A

PROJECT STUDY
ON
Indian greeting cards industry with special reference to
Archies gifts and greetings ltd

Selected in Partial fulfilment of the Requirement of the

Post Graduate Program in “Marketing and Advertising” of
Bhavan’s Rajendra Prasad Institute of Communication and
Management, Mumbai.

Submitted By
Payal Samsukha
Registration number M9-04
Under the Guidance and Supervision of

Prof.S.N.Subba Rao

BHAVANS HARILAL BHAGAWATI COLLEGE OF

COMMUNICATIONAND MANAGEMENT
RACE COURSE ROAD, BANGALORE-01

2010-2011

1
 BHAVAN’S H.B.COLLEGE OF COMMUNICATION AND MANAGEMENT,
BANGALORE

ACKNOLEDGEMENT

It is with profound respect and gratefulness that I express my gratitude to Prof.S.N.Subba Rao,
for not only providing me with an opportunity to undertake this Project Study but also for his
active guidance and support, without which it would have been very difficult to complete this
project. He has been a great source of Inspiration throughout the course of study and I sincerely
thank him.

I am also indebted to the Marketing & Advertising Faculty members, and students and
respondents for their valuable views and comments which formed the basis for the primary data
for the study.

Lastly I would like to extend my gratitude to my family members, my friends and well wishers
for their help, cooperation and constant support during the course of the study.

Place: Bangalore
Date: Payal Samsukha

2
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this Project Report titled “A project study with reference to
Achies ltd, on Indian gift and Greeting card Industry” is an Original Project Study conducted
in the year 2010-2011 by self under the guidance and supervision of Prof.S.N.Subba Rao in
partial fulfillment of award of the Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing and Advertising of
Bhavan’s Rajendra Prasad Institute of Communications and Management, Mumbai.

This Project Study has not formed a basis for or has not been submitted to any other
University/ Institute for the award of Degree or Diploma.

Place: Bangalore
Date: Mar 2011 Payal Samsukha

3
 GUIDE’S CERTIFICATE

Certified that this Dissertation titled “A project study with reference to Achies ltd, on Indian
gift and Greeting card Industry” is based on an Original Project Study conducted by Payal
Samsukha under my guidance and supervision in partial fulfillment of the Post Graduate
Diploma Course in “Marketing and Advertising” OF Bhavan’s Rajendra Prasad Institute of
Communication and Management, Mumbai.

This Project Study has not formed a basis for or has not been submitted to any other University/
Institute for the award of Degree or Diploma

Place: Bangalore: Prof.S.N.Subba Rao

Date: Mar 2011 Project Guide

4
 CHAPTER SCHEME.

SL NO. CONTENT PAGE No.

Chapter1 Introduction part 1 : 6 - 23

Part 2 : 24 - 33

Chapter2 Research design 34 - 37

Chapter3 Company profile 38 - 49

Chapter4 Collection of data, 50 - 65

analysis &
Evaluation

Chapter5 Findings, 66 - 71
conclusions &
suggestions

Bibliography 72

Annexure 73 - 80

5
CHAPTER – 1
{Part 1}

6
 Marketing Management – Meaning

We can distinguish between a social and a managerial definition for marketing.

According to a social definition, marketing is a societal process by which
individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering,
and exchanging products and services of value freely with others.
As a managerial definition, marketing has often been described as “the art of
selling products.” But Peter Drucker, a leading management theorist, says that “the
aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. The aim of marketing is to know
and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells
itself.
Ideally, marketing should result in a customer who is ready to buy.”

The American Marketing Association offers this managerial definition:

Marketing (management) is the process of planning and executing the
conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to
create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals. Coping with
exchange processes—part of this definition—calls for a considerable amount of
work and skill. We see marketing management as the art and science of applying
core marketing concepts to choose target markets and get, keep, and grow
customers through creating, delivering, and communicating superior customer
value.

7
 Principles of marketing

Marketing as defined as "the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods

from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising,
shipping, storing, and selling."
An alternate definition paraphrased from memory of an introductory business text
is: Marketing is all activities conducted to prepare for sales. Sales is all activities
required to close the deal. Shipping and customer satisfaction would be included in
sales to avoid the customer from reversing or unclosing the deal.
Thus Marketing can be categorized as a branch of business as well as a social
science. We buy goods (thus becoming the buyer/consumer) from a vendor (or
producer/seller), creating a transaction. In the past, marketing involved traveling
salesmen, while in modern times, marketing is more likely to involve television,
the internet, and other forms of media bombardment.
As we progress in this age of technology it is vital for us to understand marketing
and its place in the world. Understanding and applying the principles will be
beneficial to the business person and the layperson.

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 BRAND EQUITY
What Is a Brand?
Perhaps the most distinctive skill of professional marketers is their ability to
create, maintain, protect, and enhance brands.
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a name, term, sign,
symbol, or design, or a combination of these, intended to identify the goods or
services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of
competitors.
In essence, a brand identifies the seller or maker. Whether it is a name,
trademark, logo, or another symbol, a brand is essentially a sellers promise to
deliver a specific set of features, benefits, and services consistently to the buyers.

Brand Equity is the commercial value of all associations and expectations (positive
and negative) that people have of an organization and its products and services due
to all experiences of, communications with, and perceptions of the brand over time.
This value can be measured in several ways: as the economic value of the brand
asset itself, the price premium (to the end consumer or the trade) that the brand
commands, the long term consumer loyalty the brand evokes, or the market share
gains it results in, among many others. From an economist’s perspective, brand
equity is the power of the brand to shift the consumer demand curve of a product
or service (to achieve a price premium or a market share gain).

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BRAND EQUITY

10
PROCESS of BRANDING

11
Quality
Quality is a vital ingredient of a good brand. Remember the “core benefits” – the
things consumers expect. These must be delivered well, consistently. The branded
washing machine that leaks, or the training shoe that often falls apart when wet
will never develop brand equity.
Research confirms that, statistically, higher quality brands achieve a higher market
share and higher profitability that their inferior competitors.

Positioning
Positioning is about the position a brand occupies in a market in the minds of
consumers. Strong brands have a clear, often unique position in the target market.
Positioning can be achieved through several means, including brand name, image,
service standards, product guarantees, packaging and the way in which it is
delivered. In fact, successful positioning usually requires a combination of these
things.

Repositioning
Repositioning occurs when a brand tries to change its market position to reflect a
change in consumer’s tastes. This is often required when a brand has become tired,
perhaps because its original market has matured or has gone into decline.
The repositioning of the Lucozade brand from a sweet drink for children to a
leading sports drink is one example. Another would be the changing styles of
entertainers with above-average longevity such as Kylie Minogue and Cliff
Richard.

Communications
Communications also play a key role in building a successful brand. We suggested
that brand positioning is essentially about customer perceptions – with the
objective to build a clearly defined position in the minds of the target audience.
All elements of the promotional mix need to be used to develop and sustain
customer perceptions. Initially, the challenge is to build awareness, then to develop
the brand personality and reinforce the perception.
12
Long-term perspective
This leads onto another important factor in brand-building: the need to invest in the
brand over the long-term. Building customer awareness, communicating the
brand’s message and creating customer loyalty takes time. This means that
management must “invest” in a brand, perhaps at the expense of short-term
profitability.

Internal marketing
Finally, management should ensure that the brand is marketed “internally” as well
as externally. By this we mean that the whole business should understand the brand
values and positioning. This is particularly important in service businesses where a
critical part of the brand value is the type and quality of service that a customer
receives.
Think of the brands that you value in the restaurant, hotel and retail sectors. It is
likely that your favourite brands invest heavily in staff training so that the face-to-
face contact that you have with the brand helps secure your loyalty.

13
 ADVERTISING
Advertising is a form of communication used to promote products and services of a
company primarily to generate sales and secondary to create a brand identity,
introduce new products and services, communicating a change in the existing
product line. It also helps in communicating social messages to the masses.

Types of Advertising:

There are various types of advertising which are mentioned below:

 Print Advertising: Newspapers, Magazines, Brochures, Fliers

 Broadcast advertising: Television, Radio and the Internet

 Outdoor Advertising: Billboards, Kiosks, Tradeshows and Events

 Covert Advertising: Advertising in Movies

 Public Service Advertising: Advertising for Social Cause

 Celebrity Advertising

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 Tools of Advertising

Radio

Radio listeners are drawn to a station's programming. Radio broadcasting is

considered to be a traditional medium. Radio's strength lies in its ability to target
audiences through its Programming, which is reflected in its advertising. Radio
advertising is effective in that most commercials are targeted at local audiences,
compared to television commercials, which are mostly national. A drawback to
radio advertising is that the effectiveness of a message is audio-dependent. This
can present challenges in describing certain products or services being marketed.
Television
Television ads have the highest production costs.
Television is considered to be a traditional medium but has the ability to adapt to
new media. Some television advertising strengths are its impact in combining sight
and sound, its ability to reach local, national and global audiences, and its more
recent adaptation to interactive marketing. Through service technology like On-
Demand, viewers can engage in advertising messages with a remote control.
Television advertising weaknesses are high production costs, programming
disruption, and short-lived messages.

Newspapers
The newspaper is part of the print media, and is arguably the oldest form of
traditional media. Newspaper advertising has many strengths that are being
affected by new, interactive marketing strategies. Newspapers provide a loyal
readership base for advertisers and low advertisement production costs.
15
Newspapers also offer value through short lead times to insert advertisements and
ensure high audience reach. Drawbacks of newspaper advertising include poor
print quality, a decrease in overall readership, and a general sense of advertising
clutter.

Magazines
Magazines have highly targeted readership rates.
Another member of the print media is the magazine. The value in advertising in
magazines lies in its audience selectiveness and high quality print. Magazines hold
credibility with their audiences, allowing its advertisements to resonate with
readers. Magazine advertising has several weaknesses to consider such as high
production cost, limited frequency, and long lead times.

Internet
The internet has changed the face of advertising. It has affected practically every
corner of the advertising spectrum and has forced traditional media to reinvent
itself where it can. The advantages to internet advertising are many, but the most
critical is its extremely low cost compared to other media. The internet offers
interactivity, making it possible to involve a target audience in the advertising
message. Such advertising can be very effective as interactivity is memorable and
satisfying to a user. Finally, internet advertising can be easily personalized,
something that traditional media like television and radio is incapable of. Perhaps
the largest drawback of internet advertising is its perception of clutter.

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Creativity of Advertising

Advertising is both art and science. The science of advertising is the analyititcal
part that we have been looking at up this point: deciding strategy, choosing among
different creativity styles. Some people call this step convergent thinking because
the process is to distillots of information into the core advertising strategy.
What is it that adds sparkle and life to a well-planned and implemented advertising
campaign? It’s the ‘ah’ factor: that brilliantly simple, but inspired creative edge.
In Advertising the world is flat. Agencies are structured on a linear basis.
Campaigns are created in linear formats. There are all kinds of rails and fences and
obstacles to keep creative thinking linear. Advertising is a big business and ranks
among the top industries in the world. The growth of the top advertising industry in
any country is in direct relation, its creative senses and talents if the advertising
professionals.
The word advertising is derived from the Latin word ‘adverto ’, that means “To
turn towards”. Advertising leads to attention towards something i.e. the advertising
message, which is the purpose of advertising and the objective of the advertising
Creative Advertising starts with proper creative planning.

17
 CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

The starting point for understanding consumer buying behavior is the stimulus
response model. As this model shows, both marketing and environmental stimuli
enter the buyer’s consciousness. In turn, the buyer’s characteristics and decision
process lead to certain purchase decisions. The marketer’s task is to understand
what happens in the buyer’s consciousness between the arrival of outside stimuli
and the buyer’s purchase decisions. As this model indicates, a consumer’s buying
behavior is influenced by cultural, social, personal, and psychological factors.

Cultural Factors Influencing Buyer Behavior

Culture, subculture, and social class are particularly important influences on
consumer buying behavior.

 Culture. Culture is the most fundamental determinant of a person’s wants

and behavior. A child growing up in the United States is exposed to these
broad cultural values: achievement and success, activity, efficiency and
practicality, progress, material comfort, individualism, freedom, external
comfort, humanitarianism, and youthfulness.
 Subculture. Each culture consists of smaller subcultures that provide more
specific identification and socialization for their members. Subcultures
include nationalities, religions, racial groups, and geographic regions. Many
subcultures make up important market segments, leading marketers to tailor
products and marketing programs to their needs. Latinos, for example, the
fastest-growing U.S. subculture, are targeted by Dallas-based Carnival Food
Stores, among other marketers. Dallas is one of the top 10 cities in terms of
Latino population, and when the chain uses Spanish language promotions,
customers are more responsive. Marketers are targeting another subculture,
African Americans, because of its hefty $500 billion in purchasing power.
Hallmark, for instance, created its Mahogany line of 800 greeting cards
especially for African Americans. Age forms subcultures, as well; the 75
million Americans in the 50-plus market are being targeted by marketers
such as Pfizer, which airs ads showing how its medications help seniors live
life to the fullest.
 Social class. Social classes are relatively homogeneous and enduring
divisions in a society. They are hierarchically ordered and their members
share similar values, interests, and behavior. Social classes reflect income as

18
 well as occupation, education, and other indicators. Those within each social
class tend to behave more alike than do persons from different social classes.
Also, within the culture, persons are perceived as occupying inferior or
superior positions according to social class. Social class is indicated by a
cluster of variables rather than by any single variable. Still, individuals can
move from one social class to another—up or down—during their lifetime.
Because social classes often show distinct product and brand preferences,
some marketers focus their efforts on one social class. Neiman Marcus, for
example, focuses on the upper classes, offering top-quality merchandise in
upscale stores with many personal services geared to these customers’ needs.

Social Factors Influencing Buyer Behavior

In addition to cultural factors, a consumer’s behavior is influenced by such social
factors as reference groups, family, and social roles and statuses.

Reference Groups
Reference groups consist of all of the groups that have a direct (face-to-face) or
indirect influence on a person’s attitudes or behavior. Groups that have a direct
influence on a person are called membership groups. Some primary membership
groups are family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers, with whom individuals
interact fairly continuously and informally. Secondary groups, such as professional
and trade-union groups, tend to be more formal and require less continuous
interaction. Reference groups expose people to new behaviors and lifestyles,
influence attitudes and self-concept, and create pressures for conformity that may
affect product and brand choices.
People are also influenced by groups to which they do not belong. Aspirational
groups are those the person hopes to join; dissociative groups are those whose
values or behavior an individual rejects. Although marketers try to identify target
customers’ reference groups, the level of reference-group influence varies among
products and brands. Manufacturers of products and brands with strong group
influence must reach and influence the opinion leaders in these reference groups.
An opinion leader is the person in informal productrelated communications who
offers advice or information about a product or product category. Marketers try to
reach opinion leaders by identifying demographic and psychographic
characteristics associated with opinion leadership, identifying the preferred media
of opinion leaders, and directing messages at the opinion leaders.

19
Family
The family is the most important consumer-buying organization in society, and it
has been researched extensively. The family of orientation consists of one’s parents
and siblings.
From parents, a person acquires an orientation toward religion, politics, and
economics as well as a sense of personal ambition, self-worth, and love.6 A more
direct influence on the everyday buying behavior of adults is the family of
procreation—namely, one’s spouse and children. Marketers are interested in the
roles and relative influence of the husband, wife, and children in the purchase of a
large variety of products and services. These roles vary widely in different cultures
and social classes.

Personal Factors Influencing Buyer Behavior

Cultural and social factors are just two of the four major factors that influence
consumer buying behavior. The third factor is personal characteristics, including
the buyer’s age, stage in the life cycle, occupation, economic circumstances,
lifestyle, personality, and self-concept.

Age and Stage in the Life Cycle

People buy different goods and services over a lifetime. They eat baby food in the
early years, most foods in the growing and mature years, and special diets in the
later years. Taste in clothes, furniture, and recreation is also age-related, which is
why smart marketers are attentive to the influence of age.
Similarly, consumption is shaped by the family life cycle. The traditional family
life cycle covers stages in adult lives, starting with independence from parents and
continuing into marriage, child-rearing, empty-nest years, retirement, and later life.
Marketers often choose a specific group from this traditional life-cycle as their
target market. Yet target households are not always family based: There are also
single households, gay households, and cohabitor households.
Some recent research has identified psychological life-cycle stages. Adults
experience certain “passages” or “transformations” as they go through life.10
Leading marketers pay close attention to changing life circumstances—divorce,
widowhood, remarriage and their effect on consumption behavior.

Occupation and Economic Circumstances

20
Occupation also influences a person’s consumption pattern. A blue-collar worker
will buy work clothes and lunchboxes, while a company president will buy
expensive suits and a country club membership. For this reason, marketers should
identify the occupational groups that are more interested in their products and
services, and consider specializing their products for certain occupations. Software
manufacturers, for example, have developed special programs for lawyers,
physicians, and other occupational groups. In addition, product choice is greatly
affected by a consumer’s economic circumstances: spendable income (level,
stability, and time pattern), savings and assets (including the percentage that is
liquid), debts, borrowing power, and attitude toward spending versus saving. Thus,
marketers of income-sensitive goods must track trends in personal income,
savings, and interest rates. If a recession is likely, marketers can redesign,
reposition, and re price their products to offer more value to target customers.

Lifestyle

People from the same subculture, social class, and occupation may actually lead
quite different lifestyles. A lifestyle is the person’s pattern of living in the world as
expressed in activities, interests, and opinions. Lifestyle portrays the “whole
person” interacting with his or her environment. Successful marketers search for
relationships between their products and lifestyle groups. For example, a computer
manufacturer might find that most computer buyers are achievement-oriented. The
marketer may then aim its brand more clearly at the achiever lifestyle.
Psychographics is the science of measuring and categorizing consumer lifestyles.
One of the most popular classifications based on psychographic measurements is
SRI
International’s Values and Lifestyles (VALS) framework. The VALS 2 system
classifies all U.S. adults into eight groups based on psychological attributes drawn
from survey responses to demographic, attitudinal, and behavioral questions,
including questions about Internet usage. The major tendencies of these groups are:
➤ Actualizers: Successful, sophisticated, active, “take-charge” people whose
purchases often reflect cultivated tastes for relatively upscale, niche-oriented
products.
➤ Fulfilleds: Mature, satisfied, comfortable, and reflective people who favor
durability, functionality, and value in products.
➤ Achievers: Successful, career- and work-oriented consumers who favor
established, prestige products that demonstrate success.
➤ Experiencers: Young, vital, enthusiastic, impulsive, and rebellious people who
spend much of their income on clothing, fast food, music, movies, and video.

21
➤ Believers: Conservative, conventional, and traditional people who favor
familiar products and established brands.
➤ Strivers: Uncertain, insecure, approval-seeking, resource constrained consumers
who favor stylish products that emulate the purchases of wealthier people.
➤ Makers: Practical, self-sufficient, traditional, and family-oriented people who
favor
products with a practical or functional purpose, such as tools and fishing
equipment.
➤ Strugglers: Elderly, resigned, passive, concerned, and resource-constrained
consumers who are cautious and loyal to favorite brands.
Although psychographics is a valid and valued methodology for many marketers,
social scientists are realizing that older tools for predicting consumer behavior are
not always applicable to the use of the Internet or on-line services and purchases of
technology products. As a result, researchers are coming up with new research
methods for segmenting consumers based on technology types. Forrester
Research’s Technographics system segments consumers according to motivation,
desire, and ability to invest in technology; SRI’s iVALS system segments
consumers into segments based on Internet usage.
Lifestyle segmentation schemes vary by culture. McCann-Erickson London, for
example, has identified these British lifestyles: Avant-Gardians (interested in
change);
Pontificators (traditionalists); Chameleons (follow the crowd); and Sleepwalkers
(contented underachievers). The advertising agency D’Arcy, Masius, Benton &
Bowles has identified these segments of Russian consumers: “Kuptsi” (merchants),
“Cossacks” (ambitious and status seeking), “Students,” “Business Executives,” and
“Russian Souls” (passive, fearful of choices).

Psychological Factors Influencing Buyer Behavior

Psychological factors are the fourth major influence on consumer buying behavior
(in addition to cultural, social, and personal factors). In general, a person’s buying
choices are influenced by the psychological factors of motivation, perception,
learning, beliefs, and attitudes.

Motivation
A person has many needs at any given time. Some needs are biogenic; they arise
from physiological states of tension such as hunger, thirst, discomfort. Other needs
are psychogenic; they arise from psychological states of tension such as the need
for recognition, esteem, or belonging. A need becomes a motive when it is aroused

22
to a sufficient level of intensity. A motive is a need that is sufficiently pressing to
drive the person to act.

Perception
A motivated person is ready to act, yet how that person actually acts is influenced
by his or her perception of the situation. Perception is the process by which an
individual selects, organizes, and interprets information inputs to create a
meaningful picture of the world.19 Perception depends not only on physical
stimuli, but also on the stimuli’s relation to the surrounding field and on conditions
within the individual.
The key word is individual. Individuals can have different perceptions of the same
object because of three perceptual processes: selective attention, selective
distortion, and selective retention.

Learning

When people act, they learn. Learning involves changes in an individual’s

behavior that arise from experience. Most human behavior is learned. Theorists
believe that learning is produced through the interplay of drives, stimuli, cues,
responses, and reinforcement. A drive is a strong internal stimulus that impels
action. Cues are minor stimuli that determine when, where, and how a person
responds.
Suppose you buy an IBM computer. If your experience is rewarding, your response
to computers and IBM will be positively reinforced. Later, when you want to buy a
printer, you may assume that because IBM makes good computers, it also makes
good printers. You have now generalized your response to similar stimuli. A
countertendency to generalization is discrimination, in which the person learns to
recognize differences in sets of similar stimuli and adjust responses accordingly.
Applying learning theory, marketers can build up demand for a product by
associating it with strong drives, using motivating cues, and providing positive
reinforcement.

Beliefs and Attitudes

Through doing and learning, people acquire beliefs and attitudes that, in turn, influence
buying behavior. A belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about something.
Beliefs may be based on knowledge, opinion, or faith, and they may or may not carry an
emotional charge. Of course, manufacturers are very interested in the beliefs that people
have about their products and services. These beliefs make up product and brand images,
and people act on their images. If some beliefs are wrong and inhibit purchase, the

23
manufacturer will want to launch a campaign to correct these beliefs. Particularly
important to global marketers is the fact that buyers often hold distinct beliefs about
brands or products based on their country of origin. Studies have found,

Attitudes are just as important as beliefs for influencing buying behavior. An attitude is a
person’s enduring favorable or unfavorable evaluations, emotional feelings, and action
tendencies toward some object or idea. People have attitudes toward almost everything:
religion, politics, clothes, music, and food. Attitudes put them into a frame of mind of
liking or disliking an object, moving toward or away from it.
Attitudes lead people to behave in a fairly consistent way toward similar objects.
Because attitudes economize on energy and thought, they are very difficult to change; to
change a single attitude may require major adjustments in other attitudes.
Thus, a company would be well advised to fit its product into existing attitudes rather
than to try to change people’s attitudes. Of course, trying to change attitudes can pay off
occasionally.

CHAPTER – 1
{Part 2}
24
 History of Greeting Cards

It is believed the early Chinese were the first to send what could be called a
greeting card - for the New Year they sent tidings of good will. Evidence also
shows that ancient Egyptians wrote greetings on papyrus scrolls.

The next stop on the timeline is around 1400 when the Germans used woodcuts to
print New Year's wishes. In the early or mid 1400s Europeans exchanged
handmade paper greetings for Valentine's Day. The British Museum has a
Valentine from the 1400s that is the oldest known greeting card in existence.

The introduction of the postage stamp in 1840 helped the popularity of the greeting
card. What was once relatively expensive, hand made, and personally-delivered
gift became an effective and affordable means of personal communication.
Another factor promoting advancement was the improvement of printing methods.
Mass production didn't mean the end of the elaborate greeting card, however. The
Victorian era saw some very ornate and intricate designs.
25
John Calcott Horsley was commissioned in 1843 to design the first published
Christmas card. A young lady from Massachusetts, Esther Howland, was the first
regular publisher of valentines in the United States. She started in 1849 with
handmade valentines, often using real lace and ribbon, and went on to found a
successful publishing company with elaborately decorated cards as a specialty.

The person generally credited with the beginning of America's greeting card
industry is Louis Prang, a German immigrant. He started a lithography business
near Boston in 1856 and soon his works were known as the best around.

After a slump in the late nineteenth century, the greeting card industry saw more
and more new publishers. Competition created advances in printing, decorative
treatments, and artistic techniques. The widespread use of color lithography in the
1930s fueled a continued expansion in the industry.

A Greeting card is just a small piece of paper printed or hand painted or

handcrafted with printed or handwritten message to convey your feelings to
someone. Nowadays there are so many ways we can express ourselves, our
feelings to someone such as a SMS, an email massage, an ecard, a fax message or
just a telephone/cell phone. But still Greeting Cards are being used for this
purpose. Some people think to such an extent that why to spend money and time in
purchasing and sending a greeting card, instead why not send a SMS, so cheap and
time saving option!!!Nowadays what matters in every field is the presentation.
Greetings card is also one of the means of presenting your feelings. I would say
that the Greetings card is an esthetic looking packing of your feelings/expressions
so that the recipient feels delighted and honored.

Hence Greeting cards can be used for almost all occasions, only thing that you
should select the right card, appropriate color, design or picture along with the
printed message or your own handwritten massage, which will reveal your
affection. As Greeting cards are for many reasons, occasions and hence there are
many types of Greeting Cards available in the market:

1. Birthday card
2. New year card
3. Anniversary card
4. Thank you card
5. Thinking of you card
6. Sorry card
7. Best wishes card

26
 8. Good Luck card
9. Get well card
10.Flower card
11.Congratulations card
12.Engagement card
13.New baby card
14.I Love you card
15.Valentines day card
16.Christmas card
17.Dipavali card
18.Diwali card
19.Navratri card
20.Gudhipadawa card (Sankranti card
21.Mothers day card
22.Fathers day card
23.Congratulation card and so on.

There are two major categories of greeting cards, one is mass produced ( printed on
offset printing machines etc.) and other is handmade greeting cards. Hand painted
greeting cards is also a separate category of greeting cards. These cards are also
available but this type of cards can not be mass- produced as each card has to be
individually painted. So every hand painted card is unique.

Birthday Card History is said to be over a hundred years old. Though there is no
record to tell us who send or received the first birthday card but it said the tradition
of sending Birthday Cards began in England a century ago. In those time people
used to personally greet a person on a birthday, but when a well-wisher was unable
to do so he send a Birthday Card. Thus Birthday cards were more like an apology
at that time.

Birthday E-Cards
Greeting Cards have taken a new avatar in this present age of Internet technology.
Today, they are being increasingly exchanged as electronic or e-greeting cards.
Advancement in the technology that began in 1990s has lead to a further growth in
card industry. People find it easier to send e-cards, as they are a cost effective and
instantaneous means of exchanging greetings. E-cards are available for Birthdays,
anniversary, Christmas and a host of other occasions. Use of Java and Flash makes
them humorous. One can also personalize E-Cards that is available for Free at most
27
e-cards sites.

Greeting Card Industry

Greeting Card Industry is burgeoning today. Concept on non-event casual greeting
card has further lead to the growth in the industry. US Card Industry was valued at
$7.5 billion in 2004 based on total unit sales of 7 billion greeting cards for the year.
The industry reported a sales growth rate of 8.7% between 1999 and 2004.
However, Birthday Cards alone are estimated to constitute 60 % of the total annual
cards sales followed by anniversary with 8 % of the sale.
Though greeting cards made their advent in India much after they appeared in US,
Indian Card Industry has picked up fast. At present the industry is estimated to be
around Rs 250 crore in terms of yearly consumer spend. Unorganized sector takes
40 % of the market share. The organized 60 % of the market is divided between
Archies, Hallmark and ITC.

Significance of Birthday Cards

Greetings card is the most popular gift in the world. Everywhere, almost
around all the corners in the world, people gift each other with greeting cards.
Greeting cards are the most simple but also the most effective way of
expressing your feelings to your loved ones. Greeting cards can help you
express things which you find difficult to in to words. There are greeting cards
for every situation out there. If you are having a tough time as to how can you
express your feelings for someone, you can go to your nearest gift shop, pick
up a card that suits the best for your situation.

Greeting cards have become so popular because of their aforementioned quality.

One can gift a greeting card irrespective of an occasion. One can also use greeting
cards to show gratitude to someone or can use it to apologies for something that
you might have done. Greeting cards can express wide array of emotions right
from congratulatory, to joy, celebrations to sympathy. Whatever may be the
reason, you will find a card that expresses the thoughts you have so perfectly and
elegantly, that you end up wondering how the makers of the particular card knew
as to how you felt.

28
Greeting cards are not just used as a personal gift. It can be and is used extensively
as a business gift. Greeting cards are used by businesses to thank a client or a
partner for a particular deal. Greeting cards are also used from time to time to
maintain and build goodwill for your business. Greeting cards are also used to
remind customers of their scheduled appointments or servicing of any of their
equipments.

Due to the focus on the environment these days, greeting cards are viewed by some
environmentalist as an unnecessary evil since it requires trees to be cut. This has
forced the greeting card makers to think of some alternative way to reduce the
impact on the environment. Recycling has to some extent proved to be a worthy
alternative. Major card manufacturers around the world are switching to recycled
paper. This has brought smile to the faces of many people around the world
including the environmentalist.

Another major reason for the popularity of the greeting cards is the price. Greeting
cards are the cheapest form of gift in terms of price one can give to their loved
ones. Greeting cards come at a very low price, as low as $1, but they can also go as
high as to $15. A study has shown that an average person sends about 55 greeting
cards around the year and receives about 20 cards a year most of them being
birthday cards

Cards have come a long way from simple floral designs to complicated cut-
outs and pop-ups.

COME MAY 9 and many fashionable offspring will make a beeline to pick up
cards for Mother's Day. Even just a few years ago, the idea of an import like
Mother's Day would have been laughed out of our living rooms. It is not so now.
Media images and the greeting cards industry have ensured that it is a chic thing to
give our mothers cards and gifts on this day. Although greeting cards have been
around for a couple of centuries, the industry in India is fairly new. A couple of
decades ago, there were just some small-time players. One chose from some staid
floral designs and pictorial cards to go with any occasion (Season's Greetings,
Happy Birthday, and so on). The scene saw a big change when Archies entered the
market in 1980, bringing in its wake fresh looking cards in all sizes with smart
legends in them. There followed even musical cards, pop-ups, and brilliant designs
from many players. Simple designs gave way to stylish and contemporary ones.
The two-word legend was substituted by more substantial words that ranged from
the mawkish to the tongue-in-cheek.
29
"However, we found that the response from the retailers was not so great. They
still sold cards out of brown boxes and drawers," says Pramod Arora, Executive
Director of Archies Ltd. So Archies decided to go straight to the consumer with its
Greetings and Gifts shops across the country, where cards were neatly displayed on
well-lit racks.

Many followed suit and the quality of greeting cards got better (good design, better
scanning, offset printing, computerised paper cutting, and packaging) with major
players like Vintage-Hallmark, Wilson, Vakil, Meena, Ambassador and so on.
Recently the ITC group entered the market with its Expressions brand. Greeting
cards contribute significant sums to the organisations such as CRY, UNICEF,
Helpage India, and the like.

The late Eighties and early Nineties was boom time for the industry with growing
sales. International tie-ups brought big names to India and one could pick cards
ranging from Rs. 5 to Rs. 550 a Valentine's card with embellishments. Clearly, the
Rs. 250 crore industry got boost with westernisation and urbanisation of the
population.

However, the arrival of the Internet spoiled the party for the "social expression"
industry. Pretty paper cards soon gave way to digital postcards, electronic
postcards, e-cards, e-greetings, Netograms, and the more recent SMS and MMS.
Today teenagers like Roshni Toniyot, who snapped up greeting cards before the
coming of the cheaper SMS and e-cards, say: "We don't use greeting cards at all.
Not even for Valentine's Day. We buy them very rarely, only when we really want
to add a personal touch."

Consequently, greeting card manufacturers have to really work at ensuring that

sales don't fall. The industry leaders now trail fashion apparel trends and colours
(currently white backgrounds and pastel shades are in). Styling varies from plain
cards, die-cuts, pop-ups, and to cards with inserts to booklet kinds with four-fold
inserts with funky, sober, and subtle designs.

While traditionalists may argue that the card companies have brought in Western
concepts such as Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Mr. Pramod Arora
and others like him argue that "there is nothing wrong in thanking friends or
expressing gratitude to your mother or father. Valentine's Day is again
misinterpreted: it is not just for lovers but you have a card for everyone."

30
While everyone may not buy that, mothers like Poonam Bhatia feel that: "We now
have cards for all occasions from Rakhi, Onam, Karva Chouth, Ganesh Chaturthi,
etc. It's definitely nice because it introduces all festivals to our children and gets
them interested when they wish their friends."

Industry loyalists believe that even though technology affected their sales by
almost 20-25 per cent, spam, junk SMS, choked cellular lines, the download time
of e-cards and viruses have dented the novelty value of these alternative forms of
greetings.

Though Indian companies such as Archies have gone online with their paid e-cards
like their counterparts in the West (American Greetings, Blue Mountain Arts,
Hallmark Online), they believe there is a "small town" market out there for whom
they have tailored cards with generic floral patterns and restricted humour, unlike
the sophisticated humour cards that are hot in metros.

The industry blames falling sales on increased postal rates and "inconvenience of
post offices here", according to Mr. Arora. Perhaps this is why only fewer
everyday cards are mailed and most handed over personally. Quite a contradiction
this, since the very purpose of these cards is to help people connect and stay in
touch with each other because they don't meet. Of course, our postal system works
overtime for seasonal cards, which are a big business in India, and delivers 99 per
cent of our seasonal mail.

Today, greeting card manufacturers are fighting back with innovative cards in
Indian languages now. Their fortunes may be turning again even as they look
at different approaches like moving from retail approach to institution-driven
sales. Added to this, they find support from housewives like J. Prasath, for
whom the world of technology hasn't quite opened up and who still believe in
the good old greeting card: "I always buy greetings for all occasions in the
family. It will be nice to send my relatives greetings in Tamil for a change."

31
.

Article on Greeting card industry

By Sheela Raval (India Today)

There is a card for every occasion and an occasion for every card. Enough for
a fivefold growth in business.

32
Forgiveness Day? What's that? Ask the people at Archies. Observed on September
6, it was (so they'll tell you) a day after Teacher's Day. And if you missed those,
there's Boss Day, Doctor's Day, Divorce Day, Secretary Day, Every Day, ToDay,
365 Days to choose from. If birthdays and New Year were once the only occasions
for sending cards, companies like Archies, Hallmark, Giggles and Ambassador
have changed all that. In India 1997, there's a card for every occasion and an
occasion for every card. Says Runish Chheda of Satyam Collection, a shop in
Mumbai which claims an annual turnover of Rs 1.5 crore: "The market is hungry,
ripe and ready to accept anything. People now look for any reason to send a card."

Innovation is where it's at. India, with its festival-dotted calendar, is a card-
company's paradise. The manufacturers' list ballooned some years ago to Happy
Diwali and Happy Every-Kind-of-Anniversary, but now it's Happy Navroz, Happy
Eid, Happy Onam, Happy Pongal, Happy Anything! And if you've forgotten to
send a rakhi, there's always another way -- through a Rakhi card. Says V. Chhabra,
director, marketing, Archies: "We create cards for almost everything."

It's not just about festival greetings and new "occasions" though. An exploration of
emotions is on. Rachna Agarwal, 30, a chartered accountant, is a grateful customer.
Buried in numbers on a trip to Delhi, she had forgotten her husband's
birthday.Panic? Yes, but only momentarily. Out she dashed and bought him a card.
It said: "I was a little absent-minded about when your birthday was due/But believe
me, it's the date that slipped my mind, not you!"

So just what do people too shy, verbally challenged or emotionally inarticulate do

when they need to say I love you, I'm sorry, missing you? Play the card game,
naturally. From syrupy to venomous, it's all there. Coming up: proposal cards for
those too tongue-tied to pop the question. Says Anil Kapur, managing director of
Vintage Cards and Creations: "We are responding to the specific needs of the
customer and are constantly innovating." On popular demand, Vintage has
introduced I-hate-you cards. One aversion-filled, rancour-dripping sample goes:
"Sometimes things happen that just don't seem fair/Sometimes it's hard to
understand why .../But all I know right now is that I'm terribly hurt by what has
happened and what you've done .../... And I hate you for it."

Love it or hate it, the card culture is here to stay. Says Raju Chheda of Gift N Such,
a Mumbai shop: "It's not a fad, it's a ritual now." A ritual that people are willing to
pay for. Prices range from Rs 2 (a rare species) to Rs 250 today. And if the
consumer is shelling out money, so are companies. Archies is adding around 5,000
new designs to its existing 15,000. Hallmark has 16 artists replenishing its bank of

33
5,000. Foreign tie-ups have also helped. Vintage is the Indian partner of Hallmark,
a US-based company with a turnover of $3.8 billion. Archies, in a tie-up with
American Greetings, also brings out cards under the brand name Paper Rose. All of
which has paid off. Five years ago, the turnover in the domestic greeting-cards
industry was estimated at Rs 100 crore, today it is touching Rs 500 crore.

Like everything else in the world, there is a reason why this is happening. "The
exposure to satellite channels has completely altered the profile of the buyer," says
Mumbai's K. Anita, general manager of the books-cum-novelties store Crossword.
"It has become a necessity for the younger generation to express their feelings to
match their everyday moods." Young people now also have far more money to
spend. Says K. Ram, owner of Gift and Touch, a Mumbai shop: "The average price
that a consumer is willing to pay has gone up to Rs 15 from Rs 10 last year." And
while teenage students and office-goers are the main buyers, housewives and little
children are also dropping in.

34
 Chapter 2 -
Research Design

Research design

35
1. Statement of Problems - In every product manufacturing industry, there are
important principles like the product design, product promotions, product
placements & sales of the product. In India presentation of gifts and
complimenting people with greeting cards are common during birthdays,
marriages, and marriage anniversaries. Even the marketing system of
product manufacturing companies is to give some gifts to the customers. The
students give greetings to their lecturers during college socials, during house
warming ceremonies and when people are sick their kits and kin send a
greeting card wishing them speedy recovery etc. therefore the gifts and
greetings are common in the society. The problem lies in designing the cards
and gifts which must be suitable to the occasions. There are various changes
in the gifts presentation; hence a project study is envisaged on marketing
techniques of gift and greeting cards.

2. Objectives - The main objective of this study is to find out whether the
common public, who use gift and greeting cards know about popular
manufacturing company of gifts and greeting cards, do they know that there
is competition in this business also.

The secondary objective is to know the popularity of the presentation

of gifts and greeting cards during special occasion.

3. Hypothesis - Since the presentation of gifts and greeting cards is important,

the general public is aware of the most popular brand dealing with gifts and
greetings.

4. Scope of the study - The scope of the study is very wide because the gift
and greeting card presentation is a general system among the people and it
also contributes to the economic earnings of the country.

36
5. Limitations of the study - Since this is a general survey, the collection of
data through respondents who are spread over the city was difficult. The
selection of respondent too was difficult. Today because of mobile phones,
greetings by sms, calls and internet has become more popular especially
during festival greetings and therefore the number of respondents for this
study had been restricted to 50 respondents.

6. Research methodology

a. Type of research – this is not a business oriented research neither it is a

customer survey, it is only a general survey conducted as a part of education
37
 to fulfill the requirement of a project study to be submitted to the Bhavan’s
Rajendra Prasad Institute of Communication and Management, to acquire an
educational qualification of Post Graduate Program in “Marketing and
Advertising”.

b. Sample design – 50 respondents

c. Sample design – It is a random sampling method, selecting respondents from

different area and different backgrounds.

d. Tool for collection of data – A structured questionnaire, a copy of which is

placed in the project study.

e. Method of collecting data – The questionnaires were distributed to the

respondents, they were explained about the objective of the study. They have
filled in the questionnaire and returned.

f. Method of analysis & evaluation – The data so collected has been tabulated.
The percentage has been worked out for each response. Analysis is done
based on the weight age given to the data. Evaluation is made using
probability factors as well as determinative factors. Findings were recorded,
conclusions are written and suggestions are given wherever necessary.

38
CHAPTER 3

39
 Archies: A brief History
It was in 1979 that a dream was born when Mr. Anil Moolchandani, Chairman cum
MD, Archies Limited, introduced the first range of products like songbooks,
posters and leather patches. In 1980 the company introduced greetings cards. In
1984 the company procured its first ever foreign license from Walt Disney, USA.
In 1985 the company changed the misconception that India was a slow and
traditional market; Archies Explosion at Taj Palace, New Delhi drew over 10,000
people. In 1986 Archies entered into its first major tie up with Paramount cards.
In 1987 the dream of creating an exclusive chain of Archies Gallery was
realized. In 1988 the company introduced a new chain of everyday cards that
covered all possible occasions such as Thinking of You, Thank You etc. The same
year the company also introduced the now massively popular Valentine’s Day. In
1989 Archies fulfilled its social responsibility by entering into a tie up with
Helpage India. In 1990 Archies became a private limited company.

In 1992 the company entered into collaboration with the oldest greeting card
company in USA, Gibson Greetings Inc. In 1995 the company became a public
limited company and came to be known as Archies Greetings & Gifts Limited. In
1996 the company issued its first public issue that was oversubscribed by four
times. In 1997 the company saw another first for the company’s music division. In
1998 Archies rode high on publicity by sponsoring popular programmes on MTV.
This year the company was listed on the National Stock Exchange and Bombay
Stock Exchange. In 1999 the company’s share price with an original offering of Rs
70 touched a meteoric Rs 1400. In 2000 Archies entered into an association with
Cry. Also in, 2000 Archies went online. And over the last three years Archies has
been growing from strength to strength maintaining its leadership position in the
social expression industry.

Archies has been recognized as the strongest brand in its category by

Superbrands, an independent body composed of legendary advertising,
marketing, research and media professionals mandated to recognize excellence in
branding and promote the discipline of branding itself.

40
Archies has single handedly led India’s social expression revolution. While the
Indian customer profile has changed from teens (in the 80s) to those in early
30s;and around Valentine day from largely male to an increasing number of
females. Despite the changing socio-economic sentiment and technology Archies
continues to be a link which fits every emotion related space.

25 years old company to cash in on the retail boom

41
The original creator of the Feel Good factor, Archies Limited, India’s top market
leader in the social ex-pression industry with more than 50% market share and near
negligible competition, which has completed 25 years in India’s Rs 500 crores
social ex-pression industry, plans to open 50 more company managed / owned
stores across the country in every happening shopping mall and other retail real
estate.

Over the next 24 months, Archies plans to consolidate its retail chain, which today
consists of larger format company managed / owned stores and franchisees. The
planned stores would be larger in format, stocking levels, wider in range, and
would give the company greater access to its core target audience. Any franchisee
growth would be in addition to these 50 stores.

Being in the business of emotions like no one else Archies has been manufacturing
and selling greeting cards and other social ex-pression products like gifts, posters
etc since 1979. Having virtually created this industry Archies has today changed
the way Indians express themselves.

Undeterred by the threat from internet and SMS Archies has plans to counter
technology. Archies has put in place a paid e-card service on archiesonline.com
and a tie up with Indiatimes for Greetings Channel for 8888 in terms of MMS.The
Product range of Archies includes Greetings Cards, Posters, Social ex-pression
Stationery and Gifts.

“Over the next few years it is our vision, that we should be a part of any possible
occasion that is being celebrated in any house in the country. Archies aims to be a
one stop gifting and greeting option. To take a line from an old much used
advertising campaign, “whenever you think greetings and gifts, think of us.” After
all Archies creates the trends. In fact, the Greeting Card occasions in India have
almost single-handedly been created by us. Valentine’s Day, Mother’ Day, Father’
Day, all international events brought to India by us. Friendship Day, is a day
created by us. There was no such day until we created it. Where gifts are
concerned, India tends to follow international trends for gift items and we keep
abreast of those trends and try to maintain a first mover or exclusive advantage
over introduction of gift items. Also, emotions are now being communicated via
technology like internet and SMS. This kind of transition, is a time for regrouping,
gaining a better perspective by moving back half a step and then moving forward
again, in a much more focused manner. With all these steps behind us, we are now
poised for a leap forward into the future.”, says Mr. Pramod Arora, Executive
Director, Archies Ltd.
42
And in the process Archies has created a massive property. The company today has
one of the strongest brand recalls and brand equity. Take this -

’Selling Atal Just Like at Archies’ said The Statesman, India - 25 Feb 2004... It
will be like Archies (a popular gift shop),” Mr. Mahajan said. Mr. Vajpayee’s
image will be on coffee mugs, T-shirts and caps, he said. ...

‘Brand Atal on poll roll’ read Calcutta Telegraph, India - 25 Feb 2004.... T-shirts
and caps. Merchandising options like setting up Archies-typeoutlets are being
explored, Mahajan said. If nothing works ...

These are just a couple of examples of Archies’ brand image. As a result Archies
today stands tall in the league of India’s Superbrands. Archies will feature in the
first edition of the book India’s Superbrands, due to be released in 2004.

The Greeting Card market in India is estimated to be around Rs. 300 crores
at retail value. Of this the organized sector accounts for approx Rs. 150
crores, i.e. 50%, and Archies account for 50% of the organized sector i.e. Rs.
75 crores (at the retail level)

The main competition for Archies is from the unorganized sector. Presently there
are 2-3 major national level players while others are regional or local players. The
leading player in the organized segment of the greeting cards industry is Archies.

In comparison to the west that has mature greeting and gifting markets, India is
still a growing market with a tremendous potential. Where Greeting Card usage is
concerned, the US market has a per capita consumption of 40, the UK market has a
per capita consumption of 50, and India, even accounting for the fact that only
25% on the population would be potential users, has a per capita consumption of
only 0.5.

The Archies story goes back to the 1980s when Archies pioneered social ex-
pression by introducing greeting cards for all major Indian traditional festivals such
as Holi, Rakhi, etc. besides the usual Birthday, Anniversary, New Year even
introducing new concepts like Valentine's Day etc which have fast gained
popularity and others like the soon to be introduced Halloween which are gradually
attracting public attention.

Having pioneered the concept of branded retailing in India over the last three
43
decades Archies has grown with the spread of modern culture, increasing
urbanization and improving standard of living.

With close to 2,000 outlets including company shops, franchisees and independent
retail outlets Archies’ greatest strength is its massive reach. Spread across 120
cities and 6 countries. Archies is now on an aggressive expansion spree focusing
on the ‘mall opportunity’ and B and C class towns.

Archies has tie-ups and licensing arrangements for popular merchandising

characters for Greeting Card design and world’s leading greeting card brands. This
includes Dennis the Menace & Walt Disney Characters, Licensing arrangements
with Paramount Cards. Inc, USA, Portal Publications Inc., USA, Anne Geddes,
and the worlds largest publicly owned greeting card company, American
Greetings, for Greeting Card design and name use.

Archies has actively brought in International Card Holidays which today form a
part of the events calendar. E.g. Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’
Day.Archies today has a presence by way of franchisees in 5 countries. Sri Lanka,
Bangladesh, Nepal, UAE, Bahrain. In addition to this, Archies cards are sold
wherever there is a sizable Indian population, where Indian occasions like Rakhi,
Holi and Diwali are popular.

44
 Market
Today, most urban and semi-urban Indians tend to follow international trends
where gifts and greeting cards are concerned. This is largely because of the
pioneering entrepreneurship and ingenuity of a company widely acknowledged as
the king of the ‘social expressions’ or ‘emotions’ or ‘feel good factor’ industry –
Archies
The organization, through its mushrooming franchises, has been manufacturing
and selling its products since 1979. In fact, it has virtually created this industry in
India and changed the way Indians express themselves.
Archies is India’s leader in this business with over 50% market share and the
competition hardly anywhere in sight.
(Source: IndiaInfoline).
The country’s social expression industry is valued at about Rs. 500 crore (US$
111.1million) with the greeting card market estimated to be around Rs. 300 crore
(US$ 66.7 million) at retail value. Of this, the organised sector accounts for
approximately Rs. 150 crore (US$ 33.3 million) – and Archies greeting cards,
projected for fiscal ending March 2007, at Rs. 100 crore (US$ 22.3 million)
accounts for a little over half of the organised sector (Source: industry estimates).
At 50% of the organised segment market Archies sits comfortably on top of the
pyramid. In comparison to the West, however, India is still a growing greeting and
gifting market. But it brims with a limitless potential for growth. The per capita
consumption of greeting card usage in the US and the UK is between 40 and 50.
India’s per capita consumption is minuscule compared to these figures. But
Archies is now poised for another mega take-off that will add to its already
gigantic dimension in the market. There are 67 company-owned Archies Galleries
and ten Stupid Cupid stores across all the major malls and shopping areas in
fourteen cities in India. This is in addition to its reach of over 400 franchisees in
more than 100 cities and six countries.
Archies is now on an aggressive expansion spree focusing on the mall opportunity
and B and C class towns. The company is planning to open an additional 150
company owned stores in fifteen additional cities by the end of 2007/08.The
marketing challenge from e- greetings is a reality. But market analysts do not
foresee them replacing the physical act of choosing and sending cards. According
to experts who have studied the impact of e-cards in developed economies believe
e-greetings have an impersonal feel. They rubbish the argument that emails have
45
virtually displaced the hand written letter with the counter argument that telephony
has made easy the exchange of information, which is what letters were all about.
Greetings they argue are different in as much as they express an emotion best
articulated in the written form. These observations are supported by the ground
realities of the booming American and European greeting cards industry. Analysts
benchmarked 1995 as the first full internet year for the US market; American
greeting card sales grew from US$ 6.5 billion (Rs. 29,250 crore) to US$ 7.2 billion
(Rs. 32,400 crore) in 1997. In short, the physical nature of sending cards will
remain with no perceptible threat seen from the internet version of greeting cards.

Achievements
The company’s most notable achievement has a purely psycho-emotional
dimension to it: when at a loss for words think of Archies. The company has
successfully engraved itself in the minds of consumers as a living and caring entity
that speaks the right words at the right time and helps find a card for every cause
and reason and a gift for every occasion. It is hardly surprising then, that this once
small company, launched in a staid environment should be classified a Consumer
Superbrand two years in a row. Thanks to its spirit of innovation Archies has been
the market leader since its very inception. Today, the company boasts several
collaborations and licensing arrangements. These include Walt Disney characters,
Archie comics; licensing arrangements with the world’s largest publicly owned
greeting card company, American Greetings, in addition to those like Anne
Geddes, Simon Elvin and Kim Anderson. The year 1996 still stands as a
testimonial to the company’s commercial vibrancy and vitality. Its public issue
that year was oversubscribed four times. Three years later the company’s share
price with an original offering of Rs. 70 zoomed to a meteoric Rs. 1,400.

46
 Product
The Archies’ range includes greeting cards, posters, social expression stationery
and gifts. Its unmatched quality and unique variety provides customers a plethora
of choices ranging from a three-inch mini-greeting card for just Rs. 4 and a five-
and-a half-foot teddy bear for Rs. 10,000 to elegant crystal masterpieces at over
Rs. 25,000. Its exclusive and trendy products are selected and sourced from all
over the world. Archies has always provided its customers with premium quality
greetings and gifting collections such as curios, photo albums, soft toys, mugs,
quotations and key chains. Archies maintains a strong back-end support to ensure
that its galleries never run out of supplies. It has a highly efficient supply chain
management system that helps build an effective retailing structure.

Brought to you in India exclusively by

ARCHIES

47
 Recent Developments
Shopping malls have given Indian consumers a one-stop shopping experience and
Archies, being present in most of them, has proverbially been at the right place at
the right time. Being aware of the huge potential in the fashion accessories market,
the company has also ventured into this arena with Stupid Cupid – a range of
trendy jewellery, handbags, sunglasses, hats and funky belts. The brand is aimed at
those who want to look different and do not hesitate to experiment when it comes
to fashion and lifestyle. Stupid Cupid has opened nine stores in Delhi and one in
Mumbai, in addition to Shopin- Shop counters within large format Archies
Galleries.

48
 Promotion
Greeting card occasions in India have almost singlehandedly been created by
Archies. It has Indianised hitherto foreign events like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s
Day, Father’s Day and Teacher’s Day amongst others. It also created a day of its
own – Friendship Day. Over time, Archies’ promotions have married the medium
and message to reap rich returns and to inch closer to its customers. The company
has also ventured into in-film advertising with the Hindi film, Waqt: a race against
time. This was preceded by a vast array of movie merchandise for widely
acclaimed films like Speed, Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, Devdas and Lagaan. Not to
miss out on the growing FM radio craze, Archies has been airing promotional
activities on radio.

Brand Values
Touching the emotional chord and feelings of people around India has been a
trademark that is very specially Archies. It promises ‘the most special way to say
you care’. It has kept this promise with an outpouring of desirable and unique
gifting ideas. Its customers can always luxuriate in the constant variety the brand
churns out. As a brand, Archies is committed to providing its customers with
opportunities to vent their innermost sentiments. Throughout the year, they can say
it with a card or a gift no matter where they live in India. As part of its core belief
in social responsibility, the company has also extended a helping hand to foster the
causes of some of the best known and highly regarded social institutions across the
country. These initiatives include ties with HelpAge India, an organisation that
works for the well-being of the deprived and desolate elderly, as well as Archies’

49
collaboration with Child Relief and You (CRY), that reaches out to the needs of
the deprived and underprivileged children.

(An archies gallery at Vijaynagar, displaying a wide variety of Valentine’s Day

cards)

50
 (A wide range of gifts from coffee mugs, frames, clocks have been displayed)

(The gallery is home to all kinds of greeting cards from birthdays, to new born baby cards, to
anniversaries, thank you, sorry, miss you cards, to get well soon cards. A card for every occasion
and a card for every relation can be found here.)

51
CHAPTER 4
52
 Collection of data, analysis and
evaluation

Greeting the people on their special occasion is an age old traditional system to
earn human relations, however is the olden days greetings were confined to
birthdays marriages and that too way the way of letters. Greeting cards with
specials attractions attracted people and they started using cards to send their
greeting not only during birthdays and marriages but also anniversaries, teachers
day, mother’s day, father’s day, friendship day and so on.. as the demand for
greeting card increased the number of companies manufacturing and designing

53
greeting cards also increased. The various companies manufacturing greeting cards
are Archies, hallmark, C.R.Y, other local retailers and so on.

However the name of Archies is found to be in every customers view. The greeting
cards have now become products and therefore manufacturing of greeting cards
has become a special industrial process, which requires a good marketing and sales
technique. Therefore a project study is conducted. 50 respondents of different
groups have been selected to collect the data.

Analysis and evaluation

I. Table 1 – Name profile (name represents the willful participation of the

respondents)

Number Percentage
Name given 40 80%
Name not given 10 20%

It is seen from the above that 80% of the respondents have given their names and
only 20% have not identified themselves.
In view of the above it is confirmed that a large number of respondents have
willingly co-operated with the project study.

54
Table 2 – Gender profile (gender indicates the ratio of men and women sending
or receiving greeting cards)
Number Percentage
Male 18 36%
Female 32 64%

It is observed that 64% of the respondents are women and 36% of the others are
men.
Therefore, is it understood that the women prefer sending greeting cards as
compared to men.

Table 3 – Age profile (age indicates as to which age group is interested in sending
greeting cards)
Age Number Percentage
18-25 years 40 80%
>25 years 10 20%

The data reveals that 80% of the respondents are in the age group of 18-25 years
and only 20% of the respondents are in the age group of 25 years and above.
Therefore it is clear that the younger group of the society is more interested in
buying and sending greeting cards.

Table 4 – Occupation (occupation decides the position to send or accept greeting

cards)
Occupation Number Percentage
Students 26 52%
Working 24 48%

Here it is seen that 52% of the respondents are students and 48% are working.
Hence it is felt that occupation has no relevance to exchange of greeting cards.

Table 5 – Average monthly income (this may detemaine the quality and number
od occasions the respondents prefer to send cards)
Avg monthly income (in Number (total – 24) Percentage
Rs.)
10,000 – 25,000 20 84%

55
 25,000 – 50,000 4 16%

This data is analysed only for working people who constitute 48% of the total
respondents, among them 84% are drawing a salary of up to Rs.25,000 p.m and
16% are drawing salary between Rs.25,000-50,000 p.m
Therefore, the respondents have adequate money to buy and send greeting cards.

Table 6 – Locality (this plays a prominent part in culture and tradition of sending
greeting cards.)
 BTM layout
 Cunningham Road
 Indranagar
 Jayanagar
 Kormangala
 Malleshwaram
 M.G Road
 Vijaynagar

From the above it may be construed that the people living in all these localities do
buy and send greeting cards.

II. Research data

1. Do you send greetings to your friends and relatives? (this is to know
whether the respondents have cultivated a system of sending greeting
cards)

Number Percentage
Yes 48 96%
No 4 8%
It is found from the data that 96% of the respondents have agreed and only 4%
have not.

56
Therefore, it is evident that in today’s generation people send greeting cards to
their friends and relatives.

2. If yes, on what occasions have you sent them? (since each respondent
will have a special occasion to send greeting cards)
a.

Number Percentage
Birthdays 45 90%
The data reveals that 90% of the respondents send greeting cards for
birthdays and 5% do not send.

b.

Number Percentage
Anniversaries 24 48%
Here it is seen that 48% of the respondents send greeting cards for
anniversaries and the others do not send, thus sending greeting cards for
anniversaries is limited.

c.

Others – Friendship’s day, new years day, Valentine ’s Day, Women’s day,
and so on.
Here the percentage is not worked out, among the respondents a few
have agreed that they send greeting cards on the above mentioned occasions
also.
Considering all the above factors it is confirmed that greeting cards
are mostly given during birthdays followed by anniversaries, and various
other occasions.

3. Have you received greeting cards from your friends and relatives?

57
 (Normally the greeting cards is an exchange process of good wishes)

Number Percentage
Yes 50 100%
No 0 0
The data shows that 100% of respondents have received their greeting cards from
their friends and relatives.
Therefore, it is confirmed that greeting cards is an exchange process of good
wishes.

4. If yes, on which occasions have you received them? (this is to know the
occasions for which they receive greeting cards)

Number Percentage
Birthdays 46 96
Anniversaries 4 8

Others- Friendship’s day, new years day, Valentine ’s Day, Women’s day,
Rakhi & so on.

Here also it is seen that 96% of the respondents have received birthday
cards, only 8% have received cards during anniversaries, and a few have
received cards on Friendship’s day, new years day, Valentine ’s Day,
Women’s day, Rakhi & so on.

5a. Do you generally give only greetings without any gift? (during several
occasions greeting cards are followed by gifts)

Number Percentage
Yes 6 12%
No 44 88%

58
It is found that 88% of the respondents have stated that they do not generally give
gifts while they give greeting cards and only 12% have agreed.
Greeting cards can be sent by post where as gifts have to be given in person,
therefore people prefer giving and sending greeting cards rather than gifts unless
they are attending the occasion at hand.

5b. If yes, on which occasions? (This is to know the occasions which attract
only greetings, and which attract both greeting cards and gifts)
Occasions – Women’s Day, New Years Day, Friendship’s day and so on.
While greeting cards are given for almost all happy occasions, gifts are given
specially during birthdays, marriages.

6a. Have you given a gift without giving greeting cards? (there may be
people who prefer giving gift rather than greeting cards)
Number Percentage
Yes 36 72%
No 14 28%

It is found from the response that 72% of the respondents have agreed that they
have given gifts without greeting cards and only 28% have given both gifts and
greeting cards.
Therefore, it is felt that there are a large number of respondents who have given
gifts only and a few have given both.

6b. If yes, on which occasions? (To know the occasion wherein only gifts
are given)
Occasions – Birthdays, marriages, occasions which pertain to a few close
people.
From the above it is construed that gifts are mostly given during occasions
such as marriages and birthdays.

59
 7. Do you prefer any particular brand/store while purchasing greeting
cards? (even in greeting cards there is brand equity, showing the quality of
cards and design)

Number Percentage
Yes 44 88%
No 6 12%

It is learnt from the above table that 88% of the respondents have agreed that they
prefer a particular brand, whereas 12% have not agreed.
Therefore, it is confirmed that there is brand equity in greeting cards.

8. If no, on what parameters do you select greeting cards? (There are

certain parameters to like greeting cards such as – content, design, layout,
quotation and so on)

Number Percentage
Design 4 66%
content 2 34%

Among those who have not preferred any particular brand, 66% said that
they select a card based on its design, while 34% said that content, mattered
more.

9. If yes, please mention the name of the some of the brands. (This is to the
various popular brands of greeting cards the respondents are aware of)

Number Percentage
Archies 44 100%
Hallmark 22 50%
Others 16 32%

60
From the above it is clear that 100% of the respondents are aware of Archies,
whereas 50% know of Hallmark and 30% have mentioned other brands such as
C.R.Y, paper rose and so on.

It may be construed that archies and Hallmark are famous brand of greeting cards.

10.Which of these do you prefer?

Number Percentage
Archies 44 100%

All the respondents who prefer particular brand prefer Archies, thus 100% prefer
Archies.
Therefore, once again it is confirmed that Archies is the most famous in the
greeting card market.

11.Have you ever heard the name of Archies gifts and greetings ltd?

Since all the respondents have clearly stated that they are aware of Archies, the
analysis and evaluation for the above question is not done.

12.Is there an Archies gallery in your locality? ( so as to know the

geographic dispersion of Archies galleries, as distribution of any product is
very important)

Number Percentage
Yes 44 88%
No 6 12%

61
It is seen that 88% of the respondents have agreed and 12& have not. Therefore,
from the above analysis it is very clear that archies Galleries are present in most of
the localities where the respondents are residing.
 Localities - BTM layout
 Cunningham Road
 Indranagar
 Jayanagar
 Kormangala
 M.G Road
 Vijaynagar

It can be thus construed that archies galleries are present in almost all the
localities, helping people to buy greeting cards conveniently.

13.How did you come to know of archies? (Publicity of any particular brand
is an important media for its advertisement and promotion.)

Number Percentage
Media 2 4%
Peer groups 12 24%
Store presence 36 72%

It is clearly shown that 72% of the respondents have come to know of Archies
through its strong store presence, 24% through peer groups (friends & family) and
4% through various media (print & internet).
Therefore, it is very clear that the presence to Archies gallery plays a vital role in
its sale og greeting cards.

14.Have you purchased greeting cards from other brands or stores also?
( this to know about the customer preference regarding greeting cards)

62
 Number Percentage
Yes 44 88%
No 6 12%

It is revealed that 88% of the respondents have agreed that they have purchased
greeting cards from other stores other than archies and only 12% have not agreed.
Therefore, it is confirmed that people are ready to purchase both Archies as well as
other brand cards.

15.if yes, do you prefer archies greetings? (this is to know that even if people
but from other brands, would they opt for Archies if its available)

Number Percentage
Yes 40 90%
No 4 10%

There are 90% respondents who have agreed and the remaining 10% have not.
Therefore, it may be construed that the first preference to buy greeting cards is
Archies.

16.If so, why do you prefer archies greetings? (This is to know t he reasons
as to why Archies is the most preferred brand)

Number Percentage
Quality 10 25%
Good Design 18 45%
Content 12 30%

63
From the above it is seen that the first preference to a Archies greeting card is
because of its good design (45%), followed by Content in the greeting cards (30%)
and finally the quality(25%).
Therefore, it is confirmed that the respondents prefer Archies greeting cards
because of its good design, Content and quality.

17.Do you feel Archies products are overpriced? (In any product, the
substitute products may have different pricing based on quality, availability,
demand and so on)

Number Percentage
Yes 48 96%
No 2 4%

The data shows that 96% of the respondents have agreed that Archies greeting
cards are overpriced and only 4% disagree.
Therefore, Archies may be costlier than other brands because of it quality, good
design and so on.

18.Do you feel Archies greeting cards suit all occasions? (Some of the
greeting cards may not suit all the occasions)

Number Percentage
Yes 48 96%
No 2 4%

Here is it revealed that 96% of the respondents have confirmed that Archies
greeting cards suit almost all occasions, and only 4% have not agreed.
Therefore, it is confirmed that archies has become famous because of its
suitability.

64
 19.Have you observed that new occasions have been added in the society
to give greeting cards?(This is to know the new occasions added by the
younger generation to send greeting cards)

Number Percentage
Yes 42 84%
May be 8 16%
Here 84% have agreed and 16% are neutral to it, stating “may be”.
Therefore, it is very clear that new occasions have been added in the society to
give greeting cards as it has been seen in the earlier data.

20.if yes, please mention the new occasions that have come up in the
society.

Valentine ’s Day, Women’s day, forgiveness day, grandparent’s day, thank you
day and so on…
Therefore, it is clear from the above data that greeting cards have now become
daily useable products.

21.if so, do you feel that it is important to give greeting cards?

Number Percentage
Yes 42 84%
No 8 16%

Here 84% of the respondents have agreed that cards are to be given and are
important, the remaining 16% of the respondents have not agreed.

65
 22. Please mention, giving greeting cards has now become ___________

Number Percentage
Helpful in expressing 46 92%
emotions
Helps earn goodwill 4 8%

The data reveals that 92% of the respondents have agreed that exchange of greeting
cards has become helpful is expressing emotions and only 8% have agreed that it
helps in earning goodwill.
Therefore, greeting cards may not be a necessity; they yet are tools for social
expression.

23.If you are a company representative, do you issue greetings to earn

customer goodwill? (greeting cards issued by corporates’ have also earned
a new place)

Number Percentage
Yes 2 25%
No 6 75%

There are only 8 company representatives out of which 75% have said no and 25%
have agreed that yes they would send greeting cards to customers.
Therefore, it is clear that company representatives may not give greeting cards but
they might give gifts to customers.

24.If yes, on what occasion do you issue greetings?

Occasions – customer birthdays, festivals, New Years and so on…

Therefore, it can be said that companies give greeting cards to customers in various
occasions such as birthdays, festive, New Year and so on…

66
 25.Have you ever purchased greeting cards from physically challenged
children, staying in protection centers like orphanages, C.R.Y
organizations, KSS and other social organization? ( This is to know the
awareness levels of respondents regarding such organizations, and if they
do purchase products sold by the same)

Number Percentage
Yes 22 44%
No 28 56%

Here is it seen the 56% of the respondents have not agreed, while, 44% have
agreed.
This clearly shows unawareness among the respondents regarding greeting
cards processed by the above mentioned organizations.

26.If so, do you prefer Archies/other brand greetings or those from above
mentioned organizations?

Number Percentage
Yes 14 64%
No 8 36%

Here it is seen that from the 44% respondents who have purchased greeting cards
from the various NGOs, 64% prefer Archies Archies/other brand greetings or those
from above mentioned organizations and 36% prefer the NGOs.
Therefore, it may be construed that people buy greeting cards from other brands
than these NGOs because of availability, convenience and wide range and variety
of greeting cards.

27.If you buy greetings from various NGOs, why do you prefer them?
 Support the good cause
 Fulfill social responsibility

67
Therefore from the above it is clear that people buy greeting cards from the
following NGOs so as to support their good cause and also as a social
responsibility.

28.Do you think Archies has changed the way India greets? comment

“Archies has been a very important medium to convert the feelings into materialist
- visual aids to help ppl express their emotions. It is with Archies cards, ppl started
the culture of Occasion gifting - so it plays a very interesting role in our life by
making mother's day , father's day , friendship day -things that dint exist for us
special & memorable with their funny, senti cards/gifts”. – Manasa Jain, Founder,
Center Stage.

“Yes Archies has definitely helped usher in the gifting trend. They have
successfully managed to create a hype, be it 'Mother's Day, valentines, or just
about any other day. These occasions have now grown in importance and not
gifting a loved one on their 'Day' is almost a crime!” – Nimmy Sunny, Associate
analyst, Deloit

29.Mention your satisfaction levels post Archies.

Number Percentage
Very Satisfied 2 4%
Satisfied 46 92%
Indifferent 4 4%

The data reveals that 92% of the respondents are satisfied post their Archies visit,
4% are very satisfied and another 4% are indifferent.
Therefore, in the view of the above is it confirmed that Archies is satisfying the
expectations of its customers.

68
CHAPTER 5

Findings and conclusions

69
Based on the analysis and evaluation of the data the following findings are
made:
1. All the respondents have co-operated and provided the data required for the
study.
2. There are a more number of women rather than men who make use of
greeting cards.
3. Most of the respondents are from the younger age group who will have
enthusiasm to send greeting cards.
4. Though there are working people, yet more number of respondents are from
the student section.
5. The average monthly income of the respondents is about Rs.25, 000.
6. Most of the respondents selected for this project study are from Vijaynagar,
though there are respondents from other areas like - BTM layout,
Cunningham Road, Indranagar, Jayanagar, Kormangala, Malleshwaram, and
M.G Road.
7. Archies galleries have a wide geographical spread and are located in most of
the areas.
8. All the respondents have agreed that they send greeting cards to their friends
and relatives.
9. The greeting cards are usually issued to greet loved ones on their birthdays,
anniversaries and other special occasions.
10.Now a day there is a fancy among the younger generation to send greeting
cards during women’s day, father’s day, Valentine’s Day, friendship’s day,
sorry cards, thank you cards and so on...
11.All the respondents have received greeting cards from their friends and
relatives.
12.They have received cards mostly on their birthdays, and occasionally on
days such as friendships’ day, New Year’s Day and so on.
13.There are a few people who give gifts along with greeting cards.
14.Giving the gifts along with greeting cards are during marriages, birthdays
and so on.
15.There are occasions like marriages where only gifts are given and not
greeting cards.
16.Even in the greeting cards market there is branding and brand equity.

70
17.People like greeting cards which have a good design and content
18.Among the various brands Archies and Hallmark are the most known and
famous.
19.Most of the respondents prefer greeting cards processed by Archies.
20.Most of the respondents have come to know of Archies through its store
presence and their peer groups and not through any particular media as such.
21.The respondents have selected and bought greeting cards from other stores
than Archies depending on convenience and availability.
22.However, most of them again prefer Archies.
23.The respondents stated that they like greeting cards from Archies because of
its good design, large variety and good content.
24.The respondents are of the opinion that the Archies greeting cards are little
over priced.
25.Archies cards suit all occasions.
26.Today several more occasions have been added to send greeting cards like
women’s day, daughter’s day, sorry day, parent’s day and so on…
27.The respondents feel that it is important to send greeting cards.
28.Sending greeting cards has now become helpful in expressing emotions.
29.There are a few company representatives who send greeting cards, the
reason may be that they prefer sending a gift rather than a greeting card.
30.There are a few NGO’s like Karnataka Spastic Society, Child Rights You
(C.R.Y), Vatsalya, etc, where the physically and mentally challenged
children prepare greeting cards, a few of the respondents buy greeting cards
from these organizations as well.
31.The respondents buy greeting cards from the above mentioned organizations
so as to support the good cause and fulfill their social responsibility.
32.However a more number of respondents buy greeting cards from stores like
Archies and Hallmark, because of their easy availability and wider choice of
cards.
33.Almost all the respondents have stated that their satisfaction level is good
with regard to the greeting cards processed by Archies.

71
 CONCLUSION
This project study titled – “A project study on the Indian greeting card industry
with special reference to Archies ltd.” Was carried out with the following
objectives:
 The main objective of this study is to find out whether the common
public, who use gift and greeting card know about popular manufacturing
company of gifts and greeting cards, do they know that there is
competition in this business also.
 The secondary objective is to know the popularity of the presentation of
gifts and greeting cards during special occasion.

The following hypothesis was made:

 Since the presentation of gifts and greeting cards is important, the

general public is aware of the most popular brand dealing with gifts
and greetings.

The study has revealed that greeting cards whether sending or receiving during
birthdays, new years, marriage anniversaries are very common not only among the
students but also among the elders.
The religion or the caste has no bearing on sending greeting cards. People send
greeting cards to maintain goodwill and relationships. Today there are various
occasions which have been added to send greeting cards like – Valentine’s Day,
Women’s day, father’s day, Friendship’s day, grandparents’ day and so on…
Therefore the sale and use of greeting cards has increased, like any other product
greeting cards have also acquired brand equity like Archies and Hallmark.
Among them Archies has become a very famous brand. The media has not played
an important role in the branding of Archies, however use of various social
networking society like facebook has added to its promotional strategies. Today
the increase in sale of greeting cards with special reference to Archies can be
attributed to its store presence and the role of peers (family, friends, colleagues).

72
Hence the project study comes to a conclusion to state that today greeting cards
have become one the consumer products with brand equity, the Archies brand is
the market leader in the greeting cards industry followed by brands like Hallmark
and various other NGOs.
The only exception is that there is no advertisement in any kind of media, but there
is a place for designing the attractive cards, art and production as well as for
content writing.
Hence, objective of the study is fulfilled and the hypothesis is found to be positive.

73
 SUGGESTONS
1. There must be some advertisements through T.V media by good advertising
agencies so as to increase the number of customers who purchase greeting
cards.
2. The advertisements should be a constant reminder of the various occasions
in which greeting cards can be exchanged.
3. The cost of the greeting cards should be made economical such that people
from all levels in a society can purchase and send greeting cards t otheir
friends and relatives.

74
 BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1) MARKETTING MANAGEMENT BY PHILIP KOTLER

2) ADVERTISING PRINCIPLES AND PRACTISE BY

WELLE/MORIARTY/BURNETT.

3) INTERNET. ( Google)

4) COMPANY WEB SITE ( www.Archiesonline.com)

75
ANNEXURE

76
Print Ads:

77
78
 Questionnaire
Project title: A project study on the Indian greeting card industry with special
reference to Archies ltd.

I. Name (optional):

Gender:

Age:

Occupation:

Avg monthly income:

Locality:

II. 1. Do you issue greetings to your friends and relatives?

O Yes
O No

2. If yes, on what occasions have you issued them?

O Birthdays
O Anniversaries
O Others
_____________________________________________________

3. Have you received greeting cards from your friends and relatives?
O Yes
O No

4. If yes, on which occasions have you received them?

O Birthdays
O Anniversaries

79
 OOthers
____________________________________________________
5. Do you generally give only greetings without any gift?
O Yes
O No

5. b. if yes, on which occasions?

6a. have you given a gift without giving greeting cards?

O Yes
O No

6b. If yes, on which occasions?

7. Do you prefer any particular brand/store while purchasing greeting cards?

O Yes
O No

8. If no, on what parameters do you select greeting cards?

9. If yes, please mention the name of the some of the brands.

10. Which of these do you prefer?

11. Have you ever heard the name of Archies gifts and greetings ltd?
O Yes
O No

12. Is there an Archies gallery in your locality? (mention the locality)

O Yes

80
 O No
If yes, ___________________

13. How did you come to know of archies?

o Media, ___________

o Peer Groups

o Store Presence

o Others, _________

14. have you purchased greeting cards from other brands or stores also?
O Yes
O No

15. if yes, do you prefer archies greetings?

O Yes
O No

16. If so, why do you prefer archies greetings?

o Quality
o Popular brand
o Economic rate/cost
o Good design
o Can be stored for longer period

17. Do you feel Archies products are overpriced?

O Yes
O No

81
 18. Do you feel Archies greeting cards suit all occasions?
O Yes
O No

19. Have you observed that new occasions have been added in the society to
give greeting cards?
o Yes
o No
o May be

20. if yes, please mention the new occasions that have come up in the
society.

21. if so, do you feel that it is important to give greeting cards?

22. please mention, giving greeting cards has now become ___________
a. necessity b. helpful is expressing emotions c. helps earn goodwill

23. If you are a company representative, do you issue greetings to earn

customer goodwill?
O Yes
O No

24. If yes, on what occasion do you issue greetings?

25. Have you ever purchased greeting cards from physically challenged
children, staying in protection centre’s like orphanages, C.R.Y organizations, KSS
and other social organization?
O Yes
O No

82
 26. If so, do you prefer Archies/other brand greetings or those from above
mentioned organizations?
O Yes
O No

27. If you buy greetings from various NGO’s , why do you prefer them?

28. Do you think Archies has changed the way India greets? If yes, comment

29. Mention your satisfaction levels post Archies.

o Very satisfied

o Satisfied

o Indifferent

o Dissatisfied

83