LORD’S UNIVERSAL COLLEGE

NAME: TANK ASHVIN

SUBJECT: PUBLIC RELATION

MANAGEMENT

PROJECT ON: PR OF VODAFONE

ROLL NO : 45/B

Introduction to the Company:

 Vodafone Essar in India is a subsidiary of
Vodafone Group Plc and commenced operations in 1994 when its predecessor
Hutchison Telecom acquired the cellular license for Mumbai. Vodafone Essar now has
operations in 22 circles covering 86% of India’s mobile customer base, with over 63.34
million customers*.
Over the years, Vodafone Essar, under the Hutch
brand, has been named the 'Most Respected Telecom Company', the 'Best Mobile
Service in the country' and the 'Most Creative and Most Effective Advertiser of the
Year'. Vodafone is the world's leading international mobile communications company..
Vodafone has partnered with the Essar Group as its principal joint venture partner for
the Indian market.
The Essar Group is a diversified business
corporation with interests spanning the manufacturing and service sectors like Steel,
Energy, Power, Communications, Shipping & Logistics and Construction. The Group
has an asset base of over Rs.400 billion (US$ 10 billion) and employs over 30,000
people.

Introduction to Vodafone India:

Vodafone, the world’s leading international mobile
communications company, has fully arrived in India. The Vodafone brand was launched
in India on 21st September, 2007.
The popular and endearing brand, Hutch, was
transitioned to Vodafone across India. That marked a significant chapter in the evolution
of Vodafone as a dynamic and ever-growing brand. The brand was unveiled nationally
through a high profile campaign covering all important media.
 Vodafone, the world’s leading mobile
telecommunication company, had completed the acquisition of Hutchison Essar in May
2007 and the company was formally renamed Vodafone Essar in July 2007. The
Vodafone mission is to be the communications leader in an increasingly connected
world – enriching customers’ lives, helping individuals, businesses and communities be
more connected by delivering their total communication needs.
Vodafone's logo is a true representation of that
belief - The start of a new conversation, a trigger, a catalyst, a mark of true pioneering.

Financial results:
Vodafone reportes its results in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
Vodafone has some large minority stakes, which are not included in its consolidated turnover. In order
to provide additional information on the overall scale and growth trends of its business it publishes
"proportionate turnover" figures and these are included in the tables below. For example, if a business
in which it owns a 45% stake has turnover of £10 billion, that equals £4.5 billion of proportionate
turnover for Vodafone. Proportionate turnover is not an official accounting measure and Vodafone's
proportionate turnover should be compared with other companies' statutory turnover.
Vodafone also produces proportionate customer number figures on a similar basis, eg. if an operator in
which it has a 30% stake has 10 million customers that equals 3 million proportionate Vodafone
customers. This is a common practice in the mobile telecommunications industry.

Year ended 31 Turnover Profit before Profit for the Basic eps Proportionate
March £m tax £m year £m (pence) customers (m)

2008 35,478 9,001 6,756 12.56 260

2007 31,104 (2,383) (5,297) (8.94) 206.4

2006* 29,350 (14,835) (21,821) (35.01) 170.6

2005 34,073 7,951 6,518 9.68 154.8

Summery:
Progress towards strategic objectives
• Europe: 2.0% revenue growth with outgoing usage up 20.1% and data revenue up 35.7%, all
on an organic basis
• 9.9% mobile capital intensity for Europe and common functions
• EMAPA: revenue growth of 45.1%, reflecting acquisitions in India and Turkey. Organic
growth of 14.5%
• Group data revenue up 52.7% to £2.2 billion, with organic growth of 40.6%

Key financials
• Adjusted earnings per share up 11.0% to 12.50 pence.
Basic earnings per share of 12.56 pence
• Free cash flow of £5.5 billion. Net cash flow from operating activities of £10.5 billion

Other highlights
• Final dividend per share of 5.02 pence, giving total dividends per share of 7.51 pence
• Dividend pay out ratio of 60%, in line with policy, and a total payout of £4.0 billion for the
financial year
• 1st in UK and 11th globally in the BrandZ most powerful brands ranking

Group highlights
£35.5 billion
Revenue
14.1% increase
£10.1 billion
Adjusted operating profit
5.7% increase

7.51 pence
Total dividends per share
11.1% increase
260.5 million
Proportionate mobile customers
26.2% increase

Objectives and Mission of the PR dept:

The main objective of the PR dept is to create a positive image of Vodafone in the
minds of its customers. For the launches of any new services or mobile phones intense
PR is their objective. The Vodafone mission is to be the communications leader in an
increasingly connected world – enriching customers’ lives, helping individuals,
businesses and communities be more connected by delivering their total communication
needs. The next objective of Vodafone is to cover as much market as possible on the
basis of the service that they provide. Their next objective is that their customers benefit
from a complete Vodafone experience in and out of their homes and offices. Their main
aim and mission is to give their customers a consistent experience.
While entering India their main objective and mission was to create a
visibility of their company and promote it in a very positive way by promoting the
global image of Vodafone. The other objective was to appear as a leader.
Hierarchy:
The vodafone has an in-house PR department consisting of 17 employees in
Mumbai. The CEO in india is mr. arjun sarin. There are 3 assistant PR heads
under her, one operating in Delhi and two in Mumbai and there are 3 interns
under them.
CEO PR
Assistant
Mr. Arun
(Mumbai)
(De Sarin
lhi)

Factors
considered
while
formulating
PR
strategies:
 One of the factors in
formulating the PR strategies is that whenever a mention of the telecom industry is
made, positive articles of Vodafone has to be made. Their main aim is to promote the
brand Vodafone and its services. They also keep in mind that the right medium of
communication is used to reach the target public, there target being each and every
person right from a milkman to high-profile people. They also keep in mind that they
maintain good relations with the media so that media can help them out when they are
in need of them.

Budget:
There is a pre-determined budget. This budget is devised by the central unit of
India and is then passed down to various circles, Mumbai being one of them. PR head
needs to formulate all the strategies along with the outside agency i.e Genesis which sits
in the corporate office only. The major expense of the PR department is the fees that
they pay to the outside agency. The management allocates Rs10-15crores(approx.)
annually to the PR Department. This amount is then further allocated to the various
Zonal Offices which prepare their individual budgets according to their requirements.

PR strategies used by Vodafone as a whole:

Advertisements:
Vodafone believes in advertising through media like television and
press as people retain those things that they view visually. Heavy amounts of money is
spent on visual advertisements.
Corporate Advertising:
Vodafone also undertakes corporate advertising. The PR
department informs the spokesperson Mr. Navin Chopra which details he can reveal and
which he shouldn’t reveal. He has to be very polite while handling the media. They give
everything in writing to the media. The PR department also informs Mr. Navin about
how to dodge certain questions with trick and humours so as to maintain the
confidentiality of certain important issues like the future plans of the company.
Hoardings:
Vodafone uses hoardings also in order to promote their company and the
new services or tariffs plans that they are coming up with. This strategy helps in making
their target audience aware of their upcoming plans.
Press Releases:
Vodafone in USA has a separate press office that issues all the Press
Release. They press officer makes the entire press release and then it’s confirmed by the
spokesperson of Vodafone USA and is then released. There they believe Press Releases
help in order to maintain very good relations with the media and it also helps them to be
in the eye of the audience. It had also held and India Analyst and Investor Day in
London to talk about its operations in India. It has issued a press release on it on 10th
December, 2007.

Press Conference:
Vodafone uses press conferences as a very powerful tool in handling
the media and seeking consumer attention. They hold press conferences at the launch of
new services or products of any kind. They also hold press conferences when they are
getting into a business deal for some company. They also hold press conferences for
announcing half-yearly results or financial reports of the company.

Media Interviews:
 Vodafone undertakes media interviews with proper planning. It is
sometimes initiated by media while most of the time it is by Vodafone. It is handled
very carefully specially during crisis or when a new service is launched and is this used
as a very good platform for promotion, building image and even control crisis.

Social Activities:
vodafone undertakes social activities on a huge scale. The Vodafone
Group Foundation is committed to providing assistance in the area of disaster response.
Its main aim is to develop partnerships which enhance long term disaster response and
preparedness activity, working with organizations such as the United Nations
Foundation, Oxfam and MapAction. It also seeks wherever possible to make a direct
contribution in response to critical humanitarian crises.
The Safaricom Foundation and The Vodafone Group Foundation, together donate KShs
15,000,000 towards humanitarian relief in Kenya

Oxfam: VGF is a founding sponsor of the Oxfam 365 programme, an initiative aimed
at funding a global rapid response team of aid workers and maintaining the UK’s
biggest warehouse with a stockpile of emergency supplies.
UN Foundations: The UN Foundation-Vodafone Group Foundation alliance strives to
be the leading public-private partnership using strategic technology programmes to
strengthen the UN’s humanitarian efforts worldwide.

MapAction: VGF is supporting MapAction’s humanitarian aid effort in delivering

situation maps updated hour-by-hour in the field, that enable aid agencies to do their job
of delivering assistance.

Global Focus: World of Difference:

World of Difference (WoD) is an innovative charitable
volunteering initiative currently being delivered across the international network of
Vodafone Foundations.
WoD is based around the concept that individuals and community organisations should
identify what they feel passionate about and then be provided with the resources to
make changes happen.
WoD creates the opportunity for individuals to work for one year for a charitable
partner organisation, with salary and related support provided. The winners are chosen
on merit through a public competition. To date, 52 individual winners have participated
or are currently participating.
Based on a model which was initially developed by the Vodafone New Zealand
Foundation in 2002, WoD programmes have also been successfully launched by the
Vodafone Australia Foundation, the Vodafone Netherlands Foundation and the Vodafone
Ireland Foundation.

Sponsorships: Vodafone sponsors many events. Some of them are:

UEFA Champions League: Vodafone is in its second season as Official Partner and
Official Mobile network of the UEFA Champions League, the world's largest annual
football competition.

Vodafone is delighted to be at the forefront of Europe’s premier club competition. After

the successes of last season's UEFA Champions League sponsorship and the agreements
announced in April to sponsor the UEFA Cup Final and UEFA Super Cup, Vodafone is
looking forward to strengthening its position as a brand passionate about the beautiful
game. It has also come up with Vodafone Stadium of Fans wherein fans can make teams
and play for themselves.

England Cricket Team: Vodafone can’t get enough of the England Cricket Team – 11
years on and their support is still going strong as the principal partner of the Team. And
it’s not just about a logo on a shirt. This partnership gives employees and lucky
customers unbelievable access to get up close and personal with the Team.
As you can imagine, the life of a cricketer means the team are on the road 10 out of 12
months of the year so a BlackBerry is a must have. The Team use their handsets to
email friends & family, surf the net, listen to music and send texts which keep them up
to speed no matter where they are in the world.
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes:
Vodafone had a contract with the Mercedes. Vodafone
McLaren Mercedes has extended Lewis Hamilton’s contract with the team for a further
five years. The new agreement, which starts for 2008, will run up to and including the
2012 season.

Internal PR:
Vodafone operates a range of all-employee share plans to encourage
widespread employee share ownership throughout the company. Vodafone won a
Global Equity Organization award for best share plan communications in 2006 for the
second year running.
They also operate a number of pension plans which vary according to the conditions
and practices in the countries concerned. These are provided through defined benefit
and defined contribution arrangements. Defined benefit schemes provide benefits based
on the employees’ length of pensionable service and their final pensionable salary or
other criteria. Defined contribution schemes offer employees individual funds that are
converted into benefits at the time of retirement. They also involve them in the
decisions of the company. They conduct training programs also for the benefit of the
employees and for better experience. They also promote leadership on a large scale.
This is done in order to maintain very good relations with the employees of the
organization.

PR strategies of Vodafone India:

Press Releases: Vodafone India doesn’t have a separate press office to issue all the
Press Releases. The PR Head himself makes the entire press release and then it’s
confirmed by the spokesperson of Vodafone India i.e Navin Chopra and is then
released. There they believe Press Releases help in order to maintain very good
relations with the media and it also helps them to be in the eye of the audience.

Press Conferences: Vodafone uses press conferences as a very powerful tool in

handling the media and seeking consumer attention. They hold press conferences at the
launch of new services or products of any kind. They also use press conferences as a
tool in order to control crisis.

Media Interviews: Vodafone undertakes media interviews with proper planning. It is

sometimes initiated by media while most of the time it is by Vodafone. It is handled
very carefully specially during crisis or when a new service is launched and is this used
as a very good platform for promotion, building image and even control crisis.

Hoardings and Advertisements: Vodafone uses advertisements as a powerful tool. The

hoardings are placed in every corner of a city. It helps in seeking immediate attention of
the consumers.
Vodafone also uses advertisements. It has it corporate news in the CAT 1 papers
like Economic Times, Times of India, Hindustan Times and many others. It also ahs its
news in CAT 2 papers including all the regional language papers. It also advertises on
television and radio.
They also have running ads on Star India about the news updates or new services or
new tariff plans. Vodafone has entered into a Rebranding Campaign with Star India in
order to promote the Essar Brand.
Newsletter:
Vodafone India issues house journals for its employees named Baatchit.
They believe this helps in maintaining good relations with them. It is issued by the HR
Head.
Agency:
The last PR strategy that they use is that they have hired an agency that goes to
the Vodafone store with genuine problems. Then they report to the top management of
the company stating how the executives at the store responded to their queries and how
did they behave with them. This helps the company in making the decisions regarding
those executives at the stores. This strategy has helped them a lot in making Vodafone
stores a better place so that their customers get even better service.
Successful Strategies:
Vodafone has had many successful strategies. One of them is the
success of Vodafone in India. Vodafone for the Indian masses was a completely new
brand name. Therefore, Vodafone had to see that the positive image of Vodafone is built
up in the minds of the people.
In order to promote the brand Vodafone in India, a Central PR team
was set up in India. They handled all the promotion activities. They held many press
conferences and issued press releases. They also arranged for media interviews. They
released many positive articles about the Vodafone company in all the CAT 1 papers.
Today Vodafone has 33 lakh customers. Its adding 2 lac customers every month.

Crisis:
It had faced a huge crisis during bomb blasts and floods. There was no network
at all. The cell sides were damaged in water. They had the Motorola machine. It
couldn’t take the heavy load of calls. That is why it became slow. There were no
generators so the whole system stopped functioning because the supply of electricity
was cut off.

This was a very delicate situation. The company and the PR dept didnt lose their
cool. They were calm and were cautious and quick in taking steps. At that time they
immediately flashed news on all the news channels that people shouldn’t take more
time to talk as it was blocking the call lines. The PR dept also informed all its
employees not to use their mobile phones so that that much load is reduced. They also
held an immediate press conference in order to explain what was going on and why was
there no network.

As a result of this crisis, they immediately took steps to evaluate what went
wrong. They immediately planted generators everywhere. They started using fibre
optic cables. They immediately changed their Motorola machine and replaced with one
of a more superior quality. After this incident they also started with a Disaster
Management Cell in the company.

Future plan

Issue We will... Deadline

Access to
Launch mobile payment services in a further three countries. March 2009
communications
Publish research on the socio-economic impact of affordable December
handsets. 2009
Reduce the level of preventable exclusion by at least a third. March 2010

Mobile phones, masts Maintain an approval rating against external stakeholder opinion Ongoing
Issue We will... Deadline
on how responsibly Vodafone is acting regarding MPMH as a
and health
rolling average at, or above, 80% over any three year period.
Provide comprehensive access to peer-reviewed published
scientific reviews of research relating to mobile phones, masts and
health on our Group website.

Audit contractors’ compliance with our Responsible Network

Network deployment March 2010
Deployment Policy in all Vodafone Operations.

Benchmark Vodafone’s practices on mobile advertising and

Consumer issues March 2009
privacy with other industry leaders.
Work with the wider industry to explore ways to create common
March 2009
codes of conduct for Mobile Advertising.
Launch a web-based resource centre to promote safety and the
March 2009
responsible use of mobiles and technology.

Ensure 80% of all local strategic and preferred suppliers are

Supply chain reporting their compliance against the requirements of Vodafone’s March 2009
Code of Ethical Purchasing.
Deploy a non-compliance management system to improve our
existing process and support systematic action on CR issues March 2009
identified within our supply chain.

Set a new target to reduce CO2 emissions by 50% by 2020

Energy use and
(applicable across Vodafone local operating companies operating March 2020
climate change
in 2006/07).
Develop a climate change strategy for Vodafone Turkey and
March 2009
Vodafone Essar (India).
Achieve a 40% reduction on network energy CO2 emissions per
March 2011
MB traffic.

Vodafone future PR strategy:

Vodafone business strategy and its PR strategy are inseparable. Meeting society’s needs
creates enormous opportunities to grow vodafone business.
Expanding our business in emerging markets such as Africa and India is extending
access to communications to people who rarely had the opportunity to use a phone
before. And our responsible approach to issues like privacy and content builds trust and
grows our customer base in mature markets.

Our vision for 2010 is to be one of the most trusted companies in the markets where we
operate. Our five year PR strategy – developed in 2005 and continually evolving – is
designed to help us realise this vision.
It sets clear priorities to:
 • Capture the potential of mobile to bring socio-economic value in both emerging
economies and developed markets, through broadening access to
communications to all sections of society
• Deliver progress against stakeholder expectations on the key areas of climate
change, a safe and responsible internet experience, and sustainable products and
services
• Ensure our operating standards are of a consistent and appropriate level across
the Group.
This strategy is based on our assessment of the key PR-related opportunities and risks
for our business. These are prioritised through our issues management and risk
assessment.

Future pr plan:
Future pr plane of vodafone in india is as follow
1- Audience targeting:
Pr department of vdafone in india should have to target all the
audience right from a milkman to high-profile people. Because the service and product
is used by all the pepol. So the market segmentation is the whole market.
2- Press conferences:
A press conference cosists of someone speaking to the media at a
pedetermined time and place. A company should hold press conference whenever it is
requried . A company should hold press conference when it louanching new product or
any schem. By holding press conference they can informe to the public about the
product or schem.
3- Press releases:
A press release is written document distributed to the media. It is
fundamental tool of PR. In press release the six thingh should be have to be clear i.e.
who, what, when, where, why, how. The company should use press conferences as a
tool in order to control crisis. They can distribute press releaes in media in the form of
video or audio press releaes whenever its required.
4- Hoardings:
Company should have to put more hordings near the station in order to
promote the products and also to maintaine good relation with public. It also helps in
seeking immediate attention of the consumers.
5- Articles in newspapers:
Company should give articles in news paper to inform about any product and
schem. In different news like times of India, hindustan times or any regional languages.
6- Brochures and pamphlet :
They have to distribute brochures and pamphlet in different
places and in news paper. To informe the pepole about any new schem. They should
distribute brochures among the employee also for maintaning good relation.

Press Release
28 Jan 2009
New Vodafone store launched at Baner Pune
Pune, January 28, 2009: Vodafone Essar, one of India’s leading cellular service
providers, has launched its first Vodafone Store in the Baner area of Pune city on 23rd
January, 2009. Located at Survey No 1/1A , Rohit Residency, Baner, Pune, this 600 sq
ft store is in accordance with the new international style format of Vodafone.
Vodafone now has 53 Vodafone Stores (with 17 stores in Pune), 02 Vodafone Mobile
Stores, 29 Self Service kiosks (with 12 in Pune) in addition to 75 Mini Stores across
Maharashtra & Goa.
Along with availability of new connections, Vodafone handsets, and various value
added services, the store offers a dedicated area for customer queries and bill
payments. Customers can now look forward to even faster service as all the Vodafone
Stores are connected with high speed broadband connectivity.

27 Jan 2009
Vodafone launches a new Bonus Card for UP East

Lucknow, January 27, 2009: Vodafone Essar, one of India’s leading cellular
service providers, today announced one of its lowest priced Bonus Cards in UP East.
Priced at just Rs. 7, the new bonus card will enable Vodafone customers to make all
local calls at a discounted rate of 75 paise per call for a period of 7 days. This gives
Vodafone Customers the benefit of an effective cost of Re1/day.
To activate this plan, subscribers need to send an SMS ‘75’ to 144. After activation,
Rs. 7 will be automatically deducted from the subscriber’s account on weekly basis
extending the validity of the plan by seven days. Vodafone customers can deactivate
this plan; through an SMS CAN<space> LOC75 to 144 (toll free).
Bjas Murthy, Chief Operating Officer, Vodafone Essar- UP East said, “There is
a large segment of subscribers with a need for lower calling rates and minimal
upfront charges. Through this new Bonus Card we will ensure that the needs of our
valuable customers are addressed. ”