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Repositioning of Airtel brand by Bharti Telecom...A case study presentation based on ICMR India case.
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Group-I, Section-D, PGPBM
1.Arka Chatterji, 2.Subhradeep Das, 3.Rakeem Baig, 4.Arindam Das
History Credits
Entered telecom business in 1985
& telecommunication in 1990
Launch cellular service in Delhi in
1992
Acquired Skycell (TN), JT Mobile(AP
& Karnataka), Spice Cell(WB) in
2000 to expand business
First company to install second ‘Mobile
switching centre’
Won Techies Award for four consecutive
years(1997-2002)
The First in Asia to deploy the multi band
feature in a wireless network for efficient
usage of spectrum.
The First to deploy Voice Quality Enhancers
to improve voice quality and acoustics.
The First telecom company in the world to
receive the ISO 9001:2000 certification from
British Standards Institute.
Largest pan-Indian cellular network One of the five most valuable cellular operators in the world
69383716, 25%
50417955, 18%
49195098, 17%37362897, 13%
27194205, 10%
26329804, 9%
11924843, 4%
4547870, 2% 3437716, 1%
1378471, 1%
342896, 0%
109744, 0%
Current Market Share
Airtel
Relaince
Vodafone Essar
BSNL
IDEA
Tata
Aircel
SpiceSource: COAI, July 2008
Including CDMA & WLL
Examine the circumstances in which Bharti launched Airtel and trace the brands initial days in the backdrop of emerging cellular market in India. In the light of ‘Leadership’ campaign, analyze why Airtel & other cell phone brands were seen as premium end offerings.
Sunil Bharti Mittal laid the foundations of the New Delhi based Bharti group in 1970s
with a small bicycle part business
1985 Bharti group entered the telecom business by establishing Bharti Telecom Ltd.
and entered into technical collaboration with Siemens AG Germany for
manufacturing electronic pushbutton telephones.
Launched cellular service in Delhi in 1992, started offering post-paid
service from Nov,1995.
Started offering VAS such as Smart mail, Fax, Call hold, Call waiting etc.
and e-commerce portals to facilitate consumers.
In the initial days due to high tariff rates cellular players had to impose high call
charges on their customers and the handsets were costly.
Naturally, they targeted the elite, up market professionals and entrepreneurs as
customers . Airtel was positioned as an aspirational 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 and resulted in a marginal
improvement in Airtel performance.
Explain the reasons behind the ‘Leadership campaign being replaced by the ‘Touch Tomorrow’ campaign. Also critically comment on the company’s decision to replace ‘Touch Tomorrow’ with ‘Live Every Moment’.
Govt. reduced the tariffs and taxes
which led to the emergence of
huge customer base.
A brand was created that not only had
qualities like
Leadership, Performance, Dynamism
but also with supportive values like
courtesy, politeness and efficiency.
Other players also started imitating
strategies followed by Airtel, by
offering same type of schemes and
facilities
During late 1990s many national and
international players started entering
into the Indian telecom market.
In early 2000 it was observed through market surveys that the concept of leadership was undergoing a transformation resulting in it being a moderate success.
Hence Bharti decided to ‘humanize’ the brand ‘Airtel’ to gain competitive advantage.
In august 2000 Bharti launched its new ‘Touch Tomorrow’ campaign which aimed at strengthening its relationship with its customers and make the brand ‘softer’ to cater a wide variety of people across the society.
The Company adopted a three-tier brand architecture to expanded its ‘Touch Point’ network.
Special features like music download facility, SMS, permanent GPRS was introduced at a affordable price
Airtel logo during ‘Touch Tomorrow’ days
Tier-III
Freenet Long Distance Tango-Internet mobile
Tier-II
Basic TelephonyNational Long
Distance Service
Broadband
ServiceMobile Service
Tier-I
Airtel
Three-tier brand architecture
In 2002, Airtel again repositioned its brand with new tagline ‘Live Every Moment’ and changed its logo to create a brand identity that had a younger international look and feel.
Airtel also replaced its three-tier brand architecture and adopted a two-tier brand architecture where all wireless products were placed under Airtel brand
. Airtel logo after repositioning to ‘Live Every Moment’ campaign
Do you think Bharti has not been giving enough time for one positioning plank to prove effective before moving on to the next? What are the merits and demerits of frequently changing a brand’s positioning?
Rationale
In telecom industry people live a brand 24X7 so the possibilities of being tired by a continuous campaign is very high
Brand restructuring helps the company to broaden its customer base by reaching more people and offering new services
Success
Airtel is the most recognizable brand in Indian operator space, with 30.8% of respondents able to identify it as a mobile brand unaided
A member of Forbes ‘Asian Fabulous 50’
Of 10 million new subscriber sign up every month one in every 4 sign up with Airtel, not only to make calls but also to access the Web, download cricket scores and send billions of
text messages
During 2004-2005 its increased its market share from 20.5% to 21.5%
Brand perception:
Cool
28%
Creative
27%
Technically
advanced
22%
Cheap
9%
Can't Say
14%
Perception
Source: IE Market Research Corp.-14th
Oct,3006, ID-IEMR1370648
Merits Targeting different
segments of market effectively
Reduce mental fatigue towards the brand
Corporate level or product offering restructuring
Demerits Huge promotional
costs which depends upon the level of change
Risk of being alienated from loyal customers
If a new positioning fails or not executed properly brand may suffer a crisis of identity and dilution of brand image
In the light of intensifying competition in the Indian cellular telephony market and the fact that almost all players have began focusing on the marketing front, what should Bharti do to ensure that it retains its market leadership position.
Strategic
In 2003 ,Airtel changed its tagline once again and the new tagline is ‘Express Yourself’. This dynamism should be maintained in future to build a more comprehensive and stronger brand.
More focus on emotional angle to differentiate the brand
Airtel was the first cellular service provider to start customer centers (Airtel connects), thus setting a trend of effective and responsive CRM system & it should be maintained.
Innovative and low priced schemes for attracting mass
Low-priced and Youth oriented schemes (e.g. Campus pack, Student pack) are to be implemented more effectively.
Keeping the competition low by strategic alliances and acquisitions.
Aggressive rural market penetration using existing infrastructure and by implementing innovative & focused schemes.
Promotion in regional languages to tap rural market.
Technical
Widening of the network coverage area
Increasing quality of service & interconnectivity
Innovative VAS such as e-recharge, recharge using SMS
Advanced technology introduction such as 3G, M-commerce (e.g. m-check, ATM recharge)
Promotion of Blackberry and other business customer oriented services
Better use of internet and transforming it into a direct communication channel