile perceive the features of Acer products to be in between fair and good. The SMEs perceive the features of Acer products to be good. Degree to which Acer products are recommended GeographicallyTaking th e weighted average mean into consideration and rating the different parameters on the scale of 1 to 5 people feel that Coimbatore 3. 2 Chennai 3. 15 Bangalore 3. 49 The respondents feel that they would probably not recommend Acer products to their friends / relatives / associates. Demographically Students 3. 05 SME 3. 625 Working profile 3. 35 Students and working profile people feel that they would probably not recommend Acer to their known ones. SMEs response lies in between probably not to probably would and more inclined(p) towards probably would.Checking if Acer desktops falls in the consideration set and in the preference set Geographically Coimbatore 35% people considers Acer desktops while they are considering buying one. But when it narrows down to the preference set out of the 100 respondents only 30 respondents like Acer desktops and their preference level in the scale of 1 to 3 is 1. 5. This represents somewhere between third and endorse preference. Che nnai 36. 4% of the people have Acer desktops in their consideration set when they are to buy desktops. But it comes to the preference set the response is 1. 68 in the scale of 1 to 3. That is it somewhere between third and second preference. Bangalore 46. 5% of the people consider Acer desktops when they plan for a purchase but their preference level in a scale of 1 to 3 is 0. 629. That is even below third preference. Or could be taken as a few people prefer Acer desktops as their third preference. Demographically Students 31. 5% of the people feel that they would consider Acer desktops when they go for a purchase. Out of which when it comes to the preference set only 33 responses were there. In the scale of 1 to 3 it lays around 1. 5 which indicates their preference lies between third and second preference. SME Around 50% of the respondents would consider Acer desktops while they decide a purchase. In the preference set only 13 responses where there and their preference lies between third and second preference more inclined towards second preference. Working profile About 41. 7% would consider Acer desktops when they go for a purchase. Out of the consideration set only 41 responses preferred Acer desktops. Their preference lies between third and second preference (1. 68) in the scale of 1 to 3.Checking if Acer laptops falls in the consideration set and in the preference set Coimbatore 56% people considers Acer laptops while they are considering buying one. But when it narrows down to the preference set out of the 100 respondents only 19 respondents preferred Acer laptops and their preference level in the scale of 1 to 3 is 1. 789. This represents somewhere between third and second preference. Chennai 55. 6% of the people have Acer desktops in their consideration set when they are to buy laptops. But it comes to the preference set the response is 1. 6 in the scale of 1 to 3.That is it somewhere between third and second preference. Bangalore 52. 5% of the people consider Acer laptops when they plan for a purchase but their preference level in a scale of 1 to 3 is 1. 8. That is even below third preference. Or could be taken as a few people prefer Acer desktops as their third preference The preference fro an Acer laptop, on the whole is between third and second preference and more towards third preference. That for Acer laptop is also between third and second preference but inclined more towards second preference. Demographically Students 47. % of the people have Acer notebooks in their consideration set out of which only 36 people have it in their preference set and their ranking for preference in the scale of 1 to 3 is 1. 638. this indicates that their preference lies between third and second preference inclined towards second preference. SME 58. 9% of the respondents say that they would consider Acer products but their preference level in the scale of 1 to 3 is 1. 7, heading towards second preference. Working Profile 59. 2% have Acer in their consideration set and their preference level in the scale of 1 to 3 it lies at 2. 1 indicating that working profile people have Acer notebooks as their second preference. CONCLUSION The awareness of the brand Acer is average which is due to the low visibility of the brand to the customers. There is not enough advertisement and promotional activities that is undertaken to boost the brand. There must be a lot of investment made make the brand more visible. This will help the brand to build itself strong. The channel through Acer became aware to many people is through word of mouth. But to some extent even through internet and newspaper. There must be another research conducted to check if the word of mouth propagation is ctually causing a positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement. There are about 20% of the people who have not heard of Acer. The inwardness of advertisements and promotions that we undertake is also comparatively low and it is not bein g noticed much. This is in turn affecting the visibility of the brand compared to the other brands that really manage a great amount of advertisements even being a new entrant in the market. This also is leading to the relatively low number of visits to the Acer retail outlets though having the highest network. Acer is also being perceived still as a national brand which is in collaboration with Wipro.People are not sure if Acer is an Indian or a foreign brand, which actually creates a wrong vibration in the purchase decision chain of the customers. SUGGESTIONS / RECOMMENDATIONS First thing that we need to do is change that perception and project ourselves as an MNC with the Indian emotions filled in it. We need to target our customer segment properly and advertise our product and brand We must focus on the other means of throwing light on the band like TV commercials, internet banners and magazine printed ads because the amount of people with media habits as TV, newspaper, interne t is really huge. Acer has to be made awareness first regionally and then nationally. Tying up with educational institutions will increase the awareness and also the leads. Acer needs to specify its target segment as to which is potential. The segment suggested is SMEs and college students. Acer needs to set its target properly and focus Advertisements to hit them especially the TV commercials. pattern gift offers and vouchers with the product also will help a lot to draw the attention of the customers. Online banner Advertisements can be designed and can be displayed on the widely used sites especially in messengers like Yahoo and Google talk. Popup inviting users to participate in online survey can be designed and implemented so that the perception of the people can be known periodically. Huge hoardings with the endorsed celebrity can be designed and put o places where are forced to see such as in the signals, near direction boards, outside famous malls, on road dividers e tc. Service and support is one factor which has to be worked out properly. Providing good incentives and schemes to the dealers as Acer in India will help a lot as it is still a push product. Sponsoring for big events like the filmy events which happen and also sport. APPENDIX Dear RespondentI am a student of Ohio University, Christ College carrying out a research project titled brand awareness and consumer perception of the branded PC vendors. I ask you to kindly fill in this questionnaire. All the information provided by you will be strictly confidential and will be used only for academic purposes. Please put a tick mark or circle the bullets where ever necessary. 1. Do you own a Personal ready reckoner / Notebook? Desktop Yes If yes, which brand? ____________ No Notebook Yes If yes, which brand? ____________ No 2. Which brand would you prefer to buy while buying a desktop or notebook? (HP, Lenovo, Acer, Dell Inc. Toshiba) 2. (a) Desktop ( rate your preference) rate 1 2 3 Brand Reason 2. (b) Notebook ( rate your preference) Rank 1 2 3 Brand Reason