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Preface

This report reviews the marketing of Ufone the second largest telecom company in Pakistan. We give a
brief history of the company and tell about the achievements and growths of Ufone. It put light on the
whole organization specifically its marketing department and the management strategy of marketing
department. The activities in this department include two of its major components i.e. Sales Promotion
and Advertising. These two are the main topics of this report which we have discussed in the depths of
the company’s strategies and functioning. Further we review Ufone’s strengths, weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats (SWOT Analysis). In the end we give the future plans of Ufone and conclude
with our views and suggestions for Ufone.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Brief history of UFONE
PTML is a subsidiary of PTCL (Pakistan Telecom Company Limited), the largest operator in Pakistan.
PTML was established to operate cellular telephony. The company commenced its operations, under the
brand name of Ufone from Islamabad on January 29’ 2001.Since Etisalat took over PTCL in 2006,
during the year as a consequence of PTCL’s privatization, 26% of its shares were acquired by Emirates
Telecommunication Corporation (Etisalat). Being part of PTCL, the management of UFONE has also
been handed over to Etisalat. In September 2006, Ufone selected HUAWEI to deploy the nationwide
GSM network at a contract value of above USD550 million. Ufone adopted HUAWEI's new-generation
GSM solution, including All-IP core network and BTS, to construct a GSM network covering 1,500 cities
and towns of Pakistan.
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MISSION OF UFONE

“Our mission is to provide best services with best coverage that would eventually generate profit for
the company and its stakeholders”
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Hierarchy
In Ufone the hierarchy is very lean, in general the whole setup is centralized, all the matters are to be
reported to the main company and all the policies and targets are approved at the higher level. But at the
department level the structure is decentralized.

Ufone has following functional departments:-

 Technical
 Customer operations
 Finance
 Administration & Procurement
 Human Resource
 Co-ordination (Govt. relations)
 Marketing

Ufone’s Head Offices is in Islamabad.

Ufone’s Technology
After MOBILINK, Ufone is the second cellular service provider company that is based on GSM
technology. Basically they are using GSM 900 technology with version 2001.Apart from this they are
very strong in technological developments especially they have a well-established research and
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development department that is working on new technological developments in their products. Like they
are the first company in Pakistan that is offering GPRS facility to their subscribers.

Ufone’s Growth rate

As mobile users in the country have reached over 28 million at a very rapid pace, Ufone has maintained
itself as the 2nd largest cellular operator in Pakistan with a subscriber base of around 6.5 million and a
market share of nearly 25%. Ufone has seen a subscriber growth rate of over 200% in the last year, and
since the start of2005 Ufone added nearly 5 million subscribers onto its network. A remarkable
achievement indeed, especially considering the fact that two new international players also entered into
the market in 2005. Subsequently the growth in subscriber base caused a healthy trend in revenues which
have doubled.
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MARKETING DEPARTMENT
Marketing department handles all the marketing activities concerning all UFONE packages and brands.
A recent marketing survey conducted by a prominent marketing research company showed that Ufone
has considerably increased its brand visibility and image through its vibrant marketing strategies.

Marketing department hierarchy

Sub departments of marketing department:-

 Brand Activation
 Value Added Services
 International Roaming
 Media Planning (Marketing Strategies)
 Marketing Finance

Brands
Brands Target market Reason for targeting

Post Pay Corporate class High usage for and working

people
Life Youth Night dwellers
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Services
Both Post-Paid and Pre-Paid Ufone subscribers can enjoy any/all Ufone services including GPRS based
services (MMS, UFONE Internet, Pocket Stocks), Global SMS, etc

Ufone is proving these all services to its consumers

 Internal Excess
 Online Billing Payment
 Power SIM
 International Roaming
 Voice Mail
 Call Management
 Messaging

MARKETING STRATEGIES

Market segmentation
Cellular service market is a diverse set of people. Ufone as well as other cellular service companies
segment their market on four bases economy

1. ECONOMY Upper class, Middle class, socio-economic class, lower class

2. AGE Teenagers, youngsters, middle age, aged people
3. GENDER Male & Female
4. OCCUPATION Corporate class, Business class, working class etc

Target markets
Cellular phones are the technology of new era, the 21st century. These cellular phones are the main focus
of our youngsters. All the cellular companies are targeting. The Youth one way or other. UFONE is no
longer a follower in this race. Its main focus is “THE YOUTH ” of Pakistan which is its Target Market.

Target markets strategy

UFONE has always been targeting Youth Market by using young brand endorsers or ambassadors.
It always brings such packages and offers that precisely meet the needs of our young people. No doubt
it has also launched packages, brands and offers for working people, business class, ladies and aged ones.
UFONE seeks to target masses in the long run.

Positioning
Positioning is the process of creating an image of company’s brand in the mind of market. Companies
position themselves emotionally, functionally or on the basis of brand quality. UFONE is still a market
challenger in comparison to market leader MOBILINK. It is still to reach to the top most position of
cellular companies. So UFONE positions itself on the basis of its services. UFONE’s former Positioning
Statement
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“Everybody Loves to Ufone Prepay “

Ufone’s new Positioning Statement

“Ufone tum hi toh ho! “

Or

“It’s All About U”

Ufone changed the image of mobile phones from a luxury only affordable by the elite, to a necessity
affordable by the common man. Since its inception, UFONE has positioned its brand for “MASSES ” on
the basis of services it is providing and its lowest call rates. It makes them believe that it satisfies the
needs of everyone (viz all classes, age & genders). It tells them that UFONE is there when anybody needs
it.The brand name UFONE itself is a positioning statement.

Differentiation
In these days of intense competition marketers find it hard to differentiate their services from those of
competitors. Now customer care about only price. An unsatisfied customer will immediately go for brand
switching. Thus leaving a customer unsatisfied and not meeting his/her demands is out of question for
marketers.
Ufone has always strategized in satisfying the demands of its customers. In doing so it has
been successful in differentiating itself in terms of

 Price
 Quality service
 Technology

Customer relationship
With 28 million mobile users in Pakistan, UFONE is having a subscriber base of around7 million.
UFONE is showing a remarkable growth rate. It is maintaining a healthy customer relationship through
its “customer service centers” and “call centers”. Its department of “Customer Operations” is specially
designed for maintaining Customer Relationships
Ufone strategize to build and maintain strong customer relationships in order to build long-term customer
loyalty and to capture customer lifetime value. In this context UFONE has been training its internees and
permanent employees in the fine art of interacting with customers. It is also strategizing to offer gifts &
rewards for its long-term customers in its Post Pay to match the wonderful customer relationship strategy
of INDIGO.
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TOTAL MARKET ORIENTATION

Total Market Orientation is about understanding and meeting customer’s expressed and latent needs.

Strategy
Ufone has always considered the ever growing needs of low call rates and quality service. It has
provided its customers their needed packages and has introduced such brands & packages that meet
customer’s latent needs as well. For example 5 ka15 is result of a latent need of women of our society.
They plan to make a short call but it becomes a long one unintentionally due to gossips and chit chats

Competitors
There is a hard core competition among the cellular service providers in Pakistan. UFONE is a market
challenger in its competitive position, where MOBILINK is the market leader. WARID, TELENOR and
newly introduced ZONG are also strong contenders in market challenger category. UFONE has the
following four direct competitors

UFONE also considers the following as its competitors:-

1. ZONG (former PAKTEL)

2. PTCL WIRELESS
3. Wateen
4. World Call
MARKETING MIX

Products
UFONE is a service providing company. Service is any intangible product that consistsof activities,
benefits or satisfactions offered for sale.

UFONE makes strategies to provide a better cellular telephonic service which excels its competitors at all
levels. When UFONE launches a new package in a market, it actually makes it a complete package of
core benefit, design, features, brand name, quality, and after sale service.

Price
Customers perceive pricing as the heart of brand selection. Price has always been the core differentiation
of Ufone. Ufone is the one who is offering least call rates off-network

Ufone strategize to capture the existing pricing needs of its customers and use it well on occasional or
timely basis. For example Ufone offered very good call rates on international calls in Eid days. It offered
hourly call rates in Ramadan when people were least likely to avail the offer that much that it might prove
unprofitable for Ufone. It was a fantastic strategy to beautify the brand image in term of pricing in
customer’s minds as well as remain profitable in doing so.
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Place
Place plays a very important part in the distribution and promotion of services. Competitors of Ufone are
seeking to penetrate into places where others haven’t reached. Now Ufone is heading from cities to
remote northern areas in expanding its network. Ufone has intensive promotion in cities, but it is also
considering improving its promotion in rural areas as well.

Promotions
Ufone believes in Integrated Marketing Communication which is a carefully blended mix of promotion
tools.

Ufone employ different marketing activities and channels to communicate and deliver value to
customer. communication channels includes:-Advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct
marketing & personal selling.

Ufone strategize to carry out promotion in order to increase its market share.

 Advertising

 Sales Promotion

 Public Relations Ufone is less conscious of developing its general public relations. But recently it has
launched its “Hajj Guide” service on UFONE. It avoids getting in news stories and controversies
but sometimes it proves inevitable.

 Direct Marketing Ufone employ on-road umbrella franchises where the directly market and sell
their connections and Sims.

 Personal Selling Ufone administer personal selling facility to sell their Post Pay connections targeting well to
do people and businessmen

SALES PROMOTIONS
“Sales promotions are short term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service”

UFONE utilizes sales promotion activities to boost its sales. It follows all four of the promotion budgeting
methods viz affordable method, percentage of sales method, competitive parity method and objective &
task method.

UFONE uses following sales promotion tools

Contests
Ufone carried out contest for cricket talent hunt in the year 200_______. Our renowned Pakistani
cricketer Shoaib Akhtar was used as patron for this contest. However this contest didn’t do much good
to Ufone’s image or sales. But Ufone holds future plans to carry out such activities in more effective and
profitable ways.
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Premiums
All the cellular services are now offering premiums for
their customers. Thispremium is offered, when a
customer don’t use his/her sim for more than 3-6months,
in the form of extra credit balance delivered to their
numbers for free.

Free tickets
Ufone recently offered free trip to Dubai. It was Ufone’s
first Eid offer. Every time you make any international
call of 5 minutes or longer than 5 minutes, you enter the
lucky draw to win a return ticket to Dubai. The more
calls you make, more is your chance to win.

ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS
“Any paid form of non personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, orservices by an identified
sponsor”

Advertising objectives
Ufone use advertisements when…

 It has to inform the customers about new or available services.

 It seeks to persuade people to purchase their service or switch to their connection from any
other connection

Advertising strategy
Advertising strategy consists of two major elements:

 Advertising Message
 Advertising Media.

Advertising message

 Message content :The very first content of Ufone’s advertising message was humor, and then in
its blooming stage it shifted its message content to youthful excitement.
 Message format: The format of Ufone’s advertisements has always been very colorful and eye
catching. The shocking Orange & Green colours used by Ufone have always attracted people.
 Message source: The very first Ufone advertisements had Faisal Qureshi as its message source.
Afterwards Ufone hired non-celebrity young models for its youthful message theme. Ufone also
hired three lollywood queens i.e. Meera, Jia Aliand Veena Malik with Mikaal in an advertisement
of “Baat Ban Jaye”.
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Advertising media

 Print media: Ufone tries and print ads in all leading newspapers including The Dawn, Jung,
Nawa-i-Waqt, Khabrain and local Sindhi newspapers as well.
 Broadcast Media: It is the prior choice for Ufone. It includes the electronic media television and
radio. Ufone is advertising in all Pakistani channels including GEO, Hum, ARY, Indus, TV
one, HBO, Cartoon Network etc
 Display Media: This type of media is the second choice of Ufone where it carries out its most of
sales promotion and advertising. Ufone advertise using billboards, hoardings, signs (on Shop
boards etc), posters, wall paintings etc.

 Online Media: Internet is the online media. Ufone places flashing ads on famous portals like
coolbuddy.com, pakfellows.com etc.

Weaknesses
Weaknesses include internal limitations and negative situational factors that may interfere with the
company’s performance. The weaknesses of Ufone are as follows:-

 Ufone has less professionalism within the organizational members.

 As Ufone is a subsidiary of PTCL, which was formerly under government management, Ufone
still has a shadow of a government organization.
 Ufone still has room for the betterment of its network coverage in comparison to The Market
Giant “MOBILINK.”
 Ufone has pathetic billing system for postpaid connections. This faulty system creates a negative
vibe among its customers.

Threats
Threats are unfavorable external factors or trends that may present challenges to performance.
Ufone is facing/about to face the following threats:-

 Ufone’s biggest opportunity is its biggest threat as well. The phase of its conversion of GSM
technology to 3G technology can be a threat for it if not carried out properly
 The boosting customer base of Warid and Zong is also a big threat for Ufone
 The decreasing economy rate and instability of Pakistan is a big threat for all businesses in Pakistan
including Ufone

Competitive advantages
It’s an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value than competitor’s offer.
Ufone strategizes to gain more and more competitive advantages. It also uses these competitive
advantages well enough for its promotion.
Currently Ufone is enjoying the following competitive advantages:-

 Lowest overall call rates

 Value added Services (VAS)
 Call block service
 Corporate color
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Challenges
Ufone face many challenges with the ever growing needs of telecommunication. It must remain profitable
with the decreasing economical situation of Pakistan. It must grow as well in these dark times if it has to
remain IN the market. Ufone face very strong competition from its competitors. It must offer lowest rates
with better quality service. New features and services should be introduced to make its customers loyal,
happy and satisfied. Strong competition from its competitors. It must offer lowest rates with better quality
service. New features and services should be introduced to make its customers loyal, happy and satisfied.

Conclusion
By keenly analyzing the marketing of Ufone, we group member agree that Ufone is not a safe player in
the market. It is penetrating its market by taking risks and aggressively promoting & advertising itself. It
holds second largest market share and is seeking to become the market leader anyway possible. We came
through very unconventional strategies and ad campaigns while working on this report. We believe that
mobile services are the toughest market to enter and survive. And in this tough market Ufone isn’t only
surviving but growing at an exceptional rate.