airtel project nisha
TRANSCRIPT
Study of Airtel Marketing
AAResearch Project Report Report
OnOn
Study of Airtel MarketingStudy of Airtel Marketing
SUBMITTED IN THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THESUBMITTED IN THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREEREQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE
OFOF
ldquoBachelor of Business AdministrationrdquoldquoBachelor of Business Administrationrdquo(2009-2012)(2009-2012)
Submitted ToSubmitted ToDr Mayank JainDr Mayank Jain(HOD of BBA)(HOD of BBA)
Submitted BySubmitted ByNisha ChauhanNisha Chauhan
Roll No- 8653563Roll No- 8653563BBA 6BBA 6thth SEM SEM
IIMT Institute of Engineering amp TechnologyIIMT Institute of Engineering amp Technology
1
Study of Airtel Marketing
MeerutMeerut
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to take an opportunity to thank all the people in collecting the necessary
information and making of the report I am grateful to all of them for their time and wisdom
My project becomes a reality only because of cooperation of many people who had helped me
in completing this project I sincerely extend my gratitude to Dr Mayank Jain(HOD) who has
given me this golden opportunity to have an insight in the corporate world and who has been a
source of guidance and support
Nisha Chauhan
2
Study of Airtel Marketing
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Nisha Chauhan 6th SEM student from IIMT Institute of
Engineering amp Technology Meerut affiliated to ldquoCCS University Meerutrdquo has completed her
project under my supervision She made this project to my entire satisfaction and as per
requirement of the course
Arun KumarProject Guide
3
Study of Airtel Marketing
4
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Tele-Ventures
Bharti Tele-Ventures is one of Indias leading private sector providers of telecommunications
services based on an aggregate of 28692627 customers as on September 30 2006 consisting
of 27061349 GSM mobile and 1631278 broadband amp telephone customers
The businesses at Bharti Tele-Ventures have been structured into three individual strategic units
(SBUrsquos) ndash
1) mobile services
2) broadband and telephone services (BampT)
3) enterprise services
The Mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles
while BampT business group provides broadband amp telephone services in 94 cities The
Enterprise Services group has two sub-units ndash carriers (long distance services) and services
top corporates All these services are provided under the Airtel brand
5
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises has been at the forefront of technology and has revolutionized
telecommunications with its world class products and services Established in 1976 Bharti has
been a pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and innovations to its credit
Bharti provides a range of telecom services which include Cellular Basic Internet and
recently introduced National Long Distance Bharti also manufactures and exports telephone
terminals and cordless phones Apart from being the largest manufacturer of telephone
instruments in India it is also the first company to export its products to the USA
Bharti is the leading cellular service provider with a footprint in 16 states covering all four
metros It has over 12 million satisfied customers
Bharti Enterprises has successfully focused its strategy on telecom while straddling diverse
fields of business From the creation of Airtel one of Indias finest brands to becoming the
largest manufacturer and exporter of world class telecom terminals under its Beetel brand
Bharti has created a significant position for itself in the global telecommunications
sector Bharti Tele-Ventures is today acknowledged as one of Indias finest companies and its
flagship brand Airtel has over 12 million customers across the length and breadth of India
While a joint venture with TeleTech Inc USA marked Bhartirsquos successful foray into the
Customer Management Services business Bharti Enterprisesrsquo dynamic diversification has
continued with the company venturing into telecom software development Recently Bharti has
successfully launched an international venture with EL Rothschild Group owned ELRO
Holdings India Ltd to export fresh Agri products exclusively to markets in Europe and USA
6
Study of Airtel Marketing
What other operators have achieved in one to two years Bharti has done in just over a month In July 2002
one out of every two people buying a mobile across India chose AirTel We are truly proud to be spearheading
the mobile revolution in the country
- Sunil Bharti Mittal Chairman Bharti Tele-Ventures in 2002
Vision
BY 2010 AIRTEL WILL BE THE MOST ADMIRED BRAND IN INDIA
LOVED BY MORE CUSTOMERS
TARGETED BY TOP TALENT7
Study of Airtel Marketing
BENCHMARKED BY MORE BUSINESS
AIRTEL
Airtel comes to you from Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited - a part of the biggest private integrated telecom conglomerate Bharti Enterprises A consortium of giants in the telecommunication business In its six years of pursuit of greater customer satisfaction AirTel has redefined the business through marketing innovations continuous technological up gradation of the network introduction of new generation value added services and the highest standard of customer care
Bharti is the leading cellular service provider with an all India footprint covering all 23 telecom circles of the country It has over 12 million satisfied customers
Cellular telephony was introduced in India during the early 1990s At that time there were only two major private players Bharti (Airtel) and Essar (Essar) and both these companies offered only post-paid services Initially the cellular services market registered limited growth
8
Study of Airtel Marketing
Moreover these services were mostly restricted to the metros Other factors such as lack of awareness among people lack of infrastructural facilities low standard of living and government regulations were also responsible for the slow growth of cellular phone services in India
Although the cellular services market in India grew during the late 1990s (as the number of players increased and tariffs and handset prices came down significantly) the growth was rather marginal This was because the cellular service providers offered only post-paid cellular services which were still perceived to be very costly as compared to landline communications
Following this realization the major cellular service providers in India launched pre-paid cellular services in the late 1990s The main purpose of these services was to target customers from all sections of society (unlike post-paid services which were targeted only at the premium segment)
Bhartirsquos Mission
9
Study of Airtel Marketing
To be globally admired for telecom services that delight customers
We will meet global standards for telecom services that delight customers through
bull Customer Service Focus
bull Empowered Employees
bull Cost Efficiency
bull Unified Messaging Solutions
bull Innovative products and services
bull Error- free service delivery
10
Study of Airtel Marketing
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Company has an optimum mix of Executive and Non-Executive Directors which consists of three Executive and fifteen Non-Executive Directors
The Chairman and Managing Director Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal is an Executive Director and the number of Independent Directors on the Board is 50 of the total Board strength The independence of a Director is determined on the basis that such director does not have any material pecuniary relationship with the Company its promoters or its management which may affect the independence of the judgment of a Director
The Board members possess requisite skills experience and expertise required to take decisions which are in the best interest of the Company
The composition of the Board is as under
Sunil Bharti Mittal Rajan Bharti Mittal Akhil Gupta Rakesh Bharti Mittal Chua Sock Koong N Kumar Kurt Hellstorm Donald Cameron Paul OrsquoSullivan Professor VS Raju Pulak Chandan Prasad Bashir Abdullah Currimjee Gavin Darby Syeda Imam Ajay Lal York Chye Chang Paul Donovan Arun Bharat Ram
11
Study of Airtel Marketing
ACHIEVEMENTS
First to launch Cellular service on November 1995
First operator to revolutionaries the concept of retailing with the inauguration of AirTel Connect (exclusive showrooms) in 1995
First to introduce push button phone in India
First to expand its network with the installation for second mobile switching center in April 1997 and the first to introduce the Intelligent Network Platform First to provide Roaming to its subscribers by forming an association called World 1 Network
First to provide roaming facility in USA Enjoy the mobile roaming across 38 partner networks amp above 700 cities Moreover roam across international destinations in 119 countries including USA Canada UK etc with 284 partner networks
BHARTI announces aggrement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Bharti Enterprises and AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited announce Partnership for a life insurance joint venture in India
Airtel Launches future factory - Centres of Innovation to Incubate Pioneering Mobile Applications
16 states 600 million people Only Indias leading mobile service offers you the truly freedom-packed Prepaid
It is also the first company to export its products to the USA
BHARTI announces agreement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Vodafone to invest approximately Rs 6700 crores (approx USD 15 bn) to acquire
around 10 in Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd
12
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises SingTel and Vodafone to take Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd to
unassailable leadership position in India
The largest single foreign investment ever in the history of India
The largest investment in the Indian telecom sector
Bharti establishes its supremacy in the Indian telecom market having attracted Asiarsquos
best ndash SingTel and now worldrsquos best ndash Vodafone
Bharti set to gain global leadership in the telecom sector
Bharti Enterprises continues to hold shareholding and management control in Bharti
Tele-Ventures
Awards for the year 2006-2007
BHARTI AIRTEL DRAWS TOP HONORS AT THE MIS ASIA IT EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2006
13
Study of Airtel Marketing
BHARTI AIRTEL AMONG THE TOP 10 BEST PERFORMING COMPANIES IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BUSINESSWEEK IT 100 LIST
SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL IS THE ldquoCEO OF THE YEARrdquo AT THE FROST AND SULLIVAN ASIA PACIFIC AWARDS 2006 AND BHARTI AIRTEL BAGS ldquoWIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo AND ldquoCOMPETITVE SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo
BHARTI TELE-VENTURES IS THE ldquoBEST INDIAN CARRIERrdquo AT THE TELECOM ASIA AWARDS 2006
AirTel Appropriating the value of expression
Over the last couple of years the market has grown considerably with deeper penetration and wider usage of voice and data services accompanied by much higher competitive intensity Atul Bindal chief marketing officer Bharti TeleVentures expands on this In this context differentiating merely on network coverage and SMS is just not enough You need to go beyond all the rational identifiers - which are prerequisites in any case - and connect at a deeper level We needed a strong differentiator in an increasingly commoditized and crowded market We found this differentiator in a core human truth that defines our category - which is that there are moments when you need to make your point when you need to be heard Expressing and communicating are perhaps two of the most basic emotions AirTel enables you to make your point in the most expressive way anytime anywhere The campaign is towards owning
14
Study of Airtel Marketing
this through Express yourself We believe Express yourself allows us to connect at a deeper level and create a long-term platform for the brand
For AirTel the challenge also lay in presenting a unified face to the consumer This assumes significance when viewed in the light of the companys pre- and post-paid communication which in the past had been treated very differently Brand image as a result was being driven in two different dimensions Brand AirTel is a category leader straddling completely different market segments such as consumer business and corporate as well as different voice data and payment platforms says Bindal Express yourself enables the brand to unify and connect across the entire base of our existing and prospective customersOne of the most obvious benefits of owning a property such as candid expression (and Express yourself) is the expansive nature of the thought The moment you have as broad a canvas as Express yourself it becomes easy for anyone working on the brand to come up with new ideas and executions Thats what makes a good campaign idea observes Rediffs Prashant Godbole who along with creative partner Zarvan Patel conceived the campaign This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg Patel adds We will be taking the idea forward in many different ways in the forthcoming work he informs Patel also credits his creative team for fleshing out the idea
In October 2002 Magic led the market with 30 of the market share Bharti claimed that its strategies were one of the most ambitious experiments ever in the Indian pre-paid cellular telephony market However given the increasing competitive pressure doubts were being expressed regarding the ability of Bhartis marketing initiatives to help Magic retain its Magic in the future
AIRTEL BROADBAND
Bharti Televentures is the fixed line operator business of Airtel In the recent branding exercise all the services have been offered under the Airtel brand Data is the next driver for growth This is clear to the operators who have belatedly realized the implications for having a pie in all the segments of telecommunications Hence Bharti ventured in the broadband market
However the main contention in the broadband market is the price offering which includes the bandwidth costs as well as the cost of laying down the copper wire Typically in the mentality
15
Study of Airtel Marketing
of the profit making exercise Airtel has so far focused only in those areas where it perceives that a huge market is present However I still hold that their thrust should be in smaller towns and cities where BSNL would ultimately usurp their potential customer base It seems that their fancily paid MBAs havenrsquot really understood the success of BSNL who focused on the B and C class cities where it has drawn unparalleled support despite the lousy customer experiences This is because of the absence of any other operator
The current offerings by Airtel does not really enthuse a potential customer who is looking at sustained data transfer It is the classic case of having something better than nothing
Add to the lousy customer care that Airtel is slowly perfecting it is staffed with people who usually land up in their jobs with little idea of their job profile The so-called Tech engineers have often been unable to help a customer who is facing issues with the connectivity I have read first person accounts for the same
AIRTELrsquos ENTERPRISE SERVICES
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises and is Indias leading provider of telecommunications services The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUrsquos) - mobile services broadband amp telephone services
16
Study of Airtel Marketing
(BampT) amp enterprise services The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles while the BampT business group provides broadband amp 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
Our Services
Voice Services Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
17
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
MeerutMeerut
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to take an opportunity to thank all the people in collecting the necessary
information and making of the report I am grateful to all of them for their time and wisdom
My project becomes a reality only because of cooperation of many people who had helped me
in completing this project I sincerely extend my gratitude to Dr Mayank Jain(HOD) who has
given me this golden opportunity to have an insight in the corporate world and who has been a
source of guidance and support
Nisha Chauhan
2
Study of Airtel Marketing
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Nisha Chauhan 6th SEM student from IIMT Institute of
Engineering amp Technology Meerut affiliated to ldquoCCS University Meerutrdquo has completed her
project under my supervision She made this project to my entire satisfaction and as per
requirement of the course
Arun KumarProject Guide
3
Study of Airtel Marketing
4
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Tele-Ventures
Bharti Tele-Ventures is one of Indias leading private sector providers of telecommunications
services based on an aggregate of 28692627 customers as on September 30 2006 consisting
of 27061349 GSM mobile and 1631278 broadband amp telephone customers
The businesses at Bharti Tele-Ventures have been structured into three individual strategic units
(SBUrsquos) ndash
1) mobile services
2) broadband and telephone services (BampT)
3) enterprise services
The Mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles
while BampT business group provides broadband amp telephone services in 94 cities The
Enterprise Services group has two sub-units ndash carriers (long distance services) and services
top corporates All these services are provided under the Airtel brand
5
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises has been at the forefront of technology and has revolutionized
telecommunications with its world class products and services Established in 1976 Bharti has
been a pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and innovations to its credit
Bharti provides a range of telecom services which include Cellular Basic Internet and
recently introduced National Long Distance Bharti also manufactures and exports telephone
terminals and cordless phones Apart from being the largest manufacturer of telephone
instruments in India it is also the first company to export its products to the USA
Bharti is the leading cellular service provider with a footprint in 16 states covering all four
metros It has over 12 million satisfied customers
Bharti Enterprises has successfully focused its strategy on telecom while straddling diverse
fields of business From the creation of Airtel one of Indias finest brands to becoming the
largest manufacturer and exporter of world class telecom terminals under its Beetel brand
Bharti has created a significant position for itself in the global telecommunications
sector Bharti Tele-Ventures is today acknowledged as one of Indias finest companies and its
flagship brand Airtel has over 12 million customers across the length and breadth of India
While a joint venture with TeleTech Inc USA marked Bhartirsquos successful foray into the
Customer Management Services business Bharti Enterprisesrsquo dynamic diversification has
continued with the company venturing into telecom software development Recently Bharti has
successfully launched an international venture with EL Rothschild Group owned ELRO
Holdings India Ltd to export fresh Agri products exclusively to markets in Europe and USA
6
Study of Airtel Marketing
What other operators have achieved in one to two years Bharti has done in just over a month In July 2002
one out of every two people buying a mobile across India chose AirTel We are truly proud to be spearheading
the mobile revolution in the country
- Sunil Bharti Mittal Chairman Bharti Tele-Ventures in 2002
Vision
BY 2010 AIRTEL WILL BE THE MOST ADMIRED BRAND IN INDIA
LOVED BY MORE CUSTOMERS
TARGETED BY TOP TALENT7
Study of Airtel Marketing
BENCHMARKED BY MORE BUSINESS
AIRTEL
Airtel comes to you from Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited - a part of the biggest private integrated telecom conglomerate Bharti Enterprises A consortium of giants in the telecommunication business In its six years of pursuit of greater customer satisfaction AirTel has redefined the business through marketing innovations continuous technological up gradation of the network introduction of new generation value added services and the highest standard of customer care
Bharti is the leading cellular service provider with an all India footprint covering all 23 telecom circles of the country It has over 12 million satisfied customers
Cellular telephony was introduced in India during the early 1990s At that time there were only two major private players Bharti (Airtel) and Essar (Essar) and both these companies offered only post-paid services Initially the cellular services market registered limited growth
8
Study of Airtel Marketing
Moreover these services were mostly restricted to the metros Other factors such as lack of awareness among people lack of infrastructural facilities low standard of living and government regulations were also responsible for the slow growth of cellular phone services in India
Although the cellular services market in India grew during the late 1990s (as the number of players increased and tariffs and handset prices came down significantly) the growth was rather marginal This was because the cellular service providers offered only post-paid cellular services which were still perceived to be very costly as compared to landline communications
Following this realization the major cellular service providers in India launched pre-paid cellular services in the late 1990s The main purpose of these services was to target customers from all sections of society (unlike post-paid services which were targeted only at the premium segment)
Bhartirsquos Mission
9
Study of Airtel Marketing
To be globally admired for telecom services that delight customers
We will meet global standards for telecom services that delight customers through
bull Customer Service Focus
bull Empowered Employees
bull Cost Efficiency
bull Unified Messaging Solutions
bull Innovative products and services
bull Error- free service delivery
10
Study of Airtel Marketing
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Company has an optimum mix of Executive and Non-Executive Directors which consists of three Executive and fifteen Non-Executive Directors
The Chairman and Managing Director Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal is an Executive Director and the number of Independent Directors on the Board is 50 of the total Board strength The independence of a Director is determined on the basis that such director does not have any material pecuniary relationship with the Company its promoters or its management which may affect the independence of the judgment of a Director
The Board members possess requisite skills experience and expertise required to take decisions which are in the best interest of the Company
The composition of the Board is as under
Sunil Bharti Mittal Rajan Bharti Mittal Akhil Gupta Rakesh Bharti Mittal Chua Sock Koong N Kumar Kurt Hellstorm Donald Cameron Paul OrsquoSullivan Professor VS Raju Pulak Chandan Prasad Bashir Abdullah Currimjee Gavin Darby Syeda Imam Ajay Lal York Chye Chang Paul Donovan Arun Bharat Ram
11
Study of Airtel Marketing
ACHIEVEMENTS
First to launch Cellular service on November 1995
First operator to revolutionaries the concept of retailing with the inauguration of AirTel Connect (exclusive showrooms) in 1995
First to introduce push button phone in India
First to expand its network with the installation for second mobile switching center in April 1997 and the first to introduce the Intelligent Network Platform First to provide Roaming to its subscribers by forming an association called World 1 Network
First to provide roaming facility in USA Enjoy the mobile roaming across 38 partner networks amp above 700 cities Moreover roam across international destinations in 119 countries including USA Canada UK etc with 284 partner networks
BHARTI announces aggrement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Bharti Enterprises and AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited announce Partnership for a life insurance joint venture in India
Airtel Launches future factory - Centres of Innovation to Incubate Pioneering Mobile Applications
16 states 600 million people Only Indias leading mobile service offers you the truly freedom-packed Prepaid
It is also the first company to export its products to the USA
BHARTI announces agreement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Vodafone to invest approximately Rs 6700 crores (approx USD 15 bn) to acquire
around 10 in Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd
12
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises SingTel and Vodafone to take Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd to
unassailable leadership position in India
The largest single foreign investment ever in the history of India
The largest investment in the Indian telecom sector
Bharti establishes its supremacy in the Indian telecom market having attracted Asiarsquos
best ndash SingTel and now worldrsquos best ndash Vodafone
Bharti set to gain global leadership in the telecom sector
Bharti Enterprises continues to hold shareholding and management control in Bharti
Tele-Ventures
Awards for the year 2006-2007
BHARTI AIRTEL DRAWS TOP HONORS AT THE MIS ASIA IT EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2006
13
Study of Airtel Marketing
BHARTI AIRTEL AMONG THE TOP 10 BEST PERFORMING COMPANIES IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BUSINESSWEEK IT 100 LIST
SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL IS THE ldquoCEO OF THE YEARrdquo AT THE FROST AND SULLIVAN ASIA PACIFIC AWARDS 2006 AND BHARTI AIRTEL BAGS ldquoWIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo AND ldquoCOMPETITVE SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo
BHARTI TELE-VENTURES IS THE ldquoBEST INDIAN CARRIERrdquo AT THE TELECOM ASIA AWARDS 2006
AirTel Appropriating the value of expression
Over the last couple of years the market has grown considerably with deeper penetration and wider usage of voice and data services accompanied by much higher competitive intensity Atul Bindal chief marketing officer Bharti TeleVentures expands on this In this context differentiating merely on network coverage and SMS is just not enough You need to go beyond all the rational identifiers - which are prerequisites in any case - and connect at a deeper level We needed a strong differentiator in an increasingly commoditized and crowded market We found this differentiator in a core human truth that defines our category - which is that there are moments when you need to make your point when you need to be heard Expressing and communicating are perhaps two of the most basic emotions AirTel enables you to make your point in the most expressive way anytime anywhere The campaign is towards owning
14
Study of Airtel Marketing
this through Express yourself We believe Express yourself allows us to connect at a deeper level and create a long-term platform for the brand
For AirTel the challenge also lay in presenting a unified face to the consumer This assumes significance when viewed in the light of the companys pre- and post-paid communication which in the past had been treated very differently Brand image as a result was being driven in two different dimensions Brand AirTel is a category leader straddling completely different market segments such as consumer business and corporate as well as different voice data and payment platforms says Bindal Express yourself enables the brand to unify and connect across the entire base of our existing and prospective customersOne of the most obvious benefits of owning a property such as candid expression (and Express yourself) is the expansive nature of the thought The moment you have as broad a canvas as Express yourself it becomes easy for anyone working on the brand to come up with new ideas and executions Thats what makes a good campaign idea observes Rediffs Prashant Godbole who along with creative partner Zarvan Patel conceived the campaign This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg Patel adds We will be taking the idea forward in many different ways in the forthcoming work he informs Patel also credits his creative team for fleshing out the idea
In October 2002 Magic led the market with 30 of the market share Bharti claimed that its strategies were one of the most ambitious experiments ever in the Indian pre-paid cellular telephony market However given the increasing competitive pressure doubts were being expressed regarding the ability of Bhartis marketing initiatives to help Magic retain its Magic in the future
AIRTEL BROADBAND
Bharti Televentures is the fixed line operator business of Airtel In the recent branding exercise all the services have been offered under the Airtel brand Data is the next driver for growth This is clear to the operators who have belatedly realized the implications for having a pie in all the segments of telecommunications Hence Bharti ventured in the broadband market
However the main contention in the broadband market is the price offering which includes the bandwidth costs as well as the cost of laying down the copper wire Typically in the mentality
15
Study of Airtel Marketing
of the profit making exercise Airtel has so far focused only in those areas where it perceives that a huge market is present However I still hold that their thrust should be in smaller towns and cities where BSNL would ultimately usurp their potential customer base It seems that their fancily paid MBAs havenrsquot really understood the success of BSNL who focused on the B and C class cities where it has drawn unparalleled support despite the lousy customer experiences This is because of the absence of any other operator
The current offerings by Airtel does not really enthuse a potential customer who is looking at sustained data transfer It is the classic case of having something better than nothing
Add to the lousy customer care that Airtel is slowly perfecting it is staffed with people who usually land up in their jobs with little idea of their job profile The so-called Tech engineers have often been unable to help a customer who is facing issues with the connectivity I have read first person accounts for the same
AIRTELrsquos ENTERPRISE SERVICES
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises and is Indias leading provider of telecommunications services The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUrsquos) - mobile services broadband amp telephone services
16
Study of Airtel Marketing
(BampT) amp enterprise services The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles while the BampT business group provides broadband amp 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
Our Services
Voice Services Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
17
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Nisha Chauhan 6th SEM student from IIMT Institute of
Engineering amp Technology Meerut affiliated to ldquoCCS University Meerutrdquo has completed her
project under my supervision She made this project to my entire satisfaction and as per
requirement of the course
Arun KumarProject Guide
3
Study of Airtel Marketing
4
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Tele-Ventures
Bharti Tele-Ventures is one of Indias leading private sector providers of telecommunications
services based on an aggregate of 28692627 customers as on September 30 2006 consisting
of 27061349 GSM mobile and 1631278 broadband amp telephone customers
The businesses at Bharti Tele-Ventures have been structured into three individual strategic units
(SBUrsquos) ndash
1) mobile services
2) broadband and telephone services (BampT)
3) enterprise services
The Mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles
while BampT business group provides broadband amp telephone services in 94 cities The
Enterprise Services group has two sub-units ndash carriers (long distance services) and services
top corporates All these services are provided under the Airtel brand
5
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises has been at the forefront of technology and has revolutionized
telecommunications with its world class products and services Established in 1976 Bharti has
been a pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and innovations to its credit
Bharti provides a range of telecom services which include Cellular Basic Internet and
recently introduced National Long Distance Bharti also manufactures and exports telephone
terminals and cordless phones Apart from being the largest manufacturer of telephone
instruments in India it is also the first company to export its products to the USA
Bharti is the leading cellular service provider with a footprint in 16 states covering all four
metros It has over 12 million satisfied customers
Bharti Enterprises has successfully focused its strategy on telecom while straddling diverse
fields of business From the creation of Airtel one of Indias finest brands to becoming the
largest manufacturer and exporter of world class telecom terminals under its Beetel brand
Bharti has created a significant position for itself in the global telecommunications
sector Bharti Tele-Ventures is today acknowledged as one of Indias finest companies and its
flagship brand Airtel has over 12 million customers across the length and breadth of India
While a joint venture with TeleTech Inc USA marked Bhartirsquos successful foray into the
Customer Management Services business Bharti Enterprisesrsquo dynamic diversification has
continued with the company venturing into telecom software development Recently Bharti has
successfully launched an international venture with EL Rothschild Group owned ELRO
Holdings India Ltd to export fresh Agri products exclusively to markets in Europe and USA
6
Study of Airtel Marketing
What other operators have achieved in one to two years Bharti has done in just over a month In July 2002
one out of every two people buying a mobile across India chose AirTel We are truly proud to be spearheading
the mobile revolution in the country
- Sunil Bharti Mittal Chairman Bharti Tele-Ventures in 2002
Vision
BY 2010 AIRTEL WILL BE THE MOST ADMIRED BRAND IN INDIA
LOVED BY MORE CUSTOMERS
TARGETED BY TOP TALENT7
Study of Airtel Marketing
BENCHMARKED BY MORE BUSINESS
AIRTEL
Airtel comes to you from Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited - a part of the biggest private integrated telecom conglomerate Bharti Enterprises A consortium of giants in the telecommunication business In its six years of pursuit of greater customer satisfaction AirTel has redefined the business through marketing innovations continuous technological up gradation of the network introduction of new generation value added services and the highest standard of customer care
Bharti is the leading cellular service provider with an all India footprint covering all 23 telecom circles of the country It has over 12 million satisfied customers
Cellular telephony was introduced in India during the early 1990s At that time there were only two major private players Bharti (Airtel) and Essar (Essar) and both these companies offered only post-paid services Initially the cellular services market registered limited growth
8
Study of Airtel Marketing
Moreover these services were mostly restricted to the metros Other factors such as lack of awareness among people lack of infrastructural facilities low standard of living and government regulations were also responsible for the slow growth of cellular phone services in India
Although the cellular services market in India grew during the late 1990s (as the number of players increased and tariffs and handset prices came down significantly) the growth was rather marginal This was because the cellular service providers offered only post-paid cellular services which were still perceived to be very costly as compared to landline communications
Following this realization the major cellular service providers in India launched pre-paid cellular services in the late 1990s The main purpose of these services was to target customers from all sections of society (unlike post-paid services which were targeted only at the premium segment)
Bhartirsquos Mission
9
Study of Airtel Marketing
To be globally admired for telecom services that delight customers
We will meet global standards for telecom services that delight customers through
bull Customer Service Focus
bull Empowered Employees
bull Cost Efficiency
bull Unified Messaging Solutions
bull Innovative products and services
bull Error- free service delivery
10
Study of Airtel Marketing
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Company has an optimum mix of Executive and Non-Executive Directors which consists of three Executive and fifteen Non-Executive Directors
The Chairman and Managing Director Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal is an Executive Director and the number of Independent Directors on the Board is 50 of the total Board strength The independence of a Director is determined on the basis that such director does not have any material pecuniary relationship with the Company its promoters or its management which may affect the independence of the judgment of a Director
The Board members possess requisite skills experience and expertise required to take decisions which are in the best interest of the Company
The composition of the Board is as under
Sunil Bharti Mittal Rajan Bharti Mittal Akhil Gupta Rakesh Bharti Mittal Chua Sock Koong N Kumar Kurt Hellstorm Donald Cameron Paul OrsquoSullivan Professor VS Raju Pulak Chandan Prasad Bashir Abdullah Currimjee Gavin Darby Syeda Imam Ajay Lal York Chye Chang Paul Donovan Arun Bharat Ram
11
Study of Airtel Marketing
ACHIEVEMENTS
First to launch Cellular service on November 1995
First operator to revolutionaries the concept of retailing with the inauguration of AirTel Connect (exclusive showrooms) in 1995
First to introduce push button phone in India
First to expand its network with the installation for second mobile switching center in April 1997 and the first to introduce the Intelligent Network Platform First to provide Roaming to its subscribers by forming an association called World 1 Network
First to provide roaming facility in USA Enjoy the mobile roaming across 38 partner networks amp above 700 cities Moreover roam across international destinations in 119 countries including USA Canada UK etc with 284 partner networks
BHARTI announces aggrement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Bharti Enterprises and AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited announce Partnership for a life insurance joint venture in India
Airtel Launches future factory - Centres of Innovation to Incubate Pioneering Mobile Applications
16 states 600 million people Only Indias leading mobile service offers you the truly freedom-packed Prepaid
It is also the first company to export its products to the USA
BHARTI announces agreement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Vodafone to invest approximately Rs 6700 crores (approx USD 15 bn) to acquire
around 10 in Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd
12
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises SingTel and Vodafone to take Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd to
unassailable leadership position in India
The largest single foreign investment ever in the history of India
The largest investment in the Indian telecom sector
Bharti establishes its supremacy in the Indian telecom market having attracted Asiarsquos
best ndash SingTel and now worldrsquos best ndash Vodafone
Bharti set to gain global leadership in the telecom sector
Bharti Enterprises continues to hold shareholding and management control in Bharti
Tele-Ventures
Awards for the year 2006-2007
BHARTI AIRTEL DRAWS TOP HONORS AT THE MIS ASIA IT EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2006
13
Study of Airtel Marketing
BHARTI AIRTEL AMONG THE TOP 10 BEST PERFORMING COMPANIES IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BUSINESSWEEK IT 100 LIST
SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL IS THE ldquoCEO OF THE YEARrdquo AT THE FROST AND SULLIVAN ASIA PACIFIC AWARDS 2006 AND BHARTI AIRTEL BAGS ldquoWIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo AND ldquoCOMPETITVE SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo
BHARTI TELE-VENTURES IS THE ldquoBEST INDIAN CARRIERrdquo AT THE TELECOM ASIA AWARDS 2006
AirTel Appropriating the value of expression
Over the last couple of years the market has grown considerably with deeper penetration and wider usage of voice and data services accompanied by much higher competitive intensity Atul Bindal chief marketing officer Bharti TeleVentures expands on this In this context differentiating merely on network coverage and SMS is just not enough You need to go beyond all the rational identifiers - which are prerequisites in any case - and connect at a deeper level We needed a strong differentiator in an increasingly commoditized and crowded market We found this differentiator in a core human truth that defines our category - which is that there are moments when you need to make your point when you need to be heard Expressing and communicating are perhaps two of the most basic emotions AirTel enables you to make your point in the most expressive way anytime anywhere The campaign is towards owning
14
Study of Airtel Marketing
this through Express yourself We believe Express yourself allows us to connect at a deeper level and create a long-term platform for the brand
For AirTel the challenge also lay in presenting a unified face to the consumer This assumes significance when viewed in the light of the companys pre- and post-paid communication which in the past had been treated very differently Brand image as a result was being driven in two different dimensions Brand AirTel is a category leader straddling completely different market segments such as consumer business and corporate as well as different voice data and payment platforms says Bindal Express yourself enables the brand to unify and connect across the entire base of our existing and prospective customersOne of the most obvious benefits of owning a property such as candid expression (and Express yourself) is the expansive nature of the thought The moment you have as broad a canvas as Express yourself it becomes easy for anyone working on the brand to come up with new ideas and executions Thats what makes a good campaign idea observes Rediffs Prashant Godbole who along with creative partner Zarvan Patel conceived the campaign This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg Patel adds We will be taking the idea forward in many different ways in the forthcoming work he informs Patel also credits his creative team for fleshing out the idea
In October 2002 Magic led the market with 30 of the market share Bharti claimed that its strategies were one of the most ambitious experiments ever in the Indian pre-paid cellular telephony market However given the increasing competitive pressure doubts were being expressed regarding the ability of Bhartis marketing initiatives to help Magic retain its Magic in the future
AIRTEL BROADBAND
Bharti Televentures is the fixed line operator business of Airtel In the recent branding exercise all the services have been offered under the Airtel brand Data is the next driver for growth This is clear to the operators who have belatedly realized the implications for having a pie in all the segments of telecommunications Hence Bharti ventured in the broadband market
However the main contention in the broadband market is the price offering which includes the bandwidth costs as well as the cost of laying down the copper wire Typically in the mentality
15
Study of Airtel Marketing
of the profit making exercise Airtel has so far focused only in those areas where it perceives that a huge market is present However I still hold that their thrust should be in smaller towns and cities where BSNL would ultimately usurp their potential customer base It seems that their fancily paid MBAs havenrsquot really understood the success of BSNL who focused on the B and C class cities where it has drawn unparalleled support despite the lousy customer experiences This is because of the absence of any other operator
The current offerings by Airtel does not really enthuse a potential customer who is looking at sustained data transfer It is the classic case of having something better than nothing
Add to the lousy customer care that Airtel is slowly perfecting it is staffed with people who usually land up in their jobs with little idea of their job profile The so-called Tech engineers have often been unable to help a customer who is facing issues with the connectivity I have read first person accounts for the same
AIRTELrsquos ENTERPRISE SERVICES
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises and is Indias leading provider of telecommunications services The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUrsquos) - mobile services broadband amp telephone services
16
Study of Airtel Marketing
(BampT) amp enterprise services The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles while the BampT business group provides broadband amp 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
Our Services
Voice Services Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
17
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
4
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Tele-Ventures
Bharti Tele-Ventures is one of Indias leading private sector providers of telecommunications
services based on an aggregate of 28692627 customers as on September 30 2006 consisting
of 27061349 GSM mobile and 1631278 broadband amp telephone customers
The businesses at Bharti Tele-Ventures have been structured into three individual strategic units
(SBUrsquos) ndash
1) mobile services
2) broadband and telephone services (BampT)
3) enterprise services
The Mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles
while BampT business group provides broadband amp telephone services in 94 cities The
Enterprise Services group has two sub-units ndash carriers (long distance services) and services
top corporates All these services are provided under the Airtel brand
5
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises has been at the forefront of technology and has revolutionized
telecommunications with its world class products and services Established in 1976 Bharti has
been a pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and innovations to its credit
Bharti provides a range of telecom services which include Cellular Basic Internet and
recently introduced National Long Distance Bharti also manufactures and exports telephone
terminals and cordless phones Apart from being the largest manufacturer of telephone
instruments in India it is also the first company to export its products to the USA
Bharti is the leading cellular service provider with a footprint in 16 states covering all four
metros It has over 12 million satisfied customers
Bharti Enterprises has successfully focused its strategy on telecom while straddling diverse
fields of business From the creation of Airtel one of Indias finest brands to becoming the
largest manufacturer and exporter of world class telecom terminals under its Beetel brand
Bharti has created a significant position for itself in the global telecommunications
sector Bharti Tele-Ventures is today acknowledged as one of Indias finest companies and its
flagship brand Airtel has over 12 million customers across the length and breadth of India
While a joint venture with TeleTech Inc USA marked Bhartirsquos successful foray into the
Customer Management Services business Bharti Enterprisesrsquo dynamic diversification has
continued with the company venturing into telecom software development Recently Bharti has
successfully launched an international venture with EL Rothschild Group owned ELRO
Holdings India Ltd to export fresh Agri products exclusively to markets in Europe and USA
6
Study of Airtel Marketing
What other operators have achieved in one to two years Bharti has done in just over a month In July 2002
one out of every two people buying a mobile across India chose AirTel We are truly proud to be spearheading
the mobile revolution in the country
- Sunil Bharti Mittal Chairman Bharti Tele-Ventures in 2002
Vision
BY 2010 AIRTEL WILL BE THE MOST ADMIRED BRAND IN INDIA
LOVED BY MORE CUSTOMERS
TARGETED BY TOP TALENT7
Study of Airtel Marketing
BENCHMARKED BY MORE BUSINESS
AIRTEL
Airtel comes to you from Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited - a part of the biggest private integrated telecom conglomerate Bharti Enterprises A consortium of giants in the telecommunication business In its six years of pursuit of greater customer satisfaction AirTel has redefined the business through marketing innovations continuous technological up gradation of the network introduction of new generation value added services and the highest standard of customer care
Bharti is the leading cellular service provider with an all India footprint covering all 23 telecom circles of the country It has over 12 million satisfied customers
Cellular telephony was introduced in India during the early 1990s At that time there were only two major private players Bharti (Airtel) and Essar (Essar) and both these companies offered only post-paid services Initially the cellular services market registered limited growth
8
Study of Airtel Marketing
Moreover these services were mostly restricted to the metros Other factors such as lack of awareness among people lack of infrastructural facilities low standard of living and government regulations were also responsible for the slow growth of cellular phone services in India
Although the cellular services market in India grew during the late 1990s (as the number of players increased and tariffs and handset prices came down significantly) the growth was rather marginal This was because the cellular service providers offered only post-paid cellular services which were still perceived to be very costly as compared to landline communications
Following this realization the major cellular service providers in India launched pre-paid cellular services in the late 1990s The main purpose of these services was to target customers from all sections of society (unlike post-paid services which were targeted only at the premium segment)
Bhartirsquos Mission
9
Study of Airtel Marketing
To be globally admired for telecom services that delight customers
We will meet global standards for telecom services that delight customers through
bull Customer Service Focus
bull Empowered Employees
bull Cost Efficiency
bull Unified Messaging Solutions
bull Innovative products and services
bull Error- free service delivery
10
Study of Airtel Marketing
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Company has an optimum mix of Executive and Non-Executive Directors which consists of three Executive and fifteen Non-Executive Directors
The Chairman and Managing Director Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal is an Executive Director and the number of Independent Directors on the Board is 50 of the total Board strength The independence of a Director is determined on the basis that such director does not have any material pecuniary relationship with the Company its promoters or its management which may affect the independence of the judgment of a Director
The Board members possess requisite skills experience and expertise required to take decisions which are in the best interest of the Company
The composition of the Board is as under
Sunil Bharti Mittal Rajan Bharti Mittal Akhil Gupta Rakesh Bharti Mittal Chua Sock Koong N Kumar Kurt Hellstorm Donald Cameron Paul OrsquoSullivan Professor VS Raju Pulak Chandan Prasad Bashir Abdullah Currimjee Gavin Darby Syeda Imam Ajay Lal York Chye Chang Paul Donovan Arun Bharat Ram
11
Study of Airtel Marketing
ACHIEVEMENTS
First to launch Cellular service on November 1995
First operator to revolutionaries the concept of retailing with the inauguration of AirTel Connect (exclusive showrooms) in 1995
First to introduce push button phone in India
First to expand its network with the installation for second mobile switching center in April 1997 and the first to introduce the Intelligent Network Platform First to provide Roaming to its subscribers by forming an association called World 1 Network
First to provide roaming facility in USA Enjoy the mobile roaming across 38 partner networks amp above 700 cities Moreover roam across international destinations in 119 countries including USA Canada UK etc with 284 partner networks
BHARTI announces aggrement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Bharti Enterprises and AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited announce Partnership for a life insurance joint venture in India
Airtel Launches future factory - Centres of Innovation to Incubate Pioneering Mobile Applications
16 states 600 million people Only Indias leading mobile service offers you the truly freedom-packed Prepaid
It is also the first company to export its products to the USA
BHARTI announces agreement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Vodafone to invest approximately Rs 6700 crores (approx USD 15 bn) to acquire
around 10 in Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd
12
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises SingTel and Vodafone to take Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd to
unassailable leadership position in India
The largest single foreign investment ever in the history of India
The largest investment in the Indian telecom sector
Bharti establishes its supremacy in the Indian telecom market having attracted Asiarsquos
best ndash SingTel and now worldrsquos best ndash Vodafone
Bharti set to gain global leadership in the telecom sector
Bharti Enterprises continues to hold shareholding and management control in Bharti
Tele-Ventures
Awards for the year 2006-2007
BHARTI AIRTEL DRAWS TOP HONORS AT THE MIS ASIA IT EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2006
13
Study of Airtel Marketing
BHARTI AIRTEL AMONG THE TOP 10 BEST PERFORMING COMPANIES IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BUSINESSWEEK IT 100 LIST
SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL IS THE ldquoCEO OF THE YEARrdquo AT THE FROST AND SULLIVAN ASIA PACIFIC AWARDS 2006 AND BHARTI AIRTEL BAGS ldquoWIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo AND ldquoCOMPETITVE SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo
BHARTI TELE-VENTURES IS THE ldquoBEST INDIAN CARRIERrdquo AT THE TELECOM ASIA AWARDS 2006
AirTel Appropriating the value of expression
Over the last couple of years the market has grown considerably with deeper penetration and wider usage of voice and data services accompanied by much higher competitive intensity Atul Bindal chief marketing officer Bharti TeleVentures expands on this In this context differentiating merely on network coverage and SMS is just not enough You need to go beyond all the rational identifiers - which are prerequisites in any case - and connect at a deeper level We needed a strong differentiator in an increasingly commoditized and crowded market We found this differentiator in a core human truth that defines our category - which is that there are moments when you need to make your point when you need to be heard Expressing and communicating are perhaps two of the most basic emotions AirTel enables you to make your point in the most expressive way anytime anywhere The campaign is towards owning
14
Study of Airtel Marketing
this through Express yourself We believe Express yourself allows us to connect at a deeper level and create a long-term platform for the brand
For AirTel the challenge also lay in presenting a unified face to the consumer This assumes significance when viewed in the light of the companys pre- and post-paid communication which in the past had been treated very differently Brand image as a result was being driven in two different dimensions Brand AirTel is a category leader straddling completely different market segments such as consumer business and corporate as well as different voice data and payment platforms says Bindal Express yourself enables the brand to unify and connect across the entire base of our existing and prospective customersOne of the most obvious benefits of owning a property such as candid expression (and Express yourself) is the expansive nature of the thought The moment you have as broad a canvas as Express yourself it becomes easy for anyone working on the brand to come up with new ideas and executions Thats what makes a good campaign idea observes Rediffs Prashant Godbole who along with creative partner Zarvan Patel conceived the campaign This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg Patel adds We will be taking the idea forward in many different ways in the forthcoming work he informs Patel also credits his creative team for fleshing out the idea
In October 2002 Magic led the market with 30 of the market share Bharti claimed that its strategies were one of the most ambitious experiments ever in the Indian pre-paid cellular telephony market However given the increasing competitive pressure doubts were being expressed regarding the ability of Bhartis marketing initiatives to help Magic retain its Magic in the future
AIRTEL BROADBAND
Bharti Televentures is the fixed line operator business of Airtel In the recent branding exercise all the services have been offered under the Airtel brand Data is the next driver for growth This is clear to the operators who have belatedly realized the implications for having a pie in all the segments of telecommunications Hence Bharti ventured in the broadband market
However the main contention in the broadband market is the price offering which includes the bandwidth costs as well as the cost of laying down the copper wire Typically in the mentality
15
Study of Airtel Marketing
of the profit making exercise Airtel has so far focused only in those areas where it perceives that a huge market is present However I still hold that their thrust should be in smaller towns and cities where BSNL would ultimately usurp their potential customer base It seems that their fancily paid MBAs havenrsquot really understood the success of BSNL who focused on the B and C class cities where it has drawn unparalleled support despite the lousy customer experiences This is because of the absence of any other operator
The current offerings by Airtel does not really enthuse a potential customer who is looking at sustained data transfer It is the classic case of having something better than nothing
Add to the lousy customer care that Airtel is slowly perfecting it is staffed with people who usually land up in their jobs with little idea of their job profile The so-called Tech engineers have often been unable to help a customer who is facing issues with the connectivity I have read first person accounts for the same
AIRTELrsquos ENTERPRISE SERVICES
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises and is Indias leading provider of telecommunications services The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUrsquos) - mobile services broadband amp telephone services
16
Study of Airtel Marketing
(BampT) amp enterprise services The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles while the BampT business group provides broadband amp 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
Our Services
Voice Services Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
17
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Tele-Ventures
Bharti Tele-Ventures is one of Indias leading private sector providers of telecommunications
services based on an aggregate of 28692627 customers as on September 30 2006 consisting
of 27061349 GSM mobile and 1631278 broadband amp telephone customers
The businesses at Bharti Tele-Ventures have been structured into three individual strategic units
(SBUrsquos) ndash
1) mobile services
2) broadband and telephone services (BampT)
3) enterprise services
The Mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles
while BampT business group provides broadband amp telephone services in 94 cities The
Enterprise Services group has two sub-units ndash carriers (long distance services) and services
top corporates All these services are provided under the Airtel brand
5
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises has been at the forefront of technology and has revolutionized
telecommunications with its world class products and services Established in 1976 Bharti has
been a pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and innovations to its credit
Bharti provides a range of telecom services which include Cellular Basic Internet and
recently introduced National Long Distance Bharti also manufactures and exports telephone
terminals and cordless phones Apart from being the largest manufacturer of telephone
instruments in India it is also the first company to export its products to the USA
Bharti is the leading cellular service provider with a footprint in 16 states covering all four
metros It has over 12 million satisfied customers
Bharti Enterprises has successfully focused its strategy on telecom while straddling diverse
fields of business From the creation of Airtel one of Indias finest brands to becoming the
largest manufacturer and exporter of world class telecom terminals under its Beetel brand
Bharti has created a significant position for itself in the global telecommunications
sector Bharti Tele-Ventures is today acknowledged as one of Indias finest companies and its
flagship brand Airtel has over 12 million customers across the length and breadth of India
While a joint venture with TeleTech Inc USA marked Bhartirsquos successful foray into the
Customer Management Services business Bharti Enterprisesrsquo dynamic diversification has
continued with the company venturing into telecom software development Recently Bharti has
successfully launched an international venture with EL Rothschild Group owned ELRO
Holdings India Ltd to export fresh Agri products exclusively to markets in Europe and USA
6
Study of Airtel Marketing
What other operators have achieved in one to two years Bharti has done in just over a month In July 2002
one out of every two people buying a mobile across India chose AirTel We are truly proud to be spearheading
the mobile revolution in the country
- Sunil Bharti Mittal Chairman Bharti Tele-Ventures in 2002
Vision
BY 2010 AIRTEL WILL BE THE MOST ADMIRED BRAND IN INDIA
LOVED BY MORE CUSTOMERS
TARGETED BY TOP TALENT7
Study of Airtel Marketing
BENCHMARKED BY MORE BUSINESS
AIRTEL
Airtel comes to you from Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited - a part of the biggest private integrated telecom conglomerate Bharti Enterprises A consortium of giants in the telecommunication business In its six years of pursuit of greater customer satisfaction AirTel has redefined the business through marketing innovations continuous technological up gradation of the network introduction of new generation value added services and the highest standard of customer care
Bharti is the leading cellular service provider with an all India footprint covering all 23 telecom circles of the country It has over 12 million satisfied customers
Cellular telephony was introduced in India during the early 1990s At that time there were only two major private players Bharti (Airtel) and Essar (Essar) and both these companies offered only post-paid services Initially the cellular services market registered limited growth
8
Study of Airtel Marketing
Moreover these services were mostly restricted to the metros Other factors such as lack of awareness among people lack of infrastructural facilities low standard of living and government regulations were also responsible for the slow growth of cellular phone services in India
Although the cellular services market in India grew during the late 1990s (as the number of players increased and tariffs and handset prices came down significantly) the growth was rather marginal This was because the cellular service providers offered only post-paid cellular services which were still perceived to be very costly as compared to landline communications
Following this realization the major cellular service providers in India launched pre-paid cellular services in the late 1990s The main purpose of these services was to target customers from all sections of society (unlike post-paid services which were targeted only at the premium segment)
Bhartirsquos Mission
9
Study of Airtel Marketing
To be globally admired for telecom services that delight customers
We will meet global standards for telecom services that delight customers through
bull Customer Service Focus
bull Empowered Employees
bull Cost Efficiency
bull Unified Messaging Solutions
bull Innovative products and services
bull Error- free service delivery
10
Study of Airtel Marketing
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Company has an optimum mix of Executive and Non-Executive Directors which consists of three Executive and fifteen Non-Executive Directors
The Chairman and Managing Director Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal is an Executive Director and the number of Independent Directors on the Board is 50 of the total Board strength The independence of a Director is determined on the basis that such director does not have any material pecuniary relationship with the Company its promoters or its management which may affect the independence of the judgment of a Director
The Board members possess requisite skills experience and expertise required to take decisions which are in the best interest of the Company
The composition of the Board is as under
Sunil Bharti Mittal Rajan Bharti Mittal Akhil Gupta Rakesh Bharti Mittal Chua Sock Koong N Kumar Kurt Hellstorm Donald Cameron Paul OrsquoSullivan Professor VS Raju Pulak Chandan Prasad Bashir Abdullah Currimjee Gavin Darby Syeda Imam Ajay Lal York Chye Chang Paul Donovan Arun Bharat Ram
11
Study of Airtel Marketing
ACHIEVEMENTS
First to launch Cellular service on November 1995
First operator to revolutionaries the concept of retailing with the inauguration of AirTel Connect (exclusive showrooms) in 1995
First to introduce push button phone in India
First to expand its network with the installation for second mobile switching center in April 1997 and the first to introduce the Intelligent Network Platform First to provide Roaming to its subscribers by forming an association called World 1 Network
First to provide roaming facility in USA Enjoy the mobile roaming across 38 partner networks amp above 700 cities Moreover roam across international destinations in 119 countries including USA Canada UK etc with 284 partner networks
BHARTI announces aggrement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Bharti Enterprises and AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited announce Partnership for a life insurance joint venture in India
Airtel Launches future factory - Centres of Innovation to Incubate Pioneering Mobile Applications
16 states 600 million people Only Indias leading mobile service offers you the truly freedom-packed Prepaid
It is also the first company to export its products to the USA
BHARTI announces agreement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Vodafone to invest approximately Rs 6700 crores (approx USD 15 bn) to acquire
around 10 in Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd
12
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises SingTel and Vodafone to take Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd to
unassailable leadership position in India
The largest single foreign investment ever in the history of India
The largest investment in the Indian telecom sector
Bharti establishes its supremacy in the Indian telecom market having attracted Asiarsquos
best ndash SingTel and now worldrsquos best ndash Vodafone
Bharti set to gain global leadership in the telecom sector
Bharti Enterprises continues to hold shareholding and management control in Bharti
Tele-Ventures
Awards for the year 2006-2007
BHARTI AIRTEL DRAWS TOP HONORS AT THE MIS ASIA IT EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2006
13
Study of Airtel Marketing
BHARTI AIRTEL AMONG THE TOP 10 BEST PERFORMING COMPANIES IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BUSINESSWEEK IT 100 LIST
SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL IS THE ldquoCEO OF THE YEARrdquo AT THE FROST AND SULLIVAN ASIA PACIFIC AWARDS 2006 AND BHARTI AIRTEL BAGS ldquoWIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo AND ldquoCOMPETITVE SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo
BHARTI TELE-VENTURES IS THE ldquoBEST INDIAN CARRIERrdquo AT THE TELECOM ASIA AWARDS 2006
AirTel Appropriating the value of expression
Over the last couple of years the market has grown considerably with deeper penetration and wider usage of voice and data services accompanied by much higher competitive intensity Atul Bindal chief marketing officer Bharti TeleVentures expands on this In this context differentiating merely on network coverage and SMS is just not enough You need to go beyond all the rational identifiers - which are prerequisites in any case - and connect at a deeper level We needed a strong differentiator in an increasingly commoditized and crowded market We found this differentiator in a core human truth that defines our category - which is that there are moments when you need to make your point when you need to be heard Expressing and communicating are perhaps two of the most basic emotions AirTel enables you to make your point in the most expressive way anytime anywhere The campaign is towards owning
14
Study of Airtel Marketing
this through Express yourself We believe Express yourself allows us to connect at a deeper level and create a long-term platform for the brand
For AirTel the challenge also lay in presenting a unified face to the consumer This assumes significance when viewed in the light of the companys pre- and post-paid communication which in the past had been treated very differently Brand image as a result was being driven in two different dimensions Brand AirTel is a category leader straddling completely different market segments such as consumer business and corporate as well as different voice data and payment platforms says Bindal Express yourself enables the brand to unify and connect across the entire base of our existing and prospective customersOne of the most obvious benefits of owning a property such as candid expression (and Express yourself) is the expansive nature of the thought The moment you have as broad a canvas as Express yourself it becomes easy for anyone working on the brand to come up with new ideas and executions Thats what makes a good campaign idea observes Rediffs Prashant Godbole who along with creative partner Zarvan Patel conceived the campaign This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg Patel adds We will be taking the idea forward in many different ways in the forthcoming work he informs Patel also credits his creative team for fleshing out the idea
In October 2002 Magic led the market with 30 of the market share Bharti claimed that its strategies were one of the most ambitious experiments ever in the Indian pre-paid cellular telephony market However given the increasing competitive pressure doubts were being expressed regarding the ability of Bhartis marketing initiatives to help Magic retain its Magic in the future
AIRTEL BROADBAND
Bharti Televentures is the fixed line operator business of Airtel In the recent branding exercise all the services have been offered under the Airtel brand Data is the next driver for growth This is clear to the operators who have belatedly realized the implications for having a pie in all the segments of telecommunications Hence Bharti ventured in the broadband market
However the main contention in the broadband market is the price offering which includes the bandwidth costs as well as the cost of laying down the copper wire Typically in the mentality
15
Study of Airtel Marketing
of the profit making exercise Airtel has so far focused only in those areas where it perceives that a huge market is present However I still hold that their thrust should be in smaller towns and cities where BSNL would ultimately usurp their potential customer base It seems that their fancily paid MBAs havenrsquot really understood the success of BSNL who focused on the B and C class cities where it has drawn unparalleled support despite the lousy customer experiences This is because of the absence of any other operator
The current offerings by Airtel does not really enthuse a potential customer who is looking at sustained data transfer It is the classic case of having something better than nothing
Add to the lousy customer care that Airtel is slowly perfecting it is staffed with people who usually land up in their jobs with little idea of their job profile The so-called Tech engineers have often been unable to help a customer who is facing issues with the connectivity I have read first person accounts for the same
AIRTELrsquos ENTERPRISE SERVICES
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises and is Indias leading provider of telecommunications services The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUrsquos) - mobile services broadband amp telephone services
16
Study of Airtel Marketing
(BampT) amp enterprise services The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles while the BampT business group provides broadband amp 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
Our Services
Voice Services Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
17
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises has been at the forefront of technology and has revolutionized
telecommunications with its world class products and services Established in 1976 Bharti has
been a pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and innovations to its credit
Bharti provides a range of telecom services which include Cellular Basic Internet and
recently introduced National Long Distance Bharti also manufactures and exports telephone
terminals and cordless phones Apart from being the largest manufacturer of telephone
instruments in India it is also the first company to export its products to the USA
Bharti is the leading cellular service provider with a footprint in 16 states covering all four
metros It has over 12 million satisfied customers
Bharti Enterprises has successfully focused its strategy on telecom while straddling diverse
fields of business From the creation of Airtel one of Indias finest brands to becoming the
largest manufacturer and exporter of world class telecom terminals under its Beetel brand
Bharti has created a significant position for itself in the global telecommunications
sector Bharti Tele-Ventures is today acknowledged as one of Indias finest companies and its
flagship brand Airtel has over 12 million customers across the length and breadth of India
While a joint venture with TeleTech Inc USA marked Bhartirsquos successful foray into the
Customer Management Services business Bharti Enterprisesrsquo dynamic diversification has
continued with the company venturing into telecom software development Recently Bharti has
successfully launched an international venture with EL Rothschild Group owned ELRO
Holdings India Ltd to export fresh Agri products exclusively to markets in Europe and USA
6
Study of Airtel Marketing
What other operators have achieved in one to two years Bharti has done in just over a month In July 2002
one out of every two people buying a mobile across India chose AirTel We are truly proud to be spearheading
the mobile revolution in the country
- Sunil Bharti Mittal Chairman Bharti Tele-Ventures in 2002
Vision
BY 2010 AIRTEL WILL BE THE MOST ADMIRED BRAND IN INDIA
LOVED BY MORE CUSTOMERS
TARGETED BY TOP TALENT7
Study of Airtel Marketing
BENCHMARKED BY MORE BUSINESS
AIRTEL
Airtel comes to you from Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited - a part of the biggest private integrated telecom conglomerate Bharti Enterprises A consortium of giants in the telecommunication business In its six years of pursuit of greater customer satisfaction AirTel has redefined the business through marketing innovations continuous technological up gradation of the network introduction of new generation value added services and the highest standard of customer care
Bharti is the leading cellular service provider with an all India footprint covering all 23 telecom circles of the country It has over 12 million satisfied customers
Cellular telephony was introduced in India during the early 1990s At that time there were only two major private players Bharti (Airtel) and Essar (Essar) and both these companies offered only post-paid services Initially the cellular services market registered limited growth
8
Study of Airtel Marketing
Moreover these services were mostly restricted to the metros Other factors such as lack of awareness among people lack of infrastructural facilities low standard of living and government regulations were also responsible for the slow growth of cellular phone services in India
Although the cellular services market in India grew during the late 1990s (as the number of players increased and tariffs and handset prices came down significantly) the growth was rather marginal This was because the cellular service providers offered only post-paid cellular services which were still perceived to be very costly as compared to landline communications
Following this realization the major cellular service providers in India launched pre-paid cellular services in the late 1990s The main purpose of these services was to target customers from all sections of society (unlike post-paid services which were targeted only at the premium segment)
Bhartirsquos Mission
9
Study of Airtel Marketing
To be globally admired for telecom services that delight customers
We will meet global standards for telecom services that delight customers through
bull Customer Service Focus
bull Empowered Employees
bull Cost Efficiency
bull Unified Messaging Solutions
bull Innovative products and services
bull Error- free service delivery
10
Study of Airtel Marketing
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Company has an optimum mix of Executive and Non-Executive Directors which consists of three Executive and fifteen Non-Executive Directors
The Chairman and Managing Director Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal is an Executive Director and the number of Independent Directors on the Board is 50 of the total Board strength The independence of a Director is determined on the basis that such director does not have any material pecuniary relationship with the Company its promoters or its management which may affect the independence of the judgment of a Director
The Board members possess requisite skills experience and expertise required to take decisions which are in the best interest of the Company
The composition of the Board is as under
Sunil Bharti Mittal Rajan Bharti Mittal Akhil Gupta Rakesh Bharti Mittal Chua Sock Koong N Kumar Kurt Hellstorm Donald Cameron Paul OrsquoSullivan Professor VS Raju Pulak Chandan Prasad Bashir Abdullah Currimjee Gavin Darby Syeda Imam Ajay Lal York Chye Chang Paul Donovan Arun Bharat Ram
11
Study of Airtel Marketing
ACHIEVEMENTS
First to launch Cellular service on November 1995
First operator to revolutionaries the concept of retailing with the inauguration of AirTel Connect (exclusive showrooms) in 1995
First to introduce push button phone in India
First to expand its network with the installation for second mobile switching center in April 1997 and the first to introduce the Intelligent Network Platform First to provide Roaming to its subscribers by forming an association called World 1 Network
First to provide roaming facility in USA Enjoy the mobile roaming across 38 partner networks amp above 700 cities Moreover roam across international destinations in 119 countries including USA Canada UK etc with 284 partner networks
BHARTI announces aggrement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Bharti Enterprises and AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited announce Partnership for a life insurance joint venture in India
Airtel Launches future factory - Centres of Innovation to Incubate Pioneering Mobile Applications
16 states 600 million people Only Indias leading mobile service offers you the truly freedom-packed Prepaid
It is also the first company to export its products to the USA
BHARTI announces agreement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Vodafone to invest approximately Rs 6700 crores (approx USD 15 bn) to acquire
around 10 in Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd
12
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises SingTel and Vodafone to take Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd to
unassailable leadership position in India
The largest single foreign investment ever in the history of India
The largest investment in the Indian telecom sector
Bharti establishes its supremacy in the Indian telecom market having attracted Asiarsquos
best ndash SingTel and now worldrsquos best ndash Vodafone
Bharti set to gain global leadership in the telecom sector
Bharti Enterprises continues to hold shareholding and management control in Bharti
Tele-Ventures
Awards for the year 2006-2007
BHARTI AIRTEL DRAWS TOP HONORS AT THE MIS ASIA IT EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2006
13
Study of Airtel Marketing
BHARTI AIRTEL AMONG THE TOP 10 BEST PERFORMING COMPANIES IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BUSINESSWEEK IT 100 LIST
SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL IS THE ldquoCEO OF THE YEARrdquo AT THE FROST AND SULLIVAN ASIA PACIFIC AWARDS 2006 AND BHARTI AIRTEL BAGS ldquoWIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo AND ldquoCOMPETITVE SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo
BHARTI TELE-VENTURES IS THE ldquoBEST INDIAN CARRIERrdquo AT THE TELECOM ASIA AWARDS 2006
AirTel Appropriating the value of expression
Over the last couple of years the market has grown considerably with deeper penetration and wider usage of voice and data services accompanied by much higher competitive intensity Atul Bindal chief marketing officer Bharti TeleVentures expands on this In this context differentiating merely on network coverage and SMS is just not enough You need to go beyond all the rational identifiers - which are prerequisites in any case - and connect at a deeper level We needed a strong differentiator in an increasingly commoditized and crowded market We found this differentiator in a core human truth that defines our category - which is that there are moments when you need to make your point when you need to be heard Expressing and communicating are perhaps two of the most basic emotions AirTel enables you to make your point in the most expressive way anytime anywhere The campaign is towards owning
14
Study of Airtel Marketing
this through Express yourself We believe Express yourself allows us to connect at a deeper level and create a long-term platform for the brand
For AirTel the challenge also lay in presenting a unified face to the consumer This assumes significance when viewed in the light of the companys pre- and post-paid communication which in the past had been treated very differently Brand image as a result was being driven in two different dimensions Brand AirTel is a category leader straddling completely different market segments such as consumer business and corporate as well as different voice data and payment platforms says Bindal Express yourself enables the brand to unify and connect across the entire base of our existing and prospective customersOne of the most obvious benefits of owning a property such as candid expression (and Express yourself) is the expansive nature of the thought The moment you have as broad a canvas as Express yourself it becomes easy for anyone working on the brand to come up with new ideas and executions Thats what makes a good campaign idea observes Rediffs Prashant Godbole who along with creative partner Zarvan Patel conceived the campaign This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg Patel adds We will be taking the idea forward in many different ways in the forthcoming work he informs Patel also credits his creative team for fleshing out the idea
In October 2002 Magic led the market with 30 of the market share Bharti claimed that its strategies were one of the most ambitious experiments ever in the Indian pre-paid cellular telephony market However given the increasing competitive pressure doubts were being expressed regarding the ability of Bhartis marketing initiatives to help Magic retain its Magic in the future
AIRTEL BROADBAND
Bharti Televentures is the fixed line operator business of Airtel In the recent branding exercise all the services have been offered under the Airtel brand Data is the next driver for growth This is clear to the operators who have belatedly realized the implications for having a pie in all the segments of telecommunications Hence Bharti ventured in the broadband market
However the main contention in the broadband market is the price offering which includes the bandwidth costs as well as the cost of laying down the copper wire Typically in the mentality
15
Study of Airtel Marketing
of the profit making exercise Airtel has so far focused only in those areas where it perceives that a huge market is present However I still hold that their thrust should be in smaller towns and cities where BSNL would ultimately usurp their potential customer base It seems that their fancily paid MBAs havenrsquot really understood the success of BSNL who focused on the B and C class cities where it has drawn unparalleled support despite the lousy customer experiences This is because of the absence of any other operator
The current offerings by Airtel does not really enthuse a potential customer who is looking at sustained data transfer It is the classic case of having something better than nothing
Add to the lousy customer care that Airtel is slowly perfecting it is staffed with people who usually land up in their jobs with little idea of their job profile The so-called Tech engineers have often been unable to help a customer who is facing issues with the connectivity I have read first person accounts for the same
AIRTELrsquos ENTERPRISE SERVICES
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises and is Indias leading provider of telecommunications services The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUrsquos) - mobile services broadband amp telephone services
16
Study of Airtel Marketing
(BampT) amp enterprise services The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles while the BampT business group provides broadband amp 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
Our Services
Voice Services Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
17
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
What other operators have achieved in one to two years Bharti has done in just over a month In July 2002
one out of every two people buying a mobile across India chose AirTel We are truly proud to be spearheading
the mobile revolution in the country
- Sunil Bharti Mittal Chairman Bharti Tele-Ventures in 2002
Vision
BY 2010 AIRTEL WILL BE THE MOST ADMIRED BRAND IN INDIA
LOVED BY MORE CUSTOMERS
TARGETED BY TOP TALENT7
Study of Airtel Marketing
BENCHMARKED BY MORE BUSINESS
AIRTEL
Airtel comes to you from Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited - a part of the biggest private integrated telecom conglomerate Bharti Enterprises A consortium of giants in the telecommunication business In its six years of pursuit of greater customer satisfaction AirTel has redefined the business through marketing innovations continuous technological up gradation of the network introduction of new generation value added services and the highest standard of customer care
Bharti is the leading cellular service provider with an all India footprint covering all 23 telecom circles of the country It has over 12 million satisfied customers
Cellular telephony was introduced in India during the early 1990s At that time there were only two major private players Bharti (Airtel) and Essar (Essar) and both these companies offered only post-paid services Initially the cellular services market registered limited growth
8
Study of Airtel Marketing
Moreover these services were mostly restricted to the metros Other factors such as lack of awareness among people lack of infrastructural facilities low standard of living and government regulations were also responsible for the slow growth of cellular phone services in India
Although the cellular services market in India grew during the late 1990s (as the number of players increased and tariffs and handset prices came down significantly) the growth was rather marginal This was because the cellular service providers offered only post-paid cellular services which were still perceived to be very costly as compared to landline communications
Following this realization the major cellular service providers in India launched pre-paid cellular services in the late 1990s The main purpose of these services was to target customers from all sections of society (unlike post-paid services which were targeted only at the premium segment)
Bhartirsquos Mission
9
Study of Airtel Marketing
To be globally admired for telecom services that delight customers
We will meet global standards for telecom services that delight customers through
bull Customer Service Focus
bull Empowered Employees
bull Cost Efficiency
bull Unified Messaging Solutions
bull Innovative products and services
bull Error- free service delivery
10
Study of Airtel Marketing
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Company has an optimum mix of Executive and Non-Executive Directors which consists of three Executive and fifteen Non-Executive Directors
The Chairman and Managing Director Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal is an Executive Director and the number of Independent Directors on the Board is 50 of the total Board strength The independence of a Director is determined on the basis that such director does not have any material pecuniary relationship with the Company its promoters or its management which may affect the independence of the judgment of a Director
The Board members possess requisite skills experience and expertise required to take decisions which are in the best interest of the Company
The composition of the Board is as under
Sunil Bharti Mittal Rajan Bharti Mittal Akhil Gupta Rakesh Bharti Mittal Chua Sock Koong N Kumar Kurt Hellstorm Donald Cameron Paul OrsquoSullivan Professor VS Raju Pulak Chandan Prasad Bashir Abdullah Currimjee Gavin Darby Syeda Imam Ajay Lal York Chye Chang Paul Donovan Arun Bharat Ram
11
Study of Airtel Marketing
ACHIEVEMENTS
First to launch Cellular service on November 1995
First operator to revolutionaries the concept of retailing with the inauguration of AirTel Connect (exclusive showrooms) in 1995
First to introduce push button phone in India
First to expand its network with the installation for second mobile switching center in April 1997 and the first to introduce the Intelligent Network Platform First to provide Roaming to its subscribers by forming an association called World 1 Network
First to provide roaming facility in USA Enjoy the mobile roaming across 38 partner networks amp above 700 cities Moreover roam across international destinations in 119 countries including USA Canada UK etc with 284 partner networks
BHARTI announces aggrement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Bharti Enterprises and AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited announce Partnership for a life insurance joint venture in India
Airtel Launches future factory - Centres of Innovation to Incubate Pioneering Mobile Applications
16 states 600 million people Only Indias leading mobile service offers you the truly freedom-packed Prepaid
It is also the first company to export its products to the USA
BHARTI announces agreement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Vodafone to invest approximately Rs 6700 crores (approx USD 15 bn) to acquire
around 10 in Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd
12
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises SingTel and Vodafone to take Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd to
unassailable leadership position in India
The largest single foreign investment ever in the history of India
The largest investment in the Indian telecom sector
Bharti establishes its supremacy in the Indian telecom market having attracted Asiarsquos
best ndash SingTel and now worldrsquos best ndash Vodafone
Bharti set to gain global leadership in the telecom sector
Bharti Enterprises continues to hold shareholding and management control in Bharti
Tele-Ventures
Awards for the year 2006-2007
BHARTI AIRTEL DRAWS TOP HONORS AT THE MIS ASIA IT EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2006
13
Study of Airtel Marketing
BHARTI AIRTEL AMONG THE TOP 10 BEST PERFORMING COMPANIES IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BUSINESSWEEK IT 100 LIST
SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL IS THE ldquoCEO OF THE YEARrdquo AT THE FROST AND SULLIVAN ASIA PACIFIC AWARDS 2006 AND BHARTI AIRTEL BAGS ldquoWIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo AND ldquoCOMPETITVE SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo
BHARTI TELE-VENTURES IS THE ldquoBEST INDIAN CARRIERrdquo AT THE TELECOM ASIA AWARDS 2006
AirTel Appropriating the value of expression
Over the last couple of years the market has grown considerably with deeper penetration and wider usage of voice and data services accompanied by much higher competitive intensity Atul Bindal chief marketing officer Bharti TeleVentures expands on this In this context differentiating merely on network coverage and SMS is just not enough You need to go beyond all the rational identifiers - which are prerequisites in any case - and connect at a deeper level We needed a strong differentiator in an increasingly commoditized and crowded market We found this differentiator in a core human truth that defines our category - which is that there are moments when you need to make your point when you need to be heard Expressing and communicating are perhaps two of the most basic emotions AirTel enables you to make your point in the most expressive way anytime anywhere The campaign is towards owning
14
Study of Airtel Marketing
this through Express yourself We believe Express yourself allows us to connect at a deeper level and create a long-term platform for the brand
For AirTel the challenge also lay in presenting a unified face to the consumer This assumes significance when viewed in the light of the companys pre- and post-paid communication which in the past had been treated very differently Brand image as a result was being driven in two different dimensions Brand AirTel is a category leader straddling completely different market segments such as consumer business and corporate as well as different voice data and payment platforms says Bindal Express yourself enables the brand to unify and connect across the entire base of our existing and prospective customersOne of the most obvious benefits of owning a property such as candid expression (and Express yourself) is the expansive nature of the thought The moment you have as broad a canvas as Express yourself it becomes easy for anyone working on the brand to come up with new ideas and executions Thats what makes a good campaign idea observes Rediffs Prashant Godbole who along with creative partner Zarvan Patel conceived the campaign This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg Patel adds We will be taking the idea forward in many different ways in the forthcoming work he informs Patel also credits his creative team for fleshing out the idea
In October 2002 Magic led the market with 30 of the market share Bharti claimed that its strategies were one of the most ambitious experiments ever in the Indian pre-paid cellular telephony market However given the increasing competitive pressure doubts were being expressed regarding the ability of Bhartis marketing initiatives to help Magic retain its Magic in the future
AIRTEL BROADBAND
Bharti Televentures is the fixed line operator business of Airtel In the recent branding exercise all the services have been offered under the Airtel brand Data is the next driver for growth This is clear to the operators who have belatedly realized the implications for having a pie in all the segments of telecommunications Hence Bharti ventured in the broadband market
However the main contention in the broadband market is the price offering which includes the bandwidth costs as well as the cost of laying down the copper wire Typically in the mentality
15
Study of Airtel Marketing
of the profit making exercise Airtel has so far focused only in those areas where it perceives that a huge market is present However I still hold that their thrust should be in smaller towns and cities where BSNL would ultimately usurp their potential customer base It seems that their fancily paid MBAs havenrsquot really understood the success of BSNL who focused on the B and C class cities where it has drawn unparalleled support despite the lousy customer experiences This is because of the absence of any other operator
The current offerings by Airtel does not really enthuse a potential customer who is looking at sustained data transfer It is the classic case of having something better than nothing
Add to the lousy customer care that Airtel is slowly perfecting it is staffed with people who usually land up in their jobs with little idea of their job profile The so-called Tech engineers have often been unable to help a customer who is facing issues with the connectivity I have read first person accounts for the same
AIRTELrsquos ENTERPRISE SERVICES
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises and is Indias leading provider of telecommunications services The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUrsquos) - mobile services broadband amp telephone services
16
Study of Airtel Marketing
(BampT) amp enterprise services The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles while the BampT business group provides broadband amp 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
Our Services
Voice Services Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
17
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
BENCHMARKED BY MORE BUSINESS
AIRTEL
Airtel comes to you from Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited - a part of the biggest private integrated telecom conglomerate Bharti Enterprises A consortium of giants in the telecommunication business In its six years of pursuit of greater customer satisfaction AirTel has redefined the business through marketing innovations continuous technological up gradation of the network introduction of new generation value added services and the highest standard of customer care
Bharti is the leading cellular service provider with an all India footprint covering all 23 telecom circles of the country It has over 12 million satisfied customers
Cellular telephony was introduced in India during the early 1990s At that time there were only two major private players Bharti (Airtel) and Essar (Essar) and both these companies offered only post-paid services Initially the cellular services market registered limited growth
8
Study of Airtel Marketing
Moreover these services were mostly restricted to the metros Other factors such as lack of awareness among people lack of infrastructural facilities low standard of living and government regulations were also responsible for the slow growth of cellular phone services in India
Although the cellular services market in India grew during the late 1990s (as the number of players increased and tariffs and handset prices came down significantly) the growth was rather marginal This was because the cellular service providers offered only post-paid cellular services which were still perceived to be very costly as compared to landline communications
Following this realization the major cellular service providers in India launched pre-paid cellular services in the late 1990s The main purpose of these services was to target customers from all sections of society (unlike post-paid services which were targeted only at the premium segment)
Bhartirsquos Mission
9
Study of Airtel Marketing
To be globally admired for telecom services that delight customers
We will meet global standards for telecom services that delight customers through
bull Customer Service Focus
bull Empowered Employees
bull Cost Efficiency
bull Unified Messaging Solutions
bull Innovative products and services
bull Error- free service delivery
10
Study of Airtel Marketing
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Company has an optimum mix of Executive and Non-Executive Directors which consists of three Executive and fifteen Non-Executive Directors
The Chairman and Managing Director Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal is an Executive Director and the number of Independent Directors on the Board is 50 of the total Board strength The independence of a Director is determined on the basis that such director does not have any material pecuniary relationship with the Company its promoters or its management which may affect the independence of the judgment of a Director
The Board members possess requisite skills experience and expertise required to take decisions which are in the best interest of the Company
The composition of the Board is as under
Sunil Bharti Mittal Rajan Bharti Mittal Akhil Gupta Rakesh Bharti Mittal Chua Sock Koong N Kumar Kurt Hellstorm Donald Cameron Paul OrsquoSullivan Professor VS Raju Pulak Chandan Prasad Bashir Abdullah Currimjee Gavin Darby Syeda Imam Ajay Lal York Chye Chang Paul Donovan Arun Bharat Ram
11
Study of Airtel Marketing
ACHIEVEMENTS
First to launch Cellular service on November 1995
First operator to revolutionaries the concept of retailing with the inauguration of AirTel Connect (exclusive showrooms) in 1995
First to introduce push button phone in India
First to expand its network with the installation for second mobile switching center in April 1997 and the first to introduce the Intelligent Network Platform First to provide Roaming to its subscribers by forming an association called World 1 Network
First to provide roaming facility in USA Enjoy the mobile roaming across 38 partner networks amp above 700 cities Moreover roam across international destinations in 119 countries including USA Canada UK etc with 284 partner networks
BHARTI announces aggrement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Bharti Enterprises and AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited announce Partnership for a life insurance joint venture in India
Airtel Launches future factory - Centres of Innovation to Incubate Pioneering Mobile Applications
16 states 600 million people Only Indias leading mobile service offers you the truly freedom-packed Prepaid
It is also the first company to export its products to the USA
BHARTI announces agreement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Vodafone to invest approximately Rs 6700 crores (approx USD 15 bn) to acquire
around 10 in Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd
12
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises SingTel and Vodafone to take Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd to
unassailable leadership position in India
The largest single foreign investment ever in the history of India
The largest investment in the Indian telecom sector
Bharti establishes its supremacy in the Indian telecom market having attracted Asiarsquos
best ndash SingTel and now worldrsquos best ndash Vodafone
Bharti set to gain global leadership in the telecom sector
Bharti Enterprises continues to hold shareholding and management control in Bharti
Tele-Ventures
Awards for the year 2006-2007
BHARTI AIRTEL DRAWS TOP HONORS AT THE MIS ASIA IT EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2006
13
Study of Airtel Marketing
BHARTI AIRTEL AMONG THE TOP 10 BEST PERFORMING COMPANIES IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BUSINESSWEEK IT 100 LIST
SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL IS THE ldquoCEO OF THE YEARrdquo AT THE FROST AND SULLIVAN ASIA PACIFIC AWARDS 2006 AND BHARTI AIRTEL BAGS ldquoWIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo AND ldquoCOMPETITVE SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo
BHARTI TELE-VENTURES IS THE ldquoBEST INDIAN CARRIERrdquo AT THE TELECOM ASIA AWARDS 2006
AirTel Appropriating the value of expression
Over the last couple of years the market has grown considerably with deeper penetration and wider usage of voice and data services accompanied by much higher competitive intensity Atul Bindal chief marketing officer Bharti TeleVentures expands on this In this context differentiating merely on network coverage and SMS is just not enough You need to go beyond all the rational identifiers - which are prerequisites in any case - and connect at a deeper level We needed a strong differentiator in an increasingly commoditized and crowded market We found this differentiator in a core human truth that defines our category - which is that there are moments when you need to make your point when you need to be heard Expressing and communicating are perhaps two of the most basic emotions AirTel enables you to make your point in the most expressive way anytime anywhere The campaign is towards owning
14
Study of Airtel Marketing
this through Express yourself We believe Express yourself allows us to connect at a deeper level and create a long-term platform for the brand
For AirTel the challenge also lay in presenting a unified face to the consumer This assumes significance when viewed in the light of the companys pre- and post-paid communication which in the past had been treated very differently Brand image as a result was being driven in two different dimensions Brand AirTel is a category leader straddling completely different market segments such as consumer business and corporate as well as different voice data and payment platforms says Bindal Express yourself enables the brand to unify and connect across the entire base of our existing and prospective customersOne of the most obvious benefits of owning a property such as candid expression (and Express yourself) is the expansive nature of the thought The moment you have as broad a canvas as Express yourself it becomes easy for anyone working on the brand to come up with new ideas and executions Thats what makes a good campaign idea observes Rediffs Prashant Godbole who along with creative partner Zarvan Patel conceived the campaign This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg Patel adds We will be taking the idea forward in many different ways in the forthcoming work he informs Patel also credits his creative team for fleshing out the idea
In October 2002 Magic led the market with 30 of the market share Bharti claimed that its strategies were one of the most ambitious experiments ever in the Indian pre-paid cellular telephony market However given the increasing competitive pressure doubts were being expressed regarding the ability of Bhartis marketing initiatives to help Magic retain its Magic in the future
AIRTEL BROADBAND
Bharti Televentures is the fixed line operator business of Airtel In the recent branding exercise all the services have been offered under the Airtel brand Data is the next driver for growth This is clear to the operators who have belatedly realized the implications for having a pie in all the segments of telecommunications Hence Bharti ventured in the broadband market
However the main contention in the broadband market is the price offering which includes the bandwidth costs as well as the cost of laying down the copper wire Typically in the mentality
15
Study of Airtel Marketing
of the profit making exercise Airtel has so far focused only in those areas where it perceives that a huge market is present However I still hold that their thrust should be in smaller towns and cities where BSNL would ultimately usurp their potential customer base It seems that their fancily paid MBAs havenrsquot really understood the success of BSNL who focused on the B and C class cities where it has drawn unparalleled support despite the lousy customer experiences This is because of the absence of any other operator
The current offerings by Airtel does not really enthuse a potential customer who is looking at sustained data transfer It is the classic case of having something better than nothing
Add to the lousy customer care that Airtel is slowly perfecting it is staffed with people who usually land up in their jobs with little idea of their job profile The so-called Tech engineers have often been unable to help a customer who is facing issues with the connectivity I have read first person accounts for the same
AIRTELrsquos ENTERPRISE SERVICES
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises and is Indias leading provider of telecommunications services The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUrsquos) - mobile services broadband amp telephone services
16
Study of Airtel Marketing
(BampT) amp enterprise services The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles while the BampT business group provides broadband amp 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
Our Services
Voice Services Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
17
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
Moreover these services were mostly restricted to the metros Other factors such as lack of awareness among people lack of infrastructural facilities low standard of living and government regulations were also responsible for the slow growth of cellular phone services in India
Although the cellular services market in India grew during the late 1990s (as the number of players increased and tariffs and handset prices came down significantly) the growth was rather marginal This was because the cellular service providers offered only post-paid cellular services which were still perceived to be very costly as compared to landline communications
Following this realization the major cellular service providers in India launched pre-paid cellular services in the late 1990s The main purpose of these services was to target customers from all sections of society (unlike post-paid services which were targeted only at the premium segment)
Bhartirsquos Mission
9
Study of Airtel Marketing
To be globally admired for telecom services that delight customers
We will meet global standards for telecom services that delight customers through
bull Customer Service Focus
bull Empowered Employees
bull Cost Efficiency
bull Unified Messaging Solutions
bull Innovative products and services
bull Error- free service delivery
10
Study of Airtel Marketing
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Company has an optimum mix of Executive and Non-Executive Directors which consists of three Executive and fifteen Non-Executive Directors
The Chairman and Managing Director Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal is an Executive Director and the number of Independent Directors on the Board is 50 of the total Board strength The independence of a Director is determined on the basis that such director does not have any material pecuniary relationship with the Company its promoters or its management which may affect the independence of the judgment of a Director
The Board members possess requisite skills experience and expertise required to take decisions which are in the best interest of the Company
The composition of the Board is as under
Sunil Bharti Mittal Rajan Bharti Mittal Akhil Gupta Rakesh Bharti Mittal Chua Sock Koong N Kumar Kurt Hellstorm Donald Cameron Paul OrsquoSullivan Professor VS Raju Pulak Chandan Prasad Bashir Abdullah Currimjee Gavin Darby Syeda Imam Ajay Lal York Chye Chang Paul Donovan Arun Bharat Ram
11
Study of Airtel Marketing
ACHIEVEMENTS
First to launch Cellular service on November 1995
First operator to revolutionaries the concept of retailing with the inauguration of AirTel Connect (exclusive showrooms) in 1995
First to introduce push button phone in India
First to expand its network with the installation for second mobile switching center in April 1997 and the first to introduce the Intelligent Network Platform First to provide Roaming to its subscribers by forming an association called World 1 Network
First to provide roaming facility in USA Enjoy the mobile roaming across 38 partner networks amp above 700 cities Moreover roam across international destinations in 119 countries including USA Canada UK etc with 284 partner networks
BHARTI announces aggrement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Bharti Enterprises and AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited announce Partnership for a life insurance joint venture in India
Airtel Launches future factory - Centres of Innovation to Incubate Pioneering Mobile Applications
16 states 600 million people Only Indias leading mobile service offers you the truly freedom-packed Prepaid
It is also the first company to export its products to the USA
BHARTI announces agreement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Vodafone to invest approximately Rs 6700 crores (approx USD 15 bn) to acquire
around 10 in Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd
12
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises SingTel and Vodafone to take Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd to
unassailable leadership position in India
The largest single foreign investment ever in the history of India
The largest investment in the Indian telecom sector
Bharti establishes its supremacy in the Indian telecom market having attracted Asiarsquos
best ndash SingTel and now worldrsquos best ndash Vodafone
Bharti set to gain global leadership in the telecom sector
Bharti Enterprises continues to hold shareholding and management control in Bharti
Tele-Ventures
Awards for the year 2006-2007
BHARTI AIRTEL DRAWS TOP HONORS AT THE MIS ASIA IT EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2006
13
Study of Airtel Marketing
BHARTI AIRTEL AMONG THE TOP 10 BEST PERFORMING COMPANIES IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BUSINESSWEEK IT 100 LIST
SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL IS THE ldquoCEO OF THE YEARrdquo AT THE FROST AND SULLIVAN ASIA PACIFIC AWARDS 2006 AND BHARTI AIRTEL BAGS ldquoWIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo AND ldquoCOMPETITVE SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo
BHARTI TELE-VENTURES IS THE ldquoBEST INDIAN CARRIERrdquo AT THE TELECOM ASIA AWARDS 2006
AirTel Appropriating the value of expression
Over the last couple of years the market has grown considerably with deeper penetration and wider usage of voice and data services accompanied by much higher competitive intensity Atul Bindal chief marketing officer Bharti TeleVentures expands on this In this context differentiating merely on network coverage and SMS is just not enough You need to go beyond all the rational identifiers - which are prerequisites in any case - and connect at a deeper level We needed a strong differentiator in an increasingly commoditized and crowded market We found this differentiator in a core human truth that defines our category - which is that there are moments when you need to make your point when you need to be heard Expressing and communicating are perhaps two of the most basic emotions AirTel enables you to make your point in the most expressive way anytime anywhere The campaign is towards owning
14
Study of Airtel Marketing
this through Express yourself We believe Express yourself allows us to connect at a deeper level and create a long-term platform for the brand
For AirTel the challenge also lay in presenting a unified face to the consumer This assumes significance when viewed in the light of the companys pre- and post-paid communication which in the past had been treated very differently Brand image as a result was being driven in two different dimensions Brand AirTel is a category leader straddling completely different market segments such as consumer business and corporate as well as different voice data and payment platforms says Bindal Express yourself enables the brand to unify and connect across the entire base of our existing and prospective customersOne of the most obvious benefits of owning a property such as candid expression (and Express yourself) is the expansive nature of the thought The moment you have as broad a canvas as Express yourself it becomes easy for anyone working on the brand to come up with new ideas and executions Thats what makes a good campaign idea observes Rediffs Prashant Godbole who along with creative partner Zarvan Patel conceived the campaign This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg Patel adds We will be taking the idea forward in many different ways in the forthcoming work he informs Patel also credits his creative team for fleshing out the idea
In October 2002 Magic led the market with 30 of the market share Bharti claimed that its strategies were one of the most ambitious experiments ever in the Indian pre-paid cellular telephony market However given the increasing competitive pressure doubts were being expressed regarding the ability of Bhartis marketing initiatives to help Magic retain its Magic in the future
AIRTEL BROADBAND
Bharti Televentures is the fixed line operator business of Airtel In the recent branding exercise all the services have been offered under the Airtel brand Data is the next driver for growth This is clear to the operators who have belatedly realized the implications for having a pie in all the segments of telecommunications Hence Bharti ventured in the broadband market
However the main contention in the broadband market is the price offering which includes the bandwidth costs as well as the cost of laying down the copper wire Typically in the mentality
15
Study of Airtel Marketing
of the profit making exercise Airtel has so far focused only in those areas where it perceives that a huge market is present However I still hold that their thrust should be in smaller towns and cities where BSNL would ultimately usurp their potential customer base It seems that their fancily paid MBAs havenrsquot really understood the success of BSNL who focused on the B and C class cities where it has drawn unparalleled support despite the lousy customer experiences This is because of the absence of any other operator
The current offerings by Airtel does not really enthuse a potential customer who is looking at sustained data transfer It is the classic case of having something better than nothing
Add to the lousy customer care that Airtel is slowly perfecting it is staffed with people who usually land up in their jobs with little idea of their job profile The so-called Tech engineers have often been unable to help a customer who is facing issues with the connectivity I have read first person accounts for the same
AIRTELrsquos ENTERPRISE SERVICES
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises and is Indias leading provider of telecommunications services The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUrsquos) - mobile services broadband amp telephone services
16
Study of Airtel Marketing
(BampT) amp enterprise services The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles while the BampT business group provides broadband amp 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
Our Services
Voice Services Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
17
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
To be globally admired for telecom services that delight customers
We will meet global standards for telecom services that delight customers through
bull Customer Service Focus
bull Empowered Employees
bull Cost Efficiency
bull Unified Messaging Solutions
bull Innovative products and services
bull Error- free service delivery
10
Study of Airtel Marketing
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Company has an optimum mix of Executive and Non-Executive Directors which consists of three Executive and fifteen Non-Executive Directors
The Chairman and Managing Director Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal is an Executive Director and the number of Independent Directors on the Board is 50 of the total Board strength The independence of a Director is determined on the basis that such director does not have any material pecuniary relationship with the Company its promoters or its management which may affect the independence of the judgment of a Director
The Board members possess requisite skills experience and expertise required to take decisions which are in the best interest of the Company
The composition of the Board is as under
Sunil Bharti Mittal Rajan Bharti Mittal Akhil Gupta Rakesh Bharti Mittal Chua Sock Koong N Kumar Kurt Hellstorm Donald Cameron Paul OrsquoSullivan Professor VS Raju Pulak Chandan Prasad Bashir Abdullah Currimjee Gavin Darby Syeda Imam Ajay Lal York Chye Chang Paul Donovan Arun Bharat Ram
11
Study of Airtel Marketing
ACHIEVEMENTS
First to launch Cellular service on November 1995
First operator to revolutionaries the concept of retailing with the inauguration of AirTel Connect (exclusive showrooms) in 1995
First to introduce push button phone in India
First to expand its network with the installation for second mobile switching center in April 1997 and the first to introduce the Intelligent Network Platform First to provide Roaming to its subscribers by forming an association called World 1 Network
First to provide roaming facility in USA Enjoy the mobile roaming across 38 partner networks amp above 700 cities Moreover roam across international destinations in 119 countries including USA Canada UK etc with 284 partner networks
BHARTI announces aggrement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Bharti Enterprises and AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited announce Partnership for a life insurance joint venture in India
Airtel Launches future factory - Centres of Innovation to Incubate Pioneering Mobile Applications
16 states 600 million people Only Indias leading mobile service offers you the truly freedom-packed Prepaid
It is also the first company to export its products to the USA
BHARTI announces agreement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Vodafone to invest approximately Rs 6700 crores (approx USD 15 bn) to acquire
around 10 in Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd
12
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises SingTel and Vodafone to take Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd to
unassailable leadership position in India
The largest single foreign investment ever in the history of India
The largest investment in the Indian telecom sector
Bharti establishes its supremacy in the Indian telecom market having attracted Asiarsquos
best ndash SingTel and now worldrsquos best ndash Vodafone
Bharti set to gain global leadership in the telecom sector
Bharti Enterprises continues to hold shareholding and management control in Bharti
Tele-Ventures
Awards for the year 2006-2007
BHARTI AIRTEL DRAWS TOP HONORS AT THE MIS ASIA IT EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2006
13
Study of Airtel Marketing
BHARTI AIRTEL AMONG THE TOP 10 BEST PERFORMING COMPANIES IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BUSINESSWEEK IT 100 LIST
SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL IS THE ldquoCEO OF THE YEARrdquo AT THE FROST AND SULLIVAN ASIA PACIFIC AWARDS 2006 AND BHARTI AIRTEL BAGS ldquoWIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo AND ldquoCOMPETITVE SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo
BHARTI TELE-VENTURES IS THE ldquoBEST INDIAN CARRIERrdquo AT THE TELECOM ASIA AWARDS 2006
AirTel Appropriating the value of expression
Over the last couple of years the market has grown considerably with deeper penetration and wider usage of voice and data services accompanied by much higher competitive intensity Atul Bindal chief marketing officer Bharti TeleVentures expands on this In this context differentiating merely on network coverage and SMS is just not enough You need to go beyond all the rational identifiers - which are prerequisites in any case - and connect at a deeper level We needed a strong differentiator in an increasingly commoditized and crowded market We found this differentiator in a core human truth that defines our category - which is that there are moments when you need to make your point when you need to be heard Expressing and communicating are perhaps two of the most basic emotions AirTel enables you to make your point in the most expressive way anytime anywhere The campaign is towards owning
14
Study of Airtel Marketing
this through Express yourself We believe Express yourself allows us to connect at a deeper level and create a long-term platform for the brand
For AirTel the challenge also lay in presenting a unified face to the consumer This assumes significance when viewed in the light of the companys pre- and post-paid communication which in the past had been treated very differently Brand image as a result was being driven in two different dimensions Brand AirTel is a category leader straddling completely different market segments such as consumer business and corporate as well as different voice data and payment platforms says Bindal Express yourself enables the brand to unify and connect across the entire base of our existing and prospective customersOne of the most obvious benefits of owning a property such as candid expression (and Express yourself) is the expansive nature of the thought The moment you have as broad a canvas as Express yourself it becomes easy for anyone working on the brand to come up with new ideas and executions Thats what makes a good campaign idea observes Rediffs Prashant Godbole who along with creative partner Zarvan Patel conceived the campaign This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg Patel adds We will be taking the idea forward in many different ways in the forthcoming work he informs Patel also credits his creative team for fleshing out the idea
In October 2002 Magic led the market with 30 of the market share Bharti claimed that its strategies were one of the most ambitious experiments ever in the Indian pre-paid cellular telephony market However given the increasing competitive pressure doubts were being expressed regarding the ability of Bhartis marketing initiatives to help Magic retain its Magic in the future
AIRTEL BROADBAND
Bharti Televentures is the fixed line operator business of Airtel In the recent branding exercise all the services have been offered under the Airtel brand Data is the next driver for growth This is clear to the operators who have belatedly realized the implications for having a pie in all the segments of telecommunications Hence Bharti ventured in the broadband market
However the main contention in the broadband market is the price offering which includes the bandwidth costs as well as the cost of laying down the copper wire Typically in the mentality
15
Study of Airtel Marketing
of the profit making exercise Airtel has so far focused only in those areas where it perceives that a huge market is present However I still hold that their thrust should be in smaller towns and cities where BSNL would ultimately usurp their potential customer base It seems that their fancily paid MBAs havenrsquot really understood the success of BSNL who focused on the B and C class cities where it has drawn unparalleled support despite the lousy customer experiences This is because of the absence of any other operator
The current offerings by Airtel does not really enthuse a potential customer who is looking at sustained data transfer It is the classic case of having something better than nothing
Add to the lousy customer care that Airtel is slowly perfecting it is staffed with people who usually land up in their jobs with little idea of their job profile The so-called Tech engineers have often been unable to help a customer who is facing issues with the connectivity I have read first person accounts for the same
AIRTELrsquos ENTERPRISE SERVICES
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises and is Indias leading provider of telecommunications services The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUrsquos) - mobile services broadband amp telephone services
16
Study of Airtel Marketing
(BampT) amp enterprise services The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles while the BampT business group provides broadband amp 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
Our Services
Voice Services Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
17
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Company has an optimum mix of Executive and Non-Executive Directors which consists of three Executive and fifteen Non-Executive Directors
The Chairman and Managing Director Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal is an Executive Director and the number of Independent Directors on the Board is 50 of the total Board strength The independence of a Director is determined on the basis that such director does not have any material pecuniary relationship with the Company its promoters or its management which may affect the independence of the judgment of a Director
The Board members possess requisite skills experience and expertise required to take decisions which are in the best interest of the Company
The composition of the Board is as under
Sunil Bharti Mittal Rajan Bharti Mittal Akhil Gupta Rakesh Bharti Mittal Chua Sock Koong N Kumar Kurt Hellstorm Donald Cameron Paul OrsquoSullivan Professor VS Raju Pulak Chandan Prasad Bashir Abdullah Currimjee Gavin Darby Syeda Imam Ajay Lal York Chye Chang Paul Donovan Arun Bharat Ram
11
Study of Airtel Marketing
ACHIEVEMENTS
First to launch Cellular service on November 1995
First operator to revolutionaries the concept of retailing with the inauguration of AirTel Connect (exclusive showrooms) in 1995
First to introduce push button phone in India
First to expand its network with the installation for second mobile switching center in April 1997 and the first to introduce the Intelligent Network Platform First to provide Roaming to its subscribers by forming an association called World 1 Network
First to provide roaming facility in USA Enjoy the mobile roaming across 38 partner networks amp above 700 cities Moreover roam across international destinations in 119 countries including USA Canada UK etc with 284 partner networks
BHARTI announces aggrement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Bharti Enterprises and AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited announce Partnership for a life insurance joint venture in India
Airtel Launches future factory - Centres of Innovation to Incubate Pioneering Mobile Applications
16 states 600 million people Only Indias leading mobile service offers you the truly freedom-packed Prepaid
It is also the first company to export its products to the USA
BHARTI announces agreement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Vodafone to invest approximately Rs 6700 crores (approx USD 15 bn) to acquire
around 10 in Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd
12
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises SingTel and Vodafone to take Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd to
unassailable leadership position in India
The largest single foreign investment ever in the history of India
The largest investment in the Indian telecom sector
Bharti establishes its supremacy in the Indian telecom market having attracted Asiarsquos
best ndash SingTel and now worldrsquos best ndash Vodafone
Bharti set to gain global leadership in the telecom sector
Bharti Enterprises continues to hold shareholding and management control in Bharti
Tele-Ventures
Awards for the year 2006-2007
BHARTI AIRTEL DRAWS TOP HONORS AT THE MIS ASIA IT EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2006
13
Study of Airtel Marketing
BHARTI AIRTEL AMONG THE TOP 10 BEST PERFORMING COMPANIES IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BUSINESSWEEK IT 100 LIST
SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL IS THE ldquoCEO OF THE YEARrdquo AT THE FROST AND SULLIVAN ASIA PACIFIC AWARDS 2006 AND BHARTI AIRTEL BAGS ldquoWIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo AND ldquoCOMPETITVE SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo
BHARTI TELE-VENTURES IS THE ldquoBEST INDIAN CARRIERrdquo AT THE TELECOM ASIA AWARDS 2006
AirTel Appropriating the value of expression
Over the last couple of years the market has grown considerably with deeper penetration and wider usage of voice and data services accompanied by much higher competitive intensity Atul Bindal chief marketing officer Bharti TeleVentures expands on this In this context differentiating merely on network coverage and SMS is just not enough You need to go beyond all the rational identifiers - which are prerequisites in any case - and connect at a deeper level We needed a strong differentiator in an increasingly commoditized and crowded market We found this differentiator in a core human truth that defines our category - which is that there are moments when you need to make your point when you need to be heard Expressing and communicating are perhaps two of the most basic emotions AirTel enables you to make your point in the most expressive way anytime anywhere The campaign is towards owning
14
Study of Airtel Marketing
this through Express yourself We believe Express yourself allows us to connect at a deeper level and create a long-term platform for the brand
For AirTel the challenge also lay in presenting a unified face to the consumer This assumes significance when viewed in the light of the companys pre- and post-paid communication which in the past had been treated very differently Brand image as a result was being driven in two different dimensions Brand AirTel is a category leader straddling completely different market segments such as consumer business and corporate as well as different voice data and payment platforms says Bindal Express yourself enables the brand to unify and connect across the entire base of our existing and prospective customersOne of the most obvious benefits of owning a property such as candid expression (and Express yourself) is the expansive nature of the thought The moment you have as broad a canvas as Express yourself it becomes easy for anyone working on the brand to come up with new ideas and executions Thats what makes a good campaign idea observes Rediffs Prashant Godbole who along with creative partner Zarvan Patel conceived the campaign This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg Patel adds We will be taking the idea forward in many different ways in the forthcoming work he informs Patel also credits his creative team for fleshing out the idea
In October 2002 Magic led the market with 30 of the market share Bharti claimed that its strategies were one of the most ambitious experiments ever in the Indian pre-paid cellular telephony market However given the increasing competitive pressure doubts were being expressed regarding the ability of Bhartis marketing initiatives to help Magic retain its Magic in the future
AIRTEL BROADBAND
Bharti Televentures is the fixed line operator business of Airtel In the recent branding exercise all the services have been offered under the Airtel brand Data is the next driver for growth This is clear to the operators who have belatedly realized the implications for having a pie in all the segments of telecommunications Hence Bharti ventured in the broadband market
However the main contention in the broadband market is the price offering which includes the bandwidth costs as well as the cost of laying down the copper wire Typically in the mentality
15
Study of Airtel Marketing
of the profit making exercise Airtel has so far focused only in those areas where it perceives that a huge market is present However I still hold that their thrust should be in smaller towns and cities where BSNL would ultimately usurp their potential customer base It seems that their fancily paid MBAs havenrsquot really understood the success of BSNL who focused on the B and C class cities where it has drawn unparalleled support despite the lousy customer experiences This is because of the absence of any other operator
The current offerings by Airtel does not really enthuse a potential customer who is looking at sustained data transfer It is the classic case of having something better than nothing
Add to the lousy customer care that Airtel is slowly perfecting it is staffed with people who usually land up in their jobs with little idea of their job profile The so-called Tech engineers have often been unable to help a customer who is facing issues with the connectivity I have read first person accounts for the same
AIRTELrsquos ENTERPRISE SERVICES
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises and is Indias leading provider of telecommunications services The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUrsquos) - mobile services broadband amp telephone services
16
Study of Airtel Marketing
(BampT) amp enterprise services The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles while the BampT business group provides broadband amp 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
Our Services
Voice Services Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
17
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
ACHIEVEMENTS
First to launch Cellular service on November 1995
First operator to revolutionaries the concept of retailing with the inauguration of AirTel Connect (exclusive showrooms) in 1995
First to introduce push button phone in India
First to expand its network with the installation for second mobile switching center in April 1997 and the first to introduce the Intelligent Network Platform First to provide Roaming to its subscribers by forming an association called World 1 Network
First to provide roaming facility in USA Enjoy the mobile roaming across 38 partner networks amp above 700 cities Moreover roam across international destinations in 119 countries including USA Canada UK etc with 284 partner networks
BHARTI announces aggrement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Bharti Enterprises and AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited announce Partnership for a life insurance joint venture in India
Airtel Launches future factory - Centres of Innovation to Incubate Pioneering Mobile Applications
16 states 600 million people Only Indias leading mobile service offers you the truly freedom-packed Prepaid
It is also the first company to export its products to the USA
BHARTI announces agreement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the Worlds Largest Telecom Operator into India
Vodafone to invest approximately Rs 6700 crores (approx USD 15 bn) to acquire
around 10 in Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd
12
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises SingTel and Vodafone to take Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd to
unassailable leadership position in India
The largest single foreign investment ever in the history of India
The largest investment in the Indian telecom sector
Bharti establishes its supremacy in the Indian telecom market having attracted Asiarsquos
best ndash SingTel and now worldrsquos best ndash Vodafone
Bharti set to gain global leadership in the telecom sector
Bharti Enterprises continues to hold shareholding and management control in Bharti
Tele-Ventures
Awards for the year 2006-2007
BHARTI AIRTEL DRAWS TOP HONORS AT THE MIS ASIA IT EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2006
13
Study of Airtel Marketing
BHARTI AIRTEL AMONG THE TOP 10 BEST PERFORMING COMPANIES IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BUSINESSWEEK IT 100 LIST
SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL IS THE ldquoCEO OF THE YEARrdquo AT THE FROST AND SULLIVAN ASIA PACIFIC AWARDS 2006 AND BHARTI AIRTEL BAGS ldquoWIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo AND ldquoCOMPETITVE SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo
BHARTI TELE-VENTURES IS THE ldquoBEST INDIAN CARRIERrdquo AT THE TELECOM ASIA AWARDS 2006
AirTel Appropriating the value of expression
Over the last couple of years the market has grown considerably with deeper penetration and wider usage of voice and data services accompanied by much higher competitive intensity Atul Bindal chief marketing officer Bharti TeleVentures expands on this In this context differentiating merely on network coverage and SMS is just not enough You need to go beyond all the rational identifiers - which are prerequisites in any case - and connect at a deeper level We needed a strong differentiator in an increasingly commoditized and crowded market We found this differentiator in a core human truth that defines our category - which is that there are moments when you need to make your point when you need to be heard Expressing and communicating are perhaps two of the most basic emotions AirTel enables you to make your point in the most expressive way anytime anywhere The campaign is towards owning
14
Study of Airtel Marketing
this through Express yourself We believe Express yourself allows us to connect at a deeper level and create a long-term platform for the brand
For AirTel the challenge also lay in presenting a unified face to the consumer This assumes significance when viewed in the light of the companys pre- and post-paid communication which in the past had been treated very differently Brand image as a result was being driven in two different dimensions Brand AirTel is a category leader straddling completely different market segments such as consumer business and corporate as well as different voice data and payment platforms says Bindal Express yourself enables the brand to unify and connect across the entire base of our existing and prospective customersOne of the most obvious benefits of owning a property such as candid expression (and Express yourself) is the expansive nature of the thought The moment you have as broad a canvas as Express yourself it becomes easy for anyone working on the brand to come up with new ideas and executions Thats what makes a good campaign idea observes Rediffs Prashant Godbole who along with creative partner Zarvan Patel conceived the campaign This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg Patel adds We will be taking the idea forward in many different ways in the forthcoming work he informs Patel also credits his creative team for fleshing out the idea
In October 2002 Magic led the market with 30 of the market share Bharti claimed that its strategies were one of the most ambitious experiments ever in the Indian pre-paid cellular telephony market However given the increasing competitive pressure doubts were being expressed regarding the ability of Bhartis marketing initiatives to help Magic retain its Magic in the future
AIRTEL BROADBAND
Bharti Televentures is the fixed line operator business of Airtel In the recent branding exercise all the services have been offered under the Airtel brand Data is the next driver for growth This is clear to the operators who have belatedly realized the implications for having a pie in all the segments of telecommunications Hence Bharti ventured in the broadband market
However the main contention in the broadband market is the price offering which includes the bandwidth costs as well as the cost of laying down the copper wire Typically in the mentality
15
Study of Airtel Marketing
of the profit making exercise Airtel has so far focused only in those areas where it perceives that a huge market is present However I still hold that their thrust should be in smaller towns and cities where BSNL would ultimately usurp their potential customer base It seems that their fancily paid MBAs havenrsquot really understood the success of BSNL who focused on the B and C class cities where it has drawn unparalleled support despite the lousy customer experiences This is because of the absence of any other operator
The current offerings by Airtel does not really enthuse a potential customer who is looking at sustained data transfer It is the classic case of having something better than nothing
Add to the lousy customer care that Airtel is slowly perfecting it is staffed with people who usually land up in their jobs with little idea of their job profile The so-called Tech engineers have often been unable to help a customer who is facing issues with the connectivity I have read first person accounts for the same
AIRTELrsquos ENTERPRISE SERVICES
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises and is Indias leading provider of telecommunications services The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUrsquos) - mobile services broadband amp telephone services
16
Study of Airtel Marketing
(BampT) amp enterprise services The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles while the BampT business group provides broadband amp 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
Our Services
Voice Services Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
17
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
Bharti Enterprises SingTel and Vodafone to take Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd to
unassailable leadership position in India
The largest single foreign investment ever in the history of India
The largest investment in the Indian telecom sector
Bharti establishes its supremacy in the Indian telecom market having attracted Asiarsquos
best ndash SingTel and now worldrsquos best ndash Vodafone
Bharti set to gain global leadership in the telecom sector
Bharti Enterprises continues to hold shareholding and management control in Bharti
Tele-Ventures
Awards for the year 2006-2007
BHARTI AIRTEL DRAWS TOP HONORS AT THE MIS ASIA IT EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2006
13
Study of Airtel Marketing
BHARTI AIRTEL AMONG THE TOP 10 BEST PERFORMING COMPANIES IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BUSINESSWEEK IT 100 LIST
SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL IS THE ldquoCEO OF THE YEARrdquo AT THE FROST AND SULLIVAN ASIA PACIFIC AWARDS 2006 AND BHARTI AIRTEL BAGS ldquoWIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo AND ldquoCOMPETITVE SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo
BHARTI TELE-VENTURES IS THE ldquoBEST INDIAN CARRIERrdquo AT THE TELECOM ASIA AWARDS 2006
AirTel Appropriating the value of expression
Over the last couple of years the market has grown considerably with deeper penetration and wider usage of voice and data services accompanied by much higher competitive intensity Atul Bindal chief marketing officer Bharti TeleVentures expands on this In this context differentiating merely on network coverage and SMS is just not enough You need to go beyond all the rational identifiers - which are prerequisites in any case - and connect at a deeper level We needed a strong differentiator in an increasingly commoditized and crowded market We found this differentiator in a core human truth that defines our category - which is that there are moments when you need to make your point when you need to be heard Expressing and communicating are perhaps two of the most basic emotions AirTel enables you to make your point in the most expressive way anytime anywhere The campaign is towards owning
14
Study of Airtel Marketing
this through Express yourself We believe Express yourself allows us to connect at a deeper level and create a long-term platform for the brand
For AirTel the challenge also lay in presenting a unified face to the consumer This assumes significance when viewed in the light of the companys pre- and post-paid communication which in the past had been treated very differently Brand image as a result was being driven in two different dimensions Brand AirTel is a category leader straddling completely different market segments such as consumer business and corporate as well as different voice data and payment platforms says Bindal Express yourself enables the brand to unify and connect across the entire base of our existing and prospective customersOne of the most obvious benefits of owning a property such as candid expression (and Express yourself) is the expansive nature of the thought The moment you have as broad a canvas as Express yourself it becomes easy for anyone working on the brand to come up with new ideas and executions Thats what makes a good campaign idea observes Rediffs Prashant Godbole who along with creative partner Zarvan Patel conceived the campaign This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg Patel adds We will be taking the idea forward in many different ways in the forthcoming work he informs Patel also credits his creative team for fleshing out the idea
In October 2002 Magic led the market with 30 of the market share Bharti claimed that its strategies were one of the most ambitious experiments ever in the Indian pre-paid cellular telephony market However given the increasing competitive pressure doubts were being expressed regarding the ability of Bhartis marketing initiatives to help Magic retain its Magic in the future
AIRTEL BROADBAND
Bharti Televentures is the fixed line operator business of Airtel In the recent branding exercise all the services have been offered under the Airtel brand Data is the next driver for growth This is clear to the operators who have belatedly realized the implications for having a pie in all the segments of telecommunications Hence Bharti ventured in the broadband market
However the main contention in the broadband market is the price offering which includes the bandwidth costs as well as the cost of laying down the copper wire Typically in the mentality
15
Study of Airtel Marketing
of the profit making exercise Airtel has so far focused only in those areas where it perceives that a huge market is present However I still hold that their thrust should be in smaller towns and cities where BSNL would ultimately usurp their potential customer base It seems that their fancily paid MBAs havenrsquot really understood the success of BSNL who focused on the B and C class cities where it has drawn unparalleled support despite the lousy customer experiences This is because of the absence of any other operator
The current offerings by Airtel does not really enthuse a potential customer who is looking at sustained data transfer It is the classic case of having something better than nothing
Add to the lousy customer care that Airtel is slowly perfecting it is staffed with people who usually land up in their jobs with little idea of their job profile The so-called Tech engineers have often been unable to help a customer who is facing issues with the connectivity I have read first person accounts for the same
AIRTELrsquos ENTERPRISE SERVICES
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises and is Indias leading provider of telecommunications services The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUrsquos) - mobile services broadband amp telephone services
16
Study of Airtel Marketing
(BampT) amp enterprise services The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles while the BampT business group provides broadband amp 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
Our Services
Voice Services Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
17
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
BHARTI AIRTEL AMONG THE TOP 10 BEST PERFORMING COMPANIES IN THE WORLD ACCORDING TO BUSINESSWEEK IT 100 LIST
SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL IS THE ldquoCEO OF THE YEARrdquo AT THE FROST AND SULLIVAN ASIA PACIFIC AWARDS 2006 AND BHARTI AIRTEL BAGS ldquoWIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo AND ldquoCOMPETITVE SERVICE PROVIDER OF THE YEARrdquo
BHARTI TELE-VENTURES IS THE ldquoBEST INDIAN CARRIERrdquo AT THE TELECOM ASIA AWARDS 2006
AirTel Appropriating the value of expression
Over the last couple of years the market has grown considerably with deeper penetration and wider usage of voice and data services accompanied by much higher competitive intensity Atul Bindal chief marketing officer Bharti TeleVentures expands on this In this context differentiating merely on network coverage and SMS is just not enough You need to go beyond all the rational identifiers - which are prerequisites in any case - and connect at a deeper level We needed a strong differentiator in an increasingly commoditized and crowded market We found this differentiator in a core human truth that defines our category - which is that there are moments when you need to make your point when you need to be heard Expressing and communicating are perhaps two of the most basic emotions AirTel enables you to make your point in the most expressive way anytime anywhere The campaign is towards owning
14
Study of Airtel Marketing
this through Express yourself We believe Express yourself allows us to connect at a deeper level and create a long-term platform for the brand
For AirTel the challenge also lay in presenting a unified face to the consumer This assumes significance when viewed in the light of the companys pre- and post-paid communication which in the past had been treated very differently Brand image as a result was being driven in two different dimensions Brand AirTel is a category leader straddling completely different market segments such as consumer business and corporate as well as different voice data and payment platforms says Bindal Express yourself enables the brand to unify and connect across the entire base of our existing and prospective customersOne of the most obvious benefits of owning a property such as candid expression (and Express yourself) is the expansive nature of the thought The moment you have as broad a canvas as Express yourself it becomes easy for anyone working on the brand to come up with new ideas and executions Thats what makes a good campaign idea observes Rediffs Prashant Godbole who along with creative partner Zarvan Patel conceived the campaign This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg Patel adds We will be taking the idea forward in many different ways in the forthcoming work he informs Patel also credits his creative team for fleshing out the idea
In October 2002 Magic led the market with 30 of the market share Bharti claimed that its strategies were one of the most ambitious experiments ever in the Indian pre-paid cellular telephony market However given the increasing competitive pressure doubts were being expressed regarding the ability of Bhartis marketing initiatives to help Magic retain its Magic in the future
AIRTEL BROADBAND
Bharti Televentures is the fixed line operator business of Airtel In the recent branding exercise all the services have been offered under the Airtel brand Data is the next driver for growth This is clear to the operators who have belatedly realized the implications for having a pie in all the segments of telecommunications Hence Bharti ventured in the broadband market
However the main contention in the broadband market is the price offering which includes the bandwidth costs as well as the cost of laying down the copper wire Typically in the mentality
15
Study of Airtel Marketing
of the profit making exercise Airtel has so far focused only in those areas where it perceives that a huge market is present However I still hold that their thrust should be in smaller towns and cities where BSNL would ultimately usurp their potential customer base It seems that their fancily paid MBAs havenrsquot really understood the success of BSNL who focused on the B and C class cities where it has drawn unparalleled support despite the lousy customer experiences This is because of the absence of any other operator
The current offerings by Airtel does not really enthuse a potential customer who is looking at sustained data transfer It is the classic case of having something better than nothing
Add to the lousy customer care that Airtel is slowly perfecting it is staffed with people who usually land up in their jobs with little idea of their job profile The so-called Tech engineers have often been unable to help a customer who is facing issues with the connectivity I have read first person accounts for the same
AIRTELrsquos ENTERPRISE SERVICES
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises and is Indias leading provider of telecommunications services The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUrsquos) - mobile services broadband amp telephone services
16
Study of Airtel Marketing
(BampT) amp enterprise services The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles while the BampT business group provides broadband amp 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
Our Services
Voice Services Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
17
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
this through Express yourself We believe Express yourself allows us to connect at a deeper level and create a long-term platform for the brand
For AirTel the challenge also lay in presenting a unified face to the consumer This assumes significance when viewed in the light of the companys pre- and post-paid communication which in the past had been treated very differently Brand image as a result was being driven in two different dimensions Brand AirTel is a category leader straddling completely different market segments such as consumer business and corporate as well as different voice data and payment platforms says Bindal Express yourself enables the brand to unify and connect across the entire base of our existing and prospective customersOne of the most obvious benefits of owning a property such as candid expression (and Express yourself) is the expansive nature of the thought The moment you have as broad a canvas as Express yourself it becomes easy for anyone working on the brand to come up with new ideas and executions Thats what makes a good campaign idea observes Rediffs Prashant Godbole who along with creative partner Zarvan Patel conceived the campaign This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg Patel adds We will be taking the idea forward in many different ways in the forthcoming work he informs Patel also credits his creative team for fleshing out the idea
In October 2002 Magic led the market with 30 of the market share Bharti claimed that its strategies were one of the most ambitious experiments ever in the Indian pre-paid cellular telephony market However given the increasing competitive pressure doubts were being expressed regarding the ability of Bhartis marketing initiatives to help Magic retain its Magic in the future
AIRTEL BROADBAND
Bharti Televentures is the fixed line operator business of Airtel In the recent branding exercise all the services have been offered under the Airtel brand Data is the next driver for growth This is clear to the operators who have belatedly realized the implications for having a pie in all the segments of telecommunications Hence Bharti ventured in the broadband market
However the main contention in the broadband market is the price offering which includes the bandwidth costs as well as the cost of laying down the copper wire Typically in the mentality
15
Study of Airtel Marketing
of the profit making exercise Airtel has so far focused only in those areas where it perceives that a huge market is present However I still hold that their thrust should be in smaller towns and cities where BSNL would ultimately usurp their potential customer base It seems that their fancily paid MBAs havenrsquot really understood the success of BSNL who focused on the B and C class cities where it has drawn unparalleled support despite the lousy customer experiences This is because of the absence of any other operator
The current offerings by Airtel does not really enthuse a potential customer who is looking at sustained data transfer It is the classic case of having something better than nothing
Add to the lousy customer care that Airtel is slowly perfecting it is staffed with people who usually land up in their jobs with little idea of their job profile The so-called Tech engineers have often been unable to help a customer who is facing issues with the connectivity I have read first person accounts for the same
AIRTELrsquos ENTERPRISE SERVICES
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises and is Indias leading provider of telecommunications services The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUrsquos) - mobile services broadband amp telephone services
16
Study of Airtel Marketing
(BampT) amp enterprise services The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles while the BampT business group provides broadband amp 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
Our Services
Voice Services Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
17
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
of the profit making exercise Airtel has so far focused only in those areas where it perceives that a huge market is present However I still hold that their thrust should be in smaller towns and cities where BSNL would ultimately usurp their potential customer base It seems that their fancily paid MBAs havenrsquot really understood the success of BSNL who focused on the B and C class cities where it has drawn unparalleled support despite the lousy customer experiences This is because of the absence of any other operator
The current offerings by Airtel does not really enthuse a potential customer who is looking at sustained data transfer It is the classic case of having something better than nothing
Add to the lousy customer care that Airtel is slowly perfecting it is staffed with people who usually land up in their jobs with little idea of their job profile The so-called Tech engineers have often been unable to help a customer who is facing issues with the connectivity I have read first person accounts for the same
AIRTELrsquos ENTERPRISE SERVICES
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises and is Indias leading provider of telecommunications services The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUrsquos) - mobile services broadband amp telephone services
16
Study of Airtel Marketing
(BampT) amp enterprise services The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles while the BampT business group provides broadband amp 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
Our Services
Voice Services Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
17
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
(BampT) amp enterprise services The mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom circles while the BampT business group provides broadband amp 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
Our Services
Voice Services Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
17
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata
SERVICE NAME
TYPE OF SERVICE
DESCRIPTION PREPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
POSTPAID CHARGES
(Rs)
Calling Line Identification Presentation (CLIP)
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Displays the callers number on your mobile phone screen
Rs 25
Dial-a-serviceAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Users can call to get certain information and service For instance Dial 604 for Infotel Dial 131 for Railway info These call numbers are available in the phone book
Rs 240 per minute
Rs 2 per minute
WAPAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
Per content download
Per content download
GPRS amp MasalaAutomatic only
for new acquisitions
Access internet on the move and download exclusive contents from Airtels WAP site
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
GPRS Charges - Rs 600 per
month
646 Calling charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Users can call into this voice recognition service and listen to jokes movie gossips download ringtones etc
Rs 6 per minutes
Rs 6 per minutes
VAS SMS Charges
Automatic only for new
acquisitions
Content offered by media companies like Indiatimes Rediff Yahoo fall into this category
Rs 3 per
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata VQE is a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise It eliminates acoustic echo adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away with low or distorted speech so that every word of yours can be heard clearly wherever you may be speaking from
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA world leaders in Voice Quality technology Some of the prominent GSM operators using Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel Bell South Telstra BT Cell etc The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call qualityon mobile phones The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated by digital mobiles and hands free kits
18
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
So go ahead Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkatas only Non-Stop 25G Network
AIRTEL NEWS
Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with NOKIA
Bharti Airtel limited Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs 1600 crores PBT crosses Rs 1000 crores
Bharti Airtel is amongst Indiarsquos Most Admired Knowledge enterprises in 2006
Sunil Bharti Mittal receives lsquoThe Honorary Fellowshiprsquo from IETE
Notice of postal ballot for seeking consent of the shareholders on scheme of amalgamation of Satcom Broadband Equipments Limited and Bharti Broadband Limited with Bharti Airtel Limited
Bharti Airtel to Observe Silent period from October 1 2006
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
19
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994 the Indian cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services By 2005 there were a total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch) Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I)
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for Mobile (GSM) technology RIM provided services based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM
As competition in the telecom arena intensified service providers took new initiatives to woo customers Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements loyalty rewards discount coupons business solutions and talk time schemes The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the business class segment The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers
Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional strategy By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market share in the cellular service market (Refer Exhibit II) Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement strategy partially relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its brand BSNL on the other hand attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes Being a state owned player BSNL could cover rural areas and this helped it increase its subscriber base Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes Idea relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities
20
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
21
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTELrsquoS EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER
October 04 2002
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring musician A R Rahman The commercial which is currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel users But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL Orange and Dolphin as well
ldquoWe did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our expectationsrdquo admits Bharti Cellularrsquos chief marketing officer (western region) Pratik Pota Overall he explains it is a great advertising product for AirTel and works like a ldquowalking talking brand ambassadorrdquo
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTelrsquos TV commercial is proving to be a potent advertising tool for the company It is not very clear what this means for the other cellular operators Cellular users have been ldquoforwardingrdquo the tune to one another which according to Mr Pota has given AirTel a chance to enter the ldquomind of the userrdquo irrespective of which service he opts for
ldquoIt gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a strong reminder mediumrdquo he explains Marketing professionals like Samsika Marketing Consultantsrsquo managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to the usage of an ldquoaudio celebrityrdquo as something that is significant
ldquoThe normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an audio personalityrdquo he says
Rivals though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon seem to be doing their own homework on this brand of advertising While none of them commented on AirTelrsquos strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base one advertising professional working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is ldquotransientrdquo and not likely to have any long term impact as a brand building tool
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle AirTel has had to find ways of cutting through the clutter
22
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
Says Mr Kapoorrdquo AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers and convert the existing onesrdquo Explaining that the usage of an audio celebrity was more ldquostrategic than tacticalrdquo he adds that non-AirTel users will have the AirTel ldquobrand experiencerdquo inspite of not using the service
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other operators means ldquofree advertisingrdquo for AirTel and the users having a positive disposition towards the product the nature of reaction from competition remains unclear
ldquoCompetition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to come out with advertising that is well thought outrdquo explains Mr Kapoor He anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more aggressive
23
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
TENDULKAR amp SHAHRUKH
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India
Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartirsquos Airtel brand Indian captain Saurav
Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in
2001
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal those in the
advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs 8 crore
and Rs 10 crore
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers in the country
with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement race The Master Blasterrsquos
portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive ESPN-STAR Sports Pepsi MRF Boost TVS
Palio Visa Adiddas and Britannia The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai
Pepsi Airtel Tag Huer Clinic All Clear Bagpiper and Videocon among others
According to company executives the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the grouprsquos
strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies cricket and music
ldquoFor mass connect Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsersrdquo says a senior
company executive Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its service at the
mass market
24
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
25
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of AIRTEL
Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are going to use mobile service
in future In other words my aim is to study the Advertising Effectiveness of AIRTEL
Cellular service
26
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources ie questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources
Primary sources
The primary source of data collection is through questionnaire The questionnaires are
distributed among 35 peoples and their view is recorded and used in analyzing the data
Secondary sources
The secondary sources includes online sites newspapers and templates from AIRTEL
distributions centers and AIRTEL Customer Care
27
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
28
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
People know about AIRTEL cellular service through 30 Friends 70 Advertisements 5 Other Sources
29
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL forced people to use AIRTEL is 35 Advertisements 20 Connectivity 10Schemes
35Goodwill
Peoplersquos first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile phone AIRTEL 45 HUTCH 30 IDEA 8
RELIANCE 10 TATA INDICOM 5 OTHERS 2
30
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
Feature of AIRTEL is better than the peoplersquos previous cellular service
31
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
Advertisements 25 Connectivity 60 Schemes 15
AIRTEL users in peoplersquos phone book
32
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
Less than 30 15 30 - 70 25 More than 70 60
33
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is
Audio Visual 85Print 2Audio 13
34
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
Celebrity liked by people very much in AIRTELSachin 55 Shahrukh 38 Kareena 2A R Rehman 5
35
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
People take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL
YES 85NO 13CANrsquoT SAY 2
36
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
People like most in AIRTEL is
NOKIA + AIRTEL 86AIRTEL MAGIC 5Postpaid services 8AIRTEL Broadband 1
37
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
Service liked by people most in AIRTEL is AIRTEL missed you service 63Ring tones 15Hello tunes 22
38
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
People participate contest offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN LIrsquoL CHAMPS
YES 72NO 28
39
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
Type of recharge cards liked by people
More talk time 23
More validity 15
Both 62
40
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes 95No 5
41
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
42
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTELrsquos Advertising has a major impact its users
People like its schemes very much AIRTEL had created a very good image on the mind of the
new users of cellular service AIRTEL has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set many new users buy Nokia sets
and they get a free connection of AIRTEL AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest
market share by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy AR Rehmaanrsquos tune for AIRTEL
worked as free advertising for AIRTEL as another service user uses it too Other celebrities
like Shahrukh Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL
43
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
RECOMMENDATIONS
By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing
the highest market share in India but there are still some recommendations from my study
point of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other
service providers to dominate the market in future too
AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor HUTCH had introduced it
AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood
44
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE
o WWWGOOGLECOIN o WWWAIRTELCO M
NEWSPAPERS
45
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
o Times of India (15 Oct 2006- 2 Nov 2006)
BOOKS
o Marketing Management Dr SL Varshney and Dr RL Gupta Third Revised Edition Sultan Chand and Sons
46
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
QUESTIONNAIRE
NAME helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipADDRESS helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipOCCUPATION helliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellipCELLULAR SERVICE USEDhelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphelliphellip
47
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
If AIRTEL than proceed further
1 How did you know about AIRTEL cellular service Friends Advertisements Other Sources
2 Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used AIRTEL Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
Goodwill
3 Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
RELIANCE TATA INDICOM OTHERS
4 Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service Advertisements Connectivity Schemes
5 How many AIRTEL users in your phone book
Less than 30 30 - 70 More than 70
6 Which type of advertisement you most like in AIRTEL
Audio Visual Print Audio
7 Which celebrity you like very much in AIRTEL Sachin Shahrukh Kareena A R Rehman
8 Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTELYES NO
9 Which you like most in AIRTELNOKIA + AIRTEL AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services AIRTEL Broadband
48
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-
Study of Airtel Marketing
10Which service you like most in AIRTEL AIRTEL missed you service Free Ringtones
Free Hello tunes
11Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 amp Indion Idol-2
YES NO
12Which type of recharge cards you like mostMore talktime
More validity
Both (ie Post paid)
13According to you is AIRTEL is 1 in India
Yes No
49
- bull Customer Service Focus
- bull Empowered Employees
- bull Cost Efficiency
- bull Unified Messaging Solutions
- bull Innovative products and services
- bull Error- free service delivery
- Board of Directors
-