a study on advertising activities of bharathi airtel hyderadad

A STUDY ON ADVERTISING ACTIVITIES OF BHARTI AIRTEL, HYDERADAD

A STUDY ON ADVERTISING ACTIVITIES OF

BHARTI AIRTEL, HYDERABAD

Submitted by

Mr. MADHU BABU BHOGADI[0121PG104]

Project Submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of

Post-Graduate Degree in

PGDM

2012-2014

New Delhi, Dwarka -110077


DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this project Report titled A STUDY ON

ADVERTISING ACTIVITIES OF BHARTI AIRTEL, HYDERABAD submitted

by me to ERA Business School, New Delhi, is bonafide work undertaken by me

and it is not submitted to any other University or Institution for the award of any

degree diploma/certificate or published any time before.

Signature of the student

MADHU BABU BHOGADI

(0121PG104)


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I convey my sincere thanks to external guide Mr. A. Deepak Kumar for giving me

the throughout my project.

I express my sincere gratitude to my guide Mr. Ajay Mehta, Professor in ERA

Business School for giving me his valuable guidance and support in completing the

project.

I express my deepest thanks to all respondents for their co-operation of my

project.

I also express my sincere thanks to all the faculty members, librarians, friends and

well-wishers who had helped me to do this project successfully.


CONTENT

CHAPTER – I Executive Summary 5

CHAPTER – II Introduction to Topic 7 - 9

CHAPTER – III Company Profile 10 - 32

3.1 – Promoters 15

3.2 – Vision and Mission 16

3.3 – Organization Structure 17

3.4 – Product line and Value Chain 18 - 19

3.5 – Porters Five Force Model 20 - 22

3.6 – Competitive Analysis 22 - 25

3.7 – Marketing Strategies 26 - 29

3.8 – SWOT Analysis 29 - 32

CHAPTER – IV About the Project 33 - 35

CHAPTER – V Literature Review 36 - 44

CHAPTER – VI Research Methodology 45 - 46

4.1 - Problem Definition 45

4.2 - Approach to the Problem 46

4.4 - Sources of data collection 46

4.5 - Primary sources 46

4.6 - Secondary sources 46

4.7 - Sampling techniques 46

CHAPTER – VII Data Analysis and Findings 47 - 60

CHAPTER – VIII Conclusion 61

CHAPTER – IX Recommendations 62


Bibliography and Appendix 63 - 65

Executive Summary:

It is no wonder that in today’s aggressive business environment, the challenges of

sustaining in these competitive surroundings, preoccupies the minds of many Business

leaders. Customers have many options to choose their telecom operator from competitive

market. Furthermore, they often perceive that what they are purchasing is, for all practical

purposes, a commodity that can be easily obtained from other companies, if need be. So,

how does a corporation distinguish itself in a highly commoditized and competitive

market? Today’s business is more dependent, than ever before, on their top performing

product to be innovate and provide services that differentiate a company from its fierce

competitors. In other words, corporations rely upon their product and human assets to

survive and thrive.

Airtel is one of the leading telecom firms of the country. Airtel is providing

intermediate services to the people of India since 1995. The company is largest cellular

service provider in India and third largest in the world in the field of various telecom

services like Mobile network, wireless, landline, broadband, satellite television, etc. The

company is famous for world presence, vast network coverage, excellent service and

brand image managed by experts.

This project was carried out for Bharti Airtel, Begumpet, Hyderabad, Andhra

Pradesh. This is one of the leading centers for marketing and sale of Airtel product and

services in southern region. The project was carried out for 45 days as summer internship

program in a systematic manner.

This project report contains various section where I’ve discussed about company

profile, its present strength, porters 5forces model, competitive analysis, SWOT analysis,

methodology used, sample size, sample unit, analysis and discussion, questionnaire, and

annexure.

After market study it can be said there is very tough competition between various

telecom firms like Airtel, Vodafone, Aircel, BSNL, Idea, uninor, etc. But still Airtel is

leading the market of Hyderabad.


INTRODUCTION:

Advertising is a form of communication intended to persuade an audience

(viewers, readers or listeners) to purchase or take some action upon products, ideas, or

services. It includes the name of a product or service and how that product or service

could benefit the consumer, to persuade a target market to purchase or to consume that

particular brand. These messages are usually paid for by sponsors and viewed via various

media. Advertising can also serve to communicate an idea to a large number of people in

an attempt to convince them to take a certain action.

Commercial advertisers often seek to generate increased consumption of

their products or services through branding, which involves the repetition of an image or

product name in an effort to associate related qualities with the brand in the minds

of consumers. Non-commercial advertisers who spend money to advertise items other

than a consumer product or service include political parties, interest groups, religious

organizations and governmental agencies. Nonprofit organizations may rely on free

modes of persuasion, such as a public service announcement.

Modern advertising developed with the rise of mass production in the late 19th

and early 20th centuries. Mass media can be defined as any media meant to reach a mass

amount of people. Different types of media can be used to deliver these messages,

including traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, outdoor or

direct mail; or new media such as websites and text messages.

"Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term: which

achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a

challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to

fulfill stakeholder expectations".

In other words, strategy is about:

* Where is the business trying to get to in the long-term (direction)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_media

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_media

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_media

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_production

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_service_announcement

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonprofit_organizations

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_(business)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumption_(economics)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persuade

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication


* Which markets should a business compete in and what kind of activities is involved in

such markets? (markets; scope)

* How can the business perform better than the competition in those markets?

(Advantage)?

* What resources (skills, assets, finance, relationships, technical competence, and

facilities) are required in order to be able to compete? (Resources)?

* What external, environmental factors affect the businesses' ability to compete?

(Environment)?

* What are the values and expectations of those who have power in and around the

business? (stakeholders)

Strategy at Different Levels of a Business:

Strategies exist at several levels in any organization - ranging from the overall

business (or group of businesses) through to individuals working in it.

Corporate Strategy - is concerned with the overall purpose and scope of the business to

meet stakeholder expectations. This is a crucial level since it is heavily influenced by

investors in the business and acts to guide strategic decision-making throughout the

business. Corporate strategy is often stated explicitly in a "mission statement".

Business Unit Strategy - is concerned more with how a business competes successfully

in a particular market. It concerns strategic decisions about choice of products, meeting

needs of customers, gaining advantage over competitors, exploiting or creating new

opportunities etc.

Operational Strategy - is concerned with how each part of the business is organized to

deliver the corporate and business-unit level strategic direction. Operational strategy

therefore focuses on issues of resources, processes, people etc.

How Strategy is Managed - Strategic Management


In its broadest sense, strategic management is about taking "strategic decisions" -

decisions that answer the questions above.

In practice, a thorough strategic management process has three main components,

shown in the figure below:

Strategic Analysis

This is all about the analyzing the strength of businesses' position and

understanding the important external factors that may influence that position. The process

of Strategic Analysis can be assisted by a number of tools, including:

PEST Analysis - a technique for understanding the "environment" in which a business

operates.

Scenario Planning - a technique that builds various plausible views of possible futures

for a business.


Five Forces Analysis - a technique for identifying the forces which affect the level of

competition in an industry.

Market Segmentation - a technique which seeks to identify similarities and differences

between groups of customers or users.

Directional Policy Matrix - a technique which summarizes the competitive strength of a

business’s operations in specific markets.

Competitor Analysis - a wide range of techniques and analysis that seeks to summarize

a businesses' overall competitive position.

Critical Success Factor Analysis - a technique to identify those areas in which a

business must outperform the competition in order to succeed.

SWOT Analysis - a useful summary technique for summarizing the key issues arising

from an assessment of a business’s "internal" position and "external" environmental

influences.

Strategic Choice:

This process involves understanding the nature of stakeholder expectations (the

"ground rules"), identifying strategic options, and then evaluating and selecting strategic

options.

Strategy Implementation

Often the hardest part. When a strategy has been analyzed and selected, the task is

then to translate it into organizational action.


COMPANY PROFILE

Airtel India Profile

Type : Public

Industry : Telecommunications

Founded : New Delhi, NTC, India

Founder(s) : Sunil Bharti Mittal

Headquarters : New Delhi, NTC, India

Area served : South Asia, Africa and the Channel

Islands

Key people : Sunil Bharti Mittal

Products : Fixed line and mobile telephony,

Broadband and

Fixed line internet services, digital

television and IPTV

Employees : 21,300(Nov12)

Subsidiaries : Airtel Africa

Airtel Digital TV

Airtel Sri Lanka

Airtel Bangladesh


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

telecommunications Services Company headquartered at New Delhi, India. It operates in

20 countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands. Airtel has GSM network

in all countries in which it operates, providing 2G, 3G and 4G services depending upon

the country of operation. Airtel is the world’s third largest mobile telecommunications

company with over 271 million subscribers across 150 countries as of March 31, 2013. It

is the largest cellular service provider in India, with 183.61 million subscribers as of Nov-

2012. Airtel is the third largest in-country mobile operator by subscriber base, behind

China Mobile and China Unicom.

Airtel is the largest provider of mobile telephony and second largest provider of

fixed telephony in India, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television

services. It offers Indian telecom services under the airtel brand, and is headed by Sunil

Bharti Mittal. Bharti Airtel is the first Indian telecom service provider to achieve Cisco

gold certification. It also acts as a carrier for national and international long distance

communication services. The company has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai,

which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore.

Airtel is credited with pioneering the business strategy of outsourcing all of its

business operations except marketing, sales and finance and building the ‘minutes

factory’ model of low cost and high volumes. The strategy has since been copied by

several operators. Its network-base stations, microwave links, etc. is maintained by

Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Network whereas business support is provided by IBM, and

transmission towers are maintained by another company (Bharti Infratel Ltd. in India).

Ericsson agreed for the first time to be paid by the minute for installation and

maintenance of their equipment rather than being paid front, which allowed Airtel to

provide low call rates of Rs.1/min. During the financial year (2009-10), 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 across the country. This


would help consumer’s access internet at faster speed and high quality internet browsing

on mobile handsets.

Airtel Branding Strategy

Airtel has been the first player in India to offer some niche services like

Blackberry, Caller Tunes, and personalized ringtones and has even attached itself with

the biggest names like Sachin Tendulkar, AR Rahman and Shahrukh Khan to promote the

brand.

Airtel has always backed on human relations and emotions in their brand

communication through its advertisements focusing on the emotional content. The brand

promotions have come a long way with its signature tune composed by AR Rahman in

the year 2002, to the latest campaigns inspired by the theme of friendship.

In the 2010, Airtel launched a new signature tune and it even rebranded its logo and launched the “Dil Jo Chahe Paas Laaye” campaign. This initiative was taken to target the corporate and post-paid subscribers with its new communication.

In 2011, the brand launched the “Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai” campaign with a same signature tune modified to focus on the youth and targeting itself as “The friendship brand”. The campaign was a huge success with its lively tune. Since then, Airtel’s campaigns have been inspired by the theme of friendship.

In the year 2012, it launched the latest Ad campaign which complemented the earlier ad, focusing on friendship – “Jo Mera Hai Who Tera Hai”, which is again a hit amongst the viewers and its customers.

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.

The composition of the Board is as under:

Sunil Bharti Mittal

Akhil Gupta

Chua Sock Koong

N. Kumar

Ajay Lal

Craig Ehrlich

Pulak Prasad

Rakesh Bharti Mittal

Tan Yong Choo

Evan Mervyn Davies

Rajan Bharti Mittal

Hui Weng Cheong

Nikesh Arora

Salim Ahmed Salim

Tsun-yan Husieh

Manoj Kohli

ACHIEVEMENTS:

First to launch Cellular service on November 1995.

First operator to revolutionaries the concept of retailing with the inauguration of

Airtel Connect (exclusive showrooms) in 1995.


First to introduce push button phone in India.

First to expand its network with the installation for second mobile switching

center in April, 1997 and the first to introduce the Intelligent Network Platform

First to provide Roaming to its subscribers by forming an association called

World 1 Network.

First to provide roaming facility in USA. Enjoy the mobile roaming across 38

partner networks & above 700 cities Moreover roam across international

destinations in 119 countries including USA, Canada, and UK etc. with 284

partner networks.

BHARTI announces aggrement with VODAFONE marking the entry of the

World's Largest Telecom Operator into India

Bharti Enterprises and AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited announce Partnership

for a life insurance joint venture in India

Airtel Launches future factory - Centre’s of Innovation to Incubate Pioneering

Mobile Applications

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 Tele-Ventures:

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

http://www.bharti.com/48.html?&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=177&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=116&cHash=dd5294c8ca

http://www.bharti.com/48.html?&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=177&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=116&cHash=dd5294c8ca

http://www.bharti.com/48.html?&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=180&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=116&cHash=5602909e47

http://www.bharti.com/48.html?&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=180&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=116&cHash=5602909e47

http://www.bharti.com/48.html?&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=183&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=116&cHash=6055d25a45

http://www.bharti.com/48.html?&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=183&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=116&cHash=6055d25a45


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

USA.

Bharti is the leading cellular service provider, with a footprint in 16 states covering

all four metros. It has over 12 million satisfied customers

- Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman, Bharti Tele-Ventures

Promoters

The company has a strategic alliance with SingTel. And vodafone is also a 4%

shareholder of Bharti airtel the investment made by SingTel is one of the largest

investments made in the world outside Singapore, in the company. The company’s

mobile network equipment partners include Ericsson and Nokia. In the case of the

broadband and telephone services and enterprise services (carriers), equipment suppliers

include Siemens, Nortel, Corning, among others. The Company also has an information

technology alliance with IBM for its group-wide information technology requirements

and with Nortel for call center technology requirements. The call center operations for the

mobile services have been outsourced to IBM Daksh, Hinduja TMT, and Teletech &

Mphasis.

http://www.singtel.com/


Vision and Mission:

Vision

By 2015 Airtel will be the most admired brand in India:

Loved by more customers

Targeted by top talent

Benchmarked by more businesses

To build India's finest business conglomerate by 2020

Supporting education of underprivileged children through Bharti Foundation

Strategic Intent:

To create a conglomerate of the future by bringing about “Big Transformations

through Brave Actions.”

Mission

• “We at Airtel always think in fresh and innovative ways about the needs of our

customers and how we want them to feel. We deliver what we promise and go out

of our way to delight the customer with a little bit more”

• We will meet global standards for telecom services that delight customers

through:

Customer Service Focus

Empowered Employees

Cost Efficiency

Unified Messaging Solutions

Innovative products and services

Error- free service delivery


Organization structure

The group has been structured to create functional and operational specialization with a

linear vision of business lines and functional areas.

The Company is headed by Chairman and Group Managing Director- Sunil Bharti

Mittal who is assisted by two Joint Managing Directors- Gopal Vittal (India) and Manoj

Kohli (International). An apex team of Corporate Directors has been constituted. The

corporate directors have supervisory and strategic responsibilities for functional areas

across business lines. The directors oversee functional areas including Business

Development, Human Resources, Marketing, Corporate Communication, IT &

Technology, Finance, Legal, Corporate Affairs, Corporate Strategy & Planning and

Supervisory Director cum Chief Mentor - mobility.

The organization structure is designed to ensure that identical businesses are run

along similar lines and best resources in any functional field, be tapped to serve the best

interests of the entire group. The structure also defines the role of the Head of the units

who are totally empowered to manage their respective companies and are fully


responsible for business operations to build world-class organizations with a high degree

of customer focus.

Product Line and Value Chain

Product Line

Airtel Broadband

Airtel Landline

Airtel 3G

Airtel Mobile

Airtel Leased Line

Airtel Blackberry

Airtel IPhone

Airtel Money

Airtel DTH

http://airteldth.net.in/

http://airtelmoney.info/

http://airteliphone.in/

http://airtelblackberry.in/

http://airtelleasedline.com/

http://airtelpostpaid.in/

http://airtel3g.org.in/

http://airtellandline.com/

http://airtelbroadbandchennai.info/


Value Chain

Support Activities

Firm Infrastructure: Tower setup, IT infrastructure, Telecom equipment’s, networking stations and equipment’s, ERP and various software to assist in operations

HR Management: Hiring of IT skilled workforce and telecom operators. Hiring of customer support personnel and their training program. Expertise in recruiting the retail staff and quality of their training. Recruiting best in business leaders to take the company forward.

InputOperation LicensesFinance for operations and setup of infrastructureSetting up Network infrastructure in collaboration with third partySoftware and support required to operate the Mobile telephonyValue added content providers of like games, music etc.

Operations

Develop and expand the infrastructureCustomize software to requirement Develop the sim cardsDevelop the network substationsUse the Mobile serives switching center to divert traffic to mobile or fixed systemsIntegrate various network to achieve economies of scale

Output

Broad Band Services

Fixed Line Services

GSM Services

VAS

DTH

Marketing & Sales

Strong SIM distribution channelFirst mover in developing better productsIntroducion of new services to match the customer preferencesInnovative advertising campaginsSales force compensation tied to profit and not revenuesCustomer awareness about latest technology

Services

Coverage area of each airtel outletCustomer SupportTechnical assistance for broad band servicesDuplicate Sim availabilityStrong supplier channel for repairable partsOpening new outlets in new circles


Technology Development: Development of various VAS services. Introduction of mCheck to enable consumers do mobile commerce. Investing in R & D. Creating and setting up of 3G network with new licenses coming in.

Procurement: High initial investment required to setup up physical distribution towers and network stations. Long term contract with third parties are required. Strong Supply Chain Network is required to enable continuous supply of handsets and SIM cards.

Industry Analysis

Porters 5 force model

The industry structure has become relatively unfavorable compared to earlier

monopolistic times the earlier pattern used to be that the national telecom company used

to own every segment of the value chain till the international gateway. With liberalization

there was competition in virtually every segment. There are companies that provide local

connectivity, those that function as long distance carriers, and those that provide only

gateway links. Some integrated players operate in all segments. The intensity of

competitive pressures across the chain is reflected in the downward spiral being

witnessed in tariffs and prices to customer. The value chain for cellular mobile service

and Internet Service Providers (other than cable based net connections) is similar in as

much as the calls reach the destination through similar local loop, long distance and

international gateway.

Threat from Competition: HIGH

Threat from Competition

Customer Bargaining

Power

Threat of Substitutes

Supplier Bargaining

Power

Threat of New

Entrants


Companies like BSNL, MTNL, Vodafone, TATA, IDEA and Reliance

continuously engage themselves in aggressive marketing and expansion and thus trying

to eat into Bharti’s market share.

Threat from Customers: HIGH

All the major telecom operators provide similar services. Customers can switch

easily to another firm. With number portability a reality further gives them power to

dictate. Lower prices are enjoyed by customers due to severe competition.

Threat from Suppliers: LOW

Long term contracts ensure future supply of handsets and SIM cards. High initial

investments by suppliers mean they are dependent on few telecom operators for revenue,

hence low bargaining power for them. These networks till now cannot be put to other

profitable uses. Many companies are present to provide customer support at lowest

prices. Many high end software making companies compete for telecom software

develops thereby pushing the prices of these software low.

Threat from New Entrants: LOW

Huge initial investments and high gestation period. Highly regulated industry and

it is very dynamic in nature. Low spectrum availability and introduction of new strategies

by the existing firms.

Threat from Substitutes: HIGH

Fixed Line services are on decline. However the internet telephony is catching up

giving telecom operators run for money. Video conferencing, Social Networking

websites and Skype is reducing the need for mobile services. But the use of Broadband,

DTH, services provided by the companies is high and the competition is high among

these.


Competitive Analysis

Vodafone Essar

Vodafone has given birth to Zoozoo a special character created specifically to

convey a value added service (VAS) offering in each of the newly released

commercials.

Vodafone has come with creative advertising campaign for its various plans.

This strategy has captured the imagination of millions.

The strategy is a buzz that lives up to the brand image of great creative and clever

marketing.

In the first 10 days of IPL it has reached a cumulative of 89 million people. This

is a wonderful strategy adopted by Vodafone.

This has helped the company to raise not only its profits through sales but has also

tremendously increased its brand value.

Vodafone is the main competitor for Airtel with 153 million subscribers.

Global giant Vodafone holds a strong position in the Indian telecom market. With

various sponsorships and pan-India network, Vodafone is a big telecom player.

Also, the “zoozoo” ad campaigns have revitalized the brand and made these

adorable characters as one of the most prominent marketing campaigns ever.


IDEA CELLULAR

Idea Cellular is a wireless telephony company operating in various states in India.

The company has its retail outlets under the "Idea n' U" banner. The company has

also been the first to offer flexible tariff plans for prepaid customers. It also offers

GPRS services in urban areas.

Presently, operations exist in 11 Service Areas covering Delhi, Maharashtra, Goa,

Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Haryana,

UP-West, Himachal Pradesh, UP-East, Rajasthan and Kerala.

With a customer base of over 23 million, IDEA Cellular footprint currently covers

approximately 60% of India's telecom population.

A frontrunner in introducing revolutionary tariff plans; IDEA Cellular has the

distinction of offering the most customer friendly and competitive Pre Paid

offerings, for the first time in India in an increasingly segmented market.

Customer Service and Innovation are the drivers of this Cellular Brand. A brand

known for their many firsts, Idea is only operator to launch GPRS and EDGE in

the country. Idea has received international recognition for its path-breaking

innovations when it won the GSM Association Award for "Best Billing and

Customer Care Solution" for 2 consecutive years.

Idea cellular has a market share of 122 million subscribers and one of the most

prominent brands of Indian telecom industry are Idea, with a strong backup of the

Birla group.


Idea cellular has become a market leader in various circles and has also been in

the lime-light through Idea Rocks India concert, Kaun Banega Crorpati and IPL

team Delhi Daredevils.

Reliance Communications

The business of Reliance Communications is organized into three strategic

customer facing business units: Wireless, Global, and Broadband. In addition, one

of the wholly owned subsidiaries of Reliance Communications is engaged in the

marketing and distribution of wireless handsets.

Reliance Communications is one of the leading service provider in Indian telecom

market with 123 million subscribers.

Reliance Communications have a network spread over 25000 towns and 0.6 mn

villages, and over 190,000 km of optic fiber cable systems. Apart from telecom,

the company also boasts of Reliance Digital Big TV.


Tata Teleservices

Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) is part of the Tata Group of Companies, an

Indian Conglomerate. It runs the brand name Tata Indicom in India in various

telecom circles of India.

TTSL was the first company to offer CDMA Mobile services in India, specifically

in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Tata is the direct competitor with other operators

in India.

The company provides unified telecommunication solutions including mobile,

fixed wireless, fixed line and broadband. Other competitors like Vodafone, Airtel,

Aircel, Idea, MTNL, and BSNL providing GSM based mobile telephony.

The company was first in India to provide free intra network calling within city

limits. They launched a unique scheme providing lifetime rental free connectivity

on its mobile and fixed wireless for a one-time charge.

The telecom services of the Group are offered under the brand name Tata

Indicom, and cover all segments, from retail and enterprise to wholesale and

international.

Tata Indicom offers you a range of products and services like Wireless Internet,

Wireless USB Modem and Mobile Phones so you are always connected.

Landline Phones Net Telephony Internet & Broadband It has partnered with

Motorola, Ericsson, Lucent and ECI Telecom for the deployment of a reliable,


technologically advanced network. The company, which heralded convergence

technologies in the Indian telecom sector, is today the market leader in the fixed

wireless telephony market with a total customer base of over 3.8 million.

BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LTD

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited provides telecommunications services in India. Its

services include wire line and cellular services, as well as other value added

services, such as voice mail service, short message service (SMS), group

messaging, national and international roaming, call forwarding, corporate virtual

private network, call conferencing, friend and family talk, call waiting, and call

holding services.

The company also provides 3G; wireless in local loop (WLL) mobile telephone;

Internet; Web-hosting; Web co-location; SMS and bulk SMS; and broadband

services. In addition, it offers managed network services; multi-protocol label

switching based virtual private network (VPN) services; integrated services

digital network (ISDN) services; data communication services; intelligent

network services consisting of toll free phone service, universal access number,

voice VPN, televoting, and virtual calling cards; and video, audio, and Web

conferencing services.

Further, the company provides fleet management solution comprising eTracK, an

on-line tracking system to manage fleet, such as trucks, car carriers, trailers,

tankers, containers, or vehicles carrying hazardous and specialty explosive

chemicals; Inet services for use in various applications, including electronic mail

services, corporate communications, information retrieval, database services,

remote job applications, credit card verifications, travel reservations, and Internet


connectivity; telex/telegraph services; PABX/EPABX services; and DSPT

services, as well as offers VSAT, voice over Internet protocol, and IN services.

Marketing Strategy

Positioning of the Company vs. a vs. Competitors

Purpose of comparison

The sub main purpose of this report is to compare the marketing strategies

adopted by Bharti Airtel and its rival Vodafone.

The comparison shows how both of the companies have been challenging each

other to gain market share.

Why comparison with Vodafone

Airtel is the leader in telecommunication sector.

Airtel holds the lion share of market of communication sector.

However, Vodafone has been giving tough competition to Airtel.

Vodafone is the second largest player and shareholder in telecom sector.

Since its launch Vodafone has been adopting aggressive marketing strategies.

Brand positioning by Airtel

Market segmentation

geographical segment (metropolitans & cities India)

demographical segment – middle income groups

People age group of 20 – 28 years.

Target marketing

People who living in cities and towns.

Poor or middle income group people.

Youngsters in big cities.


Businessmen

Positioning

Creating brands (Sharukh khan & Sachin Tendulkar)

Ads and promotions

Promotion for study of poor children’s

Marketing mix

Price: low price strategy

Place: maximum outlets and service centers

Product: verities available for various groups

Promotion: various schemes for pre-paid and post-paid.

Vodafone:

Vodafone target the rural India The main targeted customers of Vodafone are

from rural India. By offering cheap and light mobile sets Vodafone attracts most of the

customers of small villages and towns. Offering cheap handsets Vodafone offers cheap

and free connections to all customers. The cost for these sets was Rs-799-849-1099 per

set and onward. In every district and big towns Vodafone opens its service centers to

provide better support and services

Strong logistics and supply chain Vodafone has a strong logistic and supply all

over India. In every small town the potential customers can easily purchase the Vodafone

SIM & Sets. Targeting youngsters in metropolitans Vodafone attracts youngsters by

offering colorful handset at very low prices.

Brand Positioning By Vodafone

Market segmentation

Geographical segment (rural India)

Demographic segment - middle income groups


Target marketing

People living in small towns and villages.

Poor and middle income groups.

Youngsters in big cities.

Businessmen

Positioning

Creating brands

Ads and promotions

Marketing mix

Price : low price strategy

Place : maximum outlets and service centers

Product : verities available for various groups

Promotion: various schemes for pre-paid and post-paid

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Bharti Airtel has more than 183.61 million subscribers as of Mar13. It is the

largest cellular provider in India, and also supplies broadband and telephone

services - as well as many other telecommunications services to both domestic

and corporate customers.

Other stakeholders in Bharti Airtel include Sony-Ericsson, Nokia - and Sing Tel,

with whom they hold a strategic alliance. This means that the business has access

to knowledge and technology from other parts of the telecommunications world.

The company has covered the entire Indian nation with its network. This has

underpinned its large and rising customer base.


Airtel offers the most expansive roaming network. Letting you roam anywhere in

India with its Pan-India presence, and trot across the globe with International

Roaming spread in over 240 networks. 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 92 cities.

Airtel, the monopoly breaker shattered the Telecom monopoly in the International

Long Distance space with the launch of International Submarine cable Network

i2i jointly with Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. in the year 2002. This has

brought a huge value to the IPLC customers, delivering them an option besides

the incumbent carrier, to connect to the outside world.

Weaknesses

An often cited original weakness is that when the business was started by Sunil

Bharti Mittal over 15 years ago, the business has little knowledge and experience

of how a cellular telephone system actually worked. So the start-up business had

to outsource to industry experts in the field.

Until recently Airtel did not own its own towers, which was a particular strength

of some of its competitors such as Hutchison Essar. Towers are important if your

company wishes to provide wide coverage nationally.

The fact that the Airtel has not pulled off a deal with South Africa's MTN could

signal the lack of any real emerging market investment opportunity for the

business once the Indian market has become mature.

Airtel has tough competition from the operators like BSNL and MTNL as these

two operators are offering services at a low rate.

Although Airtel have strong Presence throughout the country but still they are far

away from the Indian rural part and generally this part is covered by BSNL so

indirectly Airtel is losing revenue from the rural sector.

Opportunities


The company possesses a customized version of the Google search engine which

will enhance broadband services to customers. The tie-up with Google can only

enhance the Airtel brand, and also provides advertising opportunities in Indian for

Google.

Global telecommunications and new technology brands see Airtel as a key

strategic player in the Indian market. The new iPhone will be launched in India

via an Airtel distributorship. Another strategic partnership is held with

BlackBerry Wireless Solutions.

Despite being forced to outsource much of its technical operations in the early

days, this allowed Airtel to work from its own blank sheet of paper, and to

question industry approaches and practices - for example replacing the Revenue-

Per-Customer model with a Revenue-Per-Minute model which is better suited to

India, as the company moved into small and remote villages and towns.

The company is investing in its operation in 120,000 to 160,000 small villages

every year. It sees that less well-off consumers may only be able to afford a few

tens of Rupees per call, and also so that the business benefits are scalable - using

its 'Matchbox' strategy.

Bharti Airtel is embarking on another joint venture with Vodafone Essar and Idea

Cellular to create a new independent tower company called Indus Towers. This

new business will control more than 60% of India's network towers. IPTV is

another potential new service that could underpin the company's long-term

strategy.

Threats

Airtel and Vodafone seem to be having an on/off relationship. Vodafone which

owned a 5.6% stake in the Airtel business sold it back to Airtel, and instead

invested in its rival Hutchison Essar. Knowledge and technology previously

available to Airtel now moves into the hands of one of its competitors.

The quickly changing pace of the global telecommunications industry could tempt

Airtel to go along the acquisition trail which may make it vulnerable if the world

goes into recession. Perhaps this was an impact upon the decision not to proceed


with talks about the potential purchase of South Africa's MTN in May 2008. This

opened the door for talks between Reliance Communication's Anil Ambani and

MTN, allowing a competing Indian industrialist to invest in the new emerging

African telecommunications market.

Bharti Airtel could also be the target for the takeover vision of other global

telecommunications players that wish to move into the Indian market.


About Project:

The purpose of this project is to know about the advertising strategies followed by

Airtel Company in order to aware the customers and the consumers about the availability

of the different products of the company in the market and also to increase the sale of the

products likewise the reputation of the company.

Airtel is the most leading and admired brand in Andhra Pradesh with 32.7%

market share of active subscribers, and also with a market share of 28.4% total

subscribers. Airtel is providing the best telecom services with better promotional schemes

and with heavy advertisement. The total subscribers of Airtel in Andhra Pradesh are

18,251,864 (by Mar-13) and the total active subscribers are 17,713,434(by Mar-13).

ADVERTISING:

As a business begins, one of the major goals of advertising must be to generate

awareness of the business and its products. Once the business' reputation is established

and its products are positioned within the market, the amount of resources used for

advertising will decrease as the consumer develops a kind of loyalty to the product.


Ideally, this established and ever-growing consumer base will eventually aid the company

in its efforts to carry their advertising message out into the market, both through its

purchasing actions and its testimonials on behalf of the product or service.

Essential to this rather abstract process is the development of a "positioning

statement," as defined by Gerald E. Hills in "Marketing Option and Marketing" in The

Portable MBA in Entrepreneurship: "A 'positioning statement' explains how a company's

product (or service) is differentiated from those of key competitors." With this statement,

the business owner turns intellectual objectives into concrete plans. In addition, this

statement acts as the foundation for the development of a selling proposal, which is

composed of the elements that will make up the advertising message's "copy platform."

This platform delineates the images, copy, and art work that the business owner believes

will sell the product.

With these concrete objectives, the following elements of the advertising strategy

need to be considered: target audience, product concept, communication media, and

advertising message. These elements are at the core of an advertising strategy, and are

often referred to as the "creative mix." Again, what most advertisers stress from the

beginning is clear planning and flexibility. And key to these aims is creativity, and the

ability to adapt to new market trends. A rigid advertising strategy often leads to a loss of

market share. Therefore, the core elements of the advertising strategy need to mix in a

way that allows the message to envelope the target consumer, providing ample

opportunity for this consumer to become acquainted with the advertising message.

The target consumer is a complex combination of persons. It includes the person

who ultimately buys the product, as well as those who decide what product will be

bought (but don't physically buy it), and those who influence product purchases, such as

children, spouse, and friends.

IMPORTANCE OF ADVERTISING:

The purpose of advertising is motivating but to sell something a product, a service or

an AIRTEL. The real objective of advertising is effective communication between


producers and consumers. In other words the ultimate purpose all advertising is

“Increased awareness” list of the following specific objectives of advertising.

To make on immediate AIRTEL

To build primary demand

To introduce a price deal

To inform about a products availability

To increase market share

To help salesman by building on awareness of a product among retailers

To increase the frequency use of a product

To build overall company image

To build brand recognition

Airtel has been the first player in India to offer some niche services like

Blackberry, Caller Tunes, and personalized ringtones and has even attached itself with

the biggest names like Sachin Tendulkar, AR Rahman and Shahrukh Khan to promote the

brand.

Airtel has always backed on human relations and emotions in their brand

communication through its advertisements focusing on the emotional content. The brand

promotions have come a long way with its signature tune composed by AR Rahman in

the year 2002, to the latest campaigns inspired by the theme of friendship.

In the 2010, Airtel launched a new signature tune and it even rebranded its logo and launched the “Dil Jo Chahe Paas Laaye” campaign. This initiative was taken to target the corporate and post-paid subscribers with its new communication.

In 2011, the brand launched the “Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai” campaign with a same signature tune modified to focus on the youth and targeting itself as “The friendship brand”. The campaign was a huge success with its lively tune. Since then, Airtel’s campaigns have been inspired by the theme of friendship.

In the year 2012, it launched the latest Ad campaign which complemented the earlier ad,

focusing on friendship – “Jo Mera Hai Who Tera Hai”, which is again a hit amongst

the viewers and its customers.


REVIEW OF LITERATURE

An advertising strategy is a campaign developed to communicate ideas about

products and services to potential consumers in the hopes of convincing them to buy

those products and services. This strategy, when built in a rational and intelligent manner,

will reflect other business considerations (overall budget, brand recognition efforts) and

objectives (public image enhancement, market share growth) as well. As Portable MBA

in marketing authors Alexander Hiam and Charles D. Schewe stated, a business's

advertising strategy "determines the character of the company's public face." Even though

a small business has limited capital and is unable to devote as much money to advertising

as a large corporation, it can still develop a highly effective advertising campaign. The

key is creative and flexible planning, based on an in-depth knowledge of the target

consumer and the avenues that can be utilized to reach that consumer.

Today, most advertising strategies focus on achieving three general goals, as the

Small Business Administration indicated in Advertising Your Business: 1) promote

awareness of a business and its product or services; 2) stimulate sales directly and "attract

competitors' customers"; and 3) establish or modify a business' image. In other words,

advertising seeks to inform, persuade, and remind the consumer. With these aims in

mind, most businesses follow a general process which ties advertising into the other

promotional efforts and overall marketing objectives of the business.

STAGES OF ADVERTISING STRATEGY:

As a business begins, one of the major goals of advertising must be to generate

awareness of the business and its products. Once the business' reputation is established

and its products are positioned within the market, the amount of resources used for


advertising will decrease as the consumer develops a kind of loyalty to the product.

Ideally, this established and ever-growing consumer base will eventually aid the company

in its efforts to carry their advertising message out into the market, both through its

purchasing actions and its testimonials on behalf of the product or service.

The target consumer is a complex combination of persons. It includes the person

who ultimately buys the product, as well as those who decide what product will be

bought (but don't physically buy it), and those who influence product purchases, such as

children, spouse, and friends.

In order to identify the target consumer, and the forces acting upon any purchasing

decision, it is important to define three general criteria in relation to that consumer, as

discussed by the Small Business Administration:

1. Demographics—Age, gender, job, income, ethnicity, and hobbies.

2. Behaviors—When considering the consumers' behavior an advertiser needs to

examine the consumers' awareness of the business and its competition, the type of

vendors and services the consumer currently uses, and the types of appeals that

are likely to convince the consumer to give the advertiser's product or service a

chance.

3. Needs and Desires—here an advertiser must determine the consumer needs—

both in practical terms and in terms of self-image, etc.—and the kind of

pitch/message that will convince the consumer that the advertiser's services or

products can fulfill those needs.

PRODUCT CONCEPT:

The product concept grows out of the guidelines established in the "positioning

statement." How the product is positioned within the market will dictate the kind of

values the product represents, and thus how the target consumer will receive that product.

Therefore, it is important to remember that no product is just itself, but, as Courtland L.


Bovee and William F. Arens stated in Contemporary Advertising, a "bundle of values"

that the consumer needs to be able to identify with. Whether couched in presentations

that emphasize sex, humor, romance, science, masculinity, or femininity, the consumer

must be able to believe in the product's representation.

COMMUNICATION MEDIA:

The communication media is the means by which the advertising message is

transmitted to the consumer. In addition to marketing objectives and budgetary restraints,

the characteristics of the target consumer need to be considered as an advertiser decides

what media to use.

The types of media categories from which advertisers can choose include the following:

Print—primarily newspapers (both weekly and daily) and magazines.

Audio—FM and AM radio.

Video—Promotional videos, infomercials.

World Wide Web.

Direct mail.

Outdoor advertising—Billboards, advertisements on public transportation (cabs,

buses).

After deciding on the medium that is 1) financially in reach, and 2) most likely to

reach the target audience, an advertiser needs to schedule the broadcasting of that

advertising. The media schedule, as defined by Hills, is "the combination of specific

times (for example, by day, week, and month) when advertisements are inserted into

media vehicles and delivered to target audiences."

ADVERTISING MESSAGE:

An advertising message is guided by the "advertising or copy platform," which is a

combination of the marketing objectives, copy, art, and production values. This


combination is best realized after the target consumer has been analyzed, the product

concept has been established, and the media and vehicles have been chosen. At this point,

the advertising message can be directed at a very concrete audience to achieve very

specific goals.

Hiam and Schewe listed three major areas that an advertiser should consider when

endeavoring to develop an effective "advertising platform":

What are the product's unique features?

How do consumers evaluate the product? What is likely to persuade them to

purchase the product?

How do competitors rank in the eyes of the consumer? Are there any weaknesses

in their positions? What are their strengths?

Most business consultants recommend employing an advertising agency to create the

art work and write the copy. However, many small businesses don't have the up-front

capital to hire such an agency, and therefore need to create their own advertising pieces.

When doing this a business owner needs to follow a few important guidelines.

COPY when composing advertising copies it is crucial to remember that the primary

aim is to communicate information about the business and its products and services. The

"selling proposal" can act as a blueprint here, ensuring that the advertising fits the overall

marketing objectives. Many companies utilize a theme or a slogan as the centerpiece of

such efforts, emphasizing major attributes of the business's products or services in the

process. But as Hiam and Schewe caution, while "something must be used to animate the

theme …care must be taken not to lose the underlying message in the pursuit of

memorable advertising."

When writing the copy, direct language (saying exactly what you mean in a

positive, rather than negative manner) has been shown to be the most effective. The

theory here is that the less the audience has to interpret, or unravel the message, the easier

the message will be to read, understand, and act upon. As Jerry Fisher observed

in Entrepreneur, "Two-syllable phrases like 'free book,' 'fast help,' and 'lose weight' are


the kind of advertising messages that don't need to be read to be effective. By that I mean

they are so easy for the brain to interpret as a whole thought that they're 'read' in an eye

blink rather than as linear verbiage. So for an advertiser trying to get attention in a world

awash in advertising images, it makes sense to try this message-in-an-eye-blink route to

the public consciousness—be it for a sales slogan or even a product name."

The copy content needs to be clearly written, following conventional grammatical

guidelines. Of course, effective headings allow the reader to get a sense of the

advertisement's central theme without having to read much of the copy. An advertisement

that has "50% off" in bold black letters is not just easy to read, but it is also easy to

understand.

ART WORK AND LAYOUT:

Small business owners also need to consider the visual rhetoric of the

advertisement, which simply means that the entire advertisement, including blank space,

should have meaning and logic. Most industry experts recommend that advertisers use

short paragraphs, lists, and catchy illustrations and graphics to break up and supplement

the text and make the document both visually inviting and easy to understand.

Remember, an advertisement has to capture the reader's attention quickly.

ADVERTISING BUDGET:

The advertising budget can be written before or after a business owner has

developed the advertising strategy. When to make a budget decision depends on the

importance of advertising and the resources available to the business. If, for instance, a

business knows that they only have a certain amount of money for advertising then the

budget will tend to dictate what advertising is developed and what the overall marketing

objectives will be. On the other hand, if a business has the resources available, the

advertising strategy can be developed to meet predetermined marketing objectives. For

small businesses, it is usually best to put together an advertising budget early in the

advertising process.

http://www.enotes.com/small-business-encyclopedia/advertising-budget


The following approaches are the most common methods of developing an

effective budget. All the methods listed are progressive ones that look to perpetuate

growth:

Percentage of future or past sales

Competitive approach

Market share

All available funds

The task or objective approach

The easiest approach and thus the one that is most often used is the percentage of

future or past sales method. Most industry experts recommend basing spending on

anticipated sales, in order to ensure growth. But for a small business, where survival may

be a bigger concern than growth, basing the advertising budget on past sales is often a

more sensible approach to take.

METHODS OF ADVERTISING:

Small business owners can choose from two opposite philosophies when

preparing their advertising strategy. The first of these, sometimes called the push method,

is a stance wherein an advertiser targets retail establishments in order to establish or

broaden a market presence. The second option, sometimes called the pull method, targets

end-users (consumers), who are expected to ask retailers for the product and thus help

"pull" it through the channel of distribution. Of course, many businesses employ some

hybrid of the two when putting together their advertising strategy.

PUSH METHOD:

The aim of the push method is to convince retailers, salespersons, or dealers to

carry and promote the advertiser's product. This relationship is achieved by offering

inducements, such as providing advertising kits to help the retailer sell the product,

offering incentives to carry stock, and developing trade promotions.

PULL METHOD:


The aim of the pull method is to convince the target consumer to try, purchase, and

ultimately repurchase the product. This process is achieved by directly appealing to the

target consumer with coupons, in-store displays, and sweepstakes

ANALYZING ADVERTISING RESULTS:

Many small businesses are distressingly lax in taking steps to monitor whether

their advertising efforts are having the desired effect. Instead, they simply throw a

campaign out there and hope for the best, relying on a general sense of company health

when determining whether to continue, terminate, or make adjustments to advertising

campaigns. These small business owners do not seem to recognize that myriad factors

can influence a business's fortunes (regional economic straits, arrival of new competition,

seasonal buying fluctuations, etc.). The small business owner who does not bother to

adequately analyze his or her advertising efforts runs the danger of throwing away a

perfectly good advertising strategy (or retaining a dreadful one) if he or she is unable to

determine whether business upturns or downturns are due to advertising or some other

factor.

The only way to know with any accuracy how your advertising strategy is

working is to ask the consumer, the opinions of who can be gathered in several ways.

Although many of the tracking alternatives are quite specialized, requiring a large budget

or extensive advertising research expertise, even small businesses can take steps to

measure the effectiveness of their advertising strategies. The direct response survey is

one of the most accurate means of measuring the effectiveness of a company's advertising

for the simple reason that it measures actual responses to a business's advertisements.

Other inexpensive options, such as use of redeemable coupons, can also prove helpful in

determining the effectiveness of an advertising campaign.

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY:

As competition in the telecom arena intensified, service providers took new

initiatives to woo customers. Prominent among these were - celebrity endorsements,

loyalty rewards, discount coupons, business solutions and talk time schemes. The most


important consumer segments in the cellular industry were the youth segment and the

business class segment. The youth segment was the largest and fastest growing segment

and was therefore targeted most heavily by cellular service providers.

Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional

strategy. By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest market

share in the cellular service market. Hutch implemented the celebrity endorsement

strategy partially, relying primarily on its creative advertising for the promotion of its

brand. BSNL, on the other hand, attracted the consumer through its low cost schemes.

Being a state owned player, BSNL could cover rural areas, and this helped it increase its

subscriber base. Reliance was another player that cashed on its innovative promotional

strategies, which included celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes. Idea

relied heavily on its creative media advertising sans celebrities.

RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTEL’S EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER:

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!

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.

Rivals, though seemingly unfazed by the phenomenon, seem to be doing their

own homework on this brand of advertising. While none of them commented on Airtel’s

strategy and its impact on their own subscriber base, one advertising professional

working with a rival service provider opines that the tune is “transient” and not likely to

have any long term impact as a brand building tool.


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.

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,” Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targeting its service at the mass

market.


RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Problem Definition:

Need for the study:

All companies need promotion for their business at some point or another.

Whether its word of mouth or a Television ad more than likely you will find any

number of companies advertising.

The more effective an advertising campaign, the more the customers it draws,

and with greater frequency. Strategies are necessary for any organization in

advertising department of the company as its plays a vital role in today’s global

competition. It is of great importance for any company to understand their advertising

strategy. To asses that, the study has been undertaken.

Objectives of the study:

To know the advertising Effectiveness of Airtel Cellular service.

To find out the awareness level of customers about Airtel promotional activities.

To understand customers’ expectations from the organization.

Period of the study:

The study has been under taken during the period of May 12 2011 to July 11

2011.

Approach to the Problem:

My approach to the problem is in the form of a questionnaire. The study is only

restricted to the twin cities (Hyderabad and Secunderabad) and is carried for the period of

2 months with 100 respondents.

Limitations:

Duration of time is limited for the project work.


The results derived may not be appropriate due to less sample size.

SOURCE OF DATA:

Primary Data:

The primary data is collected through a well-structured questionnaire. The

questionnaires are distributed among 100 people and their views are recorded.

Secondary Data:

Secondary data means the information already available. Secondary data is

collected from newspapers, websites and company journals.

Sampling Techniques

QUESTIONNAIRE:

A Questionnaire is carefully completed logical sequence of question directed to a define objective. It is the outline of what information is required and the framework on which the data is built upon. Questionnaire is son commonly used in securing market information that its preparation deserves utmost skill and care.

FORMS OF QUESTIONS:

OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS:

They are descriptive in nature. Respondents are allowed to answer in their own words.

Such questions buying the actual opinion of the respondent regarding a product

CLOSED ENDED QUESTIONS:

They are not descriptive in nature. They will be given certain choices and the respondents

have to choose choice among them. They make analysis easy but sometimes they restrict the

respondents’ choices.


DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

1. How do you know about AIRTEL cellular service?

Airtel Known by Respondents Percentage

Friends 34 34%

Advertisement 55 55%

Other source 11 11%

34%

55%

11%

FriendsAdvertisementOther source

INFERENCE:

Most of the respondents are know about airtel through advertising that is 55%,

through friends 34% and 13% of the respondents known through othersources like if

cusotmers buy nokia they give airtel sim at free of cost,relativies.


2. What feature of AIRTEL forced you to use it?

Features forced to use airtel Respondents Percentage


Connectivity 10 10%

Schemes 46 46%

Goodwill 20 20%

29%

10%

46%

20%

Features forced to use airtel

AdvertisementConnectivitySchemesGoodwill

INFERENCE:

46% of the respondents are forced to use schemes provided by airtel, 29% are more

attracted by airtel advertisements to use airtel, 20% of the people believe that airtel good

will, 10% like to use because of connectivity


3. What is your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone?

First choice of cellular Respondents Percentage

Airtel 40 40%

Vodafone 15 15%

Idea 6 6%

Aircel 2 2%

Reliance 8 8%

Tata indicom 3 3%

Docomo 13 13%

BSNL 10 10%

Uninior 1 1%

MTS 2 2%

40%

15%6%

2%

8%

3%

13%10%

1% 2%

FIRST CHOICE OF CELLULARAirtelVodafoneIdeaAircelRelianceTata indicomDocomoBsnlUniniorMts

INFERENCE:

Most of the people say that when they wont to use mobile phone their first choice of

cellular service is airtel that is 40%,15% of people choice Vodafone,6% use idea, 2% use


aircel,8% use reliance, 3% use tataindicom,13% use docomo,10% use bsnl,1% use

uninor and 2% like to use mts.

4. Which was your previous telecom service?

Previous telecom service Respondents Percentage

Airtel 20 20%

Vodafone 18 18%

Idea 12 12%

Aircel 4 4%

Reliance 8 8%

Tata indicom 4 4%

Docomo 5 5%

BSNL 25 25%

Uninior 2 2%

MTS 2 2%

20%

18%

12%4%8%4%

5%

25%2% 2%

previous telecom serviceAirtelVodafoneIdeaAircelRelianceTata indicomDocomoBsnlUniniorMts

INFERENCE:

Most of the people say that their previous cellular service is BSNL that is 20%,18%

of people previous choice Vodafone,12% use idea, 4% use aircel,8% use reliance, 4%

use tataindicom,5% use docomo,20% use airtel, 2% use uninor and 2% like to use MTS.


5. Which feature of airtel is better than your previous cellular service?

FEATURES Respondents Percentage


Connectivity 19 19%

Schemes 44 44%

37%

19%

44%

AdvertisementConnectivitySchemes

INFERENCE:

37% of the people say that advertisements are better than their previous cellular

service, 19% says connectivity good in airtel than previous one and 44% of people says

schemes are more in airtel.


6. Airtel users in your phone book.

Airtel users In phonebook Respondents Percentage

Less than 30% 36 36%

30%-70% 49 49%

More than 70% 15 15%

36%

49%

15%

airtel users in your phone book

Less than 30%30%-70%More than 70%

INFERENCE:

People says that in their phone book 36% of less than30% airtel users are there,

between 30% to 70% airtel users there in 49% of people phone books and more than

70% of airtel users there in 15% of people phone books.

7. Type of advertisements you prefer for promoting telecom services?


Type of advertisements

prefer to promoting telecom

services

Respondents percentage

Television 49 49%

Radio 5 5%

News paper 27 27%

Magazines 11 11%

Wall printing 8 8%

49%

5%27%

11% 8%

prefer of promotion

TelevisionRadioNews paperMagazinesWall printing

INFERENCE:

49% of respondents are like advertisement through television in telecom service,

27% of the people like newspapers adds,11% are like magazines,8% are like wall

printings and 5% are like radio.

8. Type of advertisement mostly like by people in airtel is?


Most liked advertisement in

airtel

Respondents percentage

Audio visual 63 63%

Print 19 19%

Audio 13 13%

63%

19%

13%

most you liked in airtel adds

Audio visualPrintAudio

INFERENCE:

In airtel people mostly like audio visual advertisements that is 63%, 19% like

print media and 13% are like audio only.

9. Which celebrity of AIRTEL do you like the most?


Most liked Celebrity of airtel Respondents Percentage

Sachin Tendulkar 37 37%

Sharukh 22 22%

Kareena 12 12%

A.R.Rehman 29 29%

37%

22%12%

29%

celebrity you like

Sachin tendulkarSharukhKareenaA.R.Rehman

INFERENCE:

37% of people mostly like Sachin Tendulkar adds in airtel, 22% like sharukh,

29% are like A.R. Rehman and 12% of people like kareena.

10. Will you take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL?


Opinion Respondents Percentage

YES 58 58%

NO 11 11%

Can’t say 28 28%

58%

11%

28%

YESNOCan’t say

INFERENCE:

58% of people are enjoyed schemas offered by airtel,12% of people are not

take benefits offered by airtel and 28%can’t say about that.

11. What option of AIRTEL do you like from the following?


Option Respondents Percentage

NOKIA+AIRTEL 46 46%

AIRTEL MAGIC 21 21%

POSTPAID SERVICES 9 9%

AIRTEL Broadband 22 22%

46%

21%

9%

22%

which one you like

NOKIA+AIRTELAIRTEL MAGICPOSTPAID SERVICESAIRTEL Broadband

INFERENCE:

The combination of nokia and airtel is like most of the people that 46%, airtel

magic like 21%, postpaid services like 9% and 22% like airtel broadband.

12. Do you wish to participate in contests offered by airtel?


Willingness Respondents Percentage

Yes 39 39%

No 61 61%

39%

61%

participate in contests

YesNo

INFERENCE:

Most of the people are not to participate in contests offered by airtel that

is 61% and 39 of the people are like to participate in contests offered by airtel.

13. Type of recharge options that you like?


Recharge Options Respondents Percentage

More talk time 16 16%

More validity 11 11%

Both 73 73%

16%

11%

73%

Recharge options that you like

More talk timeMore validityBoth

INFERENCE:

Most of the people like to use more talk time and more validity recharge

options that 73%, 16% they like to use more validity recharge options and 11% like to

use more talk time recharge options.

FINDINGS & LEARNINGS


1. 55% of respondents come to know about airtel through advertisements, followed

by 34% through friends and 11% through other sources, like parents, colleagues

and relatives.

2. 46% of respondents are interested in nokia+airtel, 22% like Airtel broadband

services, 21% preferred airtel magic and 9% preferred postpaid services.

3. 63% of respondents mostly like audio visual in Airtel advertisements followed

19% like print media and 13% like audio.

4. 16% of respondents like more talk time and 11% like more validity.73% of

respondents like both.

5. 46% of the respondents are forced to use schemes provided by airtel, 29% are more

attracted by airtel advertisements to use airtel,20% of the people believe that airtel

good will,10% like to use because of connectivity

6. First choice of cellular service is airtel that is 40%,15% of people choice Vodafone,6%

use idea, 2% use aircel,8% use reliance, 3% use tataindicom,13% use docomo,10% use

bsnl,1% use uninor and 2% like to use mts.

7. 37% of the people say that advertisements are better than their previous cellular

service, 19% says connectivity good in airtel than previous one and 44% of

people says schemes are more in airtel.

8. 49% of respondents are like advertisement through television in telecom service,

27% of the people like newspapers adds,11% are like magazines,8% are like wall

printings and 5% are like radio.

9. In airtel people mostly like audio visual advertisements that is 63%, 19% like

print media and 13% are like audio only.

10. Airtel is most concerned about customers, followed by Vodafone, Idea, BSNL,

Reliance, Docomo, Tata Indicom, Uninor, Aircel and MTS.

RECOMONDATIONS:


1. 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 have

to increase their advertisements through print media.

2. AIRTEL not providing more talk time and more validity recharge options. I

recommend that they have to provide that type of recharge options.

3. People are showing more interest to buy nokia+airtel combination. I suggest that

Airtel have to concentrate on this combination.

4. The company is not concentrating on other types of advertising media.

5. Network should be expanding to rural villages.

6. The company should conduct road shows so as to get awareness in the public

about the product and services.

7. First of all company should provide all its dealers and retailers all sort of

promotion equipment such as glow sign board, banner, pumplates etc. in time so

that they increase their sales which is benefited both retailer as well as company.

8. Number of hoarding should be increased.

9. To increase the consumer as on network, company should make change in its

FRC plan for example the talk value should be divided in two parts. 50% of talk

value should provide at the time of activation and rest T.T. provide after gap of

some days.

10. Company should give extra return and other bonus, gifts to its retailers so they

put their full efforts to increase the Airtel sales.

11. Company should motivate its sales staff so they will pay more concentration in

sales and activation of new connections.

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 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.

Everything in this world is made to utilize properly but it should be reach at the proper

person or to the proper utilized areas. Otherwise the value added to those things became

in vein.

Thus promotion role plays a very important role in achieving the objectives of a

company. Un doubly, value utility is created by the manufacture of product or service but

time and place utilities are created by marketing role.

The various finding and befitting recommendation have been made to increase the market

share of each product (postpaid, prepaid) of Airtel thereby increasing the market share of

Airtel as a whole. Various facts and data have been enclosed for better perusal and

various graphs have been provided for better comprehension.

Sales Promotion techniques yield results that many other marketing communication

elements cannot achieve.

Sales promotion that is used in with the overall long-turn communication strategy of the

brand is said to use strategically. A promotion should not be used for the sole purpose of

altering sales in the short run.

Sales promotion is used as a very strategic tool to introduce a new product. Although

advertising plays a large role towards creating awareness and attitude information, sales

promotion used to make new product launch easier and more effective.

BIBLIOGRAPHY


WEBSITES:

o www.google.co.in

o www.airtel.com

NEWSPAPERS:

o Times of India

o The Hindu

BOOKS:

S.NO Title of book Author Edition Publishers

1 Marketing Management Dr.S.L.Varshney

Dr.R.L.Guptha

Third Sulthan Chand and sons

2 Marketing Management Philip Kotler and Keller

Thirteenth Pearson


APPENDIX

QUESTIONNAIRE

A STUDY ON ADVERTISING STRATEGY OF BHARATI AIRTEL, HYDRABAD

Name of the Respondent: Age:

Occupation: Income/month:

1) How do you know about AIRTEL cellular service?

A) Friends B) Advertisements C) Other Sources…………

2) What feature of AIRTEL forced you to use it?

A) Advertisements B) Connectivity C) Schemes D) Goodwill

3) What is your first choice of cellular service when you want to use mobile phone?

Airtel [ ] Vodafone [ ] Idea [ ] Aircel

[ ]

Reliance [ ] Tata indicom [ ] Docomo [ ] BSNL

[ ]

Uninor [ ] MTS [ ]

4) Which was your previous telecom service?

Airtel [ ] Vodafone [ ] Idea [ ] Aircel

[ ]

Reliance [ ] Tata indicom [ ] Docomo [ ] BSNL

[ ]

Uninor [ ] MTS [ ]

5) Which feature of AIRTEL is better than your previous cellular service?


A) Advertisements B) Connectivity C) Schemes

6) AIRTEL users in your phone book? (in %).

A) Less than 30% B) 30% - 70% C) More than 70%

7) Type of advertisement you prefer for promoting telecom service?

A) Television B) Radio C) News Paper D) Magazines

E) Wall Painting

8) Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL is?

A) Audio Visual B) Print C) Audio

9) Which celebrity of AIRTEL does you like the most?

A) Sachin Tendulkar B) Sharukh C) Kareena D)A. R. Rehman

10) Will you take benefits of schemes offered by AIRTEL?

A) YES B) NO C) CAN’T SAY

11) What options of AIRTEL do you like from the following?

A) NOKIA + AIRTEL B) AIRTEL MAGIC C) Postpaid services

D) AIRTEL Broadband

12) Do you wish to participate in contests offered by AIRTEL like BID TO WIN?

A) YES B) NO

13) Type of recharge options that you like?

A) More talk time B) More validity C) Both