Major Project Report

On
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH AIRTEL

Submitted by
DIVYA SHARMA BHUSAL

06221201713

MAHARAJA SURAJMAL INSTITUTE

Affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi.
Janakpuri, New Delhi- 110037

STUDENT DECLARATION

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I hereby declare that the project entitled “CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH AIRTEL”
under the guidance of “ Ms. Asha Chaudhary ” submitted in the partial fulfillment of degree of
Bachelor of Business Administration from “MAHARAJA SURAJMAL INSTITUTE,
JANAKPURI New Delhi”.

DIVYA SHARMA BHUSAL

06221201713

Date:

Certificate

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This is to certify that project title “CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH AIRTEL” is the
original work of DIVYA SHARMA BHUSAL of BBA (G) 6th Semester and has been duly
completed under my guidance and supervision up to my satisfactory level.

This work has been done in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of
BBA (G) from MAHARAJA SURAJMAL INSTITUTE Janakpuri, New Delhi..

Signature of the Guide

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Acknowledgement

It is pleasure to acknowledge many people who knowingly and unwittingly helped me, to
complete my project. First of all let me praise god for all the blessings, which carried me through
all those years.

I am particularly indebted to Director (Dr.) RAJESH KUMAR TYAGI Maharaja Surajmal

Institute, which inculcated in me utmost respect for human values and groomed me up in the
field of software technology to take on the challenges of the competitive world.

I extend my sincere gratitude to all my teachers and guide who made unforgettable contribution.
Due to their sincere efforts I was able to excel in the work entrusted upon me.

Last but not the least; I am grateful to my parents, my sister, my brother, my friends and all well
wishers for their moral support and encouragement during the entire period of time.

Signature of the student

Table of Contents

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CHAPTER 1 : INTRODUCTION 7-12

1.1 Objective of the Study

1.2 Research Methodology
 Research Design
 Data Collection
 Methods of data collection

1.3 Limitation of the study

CHAPTER 2: PROFILE OF THE ORGANIZATION 13-51

2.1 Bharti Airtel Limited

2.2 Corporate Structure

2.3 Services

2.4 Competitors Information

2.5 S.W.O.T Analysis

2.6 Subscribe Base

2.7 Marketing Strategies

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

3.1 Findings 52-60

CHAPTER 4: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 61-62

4.2 Suggestions

4.3 Conclusion

BIBLIOGRAPHY 63

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ANNEXURE 64-66

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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

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Customer satisfaction is a term frequently used in marketing. While it's often abbreviated as CSAT, it
is more correct to abbreviate it as CSat. It is a measure of how products and services supplied by a
company meet or surpass customer expectation. Customer satisfaction is defined as "the number of
customers, or percentage of total customers, whose reported experience with a firm, its products, or
its services (ratings) exceeds specified satisfaction goals. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing
managers, 71 percent responded that they found a customer satisfaction metric very useful in
managing and monitoring their businesses.

It is seen as a key performance indicator within business and is often part of a Balanced Scorecard.
In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers, customer satisfaction is
seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy.

"Within organizations, customer satisfaction ratings can have powerful effects. They focus
employees on the importance of fulfilling customers' expectations. Furthermore, when these ratings
dip, they warn of problems that can affect sales and profitability.... These metrics quantify an
important dynamic. When a brand has loyal customers, it gains positive word-of-mouth marketing,
which is both free and highly effective.

Therefore, it is essential for businesses to effectively manage customer satisfaction. To be able do

this, firms need reliable and representative measures of satisfaction.

"In researching satisfaction, firms generally ask customers whether their product or service has met
or exceeded expectations. Thus, expectations are a key factor behind satisfaction. When customers
have high expectations and the reality falls short, they will be disappointed and will likely rate their
experience as less than satisfying. For this reason, a luxury resort, for example, might receive a
lower satisfaction rating than a budget motel—even though its facilities and service would be
deemed superior in 'absolute' terms.

The importance of customer satisfaction diminishes when a firm has increased bargaining power.
For example, cell phone plan providers, such as AT&T and Verizon, participate in an industry that is
an oligopoly, where only a few suppliers of a certain product or service exist. As such, many cell
phone plan contracts have a lot of fine print with provisions that they would never get away if there
were, say, 100 cell phone plan providers, because customer satisfaction would be far too low, and
customers would easily have the option of leaving for a better contract offer.

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OBJECTIVE OF STUDY
Every Organization has to achieve its Organizational Goals. For this it is very essential for an
Organization to know about the view of consumers & their competitive products. This survey
research may be also aimed as to estimate potential buyer for the product.
The objectives of the study are as follows:

 The primary objective of my research is to conduct the market survey of Airtel.

 To analyze the customer satisfaction of Airtel

 To study the marketing strategies adopted by Airtel.

 To study the market potential.

 To study the consumer perception of Airtel.

 To know about the effectiveness of the various services being provided by the company.

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1.2 METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology is a highly intellectual Human activity used in the investigation of nature
and matter and deals specifically with the manner in which the data is collected, analyzed and
interpreted.
It‘s basically the methods you intend to adopt to gather information in pursuit of answers to the
research questions.

1.2.1 RESEARCH DESIGN

 DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH

Exploratory research is a type of research conducted defined. Exploratory

research helps determine the best research design, data collection method &
selection of subjects. It should draw definitive conclusions only with extreme
caution. Given its fundamental nature, exploratory research often concludes that a
perceived problem does not actually exist.
Exploratory research often relies on secondary research such as reviewing
available literature and/or data, or quantitative approaches such as informal
discussions with consumers, employees, management or competitors & more
formal approaches through in-depth interviews, focus groups, projective methods,
case studies or pilot studies.

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1.2.2 Data collection

Research Included gathering both PRIMARY & SECONDARY data.

Primary Data:

Primary data is the first hand data, which are selected a fresh and thus happen to be original in
character. Primary Data was crucial to know various customers shopping & to calculate the
market share of this brand in regards to other brands.

SOURCES: Questionnaire

SAMPLE SIZE;
The data was collected from Delhi region and the sample size was 50 people.

Secondary Data:
Secondary data are those which have been collected by someone else & which already have been
passed through statistical process. Secondary data has been taken from interest, magazines &
companies web sites.

SOURCES: Magazines
Internet

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1.2.3 METHODS OF COLLECTION OF DATA

 DOCUMENTS

 Internet.
 History of company.
 Reviews of websites users.
 Secondary data.

 SURVEYS

 Questionnaire.
 Informal interviews.

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 LIMITATIONS OF STUDY

I am a human being and there are certain limitations of being one, which reflects the study of this
research. The following are the limitation of this study;

 The sample size of 50 might not present the perception of whole population, as the
sample size is too small for the total population of Delhi city.

 The opinions expressed by the respondents’ might be biased.

 The attitude of the research might be biased.

 Lack of expertise.

 Lack of time period.

In spite of the limitations that are stated above, I have worked with full enthusiasm. And I have
tried to give my best results to the research of this report.

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 CHAPTER 2

COMPANY’S PROFILE

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 Airtel Limited

Type Public limited company

BSE: 532454NSE: BHARTIARTL
Traded as BSE SENSEX Constituent

Industry Telecommunications

Founded 7 July 1995[

Bharti Crescent,

Headquarters  Nelson Mandela Road, New Delhi, India]

Area served India & South Asia, Africa, and the Channel Islands

Key people Sunil Bharti Mittal

Products Fixed line and mobile telephony, Internet services, digital television and IPVT

Revenue 871.52 billion (US$14 billion)

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Operating 248.62 billion (US$4.0 billion) (2013–14)
income

Profit 32.66 billion(US$530 million) (2013–14)

Total assets 432.72 billion (US$7.0 billion) (2013–14)

Total equity 1660.00 billion(US$27 billion) (2013–14)

Employees 24,720 (2013–14)

Bharti Enterprises (52.7)%

Divisions SingTel (15.57)%

Vodafone (4.4)%

Airtel Africa

Airtel-Vodafone
Subsidiaries
Airtel Sri Lanka

Airtel Bangladesh

Website www.airtel.com

Bharti Tele-Ventures

Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as Airtel, is an Indian multinational

telecommunications services company headquartered in New Delhi, India. It operates in 20
countries across South Asia, Africa, and the Channel Islands. Airtel has a GSM network in all
countries in which it operates, providing 2G, 3Gand 4G services depending upon the country of
operation. Airtel is the world's third largest mobile telecommunications company by subscribers,
with over 275 million subscribers across 20 countries as of July 2013. It is the largest cellular
service provider in India, with 192.22 million subscribers as of August 2013. Airtel is the Second
largest Asia-Pacific mobile operator by subscriber base, behind China Mobile. Bharti Airtel

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added 5.10 lakh subscribers to take its base to 20.97 crore at the end of July, 2014. Its market
share in India is highest with a value of 28.41%.

The businesses at Bharti Tele-Ventures have been structured into three individual strategic units
(SBU’s) –

1) Mobile services

2) Broadband and telephone services (B&T)

3) Enterprise services

The Mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in

23 telecom circles, while B&T business group provides broadband & telephone services in 94
cities. The Enterprise Services group has two sub-units – carriers (long distance services) and
services top corporate.

All these services are provided under the Airtel brand.

Bharti Enterprises has been at the forefront of technology and has revolutionized
telecommunications with its world class products and services. Established in 1976, Bharti has
been a pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts and innovations to its credit.

Bharti provides a range of telecom services, which include Cellular, Basic,

Internet and recently introduced National Long Distance. Bharti also manufactures and exports
telephone terminals and cordless phones. Apart from being the largest manufacturer of telephone
instruments in India, it is also the first company to export its products to the US.

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 Vision
 Our vision is to enrich the lives of our customers.
 Our focus is to win customers for life by offering an exceptional experience.

Bharti’s Mission

 To be globally admired for telecom services that delight customers.

 To meet the mobile communication needs of our customers through error –

 Free service delivery

 Innovative product and services

 Cost efficiency

 Unified messaging solutions

 Customer Service Focus

 Empowered Employees

 Error- free service delivery

History

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Sunil Bharti Mittal founded the Bharti Group. In 1983, Mittal was in an agreement with
Germany's Siemens to manufacture push-button telephone models for the Indian market. In
1986, Mittal incorporated Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL), and his company became the first in
India to offer push-button telephones, establishing the basis of Bharti Enterprises. By the early
1990s, Sunil Mittal had also launched the country's first fax machines and its first cordless
telephones. In 1992, Mittal won a bid to build a cellular phone network in Delhi. In 1995, Mittal
incorporated the cellular operations as Bharti Tele-Ventures and launched service in Delhi. In
1996, cellular service was extended to Himachal Pradesh. In 1999, Bharti Enterprises acquired
control of JT Holdings, and extended cellular operations to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In
2000, Bharti acquired control of Skycell Communications, in Chennai. In 2001, the company
acquired control of Spice Cell in Calcutta. Bharti Enterprises went public in 2002, and the
company was listed on Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange of India. In 2003,
the cellular phone operations were rebranded under the single Airtel brand. In 2004, Bharti
acquired control of Hexacom and entered Rajasthan. In 2005, Bharti extended its network to
Andaman and Nicobar. This expansion allowed it to offer voice services all across India. In
2009, Airtel launched its first international mobile network in Sri Lanka. In 2010, Airtel acquired
the African operations of the Kuwait-based Zain Telecom. In March 2012, Airtel launched a
mobile operation in Rwanda.

During the 2009–10 financial year, Bharti negotiated for its strategic partner Alcatel-Lucent to
manage the network infrastructure for the tele-media business. On 31 May 2012, Bharti Airtel
awarded the three-year contract to Alcatel-Lucent for setting up an Internet Protocol access
network (mobile backhaul) across the country. This would help consumers access internet at
faster speed and high quality internet browsing on mobile handsets

In May 2013, Bharti Infotel paid Rs 50,000 as compensation to a customer "for unfair trade
practices". The customer alleged that the company continued to aggressively demand payment
despite customer requests for disconnection of service.

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Corporate Structure

Airtel's initial corporate structure concentrated on the hierarchy of the operations inside the
company as a whole. The structure depicted the corresponding operation/region of different in-
charges and it didn't hold anyone responsible for each of its services. So, the company found it
better to restructure its corporate hierarchy. The transformed organisational structure has two
distinct Customer Business Units (CBU) with clear focus on B2C (Business to Customer)
and B2B (Business to Business) segments. Bharti Airtel's B2C business unit will
comprehensively service the retail consumers, homes and small offices, by combining the
erstwhile business units – Mobile, Telemedia, Digital TV, and other emerging businesses (like
M-commerce, M-health, M-advertising etc.). The B2C organisation will consist of Consumer
Business and Market Operations.

Services

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  Airtel Prepaid

Airtel Prepaid, the Ready Cellular Card from Airtel comes to you from Bharti Enterprises,
India's leading integrated telecom service provider. Going mobile with Airtel Prepaid is a new
way of life. With a host of great features, also simple to use, Airtel Prepaid makes everything
that you dreamt and believed, possible.

 Instant Balance and Validity Enquiry

Your account balance is updated on the screen of your handset at the end of each chargeable call.
You can also call 123 from your mobile phone and listen to the voice announcement or simply
dial *123#, press 'OK' or 'YES' button and your account balance will be displayed on the screen
of your handset.

 Recharge your Airtel Prepaid

Recharging is Easy. The calling value on your card keeps reducing as you make calls or use any
other chargeable service. Choose the Airtel Prepaid Recharge Coupon that’s right for you, from a
variety of tailor– made recharge coupons with different denominations, which are available at a
number of outlets across your city. Simply follow the procedure mentioned below, to recharge
your phone.

 Prepaid Roaming

Airtel Prepaid comes preactivated with 'National Roaming', so you stay connected no matter
wherever you are. You can also send or receive MMS, check your email and access other GPRS
services while roaming in India as you would in your own city. While traveling abroad you can
receive calls & send or receive SMS.

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  Call management Services

Call waiting, call hold, call divert and Caller Line Identification Presentation – all with your
Airtel prepaid connection.

 Voice Mail

When your handset is switched off, or you’re too busy to answer the phone, Airtel Voicemail
will answer your calls and record a message. The best part is that there's no extra monthly cost
for setting up Voicemail - you just pay for the phone call when you use the service.

 SMS (Short Messaging Service)

Send messages quickly and easily using text, if it's too noisy to talk or you don't have much time.
It's the way to share those interesting one-liners, important reminders and rib-tickling jokes, with
anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world.

 Airtel Live!

Make your mobile the most happening entertainment destination with Airtel Live! Airtel brings
you the latest in entertainment and information services, right on your phone.

 Airtel Postpaid

Airtel welcomes you to a vibrant world of unlimited opportunities. More exciting, innovative yet
simple new ways to communicate, just when you want to, not just through words but ideas,
emotions and feelings. To give you the unlimited freedom to reach out to your special people in
your special way.

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  Easy Payment Options. Anytime Anywhere

You can choose from a host of convenient payment options only with Airtel. Walk into any
Airtel relationship centre and make your payments by cash or credit card. Drop a cheque at any
of the drop boxes for making payments or simply log on to My Airtel section and pay instantly
through your credit card. You can also opt for easy payment options like:

 Missed call alert

A missed call alert is a SMS that you will receive for all the calls that you missed. The SMS will
detail the CLI and the time when the call was made. To activate, dial *135*2# then press the call
button and wait for the request to be completed.

 Hello Tunes

Tired of that boring old ‘tring tring’ on your phone? Well now when a friend calls, you can make
them groove to the hottest new tracks burning up the music charts with Hello Tunes from Airtel!
You get a wide choice of songs in the Popular & New Arrivals categories that are updated
regularly. What's more, you can directly call the number for your kind of music, e.g. call 678005
for ‘English New’ and 678001 for ‘Hindi New’. This would directly take you to your favourite
artist's Hello Tunes listing.

AIRTEL BROADBAND

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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 haven’t 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.

TIMELINE

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1995  Bharti Cellular launched cellular services as "AirTel" in
Delhi.

2004  On 19 October 2004, Airtel announced the launch of a

BlackBerry Wireless Solution in India. The launch is a result
of a tie-up between Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited
and Research in Motion (RIM).

2010  On 18 May 2010, Airtel won 3G spectrum in 13

circles: Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West), Rajasthan, West Bengal,
Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, Jammu &
Kashmir for  122.95 billion.
 Bharti Airtel wins broadband spectrum in four circles:
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Punjab and Kolkata for  33.14
billion.
 On 18 November 2010, Bharti Airtel announced a re-
branding campaign wherein, they would be referred as airtel,
with a new logo.
 On 20 December 2010, Airtel launched its new identity for
Bangladesh subscribers.
 On 23 December 2010, Airtel opened its first underground
terrestrial fibre optic cable built in alliance with China
Telecom.

2011  On 24 January 2011, Airtel announced the launch of its 3G

services in India.
 On 31 January 2011, Airtel launched wallet service – Airtel
Money in the millennium city of Gurgaon.
 On 18 February 2011, Airtel Digital TV brings cricket world

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 cup in High Definition.
 On 14 March 2011, Bharti Airtel announced the launch of
'Airtel Broadband TV'.
 On 11 April 2011, Bharti Airtel and Apple bring the iPhone
4 to India.
 On 18 April 2011, Bharti Airtel enters into a partnership
with photo service Zoomin.com.
 On 17 May 2011, Airtel launches the world’s first USSD-
based Facebook access service in India – Facebook by
Fonetwish.
 On 2 June 2011, Bharti Airtel offers on-demand online
movie viewing services – launches 'Airtel Movies'
 On 16 June 2011, Airtel digital TV launches iKisaan – the
world's first interactive service in Hindi.
 On 27 June 2011, Airtel 3G launches international video
calling services.
 On 7 July 2011, Bharti Airtel announces new organisation
structure for its India and South Asia operations.
 On 18 July 2011, Airtel digital TV adds 41 new channels.
 On 25 July 2011, Bharti Airtel Launches Facebook For
Every Phone.
 On 16 August 2011, Wide availability of Airtel Service
Centers in Rajasthan creates easy touch points for customer
service.
 On 19 September 2011, Bharti Airtel announces GO! GO!
GOAL Contest 2011.
 On 22 September 2011, Airtel digital TV brings the TV
series "Johnny Test" to India.
 On 26 September 2011, Airtel Youth Star kicks off 'Friends
Dance Carnival' in Andhra Pradesh.

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  On 28 October 2011, 2011 Formula 1 Airtel Grand Prix of
India Winner's Trophy Revealed.
 On 1 November 2011, Airtel digital TV now has 11 True
HD channels, Expands total channel count to 262.
 On 11 November 2011, Bharti Airtel named amongst the top
25 companies for leaders globally.
 On 25 November 2011, Mr. Sharlin Thayil, CEO – Bharti
Airtel, AP launches iPhone 4S in Hyderabad.
 On 1 December 2011, Airtel introduces India's first free
mobile access to Twitter.
 On 12 December 2011, Bharti Airtel recognised for the
delivery of best network services with customer focus at
Telecom Centre of Excellence Awards.
 On 21 December 2011, Airtel launches exciting recharge
offers for mobile customers in Rajasthan.

2012  On 11 January 2012, Airtel launched Comedy FM on Airtel

Mobile.
 On 12 January 2012, Airtel launches all new "BBM Plan"
for its postpaid mobile customers on BlackBerry.
 On 23 January 2012, Airtel prepaid mobile recharge made
easier with net banking at www.airtel.in
 On 30 January 2012, Airtel digital TV launches iKidsworld.
 On 2 February 2012, Airtel launched Vh1 Radio GAGA
powered by Hungama on Airtel Mobile.
 On 3 February 2012, India's largest collection of Hello
Tunes is now available online for Airtel mobile customers.
 On 4 February 2012, Bharti Airtel announces consolidated
IFRS results for the third quarter and nine months ended 31
December 2011.

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  On 10 February 2012, Bharti Airtel launched 3 Pack
Education Portal for its mobile customers across India.
 On 27 February 2012, Bharti Airtel selects Infosys as its
technology partner for airtel money.
 On 29 February 2012, Bharti Airtel appoints Nokia Siemens
Networks to supply, manage 4G network in Maharashtra.
 On 27 May 2012, Bharti Airtel announced its strategic foray
into the mobile advertising (m-Advertising) segment, in
India.
 In 2012, Bharti Airtel signed a pact with Opera Software, to
provide its customers with Opera Mini browsers.
 On 24 October 2012, Bharti Airtel's mobile user base in
Africa crosses 60 million.

COMPETITOR’S INFORMATION

 VODAFONE
Vodafone India provides 2.75G services based on 900 MHz and 1800 MHz digital GSM
technology. Vodafone India launched 3G services in the country in the January–March
quarter of 2011 and plans to spend up to $500 million within two years on its 3G
networks. Vodafone added maximum subscribers in July 2014, with 13.6 lakh new users
joining its network to take its base to 17.12 crore. Vodafone is the second largest player
in telecom operator in India after Airtel, with a market share of 22.95%.

 IDEA
Idea Cellular, commonly referred to as Idea, is an Indian mobile network operator based
in Mumbai, India. Idea is a pan-India integrated GSM operator offering 2G and 3G
services, and has its own NLD and ILD operations, and ISP license. With revenue in

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 excess of $4 billion; revenue market share of nearly 15%; and subscriber base of over
121 million in FY 2013, Idea is India’s third largest mobile operator. Idea ranks among
the top 10 country operators in the world with a traffic of over 1.5 billion minutes a day.

 AIRCEL

Aircel is an Indian mobile network operator headquartered in Chennai, which offers

voice and data services ranging from postpaid and prepaid plans, 2G and 3G services,
broadband wireless access (BWA), Long Term Evolution (LTE) to value-added services
(VAS). In 2006, Aircel was acquired by Malaysia’s biggest integrated communications
service provider Maxis (Maxis Communication Berhard) and is a joint venture with
Sindya Securities and Investments Pvt. Ltd – Maxis holds 74% equity in the company.
Aircel commenced operations in 1999 by Chinnakannan Sivasankaran and today is the
leading mobile operator in Tamil Nadu, Assam, Odisha, North-East India and Chennai. It
is India's fifth-largest GSM mobile service provider and seventh-largest mobile service
provider (both GSM and CDMA), with a subscriber base of over 65.1 million. It has a
market share of 7.33% among wireless operators (including GSM, CDMA, and FWP
operators) in the country.

 RELIANCE

Reliance Communications Ltd. (commonly called RCOM) is an IndianInternet

access (commonly called "broadband") and telecommunications company headquartered
in Navi Mumbai, India. RCOM is India's second largest telecom operator, only
after Bharti Airtel. It is the 15th largest mobile phone operator with over 150 million
subscribers. Established in 2004, it is a subsidiary of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani
Group.

The company has five segments:

 Wireless segment

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  Broadband segment (Internet access operations)
 Global segment: national and international long-distance operations (and the wholesale
operations of its subsidiaries)
 Investment segment: investment activities of the Reliance Group companies
 Other segment: customer care and direct-to-home (DTH) activities

 TATA DOCOMO
Tata DOCOMO is an Indian cellular service provider on the GSM, CDMA and
platform-arising out of the strategic joint venture between Tata Teleservices and NTT
Docomo in November 2008. It is the country's sixth largest operator in terms of
subscribers (including both GSM and CDMA).

SWOT ANALYSIS

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Strengths

 A group of strong network transportation

 Strong presence in rising market like India
 Cost advantage
 Current leaders in quality service
 Strong ability to manage change and acquisition
 Largest distribution network
 Ability to constantly innovate
 Highly skilled workforce
 Entrepreneurial zeal
 Airtel’s increased equity and market cap.

WEAKNESSES

 To prove credibility
 Price pressures
 Untapped Rural Market.
 Need for Government support
 Awareness
 Sales and Marketing

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Opportunities

 To sustain passion and commitment

 Airtel’s market share increasing at other service provider expense. Thus opportunity to
wipe it out.
 Attain higher value services
 Collaborative business needs to be explored
 Vertical repeatable solutions.
 Low penetration level in rural markets.
 Good Tax Free Offers.
 Needs to investigate and improve new mobile technology.

Threats

 Increasing competition
 Difficult to raise funds due to recession
 Foreign investment
 Global trends moving from GPS to WLL.
 Lack of global parity in telecom tariff
 Other competition

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 BCG MATRIX OF BHARTI AIRTEL

STARS
MOBILE DOGS QUESTION
SERVICES Tele-media MARK
services – fixed- High-speed
Digital TV line services . broadband  
Services

33
SUBSCRIBE BASE

Bharti Airtel has about 243.336 million subscribers worldwide—232.95 million in India and

South Asia and 50.949 million in Africa as of the end of December 2011. The numbers include
mobile services subscribers in 19 countries and Indian Telemedia services and Digital services
subscribers.

India
The Airtel wireless subscriber base according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
as of November 2012 was:

METROS

DELHI 9,105,718

MUMBAI 3,58,7060

KOLKATA 3,606,616

CHENNAI 3,428,293

“A” CIRCLE

ANDHRA PRADESH 18,041,904

34
GUJARAT 6,927,459

KARNATAKA 16,044,964

MAHARASHTRA 9,849,973

TAMIL NADU 10,094,293

“B” CIRCLE

HARYANA 2,267,166

KERALA 3,393,868

MADHYA PRADESH 9,675,239

PUNJAB 6,851,338

RAJASTHAN 14,385,762

UTTAR PRADESH(EAST) 15,105,455

UTTAR PRADESH(WEST) 6,556,052

WEST BENGAL 9,08,4371

35
“C” CIRCLE

ASSAM 3,809,218

BIHAR 18,527,460

HIMACHAL PRADESH 1,915,405

JAMMU AND KASHMIR 2,300,268

NORTH EAST INDIA 2,551,134

(EXCLUDING ASSAM)

ORISSA 6,696,681

Airtel is the market leader in India with about 183 million wireless subscribers in India or about
20.62% market share at the end of November 2012. In 2013 version of the The Brand Trust
Report published by Trust Research Advisory, Airtel is placed as the most trusted mobile
operator brand in India.

36
 MARKETING Strategy
Adopted by Bharti

Bharti has spent a considerable amount on advertising its mobile phone service, Airtel. Besides
print advertising, the company had put up large no of hoardings and kiosks in and around Delhi.

The objective behind designing a promotion campaign for the ‘Airtel’ services is to promote the
brand awareness and to build brand preferences.

It is trying to set up a thematic campaign to build a stronger brand equity for Airtel. Since the
cellular phone category itself is too restricted, also the fact that a Cellular phone is a high
involvement product, price doesn't qualify as an effective differentiator. The image of the
service provider counts a great deal. Given the Cell phone category, it is the network efficiency
and the quality of service that becomes important. What now the buyer is looking at is to get the
optimum price-performance package. This also serves as an effective differentiator.

MARKETING OBJECTIVES

 Create product awareness and trial

 Maximize market share
 Maximize profits whole defending market share
Brand awareness is spread through the' campaigns and brand preference through brand stature.
Airtel's campaign in the capital began with a series of 'teaser' hoardings across the city,' bearing
just the company's name and without explaining what Airtel was. In the next phase the
campaign associated Airtel with Cellular only thereafter was the Bharti Cellular connection
brought up. Vans with Airtel logos roamed the city, handing out brochures about the company
and its services to all consumers. About 50,000 direct callers were sent out. When the name was
well entrenched in the Delhites’s mind, the Airtel campaign began to focus on the utility of
Cellphone. In the first four months alone Airtel's advertisement spends exceeded Rs. 4 crores.

37
As of today the awareness level Is 60% unaided. This implies that if potential or knowledgeable
consumers are asked to name a Cellular phone service provider that is on the top of his/her mind
60% of them would name Airtel. As for aided it -is 100% (by giving clues and hints etc.).

Brand strength of a product or the health of a brand is measured by the percentage score of the
brand on the above aided and the unaided tests. The figures show that Airtel is a healthy and a
thriving brand.

Every company has a goal, which might comprise a sales target and a game plan with due regard
to Its competitor. Airtel 's campaign strategy is designed keeping in mind its marketing strategy.
The tone, tenor and the stance of the visual ads are designed to convey the image of a market
leader in terms of its market share. It tries to portray the image of being a "first mover every
time" and that of a "market leader".

The status of the product in terms of its life cycle has just reached the maturity stage in India. It
is still on the rising part of the product life cycle curve in the maturity stage.

The diagram on the left hand side shows the percentage of the users classified into heavy,
medium and low categories. The right hand side shows the revenue share earned from the three
types of users.

Airtel, keeping in mind the importance of the customer retention, values its heavy users the most
and constantly indulges in service innovation. But, since heavy users comprise only 15 - 20% of
the population the other segment cannot be neglected.

The population which has just realised the importance of cellular phones has to be roped in. It is
for this reason that the service provider offers a plethora of incentives and discounts. Concerts
like the "Freedom concert" are being organised by Airtel in order to promote sales. The media
channel is chosen with economy in mind. The target segment is not very concrete but, there is an
attempt to focus on those who can afford. The print advertisements and hoarding are placed in
those strategic areas which most likely to catch the attention of those who need a cellular phone.
The product promise (which might cost different 1 higher) is an important variable in
determining the target audience.

38
AIRTEL'S MARKETING ORIENTATION.

Since this is a high-involvement expensive product, the service provider has to

fully take care of the customers.

a) They take personal responsibility to "get" the answer for any problem
faced by the customer

b) They anticipate customers' problems and take pro-active steps to prevent

them

c) They give answers to the questions & requests, quickly & efficiently.

d) They have a positive tone & manner while interacting with customers.

e) They end the interaction on a positive or a humorous note-making the last

30 seconds count.

Airtel realizes that attracting people 'Is easy but converting them into loyal
customers is hard, hence emphasis is on maintaining a 'Smiling and a Friendly
Atmosphere' to please and retain the customer.

39
Marketing Strategies

PRODUCT

PROMOTION
PRICE

PLACE

Product Offer a basic Offer value Increase in

product/ added services number of value
service. added services.

Price Charge cost- Price to Price to match

plus penetrate or best
market competitors

Distribution Build selective Build Intensive Build more

distribution distribution. intensive
distribution.

40
Advertising Build product Build awareness Stress brand
awareness and interest in differences and
among early the mass benefits.
adopters and market
dealers.

Sales Promotion Use heavy sales Increase to Increase to

promotion to build and encourage
entice people to maintain brand-
subscribe. relationships switching.
with customers.

41
 DISTRIBUTION

Company

Franchisee Distributor

Dealers
Dealer

Customer
Customer

The- company whose operations are concentrated in and around Delhi. It 27 Franchisees and 15
Distributors- They also have 8 'instant access cash card counters- Each franchises or distributor
can have any number of dealers under him as long as the person is approved by the Airtel
authority. Each franchise has to invest Rupees Ten Lakhs. To obtain a franchise and should
employ an officer recruited by Airtel. This person acts as a liaison between the company and the
franchises. The franchises can it any number of dealers as long as their territories do not overlap.
But unfortunately Airtel has not been very successful in controlling territorial overlaps of
dealers. The franchises can carry out his/her own promotional strategy. For this the. company
contributes 75% of the money and the franchises contributes 25% of the money. The dealers
under the franchisee receive the same commission. The franchises and the dealer obtain the
feedback from the customers and they are sent through the liaison officer on a day-to-day basis
to Airtel. The dealer has to invest Rupees. One Lakh as an initial investment. The dealer of
Airtel are not allowed to provide any other operators' service.

42
Target set for distributors and the dealers is 100 -150 activations per month. Hence the dealers
can also go for their own promotions like banners and discounts on festivals etc. The dealer
provides service promptly. The consumer on providing the bill of purchase for the handset and
proof of residence has only to wait an hour before getting connected. The staff of the dealers and
the franchisees are provided training by the Airtel personnel.

The complaints encountered by the franchisees and dealers are either handset being non-
functional or the SIM Card not getting activated. Anything more complicated is referred to the
main Airtel office in Delhi.

Rebranding

Logo used by Airtel till November 2010

On 18 November 2010, Airtel rebranded itself in India in the first phase of a global rebranding
strategy. The company unveiled a new logo with 'airtel' written in lower case. Designed by
London-based brand agency, The Brand Union, the new logo is the letter 'a' in lowercase, with
'airtel' written in lowercase under the logo. On 23 November 2010, Airtel's Africa operations
were rebranded to 'airtel'. Sri Lanka followed on 28 November 2010 and on 20 December 2010,
Warid Telecom rebranded to 'airtel' in Bangladesh.

43
Sponsorship

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 Twenty20cricket tournament. But now the deal is terminated
and Karbonn Mobiles is sponsoring Champions League Twenty20cricket.

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 2013–14 I-League

44
Green Initiative

Green Towers P7 program

Bharti Infratel is the only telecom tower company, which has installed almost 3 MWT of solar
capacity on their network, generating more than 5 million units of electricity every year. The
Green Towers P7 program is scoped for 22,000 tower sites (primarily rural areas having low or
no Grid Power availability) out of which 5,500 sites have already been implemented in the first
year as a part of this 3-year program. Once completed, the initiative will reduce diesel
consumption by 66 million liters per year with a significant carbon dioxide reduction of around
150,000 MT per year. Bharti Infratel bagged the 2011 'Green Mobile Award ' at the
GSMA Mobile World Congress at Barcelona and was also awarded the 2010 innovative
infrastructure company of the year award at the CNBC Infrastructure Awards for this
groundbreaking initiative. Bharti remains the first company in the world to introduce the practice
of sharing of passive infrastructure by collaborating with their competition to share mobile
towers and to reduce the collective carbon footprint of the industry. This has become a subject of
case studies in institutions including the Harvard Business School.

Energy Conservation
The company has installed solar hot water generator at its main campus in Gurgaon for fulfilling
the hot water requirement in the cafeteria. Majority of its facilities across NCR region are now
equipped with LES (Lighting Energy Savers) which have reduced energy consumption in the
lighting system to the tune of 10–25%. Variable Frequency Drives installed in AHU (Air

45
Handling Unit) at its campus have helped in enhancing the efficiency of cooling system by 10%.
These measures have resulted in a total saving of 850,000 units of electricity per year.

Airtel has embarked upon technology related initiatives like virtualisation of servers that has
helped it release over 500 CPUs. Also the drive of sending e-bills to the post-paid customers is
helping save 12,840 trees annually. Within its campus the 'Secure Print Solution' – an automated
queue management–based secured printing solution has led to an annualised saving of about 8
metric tonnes of paper.

 Alternative energy sources such as solar energy used at 1050 sites saving 6.9 mn liters of
diesel and approximately  280 million.
 Energy efficiency measures such as Integrated Power Management Systems and variable
speed DC generators have resulted in reduction in the rate of diesel consumption by 1.2
million liters, leading to savings of  47 million across 900 sites.
 Demand side management like Free cooling Units (FCU) instead of air conditioners has
been implemented across 3400+ sites, saving consumption of 4.1 million liters of diesel.

CHAPTER 3 - DATA
ANALYSIS

46
 FINDINGS & ANALYSIS

1. You are connected with AIRTEL since ?

Less than 6months

2 year
3-5years
More than 5 years

5% people are connected with Airtel since less than 6 months. 15% people are connected with
Airtel since 2 years. 35% people are connected with Airtel since 3-5 years. 55% people are
connected with Airtel since more than 5 years.

2. What type of service do you use?

47
 Prepaid
Postpaid

55% people uses prepaid.45% people uses postpaid.

3. What type of recharge card do you like the most?

More talk time

More validity
Both

23% people like more talk time cards. 15% people like more validity cards. 62% people like
both.

4. Who would you pick as the main competitor of Airtel?

48
 Vodafone
Reliance
Aircel
Idea
Other

80% considers Vodafone as the main competitions.

4. Do you intend to change your service provider in future?

Yes
No

35% people would change their service provider. 65% people would not change their service
provider.

5. Do you take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL?

49
 Yes
No
Can't Say

85% people takes benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL. 13% people does not take benefit of
schemes offered by AIRTEL. 2% people can’t say whether they take the benefits or not.

7.Which services are more useful to you while using Airtel Services?

50
 Call Rates
SMS Services
Internet Services
Value Added Services

8.Do you believe the promotional strategies of Airtel are better than its competitors?

Yes
No

51
9. How would you rate the level of satisfaction with AIRTEL in regards to value?

Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor

30% people have rated good for the pricing. 48% people have rated neither good nor bad for the
pricing. 22% people have rated bad for the pricing.

52
10. How would you rate your overall quality of your relationship with Airtel, considering
all your experiences with them?

Excellent
Very Good
Good
Fair
Poor

72% people believe that the STD and ISD rates are economical. 28% people believe that the
STD and ISD rate are expensive.

11. How would you rate the level of satisfaction with Airtel in regards to pricing?

Good
Neither Good nor bad
Bad

53
25% people believe that the connectivity is excellent. 32% people believe that the connectivity is
good. 28% people believe that the connectivity is average. 17% people believe that the
connectivity is poor.

12. Evaluate your recent customer service?

Excellent
Good
Average
Poor

10% people find the customer service excellent. 28% people find the customer service good.
42% people find the customer service average. 20% people find the customer service poor.

13. Will you recommend Airtel network to your friends and family?

54
 Yes
No

65% people agrees that Airtel is no.1 in India. 35% people disagrees that Airtel is no.1 in India.

55
CONCLUSION

The conclusion of my study is that AIRTEL’s Advertising has a major impact on 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 has adopted a very good strategy by providing a new
connection with APPLE and SAMSUNG who are the market leader in mobile set, many new
users buy APPLE, SAMSUNG sets and they get a free connection of AIRTEL.

AIRTEL is successful in capturing the highest market share by providing mobile network across
the nation.

From above the details I conclude that 60% Airtel users preferred to remain with Airtel. Also
good no. of users who were willing to switch from their respective subscribers showed interest in
Airtel. Hence, these statistics imply a bright future for the company. Also the company is now
providing more services like the door to door services which is you dial the Airtel customer care
and would like to send someone flowers the Airtel company delivers those flowers to the person
concerned. Also Airtel is providing free text messaging service and free voice mail service.
Better connectivity is also another feature Airtel provides.

56
RECOMMENDATIONS

By virtue of its connectivity and advertising strategy AIRTEL is successful in grabbing the
highest market share in India, but there are still some recommendations from my study point
of view is that AIRTEL needs to make its network service more stronger than other service
providers to dominate the market in future too.

 AIRTEL should introduce cheaper recharge cards than the other because its
competitor VODAFONE had introduced it.

 AIRTEL should sign more celebrities from cricket and bollywood.

 AIRTEL should emphasis on providing better customer services experience.

 AIRTEL should reduce the prices of various services as done by its competitors.

57
BIBLIOGRAPHY

ON-LINE WEBSITES:

 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Bharti-Airtel
 http://www.airtel.in/

BOOKS:
 Marketing Management, T.N CHABRA, SECOND Revised Edition,
Sun India Publications.

58
ANNEXURE

59
QUESTIONNAIRE

NAME: ……………………………………………
ADDRESS: ……………………………………………

1. You are connected with AIRTEL since:

 Less than 6 months
 2 years
 3-5 years
 5 years or more

2. What type of service do you use?

 Prepaid
 Postpaid

3. What type of recharge cards do you like the most?

 More talktime
 More validity
 Both
4. Who would you pick as the main competitors of Airtel?
 Vodafone
 Aircel
 Reliance
 Idea
 Others
5. Do you intend to change your service provider in future?
 Yes
 No

60
6. Have you take benefits of any scheme offered by AIRTEL?
 Yes
 No
7. Which services are more useful to you while using Airtel Services?
 Call Rates
 SMS Services
 Internal Services
 Value added services
8. Do you believe the promotional strategies of Airtel are better than its competitors?
 Yes
 No
9. How would you rate the level of satisfaction with Airtel in regards to value?
 Excellent
 Very Good
 Good
 Fair
 Poor

10. How would you rate your overall quality of your relationship with Airtel, considering all
your experiences with them?
 Excellent
 Very Good
 Good
 Fair
 Poor
11. How would you rate the level of satisfaction with Airtel in regards to pricing?
 Good

61
  Neither Good or Bad
 Bad

12. Evaluate your recent customer service?

 Excellent
 Good
 Average
 Poor

13. Will you recommend Airtel network to your friends and family?
 Yes
 No

62