Siraj-ul-Hassan, Proprietor, Peringhat Agencies
For the last 25 years, we have been in the cement and construction material dealing business. We offer products of various leading brands such as UltraTech, Zuari, India Cements, JSW, MHIL in addition to 10-15 other brands. Of these UltraTech, Zuari and JSW have a strong demand in Ernakulam market in Kerala.
Advertising does have an impact on the way the customer chooses a product. Many a times, the customer does not have enough technical know-how on choosing the right product. In absence of product knowledge, they go for what they have heard or seen through advertisements. This does not mean advertising is a necessity. For example: JSW came up with their range of products in our region just two years back. But since their launch in our region, the company has not gone on promoting their products even once through advertisements. Their product has gained popularity just by word-of-mouth publicity. For a product to pick up, the quality should be good. Even the cost should be reasonable. JSW´s product pricing is very competitive and has become hot favourite for several customers. On the other hand, another well-known company had launched a similar product around the same time. But they classified their product as a ´A´ class material and priced it a bit higher than other brands. Their product has not picked up well in the market. So pricing plays an important role in driving sales volume.