Project on

STRATEGIC APPROACH ADOPTED BY

AIRTEL COMPANY
In partial fulfilment of requirement for the
Award of Degree of M.Com
Subject:
Marketing Strategies& Plans
Submitted By:
Miss. SEEMA TALREJA
Roll No. 36
M.Com. Part I, Semester
Under the Guidance of:
Prof. Mr. Kishore.Karia

SMT. CHANDIBAI HIMATHMAL MANSUKHANI COLLEGE

ULHASNAGAR 421003
UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI
2015 2016

Department of Commerce

Certificate
This is to certify that, Ms. SEEMA.M.TALREJA of M.Com.-I, Sem.-I (Roll
No. - 23), has successfully completed the project titled CUSTOMER
RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT under my guidance for the Academic
Year 2015-16. The information submitted is true and original as per my
knowledge.

Prof. Prakash N. Mulchandani

(Project Guide)

Prof. Gopi Shamnani

(Coordinator, M. Com Course)

Dr. Padma V. Deshmukh

( I/C Principal)

External Examiner

DECLARATION
I, Ms. SEEMA.M.TALREJA student of SMT. CHANDIBAI HIMATMAL
MANSUKHANI COLLEGE, ULHASNAGAR studying in M.Com Part
I, (Semester I); I hereby declare that I have completed this project on
STRATEGIC APPROACH ADOPTED BY AIRTEL COMPANY for
the subject STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT in the academic year201516.The information submitted is true and original to the best of my
knowledge

_______________
SEEMA.M TALREJA

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
To list who all have helped me is difficult because they are so
numerous and the depth is so enormous.
I would like to acknowledge the following as being idealistic channels
and fresh dimensions in the completion of this project
I take this opportunity to thank the University of Mumbai forgiving
me chance to do this project.
I would like thank my Principal, Dr. Padma V. Deshmukh for
providing the necessary facilities required for completion of this
project.
I would also like to express my sincere gratitude towards my project
guide Prof. Mr. Kishore Karia whose guidance and care made the
project successful.
I would like to thank my college library, for having provided Various
reference books and magazines related to my project.
Last but not the least, I would like to thank almighty God, my
parents, and my friends who helped me gather these data and
have sat with me for hours discussing about the project.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The objective behind this research project is to study about the importance and development
of telecommunication industry in todays scenario.
To understand the Marketing strategies which are used by Bharti Airtel to Survive in highly
competitive cell phone market and different services which are offered by Bharti Airtel. An
overview of the Indian telecommunication market is also given, along with the growing GSM
market and challenges before the CDMA market in India. A brief introduction about Bharti
Airtel has also been given, covering all the services provided by Bharti Airtel.

LIMITATIONS

Time constraint- The time constraint refers to the amount of time available to
complete a project.

Money constraints- The cost constraint refers to the budgeted amount available for
the project.

Availability of information- A Research largely depends on the information

available to achieve its objectives the availability of information is also a major
concern in this Project report.

Biasness of the Data- The data collected is secondary in nature. So the user may
have different objective and may have used it accordingly. So the data available may
be bias.

Methodology
This project is prepared with the combination of theoretical knowledge as well as
practical knowledge and a blend of advices and suggestion from the guide of the
project.
Various books helped me out in extracting the theoretical element. Also the
information relevant to the project is being surfed from internet. All these activities
are conducted as per the guide consent.
Finally, the project has been advantageously finished with various kinds of
experiences gained throughout. It had been possible with my facts and information on
this subject.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The present business scenario is totally customer oriented. Each company faces stiff
competition from its competitors, each provides the best services at competitive rates. As a
result customer has lot of choices to get the best with least cost. To face this competition, it is
very important to know customers behavior towards different products and services.
This project is aimed at understanding the Marketing strategies adopted by Airtel and its
impact on the perception of Airtel Customers.
Research has showed that it is far more costly to win a new customer than it is to maintain an
existing one, and there is no better way to retain a customer than to exceed his expectations.
For this purpose it is essential to know the level of customer satisfaction. The focus of my
research was the measurement of customer satisfaction level for the services provided by
Bharti Airtel. My job was to collect the feedback from the distributors and also to get their
suggestions about the other products. There can be no better opportunity to interact with the
external as well as the internal customers of an organization. Finally the results of the
research verify the fact that keeping the customer satisfied is the best strategy to not only
retains the existing customers but also to expand the business to new horizons.

SR.KG

TOPIC

PG.NO

INTRODUCTION

10

LITERATURE REVIEW

12

AIRTEL COMPANY'S PROFILE

22

MISSION AND VISSION

24

WHAT DOES AIRTEL OFFER

25

COMPETITORS OF AIRTEL

26

SERVICES OF AIRTEL

30

SWOT ANALYSIS

33

STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY AIRTEL

35

10

FINDINGS

43

11

SUGGESTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

46

12

CONCLUSION

48

13

BIBLIOGRAPHY

49

14

QUESTIONNAIRE

50

INTRODUCTION
9

The management of an organizations resources in order to achieve its goals and objectives.
Strategic management involves setting objectives, analysing the competitive environment,
analysing the internal organization, evaluating strategies, and making sure that the strategies
are rolled out across the organization.
At its heart, strategic management involves recognizing opportunities and threats facing an
organization, whether coming from within the organization or from competitors, and
identifying how the organization stacks up compared to its competitors. This requires the
ability to both look externally and internally.
Strategic management is divided into several schools of thought. A prescriptive approach to
strategic management outlines how strategies should be developed, while a descriptive
approach focuses on how strategies are made in practice. These schools differ over whether
strategies are developed through an analytic process in which all threats and opportunities are
accounted for, or are more like general guiding principles that have to be applied.

Business culture, the skills and competencies of employees, and organisational structure are
important factors that influence how an organization can achieve its stated objectives.
10

Companies that are inflexible may find it difficult to succeed in a changing business
environment. Creating a barrier between the development of strategies and their
implementation can make it difficult for managers to determine whether objectives were
efficiently met.
While an organizations upper management is ultimately responsible for its strategy, many
times the strategies themselves are sparked by actions and ideas from lower level managers
and employees. An organization may have several employees devoted to strategy rather than
relying on the CEO. Organization leaders focus on learning from past strategies and
examining the environment at large. This knowledge is then used to develop future strategies
and to guide the behaviour of employees.

LITERATURE REVIEW
11

TELECOMMUNICATION MARKET IN INDIA

The Indian telecommunications Network with 250m telephone connections is the fifth largest
in the world and is the second largest among the emerging economies of Asia. Today it is the
fastest growing market in the world and represents unique opportunities for UK companies in
the stagnant global scenario. Tele-density, which was languishing at 2% in 1999, has shown
an impressive jump to 9.5% in 2006 and 10.5% in 2007 and is set to increase to 20% in the
next five years beating the Govt. target by three years. Accordingly, India requires
incremental investments of USD 20-25 bln for the next five years.
Private operators have made mobile telephony the fastest growing (over 164% p.a.) in India.
With more than 33 million users (both CDMA and GSM), wireless is the principal growth
engine of the Indian telecom industry. Given the current growth trends, cellular connections
in India will surpass fixed line by late 2004/early 2005. Intense competition between the four
main private groups - Bharti, Vodafone, Tata and Reliance and with the State sector
incumbents-BSNL and MTNL has brought about a significant drop in tariffs. There has been
almost 74% in cell phone charges, 70% in ILD calls and 25% drop in NLD charges, resulting
in a boom time for the consumers.
The Government has played a key enabling role by deregulating and liberalising the industry,
ushering in competition and paving the way for growth. While there were regulatory
irregularities earlier, resulting in litigation, these have all been addressed now. Customs duties
on hardware and mobile handsets have been reduced from 14 percent to 5 percent.
The Indian government has merged the IT and Telecom Ministries to speed up reforms and
decision on the Communication Convergence Bill to enable the common regulation of the
Internet, broadcasting and telecoms will be taken after the new Government assumes
responsibilities in may this year. An independent regulatory body (TRAI) and dispute
settlement body (TDSAT) is fully functional.

12

INDIAN CELLULAR MARKET

The Bharti Group, which operates in 23 circles, continues to be the country's largest cellular
operator, with 50 lakh subscribers. BSNL, which operates in 22 circles, has a subscriber base
of 37 lakh subscribers. Thus BSNL stands second largest cellular operator in terms of
subscriber base at the end of the fiscal ending March 31, 2007, displacing Vodafone from the
second position.
Vodafone, which operates in only eighteen circles, is the third largest operator with a
subscriber base of 32 lakh. Unlike fellow public sector undertaking, MTNL, which operates
in Mumbai and Delhi, BSNL has been a very aggressive player in the market. "Cellular
operators who expected BSNL to go the MTNL way, were taken by surprise and did not take
effective steps to counter it, till it was too late in the day," said a telecom analyst.

Belying fears of a slowdown in cellular subscriber acquisitions, the cell club has reported a
7.92% growth, the highest growth in any month so far, during March 2005. Year-on-year, the
cellular subscriber base in the country has almost doubled in March 2005, and is expanding at
the rate of 25% per year thereafter.

The cellular subscriber club expanded by 21.31 lakh last month. This is much higher than 5.9
lakh subscribers added in February 2005 and 2.13 lakh in January 2005. Idea, which operates
in Seven circles, is the fourth largest operator with a subscriber base of 17.80 lakh, higher
than BPL's 11.31 lakh subscribers across four circles. The subscriber numbers per operator
drop sharply with the sixth largest operator, Spice Communications, having a subscriber base

13

of 9.40 lakh, followed by Reliance Telecom's 8.9 lakh subscribers. MTNL is the ninth largest
operator, with a base of 8.32 lakh subscribers.

While the subscriber base-jumped by 3.38% to 44.39 lakh in the metros, subscriber base of
category A circles of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
jumped by 10.18 % to reach 43.64 lakh. Category B circles of Kerala, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar
Pradesh (West), Uttar Pradesh (East), Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal recorded
a jump of 10.69%, with a total base of 33.74 lakh subscribers. Circle C has reported 12.74 %
growth with subscriber numbers jumping to 5.08 lakh.

Among the metros, while Mumbai added 1,63,180 subscribers, higher than the 1,58,646
added by Delhi, the Capital's cellular subscriber base of over 80 lakh is still higher than
Mumbai's 66.89 lakh. While the cellular industry has been on roll for the first three quarters
of the previous financial year with an average of 16.75 lakh monthly additions in the third
quarter, the first two months of 2007 had seen the growth slowing down.

14

GSM MARKET IN INDIA

Regional Interest Groups - GSM India

With a population of around 1.1 billion growing at roughly 1.7 per cent a year, India is
potentially one of the most exciting GSM markets in the world. After two rather difficult
years, the past 12 months have seen the region's promise beginning to come to fruition. Much
of this success can be attributed to the stabilisation of the licensing and regulatory
environment.

15

India's telecommunications have undergone a steady liberalisation since 1994 when the
Indian government first sought private investment in the sector. More significant
liberalisation followed in 1996 with the licensing of new local fixed line and mobile service
providers. However, it has been the government's New Telecom Policy (1999) that has had
the most radical impact on the development of GSM services. 'The policy's mission statement
is 'affordable communications for all', There is a genuine commitment to creating a modern
and efficient communications infrastructure that takes account of the convergence of telecom,
IT and media. In addition, the policy places significant emphasis on greater competition for
both fixed and mobile services.'

Competition in the mobile sector has already had a visible impact on prices with calls
currently costing less than 9 cents per minute. This means that service costs have fallen by 60
per cent since the first GSM networks became live in 1995. It also helps explain why a recent
Telecom Asia survey revealed that more than 70 per cent of Indian mobile subscribers felt
that prices were now at a reasonable level.
One of the challenges facing GSM operators in India is the diversity of the coverage regions
-from remote rural regions to some of the most densely populated metropolitan areas in the
world. India has more than 40 networks, which cover the seven largest cities, over 7000
towns and several Lacs villages. Such depth of coverage has required enormous investment
from India's operators. It is estimated that more than Rs200 billion had been invested in
India's GSM industry by mid-2000, a figure that is set to be supplemented by a further Rs.
300 billion over the next five years.

16

The good news is that subscriber growth is beginning to look healthy. With India's low PC
penetration and high average Internet usage -at 14-20 hours a month per user it is comparable
to the US -the market for mobile data and m-commerce looks extremely promising. WAP
services have already been launched in the subcontinent and the first GPRS networks are in
the process of being rolled out. In the year ahead, GSM India will work with its members to
realise the potential of early packet services in anticipation of the award of 3GSM licences.

India fastest growing GSM mart

India is expected to have 145 million GSM (global system for mobile communications)
customers by 2007-08 compared to 26 million subscribers as on March 2005, according to
the Global Mobile Suppliers Association. "For GSM, India is a success story. It is one of the
fastest growing markets with its subscriber base doubling in 2005. At this pace, the target of
150 million subscribers by 2007-2008 is definitely achievable," Alan Hadden, president of
GSA, said at a news conference in New Delhi. Globally, the GSM market reached 1 billion
users in February 2005, he said, adding GSM accounted for 80 per cent of the new subscriber
growth in 2005."Almost every Latin American operator has chosen GSM. In North America
GSM growth is bigger than CDMA (code division multiple access)," he said. Commenting on
the raging debate over GSM versus CDMA in mobile services arena, Hadden said: "GSM is
the world's most successful mobile standard with over 1 billion users, and is an open mobile
standard. It also supports automatic international roaming, which is a major contributor to
business plans."

17

Indias GSM mobile firms revenue up 30 pct

Indias private telecoms firms offering GSM-based mobile services reported a 24 percent rise
in revenue in the year to March 2007 but said future growth rates could slow because of
heavy taxes on the nascent industry. Although Indias mobile sector is the worlds fastest
growing major wireless market, it is amongst the highest taxed industries in the country.
Mobile carriers pay as much as 25 percent of their revenue as licence fee, spectrum charges
and other taxes. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) said revenue for fiscal
2003/04 stood at 83.08 billion rupees ($1.86 billion) compared with 64 billion rupees a year
earlier. According to T.V. Ramachandran, director general at COAI, These revenue growth
rates cannot be maintained unless there is a concerted effort by the government to cut
excessive levies and allow sharing of infrastructure
But the potential to do much better exists as there is still huge demand in the sector.
Ramachandran said the sector was still losing money but declined to elaborate. Sales jumped
because of a doubling of the GSM (Global System of Mobile Communications) user base as
more people entered the flourishing market thanks to one of the lowest call rates in the world.
But the monthly average revenue per user, a key measure of profitability, declined 17.4
percent to 432 rupees in the fourth quarter compared with 523 rupees in the first quarter due
to a cut in tariffs and excessive competition among companies. Growth slowing, demand
untapped: The association has not included the financial performance and the GSM-user base
of state-run firms Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd, the second-ranked player, and Mahanagar
Telephone Nigam Ltd, Ramachandran said. There are 150 million GSM customers and more
than 96 million users of the rival CDMA-based mobile services in the country.
The pace of growth in monthly additions is slowing after just 1.25 million users took up the
service in April compared with 1.9 million in the previous month and 1.63 million in

18

February. Ramachandran blamed the slowdown on a majority of small GSM operators being
unable to expand networks into rural swathes where demand remained largely untapped.
Our surpluses are not enough to cover costs of network expansion and financing charges on
loans. We are making money only to cover operating expenses, he said. Carriers are now
subsidising handset costs to woo users into the underpenetrated industry forecast to have
more than 250 million customers by 2015.

THE CDMA CHALLENGE

CDMA players had launched their services with CDMA 2000 1X-based networks, which can
give hi-speed, always-on connectivity to the Internet, and other data services. GSM operators,
on the other hand, have had to migrate from the frustrating experience of WAP (wireless
application protocol) to GPRS, which has not significantly improved the subscribers
experience of surfing the Net on/from mobile.
The top brass of GSA, an organisation comprising Nokia, Siemens, Ericsson, Alcatel and
Lucent Technologies - met on Tuesday in the capital to persuade the operators to adopt EDGE
(Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) and leave GPRS behind as a dream gone sour.
Only Airtel, Vodafone, BPL Mobile and Idea Cellular had launched GPRS, but the data
transfer speeds of GPRS have been abysmal. The field trials gave a speed of around 54 kbps,
but the actual speeds have not exceeded 14-18 kbps, a major reason why GPRS growth has
been so slow. As against the total GSM cellular base of 5.61 crore, the country has between
2,80,000 lakh GPRS users only. In comparison, the two CDMA operators have about 120
lakh connections. All these sets are data compliant. Though no figures are available as to how
many use these for data services, the figure is believed to be respectable as a percentage ratio
for CDMA.

Bharti is almost there

19

But first, the EDGE! Bharti Cellular is close to commercially launching its EDGE service in
Delhi and Mumbai by end May or early June, sources said. The company was the first to
conduct field trials in November with its equipment supplier Ericsson. Idea too held EDGE
field trials in February this year with its vendor Nokia. Vodafone and BPL are yet to hold the
trials. The two companies would eventually migrate to EDGE, but perhaps after seeing the
response to Bhartis service.
EDGE holds the promise of delivering data speeds of around 170-180 kbps (as against the
theoretical speed of around 380 kbps) which, if achieved, promises the launch of many data
applications. The scalable cost of migrating from GPRS to EDGE is not too high and mainly
comprises software upgrades in case of a modern network such as Bharti and Hutch, claimed
chairman of GSA India chapter Rakesh Malik.
stage to 3G technologies such as WCDMA, EV-DO or EV-DA as and when the government
decides what to do with the 3G licences. WCDMA for example promises delivery of a
phenomenal 2 megabytes per second (mbps), equivalent to what a leased line in many middle
level corporates gives.

20

21

Company Profile

Bharti Airtel, incorporated on July 7, 1995 is the flagship company of Bharti

Enterprises.Bharti Group, has a diverse business portfolio and has created global brands in
the telecommunication sector. Bharti Airtel, is Asia?s leading integrated telecom services
provider with operations in India and Sri Lanka. Bharti Airtel has been at the forefront of the
telecom revolution and has transformed the sector with its worldclass services built on
leading edge technologies.
Bharti Enterprises is one of Indias leading business groups with interests in telecom, retail,
manufacturing, agri business and financial services. Bharti has recently forayed into retail
business as Bharti Retail Pvt. Ltd. under a MoU with WalMart 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.
Bharti Airtel is India?s largest integrated 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.

22

The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business
units (SBU?s) 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 95 cities and has recently launched India's best DirecttoHome (DTH) service,
Airtel digital TV. The Enterprise services provide endtoend telecom solutions to corporate
customers and national & international long distance services to carriers. All these services
are provided under the Airtel brand. Airtel's highspeed optic fibre network currently spans
over 90,205 kms covering all the major cities in the country.
The company has two international landing stations in Chennai that connects two submarine
cable systems i2i to Singapore and SEAMEWE4 to Europe.
Bharti Airtel (Singapore) Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary was incorporated on
2nd April, 2007 and will obtain a license to enable interconnecting the i2i cable with other
submarine cable systems landing in Singapore to provide increased onward connectivity to
US West Coast and also to cater to connectivity requirements in Asia Pacific and for carrying
the business of International Calling Card Services.

23

Understanding the Vision Statement of Airtel

A statement that captures the long-term picture of what the organization wants to become. A
vision statement must be inspirational, memorable and reflect the desires of those with vested
interests. The vision can be short term term goals or the long term. The following are the
vision statements of Airtel:

To be globally admired for telecom services that delight customers

Bench marked by more business
First private telecommunication company to launch long distance services.

Mission

Will meet the mobile communication needs of our customers through error -free
service delivery

Innovative products and services

Cost efficiency

Unified messaging solutions

Vision statement by 2015:

24

By 2015 airtel will be the most loved brand, enriching the lives of millions.

WHAT DOES AIRTEL OFFER?

With Airtel, the subscriber wouldn't just get a personal phone that lets him/her be in touch,
always, but also gets a host of benefits that let him/her manage his/her time like never before.
An Airtel subscriber is provided with a Subscriber Identity Module Card (SIM card) - that is
the key to operating his/her cellular phone. His card activates Airtel cellular services and
contains a complete micro-computer chip with memory to enable one to enjoy one's cellular
phone thoroughly. Each SIM card contains a PIN code (Personal Identity Number) which
may be entered by one. Just plug your SIM card into your cellular phone, enter the PIN code
and it becomes 'your' personal phone'.

TARGET MARKET SEGMENT

Airtel has targeted the premium and upper middle class. The rationale behind it is that only
those segments should be targeted who value time and have the paying capacity. It Is also
planning to target the business tourists during their stay in the capital

About 60% of the clientele are top executives of corporate houses. About 15% are foreign
organisations and the rest are professionals and small businessmen. During the introduction
stage there was intense pressure to get consumers across to hook up with their brand, because
getting them to switch brand loyalty later would be hard
So far Airtel marketers have been concentrating totally on the business executive class but
now that the basic viable volumes has beer) built up and prices have declined to a certain
extent they are planning to venture further a field.

25

COMPETITORS IN THE MARKET

Now days in the market each and every company has to face a stiff competition for its
survival. AirTel, which is the strongest brand among the private service provider in the
Indian Telecom Industry, has been facing a tough competition by some other telecom
giants like MTNL, Reliance & Tata Indicom.
MAHANAGAR TELEPHONE NIGAM LIMITED (MTNL):
MTNL was setup in 1986 by Govt. of India to upgrade the quality of telecom services,
expand the telecom network, and introduce new services and to raise revenue for Telecom
department in the key metros like Delhi & Mumbai. It has a strong financial base, market
share of 13% and customer base more than over 4.75 million lines.
RELIANCE INFOCOM:
Reliance - Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, an offshoot of the Reliance Group founded
by Shri Dhirubhai H. Ambani (1932-2002), ranks among Indias top three private sector
business houses in terms of net worth. Reliance ADA Groups flagship company, Reliance
Communications, is India's largest private sector information and Communications Company
with over 20 million subscribers.
Services provide by the company:
Reliance Broadband

A flexibility to choose the speed from the range of 100 kbps to 8000 mbps.
Bonus bandwidth of 100, 300, 600 instead of 64, 212, 524.

Charging of net surfing is also available in per minute tariff.

26

TATA INDICOM:
Tata indicom is another main competitor of Airtel in the market due its strong presence of it
in the CDMA mobility, broadband and WLL fixed phone segment.

Tata Indicom fixed phone: - Tata Indicom offers almost instant phone connections. Get Tata
Indicom Landline Phone services based on the state of the art Optical Fibre Cable-based
backbone. Enjoy greater voice clarity and say goodbye to excessive billing.

27

AIRTEL'S MARKETING ORIENTATION.

Since this is a high-involvement expensive product, the service provider has to fully take care
of the customers.
a)

They take personal responsibility to "get" the answer for any problem faced by the
customer

b)

They anticipate customers' problems and take pro-active steps to prevent them

c)

They give answers to the questions & requests, quickly & efficiently.

d)

They have a positive tone & manner while interacting with customers.

e)

They end the interaction on a positive or a humorous note-making the last 30 seconds
count.

Airtel realizes that attracting people 'Is easy but converting them into loyal customers is hard,
hence emphasis is on maintaining a 'Smiling and a Friendly Atmosphere' to please and retain
the customer.

POSITIONING
The product is sought to be positioned as a business efficiency tool. a lifestyle revolution and
a status symbol The emphasis is to remove misconception that the cell phone is an expensive
means of communication and drive home the point that the cell phone is actually a day-to-day
utility

28

PRODUCT POLICY AND PLANNING

The product or service is the heart of the marketing mix. Without a product or a service
customers' needs cannot be satisfied.
The basic product promise by Airtel is mobility. Airtel's main marketing strategy is to be a
first mover all the time. It has recognized the significance of making the first move-- because
in the field of Communication & Information Technology changes occur at a tremendous
pace.
Effective product segmentation has to be carried on continuously because basic services can
be and will be copied and in time become expected component of the product. Airtel seeks to
carry out this segmentation through provision of new information services and making new
facilities available. The product policy and planning depends on the stage of the product life
cycle. At present the cellular phone market has reached the maturity stage. Since, the
premium segment is nearing saturation the company targeting the upper middle and middlemiddle class. In order to do so Airtel is trying to optimize the price performance package by
offering suitable "product bundling".
This involves the selection of the suitable hardware (handset) and its software (its services.)
with reasonable price in order to deliver maximum price performance to its customers. In
addition, it offers free Airtime services and other concessions to make the prices and thus the
product more attractive. It has also opened a 24 hours customer service.
Only price doesn't serve as an effective differentiator, value added services become the
effective differentiator.

29

S E R V I C E S
Mobile Services
Airtel Prepaid, the Ready Cellular Card from Airtel comes to you from Bharti Enterprises,
India's leading integrated telecom service provider. Going mobile with Airtel Prepaid is a new
way of life. With a host of great features, also simple to use, Airtel Prepaid makes everything
that you dreamt and believed, possible.
3G
Airtel 3G services are available in 200 cities through its network and in 500 cities through
intra-circle roaming arrangements with other operators. Airtel had about 5.4 million 3G
customers of which 4 million are 3G data customers as of September 2012
4G
Airtel launched 4G services using TD-LTE technology in Kolkata, becoming the first
company in India to offer 4G services. Airtel had 20,000 4G subscribers in the year 2015

WiFi
Airtel has plans to launch WiFi services in India. It intends to start offering WiFi services in
Delhi NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore in initial phase. All plans will be on secure wireless
broadband internet with unlimited usage and will be session or time based. Users can use the
service by finding a hotspot, selecting airtel WiFi Zone', activating the voucher and then login
to start browsing. Airtel intends to partner with establishments to set up hotspots which will
30

be termed WiFi Hangout for an establishment owner and WiFi Partner for the cafe and
restaurant owners. Airtel WiFi Partners can offer services at zero investments and can earn
commission on every WiFi session sold
Airtel Money
Airtel has started a new mCommerce platform called Airtel Money in collaboration with
Infosys and SmartTrust (now Giesecke & Devrient). The platform was launched on 5 April
2012, at Infosys' headquarters in Bangalore. Using Airtel Money, users can transfer money,
pay bills and perform other financial transactions directly on the mobile phone.
Strong Network Coverage
Enjoy complete clarity when calling with Airtels world-class technology and unbreakable
network coverage that spans over 23 circles across the country.
Electronic Clearing System
Fill an ECS form and mail, fax it to us or drop it any of our relationship centres to directly
debit your bank account for your monthly Airtel bill.
Pay while roaming
Airtel has introduced 'anywhere payment' that offers you the convenience of making
payments while you roam. Walk in to any Airtel Relationship Centre in the country, make
payments by cash or credit card and enjoy uninterrupted Airtel Services.

31

Other services includes:

Smart Drive

Network Experience Centre

iPhone

Instant Balance and Validity Enquiry

Recharge your Airtel Prepaid

Subscription Alerts
MMS
Airtel Live
Airtel Live! WAP Services
Hello Tunes
Copy a Hello Tune
Gift a Hello Tune

32

SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS

Cost advantage

Current leaders in quality service

Largest distribution network

Ability to constantly innovate

Highly skilled workforce

Entrepreneurial zeal

Airtels increased equity and market cap.

WEAKNESSES

To prove credibility

Price pressures

Need for Government support

Awareness

Sales and Marketing

OPPORTUNITIES

To sustain passion and commitment

Airtels market share increasing at other service provider expense. Thus opportunity to
wipe it out.

Attain higher value services

Collaborative business needs to be explored

Vertical repeatable solutions.

33

Low penetration level in rural markets.

THREATS

Foreign investment

Global trends moving from GPS to WLL.

Lack of global parity in telecom tariff

Other competition

34

35

MARKETING STRATEGY BY AIRTEL

Bharti 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 since the players almost immediately matched price reduction moves,
companies had begun focusing 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 Vodafone, Reliance,.
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. Bharti has spent a considerable amount on
advertising its mobile phone service, Airtel. Besides print advertising, the company had put
up large no of hoardings and kiosks in and around Delhi. The objective behind designing a
promotion campaign for the Airtel services is to promote the brand awareness and to build
brand preferences. It is trying to set up a thematic campaign to build a stronger brand equity
for Airtel. Since the cellular phone category itself is too restricted, also the fact that a Cellular
phone is a high involvement product, price doesn't qualify as an effective differentiator. The
image of the service provider counts a great deal. Given the Cell phone category, it is the
network efficiency and the quality of service that becomes important. What now the buyer is
looking at is to get the optimum price-performance package. This also serves as an effective
differentiator Brand awareness is spread through the' campaigns and brand preference

36

through brand stature. Airtel's campaign in the capital began with a series of 'teaser' hoardings
across the city,' bearing just the company's name and without explaining what Airtel was. In
the next phase the campaign associated Airtel with Cellular only thereafter was the Bharti
Cellular connection brought up. Vans with Airtel logos roamed the city, handing out
brochures about the company and its services to all consumers. About 50,000 direct callers
were sent out. When the name was well entrenched in the Delhiitess mind, the Airtel
campaign began to focus on the utility of Cellphone. In the first four months alone Airtei's
advertisement spends exceeded Rs. 4 crores. As of today the awareness level is 60% unaided.
This implies that if potential or knowledgeable consumers are asked to name a Cellular phone
service provider that is on the top of his/her mind 60% of them would name Airtel. As for
aided it -is 100% (by giving clues and hints etc.).
Brand strength of a product or the health of a brand is measured by the percentage score of
the brand on the above aided and the unaided tests. The figures show that Airtel is a healthy
and a thriving brand.
Every company has a goal, which might comprise a sales target and a game plan with due
regard to its competitor. 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".
The status of the product in terms of its life cycle has just reached the maturity stage in India.
It is still on the rising part of the product life cycle curve in the maturity stage.
The diagram on the left hand side shows the percentage of the users classified into heavy,
medium and low categories. The right hand side shows the revenue share earned from the
three types of users.

37

Airtel, keeping in mind the importance of the customer retention, values its heavy users the
most and constantly indulges in service innovation. But, since heavy users comprise only 15 20% of the population the other segment cannot be neglected. The population which has just
realized the importance of cellular phones has to be roped in. It is for this reason that the
service provider offers a plethora of incentives and discounts. Concerts like the "Freedom
concert" are being organized by Airtel in order to promote sales. The media channel is chosen
with economy in mind. The target segment is not very concrete but, there is an attempt to
focus on those who can afford. The print advertisements and hoarding are placed in those
strategic areas which most likely to catch the attention of those who need a cellular phone.
The product promise (which might cost different 1 higher) is an important variable in
determining the target audience. Besides this, other promotional strategies that Airtel has
adopted are .

People who have booked Airtel services have been treated to exclusive premiers of
blockbuster movies. Airtel has tied up with Lufthansa to offer customer bonus miles

on the German airlines frequent flier's programs.

There have been educational campaigns,

image

campaigns,

pre

launch

advertisements, launch advertisements, congratulatory advertisements, promotional

advertise-ments, attacking advertisements and tactical advertisements.

38

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
Airtel to Touch Tomorrow with a new brand vision
The Bharti Mobile promoted AirTel cellular service will go in for repositioning of
its brand image. The new brand ethos is portrayed in two distinct fashions - the tag line
"Touch Tomorrow", which underscores the leading theme for the new brand vision, followed
by "The Good Life", which underscores a more caring, more customer centric organization.
Aimed at re-engineering its image as just simply a cellular service provider to an all out
information communications services provider, Touch Tomorrow is meant to embrace the
new generation of mobile communication services and the changing scope of customer needs
and aspirations that come along with it.
The new communication is about a new dimension in the cellular category that goes
beyond the Internet, SMS, roaming, IVRS, etc but which engulfs the whole gamut of wireless
digital broadband services that will constitute tomorrows cellular services. The new campaign
is in two phases - the first of which will communicate overall brand philosophy and the
second products and services. According to Mr. Jagdish Kini, Chief Operating Officer, Bharti
Mobile Limited, Karnataka "We are adopting a new brand- platform - Touch Tomorrow - not
only to reflect our corporate ethos but also business strategy".

Business Strategy
to capitalize on the growth opportunities that the Company believes are available in
39

the Indian telecommunications market and consolidate its position to be the leading
integrated telecommunications services provider in key markets in India, with a focus
on providing mobile services.
The Company has developed the following strategies to achieve its strategic objective:
1. Focus on maximizing revenues and margins;
2. Capture maximum telecommunications revenue potential with minimum
geographical coverage;
3. Offer multiple telecommunications services to provide customers with a "onestop shop" solution;
4. Position itself to tap data transmission opportunities and offer advanced
mobile data services;
5. Focus on satisfying and retaining customers by ensuring high level of
customer satisfaction;
6. Leverage strengths of its strategic and financial partners; and
7. Emphasize on human resource development to achieve operational
efficiencies.

40

Mobile Strategy

Capture maximum telecommunications revenue potential with minimum geographical

coverage to maximize its revenues and margins.
Build high quality mobile networks by deploying state-of-the-art technology to offer
superior services.
Use the experience it has gained from operating its existing mobile networks to
develop and operate other mobile networks in India and to share the expertise across
all of its existing and new circles.
Attract and retain high revenue generating customers by providing competitive tariffs,
offering high quality customer support, proactive retention programs and roaming
packages across all of its mobile circles.

Provide affordable tariff plans to suit each segment of the market with a view to expand the
reach, thereby increasing the mobile customer base rapidly.

41

Media Strategy
The primary media used for the rebranding campaign was television and print so that
everyone would get to see the ad & this would create an impact in his mind. Later in the
secondary media, OOH and digital media was used extensively so that there was an
immediate brand recall of the new logo and the brand Airtel.
JWT was the creative agency that has worked on the new Airtel campaign currently playing
out on TV, print, outdoor.

SALES DEPARTMENT AND STRATEGY

A.

Major Accounts (Direct Channel)

Handles corporate (named and famed) accounts

Forecasting of sales

Mapping the accounts

Providing after sales support to the subscribers.

Maintaining call reports for records.

Providing Feedback to the marketing department regarding the requirement of the

market.

CURRENT STRATEGY4(G)
As it looks to expand its cellular services globally With an eye on the youth in
Bangladesh,India and Sri Lanka, Bharti Airtel has rebranded itself as 'airtel' and launched a
global campaign that will rebrand its operations across the world. The new brand identity has
been created in sync with the launch of the company's fourth generation (4G) services
42

FINDINGS
1. Twenty two percent of dealers believe that Airtel is the most preferred brand while the
other eighty eight percent believe that others are alos popular among the costumers.
2. It is clear that the most popular service Among the customers is air tel standard and
then airtel business because of their convenient tariff rates. However, each service is
suitable for specific class of people depending on their usage.
3. Thirty percent dealers are not fully satisfied with the netwok. They nelieve that there
is scope for improvement as the signals are sometimes not proper in the interiors.
Sometimes even inside trhe house or shop signals get weak.
4. All the dealers are satisfied with the knowledge of the customer service people of
Airtel. They understand their problems and give them a reasonable solution.
5. Most of the dealers i.e. near about 90% have the problem that when they make a call
to the computerized customer care department it takes long time near about 5-10
minutes for their call to be transferred to the customer care executives.
6. Most of the dealers are satisfied with the responsiveness of customer care executive in
calling back to them if proper solution was not available for the first time.
7. Nearly thirty-six percent dealers have low level of satisfied with the department that
leaves much needed scope for improvement.
8. The substantial percentage of dealers (27%) have a low level of satisfaction with the
company representatives to them. Also 21 percent dealers are not at all satisfied with
them.
9. It is clear that the dealers are not satisfied with the schemes provided by the company.
They have the complaint that thought the customers are benefited from the various

43

schemes there are not many schemes for their benefit. Sometimes the schemes are
communicated to them slightly late and thus them the benefits from them.
10. Near about fifty percent dealers are not much satisfied with the margins given by the
company. The possible reason for this is the frequent fluctuations in them. Many times
they get less than what is assured.
11. It is clear that dealers immediately inform the franchisee about the receipt of the
activation forms and it all depends on how those forms are passed on to the
franchisees for timely activation.
12. Almost half of the dealers (50%) have high level of satisfaction and they should be
moved to the highest class. Thirty percent are on the average side this clearly points
out the deficiencies in the companys policies and attitude towards the dealers. Being
the most important part of the channel network but that too not under the companys
direct control should be properly considered and policies should be revised.
13. It is clear that there is not much difference in the opinion of dealers. Fifty-five percent
are agreed to setup the required network while forty-five percent are not. Its a mixed
a bag situation and company has to decide accordingly.
14. Near about sixty percent dealers always wait for the clearance of the cheque. Thirty
percent depend on their appraisal of the customer and then decide accordingly. Only
ten-percent takes risk pass on the activation, as they dont want to loose their
customer.
15. The dealers liking about the various features of the company. It is clear their
responses that AirTels Brand Image is best of the lot, the other features are also
important but the brand image is most compelling one for them.

44

16. Seventy-five percent dealers are not satisfied with the companys attitude towards the
dealers. Nearly fifty percent are not satisfied with the promotional strategy and
Services offered by the company for them. Some of them have given no responses as
they consider them a part of every business.

45

SUGGESTIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

Despite investments in integrated ERP, customer care, billing and network management
systems, telecom operators still struggle to achieve the promises of strategic information
management: providing relevant and meaningful information on Product, Customer and
Channel performance. What's needed? Structuring and pulling together the disparate pieces of
cost, revenue and performance information, to provide a view of where value is being
generated in the business.
Utilizing CRM systems to collect customer data
Customer attributes and segmentation
Product analysis for better yield management.
Financial, understanding of Customer costs and profitability
Typical situation.
Ideal Integrated Solution.
Closed loop marketing

Some of the recommendations for Airtel are as follows:

Airtel should use CRM as a platform for efficient delivery of a suite of products, services
and applications to its 25 million plus mobile, landline and broadband customers.

For telecom, IT is like bread and butter. We believe it plays two significant roles-it works
as a support system, and it can also be a business driver. Thus IT is very important for
Airtel to understand and segregate customer needs depending on the product and services
he is buying.

46

One of the primary things that can be done is the segmentation of customers. With this,
AirTel will be able to give its customers more value for money.

The future migration in bandwidth or zones should be done in such a manner that the
existing customer base do not suffer.

The Airtel subscriber or customer should get the same quality of service no matter which
of their call centres he contacts. This should be their vision unified services across the
country.

It is vital for them to manage the expectations of the customers and thus provide them
with innovative products and services in a manner which makes them loyal.

Besides the game play of retaining customers, many operators are also constantly
challenged to build a profitable postpaid customer base. Thus Airtel should try and initiate
schemes that help Migrating of prepaid customers to a postpaid plan by creatively
introducing the right value-added services to right customers and communicating with
customers effectively

Airtel can look forward to Acquiring quality customers and using new customer induction
and expectation management as a retention tool and managing monthly payment cycles to
minimize defaults and engaging channels to expand the reach for retention programs.

Set up a department which will exclusively handle complaints of dealer and solve them
ASAP. This should on similar lines of customer care department.

Thus the core business drivers of Airtel should be:

a

Useful segmentation methodology and techniques

Effective churn analysis and prediction

Successful cross and up-selling

47

CONCLUSION

From above the details I conclude that most Airtel users preferred to remain with
Airtel and that to mainly because of its brand value. Also good no. of users who were
willing to switch from their respective subscribers showed interest in Airtel. Hence,
these statistics imply a bright future for the company. Also the company is now
providing more services like the door to door services which is you dial the Airtel
customer care and would like to send someone flowers the Airtel company delivers
those flowers to the person concerned. Also Airtel is providing free text messaging
service and free voice mail service. Call conferencing is also another feature Airtel
provides.

But after conducting the dealer survey we conclude that Airtel has to pay special
attention on its dealer handling mechanism as they contribute a huge part in making
the customer brand loyal. They are the main source which provides customers the
details about the various tariff plans. So it is important for company to make them
aware of the plans and give them quality services.

48

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Websites
http://www.airtel.in/wps/wcm/connect/airtel.in/airtel.in/home
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharti_Airtel
http://www.bhartiairtel.in/index.php?id=aboutbhartiairtel
http://www.airtel.in/wps/wcm/connect/Airtel.in/airtel.in/home/foryou/mobile/postpaid/featur/
http://www.airtel.sc/airtel_prepaid.html
Dealers in Ulhasnagar region whom I had personally approached to collect data and fill
questionnaires.

49

Questionnaire
Dealer

Dealers Name

Phone

Mobile

Q-1 In whose services you deal most?

(a) AirTel

(b) others

Percentage:_________
Q-2 Which type AirTels service customer mostly prefer?
(a) AirTel Leisure

(b) AirTel Business

(c) AirTel Standard

Q-3 How would you rate AirTels network in your area?
(a) Excellent

(b) Good

(c) Needs improvement

Q-4 How Knowledgeable is our customer service people?

(a) Excellent

(b) Very Good

(c) So-So

(d) Dissatisfied

(e) Strongly Dis-satisfied

Q-5 When phoning our office how quickly is your call transferred?
(a) Immediately

(b) within few minutes

(c) Takes Time________

Q-6 How responsive are the customer care executives in returning the phone calls?
(a) Excellent

(b) Very Good (c) So-So

(d) Dissatisfied

(e) Strongly Dis-satisfied

50

Q-7 Overall how you rate our customer service department?

(a) Excellent

(b) Very Good

(c) So-So

(d) Dissatisfied

(e) Strongly Dissatisfied

Q-8 How do you rate the usefulness of our sales representatives Visit?
(a) Excellent

(b) very Good

(c) So-So

(d) Dissatisfied

(e) Strongly Dissatisfied

Q-9 How do you rate our schemes?

(a) Excellent

(b) Very Good

(c) So-So

(d) Dissatisfied

(e) Strongly Dissatisfied

Q-10 How attractive is our margins?

(a) Excellent

(b) Very Good

(c) So-So

(d) Dissatisfied

(e) Strongly Dissatisfied

Q-11 How much activations you make monthly?

___________________________________________________________________
Q-12 Time within which you inform the franchisee about receipt of activation?
(a) < 1 hour

(b) 1-2 hours

(c) > 2 hours

Q-13 What is your overall level of satisfaction with our services?

(a) Excellent

(b) Very Good

(c) So-So

(d) Dissatisfied

(e) Strongly Dissatisfied

51

Q-14 Is it feasible that activations are made from your office directly by setting the
required computer network?
(a) Yes

(b) No

Q-15. In case of Cheque payments do you wait for the cheque to be cleared before you
pass on the activation to the franchisee?
(a)Always

(b) Generally

(c) Never

Q-16 What do you like best about the company.

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Q-17 What do you like least about the company.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Q-18 Additional comments/prolems/suggestions.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

52