Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PROJECT REPORT
ON
MARKETING
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to take an opportunity to thank all the people in collecting the
necessary information and making of the report. I am grateful to all of them
for their time and wisdom. My project becomes a reality only because of
cooperation of many people who had helped me in completing this project. I
sincerely extend my gratitude to Miss RUCHI AGGRWAL who has given me
this golden opportunity to have an insight in the corporate world and who
has been a source of guidance and support.
PUNEET DAME
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that JASPREET BAJAJ BBA 3rd YEAR student from
KAMLA LOTHIA S.D COLLEGE affiliated to “Panjab University,
Chandigarh has completed her project under my supervision. She made
this project to my entire satisfaction and as per requirement of the course.
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 is the leading cellular service provider, with a footprint in 16 states covering
all four metros. It has over 12 million satisfied customers
"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."
Vision
BY 2010 AIRTEL WILL BE THE MOST ADMIRED BRAND IN INDIA:
BENCHMARKED BY MORE
BUSINES
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.
Following this realization, the major cellular service providers in India, launched
pre-paid cellular services in the late 1990s. The main purpose of these services
was to target customers from all sections of society (unlike post-paid services,
which were targeted only at the premium segment).
Bharti’s Mission
We will meet global standards for telecom services that delight customers
through:
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Company has an optimum mix of Executive and
Non-Executive Directors, which consists of three Executive and fifteen Non-
Executive Directors.
The Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, is an Executive
Director and the number of Independent Directors on the Board is 50% of the
total Board strength. The independence of a Director is determined on the basis
that such director does not have any material pecuniary relationship with the
Company, its promoters or its management, which may affect the independence
of the judgment of a Director.
The Board members possess requisite skills, experience and expertise required to
take decisions, which are in the best interest of the Company.
• 16 states, 600 million people. Only India's leading mobile service offers
you the truly 'freedom-packed' Prepaid!
• It is also the first company to export its products to the USA
BHARTI announces agreement with VODAFONE marking the
entry of the World's Largest Telecom Operator into India
• Vodafone to invest approximately Rs. 6,700 crores (approx. USD 1.5 bn.) to
acquire around 10% in Bharti Tele-Ventures Ltd.
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 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.
AIRTEL’s ENTERPRISE SERVICES
The company is a part of Bharti Enterprises, and is India's leading provider of
telecommunications services. The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been
structured into three individual strategic business units (SBU’s) - mobile
services, broadband & telephone services (B&T) & enterprise services. The
mobile services group provides GSM mobile services across India in 23 telecom
circles, while the B&T business group provides broadband & telephone services
in 90 cities. The Enterprise services group has two sub-units - carriers (long
distance services) and services to corporates. All these services are provided
under the Airtel brand.
Our Services:
Voice Services
Mobile Services
Satellite Services
Managed Data and Internet Services
Managed e-Data Services
AirTel launches VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first
time in Kolkata.
Introducing VQE (Voice Quality Enhancer) for the first time in Kolkata. VQE is
a revolutionary new system that spectrally reduces background noise. It
eliminates acoustic echo, adjusts speech levels in both directions and does away
with low or distorted speech so that every word of your's can be heard clearly,
wherever you may be speaking from.
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.
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
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 NEWS
• Bharti Airtel inks USD 400 million network expansion contract with
NOKIA
.
• Bharti Airtel limited: Q2 cash profit exceeds Rs. 1,600 crores, PBT
crosses Rs. 1,000 crores.
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 Cellular’s 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 AirTel’s 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 Bharti’s 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 Blaster’s 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 group’s 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 Advertising
Effectiveness of AIRTEL Cellular service.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
DATA SOURCES
Data is collected from both the Primary sources
i.e. questionnaire and also from Secondary
sources.
Primary sources:
Secondary sources :
friends
advertisements
other sources
advertisement
connectivity
schemes
goodwill
AIRTEL
HUTCH
TATA INDICOM
RELIANCE
IDEA
OTHERS
ADVERTISEMENTS
CONNECTIVITY
SCHEMES
0-30
30-70
70-100
Audio Visual
Print
Audio
SACHIN
SHAHRUKH
KAREENA
A.R. REHMAAN
YES
NO
CAN’T SAY
NOKIA + AIRTEL
AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services
AIRTEL Broadband
HELLOTUNES
YES : 72%
NO : 28%
YES
NO
Both : 62%
More talktime
More validity
Both
AIRTEL is #1 in India
Yes : 95%
No : 5%
Yes
No
CONCLUSION
The conclusion of my study is that AIRTEL’s
Advertising has a major 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 has adopted a very
good strategy by providing a new connection
with NOKIA who is market leader in mobile set,
many new users buy Nokia sets and they get a
free connection of AIRTEL. AIRTEL is
successful in capturing the highest market share
by adopting Celebrity Endorsement Strategy.
A.R. Rehmaan’s 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
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
HUTCH had introduced it. AIRTEL should sign
more celebrities from cricket and bollywood.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON-LINE WEBSITE :
.
o WWW.GOOGLE.CO.IN
o WWW.AIRTEL.COM
NEWSPAPERS:
BOOKS:
Friends Advertisements
Other Sources
2. Which feature of AIRTEL forced you to used
AIRTEL ?
Advertisements Connectivity
Schemes Goodwill
OTHERS
Advertisements Connectivity
Schemes
A. R. Rehman
YES NO
9. Which you like most in AIRTEL?
NOKIA + AIRTEL
AIRTEL MAGIC
Postpaid services
AIRTEL Broadband
Free Ringtones
YES NO
12. Which type of recharge cards you like
most?
More talktime
More validity
Yes No