A study to analyze the effectiveness of various promotional activities practiced by Broadband operators

S u b m i t t e d b y :A n i r u d h B h a n d e g a o n k a rR o l l N o . C - 0 8 - 0 9P G D B A – 2 0 0 8 - 2 0 1 02 n d S e m e s t e r

Submitted to: Mr. T. N. Srivastava (Head, Placement Cell) GSBA, Greater Noida

Summer In te rnsh ip Pro jec t

TATA COMMUNICATION

Graduate School of Business & Administration,

Greater Noida

2 | P a g e

1. Acknowledgements

This Project would not have come to fruition without the help, wittingly or unwittingly, of a

great many people too numerous to mention. This section provides a platform to

recognize and acknowledge those fortunate enough to spring to mind.

My Industry Mentor, Mr. Mayur Agarkar should be commended for the guidance, support,

and wealth of ideas he provided in order to see this work completed.

I would like to express my gratitude to my Faculty Mentor, Mrs. Rati Sharma who is more

than a mentor to me. His whole hearted support kept me upbeat in the toughest times

during the project.

This project was a team effort and I am proud to be a part of such a great team. I am

deeply indebted to them for their contribution with brilliant ideas and hard work. The credit

of the successful completion of the project goes to my team.

Thanks a lot to all the unnamed people who kindly responded to the Questionnaire,

especially my friends at GSBA & Amity.

Finally, my family for providing help, advice, and motivation when it was required.

Anirudh Bhandegaonkar

C 08-09

PGDBA (2008 – 10)

2nd Semester

3 | P a g e

2. Abstract

In India, in the past 4-5 years, growth in the number of Internet connections has been

phenomenal primarily driven by the broadband connections. Broadband is defined as any

speed above 256 kbps. With the advent of several broadband service providers the

competition has only got tougher and more intense.

To increase their market, these operators use various promotional activities. These

activities can broadly be classified under two categories.

1) ATL (Above the line) or Mass Promotional Activities.

e.g. Ads on TV or internet, print media, Banners etc.

2) BTL (Below the line) or personalized/Direct marketing.

e.g. Tele-calling, promotion via mailing etc.

Companies pour in millions of dollars to promote their brand, create brand awareness and

market their services to boost their sales and grab higher market share. So it makes

every business sense to know the effectiveness of different media and invest in those

which have high effectiveness.

The objective of our study was to analyze the effectiveness of these promotional activities

used by the broadband service provides in Delhi/NCR.

To achieve the target we first divided the work area into regions according to

convenience. The next big objective was to device a questionnaire. Basically three forms

of sampling techniques were used, convenience, snow-ball and internet sampling.

Valuable information and views of broadband users received via Questionnaires were

used to reach to the conclusion of the research.

The study found out that BTL activity i.e. the direct marketing (Tele-calling etc) were much

more effective than ATL activities i.e. mass marketing, much against the conventional

belief. The two major contributors in this victory of BTL over ATL were campaigning and

tele-calling. This may be due to the highly personalized and live nature of these forms of

promotion. They are able to influence the human mind because here humans interact

with humans either directly or over the phone. Although what lead to BTL’s success is a

topic of further research.

Hence, through the research, null hypothesis was rejected and replaced with “BTL

activities are more effective than ATL activities.”

4 | P a g e

3. Table of Contents

1. Acknowledgement

2. Abstract

3. Table of contents

3.1.List of charts

3.2.List of tables

4. List of appendices

5. Abbreviation and definition

6. Introduction

7. Literature review

7.1.ATL & BTL: Promotional tools

7.2.Broadband operators in India

8. Problem definition

9. Approach to problem

10.Research aim

11.Research hypothesis

12.Research design

13.Data analysis

14.Results and findings

14.1. Demographics

14.1.1. Age

14.1.2. Gender

14.1.3. Region

14.1.4. Family income

14.2. General findings

14.2.1. Monthly bill

14.2.2. Broadband service provider of the users

14.2.3. Purpose of the internet

14.2.4. Source of information about the service provider

14.2.5. Most crucial deciding factor

14.2.6. Brand recall standing (absolute)

14.2.7. Brand recall ranking

5 | P a g e

14.3. Analysis of effectiveness and hypothesis testing

14.3.1. Analysis of effectiveness of various promotional methods

14.3.2. Analysis of effectiveness of ATL & BTL for diff. brands

14.3.3. Analysis of effectiveness of ATL & BTL ‘in toto’

14.3.4. Hypothesis testing

15.Conclusions

15.1. Research conclusion

15.2. Recommendations or Suggestions

15.3. Limitations

16.Appendices

17.Bibliography

6 | P a g e

4. List of Appendices

Appendix 1: Link to questionnaire

Appendix 2: Z test, to test the significance of the results for effectiveness of ATL &

BTL

5. Abbreviations and Definitions:

ATL: Above the line

Above the line(ATL) is a type of advertising through media such as TV, cinema, radio,

print, banners and search engines to promote brands

BTL: Below the line

BTL is a type of promotional activity which is targeted to a specific person or group of

people very similar in their characteristics. Tele-calling, launching a campaign, erecting

canopies, mailing, in-house promotions etc. come under BTL.

MTNL: Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited, broadband operators in Delhi.

NCR: National Capital Region

ROI: Return on Investment

7 | P a g e

6. Introduction:

It’s said that the greatest invention of the millennium is Internet. It’s because of the extent

to which it has made an impact in our lives. Since its inception, Internet has come a long

way and the technology behind it is constantly improving at a very rapid pace.

The latest technology i.e. Broadband give great surfing as well as downloading speed to

the users which is why it has seen a boom in demand in the past 4-5 rears. This has also

brought in new players leading tough competition.

Everyone is trying to dominate by promoting its brand and product through TV, print,

launching campaigns, sending mailers and news-letters etc. methods to promote are

many but due to budgetary constraints, search of most effective method of promotion is

on, big time. Promotion is classified under two categories ATL and BTL and marketers

are quite curious to know which one has the last laugh, ATL or BTL.

This research is an attempt to unravel this suspense and come up with findings which not

only satiate this curiosity but also provides results that are commercially viable and help

our organization to gain significant market share thru application of those results in its

marketing strategy.

The report also tries to analyze the strength of association b/w Market share and

ATL/BTL activities. Few other parameters are also touched.

The research is broken into 5 main sections.

Research design, demographics, general findings, analysis of effectiveness & hypothesis

testing and results & recommendation.

8 | P a g e

7. Literature Review

7.1. ATL & BTL : Promotional tools

Promotion can be loosely be classified as "above the line"(ATL) or "below the line"(BTL).

The term "below the line" (BTL) promotion or communications, refers to forms of non-

media communication, even non-media advertising. Below the line promotions, such as

Tele-calling, direct mailing, canopies, launching campaigns etc are becoming increasingly

important within the communications mix of many companies, not only those involved in

FMCG products, but also for industrial goods and telecommunication.

“Above the line” (ATL) is a type of advertising through media such as TV, cinema, radio,

print, banners and search engines to promote brands. Major uses include television and

radio advertising, web and Internet banner ads. This type of communication is

conventional in nature and is considered impersonal to customers. It differs from Below

the line advertising, which believes in unconventional brand-building strategies, such as

direct mail and printed media (and usually involves no motion graphics).

The term comes from accountancy and involves the way in which Procter and Gamble,

one of the world’s biggest advertising clients, was charged for its media in the 1950s and

1960s. Advertising agencies made so much commission from booking media for clients

that the creative generation and actual production costs of making TV ads was free –

hence above the line. Everything else they paid for was therefore below the line. Since

then, models have changed and clients are no longer charged for their media in that way.

Used loosely, ‘above the line’ means mass media. However the media landscape has

shifted so dramatically that advertisers have reconsidered the definitions of mass media.

What needs consideration is the definition of "What does the line divide? For some retail

giants the definition of the line is "their floor space" where they convert footfall to

purchase. Loosely put, everything done prior to a customer's actual entry into a retail

outlet is ATL for some retailers, as they define shop-floor activities as the true BTL set of

activities which decide on which brand sells eventually.

Below the line sales promotions are short-term incentives, largely aimed at consumers.

With the increasing pressure on the marketing team to achieve communication objectives

more efficiently in a limited budget, there has been a need to find out more effective and

9 | P a g e

cost efficient ways to communicate with the target markets. This has led to a shift from

the regular media based advertising.

Below the Line uses less conventional methods than the usual specific channels of

advertising to promote products, services, etc. than Above the Line strategies. These may

include activities such as direct mail, tele-calling, public relations and sales promotions for

which a fee is agreed upon and charged up front. Below the line advertising typically

focuses on direct means of communication, most commonly direct mail and e-mail, often

using highly targeted lists of names to maximize response rates.

Above the line is much more effective when the target group is very large and difficult to

define. But if the target group is limited and specific, it is always advisable to use BTL

promotions for efficiency and cost-effectiveness.

Say, for example, if a pen manufacturer is going to promote its product, it may take the

ATL route, but if a company manufactures computer UPS, it will certainly take the BTL

route, as the target group is very limited and specific.

More recently, agencies and clients have switched to an 'Integrated Communication

Approach.' BTL is a common technique used for "touch and feel" products (consumer

items where the customer will rely on immediate information rather than previously

researched items). BTL techniques ensure recall of the brand while at the same time

highlighting the features of the product.

In a nutshell, while Above-the-Line promotions are tailored for a mass audience, BTL

promotions are targeted at individuals according to their needs or preferences. While

Above-the-Line promotions can establish brand identity, BTL can actually lead to a sale.

Above-the-line promotions are also somewhat impossible to measure well, while BTL

promotions are highly measurable, giving marketers valuable insights into their return-on-

investment.

According to EBS Worldwide, mainstream mass broadcast marketing is increasingly

being viewed as uneconomical, in terms of Return on Investment, which is where BTL

marketing fits in.

10 | P a g e

Examples of BTL promotion

Most of the big brands are following the suit of BTL promotion because of rising prices of

media based promotion, advertising clutter and increased impulse purchasing.

Ring tones and music videos on cell phones are helping the entertainment industry

to promote for a music video or a movie for dirt-cheap rate as compared to media

promotion.

Various companies sponsor sport events to promote their brand, but media

companies like Hindustan Times are holding weekly events throughout the country

in which companies can put up their stalls, display banners and posters and

arrange for some fun activities. These events give the companies a platform at

very low price to promote their brand and increase visibility among target

consumer. These companies also give discount coupons to winners in the games,

which in turn boost the sales of the products and ensure that first time users try

these products as well.

BTL promotions are gaining popularity among all big companies nowadays considering

their effectiveness because of the "individual customer promotion" at a price, which is

much less than the normal media promotions.

11 | P a g e

7.2. Broadband operators and their promotional activity

Broadband operators are using both ATL and BTL for their brand Promotion which

eventually aims for higher sales and larger market share.

Major players in India such as Airtel, MTNL, BSNL, Reliance, Tata, Sify and few others

are in a cut-throat competition with each other.

Lately, broadband operators have realized the virtues of BTL and channelized their focus

as well advertising dollars to the BTL promotional activities due to its low revenue

requirements and high sales output. Moreover they can maintain precise information of

their returns on investment which is very difficult in case of ATL.

ATL has always been regarded as an easy tool to reach out to the masses instantly.

Broadband companies thus use ATL and BTL activities in a mix which they try to

homogenize according to their growth plan, revenue constraints, target area and

management’s discretion.

The present market leader Airtel is very good in using ATL (Mass promotion) and BTL

(Direct marketing) in a very balanced way to optimize its expenditure and maximize the

returns.It uses exhaustive ATL promotion to spread itself throughout the market. TV ads

have a major strategic importance in airtel’s quest to be a leader. Not only TV ads, Airtel

is everywhere, newspapers, magazines, internet, banners, huge hoardings along roads

and highways, you name it.

At the same time they haven’t marginalized the virtues of BTL. Go to some residential

apartments, colonies or blocks and you can certainly find few Airtel canopies, giving

demos, handing out pamphlets and educating its prospective buyers.

On the other hand, there is Sify, which hardly give any Ads in TV or print but still boasts of

a significant market share. So which media works better is very company specific and

depends on its marketing strategy and targets.

12 | P a g e

8. Problem Definition

A broadband operator is just like any other company which a product or services to offer

and it works for profit. To market a product, it has to be promoted and advertised to its

target customers. Now there are many ways in which you promote a product, few are

certainly better more effective than others.

Promotional activities are broadly classified under ATL and BTL. Due to the inherent

difference in their nature, they work differently and outshine one another depending on

the industry and the target audience they are directed towards.

Tata Communications is broadband service provider. To gain a higher market share, they

want to promote their products / Services.

Here lies the problem, what type of promotional activity one should use. Whether one

should go with ATL or BTL?

Which one has greater effectiveness, ATL or BTL ?

If we could calculate the effectiveness of a particular media, the dilemma to choose

between ATL and BTL can be solved.

Now, how can we calculate effectiveness of a promotional activity?

Conventional way of revenue generated per unit expenditure was not an option, as we

didn’t have any date giving those figures. Nor did we have any sample data which gave

the information about the revenue generated or sales figure before and after the

application of a particular promotional tool.

Hence, new avenues had to be searched and a totally different approach was developed

to answer the question that which media is more effective.

13 | P a g e

14 | P a g e

9. Approach to the problem

We basically had to answer the question that, “If a person had subscribed to a particular

service provider which promotional activity influenced him to do that.”

But this would not lave given us the effectiveness, as effectiveness is a ratio.

But if we also get the number of people we got the information about the service provide

through the same promotional activity, we can calculate effectiveness.

So,

Effectiveness = no. of people who chose a promotional activity as the crucial deciding factor for subscription

no. of people who got the information about the operator thru that promotional activity

To achieve this objective a questionnaire was devised, which explicitly asked these two

very important questions, accessorized with demographic and other supporting questions.

People who are already broadband users could have given the answer to the above two

questions, so only those people constitute our sample.

The collected data was later analyzed to get effectiveness of various media, which was

tested for its significance via Z- test.

10. Research Aim

To analyze the effectiveness of various promotional activities, which are broadly classified

as ATL and BTL, carried out by the broadband operators.

11. Research Hypothesis

Null Hypothesis, H0: “There is no significant difference between ATL and BTL activities”.

So, an alternative hypothesis would be,

H1: “There is significant difference between ATL and BTL activities”.

15 | P a g e

12. Research design

Once, the approach to the problem was zeroed down, a questionnaire was designed to

get the information from the respondents to calculate the effectiveness of ATL and BTL

promotional activities.

The target population was broadband users in Delhi/ NCR.

We were a team of 5 and a target sample size of 250 was decided with 50 sample

elements per member.

Our sample mix should give a good representation of the population, to ensure that, the

population was divided into regions according to the anticipation of the no. of respondents

from that region. Later the sample elements were selected based on convenience or

judgment. Hence Quota sampling technique was used.

In addition to ‘Quota’, snowball sampling and ‘Online sampling’ was also used but to a

lesser extent.

The requirement of information was such, that secondary data wasn’t available. So, only

primary data could have served the purpose, which was collected via questionnaire.

The field work comprised of targeting people at random at malls, commercial places,

markets etc. in one of the regions of Delhi/ NCR and if they happen to be broadband

users, going ahead with the questionnaire with their permission.

Also, we took help of our friends in getting the questionnaires filled. They also referred us

to their contacts, creating a snowball effect. Mailing an online questionnaire to every

known e-mail also helped in data collection.

After 30 days of fieldwork, we had a sample size of 248 respondents, which provided

enough data to carry out the analysis and prove or disprove the hypothesis.

16 | P a g e

13. Data analysis

Once we got the data, the next step was to analyze it. SPSS and MS XL were used for

this part. Variables were created corresponding to the questions and all the responses

were filled in the sheet. SPSS tools such as frequency, crosstabs and XL tools such as

bar, pie & scatter charts were used to analyze the data.

Since multiple choices were allowed, this made the data complex and difficult to analyze.

Effectiveness of ATL and BTL was calculated by grouping the no. of response for

‘deciding factor’ and ‘source of info’ for both ATL & BTL and then dividing to get the

efficiency.

17 | P a g e

14. Results and findings14.1. Demographics of the sample

14.1.1. Age

Age ( years)above 4033-4025-3218-24

Freq

uenc

y

200

150

100

50

00.40%

4.84%

33.87%

60.89%

what's your age

Frequency Percent Valid PercentCumulative Percent

Valid 18-24 151 60.9 60.9 60.925-32 84 33.9 33.9 94.833-40 12 4.8 4.8 99.6above 40 1 .4 .4 100.0Total 248 100.0 100.0

Observations:

The results show that 94% of the respondents were in the age group of 18- 32 years. This

is significant as it’s likely to bias the findings drawn from the questionnaire and also on

the conclusion of our hypothesis.

The reason for this skewed age distribution is because of the convenience sampling. We

were able to approach only those who were either our friends or the friends of our friends.

Even mall interception wasn’t a cure as they are frequented by people of the above age

group.

Fortunately the maximum demand also comes from the age group 18-32 either for work

or entertainment purpose. So this skewness is somewhat compensated.

18 | P a g e

14.1.2. Respondent’s Gender

5722.98%

19177.02%

femalemale

Gender

Frequency Percent Valid PercentCumulative Percent

Valid Male 191 77.0 77.0 77.0Female 57 23.0 23.0 100.0Total 248 100.0 100.0

This result is also very significant as the gender balance of a population immensely affects the practices of marketers.

77% of the sample is constituted by male and it’s sure to bias our findings and conclusion. This biasness may be accounted to the fact that our research team was primarily comprised of males and there is high probability that a man will have more male friends. Since we used convenience sampling, the gender balance got inclined toward males.

Also girls may not prefer to disclose some personal information and therefore they declined to be a part of research.

19 | P a g e

14.1.3. Regions to which respondents belong.

Region

rest of ncrnoidacentral dehiwest delhi+gurgaon

east delhisouth delhinorth delhi

no. o

f res

pond

ents

100

80

60

40

20

0 1.68%

15.55%

6.30%10.50%

38.24%

15.55%12.18%

Region

Frequency Percent Valid PercentCumulative Percent

Valid north delhi 29 11.7 12.2 12.2south delhi 37 14.9 15.5 27.7east delhi 91 36.7 38.2 66.0west delhi+gurgaon 25 10.1 10.5 76.5central dehi 15 6.0 6.3 82.8noida 37 14.9 15.5 98.3rest of ncr 4 1.6 1.7 100.0Total 238 96.0 100.0

Missing missing 10 4.0Total 248 100.0

Observations:

The research field (Delhi/ NCR) was subdivided into seven regions according to the

anticipated density of respondents in those regions.

More that 50% of the respondents were from East Delhi and Noida Primarily due to

convenience sampling.

20 | P a g e

14.1.4. Average monthly family income

Avg. monthly Family Income (in Rs.)above 6000045001-6000030001-4500015000-30000

no. o

f res

pond

ents

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

8.06%

30.24%

40.73%

20.97%

Frequency Percent Valid PercentCumulative Percent

Valid 15000-30000 52 21.0 21.0 21.030001-45000 101 40.7 40.7 61.745001-60000 75 30.2 30.2 91.9above 60000 20 8.1 8.1 100.0Total 248 100.0 100.0

The graph shows that the maximum no. of users fall in the income category 30- 45 K, a typical middle class income group. So, we can say that internet is no longer restricted to elite class but has made inroads in a common man’s home.

This result will significantly impact our findings as with the change in income group of a person, his preference for a particular promotion tool/ activity changes.

e.g. a person was earlier listening to radio but with increase in salary, he now watches TV more.

Or, conversely, salary increase also brings more responsibilities. Earlier a person used to watch TV but now he doesn’t find time, he can only see the hoardings while commuting to office.

21 | P a g e

14.2. General findings from the questionnaire

14.2.1. Average monthly bill of the respondents

Average monthly bill (in Rs.)above 20001501-20001001-1500501-1000below 500

no. o

f res

pond

ents

150

100

50

0

1.21%2.02%

18.55%

59.68%

18.55%

Frequency Percent Valid PercentCumulative Percent

Valid below 500 46 18.5 18.5 18.5501-1000 148 59.7 59.7 78.21001-1500 46 18.5 18.5 96.81501-2000 5 2.0 2.0 98.8above 2000 3 1.2 1.2 100.0Total 248 100.0 100.0

Avg. monthly Family Income (in Rs.) * Average monthly bill (in Rs.) Cross tabulation

Average monthly bill (in Rs.) Totalbelow 500 501-1000 1001-1500 1501-2000 above 2000 below 500

Avg. monthly Family Income

(in Rs.)

15000-3000015 30 5 0 2 52

30001-45000 21 56 20 4 0 10145001-60000 8 47 19 0 1 75above 60000 2 15 2 1 0 20

Total 46 148 46 5 3 248

22 | P a g e

Observations:

Almost 60% of the users say that their ranges from Rs. 500- 1000 (most of these are fixed rentals and hence don’t vary at all!).

This category is an all time favorite among all the income groups, evident from the crosstab.

Suggestions:

If Tata wants to increase its market share, it has to focus on this price range (500- 1000). It should come up with great and value for money offers. Decent downloading speed and good connectivity can go a long way to attract huge no. of customers. Tata can go for pitching the higher plans i.e. 1000- 1500, to the income category 45- 60 K as they show this plan in significant no. relative to their sample size.

23 | P a g e

14.2.2. Internet service provider of the users

Internet service providerothersRelianceMTNLSifyAirtelTATA

no. o

f res

pond

ents

100

80

60

40

20

0

2.82%7

10.48%26

25.40%63

10.89%27

39.11%97

11.29%28

Frequency Percent Valid PercentCumulative Percent

Valid TATA 28 11.3 11.3 11.3Airtel 97 39.1 39.1 50.4Sify 27 10.9 10.9 61.3MTNL 63 25.4 25.4 86.7Reliance 26 10.5 10.5 97.2others 7 2.8 2.8 100.0Total 248 100.0 100.0

Observations:

The results show that Airtel rules the Broadband market with almost 40% share.

Also Airtel + MTNL jointly enjoy 65% of the market share.

Tata is a distant third with 11% share.

While in Rome, do as Romans do. So, if tata has to increase its customer base it has to study the market leader’s behavior, adopt the good things and learn from their mistakes.

24 | P a g e

14.2.3. Purpose of the getting an internet connection (Multiple selections allowed)

work requirementeducational

entertainmentnet surfing

020

4060

80100

120140

160

141

135

102105

Purpose of Internet

no of respondents

Purpose no. of respondents

work requirement 141 (56.8%)Educational 135 (54.4%)Entertainment 102net surfing 105

Observations:

Much against general assumption, the biggest reason for an internet is ‘work requirement’.But surprisingly, 2nd reason is not entertainment or surfing but ‘educational’. Who says that internet diverts the focus from studies!

Suggestions:

In its promotional strategy, to have a greater impact on the target audience, tata should focus on the educational aspect of internet and how an internet connection can make your work so easier and your life stress-free.

Tata should target Schools & Colleges more in their promotions. Here they can smoothly sell the educational aspect of internet.

They should target professional institutes and offices to exploit the ‘makes your work easy’ aspect of internet.

25 | P a g e

14.2.4. Source of information about the broadband connection (Multiple selections allowed)

TV Ads

Print A

ds

Internet

Ads

Hoardings

& banners

Tele c

allers

campaig

ns/ Can

opiesmail

dealer

/agen

t

friend/fa

mily

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

109

57

23 40 48 65 6658

162

no. o

f re

spon

dent

s

source of info no of respondents

TV Ads 109 (43.9%)Print Ads 57Internet Ads 23Hoardings & banners 40Tele callers 48campaigns/ Canopies 65mail 66 (26.6%)dealer/agent 58friend/family 162 (65.3%)

Observations:

The results suggest that friends/family suggestion is the largest source of information about any brand of broadband. Interestingly, this is a very potent medium of information where companies apparently don’t have to spend any money.

The next best source is TV ads (44 %) and if one trusts this result one may be prompt to conclude that one should go with TV ads.

Campaign and mails languish behind at 26%.

The graph certainly doesn’t give a good picture of effectiveness per se.

26 | P a g e

14.2.5. The most crucial factor that influenced the decision of the respondent to go with the respective broadband operator

Most crucial factor

other reasons

III(b) friend

III(a) dealer

II(c) mailII(b) campaign

II(a) teleI(d) hording

I(c) intrnetI(b) printI(a) tv

no. o

f res

pond

ents

80

60

40

20

0

3.70%

29.63%

7.41%

12.76%

18.11%

11.52%

4.53%

1.23%2.47%8.64

%

Frequency Percent Valid PercentCumulative Percent

Valid I(a) TV

21 8.5 8.6 8.6

I(b) print 6 2.4 2.5 11.1 I(c) internet 3 1.2 1.2 12.3 I(d) hording 11 4.4 4.5 16.9 II(a) tele

28 11.3 11.5 28.4

II(b) campaign 44 17.7 18.1 46.5 II(c) mail 31 12.5 12.8 59.3 III(a) dealer 18 7.3 7.4 66.7 III(b) friend 72 29.0 29.6 96.3 other reasons 9 3.6 3.7 100.0 Total 243 98.0 100.0 Missing incorrect response 5 2.0 Total 248 100.0

Observations:

Friends’ suggestion still maintained its lead with 29.6% but TV ads lost. So TV may be a source of info but not influential enough when it comes to decision.

ATL

BTL

27 | P a g e

Campaigns/canopies were the crucial factor in 18% of the cases, incidentally, greater than all of the 1st four activities (ATL) combined.

More in the ‘analysis and hypothesis testing’ section.

14.2.6. Features of promotion, which are liked by people the most. (Multiple selections allowed)

simplicityClarity

CreativityExhaustive publicity

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

85

129

64

12

no. o

f peo

ple

Feature no. of respondents %age

simplicity 85 34.3%Clarity 129 52%Creativity 64 25.8%Exhaustive publicity 12 4.8%

Suggestions:

Clarity is on factor which is bigger than all the other three combined.

Therefore while making a promotional campaign, it should be ensured that it conveys the message clearly more than anything else.

Those media should be chosen which best do this job. e.g. tele-calling etc.

28 | P a g e

14.2.7. Brand recall/ awareness of different brands

1 2 30%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

2236

64

176

40

18

4

34 20

32

5859

5

4682

934

5

othersRelianceMTNLSifyAirtelTATA

rank ( according to order of recall )

%ag

e of

resp

onde

nts

respondents that gave rank 1

respondents that gave rank 2

respondents that gave rank 3

TATA 22 36 64Airtel 176 40 18Sify 4 34 20MTNL 32 58 59Reliance 5 46 82others 9 34 5

Observations:

29 | P a g e

Airtel is indisputable leader when it comes to brand awareness. First recall frequency of 176 tells a lot about the level of promotion Airtel must have done.

This is a significant result which certainly has an impact on the findings of the research.

Tata and reliance have low 1st recall which goes up significantly in 2nd and 3rd recall. A good sigh that if they do just a little bit more effort they can reverse the trend, which Airtel is doing currently.

14.2.8. Cumulative brand recall score and ranking

TATA Airtel Sify MTNL Reliance others0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

202

626

100

271189

100

Brand recall ranking

Cum

ulati

ve sc

ore

1

2

3 4

5 6

brand recall ranking

1st recall (3 marks)

Score

2nd recall (2 marks)

score

3rd recall (1 mark)

cumulative score

rank

TATA 22 66 36 72 64 202 3Airtel 176 528 40 80 18 626 1Sify 4 12 34 68 20 100 5MTNL 32 96 58 116 59 271 2Reliance 5 15 46 92 82 189 4others 9 27 34 68 5 100 6Total 248

Key:1sr recall A score of 32nd recall a score of 23rd recall a score of 1Cumulative score was calculated by adding Score of each rank to give brand recall ranking.

30 | P a g e

Observations:

Brand recall is an intermediate step b/w promotions and final purchase.

Brand Promotions Brand Recall Subscription or Purchase.

Therefore a degree of association should exist between all these three factors.

14.3. Analysis of effectiveness and hypothesis testing

14.3.1. Analyzing the effectiveness of various promotional methods

TV Ads

Print Ads

Internet Ads

Hoardings & banners

Tele callers

campaigns/ Canopies

mail

dealer/agent

friend/family

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180

109

57

23

40

48

65

66

58

162

21

6

3

11

28

44

31

18

72

effectiveness of various media in absolute termsmost crucial factor source of info

no. of respondents

31 | P a g e

TV Ads

Print Ads

Internet Ads

Hoardings & banners

Tele callers

campaigns/ Canopies

mail

dealer/agent

friend/family

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

19.26

10.52

13.04

27.5

58.33

67.69

46.96

31.03

44.44

effectiveness (in %)

ATL

BTL

word of mouth

Source of info. Most crucial factor Effectiveness (in %)TV Ads 109 21 19.26Print Ads 57 6 10.52Internet Ads 23 3 13.04Hoardings & banners 40 11 27.5Tele callers 48 28 58.33Campaigns/ Canopies 65 44 67.69Mail 66 31 46.96Dealer/agent 58 18 31.03Friend/family 162 72 44.44

Observations:

The above charts show that campaigns/ canopies are the most effective media by far. This is certainly a much unexpected result, when in absolute no. the ‘recommendation’ factor was leading in a big way.

The two most effective forms of promotions are interestingly those which are human interfaced.

In campaign/ canopies you interact with a live person. And in case of tele-calling, you interact with a person over the phone.

Online advertising didn’t give the expected results. Probably because when a person doesn’t have internet, he cannot access the online ads (except in a café).

These results can be expressed in a different light if we assume that expenditure per person is same for all the media. i.e. same amount of money is spent to give information to a person either through TV or through tele-calling etc.

32 | P a g e

In this sense, ‘source of info’ represents expenditure

And, ‘most crucial factor’ represents revenue generated.

Hence effectiveness represents Return On Investment (ROI)

So, ROIcampaigns is maximum.

And, ROIprint is minimum.

So if a company is short on resources, then the promotional tools that come under BTL should be used as they offer high RIO, which the company needs. Even when money is not a constraint, it’s the financial logic that says invest more in BTL.

Word of mouth has an infinite ROI, since there is no expenditure, only returns.

ROIword of mouth = Infinite

Same is the case with Dealer /agent. Although you have to pay some commission or give discounts to him. But still, it’s worth the deal.

14.3.2. Analyzing the effectiveness of ATL and BTL activities for different service providers

tata Airtel sify MTNL Reliance others0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

8

16

3

9

41

22

69

20

47

17

5

deciding factor: ATL

source of info : ATL

no. o

f res

pond

ents

33 | P a g e

tata Airtel sify MTNL Reliance others0

10

20

30

40

50

60

12

35

10

31

12

3

18

55

17

34

18

3

deciding factor: BTL

source of info : BTL

no. o

f res

pond

ents

tata Airtel sify MTNL Reliance0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

36.4

23.215

19.123.5

66.6 63.658.8

91.2

66.6

effectiveness (in %)ATL

BTL

Observation:

With respected no. of respondents, only Airtel and MTNL’s efficiencies are worth drawing any analysis.

34 | P a g e

MTNL scores a whopping 91% efficiency (or ROI) in BTL but only 19% for ATL.

Airtel has a good BTL’s ROI and average ATL’s ROI.

Statistically Tata and reliance have better ATL as well as BTL’s efficiency. Only statistically!

14.3.3. Analyzing the effectiveness of ATL and BTL activities ‘in toto’

ATL BTL Word of mouth0

2040

6080

100

120140160

180200 180

145

192

41

10390

22.77

71.03

46.87

source of info most crucial factor effectiveness (in %)

no. o

f res

pond

ents

acted as source of info

acted as the most crucial factor

Effectiveness (in %)

35 | P a g e

ATL 180 41 22.77BTL 145 103 71.03Word of mouth 192 90 46.87

Observations:

The pyramids clearly show that BTL the most effective mode of promotion (71%), more effective than ATL + word of mouth.

Inherent to its nature, reach of BTL is lesser than ATLas well as word of mouth, because BTL is very personalised which restricts large scale spawning of the information but its impact on the consumers’ mind is huge which is evident in the effectiveness peak.

Word of mouth is a boon to those who can use it to theor stride. It has big source of information i.e. broad reach and has high effectiveness (47%). To top it all it’s absolutely free. The only fineprint is that you only get recommendation when you are good in the business and care for your customers.

But it’s still early to give a final verdict on the efectiveness of any form or category of promotion until and unless you test the significance of that statistical result because resuts which hold good for a sample may not hold good for the population.

14.3.4. Hypothesis testing

H0: there is no significant difference between the effectiveness of ATL and BTL activities.

Since effectiveness is a ratio, we will apply the Z test ( for proportions)

On Applying the Z test ( annexture 2)

We get , Zcalculated > Ztabulated H0 is rejected.

36 | P a g e

15.Conclusions:

15.1 Research Conclusion:

Null hypothesis should be rejected and substituted with an alternative hypothesis which says,

“ BTL promotional activities are more effective than ATL promotional activities.”

15.2 Recommensations or Suggestions:

In this time of recession the finding of the report are a ray of hope for the companies.BTL can help you cut down your cost and boost your sales as well.

Since BTL is effective than ATL so TATA should reconsider its marketing strategy with higher advertising dollars going for BTL (preferably in the proportion of their respective effectiveness).

Tata should take campaigns/ canopies in a big way. Tata is not a rookie in this field. The success of “Jaago Re” campaign for tata tea is a proof of their expertise. They have to emulate that success in the broadband arena.

37 | P a g e

Setting up of canopies at commercial places, residential colonies, appartments will certainly show great results.

Tata communications should use the available database of other business units of Tata Group (tata tele-services in particular) to exploit the brand loyalty of Tata which they might have and communicate with them through phone or/and mail (e-mail), both highly effective media, and give information about their products.

Tele-callers are an asset to tata, they should invest more here to equip them with required soft-skills and product knowledge so that they have higher convincing abilities. This increases their effectiveness and tata’s customer base.

To harness the immense power of ‘recommendation’, Tata communications has to become a customer centric company (CCC). The present customer base is an asset which will rope in more customers if they are cared through prompt aftersale services.

The price range of 500-1000 Rs is the key to bigger market share. Bringing in new ‘value for money’ packages in this range and marketing them well can do the trick.

We can’t afford to neglect the importance of ATL activities, they may not be as effective but give information to a larger population creating a brand awareness. As we have already seen, brand awareness has a significant association with customer base.Print media presented a very poor show and Tata communications should reconsider its plans of pouring in any significant amount of money in this media. Rather, that money should wisely be used to set-up more number of Hoardings and banners.

15.3 Limitations:

• A very huge no. of people made their final decision based on “friends/family suggestion”. Although they have been kept as separate category but effectively the information that friends or family members gather somehow comes from the ATL/BTL activities of the company. This tells a major limitations of the research that we cannot access from where the ‘recommenders’ got the information.

• We can certainly see that people are getting influenced by a particular set of promotional activity but with this research we can not say why those activities are effective. To summarize, we can say ‘what’ is effective but cannot say ‘why’ it’s effective. That prbably needs another research.

• Only broadband users were included in the research, so it basically reflect the effectiveness of different media which was probably in the past. These effectiveness statistics do not show what is effective ‘now’.

• In calculating the ROI, basic assumption that the cost of promotion per person for all media is same is faulty due to which the results generated will be gross.

•  Sample size is also a major limitation since research of this sort require a large sample size. This limitation became evident when, effectiveness of ATL/BTL

38 | P a g e

activities of tata and reliance came out to be higher than Airtel due very small no. of respondents.

16.Appendices

Appendix 1: Questionnaire (Link to the online Questionnaire.)

final_questionnaire.doc

Name: Mr./Ms …………………………

Location …………………………….

Contact no. ………………………….

E-mail id ………………………………

1. In which age group do you belong?

a) below 18b) 18 – 24 yearsc) 25 – 32 yearsd) 33 – 40 yearse) Above 40

39 | P a g e

2. What’s your average monthly family income? ( in Rs.)

a) 15,000- 30,000b) 30,001- 45,000c) 45,001- 60,000d) Above 60,000

3. Do you have an internet connection?

a) yesb) no

4. Is It a Broadband connection?

a) yes b) no

5. Who is your internet service provider?

a) Tatab) Airtelc) Sifyd) MTNL/BSNLe) Reliancef) Others

6. What was your purpose to have an internet connection at your home/office?

(You may choose multiple options)

a) work requirementb) Educationalc) Entertainment / social networkingd) Internet surfinge) Others. pls specify………

7. What’s your approximate monthly bill? (in Rs.)

a) below 500 b) 501- 1000c) 1001- 1500d) 1501- 2000e) above 2000

8. From where did you get the information about the service provider?

(Chose as many categories and as many options as you wish)

Category I- Mass promotional activities

a) Saw an advertisement on TV

40 | P a g e

b) Saw an ad. In Newspaper/Magazinec) Saw an Ad on internetd) Saw hoardings or Bannerse) Others …………………………………………………………………………….

Category II – personalized or one-to-one marketing

a) Tele-callers gave the informationb) Promotional campaigns/ canopiesc) Received information / brochures in maild) Others…………………………………………………………………………….

Category III- others

a) Dealer or Agent gave the informationb) My friend/ family gave me suggestion

9. Which factor out of the above, played the most crucial role in your decision to go with the service provider you are currently with? (Please mention as Ia or II b etc.)

……………………………………….............................................

10. Mention three broadband internet providers that come to your mind.

a) ………………………….b) ………………………….c) ………………………….

11. Are you satisfied with the promotional activities carried out by the operators?

a) Yesb) Noc) Can’t say

12. What things do you like in the promotional activities of your service provider? (You may choose multiple options)

a) Simplicityb) Clarityc) creatived) Exhaustive publicitye) Any other feature ……………………………………………………….

Thank you very much for your valuable time!!!

41 | P a g e

Appendix 2: Z - test

Since effectiveness is a proportion defined as,

Effectiveness = no. of people who chose a promotional activity as the crucial deciding factor for subscription

no. of people who got the information about the operator thru a promotional activity

Let, P1 = effectiveness of BTL

P2 = effectiveness of ATL

H0: Effectiveness of BTL = Effectiveness of ATL

H1: Effectiveness of BTL == Effectiveness of ATL

N1 = n BTL = 180 (no of respondents of BTL)

N2 = n ATL = 145 (no of respondents of ATL)

We have, P1 = 0.71 & P2 = 0.23

42 | P a g e

Z = P1- P2

SP1- P2

And, P = n1* P1 + n2 * P2

-----------------------

N1+ n2

Now, P1 - P2 = 0.48

P = 0.444

SP1-P2 ( standard error) = 0.055

Hence, Zcal = 0.48 / 0.055

Zcal = 8.68

Now, Ztab (at significance level of 0.05) = 1.96

Since Zcal > Ztab

Hence, H0 is rejected.

Therefore we can say that effectiveness of ATL and BTL activities are not equal.

And, BTL is more effective than ATL

16 Bibliography

Marketing research : an applied orientation, 5th edition ; Naresh K. Malhotra, A. Parasuraman

Principles of marketing , second europeon edition; Plilip Kotler

www.google.com

www.wikipedia.com

SPSS tutorials

Microsoft Office XL 2007 help topics.

43 | P a g e