Case
Teaching Notes
Supplementary Resources
Abstract
This case is based on the marketing research initiative of Firmenich, one of the largest privately owned organizations in the perfumery and flavor industry in the world. The objective of the marketing research was to obtain insights on preferences of low-income consumers of India with respect to soaps that would improve their hygiene and consequently their health. The organization has to its credit many leading perfumes and flavor brands. Some of Firmenich's clients manufacture soap and related personal care products and use Firmenich products extensively.
Firmenich believed that insights from their clients about the preferences of these low-income consumers will help them develop new fragrances that will significantly increase the use of soap, as well as other innovative products that might improve health and hygiene among low-income consumers.
In order to undertake the research, Firmenich has partnered with the Naandi Foundation and Mahindra Pride School. Both these organizations work for social causes and have expertise in dealing with low-income consumers. The familiarity of the partners with the activities of daily life in low-income communities and Firmenich's ability to adopt innovative research methodology has helped in co-creating a product, which hopefully will be used by these consumers regularly.
This case was prepared for inclusion in SAGE Business Cases primarily as a basis for classroom discussion or self-study, and is not meant to illustrate either effective or ineffective management styles. Nothing herein shall be deemed to be an endorsement of any kind. This case is for scholarly, educational, or personal use only within your university, and cannot be forwarded outside the university or used for other commercial purposes.
2023 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Resources
Appendix
| Table 9. Details of environmental efforts at Firmenich. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |
| Total Energy Use (GJ/t) | 11.4 | 11.1 | 10.7 | 10.0 |
| Scope 1 and 2 CO2 Emissions (kg/t) | 837 | 818 | 781 | 713 |
| VOC (kg/t) | 1.4 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| Total Water Use (m3/t) | 26.9 | 23.1 | 22.5 | 23.0 |
| Process Water Use (m3/t) | 8.4 | 8.4 | 7.1 | 7.4 |
| Hazardous Waste (kg/t) | 83 | 79 | 75 | 80.2 |
| Waste to Energy (%) | 19.5 | 30.1 | 32.3 | 32.9 |
| Waste to Landfill (%) | 10.9 | 9.1 | 8.3 | 7.8 |
Source: Compiled by the authors from Annual Reports of Firmenich (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014).
| Table 10. Socio-demographic details of India. | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Language | Road per sq km area | Rail line kms | Irrigation (Percentage of Irrigated area to cropped area | BPL % of population | Population in million | Area Thousand sq kms | Access to ocean | Per Capita Power consumption in kwhs | Literacy (M) Percentage | Literacy (F) Percentage | Life expectancy at birth (M) | Life expectancy at birth (F) | No of Mobile users in million |
| Andhra Pradesh | Telugu/Hindi | 86.53 | 5,264 | 49.3 | 9.2 | 84.666 | 275.045 | Yes | 966.99 | 74.88 | 58.68 | 66.9 | 70.9 | 11.54247 |
| Assam | Assamese | 308.26 | 2,434 | 4.1 | 31.98 | 31.169 | 78.438 | No | 204.8 | 77.85 | 63.00 | 63.6 | 64.8 | 2.763406 |
| Bihar | Magahi/Bhojpuri/Hindi | 138.74 | 3,612 | 61.8 | 33.74 | 103.804 | 94.163 | No | 122.11 | 71.20 | 46.40 | 68.6 | 68.7 | 9.773365 |
| Chhattisgarh | Hindi | 69.51 | 1,187 | 28.3 | 39.93 | 25.54 | 135.191 | No | 1546.94 | 80.27 | 59.58 | 63 | 66 | 1.529415 |
| Goa | Goaneese | 287.06 | 69 | 22.8 | 5.09 | 1.458 | 3.702 | Yes | 2263.63 | 92.65 | 82.16 | 73.1 | 77.5 | 0.173673 |
| Gujarat | Gujarati/Hindi | 79.68 | 5,271 | 45.9 | 16.63 | 60.384 | 196.024 | Yes | 1615.24 | 85.75 | 63.31 | 69.2 | 72.5 | 7.138487 |
| Haryana | Haryanawi/Hindi | 94.38 | 1,540 | 85.2 | 11.16 | 25.353 | 44.212 | No | 1222.21 | 89.53 | 73.51 | 68.9 | 71.3 | 3.156311 |
| Himachal Pradesh | Hindi | 86.15 | 296 | 20.3 | 8.06 | 6.857 | 55.673 | No | 1379.99 | 84.06 | 56.91 | 70.8 | 74.3 | 0.908097 |
| Jammu & Kashmir | Urdu/Hindi | 12.14 | 256 | 42 | 10.35 | 12.549 | 222.236 | No | 952.02 | 76.84 | 52.04 | 66.5 | 69.3 | 1.194947 |
| Jharkhand | Hindi | 29.99 | 1,984 | 12 | 36.96 | 32.966 | 79.714 | No | 880.43 | 76.75 | 49.12 | 67.5 | 66 | 2.726089 |
| Karnataka | Kannada | 146.92 | 3,073 | 32.8 | 20.91 | 61.131 | 191.791 | Yes | 903.24 | 82.47 | 66.01 | 68 | 72.3 | 7.44665 |
| Kerala | Malayalam | 517.77 | 1,050 | 17.7 | 7.01 | 33.388 | 38.863 | Yes | 525.25 | 96.11 | 100. | 73.2 | 77.6 | 3.611261 |
| Madhya Pradesh | Hindi | 64.01 | 4,955 | 33.7 | 31.65 | 72.598 | 308.245 | No | 602.07 | 88.38 | 69.87 | 64.5 | 65.3 | 6.076844 |
| Maharashtra | Marathi/Hindi | 133.41 | 5,602 | 20.2 | 17.35 | 112.373 | 307.713 | Yes | 1028.22 | 78.73 | 54.49 | 68.9 | 72.5 | 12.79702 |
| Odisha | Oria/Hindi | 166.23 | 2,461 | 28.3 | 32.59 | 41.947 | 155.707 | Yes | 874.26 | 81.59 | 62.46 | 64.3 | 67.3 | 3.439346 |
| Punjab | Punjabi/Hindi | 167.18 | 2,134 | 98 | 8.26 | 27.704 | 50.362 | No | 1526.86 | 80.44 | 62.52 | 69.7 | 72.8 | 3.370242 |
| Rajasthan | Rajasthani/Hindi | 70.51 | 5,784 | 32 | 14.71 | 68.621 | 342.239 | No | 736.2 | 79.19 | 47.76 | 67.6 | 70.7 | 7.863314 |
| Tamil Nadu | Tamil | 147.89 | 4,062 | 58.2 | 11.28 | 72.139 | 130.058 | Yes | 1131.58 | 86.77 | 73.14 | 68.6 | 71.8 | 11.48416 |
| Uttar Pradesh | Bhojpuri/Awadhi/Hindi | 92.14 | 345 | 48 | 11.26 | 199.581 | 240.928 | No | 1112.29 | 87.40 | 67.06 | 66 | 66.9 | 20.14965 |
| Uttarakhand | Hindi | 161.98 | 8,763 | 76.3 | 29.42 | 10.117 | 53.483 | No | 348.37 | 77.28 | 51.36 | 66 | 69.5 | 1.2941 |
| West Bengal | Bengali/Hindi | 337.13 | 3,937 | 58.2 | 19.98 | 91.348 | 88.572 | Yes | 550.16 | 81.69 | 66.57 | 69.2 | 72.1 | 8.608871 |
Source: Government of India Census, 2011.
| Table 11. Socio-demographic profile based on religion. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Religion | Percentage population | Sex ratio | Literacy (M) | Literacy (F) | Working population |
| Hindus | 80.5 | 931 | 76.2 | 53.2 | 40.4 |
| Muslims | 13.4 | 936 | 67.6 | 50.1 | 31.3 |
| Christians | 2.3 | 1009 | 84.4 | 76.2 | 39.7 |
| Sikhs | 1.9 | 893 | 75.2 | 63.1 | 37.7 |
| Buddhists | 0.8 | 953 | 83.1 | 61.7 | 40.6 |
| Jains | 0.4 | 940 | 97.4 | 90.6 | 32.9 |
| Other religions | 0.6 | 992 | 60.8 | 33.2 | 48.4 |
Source: Government of India Census, 2011.
| Table 12. Economic indicators. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | GDP In Crores (2012) | Per capita Income (INR) 2011 | GDP Growth Rate in % (2011) | Corruption Index* |
| Andhra Pradesh | 405,046 | 62912 | 7.82 | 0.43 |
| Assam | 80,172 | 30569 | 6.47 | 0.22 |
| Bihar | 144,278 | 20708 | 13.26 | 0.37 |
| Chhattisgarh | 84,674 | 41167 | 8.14 | 0.31 |
| Goa | 23,192 | 168572 | 9.39 | N.A. |
| Gujarat | 398,884 | 75115 | 8.53 | 0.45 |
| Haryana | 179,097 | 94680 | 7.92 | 0.35 |
| Himachal Pradesh | 41,939 | 65535 | 7.44 | 0.39 |
| Jammu & Kashmir | 40,771 | 37496 | 6.22 | 0.33 |
| Jharkhand | 91,421 | 29768 | 8.92 | 0.20 |
| Karnataka | 286,410 | 60946 | 5.50 | 0.30 |
| Kerala | 210,107 | 71434 | 9.51 | 0.39 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 201,290 | 32222 | 11.81 | 0.44 |
| Maharashtra | 805,031 | 83471 | 8.54 | 0.36 |
| Odisha | 130,664 | 40412 | 4.92 | 0.32 |
| Punjab | 156,404 | 69737 | 5.94 | 0.36 |
| Rajasthan | 227,824 | 39967 | 6.11 | 0.32 |
| Tamil Nadu | 416,549 | 72993 | 7.37 | 0.37 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 423,261 | 26355 | 6.86 | 0.25 |
| Uttarakhand | 58,561 | 66368 | 5.28 | 0.30 |
| West Bengal | 339,844 | 48536 | 6.58 | 0.22 |
*The figure is for the period 2006–2012. It is based on efforts by Government to tackle corruption. (Source: Bhandari, & Chakraborty, 2013).
This case was prepared for inclusion in SAGE Business Cases primarily as a basis for classroom discussion or self-study, and is not meant to illustrate either effective or ineffective management styles. Nothing herein shall be deemed to be an endorsement of any kind. This case is for scholarly, educational, or personal use only within your university, and cannot be forwarded outside the university or used for other commercial purposes.
2023 Sage Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved
