AIRTEL - Brand & Positioning

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A PROJECT REPORTONBRAND AND POSITIONING OF AIRTEL

Company Logo Submitted in the partial fulfilment of the requirment for theAward of the Degree of

BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATIONACADEMIC SESSION 2012-2013

College Logo

Submitted To:Submitted By:Ms. Neha VasudevMahendra KumarFACULTY AIMT, KOTABBA- II YEAR

ARYAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT, KOTA PREFACEQuite frequently these days people talk of practical knowledge, both in academic institutions and outside. At each and every aspect in life we require some sort of theoretical and practical knowledge too.It means only classroom lecture may not be enough to get the proper knowledge either in the business field or social life.Keeping all this in view, the present report has been written for the promotion the brand position of bharti airtel in the highly competitive environment and to study the consumer behavior by working as a promoter at modern trade centers.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I thank Ms. Neha Vasudev in particular for assigning us this project and encouraging us to write in the first place.I am indebted to all those who have been helpful throughout the process of writing this Report and helping us by giving their valuable suggestions but as the clich goes, we are solely responsible for any remaining errors of fact or judgement. Once again we thank everyone who helped us in our project.

Mahendra KumarBBA-II Year

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The project included a thorough market analysis for this particular assignment. The markets so covered were in North and south Delhi cluster. Initially we analyzed the market category and then accordingly segmented it to do a proper study of the entire competition prevailing in the market.Later we in a team also got involved in knowing the brand positioning and perception of Airtel with its competitors to interact and deal with customers. This also helped us in getting the knowledge of the various tariff plans and promotional offers.The Airtel is by and large a very important market, as still majority of the customer use its services.But our survey showed that Airtel is getting tough competition from Vodafone followed by Reliance, Tata and Idea respectively: especially when the price-war started between the players: the rates have been so slashed that every player is trying hard to capture the major portion of the market.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface Acknowledgement Executive Summary

1. Company Profile2. Project Profile3. Research Methodology4. Data Analysis and Interpretation5. Conclusions6. Suggestions & Recommendations7. Bibliography

COMPANY PROFILE

Company Snapshot Telecom giant Bharti Airtel is the flagship company of Bharti Enterprises. The Bharti Group, has a diverse business portfolio and has created global brands in the telecommunication sector. Bharti has recently forayed into retail business as Bharti Retail Pvt. Ltd. under a MoU with Wal-Mart for the cash & carry business. It has successfully launched an international venture with EL Rothschild Group to export fresh agri products exclusively to markets in Europe and USA and has launched Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd under a joint venture with AXA, world leader in financial protection and wealth management. Airtel comes to you from Bharti Airtel Limited; Bharti Airtel is one of the leading alternative providers of telecommunications services in India and the first private telecom services provider with a footprint in all the 23 telecom circles. Bharti Airtel since its inception has been at the forefront of technology and has steered the course of the telecom sector in the country with its world class products and services. The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBUs) - Mobile Services, Airtel Telemedia Services & Enterprise Services. The mobile business provides mobile & fixed wireless services using GSM technology across 23 telecom circles while the Airtel Telemedia Services business offers broadband & telephone services in 94 cities. The Enterprise services provide end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national & international long distance services to carriers. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand.The enterprise services group includes units for both long-distance carriers and for corporate clients. Bharti Airtel has nearly 29 million total customers -- approximately more than 27 million GSM mobile and 1.6 million fixed-line customers.

The company was founded as Bharti Tele-Ventures in 1995 and changed its name in early 2006 to Bharti Airtel Limited. It is a unit of Indian conglomerate Bharti Enterprises)

Sunil Bharti Mittal (Chairman and Group Managing Director)This highly innovative company created telecom history when it farmed out its network management to experts Nokia and Ericsson, and set a trend in the global cellular industry. Last year, Vodafone gave the company a vote of confidence by acquiring 10% mostly from early Bharti investor Warburg Pincus. This year, Bharti will offer its second overseas services after the Seychelles. It acquired a license for tax haven Jersey, in the Channel Islands, and is looking for more. It also plans to spend $2 billion this year to double the size of its network and cover 50% of India's population, up from 40% currently. )

Business Divisions

Bharti Airtel offers GSM mobile services in all the 23-telecom circles of India and is the largest mobile service provider in the country, based on the number of customers.

The group focuses on delivering telecommunications services as an integrated offering including mobile, broadband & telephone, national and international long distance and data connectivity services to corporate, small and medium scale enterprises.

The group offers high speed broadband internet with a best in class network. With Landline services in 94 cities we help you stay in touch with your friends & family and the world.

The Company compliments its mobile and broadband & telephone services with national and international long distance services. It has over 35,016 route kilometers of optic fibre on its national long distance network. For international connectivity to east, it has a submarine cable landing station at. For international connectivity to the west, the

Company is a member of the South East Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4 (SEA-ME-WE-4) consortiums along with 15 other global telecom operators.Marketing strategiesBharti decided to design different marketing strategies for different circles depending on the strategies, employed by the competitors. While the company was focusing on its pricing strategies, its competitors in various sectors were concentrated on new service offerings and value additions (For instance, in the Chennai circle, the cellular war between RPG Group, Bharti and Hutch was more value and service driven). Since the players almost immediately matched price reduction moves, companies had begun focussing on developing value-added offerings and schemes to expand their market and gain customer loyalty. Analysts remarked that the players were coming up with new schemes or value-additions almost every week to get the better of their competitors.By constantly keeping itself abreast with the moves of its competitors and launching various proactive/reactive schemes, Bharti was able to retain its leadership position. Despite continual attacks from Hutch, Relaince, Spice, Idea Cellular and BPL, Bhartis cellular services received good high response in all circles during 2005. It was reported that in Mumbai, 60-75% of customers seeking Airtel services were BPL Mobile and Hutch subscribers. In fact, it was becoming difficult for the company to activate cellular connections in Mumbai swiftly on account of the high rush in some cases; it took almost three days to activate a connection.

OTHER COMPETITORS-Vodafone Essar

Vodafone Essar, previously Hutchison Essar is a cellular operator in India that covers 16 telecom circles in India . Despite the official name being Vodafone Essar, its products are simply branded Vodafone. It offers both prepaid and postpaid GSM cellular phone coverage throughout India and is especially strong in the major metros.Vodafone Essar provides 2G services based on 900Mhz and 1800Mhz digital GSM technology, offering voice and data services in 16 of the country's 23 licence areas.Growth of the company as Hutchison EssarIn 1992 Hutchison Whampoa and its Indian business partner established a company that in 1994 was awarded a licence to provide mobile telecommunications services in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) and launched commercial service as Hutchison Max in November 1995. Analjit Singh of Max still holds 12% in company.By the time of Hutchison Telecom's Initial Public Offering in 2004, Hutchison Whampoa had acquired interests in six mobile telecommunications operators providing service in 13

of India's 23 licence areas and following the completion of the acquisition of BPL that number increased to 16. In 2006, it announced the acquisition of a company that held licence applications for the seven remaining licence areas.In a country growing as fast as India, a strategic and well managed business plan is critical to success. Initially, the company grew its business in the largest wireless markets in India - in cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. In these densely populated urban areas it was able to establish a robust network, well known brand and large distribution network -all vital to long-term success in India. Then it also targeted business users and high-end post-paid customers which helped Hutchison Essar to consistently generate a higher Average Revenue Per User ("ARPU") than its competitors. By adopting this focused growth plan, it was able to establish leading positions in India's largest markets providing the resources to expand its footprint nationwide.In February 2007, Hutchison Telecom announced that it had entered into a binding agreement with a subsidiary of Vodafone Group Plc to sell its 67% direct and indirect equity and loan interests in Hutchison Essar Limited for a total cash consideration (before costs, expenses and interests) of approximately US$11.1 billion or HK$87 billion.

IDEA

Company Information

Idea Cellular is a wireless telephony company operating in various states in India. It initially started in 1995 as a join venture between the Tatas, Aditya Birla Group and AT&T by merging Tata Cellular and Birla AT&T Communications.Initially having a very limited footprint in the GSM arena, the acquisition of Escotel in 2004 gave Idea a truly pan-India presence covering Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai), Goa, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh (East and West), Haryana, Kerala, Rajasthan and Delhi (inclusive of NCR).The company has its retail outlets under the "Idea n' U" banner. The company has also been the first to offer flexible tarrif 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, Chattisgarh, Uttaranchal, Haryana, UP-West, Himachal Pradesh, UP-East, Rajasthan and Kerala. With a customer base of over 23 million, IDEA Cellular's 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 is part of the Aditya Birla Group, a US$ 24 billion corporation with a market cap of US$ 31.5 billion and in the league of Fortune 500. Anchored by an extraordinary force of over 100,000 employees belonging to 25 different nationalities, over 50% of its revenues flow from its overseas operations.With ambitious future plans, the company is poised for rapid growth across the whole country.Brand InformationThe Brand Idea: It is almost impossible to disintegrate brand Idea from the corporate Idea. Brand values are the company values and vise versa. The Brand Vision: It goes without saying that the brand vision of idea mirrors the companys vision. The brand mission statement is... To be the most customer-focused mobile service brand, continuously innovating to help liberate our customers from the shackles of time & space.

Reliance Communications

Reliance Communications (formerly Reliance Infocomm), along with Reliance Telecom and Flag Telecom, is part of Reliance Communications Ventures (RCoVL). According to National Stock Exchange data, Anil Ambani controls 66.75 per cent of the company, which accounts for more than 1.36 billion shares of the company. Reliance Infocomm is an Indian telecommunications company. It is the flagship company of the Reliance-Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, comprising of power (Reliance Energy), financial services (Reliance Capital) and telecom initiatives of the Reliance ADA Group. Reliance Infocomm is currently managed by Anil Dhirubhai Ambani.It uses CDMA2000 1x technology.

Tata Teleservices

Company profileTata 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. The company forms part of the Tata Group's presence in the Telecommunication Industry in India.TTSL was incorporated in 1995 and 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 Tata Group's commitment to building a substantial presence in India's telecom industry has seen it play a leading role in the development of the country's

communications infrastructure. 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. The objective is to make Tata Indicom the preferred telecommunications choice of customers across the country.The Tata Indicom Enterprise Business Unit (TIEBU) is the central, specialized enterprise sales and marketing unit for the Tata Group's telecom initiatives. The unit is the benchmark telecom player in the enterprise space and was formed with a view to providing customized, end-to-end voice and data solutions to customers across India. It delivers cost-effective, integrated solutions that are designed to fulfill the most complex communication needs.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. Tata Teleservices bouquet of telephony services includes Mobile services, Wireless Desktop Phones, Public Booth Telephony and Wireline services. Other services include value added services like voice portal, roaming, post-paid Internet services, 3-way conferencing, group calling, Wi-Fi Internet, USB Modem, data cards, calling card services and enterprise services. Some of the other products launched by the company include prepaid wireless desktop phones, public phone booths, new mobile handsets and new voice & data services such as BREW games, Voice Portal, picture messaging, polyphonic ring tones, interactive applications like news, cricket, astrology, etc.

PROJECT PROFILE

Brand positioning and Brand perceptionThe object of positioning a brand is to cause people to feel that there is no completely satisfactory substitute for the brand.BRAND POSTIONINGTo position a brand requires that you make choices. Having a position means that the brand will appeal to some people and not others. A brand can be positioned in several ways: offering a specific benefit, targeting a specific segment, price, or distribution.Positioning can be defined as follows:"Positioning is how a product appears in relation to other products in the market".Not every product has unique truths or truths that are very different from competition.Brands can be positioned against competing brands on a perceptual map.A perceptual map defines the market in terms of the way buyers perceive key characteristics of competing products.The basic perceptual map that buyers use maps products in terms of their price and quality, as illustrated below:

BRAND POSTIONING PROCESSGenerally, the brand positioning process involves:1. Defining the market in which the brand will compete (who the relevant buyers are) .2. Identifying the attributes (also called dimensions) that define the brands 'space' 3. Collecting information from a sample of customers about their perceptions of each brands on the relevant attributes 4. Determine each brands share of mind 5. Determine each brands current location in the brand space 6. Determine the target market's preferred combination of attributes (referred to as an ideal vector) 7. Examine the fit between: The position of your brand The position of the ideal vector 8. Position.

Measuring the brand positioning

Positioning is facilitated by a graphical technique called perceptual mapping, various survey techniques, and statistical techniques like multi dimensional scaling, factor analysis, conjoint analysis, and log it analysis. Importance of Brand Positioning

The brand stands for something important to the customer Its values align with the customers values It reinforces the customers self image or how the customer aspires to be perceived It can serve as a badge or other form of self-expression It possesses admirable qualities It provides unique or superior customer service It delivers a unique product purchase or usage experience It is entertaining It delivers superior performance It is venerated, has heritage (continuity, trustworthy leader, since) It is the technology leader It has noble aims/values It tells an engaging story about itself It was first -- a pioneer -- in its market

BRAND PERCECPTION The act of perceiving or the ability to perceive; mental grasp of brand by means of the senses; awareness; comprehension, insight or intuition and qualities. The understanding, knowledge, etc. gotten by perceiving, or a specific idea, concept, impression, etc. so formed about brand. It refers to how the brain organizes and interprets sensory information about brand. Brand Perception is a creation of the brain that goes beyond the input of sense organs. Sense organs detect changes in the environment, and transmit the information as nerve impulses or action potentials.

Perception is the process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory information.The term perception may be used generally for mental apprehension, but in philosophy it is now normally restricted to sense perceptionto the discovery, by means of the senses, of the existence and properties of the external world. Philosophers have been concerned with the analysis of perceptionthat is, the study of its nature and of the processes involved in itand with its epistemological valuethat is, how far, if at all, it can be regarded as a source of knowledge about the world. Their answers to these closely interrelated questions have been formulated in various theories: the commonsense theory and other kinds of direct realism, the representative or causal theory, critical realism, the sense-datum theory, and phenomenalism. This entry will be devoted to the main features of perception that underlie the various theories and that have raised philosophical problems and controversy. It will discuss both the initial evidence that may be analyzed without recourse to scientific findings and the causal and psychological process revealed by scientific investigation.

AIRTEL BRAND POSTIONINGCreating a Winning Brand PromiseThe goal of Airtel brand positioning exercise is to develop a brand promise that is unique, compelling and believable. AIRTEL brand positioning evaluates all potential brand promises against these three criteria unique, compelling and believable. The winning promise is delivered against all three criteria or it wont work. The only way to assess this is to measure each of these for Airtel brand promise option with each key target audience.Capture the Mind. Win the Day.Remember the Mind Is a Memory Bank To better understand what an advertiser is up against, it may be helpful to take a closer look at the objective of all advertising programs- the human mind.

Like a memory bank, the mind has a slot or "position" for each bit of information it has chosen to retain. In operation, the mind is a lot like a computer.But there is one important difference. A computer has to accept what is put into it. The mind does not. Infact, its quite the opposite.The mind, as a defense mechanism against the volume of today's communications, screens and rejects much of the information offered it. In general, the mind accepts only that new information which matches its prior knowledge or experience. It filters out everything else.Choose Your Words CarefullyWe had a depressingly familiar experience last week. A brand manager took us through their fresh brand strategy, and it was terrible. It was, like most brand positioning,

pointless. About eight out of every 10-brand strategies have no impact whatsoever on brand equity. And this was going to be another addition to that big book of pointless branding for two reasons.First, there were too many words in the positioning statement. Three concentric circles confronted us. The central red circle was called the brand essence. In the middle was a blue circle called brand personality. And then around the edge was a circle in yellow, called brand identity.I have never seen a great brand positioning strategy that needed more than three words to define the brand. Any more than that and the probability of achieving any kind of impact on the market turn almost immediately to zero.

The Brand Positioning WorkshopThe Brand Positioning Workshop by Airtel is designed to gain complete consensus among organizations management team and marketing leadership on the brands target customers, essence, promise and personality.They work with you to develop their brands position in its current marketplaces, while designing flexibility for its future growth. This includes identifying, analyzing and selecting the brands target audiences, competitive frame of reference and key customer benefits (functional, emotional, experiential and self-expressive). The workshop focuses on developing the brands essence, promise and personality. They also ensure that their brand has chosen the most powerful benefits to own and that it has developed the proof points and reasons to believe for those benefits.We believe that the primary brand benefit should deliver against these objectives: The benefit is extremely important to your target audience(s). Your organization has unique, sustainable competencies (and strategic intent) in delivering against the benefit.

Your competitors are not delivering against the benefit (nor would it be easy for them to do so in the future).Any benefit chosen must be unique, compelling, motivating, understandable and believable.Understanding the CompetitionWhen a company positions its brand in a customers mind, it is positioning that brand against other brands. It is critical to understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of each of those competitors along with the industry structure itself. (In fact, wise organizations dedicate a person to understanding the competition.) This knowledge about your competition is necessary because you want to uniquely own an important benefit in your customers mind. Ideally, this benefit is one, your competitors have not addressed and cannot easily address in the future. Better yet, the benefit you own should be one that takes advantage of your competitors.

The Technology AdvantageTomorrow's technology to enrich today.

SEVEN BASIC FEATURES OF AIRTEL THAT MAKES IT SUPERIOR THAN OTHER PLAYERSTechnology Bharti tele-communications provides and amongst the top technologies in the world. In ranking of top 100 global technology companies, Bharti has made its maiden appearance at a very impressive 19th position. At the 19th position, Bharti features ahead of global companies like Microsoft, Ericsson, Motorola, Verizon, France Telecom, IBM, Intel, Cisco and Qualcomm. It provides the largest GSM networkClarityA position should be easy to communicate and quick to comprehend. Difficulty in either suggests that a position is too fuzzy to be of value to the brand. Airtel provides clarity and an undisrupted voice or network connection everywhere.DistinctivenessPeople have few needs that are unfulfilled, and they have many choices to fill the needs they have. If a brands position lacks distinctiveness it will be forced to compete on the bases of price or promotion; expensive strategies that will not build brand equity in the long term. Airtel is distinct in its services, clarity, network and efficiency.CoherenceAirtel needed to deploy a cohesive and coordinated approach to operating its systems. Speak with one voice through all the elements of the marketing mix if one wish to create a strong position. If, for example, a brand that is positioned as premium quality and price appears to be low, its quality image will suffer. And thus meeting all such requirements is Airtels primary objective.

CommitmentOften people will get nervous when a strong position threatens to ignore or even alienate some segment of the population as a price of clearly communicating to the desired target. Once a position is adopted, it takes commitment to see it through, in the face of criticism and pot shots. Airtel is committed to its customers and keep on looking after their tele-communications needs.ServicesAirtel brings you a host of exciting features ranging from facilities like online tests, in touch and Video Surveillance Solutions to trouble shooting devices like, Net Expert and Web Jockey. Airtels provides the best broadband services of high speed and performance to its consumers.CoverageIt goes without saying that adopting a strong brand position requires coverage. It is much easier to defend an appeal to everyone with a rather generic sales pitch. You must believe that the position makes strategic sense for the brand and then stick to your guns. Airtel covers 94 cities in India.

RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY OBJECTIVES OF STUDYIf the objective is not correct the plan that evolves cannot be correct and the desired information cannot be achieved.

Objective provides the purpose of study. They are guiding assertions form the basis of study. A proper and well-defined set of objectives is one of the prerequisites for any project.

The following are the objectives:-1) Study the brand positioning and perception of Airtel.2) Do a comparative analysis with other company.3) What are the various strategies being adopted for it.4) Recognize factors that influence the customer to stick with their network.5) Providing major features that are needed by every customer.6) How they are providing efficiency of after sales service by their network.7) Considering factors that help in increasing their sales.

SAMPLE DESIGN: -Random sample design was adopted; the customers were selected randomly on the basis of convenience.SAMPLE SIZE: -The total sample size of 50 respondents from various areas was taken.

DATA COLLECTION method

PRIMARY DATA: - A questionnaire was developed to be used as a checklist.. It was ensured that each respondent should be given equal importance. The questionnaire consists of closed ended as well as open-ended questions. SECONDARY DATA: -The secondary data collected from the different sources: -WebsiteJournals Magazines Company BrochuresOther Companies websites

SAMPLING TECHNIQUESData is analyzed and interpreted using statistical method or tools like bars, charts, and different kinds of pie charts.In this research; data has been collected through QUESTIONNAIRES.The main purpose of using this type of method for collection of data is the fact that:1. It is free from the bias of the interviewer; answers are in respondents' own words.2. Large samples can be made use of and thus results can be made more dependable and reliable.

LIMITATIONS1) A small sample size of 50 customers was considered due to time and resource constraints.

2) The scope of the project is limited to the Kota only. So, we cannot say that the same response will exist throughout India. 3) Some of the customers were not co-operative in giving correct information even if they were aware of various features and schemes of Airtel.

4) Human error during recording, tabulation and printing error could be present.

DATA ANALYSISANDINTERPRETATION

Q1: Which connection you are currently using?

InterpretationOut of our sample size 32% of the population is using Bharti Airtel, which is the highest percentage among other competitors and the remaining 68% of the population is using Vodafone, Rliance, Iea, tata and others.

Q2: out of the scale of 10, how much scale do you give to easy recharge process of your operator?

InterpretationThe users of Bharti Airtel rated the easy recharge process, 9.5 out of 10, which is the highest scaling given among all other operators, followed by Vodafone, 8. Idea and Reliance have been scaled same i.e 6, and tata is rated 4.

Q3: On what basis, you choose your operator?

Interpretation70% of the sample population gives the first preference to the network coverage while choosing the operator, an insignificant portion gives weightage to the economical issues, 10% goes by the promotional offers and only 4 % of the population says validity is the main criteria.

Q4: Out of the scale of 10, rate the network coverage of the following operators.

InterpretationThe network coverage of Bharti Airtel has been rated the highest i.e the average 9.5, followed by Vodafone with an average of 8.

Q 5: Is your operator introduces promotional offers/schemes frequently? If yes mention any two.

InterpretationA surprising 82% of the population says yes that their respective operators introduces schemes frequently whereas 15% of the customers says no to it while the rest 3 % cant say about the promotional offers.

Q 6: Which operator would you prefer (except yours)?

Interpretation55% of customers want to go with Bharti Airtel, 20% prefers Vodafone, Idea is preferred by 10% of the sample selected, 10% wants to prefer M.T.N.L. and 5% wants to prefer Tata.

Q7: Do you give preference to advertisement for choosing your operator?

Interpretation40 people out of the population of 100 customers says that they give preference to the advertisements, for 25 customers advertisement does not play a major role, rest 35 cant say.

Q8: Out of the scale of 10, how much score do you give to customer care support of your operator?

InterpretationThe customers of Airtel have rated the highest of 8 in terms of customer care support, next leader in this is the Vodafone and have been rated an average 8 marks, idea and reliance have been rated the same 6 and Tata following the leaders after securing 5.

Q9 What do you think about the Airtels advertisements?

InterpretationResponse gets from the People about the Airtels advertisement 65% people say its excellent 25% says good 7% sya average & 3% say its poor.

Q10. Are you satisfied with your current operator?

InterpretationAbout 35% respondents say they are strongly satisfied 25% says they are somewhat satisfied 25% say they have no problem means they are moderate & 15% are somewhat dissatisfied.

Q11. What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you take the new connection?

InterpretationRespondents say that when they take new connection things comes in the mind 30%people say operator ,25%say networking,25% says scheme, 10% says economical & 10% say the advertisement.

FINDINGS&CONCLUSION

Findings

1) All respondents of Kota keep the meaning of Branding in their mind.

2) All respondents also informed with Branding concepts.

3) Approx 60% respondents of Kota know about the branding approx 40%. Respondents of Kota are not known about the branding It means in Kota it had a mix of the situation.

4) The respondents feels that they shoul take care of their response for the future decisions.5) All respondents believe that an operator of any company should have the something for the customer benefits.

ConclusionIn our view, Airtel has the most recognizable brand in the Indian operator space, with 30.8% of our respondents able to identify it as a mobile brand unaided. While this is lower than many of its competitors, examination of the various brand strength indicators shows Airtel has a much stronger brand than its competitors do. Of respondents, 27.4% identified Airtel with cool, 26% with creative, and 22% with technically advanced. Only 8.6% of respondents identified Airtel with cheap. These are solid brand equity numbers, which Bharti can continue to capitalize on as it competes in an increasingly crowded space. It has increased its market share from 20.5% to 21.5% of the market. Driving some of this growth are experiences of Airtel customers. Some of our other research suggests Airtel customers are quite satisfied with almost all aspects of Bhartis offering.

Suggestion&Recommendation

Airtel should focus on the server down problem. So as to enable its customer a smooth and uninterrupted services such that free flow of services.

Airtel should also focus on improving its IMAGE in the fast paced market competition.

Aitrel should focus on more PROMOTION tactics to increase its brand perception. They should display proper advertisement boards, hoardings, in order to increase the image of the company in the minds of the consumer.

It should display hoardings at the places where the footfall is high like metros, bus stands mall etc.

Airtel should better up with their network and connectivity problems so as to maintain their hold in the market, as it is a service not a product.

The tariff plans should not be complex, but should be very easy to explain to the customer by the FOS (feet on street). The FOS should have proper knowledge e about the schemes provided by the company so that they can convey the right message to the customer base politely.

Airtel should make a different cell for customer satisfaction, where in the people so employed can personally look after their complaints, rather than waitin for the channel member to do the same.

It should have a proper complaint BOXES, at their respective outlet where they can focus on customer demands and needs.

The company should assure of proper supply of recharge vouchers cards to its distribution networks, so that they can provide it to the customers on time.

Airtel should also be tough on their LBAS (Local Business Associates) if they are not providing proper results, as they do have a tendency of taking things for granted some times.

Hence working on above-mentioned recommendations can help airtel to gain more market share and further strengthen their hold on positioning in the minds of the customers. Last but not the least; Airtel is a major player in the market as they are providing lucrative schemes with excellent margins.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS:-*Research Methodology -Kothari, C.R. *Marketing Strategies-Kotler Phillip*Literature Provided by the Company.WEBSITES:*www.airtel.com*www.bharti.com

SEARCH ENGINES *www.google.com*http://www.msn.com*www.yahoo.com *www.wickypedia.com

Questionnaire

Customer's Name: .Address: .Phone No: .

1. Which Connection you are currently using? Give reason for choosing this connection?

AIRTEL VODAFONE IDEA TATA RELIANCE OTHERS

.

2. Out of scale of 10, how much scale do you give to easy recharge process of your operator? AIRTEL VODAFONE IDEA TATA RELIANCE OTHERS

3. On what basis, you choose your operator? a) Economical b) Promotional Offers c) Validity Options d) Network Coverage e) Others please specify........................................4. Out of scale of 10, rate the network coverage of the following operators?AIRTEL VODAFONE IDEA TATA RELIANCE OTHERS

5. Is your operator introduces promotional offers/schemes frequently? If yes, write any two?a) Yesb) Noc) Can't say .. ..

6. Which operator would you prefer except yours?AIRTEL VODAFONE IDEA TATA RELIANCE OTHERS

7. Do you give preference to advertisement for choosing your operator? a) Yes b) No c) Cant say 8. Out of scale of 10, how much score do you give to Customer Care Support of your operator?AIRTEL VODAFONE IDEA TATA RELIANCE OTHERS

9. What do you think about the Airtels advertisements? a) Excellent b) Good c) Average d) Poor10. Are you satisfied with your current operator? a) Strongly satisfied b) Somewhat satisfied c) Moderate d) Somewhat dissatisfied e) Strongly dissatisfied 11. What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you take new connection? a) Connection/Operator b) Network Coverage c) Scheme d) Economical e) Best Advertisement

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