PRODUCT AND BRAND MANAGEMENT

By: Sudeep Karmakar(46)

Sonali Agrawal(45)
Sakshi Tandon(41) Majid Khan(42)

INTRODUCTION
Owner: Sunil Bharti Mittal It is a joint venture between Bharti Telecomm. and Singtel. Indias largest cellular service provider. Known for its service First cellular operator to open showrooms.

INTRODUCTION
MARKET SHARE AS OF 31st Jan 2012
2% 0% 0% 0% 1% 1% 4% 7% 20% 0% Bharti Reliance Vodafone Idea BSNL Tata Aircel Uninor Sistema Videocon MTNL Loop

9%
17%

11%

12%

16%

SEGMENTATION
o o o

On the basis of geography: Divided Indian market in telecom circles Subdivided states into category A,B & C On the basis of demographics: Middle income groups Age group of 20-28 years

o Airtel

has also introduced a `Friends' package for students and young people whereby subscribers are allowed to transfer mobile recharge both talk time and validity from their phone to another phone. With the package, subscribers can form a 'closed user group' of up to five friends and make calls at 50 paisa a minute

targeting
o o o o o o o o o

EVERYONE IS TARGET Earlier it targeted the elite class. Above age group of 25. Business and Corporate people. Again Targeted youth by introducing YOUTOPIA plan. Targeted Old age and woman by introducing post-paid plan. Again targeted youth by focusing on entertainment and change in logo. Women can get a new Airtel post-paid connection with a monthly rental of Rs150 Students can make calls for as low as 50 paisa a minute from predetermined areas such as universities and popular hang outs.

positioning

Airtel is positioned as aspirational and lifestyle brand, in a way that trivialized the price in the minds of the consumer. It was pitched not merely as a mobile service, but something that gives people a badge value.

2003-2010: EXPRESS YOURSELF It was successfully launched taking the ownership of the entire space of telecomm and strengthening the emotional bond that Airtel enjoys with its customers. 2010-Present: Dil Jo Chahe Paas Laye: This came up with a brand repositioning. It focused more on youth and entertainment. Introducing 3G and stressing on other features like song downloads and multimedia.

Cont..

Positions itself as a juvenile brand by linkages to celebrities such as Sachin, A.R. Rahman & SRK

Marketing mix of airtel

PRODUCT PRICE PLACE PROMOTION

PEOPLE PROCESS
PHYSICAL EVIDENCE

product
Airtel Pre-paid Airtel Post-paid Blackberry Wireless Handheld Value Added Services (VAS) The different value added services provided by Airtel are Instant Balance Enquiry 24Hr recharge Facility Caller line identification Call divert, Call wait & Call Hold Multimedia messaging service (MMS) Airtel Live Portal SMS based Information Service

Contd
Hello Tunes & Ring Tones Voice Mail Service Easy Post-paid bill collection Gifting of Ring Tones & Hello Tunes GPRS

price
Customer based pricing strategies. Flexible pricing mechanism Controlled by TRAI. 80/20 marketing. 20% customers in any market yield 80% of the profits. These are the customers that need to be retained by organizations Identifying and keeping profitable customers.

place
It has wide and extensive presence even in the remotest areas Airtel Customer Care Touch Points Distributors like E.g. Paan shops, grocery stores, chemists, outlet etc. Its network towers are present in various parts of the country. Apart from India Airtel is present worldwide.

promotion
Large scale print and video advertising. Big celebrities like SRK, A.R.Rehman and Sachin are roped in to endorse the product. In 2002 Airtel got its Signature tune from A.R. Rehman, this signature tune is the most downloaded tune in India. Provides innovations such as Bollywood movie premiers, music services such as ring back tones, mall promotions & many more.

people
Dedicate and passionate workforce. Officers: CEO (International) and Joint Managing Director: Manoj Kohli Chairman and Joint Managing Director: Sunil Bharti Mittal Customer Service and IT Director and Group CIO, Bharti Enterprises Group: Jai Menon Total Employees 51616( Bharti Airtel consolidated) as per Q3 2012.

process
Process for services is very easy and customer can avail it very easily. 121 is the customer support no. which can be dialed from anywhere in India. There are other services like *555# and *567# to activate add on services like SMS pack and GPRS. Various customer support centers all across the country. SIM card is activated very easily with proper identity proof.

Physical evidence

BRAnd elements
Airtel's New experiment with Brand elements

Its an old news now that Airtel is changing its brand elements, It started with its Logo and then has gone forward and changed its jingle too. Let us first see its old logo and new one. Airtel had spent Rs. 300 Crore on its logo, as it had tried to reposition itself as an international brand for youngsters. The logo looks more like an inverted videocons logo and is inspired from Vodafones logo. It represents a dynamic force of energy which would bring the management and customers closer.

JINGLE
Airtel Jingle changed with its logo. Composed by A.R.Rehman.

This one focusing on entertainment anywhere, anytime. Bharti Airtels signature music is replaced after more than half a decade. The use of gibberish lyrics ensure that the jingle is not country or language specific. Used for Brand Recallability.

SLOGAN:
Yourself

Dil jo chahe paas laaye, Express

AIRTEL ADS
Kyunki har ek friend jaruri hota hai Dil jo chahe paas laye Express yourself Touch tomorrow

BRAND NAME: It uses a compound brand name which is the mixture of two companies Bharti Telecomm and Singtel.

Leveraging secondary associates

Spokesperson (Sachin, A.R.Rehman) Events(Champions League) Associations ( Facebook,youtube, airtel nokia, airtel I phone) Awards (Indias leading telecomm network)

SPOKES PERSON

EVENTS

ASSOCIATIONS

AWARDS

MAINTAINING BRAND EQUITY in future

Name Awareness
Perceived quality Brand association

Must be easily available in PCO & general stores.

Should try to be perceived as a valuefor-money service.

Address the sensory benefit it gave to the customers as the main selling track. Introduction of airtel Apps
Airtel already edges out in terms of connectivity, network and value added services. In addition, it must also focus on sound clarity and customer service.

Brand loyalty

REFERENCES
www.imediaconnection.com
www.scribd.com www.airtel.com www.betsmediainfo.com www.authorstream.com