Liberating MCR Technology - Market Development in Jhansi
Subroto Roy

Development Alternatives is engaged in promotion of the Micro Concrete Roofing Technology through enterprises.  To accelerate the setting up of micro enterprises and to maintain the highest quality standards of its roofing products, a business strategy has been operationalised for large scale dissemination.  This is based on designing a mix of individual entrepreneurs, franchised units and enterprises through government and institutional financing.  The strategy is especially targeted to building material manufacturers and cement companies. Development Alternatives is testing out various marketing strategies and developing essential tools and networks to operate this model in commercial environment. Our work is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation and provided backstopping by SKAT, Switzerland.

The first place selected for testing out the marketing strategy is Jhansi district in Uttar Pradesh.  The Table 1 gives us an idea of the roofing scenario in Jhansi.

Out of the total population, 25% live in fully developed urban areas, while the rest live in either semi urban or in rural areas.  In rural areas it has been observed that 80% of the houses have sloping roofs with country made clay tiles. Jhansi has an urban market & growing rural market but limited choice of good and affordable roofing products.  Moreover, raw material such as sand, stone grit and stone dust are abundantly available which result in reducing production cost of MCR tile.

Market Size and Segment

An annual target of 0.3 million tiles equivalent to 2,67,000 sqft of roof has been set which will result in turnover of Rs. 53 lacs. Product positioning has been done on the basis of price elasticity of demand.  The MCR tile roof is positioned between Asbestos & G.I. roofs with cladding cost between Rs.13/- to Rs.17/- per sqft and clay tile roof ranging from Rs.6/- to Rs.10/- per sqft.  The Table 2 elaborates the various roofing sequence available with MCR.
 

Marketing Strategy

To achieve the above target following sequence has been adopted:

a)  Market development and
b)  Enterprise development
 

Implementation of Marketing Strategy

For implementation of the above strategies a model work shop unit was set up at Bijouli near a stone crusher site in Jan. 1996 and at TARAgram, Orchha in July 1996. Bijouli caters to a catchment area of 65 villages & urban Jhansi, while Orchha caters to 150 villages in U.P. and M.P. The steps initiated in the implementation of the strategy are outlined below:
 

1)  Establishment of Brand Name

Initially Micro concrete roofing tile was known as MICRO LITE tile, on the basis of micro chips used as a raw material and its light weight.  The market failed to register the requisite message of strength and reliability of the products. The TARAcrete Roofing Tile was introduced and is now a well established brand name. TARAcrete will henceforth be used for all TARA building products.
 

2)  Brand & Product Awareness

The steps taken for increasing awareness levels are:
 

a)  Demonstration Models

Demonstration models have been constructed in selected places with placards fixed to the roof explaining benefits of MCR technology.  The demonstration structures consist of bus shelters, primary schools, guest houses and panchayat meeting rooms.  This step provided product exposure.
 

b)  Door To Door Campaign

Local sales agents were selected on a cost plus commission basis for the sales campaign in Bijouli & Chirgaon.  Selection of zones for deploying these agents was done on the basis of location of the maximum number of industries near the road and large volumes of material movement.  Each individual was given a particular captive area for the campaign.  Promotional materials like albums and pamphlets explaining the benefits of TARAcrete Roofing Tile over other competing roofing materials were provided to each individual after during weeks’ rigorous training.  The sales pitch focussed on MCR being a superior product.  For greater impact, each agent was given a uniform consisting of a shirt and cap bearing the TARAcrete logo. 

An outline of the geographical area, where this is carried out is given in Table 3.

c)  Mass Awareness Campaign

To develop the brand image a mass awareness campaign was executed along the guidelines given in Table 4.
 

3)  Establishment of Networks for Selling Products

An important link in enhancing market share will be the establishment of effective channels of distribution.  For this marketing arrangements with existing building material retailers and cement dealers will be made on commission basis.

A technical and marketing booklet, demonstration model, pamphlets and signage boards will be given free of cost.  Various events such as carpenters meet, masons meet and cinema slide shows will be conducted on cost sharing basis.  The roofing services will be provided by carpenters, welders and fabricators. TARAgram will also help the retailers initially in structural design of custom made roofs.
 

4)  Establishment and Training of Roofing Service Providers

TARAgram, Orchha has been used for establishment of a carpenters guild, which offers its services on contract basis.  TARAgram provides jobs to more than 80 residents of nearby villages who have directly experienced the advantages of TARAcrete. The message  gets transferred to villages and reinforces the impact on fellow villagers after initial exposure through sales agent of TARAcrete.
 

Status of MCR in Jhansi Today

During the process of implementation new experiences have been gained. Some of these have been enumerated below :

The situation today is that there is no tile available to sell as demand has overshot the production capacity of even 7000 tiles per month.  Today customers are coming with full advance money for their roofs.   MCR has established its credibility as being Total Value for Money.  There is almost always zero stock at all production centres. A status report of business in Jhansi is given below:

In August 96 sales touched the total production capacity.  Today more tiles are required to meet the rapidly growing demand.  Moreover, most of the roofs are in residential segment ( 64%) comprising of extensions, main room etc.  The commercial segment comprising of restaurants, poultry farms and schools, account for the balance 36% only.  This shows that MCR has gained loyalty at the household level.

Implementation of Enterprise Development Strategy

     TARA plans to be only a support service provider & single window access for the technology in Jhansi and other districts of Central India. With escalating demand, TARA will now augment the supply by engaging business partners, to set up MCR franchise units. A business package has been devised for the franchisee. A synopsis of the terms of reference is as under:

To promote this scheme for potential franchisee producers, an advertisement was published in the local news paper.  This has evoked a very positive response from existing businessmen looking for diversification possibilities.  The final selection of entrepreneurs will be on the basis of selection criteria already finalised. 

The franchisee network is expected to be commissioned by October 96 to achieve a target of producing 20,000 tiles per month.  This calendar year will see at least 4 franchised units producing 2,40,00 tiles per year exclusive of 1,20,000 tiles produced by TARA.  A total 3,60,000 sqft roof area per year under the umbrella of TARAcrete will be achieved. 

But this is just the beginning. q

The author is a Marketing Engineer
with Development Alternatives

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