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Project Report On Airtel
Project Report On Airtel
PROJECT REPORT
ON
MARKETING
Submitted in the partial fulfillment in Bachelor of Business Administration
JASPREET BAJAJ
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that JASPREET BAJAJ BBA 3rd SEM student from
MAHARAJA AGARSENINSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES
affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi has
completed her project under my supervision. She made this project to my
entire satisfaction and as per requirement of the course.
"What other operators have achieved in one to two years, Bharti has done in just over a
month. In July 2002, one out of every two people buying a mobile across India chose
AirTel. We are truly proud to be spearheading the mobile revolution in the country."
BENCHMARKED BY MORE
BUSINESS.
AIRTEL
Airtel comes to you from Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited - a part of the biggest
private integrated telecom conglomerate, Bharti Enterprises. A consortium of
giants in the telecommunication business. In it's six years of pursuit of
greater customer satisfaction, AirTel has redefined the business through
marketing innovations, continuous technological up gradation of the
network, introduction of new generation value added services and the
highest standard of customer care.
Bharti is the leading cellular service provider, with an all India footprint
covering all 23 telecom circles of the country. It has over 12 million satisfied
customers.
Cellular telephony was introduced in India during the early 1990s. At that
time, there were only two major private players, Bharti (Airtel) and Essar
(Essar) and both these companies offered only post-paid services. Initially,
the cellular services market registered limited growth.
Moreover, these services were mostly restricted to the metros. Other factors
such as lack of awareness among people, lack of infrastructural facilities,
low standard of living, and government regulations were also responsible for
the slow growth of cellular phone services in India.
Although the cellular services market in India grew during the late 1990s (as
the number of players increased and tariffs and handset prices came down
significantly) the growth was rather marginal. This was because the cellular
service providers offered only post-paid cellular services, which were still
perceived to be very costly as compared to landline communications.
To be globally
admired for
telecom services
that delight
customers.
We will meet global standards for telecom services that delight customers
through:
Empowered Employees
Cost Efficiency
First to expand it's network with the installation for second mobile
switching center in April, 1997 and the first to introduce the Intelligent
Network Platform First to provide Roaming to its subscribers by forming
an association called World 1 Network.
16 states, 600 million people. Only India's leading mobile service offers
you the truly 'freedom-packed' Prepaid!
Over the last couple of years, the market has grown considerably, with
deeper penetration and wider usage of voice and data services, accompanied
by much higher competitive intensity," Atul Bindal, chief marketing officer,
Bharti TeleVentures, expands on this. "In this context, differentiating merely
on network, coverage and SMS is just not enough. You need to go beyond
all the rational identifiers - which are prerequisites in any case - and connect
at a deeper level. We needed a strong differentiator in an increasingly
commoditized and crowded market. We found this differentiator in a core
human truth that defines our category - which is that there are moments
when you need to make your point, when you need to be heard. Expressing
and communicating are perhaps two of the most basic emotions. AirTel
enables you to make your point in the most expressive way, anytime,
anywhere. The campaign is towards owning this through 'Express
yourself.' We believe 'Express yourself' allows us to connect at a deeper
level and create a long-term platform for the brand."
For AirTel, the challenge also lay in presenting a unified 'face' to the
consumer. This assumes significance when viewed in the light of the
company's pre- and post-paid communication, which, in the past, had been
treated very differently. Brand image, as a result, was being driven in two
different dimensions. "Brand AirTel is a category leader straddling
completely different market segments such as consumer, business and
corporate, as well as different voice, data and payment platforms," says
Bindal. "'Express yourself' enables the brand to unify and connect across the
entire base of our existing and prospective customers."
One of the most obvious benefits of owning a property such as 'candid
expression' (and 'Express yourself') is the expansive nature of the thought.
"The moment you have as broad a canvas as 'Express yourself', it becomes
easy for anyone working on the brand to come up with new ideas and
executions. That's what makes a good campaign idea," observes Rediff's
Prashant Godbole, who, along with creative partner Zarvan Patel, conceived
the campaign. This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg, Patel adds. "We
will be taking the idea forward in many different ways in the forthcoming
work," he informs. Patel also credits his creative team for "fleshing out the
idea".
In October 2002, Magic led the market, with 30% of the market share.
Bharti claimed that its strategies were one of the most ambitious
experiments ever in the Indian pre-paid cellular telephony market. However,
given the increasing competitive pressure, doubts were being expressed
regarding the ability of Bharti's marketing initiatives to help Magic retain its
'Magic' in the future.
AIRTEL BROADBAND
Bharti Televentures is the fixed line operator business of Airtel. In the recent
branding exercise, all the services have been offered under the Airtel brand.
Data is the next driver for growth. This is clear to the operators who have
belatedly realized the implications for having a pie in all the segments of
telecommunications. Hence Bharti ventured in the broadband market.
However, the main contention in the broadband market is the price offering
which includes the bandwidth costs as well as the cost of laying down the
copper wire. Typically, in the mentality of the profit making exercise, Airtel
has so far focused only in those areas where it perceives that a huge market
is present. However, I still hold that their thrust should be in smaller towns
and cities where BSNL would ultimately usurp their potential customer
base. It seems that their fancily paid MBAs havent really understood the
success of BSNL who focused on the B and C class cities where it has
drawn unparalleled support despite the lousy customer experiences. This is
because of the absence of any other operator.
The current offerings by Airtel does not really enthuse a potential customer
who is looking at sustained data transfer. It is the classic case of having
something better than nothing.
Add to the lousy customer care that Airtel is slowly perfecting, it is staffed
with people who usually land up in their jobs with little idea of their job
profile. The so-called Tech engineers have often been unable to help a
customer who is facing issues with the connectivity. I have read first person
accounts for the same.
Our Services:
Voice Services
Mobile Services
Satellite Services
The VQE technology has been sourced from Tellabs of USA, world leaders
in Voice Quality technology. Some of the prominent GSM operators using
Tellabs solution in the world are SingTel, Bell South, Telstra, BT Cell etc.
The Tellabs noise reduction technology removes high background noise
from the wireless side of the call thus delivering near wireline clear call
quality
on mobile phones. The Tellabs 3000 series of voice-quality enhancement
echo technology also eliminates the complexity of acoustic echo generated
by digital mobiles and hands free kits.
So go ahead. Express yourself and feel the difference on Kolkata's only Non-
Stop 2.5G Network
PREPAID POSTPAID
SERVICE TYPE OF
DESCRIPTION CHARGES CHARGES
NAME SERVICE
(Rs.) (Rs.)
Calling Line
Automatic Displays the callers
Identification
only for new number on your mobile Rs. 25
Presentation
acquisitions phone screen
(CLIP)
Users can call to get
certain information and
service. For instance,
Automatic
Dial 604 for Infotel, Rs. 2.40 per Rs. 2 per
Dial-a-service only for new
Dial 131 for Railway minute minute
acquisitions
info. These call
numbers are available
in the phone book
Automatic download exclusive
Per content Per content
WAP only for new contents from Airtel's
download download
acquisitions WAP site
Access internet on the
Automatic GPRS Charges GPRS Charges
move and download
GPRS & Masala only for new - Rs 600 per - Rs 600 per
exclusive contents from
acquisitions month month
Airtel's WAP site
Users can call into this
Automatic voice recognition
646 Calling Rs. 6 per Rs. 6 per
only for new service and listen to
charges minutes minutes
acquisitions jokes, movie gossips,
download ringtones etc
Content offered by
Automatic media companies like
VAS SMS
only for new Indiatimes, Rediff, Rs. 3 per
Charges
acquisitions Yahoo fall into this
category
AIRTEL SERVVICES
AIRTEL NEWS
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994, the Indian
cellular market witnessed a surge in cellular services. By 2005, there were a
total of 12 players in the market with the five major players being Bharti
Tele-Ventures Limited (Bharti), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL),
Hutchinson-Essar limited (Hutch), Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance
India Mobile (RIM) (Refer Exhibit I).
All the players except RIM offered services based on the Global System for
Mobile (GSM) technology. RIM provided services based on Code Division
Multiple Access (CDMA) technology as well as GSM.
Cellular service provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new
commercial starring musician A R Rahman. The commercial which is
currently on air has a beat which also doubles up as a ringtone which is
ostensibly available only to AirTel users. But the interesting part is that the
ringtone is being flaunted not just by AirTel customers but by customers of
rival service providers like BPL, Orange and Dolphin as well!
We did expect the tune to catch up but this has really exceeded our
expectations, admits Bharti Cellulars chief marketing officer (western
region) Pratik Pota. Overall, he explains, it is a great advertising product for
AirTel and works like a walking, talking brand ambassador.
The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTels TV commercial, is proving
to be a potent advertising tool for the company. It is not very clear what this
means for the other cellular operators. Cellular users have been forwarding
the tune to one another, which according to Mr Pota, has given AirTel a
chance to enter the mind of the user irrespective of which service he opts
for.
It gives the user a chance to go back to the AirTel product and acts as a
strong reminder medium, he explains. Marketing professionals like
Samsika Marketing Consultants managing director Jagdeep Kapoor point to
the usage of an audio celebrity as something that is significant.
The normal practice is to opt for film stars and sportsmen rather than an
audio personality he says.
Being the latest entrant in the Mumbai circle, AirTel has had to find ways of
cutting through the clutter.
Says Mr Kapoor, AirTel will have try to find ways to attract new customers
and convert the existing ones. Explaining that the usage of an audio
celebrity was more strategic than tactical, he adds that non-AirTel users
will have the AirTel brand experience inspite of not using the service.
While Mr Pota highlights the fact that the usage of the tune by other
operators means free advertising for AirTel and the users having a
positive disposition towards the product, the nature of reaction from
competition remains unclear.
Competition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to
come out with advertising that is well thought out explains Mr Kapoor. He
anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be
more aggressive.
TENDULKAR & SHAHRUKH.
Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the frame for soft drinks major
PepsiCo India. Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to endorse Bhartis Airtel
brand. Indian captain Saurav Ganguly had done so when Airtel launched its
service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata in 2001.
Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal,
those in the advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal
anywhere between Rs 8 crore and Rs 10 crore.
Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after celeb endorsers
in the country, with the former edging out the latter in the celeb endorsement
race. The Master Blasters portfolio includes brands like Colgate Pamolive,
ESPN-STAR Sports, Pepsi, MRF, Boost, TVS, Palio, Visa, Adiddas and
Britannia. The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai, Pepsi,
Airtel, Tag Huer, Clinic All Clear, Bagpiper and Videocon, among others.
According to company executives, the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line
with the groups strategy to connect to the mass market through celeb
endorsers from movies, cricket and music. For mass connect, Shah Rukh
and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsers, says a senior company
executive. Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its
service at the mass market.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of my project report is to study the advertising strategy of
AIRTEL Cellular service and its effect on mobile users existing and who are
going to use mobile service in future. In other words, my aim is to study the
Data is collected from both the Primary sources i.e. questionnaire and also
Primary sources:
Secondary sources :
The secondary sources includes online sites, newspapers and templates from
35%Goodwill
Peoples first choice of cellular service when they want to use mobile
phone
AIRTEL 45% HUTCH 30% IDEA 8%
YES : 85%
NO : 13%
CANT SAY : 2%
People like most in AIRTEL is
YES : 72%
NO : 28%
Type of recharge cards liked by people
Both : 62%
AIRTEL is #1 in India
Yes : 95%
No : 5%
CONCLUSION
impact its users. People like its schemes very much .AIRTEL had created a
very good image on the mind of the new users of cellular service. AIRTEL
NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set, many new users buy Nokia sets
Strategy. A.R. Rehmaans tune for AIRTEL worked as free advertising for
AIRTEL as another service user uses it too. Other celebrities like Shahrukh
Khan (bollywood) and Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket) has also contributed very
much in AIRTEL.
RECOMMENDATIONS
in grabbing the highest market share in India, but there are still some
make its network service more stronger than other service providers to
bollywood.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE :
.
o WWW.GOOGLE.CO.IN
o WWW.AIRTEL.COM
NEWSPAPERS:
BOOKS:
NAME:
ADDRESS:
OCCUPATION: .
CELLULAR SERVICE USED:.
3. Which was your first choice of cellular service when you want to use
mobile phone?
AIRTEL HUTCH IDEA
11.Do you participate contest offered by AIRTEL like KBC-2 & Indion
Idol-2?
YES NO
12.Which type of recharge cards you like most?
More talktime
More validity
Yes No