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The year 2010 was coming to a close, and Kapil, Marketing Manager of GEF India Private Limited (GEF), was thinking about the future. He had drafted a brief (see Exhibit 1) on conducting market research to assess the health of the brand Freedom Refined Sunflower Oil, which GEF had launched in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) in February of that year.1 Kapil was very happy to note that the brand had achieved good sales, in fact, significantly higher sales than the target set for the launch. This had been achieved thanks to a well-thought-out launch plan that had included considerably more above the line (ATL) marketing expenditure than any of the competing brands in the market. He was interested in finding out whether and where exactly the brand had taken root in the minds of consumers. Another important purpose of the proposed market research was to assess the effectiveness of the launch plan. Above all, he felt it would provide valuable insights when he set out to prepare a marketing plan for the coming year.

In March 2010, Mr. Chandra Shekhara Reddy, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, was reviewing the launch plan for the first brand of cooking oil, Freedom Refined Sunflower Oil, of GEF. GEF was set up by a professional turned entrepreneur, in Andhra Pradesh in 2009. The case provides a brief profile of the entrepreneur and the overall business strategy including brand architecture. It describes the launch plan, particularly the key decisions of brand name, packaging, sales promotion and distribution. Data on household use and competing brands of oils in Andhra Pradesh, South India and entire India is also included.

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