A

Project Report

On

“MARKETING STRATEGY OF AIRTEL

SELLING OF SIM AND PLANS”

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment for the Degree of

Bachelor of Business Administration

S.S. JAIN SUBODH P.G (Autonomous) COLLEGE JAIPUR

(2018-19)

Submitted by Submitted to
Saksham Shrivastava Dr. Swati Tiwari
BBA V sem.
 CERTIFICATE

Certified that this project report entitled MARKETING

STRATEGY OF AIRTEL is a record of project work done
independently by Mr. Saksham Shrivastava under my guidance
and supervision and that it has not previously formed the basis for
the award of any degree, fellowship or associate ship to his/her.

Dr.Swati Tiwari
Faculty Guide
S.S.Jain Subodh P.G.(Autonomous)College
Jaipur
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this project report entitled MARKETING

STRATEGY OF AIRTEL is a bonafide record of work done by
me during the course of summer project work and that it has not
previously formed the basis for the award to me for any
degree/diploma, associate ship, fellowship or other similar title of
any other institute/society.

Saksham Shrivastava
Name of the Student
S.S. Jain Subodh P.G.(Autonomous) College
Jaipur
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is not often in life that you get a chance of appreciating and

expressing your feelings in black and white to thank the people
who have been a crucial part of your successes, yours
accomplishments, and your being what you are today. I take this
opportunity to first of all thank the Faculty at S.S. Jain Subodh
P.G.(Autonomous)College, especially Dr. K.B.Sharma, Principal,
and Dr. Rita Jain for inculcating and instilling in me the
knowledge, learning, will-power, values and the competitiveness
and professionalism required by me as a management student.

I would like to give special thanks to Dr. Swati Tiwari (Faculty

Guide) for educating me silver lining in every dark cloud. Her
enduring efforts, guidance, patience and enthusiasm have given a
sense of direction and purposefulness to this project and
ultimately made it a success.

I express my sincere and heartiest thanks to everyone who has

contributed towards the successful completion of the Project,
undertaken by me at AIRTEL.

Last but not the least; I would like to thank my family: my

parents, for supporting me spiritually throughout my life. The
errors and inconsistencies remain my own.

Name of the Student

Saksham Shrivatava
 INDEX
CHAPTER NO. PARTICULAR PAGE NO.
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1-14
CHAPTER 2 INTRODUCTION 15-33
TO THE INDUSTRY
CHAPTER 3 PROFILE OF THE 34-39
COMPANY
3.1- RESEARCH 40-41
METHODOLOGY
3.2 OBJECTIVES 42
3.3 LIMITATIONS 43
CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS & 44-57
INTERPRETATION
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 74
RECOMMANDATI 75
ON
BIBLOGRAPHY 76
INTRODUCTION

1
MARKETING STRATEGY
Marketing strategy is a long-term, forward-looking approach to planning with the
fundamental goal achieving a sustainable competitive advantage.Strategic
planning involves an analysis of the company's strategic initial situation prior to
the formulation, evaluation and selection of market-oriented competitive position
that contributes to the company's goals and marketing objectives.

Strategic marketing, as a distinct field of study emerged in the 1970s, and built on
strategic management that preceded it. Marketing strategy highlights the role of
marketing as a link between the organisation and its customers.

At its most basic level, strategic marketing addresses three deceptively simple
questions: (1) Where are we now? (2) Where are we going? and (3) How are we
going to get there? In attempting to answer these questions, strategic planners
require sophisticated skills in both research and analysis.

Marketing management versus marketing strategy

The distinction between “strategic” and “managerial” marketing is used to

distinguish "two phases having different goals and based on different conceptual
tools. Strategic marketing concerns the choice of policies aiming at improving the
competitive position of the firm, taking account of challenges and opportunities
proposed by the competitive environment. On the other hand, managerial
marketing is focused on the implementation of specific targets."[3] Marketing
strategy is about "lofty visions translated into less lofty and practical goals [while
marketing management] is where we start to get our hands dirty and make plans
for things to happen."[4] Marketing strategy is sometimes called higher

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order planning because it sets out the broad direction and provides guidance and
structure for the marketing program.

Types of marketing strategies

52 Types of Marketing Strategies In Use Today:

Cause Marketing

Finding a causes both your customers and your company cares about can create
magic for your business. This requires internal knowledge about what your
organisation cares about and who they want to help in the world. A good example
of this is Toms Shoes. Instead of doing the traditional “buy one get one free”
promotion, Toms built a strong customer following and reputation for giving back
by giving away a free pair of shoes to someone in need for every shoe purchase
made by their customers.

Close Range Marketing (CRM)

Use Wifi or bluetooth to send promotional messages of their products and services
to their customers’ smartphones and tablets at close proximity. Close Range
Marketing is also known as Proximity Marketing.

Relationship Marketing

Many companies focus on building relationships with their customers instead of

always exclusive trying to sell them something (transactional marketing).
Customers who love your brand more will also spend more money with your
brand. Many traditional retailers have found this to be true. Walgreens has seen
that customers who buy from all of their purchasing channels (store, web, mobile,
etc) buy up to six times more than the average customer that only buys in their
store.

3
Transactional Marketing

Driving sales can be challenging, especially for retailers that have to consistently
sell products in high volume to consumers. In order to stay with the demands of
investors, retailers have to encourage consumers to buy using coupons, discounts,
liquidations, and sales events. High volume big-box retailers like Target are
constantly running promotional events in order to get interested consumers into
their stores.

Scarcity Marketing

In some markets it’s important to control how much product is available at one
time. In many cases this is done because of the difficulty of acquiring raw
materials or higher quality of the product. A company may choose to make their
products accessible to only a few customers. Rolls-Royce’s release of
their Chinese edition car called Phantom sold quickly. While the cost of the car
was higher than most cars the scarcity drove the desire and the price.

Word of Mouth Marketing

Word-of-mouth Marketing is the passing of information from person to person by

oral communication. Customers are very excited to share with the world the
brands they love. Many consumers find meaning in sharing stories of their
favorite products and services. Word of Mouth is one of the ancient ways people
learned about what to purchase. Modern marketers have learned how to create
authentic word of mouth for their companies and the products they represent.

Call to Action (CTA) Marketing

CTA Marketing refers to methods of converting web traffic into leads or sales on
websites using text, graphics, or other elements of web design. Conversion
strategies help improve the percentage of online visitors who become customers
or who join the mailing list.

4
Viral Marketing

Cult Brand marketers are constantly creating new business ideas that keep their
products in the heart and minds of the global consumer. Each time a new product
is created, customers have to be given a reason to dream about their future
purchase. Sometimes marketers of Cult Brands hit on something so great that
people can’t help but share with others. Getting your customers talking about your
products and services is very important to growing awareness for your business.

Diversity Marketing

Develop a customized marketing plan by analyzing different customer segments

based on cultural differences including tastes, expectations, beliefs, world views,
and specific needs.

Undercover Marketing

Sometimes not telling everyone everything can become a great source of buzz.
Think of a movie trailer that got you very excited to go see the movie. While not
showing all the aspects of the movie, the advertiser can create enough intrigue to
drive viewers to want to see more.

Mass Marketing

Major corporations need to drive large numbers of purchasing of their products in

order to survive and grow. While mass marketing may seem like a shotgun
approach to marketing this is far from the truth. Big businesses spend big money
in understanding big data–thats a lot of bigs!) This gives them an insight to where
to place media for their potential national customers who buy their products and
services. Walmart is an example of an effective mass market retailer. As the
number one retailer in the world, they are very smart about their mass marketing
efforts, often giving their customers a feeling of locality and warmth.

5
Seasonal Marketing

Seasonal events offers a great way to meet new consumers. Sometimes these
events can be actual changes of weather or national holidays. For a retailer
like Hallmark, Valentine’s Day represents a large portion of their business. By
tuning into the various seasons that are important to your customers you can
become more relevant in their lives.

PR Marketing

One of the most important marketing strategies is public relations. Many effective
marketers work with the media to bring awareness to their products and the
benefits their products offer. Also, in many cases where things go wrong, a good
PR marketing strategy is vital. When Apple’s founder Steve Jobs was alive, Apple
held a major press conference to announce every new product. This tradition is
now continued by their new Apple CEO and CMO.

Online Marketing

As commerce has propagated to the Internet, a new form of marketing has

emerged. From online banners to those annoying pop ups, online marketers have
attempted to get their customers attention any way they can. Most online strategic
marketing efforts today are a mix of growth hacking strategies ( A/B testing taken
to the max) and a variety of awareness tactics that drive attention. A very effective
online marketer is the insurance company Geico who simply asks their users to
enter their zip code for an instant quote on a better savings.

Email Marketing

As soon as customers migrated into the online world, Internet marketers have
attempted to collect and organize emails for potential prospects. Many business-
to-business marketers depend on email marketing as a primary way to connect

6
with customers. At industry tradeshows, IBM consultants can often be seen
exchanging email information with their prospects.

Evangelism Marketing

Develop raving fan customers (what we call Brand Lovers) who become
advocates of your brand or product, and who represent the brand as if it was part
of their own identity

Event Marketing

Creating events is a great way to drive sales. Customers often need a reason to
shop and events can often offer the perfect reason. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day
Parade has become part of American culture by connecting two events together
that consumers love: Thanksgiving and shopping.

Offline Marketing

With mass adoption of the Internet, many companies are finding new ways of
integrating offline marketing with new technologies to create more engaging
customer experiences. The Coca-Cola company has create vending machines that
invite customers to hug them. This continues to tie the Coca-Cola brand to the
core emotion of happiness, but also invite customers to experience the real
product offline.

Outbound Marketing

Sometimes it’s important for companies to let their potential customers know they
exist. By developing a list of prospects a company can begin to reach out to their
individual target groups in order to find new customers. When Microsoft was
selling their accounting software they often used outbound marketing to identify
potential targets before trying to call the companies for an in-person meeting.

Direct Marketing

7
Communicate directly with customers and prospects through mail, email, texts,
fliers and other promotional material.

Inbound Marketing

Companies often have customers calling them for various reasons. This can
present a great opportunity to sell customers additional products and services they
currently don’t have. When business customers call to check their balances, the
business bank Chase often takes the opportunity to ask if they are interest in a
credit line, a 401 k plan, or a variety of other services the bank offers.

Freebie Marketing

Promote free give aways or sell your products and services sold at low rates to
boost the sales of other related products or services.

Newsletter Marketing

A fun way to promote a business is to write a newsletter that highlights some of

the newsworthy things that have happened for the organization. The Motley
Fool have been sharing their investment insights with their community for many
years. These newsletters create a sense of inclusion and participation with their
members and has provided a key driver for their incredible growth.

Article Marketing

In industries where expertise is highly valued, articles can offer a powerful tool to
showcase your knowledge and expertise. Some innovations are shared in the form
of articles or white papers where technical information needs to be convey to
specialized buyers. Amazon.com has dedicated part of their site for white papers
on technical know-how on cloud computing. This is a very sophisticated form of
marketing for specialized buyers.

Content Marketing

8
Write and publish content to educate potential customers about your products and
services. For the appropriate businesses, this can be an effective means of
influencing them without using direct selling methods.

Tradeshow Marketing

Many products have to be experienced to be bought. There are very few

customers that will buy a new automobile without doing a great deal of research
and test-driving the car first. Tradeshows are industry gatherings where customers
are invited to come sample all that the industry has to offer. To introduce their
new lines of products, Ford Motor Company spends a great deal of time setting up
and operating their booth at the international consumer auto shows each year.
These auto trade shows give reporters and consumers a chance to experience cars
first hand.

Search Marketing

These days, when consumers have questions they often don’t ask their friends;
they go straight for Google. In fact, Google is so good at answering our questions
that millions of people daily search for their answers on this leading Internet
search site. One does not have to look far to see the power of search marketing.
Google has shaped the industry for many years now and has helped hundred of
retailers grow their businesses. While many businesses used to advertise in their
local yellow pages, as less and less consumer consult their local physical
directory, this channel becomes increasingly less effective each year.

Direct Marketing

Advertise and promote your products and services to customers using a range of
digital devices including computers, smartphones, and tablets. Internet Marketing
is an essential practice in Digital Marketing. Once a target market has been clearly
identified, it is possible to work in conjunction with the USPS or a professional
mail carrier that knows where your customers live. Direct marketing can be an

9
effective way to reach consumers right where they live at home. While there is
often a negative side to this approach (consumers don’t want to be bothered with a
flurry of mail), many smart companies execute direct marketing well. Catalog
retailer L.L. Bean, for example, created direct marketing programs that their
customers looks forward to receiving.

Niche Marketing

Finding a niche and filling it could be described as the secret recipe for growth in
over-crowded marketplaces. Take the shoe business, for example. There is a great
demand for shoes in the world and so many top companies have evolved to satisfy
most of the immediate shoe needs in the marketplace. The shoe space might seem
crowded, but shoe manufacturing company Vans noticed an underserved
customer: the skater. By focusing on this niche market Vans has developed a
thriving business.

Drip Marketing

Drip marketing is a communication strategy that sends, or “drips,” a pre-written

set of messages to customers or prospects over time. These messages often take
the form of email marketing, although other media outlets can also be used as
well.

Community Marketing

Engage an audience of existing customers in an active dialogue, speaking to the

needs and wants of this particular customer group. Instead of focusing on
generating the next transaction, community marketing promotes greater loyalty
and higher levels of engagement within an existing brand community. Learn how
to build brand communities here. Community marketing can also lead to word of
mouth marketing.

Social Media Marketing

10
Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter offer a unique opportunity for savvy
businesses willing to invest in customer engagement. Social media marketing is
still in its infancy but is growing up rather quickly. Companies like Southwest
Airlines have departments of over 30 people whose primary responsibility is to
actively engage with customers on social media.

Cross-Media Marketing

Provide customers information through multiple channels like email, physical

mail, websites, and print and online advertisements to cross
promote your products and services.

B2B Marketing

Business-to-business marketing is a marketing practice of individuals or

organizations (including commercial businesses, governments, and other
institutions). It allows businesses to sell products or services to other companies
or organizations that in turn resell the same products or services, use them to
augment their own products or services, or use them to support their internal
operations. International Business Machines is a well known B2B marketer.
IBM’s business has grown because taking a very intelligent approach at marketing
their products to other business and governments around the world.

Promotional Marketing

Promotional marketing is a business marketing strategy designed to stimulate a

customer to take action towards a buying decision. Promotional marketing is a
technique that includes various incentives to buy.

Ambush Marketing

Advertiser use this marketing strategy to associate with specific events and brands
without paying sponsorship fees. This allows the business to capitalize on these

11
events or leverage the brand equity of the other business, which has the potential
effect of loweringthe value of the original event.

B2C Marketing

The ultimate goal of B2C marketing (business-to-consumer marketing) is to

convert shoppers into buyers as aggressively and consistently as possible. B2C
marketers employ merchandising activities like coupons, displays, store fronts
(both real and online) and special offers to entice the target market to buy. B2C
marketing campaigns are focused on a transaction, are shorter in duration, and
need to capture the customer’s interest immediately. These campaigns often offer
special deals, discounts, or vouchers that can be used both online and in the store.

Cloud Marketing

In this new form of marketing, all marketing resources and assets are
brought online so customers (or affiliates) can develop, modify, use, and share
them. Consider how Amazon.com gets customers to buy digital books, movies,
and televisions shows in a digital library that is accessible in the customer’s online
account or on their digital device like their Kindle Fire.

Mobile Marketing

Marketing on or with a mobile device, such as a smart phone. Mobile marketing

can provide customers with time and location sensitive, personalized information
that promotes goods, services, and ideas. Here is a recent example of mobile
marketing in action.

Alliance Marketing

A joint venture is formed between two or more businesses to pool resources in an

effort to promote and sell products and services.

Reverse Marketing

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In reverse marketing, the idea is to get the customer to seek out the business rather
than marketers seeking the customer. Usually, this is done through traditional
means of advertising, such as television advertisements, print magazine
advertisements, and online media. While traditional marketing mainly deals with
the seller finding the right set of customers and targeting them, reverse marketing
focuses on the customer approaching potential sellers who may be able to offer
the desired product.

In 2004, Dove launched the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty focusing on the
natural beauty of women rather than advertising their product. This campaign
caused their sales to soar above $1 Billion and caused Dove to re-create their
brand around this strategy. Although successful, this campaign caused a lot of
controversy and discussion due to what people saw as an advertisement with a
contradictory message.

Telemarketing

I know what you are thinking, you hate telemarketers. You are not alone in your
feelings. However, telemarketing can play an important part of selling your
products to consumers and it must not be overlooked as many companies rely on
it to connect with customers. Telemarketing (sometimes known as inside sales, or
telesales in the UK and Ireland) is a method of direct marketing in which a
salesperson solicits prospective customers to buy products or services, either over
the phone or through a subsequent face to face or Web conferencing appointment
scheduled during the call. Telemarketing can also include recorded sales pitches
programmed to be played over the phone via automatic dialing. Telemarketing has
come under fire in recent years, being viewed as an annoyance by many.

Free Sample Marketing

Unlike Freebie Marketing, this is not dependent on complementary marketing, but

rather consists of giving away a free sample of the product to influence the
consumer to make the purchase.

13
Direct Mail Marketing

A channel-agnostic form of advertising that allows businesses and nonprofits

organizations to communicate directly with the customer, with advertising
techniques that can include text messaging, email, interactive consumer websites,
online display ads, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional letters, and outdoor
advertising. Direct marketing messages emphasize a focus on the customer, data,
and accountability. Characteristics that distinguish direct marketing are.

Database Marketing

Database Marketing is a form of direct marketing using databases of customers or

potential customers to generate personalized messages in order to promote a
product or service for marketing purposes. The method of communication can be
any addressable medium, as in direct marketing.The distinction between direct
marketing and database marketing stems primarily from the attention paid to the
analysis of data.

Personalized Marketing

Personalized marketing (also called personalization, and sometimes called one-to-

one marketing) is an extreme form of product differentiation. Whereas product
differentiation tries to differentiate a product from competing ones,
personalization tries to make a unique product offering for each customer. Nike
ID is a popular brand that has developed a strong business around this
personalization marketing concept.

Affinity Marketing

Create strategic partnerships that are mutually beneficial by forming alliances

with complementary brands. Also known as partnership marketing, with this
strategy, one brands generates sales while the other creates new customers and
builds brand awareness.

14
Cult-tural Marketing

The proposition of cult marketing holds reign upon the notion that a way to
convert—ahem, excite … OK, convert—consumers is by using timeless human
behavioral drives found in religious cults. Heck, fellow acolytes, nothing is more
permission-, buzz- and one-to-one-based than “a central ideology with a parallel
social universe rich with customs.” Cult marketing is a bright spot in the list of
newfangled marketing templates, one that applies timeless social-science
principles in a powerful way. To the list of newfangled marketing buzzwords, let’s
add the term cult.

Humanistic Marketing

Human needs are “a state of felt deprivation.” They distinguish between physical
needs (food, shelter, safety, clothing), social needs (belonging and affection), and
individual needs (knowledge, self-expression). Needs are a relatively narrow set
of non-cultural states of felt deprivation.

Guerrilla Marketing

Grass root, untraditional, and low-budget methods that found involve creativity,
big crowds of people, and the element of surprise to market or promote a product,
service, brand, event, or new launch.

Brand Lover Marketing

Brand Lover Marketing is a marketing concept that is intended to replace the idea
of traditional brand marketing. Brands are running out of juice and Brand
Lovers are what is needed to rescue brands. But what builds loyalty that goes
beyond reason? What makes a truly great brand stand out? Brand Lovers bring
brands to life. For a brand to elevate itself into the “Cult Brand” category, it has to
give customers a feeling of belonging while generating strong feelings of love for

15
its customers. Creating loyalty beyond reason requires emotional connections that
generate the highest levels of love and a sense of belonging for your brand.

16
INTRODUCTION
TO THE INDUSTRY

17
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.

18
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.

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.

19
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 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.

20
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.

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.

21
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.

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."

22
India’s GSM mobile firms’ revenue up 30 pct
India’s 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 India’s
mobile sector is the world’s 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 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.

23
“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
2007. Roughly three percent of Indians own a mobile phone compared with about
20 percent in China. About a dozen firms such as Bharti Airtel Ltd, 28 percent
owned by Singapore Telecommunications, Reliance Infocomm Ltd and the Indian
GSM-unit of Vodafone group battle in the hotly competitive sector.

24
DOES GSM HAVE THE EDGE?

GSM operators are not the only ones who are worried about the rapid strides
made by CDMA mobile players Reliance Infocomm and Tata Indicom in the
Indian cellular market?
The GSM suppliers – both handset and equipment - who incidentally also have
their other foot firmly placed in the CDMA pie, are beginning to lose some sleep
over what was earlier termed as `niche’ and `minuscule’ data carriage market by
the operators
Apart from the strong success of the two CDMA operators whose networks are
based on code division multiple access (CDMA), the miserable showing of the
four global standard for mobile (GSM) based networks that launched general
packet radio service (GPRS) service for data connectivity in last three years, has
the vendors worried. Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) now believes
that even though India will primarily remain a voice traffic-led market in next
two-three years, the data traffic component will grow by 25-30 per cent, an
optimism that it’s trying to make GSM operators feel as well.

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 subscriber’s 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.

25
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
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
Bharti’s service.

26
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 3the ‘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 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 Delhiites’s mind, the Airtel campaign began to
focus on the utility of Cellphone. In the first four months alone Airtei's
advertisement spend 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

27
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.
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 realised 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
organised 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 .
(i) 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.
(ii) There have been educational campaigns, image campaigns, pre launch
advertisements, launch advertisements, congratulatory advertisements,
promotional advertise-ments, attacking advertisements and tactical
advertisements.

28
DISTRIBUTION
Company

Franchisee Distributor

Dealers
Dealer

Customer Customer

The- company whose operations are concentrated in and around Delhi. It 27

Franchisees and 15 Distributors- They also have 8 'instant access cash card
counters- Each franchises or distributor can have any number of dealers under
him as long as the person is approved by the Airtel authority. Each franchises has
to invest Rupees Ten Lakhs. to obtain a franchise and should employ an officer
recruited by Airtel. This person acts as an liaison between the company and the
franchises. The franchises can it any number of dealers as long as their territories
do not overlap. But unfortunately Airtel has not been very successful in
controlling territorial overlaps of dealers. The franchises can carry out his 1 her
own promotional strategy. For this the. company contributes 75% of the money
and the franchises contributes 25% of the money. The dealers under the
franchisee receive the same commission. The franchises and the dealer obtain the
feedback from the customers and they are sent through the liaison officer on a
day-to-day basis to Airtel. The dealer has to invest Rupees. One Lakh as an initial
investment. The dealer of Airtel are not allowed to provide any other operators'
service.
Target set for distributors and the dealers is 100 -150 activations per month.
Hence the dealers can also go for their own promotions like banners and discounts
on festivals etc. The dealer provides service promptly. The consumer on
providing the bill of purchase for the handset and proof of residence has only to

29
wait an hour before getting connected. The staff of the dealers and the franchisees
are provided training by the Airtel personnel.
The complaints encountered by the franchisees and dealers are either handset
being non-functional or the SIM Card not getting activated. Anything more
complicated is referred to the main Airtel office in Delhi.

30
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'.

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

The pattern of cellphone subscriber growth observed elsewhere in the world

reveals that the growth in the market is Initially slow followed by a sharp
acceleration, but so far that has not happened in India. As far as the Product Life
Cycle is concerned. Indians are at the beginning of the maturity stage.

31
Introduction Growth Maturity

MARKETING OBJECTIVES

Create product awareness Maximise market share Maximise profits whole

and trial defending market share
Strategies

Product Offer a basic product/ Offer value added Increase in number of value
service. services added services.

Price Charge cost- plus Price to penetrate Price to match or best

market competitors

Distribution Build selective Build Intensive Build more intensive

distribution distribution. distribution.

Advertising Build product awareness Build awareness Stress brand differences and
among early adopters and interest in the benefits.
and dealers. mass market

Sales Promotion Use heavy sales Increase to build Increase to encourage

promotion to entice and maintain brand-switching.
people to subscribe. relationships with
customers.
‘

BSNL

32
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. was incorporated on 15th september
2000 . It took over the business of providing of telecom services and
network management from the erstwhile Central Government
Departments of Telecom Services (DTS) and Telecom Operations
(DTO), with effect from 1st October‘ 2000 on going concern basis.It
is one of the largest & leading public sector units providing
comprehensive range of telecom services in India.

BSNL has installed Quality Telecom Network in the country & now
focusing on improving it, expanding the network, introducing new
telecom services with ICT applications in villages & winning
customer's confidence. Today, it has about 36.42 million line basic
telephone capacity, 7.13 million WLL capacity, 95.96 million GSM
capacity, 34,727 fixed exchanges, 1,17,090 GSM BTSs, 9,594 CDMA
Towers, 102 Satellite Stations, 7,73,976 RKm. of OFC, 4751 RKm. of
microwave network connecting 646 districts, 4519cities/towns & 6.25
lakhs villages .

MTNL

MTNL is the largest ISP in Mumbai and Delhi (in terms of market
share), and the third largest ISP in India though it has presence just in
two circles. MTNL provides TriBand Internet services
through dialup and DSL. It provides games on demand, video on

33
demand, and IPTV services in India through TriBand. TriBand is
targeted at homes and small businesses.

MTNL began offering fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) triple play (voice,

video, and data) high speed broadband service in Delhi on 9
November 2011.[10] FTTH, with core network speed up to 1 Gbit/s,
was launched in Mumbai on 1 March 2012.[11] MTNL FTTH
Broadband offers several services based on triple play services like
IPTV, HDTV, 3DTV, video on demand, bandwidth on demand, instant
video conferencing, interactive gaming and several other value added
services.

RELIANCE
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is an Indian conglomerate holding
company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Reliance
owns businesses across India engaged in energy, petrochemicals,
textiles, natural resources, retail, and telecommunications. Reliance is
one of the most profitable companies in India,[4] the largest publicly
traded company in India by market capitalization,[5] and the second
largest company in India as measured by revenue after the
government-controlled Indian Oil Corporation.[6] On 18 October
2007, Reliance Industries became the first Indian company to breach
$100 billion market capitalization.[7][8] The company is ranked 203rd
on the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's biggest corporations as
of 2017.[9] It is ranked 8th among the Top 250 Global Energy
Companies by Platts as of 2016. Reliance continues to be India’s
largest exporter, accounting for 8% of India's total merchandise

34
exports with a value of Rs 147,755 crore and access to markets in 108
countries.

IDEA CELLULAR

Vodafone Idea Limited[6][7] (formerly Idea Cellular Limited) is India's

largest telecom operator,[8] with its headquarter based in Mumbai,
Maharashtra.[9][10] Vodafone Idea is a pan-India integrated GSM
operator offering 2G, 3G and 4G mobile services under two brands
named Vodafone and Idea. Vodafone Idea also provides services
including Mobile payments, IoT, advanced enterprise offerings and
entertainment, accessible via both digital channels as well as on-
ground touch points, centers across the country. [11] The company's
vision is 'to create world class digital experiences to connect and
inspire every Indian to build a better tomorrow'.[12] As of July 2018,
Vodafone Idea has 38.37% market share in India with 443.94 million
subscribers, making the largest mobile telecommunications network in
India and second largest mobile telecommunications network in the
world.[7] Vodafone Idea has a broadband network of 340,000 sites,
distribution reach of 1.7 million retail outlets.[11]

On 31 August 2018, Vodafone India merged with Idea Cellular,and

was renamed as Vodafone Idea Limited. However, the merged entity
would continue using both the Idea and Vodafone brand.[6] Currently,
the Vodafone Group holds a 45.1% stake in the combined entity,
the Aditya Birla Group holds 26% and the remaining shares will be

35
held by the public.[7] Kumar Mangalam Birla heads the merged
company as the Chairman, with Mr. Balesh Sharma as the CEO.[11]

VODAFONE ESSAR

Vodafone Group plc /ˈvoʊdəfoʊn/ is a

British multinational telecommunications conglomerate, with
headquarters in London.[2] It predominantly operates services in the
regions of Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. Among mobile operator
groups globally, Vodafone ranked 4th (behind China Mobile, Bharti
Airtel and Vodafone Idea) in the number of mobile customers (313
million) as of 2018.[3]

Vodafone owns and operates networks in 25 countries, and has partner

networks in 47 further countries.[4] Its Vodafone Global
Enterprise division provides telecommunications and IT services to
corporate clients in 150 countries.[5]

36
Profile of the company

37
Airtel (Bharti Airtel Ltd.)

Bharti Airtel Limited was incorporated on July 7, 1995 for promoting investments
in telecommunications services. Its subsidiaries operate telecom services across
India. Bharti Airtel is India's leading private sector provider of
telecommunications services based on a strong customer base consisting of 50
million total customers, which constitute, 44.6 million mobile and 5.4 million
fixed line customers, as of March 31, 2007.

Airtel comes to us from Bharti Airtel Limited - a part of the biggest private
integrated telecom conglomerate, Bharti Enterprises. Bharti provides a range of
telecom services, which include Cellular, Basic, Internet and recently introduced
National Long Distance. Bharti also manufactures and exports telephone
terminals and cordless phones. Apart from being the largest manufacturer of
telephone instruments in India, it is also the first company to export its products to
the USA. Bharti has also put its footsteps into Insurance and Retail segment in
collaboration with Multi- National giants. Bharti is the leading cellular service
provider, with a footprint in 23 states covering all four metros and more than 50
million satisfied customers.

SERVICES

Airtel Prepaid

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.

Total Cost Control

You can control your Airtel Prepaid like never before. No more rentals or deposits
– simply recharge as much as you need to from as low as Rs. 10, to as high as Rs.
10,000/-.

38
Pre activated STD/ISD without deposits or rentals
You can now enjoy a pre-activated STD/ISD on your Airtel Prepaid. No more
paying deposits or having a minimum balance in your account to make an
STD/ISD call. Hassle-free calls are here to stay!

Strong Network Coverage

Enjoy complete clarity when calling with Airtel’s world-class technology and
unbreakable network coverage that spans over 23 circles across the country.

Instant Balance and Validity Enquiry

Your account balance is updated on the screen of your handset at the end of each
chargeable call. You can also call 123 from your mobile phone and listen to the
voice announcement or simply dial *123#, press 'OK' or 'YES' button and your
account balance will be displayed on the screen of your handset.

Recharge your Airtel Prepaid

Recharging is Easy. The calling value on your card keeps reducing as you make
calls or use any other chargeable service. Choose the Airtel Prepaid Recharge
Coupon that’s right for you, from a variety of tailor– made recharge coupons with
different denominations, which are available at a number of outlets across your
city. Simply follow the procedure mentioned below, to recharge your phone.

Prepaid Roaming

Airtel Prepaid comes preactivated with 'National Roaming', so you stay connected
no matter wherever you are. You can also send or receive MMS, check your email
and access other GPRS services while roaming in India as you would in your own
city. While traveling abroad you can receive calls & send or receive SMS.

Other Services

39
Airtel brings you, a wide range of Services that will change the way you
communicate. Try them and discover a whole new world of fun and excitement.

Call management Services

Call waiting, call hold, call divert and Caller Line Identification Presentation – all
with your Airtel prepaid connection.

Voice Mail

When your handset is switched off, or you’re too busy to answer the phone, Airtel
Voicemail will answer your calls and record a message. The best part is that
there's no extra monthly cost for setting up Voicemail - you just pay for the phone
call when you use the service.

SMS (Short Messaging Service)

Send messages quickly and easily using text, if it's too noisy to talk or you don't
have much time. It's the way to share those interesting one-liners, important
reminders and rib-tickling jokes, with anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world.

Subscription Alerts

Get regular alerts on news, jokes, business, health and films on your Airtel mobile
phone with Subscription Services. SMS <SUB NEWS> to 3333 for News, <SUB
JOKE> for Jokes, <SUB BIZ> for Business News, <SUB SPO> for Sports Alerts
& <SUB VAASTU> for Vaastu tips.

MMS (Multi-media Messaging Service):

Jazz up your messages with pictures, images and video clippings, with MMS from
Airtel! To activate MMS on your phone, SMS 'MMS' to 56465 and save service
settings.

Airtel Live!
Make your mobile the most happening entertainment destination with Airtel Live!
Airtel brings you the latest in entertainment and information services, right on
your phone!
Airtel Live! WAP Services: Download the latest ring tones, games, wallpapers,
videos and much more. You can also get news clips, watch live TV and download

40
full songs on you phone. To get Airtel Live! settings on your phone, SMS 'Live' to
56465 and save the settings that you receive as your preferred connection. Airtel
Live! Portal can be accessed from you GPRS enabled phone, by sending a SMS
'FUN' to 56465.
Airtel Live! Voice Services: Just Dial 56465, and name the service. For e.g. say
ring tones to download your favorite ring tones. You can also choose a variety of
content options like Live Cricket Commentary, latest National / International
News, Movie Reviews or Stock Market Updates.
Airtel Live! SIM Services: Access loads of fun content and exciting services like
cricket, stocks, on your phone at the touch of a few buttons with Airtel Live! SIM
based Services on your SIM card menu. To download new services on your Airtel
SIM, choose the "What's new" option under the "Airtel services" menu.
Airtel Live! SMS Services: You can enjoy a host of services by sending a
keyword as an SMS to 56465! Choose Astrology / Horoscope, Cricket,
Bollywood / Hollywood / Indi Pop Ring tones. In case you need assistance SMS,
Help to 56465.

41
Hello Tunes

Tired of that boring old ‘tring tring’ on your phone? Well now when a friend calls,
you can make them groove to the hottest new tracks burning up the music charts
with Hello Tunes from Airtel! You get a wide choice of songs in the Popular &
New Arrivals categories that are updated regularly. What's more you can directly
call the number for your kind of music, e.g. call 678005 for English New and
678001 for india New. This would directly take you to your favorite artist's Hello
Tunes listing..

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Methodology can be defined as:

42
Methodology refers to more than a simple set of methods, rather its refer to the
rationale and the philosophical assunptions that underlie a particular study relative
to the scientific method. This is why scholarly literature often includes a section
on the methodology of the researchers. This section does more than outline the
researchers methods might explain what the reseachers on tological or
epistemological views.

TYPE OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The methodology adopted for this project is EXPLORATORY and

descriptive in nature,the objective of such research is to determine the

approximate area where the drawback of the company lies and also to identify the
course of action to slove it. For this purpose the information proved useful for
giving right suggestion to the company.

RESEARCH DEFINATION

The definition of research is given by John W. Creswell, who states that "research
is a process of steps used to collect and analyze information to increase our
understanding of a topic or issue". It consists of three steps: pose a question,
collect data to answer the question, and present an answer to the question.

Research is a careful and detailed study into a specific problem, concern, or

issue using the scientific method. It's the adult form of the science fair projects
back in elementary school, where you try and learn something by performing an
experiment. This is best accomplished by turning the issue into a question, with
the intent of the research to answer the question.

Research comprises "creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the

stock of knowledge, including knowledge of humans, culture and society, and the
use of this stock of knowledge to devise new applications."It is used to establish

43
or confirm facts, reaffirm the results of previous work, solve new or existing
problems, support theorems, or develop new theories. A research project may also
be an expansion on past work in the field

44
 RESEARCH PROCESS

OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

45
1. To study the sales promotion schemes running by airtel in Jaipur
zone.

2. to know how the consumer can be retain for maximum time on

same network.

3. To determine maximum purchase by the customer.

4. To analysis the best sales promotion scheme.

5. To known the choice of customer influncing their purchasing

decesion.

6. To study the promotional activities for Airtel broad band services.


7. To identify the customers impact on sales promotional activities of
Airtel broad band service.

TYPE OF RESEARCH USED

46
1. Exploratory Research: Exploratory research is research conducted for
a problem that has not been studied more clearly, intended to establish priorities,
develop operational definitions and improve the final research design. Exploratory
research helps determine the best research design, data-collection method and
selection of subjects. It should draw definitive conclusions only with extreme
caution. Given its fundamental nature .As the name suggests, exploratory research
is conducted to explore the research questions and may or may not offer a final
conclusion to the research conducted. It is conducted to handle new problem areas
which haven’t been explored before. Exploratory research lays the foundation for
more conclusive research and data collection. For example, a research conducted
to know the level of customer satisfaction among the patrons of a restaurant.

2. Descriptive Research: Descriptive research focuses on throwing more

light on current issues through a process of data collection. Descriptive studies are
used to describe the behavior of a sample population. In descriptive research, only
one variable (anything that has quantity or quality that varies) is required to
conduct a study. The three main purposes of descriptive research are describing,
explaining and validating the findings. For example, a research conducted to
know if top-level management leaders in the 21st century posses the moral right
to receive a huge sum of money from the company profit.Descriptive research is
used to describe characteristics of a population or phenomenon being studied. It
does not answer questions about how/when/why the characteristics occurred.
Rather it addresses the "what" question (what are the characteristics of the
population or situation being studied.The characteristics used to describe the
situation or population are usually some kind of categorical scheme also known as
descriptive categories.

47
SAMPLING TECHNIQUES

NON PROBABILITY SAMPLING

Non-probability sampling represents a group of sampling techniques that help

researchers to select units from a population that they are interested in studying. A
core characteristic of non-probability sampling techniques is that samples are
selected based on the subjective judgement of the researcher, rather than random
selection ( probabilistic methods), which is the cornerstone of probability
sampling techniques. Whilst some researchers may view non-probability sampling
techniques as inferior to probability sampling techniques, there are
strong theoretical and practical reasons for their use.

TYPE OF NON PROBABILITY SAMPLING

1. CONVENIENCE SAMPLING

A convenience sample is simply one where the units that are selected for inclusion
in the sample are the easiest to access. In our example of the 10,000 university
students, if we were only interested in achieving a sample size of say 100
students, we may simply stand at one of the main entrances to campus, where it
would be easy to invite the many students that pass by to take part in the research.

2. JUDGEMENTAL SAMPLING

48
Judgmental sampling is a non-probability sampling technique where the
researcher selects units to be sampled based on their knowledge and professional
judgment.This type of sampling technique is also known as purposive sampling
and authoritative sampling. Judgmental sampling design is usually used when a
limited number of individuals possess the trait of interest. It is the only viable
sampling technique in obtaining information from a very specific group of people.
It is also possible to use judgmental sampling if the researcher knows a reliable
professional or authority that he thinks is capable of assembling a representative
sample.

SAMPLE UNIT:- Jaipur- Barkat nagar, tonk road, jaipur.

The research process was done by interacting with numbers of customers during
the activities performed. Which included, markets,cold calling etc. Sample design
consists of random sampling.

SAMPLE SIZE:- 94 PEOPLE

49
DATA COLLECTION

Data collection is the systematic approach to gathering and measuring information

from a variety of sources to get a complete and accurate picture of an area of
interest. Data collection enables a person or organization to answer relevant
questions, evaluate outcomes and make predictions about future probabilities and
trends.Data collection is the process of gathering and measuring information on
targeted variables in an established system, which then enables one to answer
relevant questions and evaluate outcomes. Data collection is a component of
research in all fields of study including physicaland social
sciences, humanities, and business. While methods vary by discipline, the
emphasis on ensuring accurate and honest collection remains the same. The goal
for all data collection is to capture quality evidence that allows analysis to lead to
the formulation of convincing and credible answers to the questions that have
been posed.

TYPE OF DATA COLLECTION

1. PRIMARY DATA

Primary data is data that is collected by a researcher from first-hand sources,

using methods like surveys, interviews, or experiments. It is collected with the
research project in mind, directly from primary sources.

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2. SECONDARY DATA

Secondary data refers to data which is collected by someone who is someone

other than the user.W Common sources of secondary data for social
science include censuses, information collected by government departments,
organizational records and data that was originally collected for other research
purposes.

There have been two sources of information collected:

a) Primary Sources

I have met retailers and customers of the Airtel company and have been able to
get first hand information regarding the product, its features and the buying
patterns of the product. Their input has been valuable.

b) Secondary Sources

Secondary source has played a vital role to play in this report. A good amount of
data has been collected from various published articles and reports found in
magazines and journals. Another vital source has been the Internet and
particularly the companies own website.

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 LIMITATIONS

Every attempt will be taken to obtain the error free and meaningful
result but as nothing in this world is 100% perfect I believe that there
will still the chance for error on account of following limitations-

1) Time constraint.

2) Collection area was too small.

3) The responses may be incorrect.

4) unavailability of Respondent’s.

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 ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION

GENERAL QUESTIONS

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Q.1 WHICH TYPE OF RECHARGE CARD YOU LIKE
MOST ?
MORE TALKTIME 32
MORE VALIDITY 25
BOTH 43

According to table and chat its clearly show that peole are prefare
a both service i.e prepaid.43 person are prefer both .

Q.2WHICH WAS YOUR FIRST CHOISE OF CELLULER

SERVICE WHEN YOU WANT TO USE MOBILE PHONE ?

AIRTEL 37
VODAFONE 32
IDEA 11

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BSNL 8
RELIANCE 12

Most of Prople say that airtel was her first choice of cellular services
when they use mobile phone.

Q.3 WHICH COMPANY YOU, PREFERD MOST?

AIRTEL 37
VODAFONE 32
IDEA 11
BSNL 8
RELIANCE 12

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37 people says that they prefered Airtel and 32 people say that they
prefered vodafone.

Q.4 ARE YOU USING OTHER PRODUCT WITH AIRTEL?

YES 33
NO 61

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61% people say that they are only using Airtel services and 33%
says that they are use other product with Airtel.

Q.5 DO YOU COLLECT ANY INFORMATION SEARCH

BEFORE MAKING PURCHASE?

YES 66

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NO 34

66% people says that they are search information before

making purchase.

Q.6 If yes, which sources are used?

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

 Magazines

 Dealers

 Sales Executives

 Operators reference

 Pamphlets and catalogue

 Reference from friends and relatives

 Any other

AIRTEL QUESTION
Q.7 WHICH FEATURE OF AIRTEL FORCED TO USE
AIRTEL ?
ADVERTISMENT 8

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GOOD WILL 18
CONNECTIVITY 20
SCHEMES 22
SERVICES 32

According to table and chat its clearly show that people are attract to airtel
because of airtel’s good services,32 person say that they like service of airtel and
person can less attract by the advertisement its only 8 person

Q.8 WHICH FEATURE OF AIRTEL IS BETTER THAN

YOUR PREVIOUSCELLULAR SERVICE?

ADVERTISMENT 6
GOOD WILL 10
CONNECTIVITY 20

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SCHEMES 26
SERVICES 32

Acoording to table and chat its clearly show that peole are go to airtel
bcoz of airtel providing a good services and schemes which is best
than any other company .in myresearch 44 person think that airtel’s
service is best than others

Q.9 WHICH YOU LIKE MOST IN AIRTEL ?

AIRTEL MUSIC 6
AIRTEL POSTPAID SERVICES 26
AIRTEL BROADBAND 20
AIRTEL DTH 10
AIRTEL PREPAID SERVICES 32

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Acoording to table and chat its clearly show that mostly people like a
prepaid and postpaid services 32. person can say that they like a
prepaid services and 26 person can say that they like postpaid service

Q.10 WHICH SERVICE YOU LIKE MOST IN AIRTEL ?

AIRTEL HELLO TUNES 40

FREE 30
RINGTONE\WALLPAER
AIRTEL MISSED YOU 24
SERVICES

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Acoording to table and chat its clearly show that people are like
airtel hello tunes .47 person can say that they like a hello tunes .

Q.11 HOW LONG YOU ARE CONNECTED WITH

AIRTEL ?

LESS THAN 0-4 YEAR 18

4-8 YEAR 25
8-10 YEAR 21
MORE THAN 10 YEAR 30

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Acoording to table and chat its clearly show that most of peole
are connected withairtel .almost 30 person say that they are connected
with airtel last 1years.

Q.12 FOR WHICH PURPOSE YOU ARE USING

AIRTEL ?
PERSONAL 50
OFFICE/ BUSSINES 44

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Acoording to table and chat its clearly show that people are using
airtel because of their personal use in my research 50 person say that
they are using airtel because of their personal use

Q.13 ACCORDING TO YOU AIRTEL IS NO.1?

YES 42
NO 52

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Acoording to table and chat its show that stil airtel is not a number
one company of the india .only 42 person say that airtel is number one
of India .

Q.14 WHICH PLAN YOU PREFER?

PLANS PERCENTAGE
POSTPAID 40%
PREPAID 54%

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Mostly prefer prepaid plans.we can see that a large no. Of people uses
prepaid plans,60% of the population go with the prepaid plans and
only 40% of population go with the postpaid plans.

Q.15 Does offer free gift by mobile services provides

affect your buying decision?

YES 74%
NO 20%

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Most of the people says yes, free gift help to manipulate the
customers mind on so many levels. This help in creating a
positive image of the brand.

Q.16 ARE YOU SATISFY WITH AIRTEL SERVICES?

PARTICULAR PERCENTAGE
SATISFACTORY 54%
UNSATISFACTORY 40%

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Most of the people says it is satisfactory. Airtel provides
various services to its customers like callertune,GPRS, airtel
live,3G etc and various other services.

Q.17 WHICH TYPE OF RECHARGE YOU LIKE MOST ?

MORE TALKTIME MORE VALIDITY BOTH

44 30 20

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Mostly people like more talktime recharge about 44 people says that
they are like more talktime recharge.

Q.18 FOR WHICH PURPOSE YOU ARE USING AIRTEL ?

PERSONAL BUSSINESS
50 44

70
Mostly people are using airtel for their personal use,50
people says that they use airtel for their personal use.

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS
 Cost advantage
 Current leaders in quality service
 Largest distribution network

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 Ability to constantly innovate
 Highly skilled workforce
 Entrepreneurial zeal
 Airtel’s 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
 Airtel’s 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.
 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

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CONCLUSION

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From the abive details I conclude that 70% Airtel users preferred to remain with
Airtel. Also good no. Of users who were willing to switch from their respective
subscribers showed interest in Airtel. Also company provided services like door
to door services when you dial the airtel customer care no. For solve your
problem the customer care slove the problem as soon as possible.Also Airtel is
providing free text messaging service and free voice mail service.

RECOMMENDATION

The Study was conducted in to very vast group of respondents and so

its reflections and interpretations provide a suggestion platform me as;

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1. No charge for SMS advertising.
2. Advertising should not be over contend, like Advertisements
via e-mail.
3.Small jingle and funny massage must be used preferably.
4.Approach of Advertising should not be like T.V. Advertising but it
must be in SMS Flash or in funny tone.

It these suggestion and limitations will entertained properly the should

be very brighter. SMS Advertising world semester, Innovative and
creative way of Advertising

BIBLIOGRAPHY

www.airtel.in
www.airtelworld.com

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www.researchandmarket.com
www.info-shop.com
www.smartmobs.com
www.yahoosearch.com
www.google.com
www.vodafone .com
www.Bsnl.com
Marketing Management Author : Rajan Saxena

Management And Marketing Author : A.K.Bhatia

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