The document summarizes a brand tracking study of ITC Classmate notebooks conducted by marketing students. They used the Brand Asset Valuator (BAV) model and Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) to evaluate the brand image and identity of ITC Classmate. The BAV survey of 49 respondents found that ITC Classmate scored 100% on all four BAV pillars of Differentiation, Relevance, Knowledge and Esteem, indicating it is the leader in the notebook segment. The ZMET interviews with 9 respondents identified ITC Classmate as a creative, innovative, socially responsible and eco-friendly brand that offers superior paper quality.

1. ITC CLASSMATE
Brand
Tracker
Brand value is much like an onion. It has layers and a core. The core is the user who will stick with
you until the very end. –Edwin Artzt

2. Brand Tracker
Phase I – Brand Image Measurement
ITC CLASSMATE
(NOTEBOOKS)
A report submitted to Prof. Srinivas Govindrajan
In the partial fulfillment of the requirement of the course
Product and Brand Management
On 29th August, 2012
By
Sabyasachi Sahoo (B11037)
Shubhankar Sengupta (B11041)
Soumya Sitam Priyadarshini (B11043)
Soummyaditya Baral (B11044)
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3. CONTENTS
SL.NO PARTICULARS PG. NO
i. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
ii. ITC CLASSMATE – THE STORY SO FAR 4
iii. QUANTITATIVE REASEARCH MODEL - BRIEF 6
iv. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 11
v. QUALITATIVE REASEARCH MODEL - BRIEF 14
vi. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 17
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4. Executive Summary
ITC which was incorporated under the name of Imperial Tobacco Company of India
Limited was founded on 24th August, 1910. Later in 1970 the name of the parent company
was changed to India Tobacco Company Limited and finally to ITC limited in 1974. The
company’s business portfolio ranges are:
 Cigarettes( W. D. & H. O. Wills, Gold Flake Kings, Gold Flake Premium, Navy
Cut, 555, Benson & Hedges, Silk
Cut, Scissors, Capstan, Berkeley, Bristol, Players and Flake.)
 Foods (Kitchens of India; Aashirvaad, Sunfeast Pasta brands in Ready to Eat,
Staples, Biscuits, Confectionery, Noodles and Snack Foods)
 Apparel (Wills Lifestyle and John Players)
 Personal care ( Fiama di Wills; Vivel; Essenza di Wills; Superia; Vivel di
Wills brands, of products in perfumes, hair care and skincare)
 Stationery (Classmate and PaperKraft brands)
 Safety Matches and Agarbattis ( iKno; Mangaldeep; Aim brands)
 Hotels
One of the main reasons for ITC’s success has been its innovativeness and its ability to cater
to the changing needs of the customers.
In the Primary phase of the “Brand Tracker” project we have attempted to determine the
current status of the company in terms of the Brand and the brand identity in the minds of
the consumers/customers. We used the Brand Asset Valuator or BAV to identify the current
brand status while controlled ZMET or Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique was used to
determine the identity of the brand.
The BAV model is measured along the four-dimensions i.e., Differentiation, Relevance,
Knowledge and Esteem, where esteem and knowledge comprise the Brand Stature and
Differentiation and Relevance build up the Brand Stature of a Brand. We took a sample of
49, for our BAV using Random Sampling.
ITC Classmate scored a staggering 100 percentile in all the four pillars of BAV i.e.,
Differentiation, Relevance, Knowledge and Esteem. On the power grip of BAV, ITC turned
out to be the leader in the notebook segment. The respondents relate ITC Classmate
notebooks as a special part of the Class.
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5. The ZMET technique was used to find out the Brand Identity of Classmate Copies. A sample
of 9 respondents was chosen to execute this Qualitative research technique. The ZMET
technique which is based on one-on-one interview identified ITC classmate notebooks as a
ITC CLASSMATE : The Story so far….
creative, innovative, and socially responsible with eco-friendly brand of notebooks offering
superior paper quality.
“We don’t want satisfied customers…We want delighted customers.” It is the new
marketing mantra today. The same applies to stationery industry as well. Stationery
Industry is a very heterogeneous group of business usually associated with the
Schools, Colleges, and Office. It
plays a very crucial role in
working of any organization
across the globe. It includes
Paper stationery which comprises of a
vast collection of products like
• exercise books,
• note books,
• stitch,
• glued & tape pads,
• refill pads,
• flap over pads,
• subject books,
• Plastic cover books etc.
Paper and paper related products are tremendously gaining demand in the
market. Out of which paper stationery market over the years has gained immense
popularity in the school and office segment throughout the world. Revolution for
these products has come to birth from the past few year's majorly in developing
nations and it's having immense value in terms of export and import. It is expected
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6. that Stationery industry has a flourishing future in its coming years in India and over a
period is estimated to grow at 10 to 15% p.a. To achieve this objective, one can
actually see that how acceptance of Internet technology has opened plethora of
opportunities of sourcing the desired supplier in any part of the world. The
manufacturers of various countries including India, China, Indonesia etc have
started building new product strategies, which helps in reducing their overall cost
without compromising on quality thus producing a good quality product at
competitive price.
Falling under the category of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in majorly most
of the countries, this sector has lot to offer in terms of employment, tax revenues, it
can be an important source of new innovative products, extensive local
knowledge of resources, and can be a major service provider to the larger
organizations. However, this sector like other sectors have certain bottlenecks which
hinder the growth of this sector like Burdensome regulatory frameworks, Lack of tax
incentives and subsidies, Absence of investor-friendly environment, Lack of access
to finance, Lack of capacity-building programs and inadequate provision of
vocational training etc.
With a staggering earnings of Rs. 400 million plus ITC
Classmate stands as the biggest paper stationery
brand in India with a market share of 12% followed
by Navneet and the huge unorganized sector
dominated by local players.
After seeing the success of its premium stationery
brand Paperkraft, ITC decided to launch its standard
segment line of stationery –
CLASSMATE in 2003 offering from
notebooks, pens, pencils,
mechanical pencils and geometry
boxes.
Classmate aspires to partner young
minds in discovering, nurturing &
believing in ideas that reside inside
each one of us. Have fun exploring,
creating & believing in your ideas, in
classrooms & beyond. Ideas that
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7. defy & change beliefs; ideas that allow you to lead rather be led; ideas that are
inside each one of us but only await self-recognition & belief. Your belief makes
your ideas work for you & become big; allowing you to be all that you can.
Quantitative Research Model – Brief
One of the best and probably the most accurate research model to understand
the consumer perception of brands present today is the BRAND ASSET VALUATOR
(BAV).
BAV was created by Brand Asset Consulting, a division of the advertising agency
Young And Rubican (Y&R) to help manage various brands worldwide as it serves as
a diagnostic tool for understanding the growth pattern of brands over time which in
turn helps in developing brand strategies and tactics.
The BAV is based on research data from almost 500,000 consumers from 44
countries.
BAV measures the asset value of a brand on the basis of four main attributes:
• Knowledge
• Esteem
• Relevance
• Differentiation
BAV measures the Brand Vitality Or Brand Strength by using the Relevance and
Differentiation figures which tells about the future value of the brand. It also tells us
about how the brand has been in the past by measuring the Brand Stature from the
Knowledge and Esteem values.
With increasing standards for perfection of research study BAV has also introduced
a new attribute the Brand Energy which measures the momentum of a brand. It
comes under Brand Vitality Or Brand Strength.
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8. 66% Future Growth
Value
33% Operating Value
As the BAV is a proprietary tool so the detailed model is not available for use but to
obtain a similar result a variant of the BAV can be used for understanding the Brand
Value. This is what we have used for understanding the brand value of ITC
CLASSMATE.
The four pillar- Knowledge, Esteem, Relevance, and Differentiation have been
considered and questions have been framed to properly gauge the consumer’s
perception across the four attributes. Each pillar was assigned a 100% weight age
and then was split amongst the questions associated to them. Weights were
assigned on the basis of how much direct and comprehensive was the information
that was obtained from that question. The survey was done on a one –on one as
well as online basis with a sample size of 49 which was selected through Simple
Random Sampling.
The calculation was done by adding up the number of responses and totaling them
weight age of the question was given to the brand.
A particular score was obtained for each brand. All the scores for each question
associated to a particular pillar were added up to get the final score for a brand.
Then a percentile was assigned to that score.
In Q.6 and 10 z-tests were performed to see if the sample represents the population
or not. After that an ANOVA was done to figure out which brand was the leader.
To measure brand stature, a few open ended questions were given which resulted
in the category others, but to plot the brands on the BAV power grid we ignored
the others category.
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9. Questionnaire
1) Which are the top three brands that come to your mind when you think of notebooks?
(Brand Knowledge: 30%)
2) Identify the pages of the notebook.( Brand Knowledge: 50%)
3) When it comes to notebooks which of these Brands would you recommend? (Brand Esteem:
30%)
a. Classmate
b. Navneet
c. Pioneer/ Goodboy
d. Nandita
e. Others
4) Which brands do you associate with “Youth and Inspiration”? (Brand Differentiation: 50%)
a. Classmate
b. Navneet
c. Pioneer/ Goodboy
d. Nandita
e. Local Brands
5) Which brand do you associate with the following parameters? (Brand Relevance: 50%)
Brand/ Price is not a Price is a Price absolute Price is a minor
Parameter barrier significant barrier barrier
barrier
ITC Classmate
Navneet
Pioneer/Goodboy
Nandita
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10. 6) Rate the following Brands in terms of Satisfaction with perceived Quality of the current
company’s notebook you use. (Brand Relevance: 25%)
Brand/Satisfactor 1(Least 2 3 4 5(Most
y Level Satisfied) Satisfied)
ITC Classmate
Navneet
Pioneer/Goodboy
Nandita
Local Brands
7) What are the factors you consider while buying a notebook? (Brand Relevance: 25%)
a. Availability
b. Paper Quality
c. CSR Activity
d. Product Variety
e. Others please specify.................
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11. 8) What factors make a notebook brand unique? (Brand Differentiation: 50%)
a. Availability
b. Paper Quality
c. CSR Activity
d. Product Variety
e. Others please specify.................
9) How does the word classmate related to you?(Brand Esteem :30%)
a. A Friend/Companion
b. A special friend
c. Just a part of the class
d. A special part of the class
e. Other, please specify............
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12. 10) Rate the following brand on a scale of 1 to 5 on the basis of its personality. (Brand Esteem :
40%)
Brand/Satisfactor 1 2 3 4 5
y Level
ITC Classmate
Navneet
Pioneer/Goodboy
Nandita
Local Brands
11) Identify the following brands. (Brand Knowledge: 20%)
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13. Quantitative Research- Findings And Analysis
The percentile score of all the individual brands across the four pillars
were calculated and then converted into graphs.
Nandita
Nandita scores the lowest in BAV with all the pillars at 25 percentile which shows that it is the
least preffered brand and is declining.
Pioneer
Pioneer scores the average on Knowledge, Esteem, and Relevance but
medium in differentiation meaning the brand need serious marketing
budget to revive its name.
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14. Navneet
Navneet has scored low on differentiation meaning it need more creative packaging.
Classmate
Classmate is leading on all pillars hence showing that it is doing well
and is a Yes - Yes for investors and future growth.
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15. The notebook industry is dominated by unorganised players but ITC’s
organised range dominates all..
Brand Asset Valuator- Power Grid
High
B
R
A
N
D
V
I
T
A
L
I
T
Y
Low High
Brand Stature
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16. Qualitative Research Model – Brief
A lot goes into our minds that we are not aware of. Most of what influences what we
say and do occurs below the level of awareness. That’s why we need new techniques:
to get at hidden knowledge – to get at what people don’t know they know.
- Dr. Gerald Zaltman
A true quote by one who patented one of the best qualitative research
tools that is used today for market research to understand the
perception of the consumer about a brand by exploring one’s non-
literal or metaphoric expressions.- Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation
Technique
ZMET is usually used when managers require:
• Detailed knowledge of the consumer and the marketplace
• Clarity of thought guided buy effective models and theories
• Creativity and imagination
• Reasoned judgement and experience
ZMET helps in understanding how a consumer consciously and subs
consciously interact to:
• Create Needs
• Influence the criteria for satisfying them
• Shape the experience of satisfying needs
• Spawn judgments about those experiences.
ZMET uses visual and non- visual “images” gathered and/ or generated
by consumers to elicit and probe the metaphors that represent
consumer’s thought feelings about a topic.
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17. Images are important units of analysis for marketing managers for
marketing managers. When augmented by consumers explanations
during careful probing by an interviewer, the images provide a clear
idea of what consumers really think and feel. Almost invariably, these
insights are far deeper and clearer than the insights to be gained from
verbal discussions alone.
Although images can be visual, many images can take other forms as
well as such Touch, Smell and Sound. Whatever the form it might be, an
image represents a feeling much more distinctly than words. For this
reason, usage of images is referred to as a metaphor.
During a ZMET interview, we collect verbal descriptions of the thoughts
and feelings represented by these images to help us understand their
meaning. Strong evidence exists that these verbal descriptions are far
more complete and far more useful to managers because they were
simulated initially by these images or metaphors.
In the ZMET process people are told to select their own images and are
requested to send them to the interviewer along with their perception
about each picture and brand associated with them.
A real ZMET takes time of 7 days for each respondent and does not
have a common base for comparison for similar brands as each
respondent selects a different picture for a common attribute. Instead
using a Controlled ZMET process helps people select pictures from a
common set of pictures and describe their individual perception about
each picture.
Thus participants are able to represent their thoughts and feelings more
completely and accurately.
STEPS FOLLOWED IN ZMET
Step 1: Story Telling about the pictures
17

18. The respondents were asked to select 10 pictures, which they felt best
described, their feelings towards ITC classmate. They were then asked
to form a story about their feelings about the brand in a 5-6 line story.
Step 2: Missing Picture
The respondents where then asked if they asked wanted to include any
other picture on the 10 selected. If they answered yes then they were
asked to explain why.
Step 3: The Triad Task
This task tries to identify the concepts and thoughts at a higher level.
The respondents were asked to represent 3 pictures selected at random
by the interviewer and how 2 of them are similar, but different from the
3 rd picture. The reasons are probed using laddering technique.
Step 4: The Metaphor Probe
The participants are then asked to elaborate their thoughts and feelings
in an elaborate manner which uncovers the actual meaning and
validated ideas which have surfaced from the previous steps. For this
the respondents are asked to widen the frame of one or more picture
by asking what should be added or deleted from the picture that might
reinforce the original idea. This step id repeated for 2 or 3 pictures.
Step 5: Digital Imaging
The respondents are then asked to create a collage of pictures they
have selected. They were asked to give one word for the pictures they
had selected. This brought out what they thought and their ideas.
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19. Qualitative Research- Findings And Analysis
Respondent – 1 Respondent - 2 Respondent – 3
Respondent – 4 Respondent – 5 Respondent - 6
Respondent – 7 Respondent – 8 Respondent - 9
Common Perceptions: Innovative Cover
Eco Friendly
Good Ambassadors
Corporate Social Responsibility (Re.1 is donated to rural development initiative)
Fine Quality Paper- Royal Feeling 19
Fun

20. Interpretation Of ZMET Analysis: ITC classmate is a creative, innovative, and
socially responsible and eco-friendly brand of notebooks offering superior paper quality.
"Long-term brand equity and growth depends on our ability to successfully
integrate and implement all elements of a comprehensive marketing program."
- Timm F Crull, Chairman & CEO of Nestle
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