bharti airtel ltd (marketing strategies)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INRODUCTION TO MARKETING STRATEGIES 2 2. COMPANY PROFILE COMPANY HISTORY 7 ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE 9 SERVICES PROVIDED BY COMPANY 10 AREA OF OPERATION 14 MERGERS,ACCQUISITIONS AND JOINT VENTURES 16 3. MARKETING STRATEGIES ADAPTED BY BHARTI 20 BRANDING AND POSITIONING STRATEGIES 21 PRISING AND DISTRIBUTION STRATEGIES 31 PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES 33 4. COMPANY’S FINANCIAL STATUS 39 5. CONCLUSION 40 6. BIBLIOGRAPHY 41 1 | Page

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Page 1: Bharti Airtel Ltd (Marketing Strategies)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INRODUCTION TO MARKETING STRATEGIES 2

2. COMPANY PROFILE

COMPANY HISTORY 7

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE 9

SERVICES PROVIDED BY COMPANY 10

AREA OF OPERATION 14

MERGERS,ACCQUISITIONS AND JOINT VENTURES 16

3. MARKETING STRATEGIES ADAPTED BY BHARTI 20

BRANDING AND POSITIONING STRATEGIES 21

PRISING AND DISTRIBUTION STRATEGIES 31

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES 33

4. COMPANY’S FINANCIAL STATUS 39

5. CONCLUSION 40

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY 41

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INRODUCTION TO MARKETING STRATEGIES

Marketing is the important aspect of an organization. The success of the organization

is largely attributed to the performance of the marketing. Therefore, there must be

suitable marketing strategies in respect of the following –

1. Product Strategy :- Every organization has appropriate product strategy. The

product strategy enables to take decisions in respect of-

Product line/mix: A company may follow either a single product strategy

or a multi-product strategy. A company may concentrate on core product

line or a diversified product line business.

Development of a new product – A firm must decide about the

development of new products or modified products to face the

competition in the market and to meet the needs and wants of the

customers. In this connection, the firm must decide as to how many new

products and as what time intervals they must be introduced.

Other product policies- A firm must decide on the other product policies in

respect of-

- Policies relating to product packaging.

- Policies relating to branding and brand extension.

- Policies relating to product positioning, etc.

2. Pricing Strategy :- A firm must decide about pricing strategy. While fixing

prices , a firm may consider several factors such as cost of product, demand for

product, competition in the market, the nature of the product, the nature of the

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consumers, objective of the firm, etc. There are several pricing strategies such

as –

Skimming Pricing strategy- In this case high prices are charged in

order to earn high profit margins. A firm may follow either Rapid

skimming where high prices are charged and there is heavy promotion.

Or Slow skimming where high process is charged and there is low

promotion.

Penetration pricing strategy- in this case , low prices are charged , in

order to capture a good market share. A firm may follow either Rapid

penetration where low prices are charged and there is heavy

penetration or Slow penetration where Low prices are charged and

there is low promotion.

Other pricing strategies- there are several other pricing strategies such as

- Follow the leader pricing

- Standard pricing (For all market same price)

- Differential pricing (Different pricing for different markets)

- Trial pricing (initially lower pricing at the product launch)

- Probe pricing (initially higher pricing to probe the demand

3. Distribution Strategy :- A firm must decide in respect of distribution. The

distribution strategy needs to be framed in respect of:

Channels of distribution – whether direct channels, or indirect channels.

Area of distribution - whether local, regional, national or international.

Dealers network- The number of dealers, area-wise, product-wise.

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Dealers training – training to the dealers, especially in case of

consumer durables, so that they are familiar with the features and

operations of the product.

Dealer’s incentives and compensation- Commission to be paid to the

dealers, and additional incentives to push the sales in the market.

4. Promotional Strategies :- A firm must decide policies in respect of promotion.

The various promotion strategies are in respect of the following :

Advertising Strategy- A firm must frame strategy in the area of

advertising in respect of :

a) Advertising Budget Strategy – brand wise, area wise, period wise,

and media wise.

b) Media Scheduling Strategies – bursting, fighting, pulsing, etc.

c) Media Selection Strategy depending upon several factors, such as

nature of product, competitors, advertising, consumers, advertising

budget, advertising objectives, etc.

Sales Promotion Strategy – A firm must give proper emphasis on sales

promotion techniques. Therefore, a firm must frame sales promotion

strategy in respect of :

a) The amount of funds to be spent on sales promotion techniques like

discounts, exchange offers, free gifts, free samples, premium

offers, samples, etc.

b) Decision on areas like after sales service, guarantees, etc. in respect

of period, product, selection and training of service staff, etc.

c) The duration and timing of sales promotion offers – whether during

specific season or festival periods, etc.

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d) The products or brands, and the market areas, which needs to be

given more focus in respect of sales promotion

Publicity – Nowadays, publicity plays an important role in promotion of

goods and services. Therefore, a firm needs to frame a proper publicity

strategy in respect of :

a) The media to be concentrated for publicity.

b) The period or timing of publicity.

c) The relationships with various media people.

d) The amounts of funds to be allocated for publicity purpose, such

as on event marketing during product launch, gifts to the media

people, etc.

Personal Selling Strategy – It plays an important role in promoting the

sale of products, especially in the case of industrial goods. Therefore,

proper decision must be taken in respect of :

a) The number of sales force, selection and training.

b) The compensation to the sales force.

c) The product, which require personal selling efforts.

d) The market or area where personal selling is required, etc.

5. Marketing Research Strategy :- Nowadays, marketing research plays an

important role in marketing of goods and services. A firm must decide in

respect of :

The products, which requires market research.

The markets, where marketing research to be conducted.

The type of marketing research , such as sales research, product research,

consumer research, pricing research, etc.

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Bharti Airtel Ltd.

Bharti Airtel Ltd., commonly known as Airtel, was incorporated on the 7th of July,

1995 as a Public Limited Company and one of the first companies to enter the

Telecom Services business in India. It is the largest Indian telecommunications

company and it operates in more than 20 countries across South Asia and Africa

offering 2G, 3G and 4G LTE mobile services. It is the largest cellular service

provider in India, with over 303 million subscribers as of June 2015. 

In the early years, Bharti Airtel Ltd established itself as a supplier of basic telecom

equipment. Mr Sunil Mittal jumped at the opportunity provided when the government

opened up the sector and allowed private players to provide telecom services. Bharti

Airtel Ltd accepted every opportunity provided by this new policy to evolve into

India's largest telecommunications company and one of India's most respected brands.

It is considered to be the first mobile firm in the world to outsource everything except

marketing, sales and financial operations and building the 'minutes factory' model of

low cost and high volumes. The strategy has since been adopted by several operators.

Airtel's telecom equipment is provided and maintained by Ericsson and Nokia

Solutions and Networks whereas IT support is provided by IBM. The transmission

towers are maintained by subsidiaries and joint venture companies of Bharti

including Bharti Infratel and Indus Towers in India.

Airtel now offers a variety of services to its consumers including 4G services in select

cities.

Vision- “Our vision is to enrich the lives of our customers. Our obsession is to win

customers for life through an exceptional experience.”

Tagline – “The smart phone Network”.

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BHARTI AIRTEL LTD - COMPANY HISTORY

In 1984, Sunil Mittal started assembling push-button phones in India which he earlier

used to import from a Taiwan company, Kingtel, replacing the old fashioned,

bulky rotary phones that were in use in the country then. Bharti Telecom Limited

(BTL) was incorporated and entered into a technical tie up with Siemens AG

of Germany for manufacture of electronic push button phones. By the early 1990s,

Bharti was making fax machines, cordless phones and other telecom gear. He named

his first push-button phones as 'Mitbrau'. In 1992, he successfully bid for one of the

four mobile phone network licenses auctioned in India. One of the conditions for the

Delhi cellular license was that the bidder has some experience as a telecom operator.

So, Mittal clinched a deal with the French telecom group Vivendi. He was one of the

first Indian entrepreneurs to identify the mobile telecom business as a major growth

area. His plans were finally approved by the Government in 1994 and he launched

services in Delhi in 1995, when Bharti Cellular Limited (BCL) was formed to offer

cellular services under the brand name AirTel. Within a few years Bharti became the

first telecom company to cross the 2-million mobile subscriber mark. Bharti also

brought down the STD/ISD cellular rates in India under brand name 'India one'.

In 1999, Bharti Enterprises acquired control of JT Holdings, and extended cellular

operations to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In 2000, Bharti acquired control of

Skycell Communications, in Chennai. In 2001, the company acquired control of Spice

Cell in Calcutta. Bharti Enterprises went public in 2002, and the company was listed

on Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange of India. In 2003,

the cellular phone operations were rebranded under the single Airtel brand. In 2004,

Bharti acquired control of Hexacom and entered Rajasthan. In 2005, Bharti extended

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its network to Andaman and Nicobar. This expansion allowed it to offer voice

services all across India. Airtel launched "Hello Tunes", a Caller ring back tone

service (CRBT), in July 2004 becoming to the first operator in India to do so. The

Airtel theme song, composed by A.R. Rahman, was the most popular tune on that

year. In May 2008, it emerged that Airtel was exploring the possibility of buying

the MTN Group, a South Africa-based telecommunications company with coverage in

21 countries in Africa and the Middle East. The Financial Times reported that Bharti

was considering offering US$45 billion for a 100% stake in MTN, which would be

the largest overseas acquisition ever by an Indian firm.. However, the talks fell apart

as MTN group tried to reverse the negotiations by making Bharti almost

a subsidiary of the new company. In May 2009, Bharti Airtel again confirmed that it

was in talks with MTN and the companies agreed to discuss the potential transaction

exclusively by 31 July 2009. Talks eventually ended without agreement, some sources

stating that this was due to opposition from the South African government.

In 2009, Bharti negotiated for its strategic partner Alcatel-Lucent to manage the

network infrastructure for the fixed line business. Later, 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. In 2009, Airtel launched

its first international mobile network in SriLanka. In June 2010, Bharti acquired the

African business of Zain Telecom for $10.7 billion making it the largest ever

acquisition by an Indian telecom firm. In 2012, Bharti tied up with Wal-Mart, the US

retail giant, to start a number of retail stores across India. In 2014, Bharti planned to

acquire Loop Mobile for INR 7 billion, but the deal was called off later.

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ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE

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SERVICES PROVIDED BY COMPANY

In India, the company's offers products and services both for the end consumer as well

as for businesses. The consumer business offers 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services,

mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed DSL broadband, IPTV and Digital

TV. The enterprise services include national & international long distance services to

large enterprises and carriers and tower infrastructure services.

One Network:- One Network is a mobile phone network that allows Airtel customers

to use the service in a number of countries at the same price as their home network.

Customers can place outgoing calls at the same rate as their local network, and

incoming calls are free. As of 2014, the service is available in Bangladesh, Burkina

Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Brazzaville, Gabon, Ghana, India,

Kenya, Madagascar, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka,

Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

B2C – Services

Mobile Services

Cellular mobile services across 20* countries.

Customer and revenue market leader in India.

Telemedia Services

Offers fixed telephony and broadband internet (DSL + IPTV).

Services provided across 87* countries.

Digital TV Services

Pan India DTH operations.

Coverage across 639* districts.

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Value Added Services

CD Recording and Delivery :- Proceedings of the entire conference can be

recorded, burned onto a CD and delivered within 48 hrs of the conference,

anywhere in India.

Conference Coordinator :- Availability of professionally skilled conference

coordinators to ensure that your conference is held smoothly.

Dry Runs :- Provision of dry runs to test the call quality.

Playback :- Real time recording of the conference on the video bridge for

listening to the conference at a later time.

Question and Answer session :- This tool is extremely helpful and provides the

unique experience of having a complete Question and Answer session with

participants across the globe.

Transcription :- The recorded conference can also be provided in a word

format to the organization.

Polling :- Use this service to get the mandate of the participants.

Webcast :- To play the conference on your company web portal use this

facility.

Data Conferencing :- Involves PC based applications, e.g. transfer files to

multiple users, collaborate on a white board, share an application, etc.

What the Customer gets   form these Services

Sharing :- End users can share their desktops, any application or web browser.

Upload Facility :- PowerPoint presentations can be dynamically uploaded and

shared during the conference.

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Remote Control :- This feature allows the host to take control of desktops or

applications in order to conduct training sessions.

Conference Codes :- A unique code is assigned by the system or scheduler,

and participants must enter the correct code to get into your conference. For

regular conferences the same code can be used, so that you don't have to

remember different codes for each conference.

Name Announcements :- Participants are prompted to call their names before

entering a conference. This recorded voice is then used to introduce them into

the conference. This feature is also used when a participant leaves the

conference.

Lock/ Unlock Option for Moderator :- When the moderator locks a call, the

operator is locked out and participants dialing in later are not allowed to enter

the conference. The moderator can unlock the call at any time during the

conference.

Entry/ Exit Tones:-Whenever a caller enters/ exits a conference, for security

and control reasons, a tone will be generated.

How it Benefits the Customer

Bring geographically dispersed people together face-to-face.

Inter-location meetings are as simple as calling, thus reducing the cost of

travel, lodging and boarding.

Increases productivity and organizational efficiency by saving precious man

hours.

Reduces costs thus creating competitive advantage.

Quick decision making and faster time to market for new products.

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Free from location/ physical constraints.

How it suits the Customer

Interview:- Distant interviews/ recruitments reduce cost and increases

efficiency.

Research and Development:- Get customers' feedback on your products/

services using Q and A and polling feature to get real-time responses.

General Business Application:- Use for crisis management or for meetings.

Financial Applications:- Announce financial results and holding Investor

Relations meets. Overseas investment analysts or journalists can join the

conference at a minimal cost.

Press Conference:- Hold a press conference for your clients, investors and

journalists to broadcast your financial results or to launching new products/

services.

Sales and Marketing:- Get regular updates and sales progress from the sales

team. You can hold monthly/ weekly reviews more frequently.

Education:- This service can be used for distance learning, sales training,

product briefings or corporate policy updates as well as for other online

training modules.

Project Applications:- Recurring project team meetings can be held without

having the members to travel from place to place.

Budget Planning:- Facilitate the decision-making process of preparing

financial budgets.

Legal Applications:- Use video conferencing for negotiation or amendment of

contracts with overseas business associates or customers.

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AREA OF OPERATION

Domestic Operations

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 its telecom services under the "airtel" brand, and is

headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal.

International Operations

Africa :- Airtel Africa is a subsidiary of Indian telecommunications company

Airtel, that operates in 17 countries across Africa i.e. Burkina

Faso, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo

Brazzaville, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria,

Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

It operates a GSM network in all countries, providing 2G or 3G depending

upon the country of operation. On June 8th 2010, Bharti Airtel completed the

purchase of mobile operations in 15 African countries from Zain, a Kuwaiti

operator.

On 11 August 2010, Bharti Airtel announced that it would acquire Telecom

Seychelles for US$62 million.

Bangladesh :-Airtel Bangladesh Ltd. is a GSM-based cellular operator in

Bangladesh. Airtel is the sixth mobile phone carrier to enter the Bangladesh

market, and originally launched commercial operations under the brand name

"Warid Telecom" on 10 May 2007. Warid Telecom International LLC, an Abu

Dhabi–based consortium, sold a majority 70% stake in the company to India's

Bharti Airtel Limited for US$300 million.

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Sri Lanka :-Bharti Airtel Lanka (Pvt) Ltd is a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel

Limited. Bharti Airtel has been featured in Forbes Asia's Fab 50 list, rated

amongst the best performing companies in the world in the Business Week IT

100 list 2007, and voted as India's most innovative company in a survey by

The Wall Street Journal.

Airtel Lanka commenced commercial operations of services on 13 January

2009. Granted a license in 2007 in accordance with the Sri Lanka

Telecommunications Act No. 25 of 1991, it is also a registered company under

the Board of Investment Sri Lanka. Under the license, the company provides

digital mobile services to Sri Lanka. This is inclusive of voice telephony,

voice mail, data services and GSM-based services. All of these services are

provided under the airtel brand.

Channel Islands: Jersey and Guernsey :- On1May2007, Jersey Airtel and

Guernsey Airtel, both wholly owned subsidiaries of the Bharti Group,

announced they would launch mobile services in the British Crown

Dependency islands of Jersey and Guernsey under the brand name Airtel-

Vodafone after signing an agreement with Vodafone. Airtel-Vodafone

operates a 3G network in Jersey and Guernsey.

Subscriber Base

Bharti Airtel has about 303.08 million subscribers worldwide—264.58 million in

India and South Asia and 50.949 million in Africa as of the end of December 2011.

The numbers include mobile services subscribers in 19 countries and Indian

Telemedia services and Digital services subscribers.

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Acquisitions and Mergers

MTN Group merger negotiations :-In May 2008, it emerged that Airtel was

exploring the possibility of buying the MTN Group, a South Africa-based

telecommunications company with operations in 21 countries in Africa and

the Middle East. The Financial Times reported that Bharti was considering

offering US$45 billion for a 100% stake in MTN, which would be the largest

overseas acquisition ever by an Indian firm. However, both sides emphasized

the tentative nature of the talks. The Economist magazine noted, "If anything,

Bharti would be marrying up", as MTN had more subscribers, higher

revenues and broader geographic coverage. However, the talks fell apart as

MTN Group tried to reverse the negotiations by making Bharti almost a

subsidiary of the new company.

In May 2009, Airtel confirmed that it was again in talks with MTN and both

companies agreed to discuss the potential transaction exclusively by 31 July

2009. Airtel said in a statement "Bharti Airtel Ltd is pleased to announce that

it has renewed its effort for a significant partnership with MTN Group”. The

exclusivity period was extended twice up to 30 September 2009. Talks

eventually ended without agreement.

A solution was proposed where the new company would be listed on 2 stock

exchanges, one in South Africa and one in India. However, dual-listing of

companies is not permitted by Indian law.

Zain :- In Jun 2010, Bharti struck a deal to buy Zain's mobile operations in 15

African countries, in India's second biggest overseas acquisition after Tata

Steel's $13 billion buy of Corus in 2007. Bharti Airtel completed its

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$10.7 billion acquisition of African operations from Kuwaiti firm on June 8th

2010, making the Airtel the world's fifth largest wireless carrier by subscriber

base. Airtel has reported that its revenues for the fourth quarter of 2010 grew

by 53% to US$3.2 billion compared to the previous year, newly acquired Zain

Africa division contributed US$911 million to the total. However, net profits

dropped by 41% from US$470 million in 2009 to US$291 million 2010 due to

a US$188 million increase in radio spectrum charges in India and an increase

of US$106 million in debt interest.

Warid Bangladesh :- In 2010, Warid Telecom sold a majority 70.90% stake

in the company to India's Bharti Airtel Limited for US$300 million. The

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission approved the deal on

Jan 4, 2010.Bharti Airtel Limited took management control of the company

and its board, and rebranded the company's services under its own airtel brand

from December 20, 2010.In March, 2013, Warid Telecom sold its rest 30%

share to Bharti Airtel’s Singapore-based concern Bharti Airtel Holdings Pte

Limited.

Telecom Seychelles :-On 11 August 2010, Bharti Airtel announced that it

would acquire 100% stake in Telecom Seychelles for US$62 million taking its

global presence to 19 countries. Telecom Seychelles began operations in 1998

and operates 3G, Fixed Line, and ship to shore services satellite telephony,

among value added services like VSAT and Gateways for International Traffic

across the Seychelles under the Airtel brand. The company has over 57%

share of the mobile market of Seychelles.[41] Airtel announced plans to invest

US$10 million in its fixed and mobile telecoms network in the Seychelles over

three years, whilst also participating in the Seychelles East Africa submarine

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cable (SEAS) project. The US$34 million SEAS project is aimed at improving

the Seychelles' global connectivity by building a 2,000 km undersea high-

speed link to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

Wireless Business Services Private Limited :- On 24 May 2012, Airtel

announced an agreement to acquire a 49% stake in Wireless Business Services

Private Limited (WBSPL) at an investment of 9.07 billion

(US$165 million).WBSPL was a joint venture founded by Qualcomm, and

held BWA spectrum in the telecom circles of Delhi,

Haryana, Kerala and Mumbai. Qualcomm had spent US$1 billion to acquire

BWA spectrum in those 4 circles. The deal gave Airtel a 4G presence in 18

circles. On 4 July 2013, Airtel announced that it had acquired an additional

2% equity share capital (making its stake 51%)in all the four BWA entities of

Qualcomm, thereby making them its subsidiaries. On 18 October 2013, Airtel

announced that it had acquired 100 percent equity shares of WBSPL for an

undisclosed sum,[making it a wholly owned subsidiary.

Joint Venture Agreements-

Airtel-Vodafone :- On 1 May 2007, Jersey Airtel and Guernsey Airtel, both

wholly owned subsidiaries of the Bharti Group, announced they would launch

mobile services in the British Crown Dependency islands

of Jersey and Guernsey under the brand name Airtel-Vodafone after signing

an agreement with Vodafone. Airtel-Vodafone operates a 3G network in

Jersey and Guernsey.

Airtel-Ericsson :-In July 2011, Bharti signed a five-year agreement with

Ericsson, who will manage and optimize Airtel's mobile networks in Africa.

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Ericsson will modernize and upgrade Airtel's mobile networks in Africa with

the latest technology including its multi standard RBS 6000 base station. As

part of the modernization, Ericsson will also provide technology consulting,

network planning & design and network deployment. Ericsson has been the

managed services and network technology partner in the Asian operation.

SBI-Airtel :-SBI and Airtel have joined hands to form a new company that

offers mobile banking services. The initiative is aimed at financial inclusion of

the un-banked population in the country. Under the new initiative Airtel

outlets and retailers served as business correspondents (BC) of SBI (State

Bank of India) and the bank’s customers are able to deposit and withdraw

money from their accounts at Airtel outlets. The incorporation of the joint

venture, likely to be called SBI-Airtel, is completed on 31st March, 2011.

They are also able to transfer this money to others electronically as well from

Airtel and SBI outlets. Services are including loans, insurance, credit cards

and purchase transactions. Mobile banking is cloud based service accessible

via mobiles, PCs and bank branches (ATMs and BC outlets included).

Customers are also able to use SBI’s network for their banking activities.

Airtel has more than 1.5 million retail touch points in rural and semi urban

areas, compared to SBI’s 13,000 branches. Together SBI and Airtel invested

Rs 100 crore in the joint venture. SBI owns 51 per cent of the new company

and Airtel owns the remaining 49 %. The investment is in addition to

infrastructure, which is already in place. SBI appointed the chief executive

officer of the new organization while the chief operating officer is from Airtel.

While SBI takes care of the banking, Airtel contributes to its distribution and

technology.

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MARKETING STRATEGIES BY BHARTI

Airtel uses mix of segmentation strategies to segment its offerings like basic Call

/SMS plans, prepaid / Post-paid plans, VAS – Data, caller tunes etc. Apart from

geographically segmenting the market in East, West, North, South & central, the

market is also segmented in each region on the basis of demographic variables like

age, Income, Social groups. Different geographic regions are handled independently

and different campaigns are run according to the preferences of people in each region.

Airtel has targeted the generation Z of 15-25 ages, generation X & baby Boomers by

using different campaigns over the period of time i.e. campaign like “Har Ek friend

Zaruri hota hai”/ “Jo tera hai wo mera hai ” to target Gen Z and recently launched

campaign of “one touch internet” targeting Gen X & baby boomers. Airtel has been

successful in top-of-the-mind recall amongst cellular phone users and is enjoying a

leadership position in most markets. After changing its logo it has repositioned itself

as Young, Energetic & International brand. It has evolved itself as a torch bearer of

the telecom industry in India. Airtel has extended its infrastructure in the extreme

parts of the country for nationwide penetration, creating competitive edge over other

players in terms of low operational cost, better network connectivity, coverage, low

call drops & better customer service. Airtel developed a sustainable advantage

through its excellent network of telecom towers. In many locations, newer entrants

found it cheaper to rent Airtel’s existing infrastructure rather than setup new towers.

Also spending extensively on advertising & promotions helped it to become a market

leader. Word of mouth is one of the strongest forms of promotions & Airtel has

completely leveraged that. Airtel is always known for its innovation and some of its

products were the lifetime prepaid, Airtel live, Hello tunes, My Plans, M-check are

pioneer strategies & the list is never ending.

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Branding & Positioning Strategy-

The aim is to highlight the rebranding and constant repositioning done by Airtel.

Airtel has undergone a very huge rebranding which has cost millions to the company.

The aim is to highlight how it has impacted Airtel. Airtel despite being the number

one company (with widest consumer base and largest market presence) has been

constantly rebranding and repositioning itself. Airtel is the number one telecom

service provider in India, it’s the only service provider which has its presence in all

the telecom service circles of India. Even then it changes its logo, jingle and tagline

very regularly. And it has managed to maintain its top position. Hence I wish to

present the strategy implemented by Airtel. Airtel has been constantly repositioning

itself. Their target customer base has been increasing to cover different segments

whether its youth or senior citizens, urban or rural customers they have specialized

packages for all. Airtel has spent lots of money in revamping the brand in order to

appeal all segments of market. The rebranding of Airtel in November 2010, has

worked in favor of Airtel. Airtel is a unique case as despite being the top company in

the Indian telecom circle (with widest consumer base and presence across all the

telecom circles of India). Airtel has an emotional connect with its customers. Airtel

has invested lots of money in constantly changing itself to suit the different

requirements of its customers and adapting itself to the changing environment. Airtel

was born free, a force unleashed into the market with a relentless and unwavering

determination to succeed. A spirit charged with energy, creativity and a team driven

“to seize the day” with an ambition to become the most globally admired telecom

service. Airtel is a JV between SingTel, (Singapore, Telecom Italia, Italy), and Bharti

Telecom. Airtel has not changed the brand name despite the various rebranding.

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Initial Branding -

Initially, the target group was elite professionals since tariff rates were high. Airtel

positioned itself as an inspirational and lifestyle brand. It was pitched not merely as a

mobile service, but as something that gave consumer a badge value. The Brand was

developed to connote leadership in network, innovations, offerings and services. The

taglines like "Airtel celebrates the spirit of leadership" and "The first choice of the

corporate leaders" emphasized that stance. The Leadership campaign was reportedly

successful.

SIGNIFICANCE OF EACH TAGLINE

1. Power to keep in Touch” (1995-1998)

The tag line 'Power to keep in Touch' used in the brand promise was

designed to make the user feel 'in control…powerful'.

Positioned in premium category aimed at elite class of society.

Perception of aspirational and lifestyle brand

2. “Touch tomorrow” (1999-2001)

As the category developed with prices going down sharply, Airtel began

talking to a wider spectrum of potential users. This gives the birth to the

new Tagline.

Airtel started talking to new segments by positively positioning and

establishing itself as a brand that improved the quality of life.

New look and the feel of the brand tagline indicated the core values of the

brand i.e. leadership, performance and dynamism.

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Page 23: Bharti Airtel Ltd (Marketing Strategies)

Cellular service operators had dropped their prices to target new customer

segments.

The advertising became two-pronged: a product-driven communication

that showcased new offerings like the Magic prepaid card, and an

emotional communication to connect with younger people.

3. “Live Every Moment” (2002-2003)

Rediffussion DY&R, which is the ad agency that took charge of

revamping Airtel's brand image thought, To become a Indian leader, Airtel

need to change its tagline

This was the first time A R Rehman had agreed to work for any brand,

anywhere in the world. The music from the commercial became the most

downloaded ring tone in the history of telecommunications.

Tagline denotes that each and every person in India live every moment

(emotions, feelings etc.) of the life with Airtel.

Airtel started to look from a regional level to pan India position.

4. “Express yourself” (2003-2009)

Rediffussion DY&R, which is the ad agency that took charge of

revamping Airtel's brand image, again changed the tagline to give better

tagline to Airtel which catches some emotional appeal.

'Express yourself' was successfully launched taking the ownership of the

entire space of communication and strengthening the emotional bond

Airtel enjoys with its customers.

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Page 24: Bharti Airtel Ltd (Marketing Strategies)

The masterminds behind the 'Express Yourself' campaign are the joint

vice-presidents: Mr. Prashant Godbole and Zarwan Patel.

Airtel is a market leader in the cellular network and they wanted a very

fresh and contemporary idea to build a brand image which their customers

could identify".

To justify this tagline Airtel comes up with an ad commercial (Barriers

break when people talk) which becomes popular among the people.

5. “Dil Jo Chahe Paas Laye” (2010-2011)

The new tagline was introduced to target the corporate and postpaid

subscribers with its new communication.

Became Aspirational and lifestyle brand.

Bringing people closer around the globe.

Wherever you go carry your entertainment with you.

Entertainment anywhere any day.

6. “Har ek Friend zaroori hota hai” (2012-2013)

The new tagline was introduced to target the youth with an evergreen

theme of Friendship and its relevance. It served to position Airtel as a

brand that stands for friendship, and helps one to stay in touch with all

kinds of friends

7. “The Smartphone Network” (2014-Present)

The new tagline was introduced to promote 3G and 4G service and

network connectivity in smartphone.

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Page 25: Bharti Airtel Ltd (Marketing Strategies)

Brand Logo

1. Airtel started talking to new segments by positively positioning and

establishing itself as a brand that improved the quality of life. New look

and the feel of the brand indicated the core values of the brand i.e.

leadership, performance and dynamism.

The logo was black, uppercase bold lettering; and the baseline was "the

power to keep in touch".

"From day one, it was decided that the brand should always connote

leadership - be it in network, innovations, offerings or services.

Indicated the core values of the brand were leadership, performance,

enthusiasm and dynamism.

2. Airtel changed its logo, the new look and feel of the brand signify the core

values of the Airtel brand accompanied by a set of supportive variables

like courtesy, politeness and efficiency.

Change from BLACK to Dark Red Background is to refresh the brand and

give it a new look.

“Airtel wants to show its leadership by having only one letter capital in

new brand logo”.

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Page 26: Bharti Airtel Ltd (Marketing Strategies)

3. Airtel came out with a new logo that signifies a strong, contemporary and

confident symbol for a brand that was always ahead of the rest.

It had two solid, red rectangular forms whose counter forms create an open

doorway.

Capital “A” showed leadership and red dot on “i” showed innovation.

As it is seen from the secondary data and primary data that there was no

change in the brand name since its inception.

The change is made to make the logo stylish and classic.

4. Airtel came up with a new logo. The new logo was supposed to give Airtel

and the brand a more “youthful and international" look.

The Logo is a modern representation of the letter ‘a’ on a bright red

background.

The unique symbol is an interpretation of the ‘a’ in Airtel.

The curved shape and the gentle highlights on the red color make it warm

and inviting, almost as if it were a living object.

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Page 27: Bharti Airtel Ltd (Marketing Strategies)

The color Red shows the heritage. It is the color of energy and passion that

expresses the dynamism that has made airtel the success it is today, in

India and now on the global stage.

The logo is called “The Wave”.

With new logo The airtel signature tune has also been refreshed by A R

Rahman making it youthful and dynamic in line with the new visual

identity. Like the earlier tune, which has made history as world’s most

downloaded mobile music with over 150 million downloads, the maestro

has once again delivered a master piece. The new tune retains the essence

of the original but uses an inspiring musical style, with a universal appeal,

that will be loved by listeners the world over. The unveiling of the new

identity also marks the 200 million customers milestone for airtel. airtel

crossed 50 million customers in October 2007 and 100 million in May,

2009. The company added the next 100 million customers in just 18

months. This further cements airtel’s positions as one of world’s leading

telecom companies.

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Umbrella Branding Strategy

AIRTEL incorporated umbrella branding strategy, a marketing practice that involves

selling many related products under a single brand name.

It involves creating huge brand equity for a single brand, and thereafter leveraging

that over multiple products. On the flipside, bad reputation of any one product, may

affect the equity of all the other products using the same brand name.

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Co-Branding Strategy

Airtel made partnership with brands, it formed an alliance to work together, creating

marketing synergy. The object for this is to combine the strength of two brands, in

order to increase the premium consumers are willing to pay, to combine the different

perceived properties associated with these brands with a single product. Ultimately,

co-branding helps both the partners as each contributes some aspect of its brand

(expertise, distribution, status) to create an offering that neither could develop as

effectively on their own.

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Page 30: Bharti Airtel Ltd (Marketing Strategies)

In 2000, Hungama ties up with airtel for incentive scheme. With this tie-up,

one can get access to Hungama site anywhere. Airtel Hungama will provide

mobile entertainment and gaming for users.

In Nov 2006, Airtel and Google announced a strategic partnership that will

allow airtel to bring Google search to Airtel Live.

In Aug 2009, Airtel and Nokia in exclusive tie-up. Airtel offers free outgoing

calls, SMS’s and data usage with Nokia handsets.

In 2011 Airtel cobranded with blackberry to offer range of applications.

US based Apple Inc to bring the popular GSM based iPhone in the country.

In 2012, Opera Software which will offer a customized and co-branded

version of the world’s most popular Opera Mini internet browser (over 168

million user) for Airtel mobile customers across its operations.

On 1st August 2012, Airtel co-branded merchandise with the F1 team and offer

mobile content because of building on its title sponsorship of the Grand Prix.

Pricing strategy of Airtel – 30 | P a g e

Page 31: Bharti Airtel Ltd (Marketing Strategies)

The company uses competitive pricing strategy just like any other network providers

because of the competition which is present in this sector. However, Airtel also

provides flexible pricing mechanism depending on the prevailing market conditions.

For instance, when the company relaxes taxation, it also reduces its prices across all

affected products. The make my plan introduced by Airtel was a smart strategy as

customers could now modify their plan as they see fit.

Distribution Strategy of Airtel-

In India, Airtel has one of the largest bouquets of mobile services offerings for customers -

including 2G, 3G, 4G, Mobile Commerce and other Value Added Services. Its distribution

channel is spread across 1.5 Million outlets, with network presence in 5,121 census and

464,045 non-census towns and villages in India covering approximately 86.8% of the

country’s population. Airtel has the largest rural mobile customer base in India with over

100 million mobile customers (from rural markets). Bharti uses the small retailers and the

local shops to retail its recharge coupons to customers. The company whose

operations are concentrated in and around Delhi. It 27 Franchisees and 15

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Company

Franchisee Distributor

Dealers Dealer

Customer Customer

Page 32: Bharti Airtel Ltd (Marketing Strategies)

Distributors- They also have 8 'instant access cash card counters- Each franchises or

distributor can have any number of dealers under him as long as the person is

approved by the Airtel authority. Each franchise has to invest Rupees Ten Lakhs. To

obtain a franchise and should employ an officer recruited by Airtel. This person acts

as a liaison between the company and the franchises. The franchises can it any

number of dealers as long as their territories do not overlap. But unfortunately Airtel

has not been very successful in controlling territorial overlaps of dealers. The

franchises can carry out his/her own promotional strategy. For this the company

contributes 75% of the money and the franchises contributes 25% of the money. The

dealers under the franchise receive the same commission. The franchises and the

dealer obtain the feedback from the customers and they are sent through the liaison

officer on a day-to-day basis to Airtel. The dealer has to invest Rupees. One Lakh as

an initial investment. The dealer of Airtel are not allowed to provide any other

operators' service. Target set for distributors and the dealers is 100 -150 activations

per month. Hence the dealers can also go for their own promotions like banners and

discounts on festivals etc. The dealer provides service promptly. The consumer on

providing the bill of purchase for the handset and proof of residence has only to wait

an hour before getting connected. The staff of the dealers and the franchisees are

provided training by the Airtel personnel.This significantly reduces costs in terms of

overhead expenses. This distribution strategy has been a success for Bharti and has

enabled the company to improve its penetration and add to its profits as well.

Promotional Strategies

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Page 33: Bharti Airtel Ltd (Marketing Strategies)

Airtel spends crores of rupees every year in advertisements in all avenues of mass

communication. While radio happens to be the cheapest means of mass

communication, the most widely mode is that of television. Though advertising on

television is the costliest proponent among all the modes of communication, print

media is also used aggressively by Airtel to serve its purposes.

It creates pervasiveness, allows Airtel to be in the eyes of the consumers all the time.

Even the audience is not obligated to pay heed to the advertisements; the high

creativity quotient of Airtel advertisements makes them virtually impossible to get

unnoticed. Various market experts have rated Airtel Ads very highly on various

parameters.

It also amplifies the message Airtel wants to send to its consumers. The ads score

reasonably well on the imagery and music. In fact, the catch tune of Airtel is one of

the most popular jingles in the Indian ad industry. The genius of the Oscar winning

A.R. Rahman is behind the catchy tune.

The trust factor of Airtel amplifies greatly with the caliber of its brand ambassadors.

The likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Saif Ali Khan,

Vidya Balan, A.R. Rahman have been the brand ambassadors of Airtel at some point

of time or the other.

One of the reasons for the lasting effects of the Airtel ads has been the reinvention of

the content displayed. Airtel’s campaign strategy is designed keeping in mind its

marketing strategy. The tone, tenor and the stance of the visual ads are designed to

convey the image of a market leader in terms of its market share. It tries to portray

the image of being a "first mover every time" and that of a "market leader".

Most successful AD-COMPAIGNS of Airtel-

1. Airtel Jingle- A.R. Rahman

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This music went on to become the “Airtel Signature Tune”. The signature

tune of Airtel is composed by Indian musician A. R. Rahman. One network

that connects India, like A. R Rahman moves India with his music. The tune

became hugely popular and is the world's most downloaded mobile music

with over 150million downloads.

2. Join The Dots

“Few relation are very important, they can’t be avoided, when relations are

based on love and affections, distance is nothing and conversation is

possible, “Keep connected with Airtel”…

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Page 35: Bharti Airtel Ltd (Marketing Strategies)

3. Communication Boundaries

‘Express yourself’ platform making the “Barriers break when people talk”

is a highly emotional ad campaign connecting people.

It’s about Connecting cultures, longing to communicate without any barriers

the society places, making new friends, caring, unity, peace, free

mindedness.

4. Endless Goodbye

“A man and his girl are never apart even after they say goodbye”. With

Airtel 3G video calls, you always stay close to your loved ones, no matter

how far you are.

It’s about the people who always want to see and talk with each other.

It was nominated as Best Ad in CANNES Festival in 2010.

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Page 36: Bharti Airtel Ltd (Marketing Strategies)

5. Street Performer

“Dil Jo Chahe Pass Laye”

Wherever you go, carry your entertainment with you, Entertainment

anywhere any day.

6. Together Good Things Happen

The growth of Airtel is related to Shahrukh khan from its No one to someone

to stardom, which is connected to 110 million fans. Unity, togetherness,

networking, Aspiration, chasing the dreams, relationships, success, life is all

about experience.“You cannot be alone when 110 million people are

connected with you”

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Page 37: Bharti Airtel Ltd (Marketing Strategies)

7. Har ek friend Zaroori hota hai

Airtel “Har ek friend Zaroori hota hai” ad campaign 

The catchiest viral-ad-campaign was created by Airtel. So popular is the

jingle, everyone finds themselves humming the tune to “Har ek friend

zaroori hota hai”. But nevertheless they were able to gather a more-than-

expected fan following for their brand, this financial year. Be it the massive

number of downloads, status updates, or Airtel song sharing on social media,

the brand was able to strike a chord with the urban youth – a major chunk of

their target consumers. The ad served to position Airtel as a brand that stands

for friendship, and helps one to stay in touch with all kinds of friends i.e. the

early morning friend, the late night savior, , the ones who borrow money

from you, the ones who pay for you and the list is endless…….

8. Jo tera hai wo mera hai

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Page 38: Bharti Airtel Ltd (Marketing Strategies)

“Friendship is all about sharing”

 The ad coupled with brilliant picturization, excellent score & upbeat mood

is literally creating quite a buzz on digital and electronic spaces. It was

created by Taproot.

It’s about Relation, happiness, Youngsters, Masti, Cool factor, memorable

moments in friends.

Airtel Brand is all about…….

Teenagers, youngsters,

Special relations-family, friends, love

Breaking of communication barriers

Express Yourself

Love-Affection-Togetherness-bonding

Every friend is important

“Dil Jo Chahe Pass Laye”

More than 185 million people networking

& many more………..

COMPANY’S FINANCIAL STATUS

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Conclusion

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Page 40: Bharti Airtel Ltd (Marketing Strategies)

From this exhaustive study on Bharti Airtel Ltd., we got to learn a lot about how

Airtel Established itself a market leader in the Indian telecom space. The journey was

not a bed of roses for Airtel. They faced numerous stumbling roadblocks along the

way and overcame most of them. This is because they applied and adopted sound

strategies relating to Outsourcing, Marketing, Advertising, creating Customer Value

and Satisfaction, Positioning, etc. The above facts are proved through the survey we

conducted which emphasizes the fact that Airtel continues to be the most preferred

telecom operator in our country, and also amongst the youth.

Even though the growth of the company is stagnating in recent times, and the pressure

from competitors and regulatory bodies is always on the increase, new strategies and

innovations, acquisitions, penetration into international markets better schemes for

customers should ensure that Airtel keeps its nose above its strong competition. The

prospects of Airtel continue to remain strong because it is built around very strong

fundamentals, and this growth should be visible in the near future.

Bibliography

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Page 41: Bharti Airtel Ltd (Marketing Strategies)

Bharti Airtel website – http://www.airtel.in/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharti_Airtel

Text book- Strategic Management

Author – Michael Vaz

Publisher- Manan Prakashan

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