A

Project Report

On

“Sales and Promotion of Virgin Mobile in Mobile Store

Allahabad”

Master of Business Administration (Marketing)

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for award

of Master of Business Administration of Tilak Maharashtra

University, Pune

Submitted by

Kumar Paramtap

PRN:072080166

of

Institute of Business Studies & Research, Pune

Tilak Maharastra University

Gultekdi, Pune 411037

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Acknowledgement

My Special Thanks and gratitude to Mr. Vinay Kumar Singh(S.M), of Virgin Mobile

for his generosity, cooperation and superb guidance that helped me in completion of my

project report.

I am also thankful to Mr.Inderpal Singh, (Director) IBSAR, PUNE and to my Internal

Gudie, Mr. Sumit Roy, for their encouragement and motivation which was a great

source of inspiration.

I am extremely grateful to Mr.Dhermendra (Operation. Manager) and the entire staff

of Mobile Store for their cooperation and generosity. Their experience helped me a lot

in doing my project.

Kumar Paramtap

MBA III (Marketing)

IBSAR

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TABLE OF CONTENT

SERIAL No. TITLE PAGE No.

CHAPTER-1

1.1 RATIONAL STUDY 2

CHAPTER-2

2.1 PROJECT TITLE 4

2.2 OBJECTIVE OF STUDY 4

2.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 4

CHAPTER-3

3 PROFILE OF THE

COMPANY

5-17

CHAPTER-4

4. REVIEW OF

LITERATURE

18-24

CHAPTER-5

5. RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY

25-31

CHAPTER-6

6. DATA ANALYSIS &

INTERPRETATION

32-41

CHAPTER-7

7. FINDINGS 43

CHAPTER-8

8. LIMITATIONS 45

CHAPTER-9

9. CONCLUSION&

RECOMMENDATIONS

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10 APPENDIX 48-50

11 BIBLIOGRAPHY 52

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LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 6.1 PROXIMITY OF SERVICES CENTER 36

TABLE 6.2 USER FRIENDLINESS OF DELIVERY POINT 37

TABLE 6.3 SERVICE TIME 38

TABLE 6.4 AVAILABILITY OF CUSTOMER CARE 39

TABLE 6.5 QUALITY OF SERVICE BY CUSTOMER CARE 40

TABLE 6.6 NETWORK QUALITY 41

TABLE 6.7 OVERALL SATISFACTION LEVEL 42

LIST OF FIGURES

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CHAPTER -1

9

FIGURE NO 6.1 PROXIMITY OF SERVICES CENTER 36

FIGURE NO 6.2 USER FRIENDLINESS OF DELIVERY POINT 37

FIGURE NO 6.3 SERVICE TIME 38

FIGURE NO 6.4 AVAILABILITY OF CUSTOMER CARE 39

FIGURE NO 6.5 QUALITY OF SERVICE BY CUSTOMER CARE 40

FIGURE NO 6.6 NETWORK QUALITY 41

FIGURE NO 6.7 OVERALL SATISFACTION LEVEL 42

Rationale for the Study

In today’s intensely competitive, rapidly changing and highly complex environment characterize

by diminishing customer loyalty, the need to be market –focused and customer centric is more

critical than any other time in past. It is highly imperative for every organization to retain and use

valuable information about their customer to enhance their business strategies and product and

service offerings. Today, the key focus area of much organization is identification of a link

between customer satisfaction and performance. However, satisfaction as the confirmation of

expectation has started to be conceptualizing almost as a threshold for customers. The delivery of

satisfaction is the minimum the customer expects.

This project is totally focusing on the consumer preferences towards different sales

promotion techniques means which sales promotion technique is mostly preferred by the

customer in the city of Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh). As the sales promotion techniques are used for

the marketing of the product so the research has done in the area of marketing. Today every firm

is facing the situation of cut throat competition. So it becomes very important for every firm to

promote its product otherwise it cannot survive in the market. These techniques are used in the

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marketing of product in the last stage which is called retailing. It is the stage from which the

product directly goes in the hand of customer and today India is standing on the threshold of

retail revolution and witnessing a great change in its retail landscape i.e. from unorganized

retailing to organized retailing. Retail is growing with an annual rate of 40%. Its contribution

towards GDP is 11% and towards employment is 8%. So after agriculture retailing is one of the

biggest sources of employment in the country and is one of the largest industries in India.

Although retail industry has existed in our country for centuries but it is only the recent past that

it is witnessing such a tremendous growth.

In Allahabad Mobile Store has created its image in a very short period Mobile store is best outlet

for Mobiles and its accessories. It is attracting the customers with its good services. Most of the

customer satisfied by Mobile store services and facilities.

CHAPTER -2

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Objective of the Study

Project Title:

“Sales and Promotion of Virgin Mobile in mobile Store in Allahabad”

Objective of project:

Primary objective:

To study the customer awareness about Virgin Mobile in Mobile Store.

To enhance the sale of Virgin Mobile in Mobile Store.

To know the reason for the loss of inventory.

Secondary objectives

To analyze the customer buying behavior.

To find out the satisfaction level of the Virgin mobile customers at Mobile Store.

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To study the effect of event and promotion.

To make various suggestion on the improvement of Virgin Mobile in Mobile

Store.

Scopes:

Study is restricted to various parts of Allahabad which include: LGF, Atlantis

Mall Allahabad Purana Katra.

Time frame-there is limited time of two months June to August 2009.

Analyze the consumer buying behavior at Mobile Store.

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CHAPTER -3

Profile of the Company

About The Mobile Store:

Mr. Rajiv Agarwal, CEO and Director, The

Mobile Store Limited, heads India's first

countrywide chain of telecom retail outlets.

"The Mobile Store" is an Essar Group

venture, set to introduce a pan-Indian

network of retail telecom outlets. The Mobile

Store offers a world class shopping

environment, with state of the art technology.

The Mobile Store format is a one stop mobile solution shop that provides, multi brand

handsets, accessories, connections, repairs, VAS etc all under one roof.The Mobile

Store currently has more than 1050 outlets and the vision is to have a network of 2500

stores by 2010 across 650 cities, thus covering virtually every major town in every state

across India.

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The Mobile Store outlets are in three formats: Large - 1000-1500 square feet, Medium-

800-1000 square feet and Corner-150-200 square feet, with smaller formats located

primarily in large malls.

Key thrust areas for the retail format are: Comprehensive Product Range,

Knowledgeable Store Staff & Interactive Environment, Competitive Prices and Handset

Repairs.

The Mobile Store caters to the Indian consumer's choice of the widest and most

comprehensive range of mobile phones with special offers from all the key brands

available across the globe. The Mobile Store offers complete telecom solutions right

from handset purchase to the choice of service operator and miscellaneous services like

monthly bill collections etc., the stores also offer connections (pre paid and post paid),

accessories and VAS including the latest ring tones, wallpapers and gaming and prompt

after sales service, available not only in the city of purchase but in all The MobileStore

outlets across the country.

The Mobile Store has undertaken an

extensive training program to equip all its

employees with in-depth knowledge of the

products and brands available at the store,

thereby allowing them to provide the right

kind of guidance to the customer.

The Mobile Store has categorized its mobile device offerings into consumer segments

keeping in mind the profiles and needs of different consumers. The unique segments

available in The Mobile Store The Mobile Store are: Business - PDA & Smart phones,

Emails, data transfer etc., Lifestyle - Fashion phones, Look and elegance, Fun -

Multimedia & music, camera, games, wacky ring tones and wallpapers, Value for

Money - Special offers, discounts and budget phones.

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All major handset brands like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung, Motorola, Fly,

Sagem, HP, I Mate, Dopod, HTC and Blackberry are available at the store. The Mobile

Store has also tied up with all leading operators including Airtel, Vodafone, BPL, Idea,

MTNL/BSNL and Reliance, Tata Indicom.

All major handset brands like Nokia, Sony

Ericsson, LG, Samsung, Motorola, Fly,

Sagem, HP, I mate, Dopod, HTC and

Blackberry are available at the store. The

Mobile Store has also tied up with all leading

operators including Airtel, Vodafone, BPL,

Idea, MTNL/BSNL and Reliance,

TataIndicom.

INTRODUCTION-WHY VIRGIN MOBILE?

In Indian mobile market, Virgin mobile is a unique player based on its business model

and strategy. It is the only service provider which does not hold any bandwidth and

mobile setup infrastructure but uses Tata Teleservices spectrum and is penetrating

market totally on its branding and marketing strategy. Creating a niche brand and

promoting it to specific customer segment with proper marketing has been the key

success factor for virgin mobile across the globe. So, from marketing and customer

understanding point of view, this is a very unique company to study.

UNDERSTANDING VIRGIN’S BUSINESS MODEL:

Virgin has promoted itself as the brand for young India, keeping the Indian youth as its

target customer segment. The idea behind targeting this segment can be found inherited

in virgin’s business model. The different marketing perspectives are explained in fig 1.

The salient features of Virgin’s business model from customer perspective are:

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1) With intensive competition and reducing voice tariffs, the profit margins for

voice service are decreasing day by day. So, the future profit strategy is

maximizing profit margins through data services and it is youth segment which

provides maximum data service revenues.

2) Future projection of increasing young and working population of India as 65% of

overall population by 2020.

3) Increased use of data services in future due to technological advancements.

So, in mobile sector where all other players are trying to provide similar service to different

customer segments, virgin is targeting specific segment with tailor made plans keeping its long

term goals in mind.

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VIRGIN MOBILE BRAND

NETWORK

Tata Teleservices Bluedart

DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

Online selling Retail Access

Samsung

Fig 1: Creating Virgin brand through various market

channels

COMMUNICATING THE VIRGIN BRAND:

Virgin mobile has communicated itself as the youth oriented brand of India through

various communication channels. They are:

a) “Think Hat ke” advertisement campaign targeting youth

b) Red and vibrant website look with youth focused language (Fig 2)

c) Tailor made plans for young segment

d) Getting paid for incoming calls: a source of recharge option for youth

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Fig 2. Virgin Mobile website depicting youth flavor

TARGET MARKET:

The Virgin Mobile Brand, targets Indian youth aged between 14 and 25 years. There are

215 million people in this age group. Out of this, 70 million own a mobile phone and

this segment is expected to add another 50 million new subscribers in the next three

years. Though young subscribers constitute only 30 percent of the total mobile

subscribers, they contribute more than 50 percent of the revenues of telecom industry.

By 2010 this group is expected to contribute 60-70 percent of total revenues.

The distinct mobile phone usage habits of the young users provide a huge advantage to

Virgin Mobile. They make more and longer out-bound voice calls, which means huge

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billing potential for service providers. The usage of SMS, data services in the form of

mobile internet, mobile shopping and other value added services like ring tones, caller

tunes, wallpapers, etc are very high in this group which again provides a huge

opportunity to be tapped. Moreover young users have a short handset up gradation

cycle-under 12 months as compared to two years for people above 25 years of age.

CUSTOMER ACQUISITION AND RETENTION STRATEGIES:

The company knows that they are trying to position themselves into a very established

and competitive market. They understand the fact that they cannot start making profit

from day one neither they have plans for it; they anticipate to achieve a subscriber base

of 5 million in next three years and will make profit afterwards they will be able to

break even in three year or so.

According to the patron, Sir Richard “We want to deliver a more tailored and relevant

offering for a single segment.” Company targets only 10% of the above mentioned

segment and have plans to acquire and retain them by various innovative propositions,

some of them are-

1) Providing services which were not offered so far

a) Get paid for incoming calls.

b) 50 paisa for all calls across the country.

c) A brand truly meant for the young India which is reflected at each & every touch

point.

d) Extensive data service offers in the form of vbytes.

e) Excellent value added plans.

f) Go online facility for enquiry, purchasing phone, recharging and everything.

g) One touch VAS access from every virgin mobile.

2) Providing services which others are not providing meticulously

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a) Easy to change the handset from a wide range of handset providing at very

reasonable prices.

b) Boring customer care services telling you are in queue.

c) One customer care officer dedicated for all queries of one customer leading to

transparency.

d) No jammed or bad network coverage.

e) Tailor made customized plans without any hidden charges.

f) No monthly bills.

VALUE CREATION THROUGH PRODUCT DESIGN:

Various steps that Virgin is taking to add value to the customer are on price, quality,

technology and social front. Company is providing the best prices in whichever plan

you go, quality of signals is not only comparable but better than most of the service

providers, on technology front it is the first in India to go for one-touch VAS access

from every Virgin Mobile.

MARKETING MIX:

The marketing mix is the combination of marketing activities that an organisation in so

as to best meet the needs of its targeted market.

Product: Virgin Mobile offers six RUIM enabled handsets with colour screen, FM radio

and include one touch access for V bytes-Virgin Mobile’s VAS portal.

Price: The handsets are priced in the range of Rs2000-5000.The call tariff is very

nominal which is 50p per call both local and STD subject to terms and conditions.

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Place: The focus of Virgin Mobile on customer acquisition has so far been in the top 60

cities of India and is set to extend to more cities. The product is available across a host

of modern retail outlets The Mobile Store, Hotspot, RPG Cellucom, Croma etc.

Promotion: Virgin Mobile entered the Indian market in grand style. The company

surprised the readers of a leading Indian daily when all the headlines on the front page

were in the colour red. Virgin Mobile has used a very vibrant colour to relate itself with

the targeted market. Apart from traditional media, internet and outdoor youth centric

advertising has been used wisely to attract the targeted audience.

DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL:

Virgin mobile makes its products available to the customer by both retail stores and

online distribution.

Selective Distribution:

Virgin mobile has selected some retail outlets to distribute its products. It does not

follow the strategy of intensive and exclusive distribution. The strategy of selective

distribution helps the company gain optimum market coverage and more control but at a

lesser cost than intensive distribution.

Virgin Mobile launched a new mobile handset v Billing on 7 July 2008. V Billing is

available across 15,000 outlets nationally and over 1000 modern retail outlets including

The Mobile Store, Univercell, Croma, Convergem, Big C, Vishal Mega Mart, Vijay

Sales and Sangeetha to name a few. Apart from this, the handset will also be available

in 34 kiosks in high traffic malls across the country.

Online Distribution:

Virgin Mobile India has announced that customers can now buy Virgin Mobile branded

products and services online. They just need to select the handset, plan and number of

their choice by filling an online form. Post the payment transaction, handsets will be

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delivered to the customer within 24 - 48 hours and the requisite documents for proof of

identity will be collected in person. Customers taking advantage of online shopping will

also be offered additional talk time, extra messages as well as other freebies.

Disintermediation and re-aggregation: The different features of the online

distribution are stated as follows:

Intermediary becomes redundant as customer buys directly from the firm using

web technology.

Customization becomes easier and feasible which adds to the customer value.

Re-aggregation occurs in the sense that companies today encourage customers to

lodge their complaints or send their queries on the net. These are then routed to

another site where they are dealt with immediately in a seamless manner. So it

helps in improving the

overall efficiency of the channel.

For the delivery of the ordered products Virgin Mobile has tied up with Blue Dart.

COMPETITION:

Virgin Mobile has entered into a very competitive industry where Airtel, Vodafone and

Reliance are the dominant players. Virgin Mobile faces stiff competition from Reliance

CDMA phones. Virgin Mobile have taken a ‘hatke’ route and launched the brand in the

youth segment. The tie up with Tata Teleservices enables it to fight competition as the

network quality of Tata Teleservices was ranked first by DOT. The company is

spending huge chunks of money to promote their VAS services and it would be

interesting to watch out what Virgin Mobile plans to offer.

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CHAPTER -4

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Marketing is a societal process which discerns consumers' wants, focusing on a

product or service to fulfil those wants, attempting to move the consumers toward the

products or services offered. Marketing is fundamental to any businesses growth. The

marketing teams (marketers) are tasked to create consumer awareness of the products or

services through marketing techniques. Unless it pays due attention to its products and

services and consumers' techniques. Unless it pays due attention to its products and

services and consumers'

techniques. Unless it pays due attention to its products and services and consumers'

techniques. Unless it pays due attention to its products and services and consumers'

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selling. It is also concerned with anticipating the customers' future needs and wants,

which are often discovered through market research.

Essentially, marketing is the process of creating or directing an organization to be

successful in selling a product or service that people not only desire, but are willing to

buy.

Therefore good marketing must be able to create a "proposition" or set of benefits for

the end customer that delivers value through products or services.

A market-focused, or customer-focused, organization first determines what its potential

customers desire, and then builds the product or service. Marketing theory and practice

is justified in the belief that customers use a product or service because they have a

need, or because it provides a perceived benefit.

Two major factors of marketing are the recruitment of new customers (acquisition) and

the retention and expansion of relationships with existing customers (base

management). Once a marketer has converted the prospective buyer, base management

marketing takes over. The process for base management shifts the marketer to building

a relationship, nurturing the links, enhancing the benefits that sold the buyer in the first

place, and improving the product/service continuously to protect the business from

competitive encroachments.

For a marketing plan to be successful, the mix of the four "Ps" must reflect the wants

and desires of the consumers or Shoppers in the target market. Trying to convince a

market segment to buy something they don't want is extremely expensive and seldom

successful. Marketers depend on insights from marketing research, both formal and

informal, to determine what consumers want and what they are willing to pay for.

Marketers hope that this process will give them a sustainable competitive advantage.

Marketing management is the practical application of this process. The offer is also an

important addition to the 4P's theory.

Within most organizations, the activities encompassed by the marketing function are led

by a Vice President or Director of Marketing. A growing number of organizations,

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especially large US companies, have a Chief Marketing Officer position, reporting to

the Chief Executive Officer.

The American Marketing Association (AMA) states, "Marketing is an organizational

function and a set of processes for creating, communicating and delivering value to

customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the

organization and its stakeholders.".[1]

Marketing methods are informed by many of the social sciences, particularly

psychology, sociology, and economics. Anthropology is also a small, but growing

influence. Market research underpins these activities. Through advertising, it is also

related to many of the creative arts. Marketing is a wide and heavily interconnected

subject with extensive publications. It is also an area of activity infamous for re-

inventing itself and its vocabulary according to the times and the culture.

Two levels of marketing-

Strategic marketing attempts to determine how an organization competes against its

competitors in a market place. In particular, it aims at generating a competitive

advantage relative to its competitors.

Operational marketing executes marketing functions to attract and keep customers and

to maximize the value derived for them, as well as to satisfy the customer with prompt

services and meeting the customer expectations. Operational Marketing includes the

determination of the marketing mix (4 Ps).

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Four Ps - In the early 1960's, Professor Neil Borden at Harvard Business School identified a

number of company performance actions that can influence the consumer decision to

purchase goods or services. Borden suggested that all those actions of the company

represented a “Marketing Mix”. Professor E. Jerome McCarthy, also at the Harvard Business

School in the early 1960s, suggested that the Marketing Mix contained 4 elements: product,

price, place and promotion.

In popular usage, "marketing" is the promotion of products, especially advertising and

branding. However, in professional usage the term has a wider meaning which

recognizes that marketing is customer-centered. Products are often developed to meet

the desires of groups of customers or even, in some cases, for specific customers. E.

Jerome McCarthy divided marketing into four general sets of activities. His typology

has become so universally recognized that his four activity sets, the Four Ps, have

passed into the language.

The four Ps are:

Product: The product aspects of marketing deal with the specifications of the actual

goods or services, and how it relates to the end-user's needs and wants. The scope of

a product generally includes supporting elements such as warranties, guarantees, and

support.

Pricing: This refers to the process of setting a price for a product, including

discounts. The price need not be monetary - it can simply be what is exchanged for

the product or services, e.g. time, energy, psychology or attention.

Promotion: This includes advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and personal

selling, branding and refers to the various methods of promoting the product, brand,

or company.

Placement (or distribution): refers to how the product gets to the customer; for

example, point of sale placement or retailing. This fourth P has also sometimes been

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called Place, referring to the channel by which a product or services is sold (e.g.

online vs. retail), which geographic region or industry, to which segment (young

adults, families, business people), etc.

These four elements are often referred to as the marketing mix,[1] which a marketer can

use to craft a marketing plan. The four Ps model is most useful when marketing low

value consumer products. Industrial products, services, high value consumer products

require adjustments to this model. Services marketing must account for the unique

nature of services. Industrial or B2B marketing must account for the long term

contractual agreements that are typical in supply chain transactions. Relationship

marketing attempts to do this by looking at marketing from a long term relationship

perspective rather than individual transactions.

As a counter to this, Morgan, in Riding the Waves of Change (Jossey-Bass, 1988),

suggests that one of the greatest limitations of the 4 Ps approach "is that it

unconsciously emphasizes the inside–out view (looking from the company outwards),

whereas the essence of marketing should be the outside–in approach". Nevertheless, the

4 Ps offer a memorable and workable guide to the major categories of marketing

activity, as well as a framework within which these can be used.

Sales promotion-Promotion involves disseminating information about a product,

product line, brand, or company. It is one of the four key aspects of the marketing mix.

Sales promotion is an important component of a company's marketing communication

strategy along with advertising, public relations, and personal selling. At its core,

sales promotion is a marketing activity that adds to the basic value proposition behind a

product (i.e., getting more for less) for a limited time in order to stimulate consumer

purchasing, selling effectiveness, or the effort of the sales force. As this definition

indicates, sales promotion may be directed either at end consumers or at selling

intermediaries such as retailers or sales crews.

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Sales promotion stems from the premise that any brand or service has an established

perceived price or value, the "regular" price or some other reference value. Sales

promotion is believed to change this accepted price-value relationship by increasing the

value and/or lowering the price. Familiar examples of consumer sales promotion tools

include contests and sweepstakes, branded give-away merchandise, bonus-size

packaging, limited-time discounts, rebates, coupons, free trials, demonstrations, and

point-accumulation systems.

Three issues clarify sales promotion. First, sales promotion ranks in importance with

advertising and requires similar care in planning and strategy development. Second,

three audiences can be targeted by sales promotion: consumers, resellers, and the sales

force. And third, sales promotion as a competitive weapon provides an extra incentive

for the target audience to purchase or support one brand over another. This last factor

distinguishes sales promotion from other promotional mix tactics. For example,

unplanned purchases may be directly related to one or more sales promotion offers.

In order to understand the basic role and function of sales promotion, one must

differentiate between sales promotion and other components of the marketing mix. Sales

promotion usually operates on a short timeline, uses a more rational appeal, returns a

tangible or real value, fosters an immediate sale, and contributes highly to profitability.

The idea of contribution to profitability may be confusing. It is simply the ratio between

what is spent on a promotional mix compared to the direct profitability generated by

that expenditure. A few exceptions to the above characteristics do exist. For example, a

sweepstakes might use a very emotional appeal, while a business-to-business ad may be

very rational.

Promotion is generally sub-divided in the textbooks into two parts:

Above the line promotion: Promotion in the media (e.g. TV, radio, newspapers,

Internet) in which the advertiser pays an advertising agency to place the ad

Below the line promotion: All other promotion. Much of this is intended to be

subtle enough that the consumer is unaware that promotion is taking place. E.g.

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sponsorship, product placement, endorsements, sales promotion, merchandising,

direct mail, personal selling, public relations, trade shows

Marketing Communication-

Reaches large, geographically dispersed audiences, often with

high frequency; Low cost per exposure, though overall costs are high; Consumers

perceive advertised goods as more legitimate; Dramatizes company/brand; Builds brand

image; may stimulate short-term sales; Impersonal, one-way communication; Expensive

.

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Most effective tool for building buyers’ preferences, convictions,

and actions; Personal interaction allows for feedback and adjustments; Relationship-

oriented; Buyers are more attentive; Sales force represents a long-term commitment;

Most expensive of the promotional tools

May be targeted at the trade or ultimate consumer; Makes use of

a variety of formats: premiums, coupons, contests, etc.; Attracts attention, offers strong

purchase incentives, dramatizes offers, boosts sagging sales; Stimulates quick response;

Short-lived; Not effective at building long-term brand preferences

Highly credible; Very believable; Many forms: news stories,

news features, events and sponsorships, etc.; Reaches many prospects missed via other

forms of promotion; Dramatizes company or product; Often the most under used

element in the promotional mix; Relatively inexpensive (certainly not 'free' as many

people think--there are costs involved)

Many forms: Telephone marketing, direct mail, online marketing,

etc.; Four distinctive characteristics: Non-public, Immediate, Customized,

Interactive; Well-suited to highly-targeted marketing efforts.

Why Telecom Industry?

Indian Telecom industry is one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world. In

telecom industry, service providers are the main drivers; whereas equipment

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manufacturers are witnessing growth and decline in successive quarters as sales is

dependent on order undertaken by the companies.

Today the Indian telecommunications network with over 452.91 million(as on May 09)

subscribers is second largest network in the world after China. India is also the fastest

growing telecom market in the world with an addition of 10- 12 million monthly

subscribers. The tele-density of the Country has increased from 18% in March 2006 to

38.88% in May 2009, showing a stupendous annual growth of about 50%, one of the

highest in any sector of the Indian Economy. The Department of Telecommunications

has been able to provide state of the art world-class infrastructure at globally

competitive tariffs and reduce the digital divide by extending connectivity to the

unconnected areas. India has emerged as a major base for the telecom industry

worldwide.

Recent things to watch in Indian telecom sector are:

3G spectrum auctions

Mobile Number Portability(MNP) Implementation

New Policy for Value Added Service

Due to technological advancement and increase in traffic.

Abolition of Access Deficit Charge (ADC).

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CHAPTER -5

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RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology

Research methodology is away to systematically solve research problem. In it we study the

various step that are generally adopted by researcher in studying his research problem along with

logic behind them. It is necessary for a researcher to know not only the research

method/techniques but also the methodology. It may be noted, in the context of planning &

development that the significance of research lines in its quality and not in quantity. Researcher

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should know how to apply particular research techniques, but they also need to know which of

these methods or techniques, are relevant and which are not, and what would they mean and

indicate and why?

Meaning of Research

“Research is common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. In fact research is an act of

Scientific investigation.”The project was divided in to the following steps.

To decide objective of the study

1. To decide objective of the Study:-

This step is also research problem. Problem definition is the most critical part of the

research process. Research problem definition involves specifying the information

needed by management. The main objectives of the study are:

To Creating the Awareness of Hotel Pristine Inn in among Corporates in Pune.

To find out the level of customer satisfaction with the offers, discount and

services offered by Pristine Inn.

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To decide research design & application

To decide source of data collection

To decide from of data collection

To organize & collect data

To process & analyze report

To prepare the research report

2. To decide research design & application:-

Research design involves defining the research problem, determining how to collect the

data and from whom, establishing the way the data will be analyzed estimating costs

and the preparation of the research approach. For this study, descriptive research was

selected.

3. To decide Source of data there are two source of data

Primary Data

Secondary Data

Primary data:-

Primary data is the original data collected specifically for the problem.

Reason for selecting primary data:-

In terms of primary data a questionnaire has been used to interview desire sample units

that give accurate and up to data information as well better to research problem.

Research approaches: - Primary data can be collected in five main ways: through

Observation, focus groups, surveys, behavioral data, and experiments.

Research instruments:- Marketing researchers have a choice of three main research

Instruments in collecting primary data:

Questionnaires: - A questionnaire consists of questions presented to respondents

for their answers. Because of its flexibility, the questionnaire is by far the most

common Instrument used to collect primary data. Questions can be open-ended or

closed-Ended.

Qualitative measures: - Some marketers prefer more qualitative methods for

gauging consumer opinion because consumer actions do not always match their

answers to survey questions. Qualitative research techniques are relatively

unstructured measurement approaches that permit a range of possible responses,

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and they are a creative means of ascertaining consumer perceptions that may

other-Wise be difficult to uncover.

Mechanical devices: -Mechanical devices are occasionally used in marketing

research .Mechanical devices like galvanometers measure the respondent’s

interest or emotions aroused by exposure to a specific ad or picture.

Secondary data:-

Data potentially useful in solving a current problem but that were collected for a

different purpose.

Reason for selecting secondary data:-

Secondary data can be gathered quickly and inexpensively, compared to primary data, it

is clear useful to study analyzing the recent development in the telecom industry.

Contact methods:- Once the sampling plan has been determined, the marketing

researcher must decide how the subject should be contact:

Mail questionnaire: - The mail questionnaire is the best way to reach people

who would not give personal interviews or whose responses might be biased or

distorted by the interviewers. Mail questionnaires require simple and clearly

worded questions.

Telephone interview: - Telephone interviewing is the best method for gathering

information quickly; the interviewer is also able to clarify questions if

respondents do not understand them. The response rate is typically higher than in

the case of mailed questionnaires.

Personal interview: - Personal interviewing is the most versatile method. The

interviewer can ask more questions and record additional observations about the

respondent, such as dress and body language. Personal interviewing takes two

forms. In arranged interviews, respondents are contacted for an appointment, and

often a small payment or incentive is offered. Intercept interviews involve

stopping people at a shopping mall or busy street corner and requesting an

interview.

38

Online interviews: - There is increased use of online methods. There are so

many ways to use the Net to do research. In this method, researcher can include a

questionnaire on its Web site and offer a people to answer the questionnaire.

4.To decide from of data collection:-

For this project survey method was selected which was carried through person

interview. Because information from different customers was required.

5. To organize & collect data:-

Once the researcher has formulated and development a research design including

questionnaire second thing he has to decide whether he has to collect the information.

From all the targeted customers. There can be two types of survey are possible.

Sample Survey

Census Survey

“For this project sample Survey was chosen”

Characteristics of the sample survey are:-

It is cheaper than census survey

It requires less time

It is economical

More detail information can be collected

Deciding the sample plan requires following decisions

Sample unit “Who is to be surveyed”

Sample

39

Sample is the true representation of the population by studying of the sample we can

predict the behavior of the population.

Sample Size: 250 (in this case)

Method of Sampling:-

In this project, the survey was done within the market that means probabilistic

convenience Sampling was carried out.

6. To process & analyze data:-

After the data was collected it was tabulated, analyzed and interpreted to the conclusion

reach.

Techniques Applied

Bar Chart:- A chart in which the length of the bar represents the amount of the item

associated with the bar.

Pie Chart:- A circle divided in to sections, such that each section represent the

percentage of the total area of a circle associates with one variable.

Types of Research

Along with this there may be 3 type of research methodology these are :-

They are –

Exploratory Research

Descriptive Research

Casual Research

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“Our research is based on the exploratory research.”

Exploratory Research

“The objective of this research is to gather preliminary information that will help us to define the

problem and to suggest any hypothesis.”

Which means first we have to define the problem and research objective? Then we have to

develop the research plan for collecting information. Now after collection data we have to

interpret those data for any suggestion,

41

CHAPTER-6

DATA ANALYSIS &

INTERPRETATION

Proximity of Service Center

42

Table No.6.1

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Excellent 3%

Very Good 30%

Good 37%

Average 23%

Poor 7%

Figure No.6.1

Data Analysis

The analysis shows that there is 3% Customer’s opinion for excellent, 30% for Very

good,37% for good and there is also 23% opnion is average and 7 % for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin has a large no. of customers those are satisfied with the services, it increase the

customer relationship and also increase the sales of the company.

43

Excellent Very good Good Average Poor0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

5%

25%23%

29%

18%

Proximity of Service Center

Customer's Opinion

% Responded

User friendliness of delivery Point

Table No.6.2

Customer’s Opinion Percentage responded

Excellent 33%

Very Good 53%

Good 7%

Average 7%

Poor 0%

Figure No.6.2

12%

38%

28%

22%

User friendliness of delivery Point

ExcellentVery goodGoodPoor

Data Analysis

By the analysis we conduct that there is 5% for the excellent, 25% customer’s opinion

for very good,7% for good and also 0% for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin has friendliness of delivery point, Virgin Mobile use effective techniques for

take attention of customer’s.

44

Service Time

Table No.6.3

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Excellent 19%

Very Good 34%

Good 27%

Poor 20%

Figure No.6.3

Excellent Very good Good Poor0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

11%

34%

25%

20%

Service Time

Customer's Opinion

% Responded

Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 3% response for excellent and very good, 47% for good, 27%

for average also there is 20% response for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin makes the huge no of satisfied customers by its services. It is helpful to increase

the customer relationship and also for the sales of the company.

45

Availability of Customer Care

Table No.6.4

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Excellent 19%

Very Good 34%

Good 27%

Poor 20%

Figure No.6.4

Excellent Very good Good Poor0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

11%

34%

25%

20%

Availability of Customer Care

Customer's Opinion

% Responded

Data Analysis

There is observed by the analysis that 18% opinion for excellent, 23% for Very good,

39% good and also there is 20% for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin mobile has very good and huge customer care service, by this customer can

easily find the solution of the problem.

46

Quality of Service by Customer Care

Table No.6.5

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Excellent 19%

Very Good 34%

Good 27%

Poor 20%

Figure No.6.5

Excellent Very good Good Poor0%5%

10%15%20%25%30%35%40%

11%

34%

25%20%

Quality of Service by Customer Care

Customer's Opinion

% Responded

Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 19% response for excellent, 34% very good, 27% good and also

for 20% poor

Data Interpretation

Virgin Mobile has good quality of customer care Services, where customer gets the

quick response of his queries; it makes the good relationship between the company and

customer.

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Network Quality

Table No.6.6

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Excellent 17%

Very Good 36%

Good 26%

Poor 21%

Figure No.6.6

12%

38%

28%

22%

Network Quality

ExcellentVery goodGoodPoor

Data Analysis

The analysis shows that there is 17% response for excellent, 36% for very good, 26%

for good and also 26% response for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin mobile has good network quality; by the analysis it is found that there is large

no. of customers those are highly satisfied with the network quality of virgin mobile.

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Overall Satisfaction Level

Table No.6.7

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Excellent 12%

Very Good 38%

Good 28%

Poor 22%

Figure No.6.7

12%

38%

28%

22%

Overall Satisfaction Level

ExcellentVery goodGoodPoor

Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 12% response for excellent,38% for very good,28% response for

good, and also 22% response for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin has large no. of satisfied customers by its services and offers. But in rural area

virgin is not so much successful.

49

Virgin Connection

Table No. 6.8

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Yes 90%

No 10%

Figure No.6.8

Data Analysis

By the analysis we come to conclusion that 10% of customer base is using virgin

connection and 90% other network.

Data Interpretation

There is less no of virgin mobile user in the Allahabad, so there is large no of other

network user.

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Which is the most important factor while using Mobile Service

Table No.6.9

Reasons Percentage Responded

Price 42%

Mobile handset compatibility 33%

Mobile Service of friends and relatives 12%

Free extra services like internet, down 6%

Others 7%

Figure No.6.9

CDMA Tech

nology

Limite

d Handset

sPric

e

Switc

hing fro

m existi

ng han

dset

Others0

0.10.20.30.4

Which is the most important factor while using mobile Service

Reasons

% Responded

Data Analysis

By the analysis we conduct that there is 42% for price, 33% for mobile handset compatibility,

12% for mobile service of friends and relatives, 6% for free extra service like internet

download,7% for others.

Data Interpretation

51

There is large no of customer price conscious and they prefer handset compatibility like GSM or

CDMA.

Which is the most cost effective Brand?

Table No.6.10

Brand Percentage Responded

Virgin 21%

Reliance 24%

Tata Indicom 7%

Aitel 24%

Vodafone 24%

Figure No.6.10

Data Analysis

The analysis shows that there 21% for virgin,24% for reliance,7% for Tata Indicom, 24% for

Airtel,24% for Vodafone.

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Data Interpretation

By the analysis it is founded that virgin is most cost effective brand.

Are you aware of virgin’s 50 paisa STD Plan

Table No.6.11

Customer’s Response Percentage Responded

Yes 68

No 32

Figure No.6.11

Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 68% response for yes and 32% response for no.

Data Interpretation

53

There is average awareness of virgin mobile 50 paisa STD plan.

Are you aware of virgin’s paid incoming call plan ?

Table No.6.12

Awareness Percentage Responded

Yes 88%

No 12%

Figure No.6.12

Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 88% response for yes and 12% response for No.

Data Interpretation

54

There is highly awareness of virgin mobile paid incoming call plan.

If not a virgin customer, will you like to switch to virgin ?

Table No.6.13

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Yes 14

No 32

Can’t Say 54

Figure No.6.13

Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 14% response for yes and 32% response for no and 54% for can’t say.

Data Interpretation

55

There is low customer response for switch to virgin mobile because of the CDMA compability.

What is the main problem going for virgin mobile?

Table No.6.14

Problems Percentage Responded

CDMA Technology 36%

Limited Handsets 42%

Price 8%

Switching from existing handset 10%

Others 4%

Figure No.6.13

CDMA Technology

Limited Handsets

Price Switching from existing

handset

Others0

0.050.1

0.150.2

0.250.3

0.350.4

0.45

36%42%

8% 4%0.1

What is the main problem going for virgin mobile?

Problems

% Responded

Data Analysis

By the analysis we conduct that 36% response for CDMA technology, 42% for Limited handset,

8% for Price, 10% for Switching from existing handset, 4 % for others.

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Data Interpretation

There is huge response for CDMA Technology Problem and also for Limited handsets.

CHAPTER-7

FINDINGS

57

Findings

Virgin comes only CDMA features.

Virgin has a large no. of customers those are satisfied with the services, it

increase the customer relationship and also increase the sales of the company.

Virgin has friendliness of delivery point, Virgin Mobile use effective techniques

for take attention of customer’s.

Virgin mobile has very good and huge customer care service, by this customer

can easily find the solution of the problem.

Virgin has large no. of satisfied customers by its services and offers. But in rural

area virgin is not so much successful.

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Virgin is most cost effective brand.

CHAPTER-8

LIMITATION

59

Limitation

It was assumed that the information given by the respondents is authentic

and best of their knowledge.

Some of the view given was completely views by customers as they were

in a hurry and were not considered in the data analysis.

The result of the study is applicable to the survey area only.

Time and Money is also one of the important limitations.

Dull process and unwilling respondent also affect the result of the study.

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CHAPTER-9

Conclusion & Recommendation

61

Conclusion of the Study

Telecom industry is seeing a rise as the trend goes and has potential for growth. Taking into

account the tele-density of 38.88% there is still unexplored market. The competition is fierce

with around 10 Service providers in most of the 18 circles and also the implementation of MNP.

The service providers have to be different and have to stick to strict service norms and provide

excellent customer service in order to hold on to the market share. Thus there is intense

competition in the market but at the same time scope for development in rural areas. Airtel, Idea

and Vodafone have taken up initiatives to provide customized connections to Rural customers

like Motor pumps control system, loud speaker phone for illiterates and so on.

In a few words Telecom sector has a lot of scope for growth and the customers at the same time

have the benefit to choose from a wide range of service providers offering various plans targeted

to specific customers

It can be said that Virgin has created its image in a very short period in Allahabad.

It is attracting the customers with its good services. Most of the customer satisfied by Virgin mobile services and facilities.

This satisfaction can be concluded by the response of customer in the questionnaires. Day by day Virgin is improving his reputation to other Mobile network.

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Recommendations:

Virgin should try to promote its latest plans like 50 paisa STD calls in advertisements.

Making customers aware about latest pricing will increase its market share in terms of cost effectiveness.

Virgin should try to tap 14% of customer base who want to switch to virgin but not able to switch because of existing non-compatible handset.

Solving existing non-compatible handset problem and better communication to inform latest pricing strategies will lead to substantial increase in consumer base for virgin mobile.

In order to enhance customer satisfaction, time gap between services sought and delivered should be minimized.

63

Appendix

64

Questionnaire for the Virgin Customers:

Please fill this questionnaire and rate Virgin Mobile on the following aspects from 1 to 5, with 5 representing excellent i.e. highly satisfied and 1 being poor i.e. highly dissatisfied.

Q.No.1: how is the proximity of the service centre?

Ans: 1 2 3 4 5

Q.No.2: Is the delivery point user friendly?

Ans : 1 2 3 4 5

3. How satisfied are you with time gap between services sought and delivered?

2 3 4 5

4. How accessible is the customer care on phone?

1 2 3 4 5

5. How well does the customer care respond to the queries of the customer?

1 2 3 4 5

6. How is the Network quality?

1 2 3 4 5

7. The overall satisfaction level with Virgin Mobile?

1 2 3 4 5

Name:

Address:

Contact No:

65

Questionnaire for target customer’s expectation:

Note: - Please fill this questionnaire and help us in finding target customer’s expectation from the firm. Please select the option which according to you is most suitable:

1. Do you own a virgin mobile connection?

a) Yes b) No

2. Which is the most important factor while using a mobile service?

a) Price b) Mobile handset compatibility c) Mobile service of friends and relatives

d) Free extra services like internet, downloads e) Others

3. Which is the most cost effective brand in mobile service?

a) Virgin b) Reliance c) Tata Indicom d) Airtel e) Vodafone f) Idea g) Bpl h) Don’t know

4. Are you aware of 50 paise national call plan of virgin mobile?

a) Yes b) No

5. Are you aware of paid incoming call facility by virgin mobile?

a) Yes b) No

6. If not a virgin customer, will you like to switch to virgin?

a) Yes b) No c) Can't say

7. Why you do not want to go for virgin mobile?

a) CDMA technology b) Limited Handset c) Price

d) Switching from existing handset

e) Others

66

67

BIBLIOGRAPHY

68

Name Of Book Name Of Author Edition & year

Marketing Management Paramhans Foundation First Edition, 1992

Research Methodology C.R.Kothari Second Edition, 1993

Marketing Management Philip Kotler Tenth Edition, 1999

Fundamentals of Statistics D.N.Elhance Present Edition, 1992

REFRENCES

1. Website of www. mobilestore.com

2. Website of www.google.com

3. www.virginmobile.com

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