• Proposed short & long term marketing strategies using Arthasastra principles to establish as a top class steel producer. Identified levers that management needs to pull to increase the market share. Suggested the cost-effective and innovative ways to increase the brand equity.

1. Team members : I PGDM
 Deepak.J
 Ram Aravindhan.L
 Sarath kumar.R
 Srishnath.A
The Search for a Sweet-spot

2. • In the 4th Century BC, Chanakya documented his ideas on leadership and strategy
in the popularly known book ‘Arthashastra’
• Ancient principles of management contribution to the subject of warfare strategy
• No wonder Arthashastra is quoted by various CEOs in their strategy plans
Benefits that Arthashastra deals with
Protecting and expanding
• If you have achieved something, it has to be saved and protected
• Think of how to expand – ‘investment planning’
Destroy the wrong
• Helps in destroying material and monetary losses with the help of good planning
and implementation
• Strategies that have practical application in daily business life (2)

3. Question 1(a)
What Strategies Mr. Rao can implement to manufacture top-class steel ?
“If I were to create something new, I would study all that is best and make my product
even better.” (1.1.1)
(3)

4. “The king brings under his sway his own party as well as the party of the enemies, by the
use of the treasury and the army.” (1.4.2)
Treasury Or Finance : A financially strong company can easily attract better employees
• Investing in 'smart factories’ the combination of automation and IT is the next
wave of production
Army Or Manpower : Good employee makes good business
• Recruit and invest in the right people – train them and pay them well
• Company should train its top executives and its sales teams on design thinking
(4)

5. • General Electric (GE) is making a $200 million gambit of bringing
the latest in manufacturing to India
• German auto giant Volkswagen's India plant, also in Pune, has 114
robots and invested in advanced manufacturing
Why Smart Factory ?
• Quality increases profitability
• Smart factories will create many more jobs in the logistics chain
(5)

6. Design Thinking: Differentiation Strategy
• Innovation process in startup are different from those in large companies
• When new products require large investments in engineering
Good Design is Good for Business
• “Companies that embrace Design Thinking outperform those that don’t by a
whopping 228 percent. “ by Design Management Institute
• Apple, Ford, Herman Miller, Target, Disney, Whirlpool, Nike and Starbucks
“2013 Tata Steel launched 30 new products and services - a record for the NPD
programme - and volumes of new products sold rose by about three-quarters.”
Chairman Cyrus Mistry
(6)

7. Question 1(b)
What Strategies Mr. Rao can implement to create pan India presence?
(7)

8. • Three ways:
– District Level Dealership (As in case of JSW steel)
– New plants in new locations (Greenfield expansion)
– Acquiring companies (Brownfield expansion)
District Level Dealership ?
• Steel rolling capacity of Faulad steel: 1 Lakh mtpa
• “Faulad steel has a capacity of just 28% of Bhushan”
(8)

9. • “Wealth and power comes from the countryside, which is the source of all
activities” (7.14.19)
• Go rural , is the theme of every big corporation today eg. ITC’s e-choupal
• Rural per capita Steel consumption is very low – 15Kg
(9)

10. “ Acquisition is of three kinds – new, formerly possessed, and inherited.” (13.5.2)
Can acquire sick companies:
• For example (latest sick companies):
- Shree Sanyeeji Steel & Power Ltd, Kolkata
- Shaifali Steels Ltd, Gandhinagar (Source : http://bifr.nic.in/)
-Sharad Mahendra, VP Sales and Marketing,
JSW Steel Limited– Mumbai
(10)

11. Question 2
What are the aspects which the consultant should evaluate in the
existing business model?
(11)

12. Franchise model : Two pronged strategy
– Franchise based model
– State-of-the-art branded steel retail outlets with brand name “Faulad Shoppe”
Changes on radio and present marketing channels
(12)

13. “Others should not know about any work sought to be done by him. Only those
who undertake it should know about it when it is begun” (1.15.17)
• Think before they think
• Think ahead
Think before they think :
Mobile Factory is a completely secure, self-contained steel frame roll-forming
production facility that can be located anywhere needed, especially in remote areas
with little or no infrastructure.
Rule of warfare

14. Video on Mobile Factory

15. Question 3
Develop short-term marketing strategies for Faulad Steel?
(15)

16. “The time of catching elephants is in the summer.” (2.31.12)
• There is a time for everything and everything has a time, many business are
seasonal
“Statistically we know that the second quarter is normally quite strong because winter is ending
and there is better construction and industrial activity. In fact, the second quarter is statistically
our strongest quarter” - CFO Aditya Mittal, ArcelorMittal.
Campaign Marketing : Theme : Nari Shakti ; Event: High Striker
Tradeshow Marketing :
Trade shows and events are the second most-cited source of new products and vendor
information recent study from Bredin
Social Media Marketing :
A unique opportunity for savvy businesses willing to invest in customer engagement

17. (17)

18. Mind Recall

19. Question 3
Develop Long-term marketing strategies for Faulad Steel?
(19)

20. • Shreyas – the path of good, which is initially difficult, but the person who selects
it emerges as a winner at the end
• Preyas – the path of wrong, which initially seems comforting, but ruins us in the
future
• Managing for the Long Term by Maximizing Value, Not Profit - Vision is important
• Relationship Marketing : Our Suggestion - Monthly newsletters
• Details that can be included: Customer recognition and rewards, testimonials,
pragmatic content, new value offerings, referral generation, events, etc
(20)

21. “ And those who are without relations have to be necessarily maintained.” (1.12.1)
• CSR not only speaks of contributions made towards the benefit of the less
privileged, but also calls for making oneself accountable to society
• India’s steel companies have been particularly vulnerable to attacks due to the
displacement of thousands of people and the destruction of livelihoods
• Project sites and land acquisition have emerged as flashpoints by protesters
Take responsibility : Cause Marketing
• Eg. Essar has designed a bullock cart frame fashioned from steel so villagers cut
fewer trees to build these vehicles with wood
• Faulad steel can donate some percent of their income to rural and woman
entrepreneurs
(21)

22. • http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/204982
• http://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-employee-performance-business-
organizations-1967.html
• http://www.gaebler.com/Marketing-a-Steel-Products-Business-8315.htm
• http://www.steelstructurechina.com/news/news_show_576.html
• http://www.livemint.com/Industry/VpEwW5FeFGOS2S6VfFQkLI/Selling-steel-like-
shampoo-sachets-JSW-plans-5000-retail-s.html
• http://www.business-standard.com/article/markets/low-rural-steel-demand-
gives-producers-marketing-opportunity-113042200805_1.html
• http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-03-
28/news/48662706_1_jayant-acharya-tata-tiscon-tata-steel