SUMMER PROJECT

ON

“PRODUCT MIX & BRANDING OFANTIVIRUS SOLUTIONS”

UNDERTAKEN AT

MAX SECURE SOFTWARE (INDIA) Pvt. Ltd.

SUBMITTED BY, Mayur Chordia

GUIDED BY,Professor Mr. Amarjeev Kaul

PGDM

(2009-2011)

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Atharva School of Business,Marve Road, Charkop Naka,

Malad (West), Mumbai - 400 095DECLARATION

This is to certify that the Report entitled “Product Mix & Branding of

Antivirus Solutions at Max Secure Software (India) Pvt. Ltd.” which is submitted

by me in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of degree PGDM to

Atharva School of Business, Mumbai, comprises of my original work and due

acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used.

PLACE: Mumbai

DATE: 31th July, 2010 Mayur H. Chordia

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CERTIFICATE

I hereby certify that Mayur Chordia of Atharva School of Business of

PGDM (Batch 2009-2011) has completed project on “Product Mix & Branding of

antivirus solutions at Max Secure Software (India) Pvt. Ltd.” during his summer

training. The information submitted is true and original to the best of my

knowledge.

Signature Signature of project guide

(Prof. N.S. Rajan) (Prof. Amarjeev Kaul)

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Date: 31-7-2010

To Whomsoever It May Concern

This is to certify that Mr. Mayur Chordia from Atharva School of Business,

Mumbai has successfully completed his summer internship in Max Secure

Software (India) Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, for the period of two months from 1-6-2010 to

31-7-2010.

The project assigned was on “Product Mix & Branding of Antivirus Solutions”.

During his tenure with us, we found him to be extremely dedicated, hard working,

sincere, conscientious and resourceful.

The report submitted by him was informative and in depth and the analysis found

to be sound and logical.

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Sanjay Pradhan (CEO)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The preparation of this report “Product Mix & Branding of Antivirus

Solutions at Max Secure Software (India) Pvt. Ltd.” would not have been

possible without the sincere efforts of all the senior members of company in

Mumbai, staff members and Professors of Atharva School of Business, for their

valuable contribution.

I find words inadequate to express my gratitude to Mr. Sanjay

Pradhan, Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Sanjiv Kadam, Managing Director,

Mr. Dilip Sankpal & Mr. Shailesh, Zonal Sales Manager, Mumbai, Mr. Rahul

Shinde & Mr. Sopan Bhosale, Sr. Technical Support Executive, Mr. Yogesh

Warulkar, Area Sales Manager, Mumbai, for their valuable assistance in making

our project training effective and worth in all aspects.

Special thanks to Shri. Sunil Rane, Executive President, Atharva

Education Trust, Mr. N. S. Rajan, Dean, Mr. S. K. Bhattacharya, Director,

Mr. Amarjeev Kaul, Project Guide, Atharva School of Business, for their crucial

guidance and helping me through out the project duration.

This study could not have been successful without the valuable input

of my colleagues.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This project includes “Product Mix & Branding of Antivirus Solutions”

undertaken at “Max Secure Software (India) Pvt. Ltd.”, in order to launch the

antivirus product successfully in market.

The project includes the activities like Market Survey and Customer

Feedback, Market Research, Product Promotion, Dealers Visit, Branding

Activities, Product Demonstration, Dealers Meeting, Registration, Dealers Follow

Up, Sales & Distribution.

This report contains all the detailed working and several strategies used

while executing the various activities.

Project report also specifies all the objectives, scope, learning’s, findings

and also the recommendations to the company.

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CONTENTS

Sr. No TOPICS Page. No.

1. Introduction 8

2. Objectives & Scope

9

3. The Company’s Profile

11

4. The Product Features 1

2

5. The Product Pricing 1

5

6. The Market Segmentation 1

6

7. The Market Survey

19

8. The Marketing Strategy 2

0

9. The Product Promotion

21

11. Sales and Distributions Channel 2

2

12. Project Work

23

13. Learning & Findings

28

14. Recommendations

30

7

15. Conclusion 3

1

16. Bibliography and References

32

17. Appendix

33

INTRODUCTION

The world sees and admires India as its fastest growing region. Indian

companies have learned and are learning to create goods and services that offer

more value either in the higher quality or lower prices, and often both-value for

money than many of the other competitors.

The challenge now is to sustain the growth rate. This requires understanding

of markets and marketing tactics. Besides this liberalization, privatization and

globalization are bringing sweeping changes and prospects of global competition.

For growth and survival, new marketing practices and methods should be

adopted.

Max Secure Software (India) Pvt. Ltd. company was founded in February 2002

and launched the product in US. After enormous success in US, the company

has decided to launch the product in India in 2010.

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Objectives & Scope

Max Secure Antivirus is enterprise-wide Anti-Virus software that scans the

local and network drives for viruses, Internet Security and cleans them.

Max Secure Antivirus defends your Office Network from all virus, worm

malware and spyware attacks and keeps your business lifeline, the

Network and PCs, running smooth and secure.

This product is a Content Security Software for the corporate Mail

Servers, to scan E-mails, attachment files and Web pages on a real-time

basis.

As the antivirus is widely used for the free usage and protection of

computer and laptops, the main product conducted is Max Secure

Antivirus for total Security tools.

This antivirus is mainly used in all the computers to make it protected from

any virus, spywares and malwares.

It helps every user for the use of internet and to surf and download any

file or document without any fear of viruses.

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There are many products available in the market as per the different

usage of the computer system because of the high number of usage of

computers and to make them prevented from any harmful viruses.

Also this product is present as per the different user number i.e.

single User and multiuser.

As the antivirus is used in every computer system, hence it has a very

high demand as per the increasing number of computer usage.

This product can be used by the every customer who uses computer

system.

Computer systems are in high demand at every sector to perform more

important and confidential work hence it becomes necessary to use the

antivirus for the protection of the computer and the work done.

This product is available in the market with the combination of antivirus

with total internet security in the same price hence having a high demand

by the customer.

Max Secure antivirus is available as for one year use and three year use

hence the customers can make use of it as per their requirement.

It is also present in different packages as Single user pack, corporate

pack, multiuser pack etc. Hence this product can be used anywhere.

This product is present in the market with the affordable cost by the

Customers as compared by the other competitor products.

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COMPANY PROFILE

Max secure software is a leading Anti Virus Solution Company with

primary domain in security and privacy. Its leadership boasts of a robust

technology experience with unmatched expertise in developing world-class

security and privacy solutions. The Company was founded in February 2002. At

present, it has a large customer base all over the world. It has a strong technical

and dedicated customer support team, which provides 24 hrs customer support

services. Max Secure is known for its user friendly and innovative security and

privacy products.

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THE PRODUCT FEATURES

The Unmatched features and benefits of Max Secure antivirus give the fastest

way to regain control of PC.

1. It has a cutting edge SMART SCAN Anti Virus technology with lightening

quick scanning speed. It Scans, Detects and eliminates every threat

offering unrivalled protection for professionals and home PC users.

2. It consists of Comprehensive, Extensive and Self-

updating threat definitions database which keeps the system constantly

guarded against the toughest of spyware, adware, key loggers, tracking

cookies, browser hijacker, worms and other malware.

3. It gives all time technical support through phone, 24 x 7 live chat and

email based support.

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MAX 10 Points Protection

1. Fast Smart Scan protection

-Cutting edge smart scan anti virus technology with quick scanning.

2. Enhanced threat detection and complete removal

-Scans, detect and eliminate every threat offering unrivalled protection for

professionals and home PC users.

3. Revolutionary Anti Virus/Spyware Technology

-Removes viruses and spywares without taxing your computer’s memory.

Prevents malicious applications from invading your PC.

4. Continuous automatic updates

-Comprehensive, extensive and self-updating threat definitions database.24x7

protection against spyware, adware key loggers, tracking cookies, browser

hijacker, worms and other malware.

5. Instant Free Personalized Customer Support

-Round the clock technical support through 24x7 live chat and email based

support. Free email and chat support.

6. Active Monitoring

-Complete peace of mind while browsing. Protects your privacy and provides

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security against malicious processes and home page hijackers.

7. Advanced Blocking

-Completely automated advanced features. Blocks ActiveX, browser helper

objects and tracking cookies.

8. Automatic Scan Settings

-Automatically schedules scans and updates to start while PC is idle.

9. User Friendly Interface

-Well laid out and easy to understand user-friendly interface.

10. Active Registry Fix

-Many Virus programs change your registry settings such as the home page or

the default search page. With the help of active registry fix, you can restore the

settings to default Windows settings.

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THE PRODUCT’S PRICING

All profit organizations and many non-profit organizations set prices on

there products or services.

Setting product’s price is an important decision which depends on many factors

like buyer’s choice, their affordability, target market segment, and taste and

preferences of the consumers.

Price is the only element in the marketing mix that produces revenue; the other

elements produce costs. It is also one of the most flexible elements of the

marketing mix, which can be changed quickly, unlike product features and

channel commitments.

Reasons for ineffective pricing

Too cost oriented pricing

Price is not revised often enough to capitalize on market changes

Pricing is set independent of the rest of the marketing mix rather than as

an intrinsic element of market-positioning strategy and

Price is not varied enough for different product items, market segments

and purchase occasions.

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THE MARKET SEGMENTATION

A market consists of all the potential customers sharing a particular

need or want who might be willing and able to engage to satisfy that need or

want. If any party seeks actively seeking an exchange than the other party, we

call as marketer and the second as prospects.

Marketing Management

It is a process of planning, and executing the conception, pricing,

promotion, and consumer distribution of goods, services, and ideas to create

exchanges with target groups that satisfy customer and organizational objectives.

Core concepts of Marketing:

The core concepts of marketing consist of needs of the consumers,

demands, products and services, value, satisfaction and quality. All these terms

are interrelated.

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Needs and demands Value, Cost and Satisfaction

Products and Services

Market Segmentation

Markets consists of buyers differ in one or more respects. They may

differ in their wants, resources, geographic locations, buying attitudes and

practices. Any of these variables can be used to segment the market.

Major Segmentation Variables

1. Psychographic Segmentation

Life Style

Personality

Self Concept

Attitudes

2. Demographic Segmentation

Age, Sex, Nationality

Education, Religion, Race

Occupation, Income, Social Class,

Marital status

Family size and family life cycle

3. Benefit Segmentation

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Marketing and Marketers

Markets Exchange, Transactions

Economy

Convenience

Service

Prestige

4. Geographic Segmentation

Region

Urban, Suburban or rural

Climate

State, City or Town

Market Segmentation in Antivirus Market

The Max Secure antivirus is a new antivirus, introduced in the

antivirus market, where there are already the old players like Quick heal, Norton,

Kaspersky and other antivirus exists.

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THE MARKET SURVEY

Marketing research is the systematic design, collection, analysis,

and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing

the company.

Suppliers of Marketing Research

A company can obtain marketing research in a number of ways. Small

companies can engage students or professors at a local college to design and

carry out the project, or they can hire a marketing research firm. The cost of

marketing research in Asia varies greatly from country to country.

Marketing Survey Process

The main idea to do market survey is to know the current market and the

consumer’s interest and demand, which varies from person to person.

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For that proper feedback is taken from the consumers, along with the promotion

or it can be done before the promotional activities.

THE MARKETING STRATEGY

The company always conducts a market survey for selecting its target

market. If it is the only company giving its services in that particular target then

probably it can fix its cost according to its way, to gain good profit. Without any

competitors the company enjoys its monopoly, but as soon as the competitors

enters in that market segment then there arises the need to change the

marketing strategy in accordance with the current market scenario.

If several firms pursue this target market and their products are

undifferentiated, then most consumers will buy from the firm with the lowest price

and the other firms will be forced to heir price.

Product differentiation

Product differentiation can charge a price premium.

It helps to get a price premium based on the extra value perceived by and

delivered to the customers.

Uniqueness of Maxsecure Antivirus

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It is the world’s fastest scanning antivirus.

THE PRODUCT PROMOTION

The promotion of a new product is an important activity involved in

marketing. It not only creates awareness among the people, but also gives the

new alternatives to them in the range of related products available in the market.

Every company is inevitably cast into the role of communicator and promoter.

SALES AND DISTRIBUTIONS

Sales:

Sales are important activity involved in the selling of products and services

in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a

commercial activity.

Distribution:

Distribution is the process which makes the product reach to the end

consumers right from the manufacturer. Mainly the buyers are widely dispersed,

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so in order to make the products available to them, there is a need for

distributions channels, which connects suppliers with their consumers.

Distribution Channel Employed by Maxsecure:

The firm is utilizing both the types of channels of distribution. They are as follows:

Consumer Distribution Channels- Where the buyers are end consumers

Business Distribution Channels Where the buyers are business customers

Selecting Distribution Channels:

The main tasks as marketing manager is to select the right distribution

channel for the firm and to take out the effective measures to operate it. The

reasons behind this are:

1. The channel chosen intimately affects every other marketing decision.

2. They involve the firm in relatively long term commitments.

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3. To be successful, channel decisions require cooperation and

coordination of other firms who pursue their own objectives.

PROJECT WORK

The training was always scheduled properly, by the project in charge

to make us aware about the respective area work. The project leads took good

initiative to make us well informed regarding the project work.

PROJECT SCHEDULE IN MAXSECURE SOFTWARE:

1) Market Survey and Customer Feedback

2) Market Research

3) Product Promotion

4) Dealers Visit

5) Branding Activities

6) Product Demonstration

7) Dealers Meeting

8) Registration

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9) Dealers Follow Up

10) Sales & Distribution

THE WORK PROCESS:

1. Market Survey and Customer Feedback

- The feedback of various consumers was taken concerning the related

respective product available in the market in the range of antivirus as well as

which antivirus is/are used by them.

- The Survey was basically done in those places where the target market

segments are easily available, such as the Students of colleges and higher

secondary schools.

For Example: Near by colleges and schools, near railway stations, malls,

Classes and other crowded places.

- The peek time fixed for the market survey chosen was the morning time,

when the college times starts and the evening time, when crowd is available

near the respective places.

2. Market Research

- Market research is for discovering what people want, need, or believe. It can

also involve discovering how they act. Once that research is completed, it can be

used to determine how to market your product.

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- Questionnaires and focus group discussion surveys are some of the

instruments for market research.

- For starting up a business, there are some important things :-

a) Market Information

b) Market Segmentation

c) Market Trends

3. Product Promotion

- Promotion is very important activity required to be done, in the current

marketing scenario to create awareness of the product among the consumers.

- The promotional activities done during the project includes the following:

(A). Leaflets, Pamphlets, Posters, Browsers distribution.

(B). Umbrellas distribution to the selected dealers depicting company’s logo.

(C). Distribution of garden umbrellas to the street food stalls and other stalls

where it is easily visible to the people.

4. Dealers Visit

- List of all dealers available in respective areas was prepared by searching on

“Just dial” and also with the help of some survey.

- All the dealers in various areas were targeted and given an initial visit to make

them aware about the product.

5. Branding Activities

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- In developing a marketing strategy for individual products, the seller has to

confront the branding decision .It is a major issue in marketing strategy.

- For branding, we have used the media, monthly technical journal IT-Focus, and

mentioned the MICROSOFT GOLD PARTNER certification in the cover of the

product.

- We have also used the voice recording feature of telephones for various

dealers, who had given a good opportunity to our Mumbai team for this purpose.

6. Product Demonstration - Product demonstration is given to various interested dealers, so that they can

figure out the various features of the Maxsecure Antivirus.

- Product demonstration helped us to know about the positive and negative

aspects of our product.

- The feedbacks obtained from various dealers visited so far, has helped the

technical team, who are involved in software development and enhancements to

make proper updating required in the product.

7. Dealers Meeting

- Dealers meetings are conducted in all the areas of Mumbai, at the chosen

venues to make good interaction with them.

- Dealer meet invitations were given to the selective dealers, who are interested

in our product.

8. Registration

- All the dealers were registered at the company web-site.

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- Demo version registration was also done.

- All the details of the dealers were tracked along with the Birth-date, in order to

give them a gift on their birth dates as a part of CRM.

9. Dealers Follow Up

- Dealer’s follow-up was taken in order to know their product awareness, and to

pinch them about the product again and again.

- It helped us to know the current status of their views regarding our product.

10. Sales and Distribution

- All the sales and distribution activities like taking orders, product delivery,

collecting cheque etc were done.

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LEARNING & FINDINGS

1) Due to effective marketing & promotional strategies, the products of the

company are very well known in the market with the great number of

customers or end users in a very shorter period of time even though there

are several competitors available in the market.

2) The marketing policies or strategies of the company are extremely

different as compared to the competitors but still the product is used in a

high number by the customers.

3) There are various branded well established competitors present in the

market like Quick heal, K7 Antivirus, Norton Antivirus, McAfee, Kaspersky,

Net Protector, E-Scan etc.

4) As compared with the other products, the company’s sales ratio is slowly

increasing day by day.

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5) But in some cases it has been observed that the people are not aware of

the name of the product. They are very much loyal with the other products

available in the market.

6) Due to lack of man power and few good marketing policies, every

customer is not totally aware of the product knowledge or information.

7) Hence it is necessary for the company to improve marketing policies and

try to attract as more as customer as compared to competitors.

8) The product is available as single user, three user, five user, multiuser as

well as admin console. This provides all varieties available in market, thus

increasing the sale opportunities.

9) There is more demand for the multiuser products as it is useful for more

than one user in a single antivirus pack.

10)More customers are attracted towards the products which are available

with the more features with the less price or cost. Hence the company has

to consider these things to increase the number of customers.

11)The price of the products in the market is very higher with the other

competitive products.

12)The price of the single user pack is extremely higher as compared

to the price of multiuser pack of other products.

13)Hence, this may be one of the most affective factors for the company’s

growth.

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14)The product is given to the dealer by covering a high profit margin by the

distributor.

15)The dealers are not having a high profit behind a single product as it

becomes hard for them to sell the products with the high cost.

16)Therefore, there are many issues that need to be resolved by the

company but finally there is no issue with the product. The product is

doing much better in the market and the company is in expected position

RECOMMENDATION

1) To promote the product in the market it is very necessary to appoint the

distributers at various areas as it becomes easy for the dealers and

customers to take the required information about the product and to buy it.

2) In all over the Mumbai region, the company is not having even single

distributer and hence has covered very few dealers till now.

3) The staff present in the Mumbai region is extremely less consisting of

some sales people & technical staff.

4) It is quite impossible to cover all the areas in Mumbai by few people and to

take care of customer’s problems, on time delivery etc. Recruitment of

some more experienced and qualified employees is very necessary.

5) The advertisements or the channels used by the company to promote the

product in the market or to the customers are not up to the expectations

as compared to the competitors.

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6) The company gives the advertisement in the magazines only, without

using any other media to create awareness about the products.

7) Antivirus is a product which is used by the customers as it is very

necessary to protect the computer system from highly effective viruses.

Hence the main focus of the company to sell the product should be at the

area where the usage of computer systems is very high.

8) There is huge pricing difference of single user pack as compared to other

companies pack. This needs to be looked upon deeply.

CONCLUSION

1) The market survey done for finding out the consumer preferences in the

antivirus product ranges, shows that the consumers need such antivirus

software’s which not only keep their system protected from different

malicious codes and viruses and also keep the system functioning as

efficient as possible.

2) It should be affordable at the cost of its functionality and trust worthy to

use it.

3) Proper product promotion and its frequent utilities help in making the

product well known in the market.

4) Although there are various barriers, the company is still doing a good

business in the market by adding more customers and thus increasing the

business.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES

Marketing Management: Philip Kotler.

Marketing Research: C. R. Kothari

Max Secure study material for Marketing Management

Web Sites Used:

www.maxsecureantivirus.com

www.maxpcsecure.com

www.google.com

www.wikkipedia.com

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APPENDIX

Questionnaire:-

I had prepared this questionnaire for project work meant for educational purpose

only. On “Awareness & usage of several antivirus in market”

No personal information will be disclosed in any form at anywhere.

1. Do you use antivirus?

YES

NO

2. Which Antivirus do you use?

_________________

3. Do you use registered antivirus?

YES

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NO

4. If not, reason for not using registered antivirus?

LACK OF KNOWLEDGE LACK OF AWARENESS

USES TRIAL VERSION HUGE AMOUNT OF INVESTMENT

OTHER

5. What are the criteria taken into consideration while selecting antivirus?

BRAND FEATURES & QUALITY

PRICING SERVICE

OTHER

6. Are you satisfied with the current product performance and will continue

with the same product in future?

STRONGLY AGREE A AGREE

NEUTRAL DISAGREE

STRONGLY DISAGREE

7. Would you like to try new antivirus which will satisfy all your needs?

YES

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NO

DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE

NAME: …………………………………………………………

CONTACT NO: ………………………………………………

EMAIL ID: …………………………………………………….

AGE:

BELOW 20YRS 20 TO 30 YRS

31 TO 40 YRS 41 TO 50 YRS

ABOVE 50

GENDER:

MALE FEMALE

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FROM WHICH CATEGORY DO YOU FEET MORE?

STUDENT

EMPLOYEED

BUSINESS OWNER

OTHER

THANK YOU

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