marketing mix_group 7

INDIAN TELECOM SECTOR MARKETING MIX 4 P’S STUDY OF AIRTEL AND VODAFONE

A Marketing Management Report on Indian Telecom Sector : Analysing Marketing Mix 4 P’s through study of two Leading Giants of the Telecom Sector

2011

Hari Shankar(123),Harsh Gautam(141),Dhawal

Bhimani(147),Tanu shrivastava(150),Saptarshi

Datta(165),Jyoti Sikha(172),Anand Vijay(185)

GROUP 7

15-Apr-11

TRIMESTER III ITM BUSINESS SCHOOL MARKETING MANAGEMENT II

[1] MARKETING MIX-4 P’S INDIAN TELECOM SECTOR BATCH ‘C’ -GROUP 7

ABSTRACT

The report is a study of an Indian telecom sector from perspective of a marketing manager. The

study is an overview of the trends being followed over the years and it also covers the evolution

of the telecom sector. Basically, we have covered the marketing strategies followed during

various phases of telecom sector. The objective of the study is to analyze the 4 P‟s of marketing

mix i.e. Product, Promotion, Price and Place. To get an in depth view of the telecom sector and

its evolution, we studied the 4 P‟s of two of the Indian leading companies- Airtel and Vodafone.

We chose the two companies Airtel and Vodafone to analyse telecom sector from a bit of

different views. As Airtel , being a company which has been in existence since the very

beginning of the cellular industry and Vodafone, which entered in the growth phase and gained

a great market share. We analysed these two leading Giants on all the fronts of Marketing mix 4

P‟s .



CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 INTRODUCTION – TELECOM SECTOR IN INDIA 1

1.2 KEY PLAYERS 2

1.3 EVOLUTION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS IN INDIA 4

1.4 MAJOR INVESTMENTS 5

1.5 VALUE ADDED SERVICES (VAS) MARKET 6

1.6 GOING GREEN 7

2. VODAFONE

2.1 VODAFONE COMPANY PROFILE 8

2.2 VODAFONE PRODUCT LINE 9

2.2.1 VODAFONE VOICE SERVICES 9

2.2.2 POSTPAID PLANS 9

2.2.3 PREPAID PLANS 9

2.2.4 VODAFONE DATA SERVICES

10

2.2.5 VODAFONE VALUE ADDED SERVICES

11



2.3 VODAFONE PLACE

2.3.1 DISTRIBUTION 12

2.3.2 INNOVATIVE DISTRIBUTION 13

2.4 VODAFONE PRICING

2.4.1 PRICING OBJECTIVE 14

2.4.2 PRICING METHOD 15

2.5 VODAFONE PROMOTION 16

3. AIRTEL 20

3.1 AIRTEL COMPANY PROFILE 20

3.2 AIRTEL PRODUCT LINE 23

3.2.1 AIRTEL VOICE SERVICES 24

3.2.2 AIRTEL DATA SERVICES 25

3.3 PRICING 26

3.3.1 PRICING STRATEGIES 27

3.4.1 IMC TOOLS 30

3.4.2 AIRTEL ADVERTISING 31

3.4.3 INTERNET ADVERTISING 32



3.4.4 SALES PROMOTION 34

3.4.5 PUBLICITY AND EVENTS 36

3.5 PLACE 37

3.5.1 PLACE DEFINITION 37



Marketing Mix – Indian Telecom Industry

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction -Telecomm sector in India

The Indian telecommunications industry is one of the fastest growing in the world. The industry

has witnessed consistent growth during the last year on the back of rollout of newer circles by

operators, successful auction of third-generation (3G) and broadband wireless access (BWA)

spectrum, network rollout in semi-rural areas and increased focus on the value added services

(VAS) market.

According to the data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the number of

telephone subscribers in the country reached 806.13 million at the end of January 2011 from

787.28 million in December 2010, thereby registering a growth rate of 2.39 per cent. With this

the overall tele-density (telephones per 100 people) has touched 67.67. The wireless subscriber

base has increased to 771.18 million at the end of January 2011 from 752.19 million in

December 2010, registering a growth of 2.52 per cent.

Meanwhile, Indian Global System of Mobile Communication (GSM) telecom operators added

14.69 million new subscribers in February 2011, taking the all-India GSM cellular subscriber

base to 555.06 million, according to the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). The

GSM subscriber base stood at 540.37 million at the end of January 2011.

The sector will witness up to US$ 55.95 billion investments and the market will cross the US$

100 billion mark in 5 years, according to consultancy firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

BCG India's Partner and Director, Arvind Subramanian said the industry will continue to grow at

12-13 per cent annually.



1.2 Key Players

With new players coming in, the intensity of competition in the industry has increased, especially

over the last four years. The market share of the telecom companies reflects the fragmented

nature of the industry, with as many as 15 players. As of September 30, 2010, Bharti Airtel led

the market with 22.33 per cent share, Reliance (17.72 per cent), Vodafone (17.27 per cent),

BSNL (11.95 per cent), Tata (11.07 per cent), Idea (10.99 per cent), and Aircel (6.06 per cent),

with the remaining share being held by other smaller operators, according to Telecom Regulatory

Authority of India (TRAI) database.

1.3 Evolution of telecommunications in India

The Indian government was composed of many factions (parties) which had different ideologies.

Some of them were willing to throw open the market to foreign players (the centrists) and others

wanted the government to regulate infrastructure and restrict the involvement of foreign players.

Due to this political background it was very difficult to bring about liberalization in

telecommunications. When a bill was in parliament a majority vote had to be passed, and such a

majority was difficult to obtain, given to the number of parties having different ideologies.

Liberalization started in 1981 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi signed contracts with Alcatel

CIT of France to merge with the state owned Telecom Company (ITI), in an effort to set up

5,000,000 lines per year. But soon the policy was let down because of political opposition. She

invited Sam Pitroda a US based Non-resident Indian NRI to set up a Center for Development of

Telematics(C-DOT), however the plan failed due to political reasons. During this period, after

the assassination of Indira Gandhi, under the leadership of Rajiv Gandhi, many public sector

organizations were set up like the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) , VSNL and

MTNL. Many technological developments took place in this regime but still foreign players were

not allowed to participate in the telecommunications business.

The demand for telephones was ever increasing. It was during this period that the Narsimha Rao

-led government introduced the national telecommunications policy [NTP] in 1994 which

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indira_Gandhi

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alcatel_CIT&action=edit&redlink=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alcatel_CIT&action=edit&redlink=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-resident_Indian_and_Person_of_Indian_Origin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-DOT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C-DOT

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajiv_Gandhi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Telecommunications

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VSNL

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTNL



brought changes in the following areas: ownership, service and regulation of telecommunications

infrastructure. They were also successful in establishing joint ventures between state owned

telecom companies and international players. But still complete ownership of facilities was

restricted only to the government owned organizations. Foreign firms were eligible to 49% of the

total stake. The multi-nationals were just involved in technology transfer, and not policy making.

During this period, the World Bank and ITU had advised the Indian Government to liberalize

long distance services in order to release the monopoly of the state owned DoT and VSNL; and

to enable competition in the long distance carrier business which would help reduce tariff's and

better the economy of the country. The Rao run government instead liberalized the local services,

taking the opposite political parties into confidence and assuring foreign involvement in the long

distance business after 5 years. The country was divided into 20 telecommunication circles for

basic telephony and 18 circles for mobile services. These circles were divided into category A, B

and C depending on the value of the revenue in each circle. The government threw open the bids

to one private company per circle along with government owned DoT per circle. For cellular

service two service providers were allowed per circle and a 15 years license was given to each

provider. During all these improvements, the government did face oppositions from ITI, DoT,

MTNL, VSNL and other labor unions, but they managed to keep away from all the hurdles.

After 1995 the government set up TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) which reduced

the interference of Government in deciding tariffs and policy making. The DoT opposed this.

The political powers changed in 1999 and the new government under the leadership of Atal

Bihari Vajpayee was more pro-reforms and introduced better liberalization policies. They split

DoT in two- one policy maker and the other service provider (DTS) which was later renamed as

BSNL. The proposal of raising the stake of foreign investors from 49% to 74% was rejected by

the opposite political party and leftist thinkers. Domestic business groups wanted the government

to privatize VSNL. Finally in April 2002, the government decided to cut its stake of 53% to 26%

in VSNL and to throw it open for sale to private enterprises. TATA finally took 25% stake in

VSNL.

This was a gateway to many foreign investors to get entry into the Indian Telecom Markets.

After March 2000, the government became more liberal in making policies and issuing licenses

to private operators. The government further reduced license fees for cellular service providers

and increased the allowable stake to 74% for foreign companies. Because of all these factors, the

service fees finally reduced and the call costs were cut greatly enabling every common middle

class family in India to afford a cell phone. Nearly 32 million handsets were sold in India. The

data reveals the real potential for growth of the Indian mobile market.

In March 2008 the total GSM and CDMA mobile subscriber base in the country was 375 million,

which represented a nearly 50% growth when compared with previous year. As the unbranded

Chinese cell phones which do not have International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers

pose a serious security risk to the country, Mobile network operators therefore planned to

suspend the usage of around 30 million mobile phones (about 8 % of all mobiles in the country)

by 30 April. 5–6 years the average monthly subscribers additions were around 0.05 to 0.1 million

only and the total mobile subscribers base in December 2002 stood at 10.5 millions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITU

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Telephone_Industries

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecom_Regulatory_Authority_of_India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atal_Bihari_Vajpayee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atal_Bihari_Vajpayee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSNL

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cell_phone_service&action=edit&redlink=1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_class

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_class

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CDMA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mobile_Equipment_Identity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_network_operator

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone



However, after a number of proactive initiatives were taken by regulators and licensors, the total

number of mobile subscribers has increased greatly to 706.69 million subscribers as of Oct 31st

2010.

India has opted for the use of both the GSM (global system for mobile communications) and

CDMA (code-division multiple access) technologies in the mobile sector. In addition to landline

and mobile phones, some of the companies also provide the WLL service. The mobile tariffs in

India have also become lowest in the world. A new mobile connection can be activated with a

monthly commitment of US$0.15 only. In 2005 alone additions increased to around 2 million per

month in the year 2003-04 and 2004-05.

In June 2009, the Government of India banned the import of several mobile phones

manufactured in China citing concerns over quality and the lack of IMEI's which make it

difficult for authorities in India to track the sale and use of such phones. In April 2010, the

Government was also reported to be blocking Indian service providers from purchasing Chinese

mobile technology citing concerns that Chinese hackers could compromise the Indian

telecommunications network during times of national emergency. A series of attacks on Indian

government websites and computer networks by suspected Chinese hackers has also made Indian

regulators suspicious with regards to the import of potentially sensitive equipment from China.

The companies reported to be affected by this are Huawei Technologies and ZTE.

1.4 Major Investments

The booming domestic telecom market has been attracting huge amounts of investments which is

likely to accelerate with the entry of new players and launch of new services. According to the

Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the telecommunications sector which

includes radio paging, mobile services and basic telephone services attracted foreign direct

investment (FDI) worth US$ 1.33 billion during April-January 2010-11. The cumulative flow of

FDI in the sector during April 2000 and January 2011 is US$ 10.26 billion.

1.5 Value-Added Services (VAS) Market

Mobile value added services (VAS) include text or SMS, menu-based services, downloading of

music or ring tones, mobile TV, videos and sophisticated m-commerce applications. As per a

report, „India Telecom 2010‟ released by KPMG in December 2010, currently, the VAS market

is worth US$ 2.45 billion-US$ 2.67 billion, which is around 10 per cent of the total revenue of

the wireless industry. The share of VAS in wireless revenue is likely to increase to 12-13 per

cent by 2011, on the back of increased operator focus on VAS due to continuous fall in voice

tariffs, increasing penetration of feature rich handsets, availability of vernacular content and

increased user adoption of VAS applications.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_System_for_Mobile_Communications

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_division_multiple_access


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landline

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_local_loop

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_of_India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phones

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_China

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mobile_Equipment_Identity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GhostNet

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_network

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huawei_Technologies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZTE



1.6 Going Green

Telecom companies incorporate heavy costs on energy consumption. Besides being expensive,

the resources used tax the environment heavily. In the wake of these facts, the ETIG Knowledge

Forum in association with Global Group has attempted to articulate the road map to green

telecom in India. Constantly evolving professional grade energy management products are

leading the revolution and R&D has helped bring costs down. For instance, in the past, to deploy

2G, 3G, 4G technology, one would need separate base-stations. But today, a single base-station

puts all the technology in one place such that one needs to simply change the radio configuration.

Companies are on a continuous look-out for alternatives like solar panels and other types of

sources of energy and their combinations to achieve cost-effectiveness.

Private GSM cellular operator Vodafone Essar has launched its 3G service in Uttar Pradesh

(East) circle, which is one of the largest telecom circles in the country with around 60 million

subscribers.

More than 5 lakh customers have upgraded to Bharti Aritel's high-speed data or 3G services,

from voice-based 2G services, within a month after India's largest mobile operator launched this

facility in Bangalore. The company is talking to other operators to offer 3G services in the rest of

the 22 circles where Airtel did not have permits. Competitors like Reliance Communications,

Vodafone Essar, Tata DoCoMo and Aircel have launched 3G in areas where they hold respective

permits. No mobile operator has 3G permits in all 22 circles of the country.



2. VODAFONE

2.1 Vodafone - Company Profile

Vodafone Group is a global telecommunications company headquartered in Newbury, Berkshire,

United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by

revenues and the world's second largest measured by subscribers, with around 341 million

proportionate subscribers as of November 2010. It operates networks in over 30 countries and

has partner networks in over 40 additional countries. It owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, the

largest mobile telecommunications company in the United States measured by subscribers.

Vodafone Essar, commonly referred to as Vodafone, is a cellular operator in India that covers 23

telecom circles in India. The Vodafone brand was launched in India on 21st September, 2007. It

was formerly known as Hutchison Essar. Vodafone Essar is the Indian subsidiary of Vodafone

Group. Formerly, 33% share in the firm was owned by Essar Group. Vodafone Group bought out

the 33% stake of Essar Group for $5 billion to become the sole owner of the firm. It is the second

largest mobile phone operator in terms of revenue after Bharti Airtel, and third largest in terms of

customers. Vodafone had about 130.9 million customers as of February 2011.

The company offers services in the areas of tunes and downloads, entertainment, news and

updates, sports, call management, astrology, finance, travel, messaging, and dial in services. The

company also provides prepaid and postpaid cards, as well as long distance services, such as

voice services, world calling cards, and home calling cards. In addition, it offers business

solutions, such as mail on the move, data access, and business applications. Further, the company

sells Apple iPhones in India; and bonus cards that offer unlimited mobile Internet browsing for

pre-paid customers, as well as solar charging handsets.

It is the best known brand and aims its growth through high volume of sales and through means

of meeting the customer needs by providing value addition to its products. Effective marketing is

the key to its high visibility.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verizon_Wireless

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_network_operator

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vodafone_Group

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vodafone_Group


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharti_Airtel

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_network_operators_of_the_Asia_Pacific_region#India



2.2 PRODUCT

2.2 Vodafone Product Line

Products offered by the Group include Voice services, Data Services, Value added services. It

also promotes Vodafone live, Vodafone Passport, Vodafone Freedom Packs, and Vodafone at

Home.

2.2.1 Vodafone Voice Services

Post paid plans

Prepaid plans

2.2.2 Post Paid Plans

The various post paid plans offered by Vodafone are:

Talk STD 199 Plan

VF 222 Plan

Per Second Billing Plan-199

Per Second Billing Plan- 299

New Lifetime Plan

VFM 349 Plan

Talk Large Plan - 449

High Value Talk-995

High Value Talk-2499

Vodafone‟s Postpaid offers various plans and claims to be better than any other service provider.

One can find postpaid talk plan by selecting the postpaid talk plan that suits usage and budget.

These are customized plans for the customers to make the most out of the money they pay to the

company.

2.2.3 Pre-Paid Plans

The various pre paid plans offered by the company are:

Travel Plan

Ticket Plan

Lifelong

Recharge options - Rs.10, 20, Rs.50,Rs.100



Top Up Cards- 222 , 300 Full talk time

350 SMS card@ 35

Local & STD Bonus Card @Rs40

Vodafone Prepaid connection helps to control how much one spends with a prepaid cell plan. To

keep talking without any talk time or validity hassles it offers flexible recharging options through

Vodafone Prepaid mobile SIM card: Prepaid recharge cards, e-Top Up and Direct Top-Up. It‟s

easy to find a prepaid recharge top up too. One can also subscribe to unique prepaid mobile

services and prepaid offers and make the most of Vodafone offers and plans. With E recharge

mobile top up vouchers one can also recharge for prepaid connection which is available at

various outlets. The Chota Recharge tops up cards are available for all the sections of the society.

2.2.4 Vodafone Data Services

2.2.4.1 EDGE Data Card

Edge Data Cards gives high speed connectivity to browse through the internet through Vodafone

mobile phones or even through laptops.. It works with VPN software, to give a secured access to

company‟s server and internet. It keeps the customer connected even while travelling in India or

abroad. It is easy to install and simple to use as it does not require wires, phone lines or cable

connections. It offers a choice of tariff plans which suits every customer.

It is available for Rs.7799 in Mumbai and Maharashtra except Goa, and for Rs. 6499 in rest of

places including Goa. The Data plans are available for Rs.499 and Rs.699.

2.2.4.2 Mobile Connect

With mobile connect one can browse the internet directly through Vodafone mobile phone,

without any ISP subscription or a modem. Just need to plug Vodafone mobile phone into PC or

laptop and start browsing anytime, from anywhere. Also if handset has an HTML browser,

anyone can start browsing directly on Vodafone mobile phone.

A prepaid card is available for Rs.4 to Rs.95 with a validity ranging from 1 to 30 days. The

postpaid monthly card is available as per usage ranging from Rs.198 to Rs.699.

2.2.4.3 USB 3G Stick

The Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G USB Stick allows one to work from anywhere with real-time

access to information, and no installation hassles. It just needs to be plugged into laptop and get

connected to the Internet and the company server at speeds that are faster than traditional dial-up

connection.



Vodafone Mobile Connect 3G USB Stick also gives 3G Broadband speeds while roaming

abroad. It is easy to install as no CDs are required. It works with preferred VPN software, to give

a secured access. It has many different tariff plans, so that one can choose the plan that meets the

requirements. The monthly postpaid card is available at a rate ranging from Rs.20 to Rs.899.

2.2.5 Vodafone Value Added Services

2.2.5.1 Caller Tunes

Vodafone offers various value added services apart from the basic services. These value added

services accounts for most of the revenue earned by the company. With Vodafone Caller tunes,

one can play their favorite songs for their callers instead of the normal ringing. Caller tunes can

also be played on a customized basis.

Song Selection is for Rs.15 and A monthly rental of Rs.30.

2.2.5.2 Social Networking

With social media networking one can stay up to date on the latest posts and pictures from

family and friends from anywhere. Also online chatting can be done and stay connected to

friends on Orkut, Facebook or My space. Also different and numerous articles can be searched

using Google.

2.2.5.3 News & Updates

Services like news and updates also help in growing their money and maximize their profits with

the information delivered on mobile phone about the financial markets. Services such as

portfolio tracker, stocks, forex, bullion, mobile banking, business and economy alerts are

provided.

2.2.5.4 Alerts

Some other services such as alerts is also provided by Vodafone. Some of the include voice

alerts. SMS alerts which gives recent business news, astrology alerts, missed call alerts, sports

news any many mare. All these services come with a charge on monthly basis according to the

facility undertaken.

2.2.5.5 Entertainment & Lifestyle

Latest movies, music, jokes, games, tones and tunes, devotional messages and SMS greetings

can be downloaded.



2.3 PLACE

2.3 Vodafone Place

Vodafone has always advertised more on its availability be it for the network or any other facility

provided by the company. They believe that the world is their playground and hence they are

present anywhere and everywhere. Vodafone covers almost 75% of its operational area.

It is easily available with independent retailers, distributers. The Vodafone stores are easily

accessible. They have a trained staff that ensures that the needs of the customers are rightly

matched with the right product. Also they provide them with different options available which is

beneficial for them the most. The customers are able to see and handle the products which they

consider to buy.

They have a 24 hour bill facility which is extremely good. The bills can be paid at any Vodafone

stores which are nearest to one‟s destination. The mode of payment can be either by check or by

cash. Also payment can be done by calling at any Vodafone store, which will personally come

and collect the cash payment from office or home for free. The self service kiosk is another mode

of payment of the bill.

Vodafone services are available online as well. The online store provides access worldwide.

Customers can manage their accounts online. They can review, compare and even change their

talk plans online with just one click. The value added services can also be activated. Also the

bills can be paid online with e-bills.

2.3.1 Distribution

The company owns and manages about 1,150 stores. It has a wide supply chain management

process which helps them to link it to the end users. There is just one supply chain management

process for all the categories across the globe. This is the reason for Vodafone to be amongst the

best telecomm service providers.

Direct Distribution includes owned and franchise retail stores, sales forces selling to enterprise

customers and, increasingly, the internet.

Indirect Distribution includes third party service providers, independent dealers, distributors and

mobile virtual network operators.



2.3.2 Innovative Distribution To Reach The Customers

The company has innovative ways to reach out to their customers. Apart from their exclusive

shops and mini stores which are available at every locality there are mobile vans which will

provide services at the doorstep. There is no need to visit the mini store, one call and the mobile

van is at the service. They also have help desks at different malls.

They are also tapping the young generation for which they are visiting colleges and providing

them with different college campus cards. Apart from the urban India, the rural India is also

growing at a much faster rate. Thus the company is also tapping the rural population through the

village fairs being held at various outskirts of the country.



2.4 PRICING

2.4.1 Vodafone pricing

The Price is the one of components of marketing Mix, along with Promotion, Product

Distribution and Product. The price is usually defined as financially expressed value of the

product or service at the market. Price levels are forming the public opinion about a specific

supplier. For modern shopper the price is not only the expression of money outflow, but also

represent a certain value, benefit or satisfaction perceived by certain product / service.

The price has specific relationship with other components of marketing mix. Actually the price

is the only component that generates revenue, while other components generate costs.

Manufacturing of the product represent the cost. The distribution of the product also generate

the cost. The promotion usually creates the increase of demand for the product/service, but

directly also creates costs. All these costs needs to be covered through the price.

Still, the goal of the price is not only to cover the basic costs of manufacturing, distribution and

promotion. The function of the price is much more complex and depends on different variables.

Vodafone operating its business in telecom sector where its scope of recovering its cost through

voice services is limited.Percentage of consumers using value added services is very less.So

companies have to form a strategy where it can minimize its cost ,so Vodafone adapted unique

mass appealing concepts of Pug dog and Zoozoo which were cost-effective to great extent.

2.4.2 PRICING OBJECTIVES

2.4.2.1 Penetration Pricing or Maximum Market Share Pricing

During its entry into India, Vodafone had to build on its market share to compete with the

leading companies. Adapting to the telecom scenario, where the ARPU was declining over past

few years it aimed at increasing its revenue with sales by volume.

Penetration pricing involves the setting of lower, rather than higher prices in order to achieve a

large, if not dominant market share.This strategy is most often used businesses wishing to enter

a new market or build on a relatively small market share.This will only be possible where

demand for the product is believed to be highly elastic, i.e. demand is price-sensitive and either

new buyers will be attracted, or existing buyers will buy more of the product as a result of a

low price.

A successful penetration pricing strategy may lead to large sales volumes/market shares and

therefore lower costs per unit. The effects of economies of both scale and experience lead to

lower production costs, which justify the use of penetration pricing strategies to gain market

share. Penetration strategies are often used by businesses that need to use up spare resources.



2.4.2.2 Product Quality Leadership Pricing

A company might aim to be the Product-quality leader in the market. It will charge a high price

to cover the high product quality and high R&D cost. Vodafone has never compromised on its

product quality, rather it has been one of the leading companies. It can charge customers more

but would not compromise its quality to cut down cost so as to maintain its profit margin.

2.4.3 PRICING METHODS

2.4.3.1 Going Rate Pricing

In going rate pricing, the firm basis its price largely on competitors prices. The firm might

charge the same, more, or less than major competitors. In oligopolistic industries that sell a

commodity such as steel, paper, or fertilizers, firms normally charge the same price.

Vodafone operating in telecom sector, it had to adapt the method of going rate pricing so as

compete with number of existing players as well as new upcoming players. It had to adapt the

per sec billing to match competition from mainly Tata Docomo and other players.

2.4.3.2 Optional Pricing

Optional-product pricing is defined in the textbook as “the pricing of optional or accessory

products along with a main product” . This pricing method allows companies to present a low

base price that is capable of attracting customers while maintaining the possibility of generating

high customer revenues by selling costly add-ons later.

This type of pricing method is applied by Vodafone n the form of Value Added Services(which

are optional add on services) where they are charged for additional services other than the basic

services.

2.4.3.3 Geographical pricing

This method involves adjusting prices to account for geographic location of customer.

Geographical pricing in marketing, is the practice of modifying a basic list price based on the

geographical location of the buyer. It is intended to reflect the costs of shipping to different

locations.

Vodafone has different pricing for various states across the nation. It has different top-up cards

and offers according to different regions and places.



2.4.3.4 Bundle Pricing

The technique is often used to sell products that are complementary to a main product. For

buyers, the overall cost of the purchase shows a savings compared to purchasing each product

individually. For example, a camera retailer may offer a discounted price when customers

purchase both a digital camera and a how-to photography DVD that is lower than if both items

were purchased separately. In this example the retailer may promote this as: “Buy both the

digital camera and the how-to photography DVD and save 25%.”

Vodafone had introduced a „Magic Box‟ concept where they offered top-up cards ,value added

services(VAS) bundled along with a handset which proved to be a saving for the customer

compared to purchasing each product individually

2.4.3.5 Differentiated Pricing

Price discrimination or price differentiation exists when sales of identical goods or services are

transacted at different prices from the same provider. In a theoretical market with perfect

information, perfect substitutes, and no transaction costs or prohibition on secondary exchange

(or re-selling) to prevent arbitrage, price discrimination can only be a feature of monopolistic

and oligopolistic markets,] where market power can be exercised. Otherwise, the moment the

seller tries to sell the same good at different prices, the buyer at the lower price can arbitrage by

selling to the consumer buying at the higher price but with a tiny discount. However, product

heterogeneity, market frictions or high fixed costs (which make marginal-cost pricing

unsustainable in the long run) can allow for some degree of differential pricing to different

consumers, even in fully competitive retail or industrial markets. Price discrimination also

occurs when the same price is charged to customers which have different supply costs.

Vodafone has implemented differentiated pricing or discriminated pricing so as to target certain

segments which would help it gain an advantage over other players. It has adapted in certain

forms of differentiated pricing:

i)Customer segment Pricing

Pricing by customer segment is a key success factor for many industries. Airlines, for example,

use complex algorithms to price seats, resulting in a myriad of prices for the same seat on a

flight, much of which is dependent upon who the customer is.

Vodafone offers certain top ups like „chota recharge‟ and „home calling cards‟ so t can focus on

its targeted segment of customers which would help it gain an advantage.



ii)Time pricing

It is a special case of price discrimination in which producers charge different rates for a given

good or service depending on the time, day, month, and so on. For instance, it is common

practice in the tourism industry to charge higher prices during the peak season, or during

special-event periods and only charge the operating costs of the establishment during the off-

peak season. Investments for business expansion in this case are funded out of profit earned

during the peak season. Another common example of this pricing strategy is found in

transportation sectors, which may charge higher prices during rush-hours.

Vodafone implements time pricing in the form of „Black Days „where the free SMS offers are

withheld for particular occasions like Independence Day, Diwali.

It also offers seasonal offers which are valid only for limited time like on particular festivals it

offers full talk time on certain recharges.

Vodafone has also got time pricing strategies like weekend calling and night calling where t

charges its customers at a discounted rate.



2.5 PROMOTION

2.5 Promotion mix of Vodafone

Promotion of Vodafone is divided into two parts:

2.5.1Above the line promotion:

Promotion in mass media (e.g. TV, radio, newspapers, internet, mobile phones, and, historically,

illustrated songs) in which the advertiser pays an advertising agency to place the advertisement

2.5.2Below the line promotion:

All other promotion. Much of this is intended to be subtle enough for the consumer to be

unaware that promotion is taking place. E.g. sponsorship, product placement, testimonials, sales

promotion, merchandising, direct mail, personal selling, public relations, trade shows.

For promotion of Vodafone the items of promotional mix used in Above the line as well as

below the Line are given below:

2.5.1.1ADVERTISEMENTS:

Advertisements done by Vodafone for its promotion includes mediums like TVC‟s i.e.

television commercials, print , radio ,hoardings, on billboards, in magazines and in other

media outlets which reaches large audiences and spreads the brand image and the



message very effectively. This is known as above the line promotion.

2.5.1.2 EVENTS/ PROGRAMMES:

Vodafone is actively involved in various kinds of events and sponsoring them in order to

get a better brand visibility on mass as well as regional level depending upon the reach

of these events and programmes. Vodafone sees sponsorship as involving far more than having a logo on a football shirt or a racing car. The company believes that its sponsees act as ambassadors for the Vodafone brand, saying to the world 'This brand is all about being dependable, empathetic, innovative, can do and full of vitality and life.'

Moreover, Vodafone has established tangible links between the products and services it offers

and the organisations that it sponsors.

Some of them are listed below:

Jogajoger ustab during durga pooja in Kolkata

Navratri special caller tunes contest in Gujarat – Jhumo Aney Jeeto

Sponsor for MTV Spitsvilla

Official sponsor of England Cricket Team since 15 years.

The 2008 Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton Came to Chennai for

the Vodafone promotional event and makes crowd crazy with the performing the

„donut„,burning rubber and Sideways action.Few lucky winners of the SMS and

online contest conducted by Vodafone were taken on a 2-lap ride on the two-

seater Mercedes SLK with Lewis Hamilton.

A series of thrilling entertainment and promotional events in western region of the country was done by the company which included a Bicycle Race, a Health Screening exercise, Games, a Beach Jam and an exclusive Highlife concert

Official Sponsor for England cricket team since 15years‡

Sponsor for Big Boss 2010‡

Title Sponsor of vodafone McLaren- MercedesFormula one team

UEF Champions League‡

Sponsored Delhi Half Marathon 2007‡

Vodafone and Coke joined 9XM as platinum sponsors‡

IPL- Vodafone Essar is official telecom partner

2.5.2.1 SALES PROMOTION:

For sales promotion Vodafone offers several types of prepaid or postpaid schemes

involving low tarrifs or providing extra minutes of talk on same recharge value .for this

they use to offer special prepaid bundles during festive seasons loke diwali , durga pooja

etc.



NEED OF IDENTIFIACTION

Value added services of Vodafone needed promotion. And as we know advertisements

play a major role in positioning the brand as well as the company among the targeted

product users.And even in advertisements, innovation always a part to reach out for new

ways to capture the prospective customer‟s heart.

Vodafone capitalized on innovative ideas and came up with new advertisements which

pushed the brand image to new heights. The ZOOS-ZOOS from Vodafone turned out to

be the best ad in 2009.

ZOO-ZOO

Zoo Zoo, the new brand ambassador of Vodafone, created a furore in the advertising industry. It is campaign to communicate the value added services by the company. Zoo zoos have been successful in giving Vodafone a makeover and establishing maximum brand presence. It can be considered as a perfect example of a well-laid out marketing strategy for the following reasons:

Vodafone chose the Indian Premier League 2 (IPL-2) as a platform to launch their

advertisement, which proved to be a great marketing strategy. Cricket is considered to

be a religion in India, and Zoo zoo captured attention of nearly two billion people

during the IPL. People eagerly waited for breaks between matches to see more stories

about Zoozoo.

Zoo zoos are small pseudo-animated characters with big egg-shaped head, round

belly but extremely thin arms and legs. It was a fresh and innovative concept and

Vodafone wonderfully promoted their services by creating different stories featuring

Zoozoos. The charm of the Zoo zoo was itself a great self-marketing strategy and

they were instant success among masses. Within few days, Zoozooz created a huge

audience for them, giving a boost to the Vodafone brand.

The zoo zoo TVC‟S marked the viewership of around 41 million people across India

and interviews of it were broadcasted on youtube 50000 times. Hence it became the

most visible brand in IPL.

2.5.1.3USE OF INTERNET FOR PROMOTON:

In the second phase, after the release of these ads, Vodafone promoted these

characters on social media sites, which was another wise decision. Zoozoo fan clubs

are there on social networking sites like Face book, YouTube, Orkut, Twitter, and

many more, where they have a huge followings.

FACEBOOK: Vodafone used face book as a medium for internet promotion as the

company indented to build a official fan club on it .On the same patterns it used orkut

too.

The company also came up with the idea of providing downloadable ringtones,



wallpapers, screen savers etc. on internet

MICROSITE FOR ZOOZOO

A specially designed micro site is there for zoo zoo in which one can what kind of

zoo zoo they are. All this is done in order to augment the popularity and excitement

related to innovative idea of zooz zoos

Now Vodafone has announced to launch the Zoozoo goodies like zoozoo toys,

zoozoo mugs, zoo zoo key chains, zoozoo t-shirts, etc. Zoozooz have themselves

become a brand and it will be interesting to see how Vodafone uses this concept in

future to promote their services.

2.5.1.4VIRAL MARKETING

Viral marketing are buzzwords referring to marketing techniques that use pre-

existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other

marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes,

analogous to the spread of viruses or computer viruses. It can be delivered by word of

mouth or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet. Viral promotions may take

the form of video clips, interactive Flash games, brandable software, images, or text

messages.

VIRAL MARKETING DONE BY VODAFONE:

Vodafone was successful in effort of viral marketing. The new innovative idea of

promotion of zoo zoo on social media sites like face book, orkut etc. created a kind of

buzzword .It created a sensations and captured the imagination of every single person.

Like if a person watched or downloaded the video of it then he/she forwarded to four

of others. Hence we can say that the effect was not only doubled but it was

quatrafold.The result was that every age group was interested in the ad and the related

value added services. It created a strong brand association.

PR OF VODAFONE

a) Media Interviews:

Vodafone undertakes media interviews with proper planning. It is sometimes initiated by

media while most of the time it is by Vodafone. It is handled very carefully specially

during crisis or when a new service is launched and is this used as a very good platform

for promotion, building image and even control crisis.

b) Press Conference:

Vodafone uses press conferences as a very powerful tool in handling the media and

seeking consumer attention. They hold press conferences at the launch of new services



or products of any kind. They also hold press conferences when they are getting into a

business deal for some company. They also hold press conferences for announcing half-

yearly results or financial reports of the company.

In the second phase, after the release of these ads, Vodafone promoted these characters on social

media sites, which was another wise decision. Zoozoo fan clubs are there on social networking

sites like Facebook, YouTube, Orkut, Twitter, and many more, where they have a huge

followings.

Now Vodafone has announced to launch the Zoozoo goodies like zoozoo toys, zoozoo mugs,

zoozoo keychains, zoozoo t-shirts, etc. Zoozooz have themselves become a brand and it will be

interesting to see how Vodafone uses this concept in future to promote their services.

Stores have special offers, promotions and point of sale posters to attract those inside the

stores to buy.

Vodafone‟s stores, its products and its staff all project the brand image.



3. AIRTEL

3.1 Airtel Company Overview

Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as Airtel, is an Indian telecommunication company that

operates in 19 countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands. It operates a GSM

network in all countries, providing 2G or 3G services depending upon the country of operation.

Airtel is the fifth largest telecom operator in the world with over 207.8 million subscribers across

19 countries at the end of 2010. It is the largest cellular service provider in India, with over 152.5

million subscribers at the end of 2010.

Airtel also offers fixed line services and broadband services. It offers its telecom services under

the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal. Bharti Airtel is the first Indian telecom

service provider to achieve this Cisco Gold Certification. To earn Gold Certification, Bharti

Airtel had to meet rigorous standards for networking competency, service, support and customer

satisfaction set forth by Cisco. The company also provides land-line telephone services and

broadband Internet access (DSL) in over 96 cities in India. It also acts as a carrier for national

and international long distance communication services. The company has a submarine cable

landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and

Singapore.

It is known for being the first mobile phone company in the world to outsource everything except

marketing and sales and finance. Its network is maintained by Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Network

and Huawei, business support by IBM and transmission towers by another company (Bharti

Infratel Ltd. in India). During the last financial year [2009-10], Bharti has roped in a strategic

partner Alcatel-Lucent to manage the network infrastructure for the Telemedia Business.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Asia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Channel_Islands

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM_network

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GSM_network

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2G

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_network_operators

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mobile_network_operators_of_India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunil_Bharti_Mittal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cisco

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chennai

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ericsson

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_Siemens_Network

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huawei

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcatel-Lucent



3.2 PRODUCT

3.2 Airtel Product Line

Bharti Airtel is India's leading provider of telecommunications services. The businesses at Bharti

Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBU‟s) - mobile

services, broadband & telephone services (B&T) & enterprise services. The mobile services

group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles, while the B&T business

group provides broadband & telephone services in 90 cities. The Enterprise services group has

two sub-units - carriers (long distance services) and services to corporates. All these services are

provided under the Airtel brand.

3.2.1 Airtel Voice Services

Postpaid Plans

Prepaid Plans

Landline services

Postpaid plans

Some of the post paid services provided by airtel are:

Group Talk 249

Airtel Freedom 249 -Per second (N)

Airtel Take Your Pick Plan 100

Airtel Turbo 249 Plan

Airtel Advantage 199 Plan (N)

These are plans which allow them customers to make use of every penny they invest in

the company. These plans feature easy billing, with best value plan and strong network

coverage.

Prepaid Plans

Airtel also offers prepaid services, of which some are listed below:

Airtel Turbo 42

RC 91 (New Card Offer)

New GUPSHUP Pack



RC 106 (New Card Offer)

FRC 61+Rural Tarakki

These plans help one to keep a control on money spending. It has strong network coverage and

instant balance and validity enquiry.

Landline Services

Apart from prepaid and postpaid services airtel also provides landline services as well. Some of

them are listed below:

Talk Value 549

Talk Value 649

Talk Value 999

It gives the flexibility to organize and control communication with airtel fixed line. It gives a

host of exciting features and services, from call conferencing, call forwarding, short dialing,

caller identification, to voice alarm, parallel ringing, and much more.

3.2.2 Airtel Data Services

With Airtel Data Services one can easily access their e-mails and browse through internet

anywhere in the world.

Broadband Services

Browser 599 Plan

Browser 899 Plan

Impatience 799

India‟s most preferred high speed broadband service offers a range of exciting plans which suits

every pocket.

Mobile Internet Services

Internet super saver

This super saver plan allows the customer to avail the internet services of airtel which not only

saves their money but their time as well.

Data Card Services

Standard Plan @ Rs.49



Plan 1 @ Rs.350

Surf Unlimited

With the Airtel Data Card, one has the freedom to access the internet anytime, anywhere across.

Also this service can be availed even when roaming internationally. The Airtel Data Card, which

is EDGE and GPRS enabled, has the features of a SIM card, which enables one to send and

receive SMS. Airtel Data Card is much faster than a GPRS connection and is compatible with

Windows 2000/XP/XP Tablet/XP Pro & Mac operating systems. It is easy to install and use

tariffs that suits one‟s need.



3.3 PRICING

3.3.1 Airtel pricing

One of the four major elements of the marketing mix is price. The only that generates revenue,

the p that is responsible for a firms sustainability in the market and its growth. Thus Pricing is an

important strategic issue because it is related to product positioning. Furthermore, pricing affects

other marketing mix elements such as product features, channel decisions, and promotion.

While there is no single recipe to determine pricing, the following is a general sequence of steps

that might be followed for developing the pricing of a new product:

Develop marketing strategy - perform marketing analysis, segmentation, targeting, and

positioning.

Make marketing mix decisions - define the product, distribution, and promotional tactics.

Estimate the demand curve - understand how quantity demanded varies with price.

Calculate cost - include fixed and variable costs associated with the product.

Understand environmental factors - evaluate likely competitor actions, understand legal

constraints, etc.

Set pricing objectives - for example, profit maximization, revenue maximization, or price

stabilization (status quo).

Determine pricing - using information collected in the above steps, select a pricing

method, develop the pricing structure, and define discounts.

These steps are interrelated and are not necessarily performed in the above order. Nonetheless,

the above list serves to present a starting framework.

3.3.2 Airtel Pricing strategies

Now discussing on the pricing policies adopted by airtel , airtel is one of the premiere telecom

service provider and it is there in this service from almost beginning. Telecom sector is one of

the sector which has witnessed almost all types of pricing. In the initial stage because of not

much awareness and being totally innovative product , the sector witnessed skimming price. In

similar way as the telecom product started penetrating the masses because of its great utility in

daily life it underwent various pricing changes.

Thus the various types of pricing followed by Airtel from its entry to being the leading mobile

operator of telecom sector are as such –

1. Skimming – In the very beginning when Airtel entered the telecom sector it enjoyed

skimming price. The scenario was prevalent in the years 1990‟s to 2000 when our

incoming calls were also charged. The product was totally new and the no of users were



also limited and as the product was very innovative and of utmost utility people were

ready to pay whatever price was demanded.

2. Penetration – Airtel went for mass penetration by launching its prepaid plan in year 2002.

The move was taken to counter Reliance plan which targeted the lower income group

population by launching several plans providing cheap handset alongwith the new

connection.

3. Optional – Airtel was one of the leaders in coming up with the value added services. It

was in an around year 2003 when Airtel promoted its value added service with the tag

line – express yourself, where it introduced the optional pricing in the sector. The value

added services available are purely optional. It is totally on the will of customers to opt

for it or not. The basic product of Airtel is airtime and validity availability.

4. Popular price points – Airtel has always kept its price in the popular price points. popular

price points are the pricing which is easily acceptable by the consumers. Consumers have

predetermined mindset about certain pricing limits like everyone has a common mindset

about one time meal charge that the maximum price payable for an average quality of

meal available should not be more than ` 50/-. Thus although Airtel was leading service

provider in Vas but it always kept the price at popular price point. It also made easy

recharges available for its customer without any extra charges .

5. Premium pricing – Airtel adopted premium pricing during the crushing time of per

second billing, when every operator went for per second billing with the Docomo

launching it massively all around. Airetl kept per second for Airtel to Airtel but kept 1.2

paise per second for making calls on other network. The pricing was to clear the intention

that if you want to be my customer you‟ll have to pay premium amount for it because my

service is better than others.

6. Value pricing– Airtel‟s primary motive from the very beginning have been to

continuously provide its customer competitive and innovative product. But irrespective of

better service products being provided by him it never charged heavily. For e.g.- Airtel‟s

turbo plan and Airtel 1 plan which were termed as the plans responsible for the death of

roaming plans. Although the products were revolutionary but it kept the price equally in

limits to match in tandem with the value of the service being provided.

7. Product line – Airtel has large no of products in its product line so definitely it follows

product line pricing to give differentiated products to its customers.

8. Bundle pricing – Airtel is one of the first to come up with option of bundle pricing in

value added services. It gives you customize option to group different value added

services of your own choice in a bundle pack.

9. Versioning – The one of the unique pricing of the sector which says that the pricing to be

done in such a way that it satisfies unique customer needs. For eg- broadband plans

available as Fast,Faster and Fastest the user will choose the plan as per its requirement i.e

if he is a single user he‟ll opt for fast and if there are multiple user will opt for faster or

fastest depending upon the no of users.



10. Pick a plan – The pricing which is a trade mark of the sector which says that the pricing

to be done in such a way that the consumer‟s different pricing plans are satisfied. For eg-

continuing with the above example in broadband itself now when the single user has

opted for Fast broadband plan, under that there are broadband plans such as 599 limited ,

799 unlimited etc



3.4 PROMOTION

3.4 Airtel Promotions

Airtel has always invested a huge amount in their promotional activities. Several times it has

tried to change its positioning by changing its tag lines and logos and also the marketing

strategies with respect to the need in the market and to capture a new market of new group of

consumers.

This is the description of the various promotional campaigns done while changing its positioning

in the consumers mind.

• “Power to keep in touch”

• “Touch tomorrow”

• “Live every moment”

• “Express yourself”

• “Baat karne se hi baat badti hai”

• “Dil jo chahe paas laye”

In 1995, airtel entered with targeting the elite class of consumers with positioning as the best in

the network which was the prime need of a mobile service at that time.

It entered with a competition with Hutch, BSNL. The attribute „network‟ to be positioned as best

in Airtel required a strong tagline which was “Power to keep in touch”.

Within this campaign, different activities are been done, they are:

The brand was positioned in such a way with this tag line and campaign that conveys power of

instant communication. Perception of aspiration and lifestyle brand was required to be positioned

in the consumers mind which was done through activities like Airtel decided that the brand

should always connote leadership–be it in network, innovations, offerings, services. It started

sponsoring games like Golf which was only played by the elite anfd high class group of people

with a segment of SEC-A.



In 2000, With the introduction of revenue sharing scheme by TRAI, all the tariffs ad tariff plans

were had to be reduced by different companies in order to meet the requirements of TRAI. Airtel

as was only into elite class of people, it had to enter and capture a new market and started

targeting mass market with a tagline “Touch tomorrow”.

New campaign was launched in order to capture the mass market. The logo was changed

accordingly, A new logo for Airtel- Red , black and white colors with „Airtel‟ enwrapped in an

eclipse.

The Logo indicated core value of the brand: leadership, performance and dynamism. This is how

airtel tried to re position itself and capture a market by targeting into a different group of people.

In 2002, reliance targeted the lower income group and to capture the lower segment market airtel

introduced the prepaid schemes with minimum top ups which can create an impulse in the lower

segment. The targeting of the lower segment group was done with again in the change in tagline

and change in the campaigns.

In 2003, „express yourself’ campaign was done with the endorsement from lata mangeshkar,

sachin tendulkar which created a huge impact in the consumers. The logo was changed and the

new logo was extremely powerful. The campaign was done with recent affairs happening and

failure of the laws and changes in the witnesses of the crime occurrences in the court. This all

was taken into mind and campaign was done with the enlightenment of candles on roads to

express the views and values of the general public.



In 2010, airtel launched its new logo and changed its tagline again.

The tagline was basically targeted the youth and the youngsters with a positioning as anything

which is desired can be made possible.

3.4.1 IMC Tools

• Advertisements

• Sales promotion

• Publicity and events

3.4.2 Airtel Advertisement

In television and radio, airtel does a huge advertisement with a pull strategy, airtel started made

advertisements with a two variances as emotional and humorous ads to connect with the general

consumers.

Airtel has a huge investements in the brand endorsement as the major celebrities the brand

endorsers of airtel like sachin tendulkar, saif ali khan, kareena kapoor, A.R rahman.

A.R rahman‟s signature tune is always been played in radios which created a huge impact in the

consumers to relate with airtel. Total advertising budget of Airtel was Rs. 150 crores.

3.4.3 Internet Advertising

Massive advertising through

• Google AdSense

• BidVertisers

Sponsor online games at Zapak.com, different games are been sponsored on zapak.com to

capture the upper class youth who are crazy about online games. The youngsters are been very

well targeted in the sponsorships, and the sales of airtel increased in this segment by 20%.



Providing wallpapers and screensavers on website was again a huge impatul advertisement done

on internet, Airtel wallpapers were very well appreciated by the youngsters so it started putting

them online to download it which also created a revenue for them.

Large scale print and video advertising was also done to capture the youtube watching young and

middle age consumers, but this section was dominated by Vodafone through their zoo-zoo videos

still Airtel has managed in creating a desire in the high end class of consumers.

3.4.4 Sales Promotion

• “Friendz” pre-paid plan

Again targeting the young class of people were the main idea of Airtel and it did with the various

plans to create a strong demand for Airtel services. Friendz prepaid plan was basically for the

group of friends where the talk charges are the minimum in some specific numbers.

• “Ladies special” plan

The ladies group were targeted in this plan, the house wives are needed to have a long talks on

phone for that group special plans are been made and promoted accordingly.

• “Senior citizen” plan

• Executives‟ corporate plan (First to give prepaid in this category).

• Special discounts in calling rates & sms services.

In this way, lot of special discounts and offers are been provide with the help of sales promotion

where airtel has done tremendously in creating an impact in all sections of the society in terms of

age group and income level.

Youtopia

Special tariff plans to target the consumers with the group of 14-19 years, where the main

objective is to have the minimum charges in the talk time with a multiple sms facilities and

offers in it. Also different timing prices were done as night calling and calling specific numbers,

these all are targeted to the youth and the campaign itself was named as „youthopia‟.

Some of the charges were Re 0.25 for 30 seconds- night!, special bidding portal, music download

facilities, SMS at affordable prices.



3.4.5PUBLICITY AND EVENTS

Sponsored events

• Delhi half marathon

• Delhi golf tournament

Sponsored TV shows

• Big Boss

• KBC

• Indian Idol

These are the various shows and events where Airtel has done its publicity in huge, also it is

targeting the IPL where there could be a huge impact on Indian consumers as they are crazy

about cricket and sachin tendulkar. Delhi half marathon and golf tournaments were publicized in

it to target the high class middle and old age consumers who created a great amount of revenue

in terms of the high recharges and value added services.

In this way, with the a heavy investment of 150-200 crores promotional budget, Airtel has

successfully created an impact in the consumers and also changes its target consumers with the

change in its taglines, campaigns and logos.



3.5 PLACE

3.5.1 Place Definition

The place is where you can expect to find your customer and consequently, where the

sale is realized. Knowing this place, you have to look for a distribution channel in order

to reach your customer

A crucial decision in any marketing mix is to correctly identify the distribution channels.

The question " how to reach the customer" must always be in your mind.

The place is not where is located your business but where your customers are. For a

retailer it is the same but for a boat producer located in Philippines the real place is the

entire world.

Do not confuse positioning and place. Here place means the real physical position of the

customer in a geographic area or along a distribution channel.Place refers to the means by

which your customer acquires your product. This includes the actual place it is purchased

(the shop, the telephone, the web page, the warehouse) as well as the actual route of

distribution. Although figures vary widely from product to product, roughly a fifth of the

cost of a product goes on getting it to the customer. 'Place' is concerned with various

methods of transporting and storing goods, and then making them available for the

customer. Getting the right product to the right place at the right time involves the

distribution system. The choice of distribution method will depend on a variety of

circumstances

Thus airtel reaches to its customers by the following means-

1. Wide and extensive presence even in the remotest area - Airtel is exhaustively

omnipresent all around the nation. it‟s retailer could be seen even in the remotest part of

the nation.

2. Airtel Relationship Centres – Airtel relationship center‟s which were previously known

as Airtel gallery. These customer relationship centers are the touch points through which

Airtel interacts with its customers, it takes public grievances through its relationship

centers, provides new connection and nowadays it acts as a display Centre for the

company where the company can showcase its latest product launch.

3. Retail Distributors – in retail distribution airtel changed all the rules, its retailers were

even the paan shop waala. Each and every accessible point were utilized to provide ease

of availability of recharge facility.

4. Mobile Recharges For DTH- airtel came up with mobile recharge specially for its rural

customers. As there was unavailiblity of airtel relationship centre in rural areas and also



to provide the uninterrupted direct to home television service even to the remotest part, it

came up with this innovative idea of mobile recharge.

5. Airtel Drop Boxes – airtel drop boxes are available at its relationship centres and it is

24x7 available. Peoples can pay their bill via drop boxes at anytime as per its availability.

6. Online Availablity Of Vas ,Recharge And Many More – airtel‟s service is also available

online. You can get a new connection, recgharge and even get value added services via

online. With the increase in internet users and increased mobility of the users this touch

point is of utter importance because if airtel wants to retain its leadership in the telecom

sector it needs to match up with the latest technologies available and internet platform

was one of the greatest technical revolution in the country after the coming of mobile

operators.

7. Numerous Payment Options – just to provide ease and save its customers time airtel has

placed numerous ways of payment options. For eg- ecs, mcheck, standing instructions.

Mcheck was one of the pioneer in it‟s sector use it. It could be downloaded in mobile and

could be used for bill payment, recharge, buying movie tickets etc which broadened the

use of mobile device and provided an added facility to its customers.

Ecs also provided its customers relief in bill payment option by directly deducting the bill

amount from the consumers account without everytime visiting the centre for bill

payment. the concumer needs to register its account once for the purpose and make

available its no of cheques for the no of months he wants the bill to be uninterruptedly.

Standing Instructions are the latest mode of payment for the credit card users, where the

customer just needs to submit standing instruction form once and its monthly bills would

be directly debited from its credit card account.

marketing mix_group 7

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