CUSTOMER PREFERENCES AND INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION PLAN AT CCD

Abstract

The organized retail coffee sector in India is changing rapidly. Given, the onset of tough competition from existing coffee stores such as Barista, Costa coffee, etc. as well as entrance of large international players like Starbucks into the already highly competitive industry is posing a significant difficulty for Café Coffee Day, the current market leader to sustain its market leadership and growth. Therefore, modifying its marketing mix strategy to adapt components such as product offering, price, service, etc. and its marketing communication and differentiating itself from its competitors on parameters such as coffee experience, ambiance, and variety in menu is imperative for CCD. The objective of this study was to capture the changing tastes and preferences of the coffee consumers and different marketing communication by CCD, their expectations from a coffee store and the customer perception of CCD vis-à-vis its competitors on such expectations’ parameters. Accordingly, a survey questionnaire was floated to capture the information from a target group of customers based in Delhi. The target group was mainly students and professionals who are the main customers of these coffee chains. The results of the survey were analysed using descriptive statistics. Frequency distribution were carried out to draw inferences from the data obtained.