Short Case: Nepal Boards Ltd.

The marketing manager of Nepal Boards Ltd. thought that one of the major factors that needed improvement was to make their communications programme more effective. The company's market share for Prelaminated Particle Boards (PPBs) in India was 35 per cent, as compared to 40 per cent market share of the dominant competitor, Novopan, in the year 2006. The company found that not only the awareness in prospective customers was low about the advantages of PPB, but also about the quality of the product made by it. PPBs, which were introduced in the Indian market in the year 1975 as a substitute of plywood, had three major advantages over plywood: More economical Environment friendly More attractive colours Nepal Board's PPBs were not only conforming to Indian Standards (IS 3087, 1985), but also to international quality standards. The company and its manufacturing plant were located in Nepal. The target market segments were the government organizations, information technology (IT) firms, and multi-national companies (MNCs) in India. The marketing manager thought that the target audience were architects, interior decorators, and carpenters. The company started educating carpenters by conducting workshops, since the carpenters did not know how to use PPBs and due to their ignorance of the product, they were calling it "Bhusa Board" (meaning, powder piece of wood). The marketing manager was not sure about the promotional budget, the message strategy, and the media to be used. He wondered whether the management would ask him to evaluate the results of the promotional programme.

Question:

1. As the marketing manager of this company, design an appropriate communication plan.