TITLE OF THE PROJECT CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ON AIRTEL

SUBMITTED BY NAME OF THE CANDIDATE: SUNANDA MIMANI REGISTRATION NO: 017-1221-0491-11 ROLL NO : 1017-51-0476 NAME OF THE COLLEGE:THE BHAWANIPUR EDUCATION SOCIETY COLLEGE

SUPERVISED BY NAME OF THE SUPERVISOR: KALAPI BANEERJEE NAME OF THE COLLEGE: THE BHAWANIPUR EDUCATION SOCIETY COLLEGE

ACKNOWLEDGMENT I feel immense pleasure to give the credit of our project work not only to one individual as this work is integrated effort of all those who concerned with it. I want to owe our thanks to all those individuals who guided us to move on the track. We sincerely express our gratitude and lot of thanks to Prof.Kalapibanerjee(Faculty Guide) for helping us in completing our project work and making it a great success. I would like to express our deep sense of gratitude to those who introduced us to the subject and under whose guidance we are able to complete our project. Last but not least, I would thank all our friends, faculty members and all respondents who rendered their precious time for contributing their skills and to fill the questionnaire, which made my project more appealing and attractive. Date : Signature of the Student Place : ( Name of the Student )

SUPERVISORS CERTIFICATE This is to certify that Ms SUNANDA MIMANI a student of B.COM. Honours in Accounting and Finance/Marketing/Taxation/Computer Application in business of the BhawanipurGujrati Education Society College under the University of Calcutta has worked under my supervision and guidance for her project work and prepared a project report with the title CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ON AIRTEL.The project report which she is submitting is her genuine and original work to the best of my knowledge. Signature: Place: Date: Name of the college: Name: Designation:

STUDENTS DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project work with the title CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR ON AIRTEL submitted by me for the partial fulfilment of the degree of B.Com. Honours in Accounting and Finance/Marketing/Taxation/Computer Application in business under the University of Calcutta is my original work and has not been submitted earlier to any other university/institution for the fulfilment of the requirement for any course of study. I also declare that no chapter of the manuscript in whole or in part has been incorporated in this report from any earlier work done by others or by me.However,extracts of any literature which has been used for this report has been duly acknowledged providing details of such literature in the references. Signature: Place: Date: name: address: Registration no:

ABSTRACT The project is an extensive report on how the Airtelcompany markets its strategies and how the company has been able in tackling the present tough competition and how it is coping up by the allegations of the quality of its products. The report begins with the history of the products and the introduction of the Airtelcompany. This report also contains the basic marketing strategies that are used by the Airtelcompany of manufacturing process, technology, production policy,advertising, collaboration, export scenario, future prospect and government policies. The report includes some of the key salient features of market trend issues.In todays world of cutthroat fierce competition, it is very essential to not only exist but also to excel in the market. Todays market is enormously more complex. Hence forth, to survive in the market, the company not only needs to maximize its profit but also needs to satisfy its customers and should try to build upon from there.

CHAPTER-1 INTRODUCTION TO THE TOPIC

Marketing strategy is a process that can allow an organization to concentrate its limited resources on the greatest opportunities to increase sales and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. A marketing strategy should be centered on the key concept that customer satisfaction is the main goal. Marketing strategy is a method of focusing an organization's energies and resources on a course of action which can lead to increased sales and dominance of a targeted market niche. A marketing strategy combines product development, promotion, distribution, pricing, relationship management and other elements; identifies the firm's marketing goals, and explains how they will be achieved, ideally within a stated timeframe. Marketing strategy determines the choice of target market segments, positioning, marketing mix, and allocation of research.

SIGNIFICANCE I have chosen this research work to suggest the best ways of marketing by which company can increase its customer satisfaction and this will also assist them in retaining their market share. This research work would present the effectiveness of marketing strategy used by the Airtel. The main factors considered when making a successful marketing strategy. A marketing strategy often integrates an organization's marketing goals, policies, and action sequences (tactics) into a cohesive whole. Similarly, the various strands of the strategy, which might include advertising, channel marketing, internet marketing, promotion and public relations, can be orchestrated.

Research Objective: This study will try to analyze how Airtel keeps hold of its market because of its great marketing strategies with the following objectives: To identify the factors considered by the Airtel in making the marketing strategies for their business To identify how effectively Airtel is currently using his marketing strategies to attract new customers To identify the current marketing strategies of Airtel To suggest them effective marketing strategies to get success in the current competitive environment in the telecommunication industry.

Research Methodology: Review the existing literature concerned with how Airtel keeps hold of its market because of its great marketing strategies. Once I am through with the subject I will have a better understanding of it. A thorough research will be conducted among the executives in the company. The primary as well as secondary data collection method will be used in this research. Primary Data: Primary data will be collected by structured interviews. Executives will be interviewed with the help of questionnaire. I will be interviewing Airtel employees. The questionnaire

will be close ended question as per my mentors guidance Analyzing quantitative datawill be presented with the help of bar graphs and charts. Quantitative data can also be analysed through statistical tools eg sorting your data into categories and locating subset of these of these data according to its criteria. Secondary Data: The secondary data in this research will be collected through news articles, journals,magazine, peer reviews and published databases. A comprehensive of the collected data will be presented with the help of tables, charts and graphs.

Sample Size: To conduct this research work the researcher has taken 30 manager level employees Sampling Area: Company executives who have good knowledge about marketing strategy of the company.

LITRATURE REVIEW

"Marketing" is an instructive business domain that serves to inform and educate target markets about the value and competitive advantage of a company and its products. Value is worth derived by the customer from owning and using the product.Competitive Advantage is a depiction that the company or its products are each doing something better than their competition in a way that could benefit the customer.Marketing is focused on the task of conveying pertinent company and product relatedinformation to specific customers, and there are a multitude of decisions(strategies) to be made within the marketing domain regarding what information to deliver, how much

information to deliver, to whom to deliver, how to deliver,when to deliver, and where to deliver. Once the decisions are made, there are numerous ways (tactics) and processes that could be employed in support of the selected strategies. The goal of marketing is to build and maintain a preference for a company and its products within the target markets. The goal of any business is to build mutually profitable and sustainable relationships with its customers. While all business domains are responsible for accomplishing this goal, the marketing domain bears a significant share of the responsibility. Within the larger scope of its definition, marketing is performed through the actions of three coordinated disciplines named: Product Marketing, Corporate Marketing, and Marketing Communications.

Many companies today have a customer focus. This implies that the company focuses its activities and products on consumer demands. Generally there are three ways of doing this: the customer-driven approach, the sense of identifying market changes and the product innovation approach. In the consumer-driven approach, consumer wants are the drivers of all strategic marketing decisions. No strategy is pursued until it passes the test of consumer research. Every aspect of a market offering, including the nature of the product itself, is driven by the needs of potential consumers. The starting point is always the consumer. The rationale for this approach is that there is no point spending R&D funds developing products that people will not buy. History attests to many products that were commercial failures in spite of being technological breakthroughs. A formal approach to this customer-focused marketing is known as SIVA Solution,Information, Value, Access). This system is basically the four Ps renamed and reworded to provide a customer focus. The SIVA Model provides a demand/customer centric version alternative to the wellknown 4Ps supply side model (product, price, place,promotion) of marketing management.

LIMITATIONS .The area which I have covered does not show theoverall market There was lack of time from the part of respondent There may be some bias information provided by therespondent The size of the research may not be substantial

CHAPTER-2 INDUSTRY AND COMPANY PROFILE Airtel comes to you from BhartiAirtel Limited, one of Asias leading integrated telecom services providers with operations in India and Sri Lanka. BhartiAirtel since its inception, has been at the forefront of technology and has pioneered several innovations in the telecom sector. The company is structured into four strategic business units Mobile, Telemedia,Enterprise and Digital TV. The mobile business offers services in India and Sri Lanka. The Telemedia business provides broadband, IPTV and telephone services in 95 Indian cities. The Digital TV business provides Direct-to-Home TV services across India. The Enterprise business provides end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national and international long distance services to telcos.

Highlights REC signs multi-year contract with Airtel for Network Management services Airteldigitial TV replaces Worldspace radio channels BhartiAirtels Middle East Connect Network to serve global carriers in the region BhartiAirtel presents Indias First Mobile Phone Usage

Our Brand Airtel was born free, a force unleashed into the market with a relentless and unwaveringdetermination to succeed. A spirit charged with energy, creativity and a team driven to seize the day with an ambition to become the most globally admired telecom service.Airtel, in just ten years of operations, rose to the pinnacle to achivement and continues to lead.As India's leading telecommunications company Airtel brand has played the role as a major catalyst in India's reforms, contributing to its economic resurgence. Today we touch people lives with our Mobile services,Telemedia services, to connecting India's leading 1000+ corporates. We also connect Indians living in USA, UK and Canada with our callhome service. Airtel is proud to be the trusted communications partner to Indias leading organisations,working for them to meet the challenges of growth. Across India. Beyond India.We offer a full suite of business communication services across data, voice and managed services. Our solutions are tailored to fit your particular needs.We are a part of the Bharti Group. We have always been challenging the limits of innovation and striving to find new and better ways of doing things. Our people are committed to helping you succeed. We will stick with you through thick and thin.

Innovation Fund Innovation has been at the core of our company's DNA-be it our unique business model based on outsourcing or worldclass products and services. The BhartiAirtel Innovation Fund is a pioneering step to promote innovation and help budding entrepreneurs realise the dream of running their own enterprise. We are confident that this initiative will promote the twin pillars of innovation and entrepreneurship to usher in path breakingchanges in the sector. BhartiAirtel Innovation Fund (BAIF or the Fund) is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship and innovation in the field of telecommunication services. The objective of the Fund is to give opportunities to budding entrepreneurs with a vision to build businesses based on innovation. The Fund has an initial corpus of Rs 200 crores. BAIF provides seed money to entrepreneurs who may not otherwise be able to access funds to realize their dreams. Certified Organisation With this achievement, BhartiAirtel has successfully institutionalized a strong security foundation based on a robust Information Security Management System that is process oriented, person-independent and self-sustaining. Airtel has the unique distinction of being awarded the largest number of certificates to any company in India across sectors and is amongst one of the largest in the world. The certification program encompassed all strategic business units Mobile Services, Enterprise Services and Telemedia

Services, covering around 300 locations.The scope included all central and zonal office locations, data centers, network zones,landing stations, switch locations and AirtelCenter. In terms of personnel, the scope included all employees of BhartiAirtel.This certification will help build trust and confidence amongst our customers and further enhance the confidence of our employees in operational processes." The journey to be a compliant organizations began with the BISP(Bharti Information Security Policy) being launched in 2003, followed by a great deal of technology rollout through outsourcing beginning 2004, and a systemized approach for certification starting 2005 with the first certification being awarded in 2006. Airtelachieved complete enterprise-wide certification in February, 2009.ISO develops and publishes standards that establish best practices across a variety of industries. Certification is an endorsement of BhartiAirtel commitment to deliver managed and monitored security solutions that are benchmarked to the highest international standards. About BhartiAirtel Limited BhartiAirtel Limited, a group company of Bharti Enterprises, is Asia's leading integrated telecom services provider with operations in India and Sri Lanka with an aggregate of over 91 million customers as of end of January 2009, consisting of 88.38 million mobile customers. BhartiAirtel Limited has been voted as India's most innovative company, in a survey conducted by The Wall Street Journal.

BhartiAirtel is structured into three strategic business units Mobile services, Telemediaservices and Enterprise services. The mobile business offers services in India and Sri Lanka. The Telemedia business provides broadband and telephone services in 95 cities,DTH services and has recently forayed into the IPTV services. The Enterprise business provides end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national and international long distance services to carriers. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand.Airtel's high-speed optic fibre network currently spans over 90,205 kmscovering all the major cities in the country.

CHAPTER-3 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

Through the analysis we can easily find out that, majority of the people still prefer prepaid connections more. There are 58% people who prefer prepaid connections whereas 42% people prefer postpaidconnection. There is tough competition for prepaid. It is because of billing problems in postpaid connections. Through the analysis it is found that 50% people prefer Airtel connection and 50%people prefer Idea connection.

The analysis shows that more no. of people is keeping Airtel and Idea connection from 1-2 years. These factors are responsible to gain the market share over the competitor. Whereas there are few who are associated with service provider less than 3 months. From the analysis it is clear that people are using Airtel because their friends had recommended. Whereas people are using Idea because of advertisement attraction. After that awareness of the service provider is the factor which influenced customer to render the service.

As per the research, the people are more inclined towards cheap call ratesof their service providers followed by the good network. After that people expects cheap SMS, improved service and cheap roaming charges from their service provider. Customers satisfaction plays a crucial role for the service provider. It is found that more number of people are satisfied with Idea whereas same number of people thinks that Airtel and Idea is good. It shows that satisfaction level of Airtel and idea is near aboutsame. Spending pattern is also another criterion which is crucial for any telecom service providers. Customers spending habits ultimately help in deciding their loyalty towards the product. For example, if a customer frequently spends money on the same product then it shows that he prefers to buy that product than other products which ultimately leads to his loyalty towards that brand.Analysisshows that more no. of people spend more than Rs. 500 for their mobile connection. Then the people are spending uptoRs. 500. As per the research and as per the findings, it can be seen that Airtel people have Vodafone as preference opinion whereas Idea people have both Reliance and Tata Indicom because of their good network coverage.

As the analysis both Airtel and Idea customers find the STD rates of both service providers are costly. Whereas few customers feel that STD rates are affordable,economical and unaffordable. As per the findings, it was found that Idea has very good network coverage in remote area. Airtel and Idea shoes very close competition for coverage. Because in Hill stations and outskirts it more or less same. As the research shows, the customers preferences in case of Idea and Airtel is same with both the schemes SMS and talk time as the preference is same for both. The customers liking about a particular service provider is also depended on how the customer care executive solves his problem and how much time he takes to reach the customer. So, here the data is collected on the basis of how much a customer has to wait while calling the customer care. The data reveals that majority of the customers have to wait for 6-10 minutes. Then some customers have to wait for 3-5 minutes. There are less number of customers who have to wait for 11, 2 and upto 2 minutes.

There are new inventions and technologies come up in the market to enhance the competition and make the usage much faster and also useful as well as easy to use. 3G technology is one of those technologies. In the survey, it was asked to the customerswhether they are aware of new 3G technology or not. Airtel customers are aware about 3G than Idea customers. It can be seen that there is very less difference between awareness about 3G in Airtel and Idea customers.

CHAPTER-4 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

RECOMMENDATION

On the basis of the primary research and secondary research, the following recommendations can be concluded: Lowering the tariff plans of service providers will increase more competition. Bringing more up gradation in VAS for the betterment of the users. Improvement of network infrastructure in both the urban and the rural areas. Reducing the STD and ISD charges for the users. Companies can provide new and different schemes to their customers. After talking to customer care executives of telecom sector, the following recommendations can be concluded as a part of their strategies for acquiring or retaining new customers: The telecom operators should take less time for the solving customers queries. Majority of the operators focus on the special occasions to launch new schemes but they can also launch schemes on weekly or monthly basis to attract new customers. Customer care executives should concentrate more on prepaid connections forthe price sensitive customers and post-

paid connections for business class people or high class people. They should use their media tools accordingly. They should concentrate more on the attributes like talktime facility, network,voice clarity etc apart from SMS, VAS and schemes. They should focus more on VAS like GPRS facilities, games, astrology, and music for young people and business news for business people. They should also focus on new technologies like 3G. They should also focus on pilot projects before launching a product, especially in case of rural areas.

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION India has one of the worlds largest telecommunication networks. The telecom story continues to be the best evidence of the efficacy of the reforms process. In just six years, the number of mobile subscribers has gone up from just about one million to 100 million, a subscriber base that only four other countries China, the US, Japan and Russia can boast of. None can doubt the correlation between this explosive growth in numbers and the steep decline in the cost of the mobile phone and of its usage. After analyzing the findings of the research, it can conclude that Airtel is the leader in customer service and availability. The maximum no. of people who use the mobile is in the age group of 20 to 28. Prepaid is popular type of mobile connections, as they areconsumer friendly and recharging the connection is not a problem. People do not prefer

postpaid because of billing problems.Maximum no. of people spends more than Rs 500 on their connections. As Airtel is the only company having the maximum no of mobile connections so it must seriously look into the loop holes of the existing customer service department. We can say that in spite of so many competitors in the market Airtel is having a good position just because every time, it tries its best to understand the need of its important customers.Idea is having particular customer potential. Mostly it is preferred by business class people because of availability of network. Idea provides the same scheme as that of Airtel. People also spend more money on Idea connection.Considering both Airtel and Idea have same features and benefits. Only the difference is between the subscriber base. Airtel has more subscriber base than that of Idea.Recently both Airtel and Idea has launched 1 paisa / second scheme to compete with TATA DOCOMO. This shows that service providers are more into competition trend which should be followed by them to sustain in the market.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Reports: 1. DoT Report 2008-09 2. TRAI Report 2008-09 3. TRAI Report 2007-08 4. COAI Report 2008 5. COAI Report 2009 Articles: 1. Bernhard Goldberger- 19th Bled e-Conference eValues 2. The Economic Times Websites: 1. www.airtel.in 2. www.ideacellular.com 3. www.dot.gov.in 4. www.wikipedia.org 5. www.micrositemobile.com

QUESTIONNAIRE Put a tick ( ) for the right option. Age Group: o 10-20 o 20-40 o Above 40 2. Gender: o Male o Female 3. Which type of connection do you prefer? o Pre-paid o Post-paid 4. Whose service(s) are you rendering now? o Airtel o Idea 5. How long have you been using this connection of your service provider? o Less than 3 months o 6-12 months o 3-6 months o 1-2 years o 2-3 years o More than 3 years

6. What are the key factors/reasons for your association with current cellular serviceprovider? o Awareness of the service provider o Friends Recommended o Retailer Influenced o Advertisement Recommended o Other Reasons 7. How do you find the behaviour of customer care executives of your service provider? o Professional & prompt o Not Responding o Warm & helpful o Lazy & slow 8. What kind of expectations do you have from your service provider? __________________________________________________ _____________________ _ __________________________________________________ _____________________ _ 9. Rate your satisfaction level with your service provider. o Very Good o Good o Satisfied o Bad

o Very Bad 10. How much do you spend per month on your mobile connection? __________________________________________________ _____________________ _ 11. Given a choice with same number, which service provider will you select? o Tata Indicom o BSNL o Reliance o Vodafone 12. How do you find STD rates of your service provider? __________________________________________________ _____________________ _ 13. Do you find availability of network of your service provider at following area? o Remote Area o Hill Stations o Outskirts 14. What are the different schemes provided by your service provider? o SMS o Talk-time Festival o Schemes

o Other 15. How long do you have to wait in customer care? Up to 1 minute o 3-5 minutes o 2 minutes o 6-10 minutes o 11 minutes or more 16. Are you aware of 3G technology? o Yes o No