A PROJECT REPORT ON

MARKETING STRATEGY OF AIRTEL

SUBMITTED
TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI
AS A PARTIAL REQUIREMENT FOR COMPLETING THE
DEGREE OF
M.COM (BANKING & FINANCE) SEMESTER I
SUBJECT: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
SUBMITTED BY:
VARSHA JAYPRAKASH SINGH
ROLL NO.: 15310A1007

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

ABHIJEET RANE
 VIDYALANKAR MARG , WADALA (E) MUMBAI 400037
TELEFAX 24161126

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that SHRUTI ARUN MAHADIK

of M.Com (Banking & Finance) Semester I (academic year

2015-2016) has successfully completed the project on

MARKETING STRATEGY OF AIRTEL under the

Guidance of Abhijeet Rane

Prof. ABHIJEET RANE ABHIJEET RANE

(Project Guide) (Course Co-ordinator)

Prof. Dr. ROHINI KELKAR

(External Examiner) (I/C Principal)

Place: _____________
Date: ___________
 DECLARATION

I, VARSHA JAYPRAKASH SINGH Student M.Com (Banking &

Finance) Semester I (academic year 2015-16) hereby declare that,

I have completed the project on Marketing Strategy Of Airtel

The information presented in this project is true and

original to the best of my knowledge.

VARSHA JAYPRAKASH
SINGH

(Student Name & Sign)

Roll No.: 15310A1007

Place: _____________
Date:_____________
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank the University of Mumbai, for

introducing M.Com (Banking & Finance) course, thereby giving
its students a platform to be abreast with changing business
scenario, with the help of theory as a base and practical as a
solution.

I am indebted to the reviewer of the project

My project guide Prof. Abhijeet Rane for her support and

guidance. I would sincerely like to thank her for all her efforts.

Last but not the least; I would like to thank my parents for
giving the best education and for their support and contribution
without which this project would not have been possible.

Varsha J.Singh

(Student Name and sign)

ROLL NO. 15310A10047

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The project aims at understanding the Marketing strategies at Airtel and its impact

on the perception of Airtel Cellular Services. Research has demonstrated conclusively that

it is far more costly to win a new customer than it is to maintain an existing one. And there

is no better way to retain a customer than to exceed his expectations. For this

purpose it is essential to know the level of customer satisfaction. The focus of my research

was the marketing strategy used by Bharti Airtel limited.

 INDEX

Chapter CONTENT

NO.

I INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND OF TOPIC

II COMPANY PROFILE AIRTEL

III MARKETING STRATEGY STUDY OF AIRTEL

IV MARKET SEGMENTATION OF AIRTEL

V MARKETING MIX

VI CONCLUSION

VII BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION
 BACKGROUND OF TOPIC

Marketing is the important aspect of an organization. The success of the organization

is largely attributed to the performance of the marketing. Therefore, there must be

suitable marketing strategies.

The Following Strategies Are Followed By Any Organization:

Product strategy

Pricing strategy

Distribution strategy

Promotion strategy

Marketing research strategy

COMPANY PROFILE
 NAME OF THE COMPANY: BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITED

Provides mobile, broadband & telephone (fixed line) and enterprise services (carriers &

services to corporate)

1. BUSINESS DESCRIPTION:

Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in

20 countries across Asia and Africa.

Headquartered in New Delhi, India. The company ranks amongst the top 4 mobile service

providers globally in terms of subscribers.

In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services,

mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed DSL broadband, IPTV, DTH, enterprise

services including national & international long distance services to carriers.

The rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G wireless services and mobile commerce.

Bharti Airtel had nearly 287 million customers across its operations at the end of Dec

2013.

2. AIRTELs VISION

At Airtel, we always put you at the heart of what we do. We strive to enhance your

experience with us and build a lasting relationship with you by delivering better results

every time. And this reflects in our mission too.

3. MISSION OF AIRTEL

Hunger to Win Customers For Life.

4. VALUES

We aim to work towards our vision, driven by our values of AIR ALIVE, INCLUSIVE

AND RESPECTFUL.

ALIVE :

We are alive to the needs of our customers. We act with passion, energy and a can-do

attitude to help our customers realise their dreams. Innovation and an entrepreneurial

spirit drive us - if it cant be done, well find a way.

INCLUSIVE :

Airtel is for everyone - we champion diversity, recognising the breadth and depth of the

communities we serve. We work with them, anticipating, adapting and delivering

solutions that enrich their lives. We do this by having an open mind and embracing

change.

RESPECTFUL :

We live the same lives as our customers, sharing the same joys and the same pains. We

never forget that they are why we exist. We act with due humility, always open and

honest, to achieve mutual respect.

BHARTI AIRTEL ORGANISATION STRUCTURE
 MARKETING STRATEGY STUDY OF BHARATI AIREL INDIA

The organization we are going to focus for our Marketing Strategy study is Bharati Airtel

India
Bharati Airtel is a leading telecom provider in the telecom industry with the customer

base of 124 million till Feb 2010.

Airtel is the 3rd largest in the world to have such a wide base of customer & 6 th largest

integrated telecom operators in the world. This enormous growth is not possible without

proper planning & with good marketing plan.

OBJECTIVE OF AIRTEL:

The objective of Airtel is that they wanted to a market leader in the telecom industry.
They wanted to take over the Major market in the country.
These things were possible for them after the globalization in 90s in India.
With the proper penetration strategy they were able to achieve its objective & currently

they are market leaders in spite o heavy competitors.

UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION

Every brand or a product will have a unique selling proposition to differentiate itself from

other brand. They wanted to highlight in their best way likewise the USP of Airtel is to

feel proud about the nation. Their first advertising campaign was also based on their USP

which eventually reached their targeted customer.

 Airtel in its earlier stage never projected itself as brand which gives service, but it

projected itself as brand which makes u feel proud about the nation.
MARKETING PRINCIPLES OF BHARATI AIRTEL:
As it was said before Marketing lays a major role in an organisation inspite of good

product. Airtel have a wonderful Marketing strategies & principles.

Airtel was the second to enter the Indian market in the telecommunication industry till

then BSNL was the monopoly in the telecom market as far as India is concerned.

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE OF BHARATI AIRTEL:

Every product will undergo the product life cycle, it's been thirteen years that Airtel was

launched in India it have 24.6% of market share in India.

The current stage of Airtel in India is that the product is in saturation stage hence the

company is diversifying itself to various other divisions like Airtel broadband & Airtel

DTH etc.
Even though it is in saturation stage the major revenue for the company comes from

Telecom Services only.

AIRTEL:

Airtel have positioned itself very strongly in the market that is the reason in spite of its

saturation point Airtel is able to get its revenue from the telecom industry.

1. INTRODUCTION STAGE OF AIRTEL:

In the early 1990's was the stage that India allowed globalization which actually

created an evolution around the country. This point Airtel comes in play with their

marketing strategy.
Airtel started its organisation with its prepaid connection but Airtel is actually a

Premier Product. It was the first to enter the monopoly market in India were it was

able to be successful compared with other competitors.

2. GROWTH STAGE OF AIRTEL:
 After entering the monopoly market of telecom industry it was easy for Airtel to penetrate

in to the Indian market.

In The Introduction stage the competition was only with BSNL which was government

body, hence it was easy for Airtel to take over the market even it was a premier product.
But as the days goes by the competition was increasing in slow phase as other players like

orange, Essar came in to the market, by the time they enter the market Airtel actually

swiped the market with its product & service even though it was a premium product were

it was costing even for incoming calls.

In the early stage of product launch Airtel was targeting the upper class customer based

on their income pattern but in the early stages because of increase in the competition they

innovated new plans & tariff in order to sustain in the market, because of their marketing

& advertising market Airtel is able to rule the market.

3. MATURITY STAGE OF AIRTEL:
When Airtel was in its maturing stage that is the point new competitors came in to the

Indian market but by time Airtel had a huge market in India were it was tough for the

competitors to divide the market share.

During this time Airtel was busy innovating new products for its customer like free

incoming calls, free messages and other different tariffs and packages to its customer.
4. SATURATION STAGE OF AIRTEL:
This is the current stage of Airtel they are in a saturation stage with their products

even though their major revenue is from telecom. Airtel have not gone to the decline stage

in its product but they are diversifying its market towards broadband internet connections

& very recently they have also entered in to the DTH services in the market.

MARKET SEGMENTATION

Segmentation is beneficial because of better predictability of the target consumer group,

minimization of risk exposure, better ability to fine-tune a product/service to the requirement

of target buyer & the resultant ease in designing a proper designing marketing mix strategy in

this case segmentation is on bade of income.

Target market segmentation:

Airtel has targeted the premium and upper middle class. The rationale behind is that

only those segments should be targeted who value time & have the paying capacity.

It is also planning to target the business tourists during their stay in the capital.

About 60% of the clientele are top executive of corporate houses. About 15% is

foreign organizations & the rest are the professionals & small businessmen.

During the introduction stage there was intense pressure to get consumers across to

hook up with their brand, because getting them to Switch brand loyalty later would be

hard.

So far Airtel marketers have been concentrating totally on the business executive class

but now that the basic viable volumes has beer) built upend prices have declined to a

certain extent they are planning to venture further field.

MARKETING MIX OF BHARTI AIRTEL

 The major & cautious decision that any company needs to frame in its product is

marketing mix.
The composition of marketing mix should be in a proper ration in order to sustain in the

competitive market.
Marketing mix are nothing by the 4Ps, they are product, price, place, promotion.
Airtel have clearly framed its products, price, place, & promotion, because Airtel was

clear in its vision, they had a clear picture for its customers needs and requirement they

analyzed what they actually want.

Airtel have clearly segmented its target audience for its product and services to its

customer & it have also perfectly positioned in the market.

PRODUCT MIX

The product or service is the heart of marketing

mix. Without a product or a service customers needs cannot be satisfied.

The product policy & planning depends on the stage of product life cycle.
The basic product promise by Airtel is mobility. Airtels main marketing strategy is to be

a first mover all the time. It has recognize a significant of making the first move

because in the field of communication & information Technology changes occur at a

tremendous pace.
Effective product segmentation has to carried on continuously because basic services can

be & will be copied & in time become expected component of the product. Airtel seeks to

carry out this segmentation through provision of new information services & making new

facilities available.
At present the cellular market has reach the maturity stage. Since, the premium stage

nearing saturation the company targeting upper middle & middle-middle class.
 In order to do so Airtel is trying to optimize the price performances package by offering

suitable product bundling.

The company provides a wide array of products and services. In order to retain the

maximum number of customers, Airtel has tried to provide as many products and services

as possible in order to keep the customers. The following is a list of its products/services:

AIRTEL PHONES

PREPAID MOBILES:

a. Headset offers :
Now 3G and 2G data pack offers with new headsets.

b. Switch to Airtel :
National Mobile Number Portability is now available on Airtel.
Now no matter which city you move to, there's one thing that needn't change - your

number. So when you move, move with Airtel smart network

c. Airtel Prepaid:
Airtel Prepaid, the ready cellular card from Airtel comes to you from Bharti Enterprises,

Indias leading telecom service provider.

Going mobile with Airtel Prepaid is a new way of life. With the host of great features,

also simple to use, Airtel prepaid makes everything that you dreamt & believed, possible.
d. Prepaid mobile recharge :
Recharge your airtel prepaid mobile instantly from airtel website anytime anywhere.
It is easy and there are no additional charges to recharge online. Recharge now.
e. Voice mail:
 When your handset is switched off, or youre too busy to answer the phone, Airtel voice

mail will answer your calls & record a message.

The best part is that theirs is no monthly extra cost for setting up Voicemail you jus pay

for the phone call when you use the service.

f. Airtel Live!
Make your mobile the most happening entertainment destination with Airtel Live! Airtel

brings you the latest in entertainment & information services, right on your phone!
Wap services: download the latest ring tones, games, wallpapers & videos, & much

more.

Sim services: access loads of fun content & exciting services like cricket, stocks, on

your phone.

Airtel also came up with more different others new ideas like having a CUG connection

where within the friends group its free of charge.

POSTPAID PHONES:

1. Roaming Plan:
Airtel recognizes your accessibility needs. Keep in touch with your business partners,

friends and loved ones through our extensive coverage of more than 400 roaming partners

in over 200 destinations worldwide.

You can be sure of enjoying the best coverage wherever you go. After all, home is just a

phone call away.

Roaming services include:

National roaming

International roaming

International data roaming

In-flight connectivity

2. Blackberry on Airtel:
 Presenting the BlackBerry smartphone - the world's most desired integrated

communication device on airtel.

Now be constantly accessible on mail, talk on phone and surf the internet at the same

time, schedule and coordinate appointments in the middle of meetings, raise approval

request, log in orders, update business databases and stay connected to your

colleagues, customers, friends and family from anywhere, anytime.

3. Post-paid Bill Pay:
Pay your airtelpostpaid mobile anytime anywhere! There are no additional charges for

paying bills online.

4. Get A New Connection: Freedom, Flexibility & Saving - All In One Plan
Introducing Airtel my Plan that gives you the freedom to create your own postpaid

plan and share it with your entire family.

This ensures that none of your plan benefits go unutilised & you even save on your

family's mobile expenses.

5. E-Bill
E-bill is a smart and convenient service that offers you the benefits of the digital platform.
By subscribing to e-bill you receive a password protected copy of your bill on your

registered email id and you can enjoy the option of paying your bill online, from the

comfort of your home.

LANDLINE TELEPHONE

1. Unlimited Voice :
Now unlimited STD and local calls with the Airtel supersaver packs i.e for Rs. 49 and Rs.

99
Pay your Airtel bills at your convenience anywhere, anytime through easy payment

options.
You can:
 a. Drop off cheques at your nearest Airtel Relationship center.
b. Transfer online through debit- card by using ECS
c. Also now you don't need to remember due dates either, as we will notify you through

email, Airtel My Account or an SMS Con your mobile as soon as the bill is generated.

2. MODE OF PAYMENTS:
You can choose from a host of easy payment options from the following to suit your

transaction needs & convenience.

3. AIRTEL DIGITAL TV
Airtel digital TV is an Indian direct-broadcast satellite service provider owned and

operated by Bharti Airtel. Its satellite service, launched in 2008, transmits digital satellite

television and audio to households in India.

It provides set top boxes HD, HD+, Digital TV+

4. AIRTEL MOVIES :
Bharti Airtel to offer On-demand online movie viewing services - launches Airtel

Movies Digital video library with original DVD quality content powered by BigFlix.

AIRTEL INTERNET

1. BROADBAND SERVICES :
Airtel provides broadband services at home. Airtel broadband allows you to conveniently

expand your reach and increase efficiency from comforts of your home.

2. AIRTEL 2G &3G SERVICES :

Airtel provides 2G and 3G services. There are variety of 3G plans according to the needs

of the customers.
PRODUCT MIX - AIRTEL
 PRICING POLICY & PLANNING:

Price Planning:

Taking into view factors such as firm's overall marketing objectives, consumer demands,

competitor's pricing, products attributes, market and economic trends. Pricing strategy is

one of the important issues in telecom industry to each player.

Being a conjunctive focus between users & service providers, carriers pricing strategies

takes an outstanding role in telecom chain.

Airtel has realised that the Indian market is price sensitive. Therefore it has come up with

various innovative tariffs schemes to take need of different category of customers.

As it was explained before Airtel is premium product hence the prices was high in the

initial stage then in the later stage they have reduced the price & became cheap they

could stand with their competitors.

They developed variety of products with different prices and different segments of their

target audience; they have actually developed basket of products with different price were

in can satisfy all needs of its customers.

The biggest driver of growth in telecom industry is the development of pricing plans

catering to individual needs & requirements of people at the prices they are willing to pay.

A plethora of price plans are available today such as prepaid, postpaid, lifetime validity,

Closed User Groups, corporate plans or some combination of these.

Competitive pricing strategy: The Company uses competitive pricing strategy just like

any other network providers because of the competition which is present in this sector.
 Pricing Penetration: Bharti Airtel employs various pricing strategies like very call and

SMS rates, numbers given to corporates (value based pricing), different offers for local

calls and local SMS for different states (geographical pricing).

Flexible pricing: Variable Customer based pricing strategies.

a. Controlled by TRAI, GPRS tariff
b. Prepaid post paid services Wap sites browsing on internet.
c. Activation charges monthly rentals rs.5/- per day Rs.150/- per month usage charges

unlimited browsing.
d. Game download 50, 60, 150, 200 depending upon the complexity of game, MMS

charges Rs.5/- per MMS (download) charges mentioned on screen before

downloading.
e. Ringtones and wallpaper Rs.10/- per download (depends) Rs. 10/- per download

(depends).
 PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY

Airtel engages in aggressive marketing strategy ranging from traditional print media to social

network marketing.

1. Large scale print and video advertising.

2. Big celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar and Shahrukh khan are roped in to endorse the

product.

3. Airtel got its first signature tune from A.R. RAHMAN which was the most downloaded

tune in India.

4. Provides innovations such as Bollywood premiers, music services such as ring back tones

& many more.

5. Friends prepaid connection youth plan, ladies special plan and seniors citizen.

6. Executive corporate plan (first to give prepaid in this category )

7. Special discounts in calling rates & SMS services.

SOME OF THE PROMOTIONAL ADVERTISEMENTS WERE AS

FOLLOWS:
The unlimited calls and internet pack for night. This advertisement was able to attract many

customers.

The Airtel money provided the customer the facility to send money, pay bills, recharges and

other Payments through mobile by using www.airtelmoney.in

Airtel started a new feature in set top box i.e the HD recorder which was useful for the people

with busy schedule.

So Airtel promoted it to target the working customers.

To connect with the youth Airtel came up with a new promotion that is free Facebook which

was an instant hit among the youngsters.

AIRTEL 4G:

Airtel introduces 4G services in India at the price

ranges of 3G plans.
Being one of the top mobile network carriers in the country and one of the first

introducers of the network carrier technologies.

 Airtel has been serving one half of the network population in India with their services.
They were the first ones to bring 3G carrier technology into the country and this time they

took the 4G flight.

Airtel renovates their website with all the 4G related information on the site.
The first fold of the webpage itself challenges mobile users about the speed of the

network.
The challenge shows the companys confidence about their new services.
The interesting thing is the price range that it is available for. It is worth giving a try as

you dont need to put an extra buck for the service.

DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY

Airtel enjoys a well distributed network of distributors including even businesses like

groceries and chemist outlets.

One of the things that have made Bharti Airtel a force to reckon in telecommunication

industry in India and Africa is that it has the strategy of making the first moves and

emerging as a winner.
 It has managed to buy Kuwaits Zain and Tata steel in the past, making it a top 5 wireless

carrier in the world by subscription.

Airtel has wide and effectively spread channel structure in India. The channel structure is

simple and effective.

Complications are kept out in order to make the overall process simple and effective.

SELECTION OF CHANNEL MEMBERS / DEALERS

Airtel follows a strict policy in selection of the dealers, and therefore it is necessary to fulfill

the following pre- requisites to be eligible to become a dealer:

The dealers should have a sound financial background. The financial capability of a

dealer is solely depended on the discretion of the company officials.

The dealers should have a good market reputation, since the dealers help the customers

informing the first impression a customer has about the company.

The dealer should have a good previous track record, i.e of timely payments, no

criminal background etc.

The dealers should have good market penetration. The companys ability to gain

maximum customers in this era of competition solely depends on the penetration the

dealers have in the market.

The last criterion of dealers selection for Airtel is the area the dealers cover. This would

include different geographical areas which are covered by a dealer.

SECOND DEGREE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK :

Company makes invoice of SIMs, PEFs, GSM Pay Phones, RCVs of various

denominations cheaply Rs.10, Rs 30 and Rs. 60 to only Urban Distributors and Rural

Super Distributors.
Easy balance is also transferred to only Urban Distributors (UDs) and Rural Supers (RS).

Urban distributors distribute the above items to retailers according to the demand and

transfer easy balance to retailer through FOS (Field Sales Officer) SIM.
 This is more suitable for the urban market where demand is obscurely driven.

THIRD DEGREE DISTRIBUTION NETWORK:

RS distributes the above items to Rural Distributors commonly known as RDs and

transfers easy balance into Rural Distributors SIM.

Rural Distributor then distribute the above items among the retailer according to the

demand of it and transfer easy balance to retailer through FOS SIM from easy balance of

Distributor SIM.
This three level distribution is used to reach to sub urban and rural areas since there is

lesser popular density and large geographical spread that has to be catered to.

SPONSORSHIPS:

On 9 May 2009 Airtel signed a major deal with Manchester United. As a result of the

deal, Airtel gets the rights to broadcast the matches played by the team to its customers.
Bharti Airtel signed a five-year deal with ESPN Star Sports to become the title sponsor of

the Champions League Twenty20 cricket tournament.

But now the deal is terminated and Karbonn Mobiles is sponsoring Champions League

Twenty20 cricket.
Airtel, also signed a deal to be title sponsor the inaugural Formula One Indian Grand

Prix during the 2011 season.

Airtel, signed a deal to be title sponsor the I-League for 201314 I-League.
CONCLUSION

This project describes the success factors of Airtel in Indian Market. This clearly shows

why Airtel is able to be market leader in spite of heavy competition.

Airtel was well organized they studied the requirement of the market first; they

segmented their customers for short-term and long-term, then narrowed their segment for

the initial stage and targeted them which was huge hit.

When the competitors enter the market they were actually in the execution of their long-

term plan of developing new products for its different target audience.

Hence with the proper planning and implementation they were able to increase the market

share.
 Airtel have exactly used all the marketing plans and principles to attain its organizational

goals.

The recommendation that I would suggest for airtel is to work on weakness and its

opportunities to grow in future.

 BIBILIOGRAPHY

http://issuu.com/sanjaykumarguptaa/docs/marketing-strategy-of-airtel

http://www.scribd.com/doc/23966428/Marketing-Strategies-of-Airtel#scribd

http://www.airtel.in/personal/mobile

http://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/bharti-airtel-mobile-services-

marketing-essay.php