Internship report-IOCL

Indian Oil Corporation Limited

Brand Performance of Xtramile super diesel of Indian Oil

Corporation Ltd.

(A Summer Internship Report) Under

Indian Oil Corporation Limited

Indian Oil Bhawan, 1, Sri Aurobindo Marg, Yusuf Sarai, New Delhi-110016

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the course

Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Session: 2009-2011)

Project Guide

Mr. Akash Sethi

Faculty Guide

Ms. Ritu Srivastava

Submitted By

Roopam Saxena

Roll No.29092

PGDM (2009-2011)

NIILM Centre for Management Studies

Knowledge Park V, Greater Noida, U.P

Study on Brand Performance of Xtramile Diesel

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INFORMATION SHEET

1) Name of the company- Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.

2) Address of the company- Indian Oil Bhawan, 1, Sri Aurobindo Marg, Yusuf Sarai, New

Delhi-110016

3) Phone No. of the company-9212455198

4) Date of internship Commencement-3rd

May 2010

5) Date of internship Completion- 3rd

July 2010

6) Signatures & Name of the industry Guide- Mr. Akash Sethi

7) Designation of the industry Guide- Sr. Manager (Training & Development)

8) Student’s Name- Roopam Saxena

9) Student’s Roll Number-29092

10) Student’s E-mail ID- [email protected]

11) Student’s Mobile/ residence numbers- 9873995971, 9013013512


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CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY

August 18, 2010

This is to certify that dissertation report on “Study on Brand Performance of Xtra Mile”

prepared by “Roopam Saxena”, Roll No.29092 of PGDM 2009-2011 Batch is his original

work under my guidance and supervision.

Signature of the Faculty Signature of the Student

(Ms. Ritu Srivastava) (Roopam Saxena)


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Table Of Contents

S. No. Particulars Page No. 1. Introduction to the organization 3-8

2. Introduction to the project 9

3. Objective 9

4. Literature Review 9-10

5. Methodology 10-14

6. Results and data analysis 14-32

7. Conclusion and recommendations 32-34

8. Limitations 34

9. Appendix 1 35-37

10. Appendix 2 38

11. Appendix 3 39


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project is the outcome of sincere efforts, hard work and constant guidance of not only me

but a number of individuals. First and foremost, I would like to thank NIILM-CMS for giving me

the platform to work with such a company. I am thankful to my faculty guide Ms. Ritu

Srivastava, NIILM-CMS for providing me help and support throughout the internship period.

I owe a debt of gratitude to my company guide Mr. Akash Sethi, Sr. Manager (T & D), Indian

Oil Corporation Ltd., Yusuf Sarai who not only gave me valuable inputs about the industry but

was a continuous source of inspiration during these two months, without whom this Project was

never such a great success..

I would also take the opportunity to thank the entire staff of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., Yusuf

Sarai who helped and shared their knowledge about the industry for which I am highly grateful.

Last but not the least I would like to thank all my Faculty members, friends and family members

who have helped me directly or indirectly in the completion of the project.

Roopam Saxena

PGDM 2009-2011

NIILM-CMS


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1. Introduction to the Project

In the year 2002, IOCL launched its value added fuels: Xtramile and Xtrapower. The major competitors,

HPCL and BPCL, have also launched products in the same categories. The consumer today is demanding

and always looks for better products. In such a scenario of high competition, the companies can not just

launch a product and sit back. They need to monitor the value of their products, the brand, etc. in the

eyes of customers. In this project, we are trying to do the same. We conduct a study to determine the

brand performance of Xtramile super diesel.

2. Introduction to the organization:

Incorporated as Indian Oil Company Ltd. on 30th June 1959, it was renamed as Indian Oil Corporation

Ltd. on 1st September 1964 following the merger of Indian Refineries Ltd. (established 1958) with it.

IndianOil and its subsidiaries account for approximately 48% petroleum products market share, 34%

national refining capacity and 71% downstream sector pipelines capacity in India. The IndianOil Group of

companies owns and operates 10 of India's 20 refineries with a combined refining capacity of 60.2

million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA, .i.e. 1.2 million barrels per day). The Corporation's cross-

country network of crude oil and product pipelines, spanning over 10,550 km and the largest in the

country, meets the vital energy needs of the consumers in an efficient, economical and environment-

friendly manner. IndianOil is currently investing Rs. 47000 crore in augmentation of refining and pipeline

capacities, expansion of marketing infrastructure and product quality upgrade. As the flagship national

oil company in the downstream sector, IndianOil touches millions of lives every day through a

countrywide network of over 35,600 sales points. They are backed for supplies by 167 bulk storage

terminals and depots, 98 aviation fuel stations and 88 Indane (LPGs) bottling plants. About 7,593 bulk

consumer pumps are also in operation for the convenience of large consumers, ensuring products and

inventory at their doorstep. IndianOil operates the largest and the widest network of petrol & diesel

stations in the country, numbering 18,643 including 2947 Kisan Seva Kendras (KSK) outlets in the rural

markets. Indane cooking gas is present in 2,764 markets through a network of 5,095 Indane Distributors.

IndianOil's ISO-9002 certified Aviation Service commands almost 63% market share in aviation fuel

business, meeting the fuel needs of domestic and international flag carriers, private airlines and the

Indian Defence Services. The Corporation also enjoys 65% share of the bulk consumer business,

including that of railways, state transport undertakings and industrial, agricultural and marine sectors.


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Products

IndianOil's product range covers petrol, diesel, LPG, auto LPG, aviation turbine fuel, lubricants, naphtha,

bitumen, paraffin, kerosene etc. Xtra Premium petrol, Xtra Mile diesel, Servo lubricants, Indane LPG,

Autogas LPG, Indian Oil Aviation are some of its prominent brands. Recently, Indian Oil has also

introduced a new business line of supplying LNG (liquefied natural gas) by cryogenic transportation. This

is called "LNG at Doorstep". LNG headquarters are located at the Scope Complex, Lodhi Road, Delhi.

Refineries

Digboi Refinery, in Upper Assam, is India's oldest refinery and was commissioned in 1901.

Originally a part of Assam Oil Company, it became part of IndianOil in 1981. Its original refining

capacity had been 0.5 MMTPA since 1901. Modernization project of this refinery has been

completed and the refinery now has an increased capacity of 0.65 MMTPA.

Guwahati Refinery, the first public sector refinery of the country, was built with Romanian

collaboration and was inaugurated by Late Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of

India, on 1 January 1962.

Barauni Refinery, in Bihar, was built in collaboration with Russia and Romania. It was

commissioned in 1964 with a capacity of 1 MMTPA. Its capacity today is 6 MMTPA.

Gujarat Refinery, at Koyali in Gujarat in Western India, is IndianOil’s largest refinery. The refinery

was commissioned in 1965. It also houses the first hydrocracking unit of the country. Its present

capacity is 13.70 MMTPA.

Haldia Refinery is the only coastal refinery of the Corporation, situated 136 km downstream of

Kolkata in the Purba Medinipur (East Midnapore) district. It was commissioned in 1975 with a

capacity of 2.5 MMTPA, which has since been increased to 5.8 MMTPA

Mathura Refinery was commissioned in 1982 as the sixth refinery in the fold of IndianOil and

with an original capacity of 6.0 MMTPA. Located strategically between the historic cities of Delhi

and Agra, the capacity of Mathura refinery was increased to 7.5 MMTPA.


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Panipat Refinery is the seventh refinery of IndianOil. The original refinery with 6 MMTPA

capacity was built and commissioned in 1998. Panipat Refinery has doubled its refining capacity

from 6 MMT/yr to 12 MMTPA with the commissioning of its Expansion Project.

Subsidiary refineries — Bongaigaon Refinery (2.95 MMTPA), Chennai Petroleum (9.5 MMTPA)

Globalisation Initiatives

IndianOil has set up subsidiaries in Sri Lanka, Mauritius and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and is

simultaneously scouting for new business opportunities in the energy markets of Asia and Africa.

Lanka IOC Plc (LIOC)

LIOC is ranked no. 1 among the island nation’s leading listed companies. It operates about 150 petrol &

diesel stations in Sri Lanka, and has a very efficient lube marketing network. Its major facilities include

an oil terminal at Trincomalee, Sri Lanka's largest petroleum storage facility and an 18,000 tonnes per

annum capacity lubricants blending plant and state-of-the-art fuels and lubricants testing laboratory at

Trincomalee. Presently, it holds a market share of about 43.5%. In a highly competitive bunker market,

catering to all types of bunker fuels and lubricants at all ports of Sri Lanka, viz., Colombo, Trincomalee

and Galle. It is the major supplier of lubricants and greases to the three arms of the Defence services of

Sri Lanka. I t holds 12.4% share of the market. It has also introduced nitrogen filling facilities for

automotive tyres, the first of its kind in Sri Lanka.

IndianOil (Mauritius) Ltd. (IOML)

IndianOil (Mauritius) Ltd. is the third largest petroleum company in Mauritius and holds an overall

market share of 24% and commands a 42% market share in aviation fuelling business, apart from its

bunkering business. It operates a modern petroleum bulk storage terminal at the Mer Rouge port,

besides 17 filling stations. In addition to the ongoing expansion of retail network, IOML has to its credit

the first ISO 9001-2008 product-testing laboratory in Mauritius.

IndianOil Middle-East FZE (IOME)

The Corporation's UAE subsidiary, IOC Middle East FZE, which oversees business expansion in the Middle

East, is mainly into blending and marketing of SERVO lubricants and marketing of petroleum products in


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the Middle East, Africa and CIS countries. It exports finished lubes to Oman, Yemen , Bahrain, UAE and

Nepal .

Vision of IOCL:

“ A Major, Diversified, Transnational, Integrated Energy Company, with National leadership and a Strong

Environment Conscience, playing a National Role in Oil Security & Public Distribution.”

Mission:

? To achieve international standards of excellence in all aspects of energy and diversified business with

focus on customer delight through value of products and services, and cost reduction.

? To maximize creation of wealth, value and satisfaction for the stakeholders.

? To attain leadership in developing, adopting and assimilating state of the art technology for

competitive advantage.

? To provide technology and services through sustained Research and Development.

? To foster a culture of participation and innovation for employee growth and contribution.

? To cultivate high standards of business ethics and Total Quality Management for a strong corporate

identity and brand equity.

? To help enrich the quality of life of the community and preserve ecological balance and heritage

through a strong environment conscience.

Objectives:

? To serve the national interest in the oil and related sectors in accordance and consistent with

government policies.

? To ensure and maintain continuous and smooth supplies of petroleum product by way of crude

refining, transportation and marketing activities and to provide appropriate assistance to the

consumer to conserve and use petroleum product efficiency.


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? To earn a reasonable rate of interest on investment.

? To work towards the achievement of self- sufficiency in the field of oil refining and by setting up

adequate capacity and to build up expertise in laying of crude and petroleum product pipeline.

? To create a strong R&D base in the field of oil refining and stimulate the development of new products

formulations with a minimize/eliminate their import and to have next generation products.

? To maximize utilization of the existing facilities in order to improve efficiency and increase

productivity.

? To optimize utilization of its existing capacity and maximize distillate yield from refining of crude oil to

minimize foreign exchange outgo.

? To minimize fuel consumption in refineries and stock losses in marketing operation to effect energy

conservation.

? To further enhance distribution network for providing assured service to customer throughout the

country through expansion of reseller network as per marketing plan/ government approval.

? To avail of viable opportunities, both national and global, arising out of the liberalization policies being

pursued by the government.

Brands at IOCL

Brands at IOCL can be broadly classified into 3 categories, viz., energy, retail, and customer loyalty

programs.

ENERGY:

(i) Xtramile

(ii) Xtrapremium

(iii) Servo

(iv) Indane

(v) Indian Oil Aviation

(vi) LNG at doorstep


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RETAIL:

(i) Xtracare

(ii) Kisan Sewa Kendra

(iii) Swagat

(iv) Servo Express

CUSTOMER LOYALTY PROGRAM:

(i) Xtrarewards

(ii) Xtrapower

Value added diesel

The value added diesel of Indian Oil is named as XtraMile.

XTRAMILE

IndianOil’s XTRAMILE Super Diesel, the leader in the branded diesel segment, is blended with world-

class multi-functional fuel additives. Commercial vehicle owners choose XTRAMILE because they see a

clear value benefit in terms of superior mileage, lower maintenance costs and improved engine

protection. A growing section of customers who own diesel automobiles, both in the ‘lifestyle’ and

‘passenger’ category, prefer XTRAMILE as a fuel for its added and enhanced performance. XTRAMILE has

brought in a huge savings in the high mileage commercial vehicles segment. Transport fleets that

operate a large number of trucks crisscrossing the country are using XTRAMILE to benefit from higher

mileage and reduced maintenance costs.

3. Objective:

The objective of the study is to determine the brand performance of Xtramile. The term brand

performance comprises a number of parameters, like brand recall, advertisement recall, brand trial,

experience of customer, etc. The study tries to determine the performance of brand under these

parameters to finally determine the overall brand performance.

Sub-objectives of the study:


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Brand recall: This includes determining whether the respondent recalls the brand

without any aid, with little aid, with high aid or does not recall at all

Promotion effectiveness: This includes determining the advertisement recall, and

people’s perception towards the ads.

Brand trial: This includes determining how many respondents have tried our brand,

competitor’s brands, or no brand at all (use normal fuel). It also includes their

experience with the brand and determining the negatives and positives they find in the

brand.

Brand loyalty: This includes determining how many respondents would recommend our

brand and competitor’s brand to others.

4. Literature Review

A brand is a name or symbol used to identify the source of a product. When developing a new product,

branding is an important decision. The brand can add significant value when it is well recognized and has

positive associations in the mind of the consumer. This concept is referred to as brand equity1. Aaker

(1991) defined brand equity as “….a set of brand assets and liabilities linked to a brand, its name and

symbol, that add to and subtract from the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or to that

firm’s customers” (p. 15). Good examples of companies with strong brand equity are corporations such

as Nike and Coca-Cola, whose corporate logos are recognized worldwide.

Brand Recall is the extent to which a brand name is recalled as a member of a brand, product or service

class, as distinct from brand recognition. Common market research usage is that pure brand recall

requires "unaided recall". For example a respondent may be asked to recall the names of any cars he

may know, or any whisky brands he may know. Some researchers divide recall into both "unaided" and

"aided" recall. "Aided recall" measures the extent to which a brand name is remembered when the

actual brand name is prompted. An example of such a question is "Do you know of the "Honda" brand?"

In terms of brand exposure, companies want to look for high levels of unaided recall in relation to their

1 http://www.netmba.com/marketing/brand/equity/

http://www.netmba.com/marketing/brand/equity/


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competitors. The first recalled brand name (often called "top of mind") has a distinct competitive

advantage in brand space, as it has the first chance of evaluation for purchase.2

According to Bloemer and Kasper (1994), brand loyalty implies that consumers bind themselves to

products or services as a result of a deep-seated commitment. They assert that a repeat purchase

behavior "is the actual re-buying of a brand” whereas loyalty includes "antecedents” or a reason/fact

occurring before the behavior. According to Aaker (1992), brand loyalty implies both a consistent

pattern of purchase of a specific brand over time and a favorable attitude towards a brand. The

literature shows two alternative approaches to the construct of brand loyalty. The first one is concerned

with “a consistent purchase behavior of a specific brand over time”. According to Kuehn (1962), brand

loyalty can be viewed as, at least in part, a function of the frequency and regularity with which a brand

has been selected in the past.

5. Methodology

5A. Instruments of survey:

The survey, as stated above, was conducted on the aforementioned parameters. Additionally,

some demographic questions were also asked.

Questions 1 to 3 were related to the vehicle that the respondent is using. Q.1, “Do you own a

diesel vehicle?”, was the qualifying question. If the response was “yes”, only then the survey

was continued ahead.

Questions 4 to 6 determine the brand recall value. Question 4 simply asks the respondent to

name some of the branded diesel. If the respondent names Xtramile, then the recall is unaided.

Next question asks the respondent whether he/she knows the name of of IOCL’s branded diesel.

If Xtramile is responded, the recall is low aided. Next question asks the respondent, whether

he/she has heard of Xtramile. If the answer is “Yes”, the recall is high aided; If it’s no, the brand

is not recalled.

2 http://wwnessw.asiamarketresearch.com/glossary/brand-recall.htm, as visited on July 7

th, 2010, at 1551 hrs.

http://wwnessw.asiamarketresearch.com/glossary/brand-recall.htm


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Questions 7 to 10 determine the promotion effectiveness. The questions ask the respondent

about whether they can recall the advertisement, how they like the advertisements, whether

they’ll be motivated to buy the brand after watching the ad, etc.

Questions 11 to 18 determine the experience of the customer with our brand, with other

brands, why they use/ don’t use branded fuels, etc. The questions are mostly qualitative and ask

the views of respondents.

Questions 19 to 21 ask the respondent about their fuel preferences, i.e., which fuels they prefer

and which company they prefer. This helps us gain an insight into what the respondents prefer,

on a usual basis.

Questions 22 and 23 determine the brand loyalty of customer for our brand and other brands

respectively. It’s a known fact that best kind of promotion is “word of mouth” promotion. So,

companies need to deliver such products, that people become brand loyal, recommend the

band to their friends, repurchase the brand themselves, etc.

Questions 25 to 28 ask respondents’ personal details and their demographic features. The

demographic questions (age and income) were asked to refine the results on the basis of these

constraints and get a better view of what perceptions different people own.

On the basis of results collected, different bar graphs and pie charts were created to draw

results with different constraints. For ex, a pie chart on: “Depending upon the kind of vehicle

usage and age, what is the recall value of the brand?”. This way, we not only get the recall value

of the brand, but we categorize the chart on the basis of usage and age. Thus, we get better,

more refined results.

5B. Conduction of survey

A total of 150 people were surveyed, in Delhi/ NCR region and respondents were divided into

two parts: Commercial users and Private users. 64 respondents were commercial users and 86

were private users. As mentioned above, The qualifying question was: “Do you own a diesel

vehicle?”.

Legend:


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Q1. What is the usage of your vehicle?

1-Commercial- The respondent drives a commercial vehicle, ex truck, tempo, taxi, etc.

2-Private- The respondent drives a personal vehicle, ex personal car

Q2. Have you heard about xtramile?

1-Yes- The respondent recalls the brand after high aid

2-No- The respondent does not recall the brand, even after the high aid

3-N/A- The person recalls the brand with either no aid or low aid

Q3. People will be motivated to buy the product after watching these ads?

1-Yes- The respondent thinks that the advertisement has a good effect on the audience

2-No- The respondent thinks that the advertisement can’t motivate the audience to buy the

product

3-N/A- The respondent does not recall any advertisement while answering

Q4. Have you tried Xtramile?

1-Yes- Yes, the respondent has used the product

2-No- No, the respondent has never used the product

Q5. Have you tried other branded diesels?

1-Yes- The respondent has used branded diesels of other brands too

2-No- The person has not used any other branded fuel

Q6. Which fuel you use usually?

1-Xtramile

2-IOC’s normal


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3-Other- any other specific company, whether branded or normal, but does not included IOC’s

fuels

4-Any normal- Including IOC’s

5-Any branded- Including IOC’s

Q7. Which is your usually visited company?

1-HP

2-BP

3-IOCL

4-Any- No preference

Q8. Would you recommend Xtramile to your friends?

1-Yes

2-No

Q9. Would you recommend other brands’ branded fuels to your friends?

1-Yes

2-No

3-N/A- If respondent says yes to Q8, we don’t ask this question.

Q10. Age

1-18-30

2-30-45

3-45-60

4-More than 60

Q11. Income


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1-Less than 20000

2-20000-50000

3-50001-100000

4-More than 100000

6. Results and data analysis

A total of 150 people were surveyed. The results are following:

Analysis according to:

(i) Pie Charts:

Q1. Based upon the kind of vehicle usage, what is the recall value of the brand?


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It was clearly visible that both the kind of respondents can easily recall the brand. There was, although, a

startling difference when it came to unaided recall. There were more private users who could recall the

brand without any aid, than commercial users.

Q2. Depending upon the kind of vehicle usage and age, what is the recall value of the brand?


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The results show that among the commercial respondents, irrespective of the age, there are always

more than 60% people who have heard of xtramile. A small proportion goes to people who were not

asked this question, as the could recall it with any aid.

Among the private users, there are very different results when age varies. On one hand, in the age group

up to 45, majority of people were not required to ask this question, whereas on the other, majority of

people above 45 and specially above 60 years of age could not recall the brand without any aid.

Q3. Depending on the age of the respondents, how many of them think, that people will be motivated

to buy our product after watching our ads?


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This is a major setback to the advertisement campaigns taken, as most of the people can not recall the

advertisement.

Q4. Depending upon the age of respondents, how many of them have tried Xtramile?


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This is a very basic question and as can be seen, most of the people have used Xtramile, irrespective of

the age groups.

Q5. Depending upon the age, how many of them have tried other branded diesels?


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Again, people, on majority basis, have used other branded fuels too.

Q6. Depending upon the income, how many of them have tried Xtramile?


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In the income group of less than 20000, majority of people have not tried other branded fuels. This

could be attributed to the fact that branded diesels are costlier.

Q7. Depending upon the income, how many of them have tried other brands?


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The result is similar for Xtramile too. Most of the people in income group of less than 20000, have not

tried Xtramile.

Q8. Depending upon the income, which is the usually preferred fuel?


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As is visible from the pie chart, respondents in the first three income groups, there are many people

who use any normal fuel. As the income increases, more number of people are purchasing branded

fuels.

Q9. Depending upon the age, which is the usually preferred fuel?


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As the age increases, more people choose branded diesel. In all the four subgroups, more than 30%

people prefer any normal fuel.

Q10. Depending upon the age, which is the usually preferred company?


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A clear result visible is that many people, irrespective of age group, prefer HP as their favorite brand.

Q11. Depending upon the income, which is the usually preferred company?


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Again, similar results are visible. People prefer either HP or don’t have any preferences at all.

(ii) Bar Graphs:

Q1. Depending on the age and vehicle usage of respondent, how many of the respondents have heard of

Xtramile?


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As is visible from the graph, not many commercial users were able to recall the brand without any aid.

On the other hand, private users could recall the brand without any aid or with little aid. Most of the

commercial users required high aid to recall the brand. Also, there were many commercial users who

could not recall the brand at all. O n the other hand, just 3 of the 84 private users could not recall the

brand at all.

Q2. Depending upon the usage of vehicle and age, what’s the relationship between brand recall and

people’s perception towards our advertisements?


30

As is visible from the graph, not many respondents, irrespective of the usage, could recall the

advertisements.

Q3. Depending upon the type of vehicle usage and age of respondents, does brand recall affect the

brand trial?


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From the graph, it is visible that most of the commercial users, irrespective of age, haven’t used

Xtramile. Most of the private users have used Xtramile. But, many of those who required high aid to

recall the brand don’t use Xtramile.

Q4. Depending upon the usage of vehicle, what’s the relationship between brand trial of our brand and

the same of other brands?


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Easily visible, most of commercial users don’t use branded fuels. Although, among them, those who

have used Xtramile, there are many people who have used other brands also. Among the private users,

as expected, many users have used other branded diesels also.

Q5. Depending upon the type of vehicle usage and income of respondents, does brand recall affect the

brand trial?


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Here, those who have heard of Xtramile, among them, among the commercial users, many users haven’t

tried Xtramile. Among the same group, private users have tried Xtramile. Obviously, those who could

not recall the brand at all, have not used it. Those who could recall the brand without aid or with little

aid, most of them have tried Xtramile.

Q6. Depending upon the usage of vehicle and age, what’s the relationship b/w brand trial and brand

recommendation?


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As is visible, brand loyalty is high among the private users as compared to the commercial users,

irrespective of the age groups.

Q10. Depending upon the usage of vehicle and income, what’s the relationship b/w brand trial and

brand recommendation?


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Again, irrespective of the income groups, private users have brand loyalty as compared to commercial

users.

7. Conclusion and recommendations

7A. Conclusion

Looking at the various graphs and pie charts, there were some results that could be easily

derived, which are as follows:

Commercial users don’t prefer using branded fuels.

HPCL gives IOCL a big competition and people have much more preference towards HP.

Income groups of less than 20000 are reluctant towards buying the branded fuels.


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The brand loyalty is high among private users as compared to commercial users, which

can be attributed to the fact that commercial users don’t prefer branded fuels

themselves.

The brand recall value is high among private users. Although it isn’t too bad for

commercial users but they required little aid or high aid in most of the cases. On the

other hand, most of the private users could recall the brand without any aid.

People are not able to recall the advertisements, irrespective of the kinds of users they

are.

Among the open-ended questions, where there were some views asked from the respondents,

there were some common results found out. First of all, people generally complained about the

worthiness of what they got. People believe that they get normal fuel in the name of branded,

fuel provided is less than the value shown on meters and mixing is a big problem. Also, people

want that facilities be improved at the petrol pumps. Generally, people who have not used

Xtramile, or other branded diesels, prefer not to do so due to cost in most of the cases.

Recommendations:

Some of the recommendations:

Brand window: The brand window during the advertisements should be increased, with more

specific message for commercial users. Most of the truck drivers, when asked about the

advertisement, could recall same ad of SERVO and not of XTRAMILE. The reason behind the

same was that the ad features a truck with message related to truck. The strategy can be based

upon the same lines.

Brand trial: The brand trial, among the commercial users is low. The company can devise a sale

strategy. For ex, company could offer special gifts on the purchase of Xtramile for Rs. 1000 or

more. This would encourage people to buy our product, and if they like it, the loyalty would

increase.

The results show that on the three parameters:

Brand recall: Here, the brand is performing well. The promotion effectiveness is not good

although.


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Brand trial: Brand trial has been high among private users and low among commercial users.

Thus, brand is performing well on this parameter among private users but needs to be bettered

among commercial users.

Brand loyalty: Brand loyalty is high. People who have used the brand are loyal towards the

brand.

8. Limitations

Following were the limitations of the study:

The sample size was just 150 and study was done in Delhi/ NCR region. Thus, the study can not

be generalized for the country for a population of 1.2 billion.

The sample taken does not include many people from age group of above 60 (just 3 out of 150)

and income group of above Rs 100000 (just 8 out of 150).

Finally, there were time constraints. Studying mass brands can be a very lengthy process and

results would have been better had there been more time.


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Appendix 1

SURVEY DESIGNED:

-------------------------------------------------- Vehicle Details ----------------------------------------------

1. Do you own a diesel vehicle?

Yes No

2. Which vehicle do you own? - _________________________

3. What is the usage of your vehicle?

Commercial Private

------------------------------------------------- Fuel Preferences --------------------------------------------

4. Can you recall names of some of the branded diesels?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

5. What is the name of Indian Oil’s branded diesel? ________________________

6. Have you heard about Xtramile?

Yes No

7. Can you recall any advertisement of Xtramile?

________________________________________________________________

8. Kindly give us some brief description about the advertisement

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

9. What you liked about the advertisement?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

10. Do you think people will be motivated to buy Xtramile after watching those ads?

1. Yes No

11. Have you tried Xtramile?


39

1. Yes No

12. What was your experience with Xtramile?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

13. Why have you not used Xtramile?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

14. Have you tried other companies’ branded fuels?

1. Yes No

15. What was your experience with other brands?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

16. Where would you rank Xtramile, as compared to other brands?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

17. What could be the possible reasons for using branded fuels?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

18. What could be the possible reasons for not using branded fuels?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

19. Which fuel do you use usually?

Xtra Mile Indian Oil’s normal fuel

Others (please mention) _________________

20. Which is your usually visited retail outlet?

________________________________________________________________


40

21. Which is your usually preferred company?

________________________________________________________________

22. Would you recommend Xtra mile to your friends?

1. Yes No

23. Would you recommend any branded diesel to your friends?

1. Yes No

24. Would you like to give recommendations so that we can deliver better products?

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

----------------------------------------------- Personal Details ----------------------------------------------

25. Name (optional) - __________________________________

26. Contact number (optional) - __________________________

27. Age

18-30 30-45

45-60 More than 60

28. Monthly household income

Less than 20000 20000-50000

50001-100000 More than 100000


41

Appendix 2

Abbreviations:

HPCL: Hindustan petroleum Corporation Limited

BPCL: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited

IOCL: Indian Oil Corporation Limited

MMTPA: Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum

Ad/ad: Advertisement

NCR: National Capital Region

Rs: Rupees


42

Appendix 3

Bibliography:

Aaker, D.A. (1991). Managing Brand Equity, Free Press, New York.

Aaker, D. A. (1992); “Value of Brand Equity”, The Journal Business Strategy, Vol.13 No.4,

pp.27-37

Bloemer, K. & Kasper, H.D.P. (1995). The complex relationship between consumer

satisfaction and brand loyalty. Journal of economic psychology, 16, 2, 7, 311-329

Kuehn, A.A. (1962); “Consumer brand choice as a learning process”, Journal of

Advertising Research, Vol. 2, December, pp 10-17

Weblography:

http://iocl.com/

Documents

Internship report-IOCL