LORD’S UNIVERSAL COLLEGE

NAME: TANK ASHVIN

SUBJECT: PUBLIC RELATION MANAGEMENT

PROJECT ON: PR OF VODAFONE

ROLL NO : 45/B

Introduction to the Company:

Vodafone Essar in India is a subsidiary of

Vodafone Group Plc and commenced operations in 1994 when its predecessor

Hutchison Telecom acquired the cellular license for Mumbai. Vodafone Essar now has

operations in 22 circles covering 86% of India’s mobile customer base, with over 63.34

million customers*.

Over the years, Vodafone Essar, under the Hutch

brand, has been named the 'Most Respected Telecom Company', the 'Best Mobile

Service in the country' and the 'Most Creative and Most Effective Advertiser of the

Year'. Vodafone is the world's leading international mobile communications company..

Vodafone has partnered with the Essar Group as its principal joint venture partner for

the Indian market.

The Essar Group is a diversified business

corporation with interests spanning the manufacturing and service sectors like Steel,

Energy, Power, Communications, Shipping & Logistics and Construction. The Group

has an asset base of over Rs.400 billion (US$ 10 billion) and employs over 30,000

people.

Introduction to Vodafone India:

Vodafone, the world’s leading international

mobile communications company, has fully arrived in India. The Vodafone brand was

launched in India on 21st September, 2007.

The popular and endearing brand, Hutch, was

transitioned to Vodafone across India. That marked a significant chapter in the

evolution of Vodafone as a dynamic and ever-growing brand. The brand was unveiled

nationally through a high profile campaign covering all important media.

Vodafone, the world’s leading mobile

telecommunication company, had completed the acquisition of Hutchison Essar in May

2007 and the company was formally renamed Vodafone Essar in July 2007. The

Vodafone mission is to be the communications leader in an increasingly connected

world – enriching customers’ lives, helping individuals, businesses and communities be

more connected by delivering their total communication needs.

Vodafone's logo is a true representation of that

belief - The start of a new conversation, a trigger, a catalyst, a mark of true pioneering.

Financial results:

Vodafone reportes its results in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).

Vodafone has some large minority stakes, which are not included in its consolidated turnover. In order to provide additional information on the overall scale and growth trends of its business it publishes "proportionate turnover" figures and these are included in the tables below. For example, if a business in which it owns a 45% stake has turnover of £10 billion, that equals £4.5 billion of proportionate turnover for Vodafone. Proportionate turnover is not an official accounting measure and Vodafone's proportionate turnover should be compared with other companies' statutory turnover.

Vodafone also produces proportionate customer number figures on a similar basis, eg. if an operator in which it has a 30% stake has 10 million customers that equals 3 million proportionate Vodafone customers. This is a common practice in the mobile telecommunications industry.

Year ended 31 March

Turnover £m

Profit before tax £m

Profit for the year £m

Basic eps (pence)

Proportionate customers (m)

2008 35,478 9,001 6,756 12.56 260

2007 31,104 (2,383) (5,297) (8.94) 206.4

2006* 29,350 (14,835) (21,821) (35.01) 170.6

2005 34,073 7,951 6,518 9.68 154.8

Summery:

Progress towards strategic objectives

Europe: 2.0% revenue growth with outgoing usage up 20.1% and data revenue up 35.7%, all on an organic basis

9.9% mobile capital intensity for Europe and common functions EMAPA: revenue growth of 45.1%, reflecting acquisitions in India and Turkey. Organic

growth of 14.5% Group data revenue up 52.7% to £2.2 billion, with organic growth of 40.6%

Key financials

Adjusted earnings per share up 11.0% to 12.50 pence.Basic earnings per share of 12.56 pence

Free cash flow of £5.5 billion. Net cash flow from operating activities of £10.5 billion

Other highlights

Final dividend per share of 5.02 pence, giving total dividends per share of 7.51 pence Dividend pay out ratio of 60%, in line with policy, and a total payout of £4.0 billion for the

financial year 1st in UK and 11th globally in the BrandZ most powerful brands ranking

Group highlights£35.5 billionRevenue14.1% increase

£10.1 billionAdjusted operating profit5.7% increase

7.51 penceTotal dividends per share11.1% increase

260.5 millionProportionate mobile customers26.2% increase

Assistant PR(Mumbai)

Assistant PR(Mumbai)

Assistant PR(Delhi)

CEOMr. Arun Sarin

Objectives and Mission of the PR dept:

The main objective of the PR dept is to create a positive image of Vodafone in the

minds of its customers. For the launches of any new services or mobile phones intense

PR is their objective. The Vodafone mission is to be the communications leader in an

increasingly connected world – enriching customers’ lives, helping individuals,

businesses and communities be more connected by delivering their total communication

needs. The next objective of Vodafone is to cover as much market as possible on the

basis of the service that they provide. Their next objective is that their customers benefit

from a complete Vodafone experience in and out of their homes and offices. Their main

aim and mission is to give their customers a consistent experience.

While entering India their main objective and mission was to create a

visibility of their company and promote it in a very positive way by promoting the

global image of Vodafone. The other objective was to appear as a leader.

Hierarchy:

The vodafone has an in-house PR department consisting of 17 employees in Mumbai. The CEO in india is mr. arjun sarin. There are 3 assistant PR heads under her, one operating in Delhi and two in Mumbai and there are 3 interns under them.

Factors considered while formulating PR strategies:

One of the factors in formulating the PR strategies is that whenever a mention of the telecom industry is made, positive articles of Vodafone has to be made. Their main aim is to promote the brand Vodafone and its services. They also keep in mind that the right medium of communication is used to reach the target public, there target being each and every person right from a milkman to high-profile people. They also keep in mind that they maintain good relations with the media so that media can help them out when they are in need of them.

Budget:

There is a pre-determined budget. This budget is devised by the central unit of India and is then passed down to various circles, Mumbai being one of them. PR head needs to formulate all the strategies along with the outside agency i.e Genesis which sits in the corporate office only. The major expense of the PR department is the fees that they pay to the outside agency. The management allocates Rs10-15crores(approx.) annually to the PR Department. This amount is then further allocated to the various Zonal Offices which prepare their individual budgets according to their requirements.

PR strategies used by Vodafone as a whole:

Advertisements:

Vodafone believes in advertising through media like television and

press as people retain those things that they view visually. Heavy amounts of money is

spent on visual advertisements.

Corporate Advertising:

Vodafone also undertakes corporate advertising. The PR

department informs the spokesperson Mr. Navin Chopra which details he can reveal and

which he shouldn’t reveal. He has to be very polite while handling the media. They give

everything in writing to the media. The PR department also informs Mr. Navin about

how to dodge certain questions with trick and humours so as to maintain the

confidentiality of certain important issues like the future plans of the company.

Hoardings:

Vodafone uses hoardings also in order to promote their company and the

new services or tariffs plans that they are coming up with. This strategy helps in making

their target audience aware of their upcoming plans.

Press Releases:

Vodafone in USA has a separate press office that issues all the Press

Release. They press officer makes the entire press release and then it’s confirmed by the

spokesperson of Vodafone USA and is then released. There they believe Press Releases

help in order to maintain very good relations with the media and it also helps them to be

in the eye of the audience. It had also held and India Analyst and Investor Day in

London to talk about its operations in India. It has issued a press release on it on 10 th

December, 2007.

Press Conference:

Vodafone uses press conferences as a very powerful tool in handling

the media and seeking consumer attention. They hold press conferences at the launch of

new services or products of any kind. They also hold press conferences when they are

getting into a business deal for some company. They also hold press conferences for

announcing half-yearly results or financial reports of the company.

Media Interviews:

Vodafone undertakes media interviews with proper planning. It is

sometimes initiated by media while most of the time it is by Vodafone. It is handled

very carefully specially during crisis or when a new service is launched and is this used

as a very good platform for promotion, building image and even control crisis.

Social Activities:

vodafone undertakes social activities on a huge scale. The Vodafone

Group Foundation is committed to providing assistance in the area of disaster response.

Its main aim is to develop partnerships which enhance long term disaster response and

preparedness activity, working with organizations such as the United Nations

Foundation, Oxfam and MapAction. It also seeks wherever possible to make a direct

contribution in response to critical humanitarian crises.

The Safaricom Foundation and The Vodafone Group Foundation, together donate KShs

15,000,000 towards humanitarian relief in Kenya

Oxfam: VGF is a founding sponsor of the Oxfam 365 programme, an initiative aimed

at funding a global rapid response team of aid workers and maintaining the UK’s

biggest warehouse with a stockpile of emergency supplies.

UN Foundations: The UN Foundation-Vodafone Group Foundation alliance strives to

be the leading public-private partnership using strategic technology programmes to

strengthen the UN’s humanitarian efforts worldwide.

MapAction: VGF is supporting MapAction’s humanitarian aid effort in delivering

situation maps updated hour-by-hour in the field, that enable aid agencies to do their job

of delivering assistance.

Global Focus: World of Difference:

World of Difference (WoD) is an innovative charitable

volunteering initiative currently being delivered across the international network of

Vodafone Foundations.

WoD is based around the concept that individuals and community organisations should

identify what they feel passionate about and then be provided with the resources to

make changes happen.

WoD creates the opportunity for individuals to work for one year for a charitable

partner organisation, with salary and related support provided. The winners are chosen

on merit through a public competition. To date, 52 individual winners have participated

or are currently participating.

Based on a model which was initially developed by the Vodafone New Zealand

Foundation in 2002, WoD programmes have also been successfully launched by the

Vodafone Australia Foundation, the Vodafone Netherlands Foundation and the

Vodafone Ireland Foundation.

Sponsorships: Vodafone sponsors many events. Some of them are:

UEFA Champions League: Vodafone is in its second season as Official Partner and

Official Mobile network of the UEFA Champions League, the world's largest annual

football competition.

Vodafone is delighted to be at the forefront of Europe’s premier club competition. After

the successes of last season's UEFA Champions League sponsorship and the

agreements announced in April to sponsor the UEFA Cup Final and UEFA Super Cup,

Vodafone is looking forward to strengthening its position as a brand passionate about

the beautiful game. It has also come up with Vodafone Stadium of Fans wherein fans

can make teams and play for themselves.

England Cricket Team: Vodafone can’t get enough of the England Cricket Team – 11

years on and their support is still going strong as the principal partner of the Team. And

it’s not just about a logo on a shirt. This partnership gives employees and lucky

customers unbelievable access to get up close and personal with the Team.

 As you can imagine, the life of a cricketer means the team are on the road 10 out of 12

months of the year so a BlackBerry is a must have. The Team use their handsets to

email friends & family, surf the net, listen to music and send texts which keep them up

to speed no matter where they are in the world.

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes:

Vodafone had a contract with the Mercedes. Vodafone

McLaren Mercedes has extended Lewis Hamilton’s contract with the team for a further

five years. The new agreement, which starts for 2008, will run up to and including the

2012 season.

Internal PR:

Vodafone operates a range of all-employee share plans to encourage

widespread employee share ownership throughout the company. Vodafone won a

Global Equity Organization award for best share plan communications in 2006 for the

second year running.

They also operate a number of pension plans which vary according to the conditions

and practices in the countries concerned. These are provided through defined benefit

and defined contribution arrangements. Defined benefit schemes provide benefits based

on the employees’ length of pensionable service and their final pensionable salary or

other criteria. Defined contribution schemes offer employees individual funds that are

converted into benefits at the time of retirement. They also involve them in the

decisions of the company. They conduct training programs also for the benefit of the

employees and for better experience. They also promote leadership on a large scale.

This is done in order to maintain very good relations with the employees of the

organization.

PR strategies of Vodafone India:

Press Releases: Vodafone India doesn’t have a separate press office to issue all the

Press Releases. The PR Head himself makes the entire press release and then it’s

confirmed by the spokesperson of Vodafone India i.e Navin Chopra and is then

released. There they believe Press Releases help in order to maintain very good

relations with the media and it also helps them to be in the eye of the audience.

Press Conferences: Vodafone uses press conferences as a very powerful tool in

handling the media and seeking consumer attention. They hold press conferences at the

launch of new services or products of any kind. They also use press conferences as a

tool in order to control crisis.

Media Interviews: Vodafone undertakes media interviews with proper planning. It is

sometimes initiated by media while most of the time it is by Vodafone. It is handled

very carefully specially during crisis or when a new service is launched and is this used

as a very good platform for promotion, building image and even control crisis.

Hoardings and Advertisements: Vodafone uses advertisements as a powerful tool.

The hoardings are placed in every corner of a city. It helps in seeking immediate

attention of the consumers.

Vodafone also uses advertisements. It has it corporate news in the CAT 1 papers

like Economic Times, Times of India, Hindustan Times and many others. It also ahs its

news in CAT 2 papers including all the regional language papers. It also advertises on

television and radio.

They also have running ads on Star India about the news updates or new services or

new tariff plans. Vodafone has entered into a Rebranding Campaign with Star India in

order to promote the Essar Brand.

Newsletter:

Vodafone India issues house journals for its employees named Baatchit.

They believe this helps in maintaining good relations with them. It is issued by the HR

Head.

Agency:

The last PR strategy that they use is that they have hired an agency that goes to

the Vodafone store with genuine problems. Then they report to the top management of

the company stating how the executives at the store responded to their queries and how

did they behave with them. This helps the company in making the decisions regarding

those executives at the stores. This strategy has helped them a lot in making Vodafone

stores a better place so that their customers get even better service.

Successful Strategies:

Vodafone has had many successful strategies. One of them is the

success of Vodafone in India. Vodafone for the Indian masses was a completely new

brand name. Therefore, Vodafone had to see that the positive image of Vodafone is

built up in the minds of the people.

In order to promote the brand Vodafone in India, a Central PR

team was set up in India. They handled all the promotion activities. They held many

press conferences and issued press releases. They also arranged for media interviews.

They released many positive articles about the Vodafone company in all the CAT 1

papers. Today Vodafone has 33 lakh customers. Its adding 2 lac customers every

month.

Crisis:

It had faced a huge crisis during bomb blasts and floods. There was no network

at all. The cell sides were damaged in water. They had the Motorola machine. It

couldn’t take the heavy load of calls. That is why it became slow. There were no

generators so the whole system stopped functioning because the supply of electricity

was cut off.

This was a very delicate situation. The company and the PR dept didnt lose their

cool. They were calm and were cautious and quick in taking steps. At that time they

immediately flashed news on all the news channels that people shouldn’t take more

time to talk as it was blocking the call lines. The PR dept also informed all its

employees not to use their mobile phones so that that much load is reduced. They also

held an immediate press conference in order to explain what was going on and why was

there no network.

As a result of this crisis, they immediately took steps to evaluate what went

wrong. They immediately planted generators everywhere. They started using fibre

optic cables. They immediately changed their Motorola machine and replaced with one

of a more superior quality. After this incident they also started with a Disaster

Management Cell in the company.

Future plan

Issue We will... DeadlineAccess to communications

Launch mobile payment services in a further three countries. March 2009

Publish research on the socio-economic impact of affordable handsets.

December 2009

Reduce the level of preventable exclusion by at least a third. March 2010   

Mobile phones, masts and health

Maintain an approval rating against external stakeholder opinion on how responsibly Vodafone is acting regarding MPMH as a rolling average at, or above, 80% over any three year period.

Ongoing

Provide comprehensive access to peer-reviewed published scientific reviews of research relating to mobile phones, masts and health on our Group website.   

Network deploymentAudit contractors’ compliance with our Responsible Network Deployment Policy in all Vodafone Operations.

March 2010

   

Consumer issuesBenchmark Vodafone’s practices on mobile advertising and privacy with other industry leaders.

March 2009

Work with the wider industry to explore ways to create common codes of conduct for Mobile Advertising.

March 2009

Launch a web-based resource centre to promote safety and the responsible use of mobiles and technology.

March 2009

   

Supply chainEnsure 80% of all local strategic and preferred suppliers are reporting their compliance against the requirements of Vodafone’s Code of Ethical Purchasing.

March 2009

Deploy a non-compliance management system to improve our existing process and support systematic action on CR issues identified within our supply chain.

March 2009

   

Energy use and climate change

Set a new target to reduce CO2 emissions by 50% by 2020 (applicable across Vodafone local operating companies operating in 2006/07).

March 2020

Develop a climate change strategy for Vodafone Turkey and Vodafone Essar (India).

March 2009

Achieve a 40% reduction on network energy CO2 emissions per MB traffic.

March 2011

Vodafone future PR strategy:

Vodafone business strategy and its PR strategy are inseparable. Meeting society’s needs creates enormous opportunities to grow vodafone business.

Expanding our business in emerging markets such as Africa and India is extending access to communications to people who rarely had the opportunity to use a phone before. And our responsible approach to issues like privacy and content builds trust and grows our customer base in mature markets.

Our vision for 2010 is to be one of the most trusted companies in the markets where we operate. Our five year PR strategy – developed in 2005 and continually evolving – is designed to help us realise this vision.

It sets clear priorities to:

Capture the potential of mobile to bring socio-economic value in both emerging economies and developed markets, through broadening access to communications to all sections of society

Deliver progress against stakeholder expectations on the key areas of climate change, a safe and responsible internet experience, and sustainable products and services

Ensure our operating standards are of a consistent and appropriate level across the Group. 

This strategy is based on our assessment of the key PR-related opportunities and risks for our business. These are prioritised through our issues management and risk assessment.

Future pr plan:

Future pr plane of vodafone in india is as follow

1- Audience targeting:

Pr department of vdafone in india should have to target all the audience right from a milkman to high-profile people. Because the service and product is used by all the pepol. So the market segmentation is the whole market.

2- Press conferences:

A press conference cosists of someone speaking to the media at a pedetermined time and place. A company should hold press conference whenever it is requried . A company should hold press conference when it louanching new product or any schem. By holding press conference they can informe to the public about the product or schem.

3- Press releases:

A press release is written document distributed to the media. It is fundamental tool of PR. In press release the six thingh should be have to be clear i.e. who, what, when, where, why, how. The company should use press conferences as a tool in order to control crisis. They can distribute press releaes in media in the form of video or audio press releaes whenever its required.

4- Hoardings:

Company should have to put more hordings near the station in order to

promote the products and also to maintaine good relation with public. It also helps in

seeking immediate attention of the consumers.

5- Articles in newspapers:

Company should give articles in news paper to inform about any product and

schem. In different news like times of India, hindustan times or any regional languages.

6- Brochures and pamphlet :

They have to distribute brochures and pamphlet in different

places and in news paper. To informe the pepole about any new schem. They should

distribute brochures among the employee also for maintaning good relation.

Press Release

28 Jan 2009

New Vodafone store launched at Baner Pune

Pune, January 28, 2009: Vodafone Essar, one of India’s leading cellular service providers, has launched its first Vodafone Store in the Baner area of Pune city on 23rd January, 2009. Located at Survey No 1/1A , Rohit Residency, Baner, Pune, this 600 sq ft store is in accordance with the new international style format of Vodafone. Vodafone now has 53 Vodafone Stores (with 17 stores in Pune), 02 Vodafone Mobile Stores, 29 Self Service kiosks (with 12 in Pune) in addition to 75 Mini Stores across Maharashtra & Goa.

Along with availability of new connections, Vodafone handsets, and various value added services, the store offers a dedicated area for customer queries and bill payments. Customers can now look forward to even faster service as all the Vodafone Stores are connected with high speed broadband connectivity.

27 Jan 2009

Vodafone launches a new Bonus Card for UP East

Lucknow, January 27, 2009: Vodafone Essar, one of India’s leading cellular service providers, today announced one of its lowest priced Bonus Cards in UP East. Priced at just Rs. 7, the new bonus card will enable Vodafone customers to make all local calls at a discounted rate of 75 paise per call for a period of 7 days. This gives Vodafone Customers the benefit of an effective cost of Re1/day.

To activate this plan, subscribers need to send an SMS ‘75’ to 144. After activation, Rs. 7 will be automatically deducted from the subscriber’s account on weekly basis extending the validity of the plan by seven days. Vodafone customers can deactivate this plan; through an SMS CAN<space> LOC75 to 144 (toll free).

Bjas Murthy, Chief Operating Officer, Vodafone Essar- UP East said, “There is a large segment of subscribers with a need for lower calling rates and minimal upfront charges.  Through this new Bonus Card we will ensure that the needs of our valuable customers are addressed. ”