Group-I, Section-D, PGPBM

1.Arka Chatterji, 2.Subhradeep Das, 3.Rakeem Baig, 4.Arindam Das


Entered telecom business in 1985
& telecommunication in 1990
Launch cellular service in Delhi in
1992
Acquired Skycell (TN), JT Mobile(AP
& Karnataka), Spice Cell(WB) in
2000 to expand business
History
First company to install second ‘Mobile
switching centre’
Won Techies Award for four consecutive
years(1997-2002)
The First in Asia to deploy the multi band
feature in a wireless network for efficient
usage of spectrum.
The First to deploy Voice Quality Enhancers
to improve voice quality and acoustics.
The First telecom company in the world to
receive the ISO 9001:2000 certification from
British Standards Institute.
Credits
  Largest pan-Indian cellular network
 One of the five most valuable cellular operators in the world

Current Market Share

4547870, 2% 3437716, 1% 342896, 0%

11924843, 4% 1378471, 1% 69383716, 25% Airtel

26329804, 9%
109744, 0%
Relaince
27194205, 10%

Vodafone Essar
BSNL
IDEA
Tata
37362897, 13%
49195098, 17%
Aircel
Source: COAI, July 2008
Including CDMA & WLL 50417955, 18% Spice
Examine the circumstances in
which Bharti launched Airtel and
trace the brands initial days in the
backdrop of emerging cellular
market in India. In the light of
‘Leadership’ campaign, analyze
why Airtel & other cell phone
brands were seen as premium end
offerings.
Sunil Bharti Mittal laid the foundations of the New Delhi based Bharti group in 1970s
with a small bicycle part business

1985 Bharti group entered the telecom business by establishing Bharti Telecom Ltd.
and entered into technical collaboration with Siemens AG Germany for
manufacturing electronic pushbutton telephones.

Launched cellular service in Delhi in 1992, started offering post-paid

service from Nov,1995.

Started offering VAS such as Smart mail, Fax, Call hold, Call waiting etc.
and e-commerce portals to facilitate consumers.
In the initial days due to high tariff rates cellular players had to impose high call
charges on their customers and the handsets were costly.

Naturally, they targeted the elite, up market professionals and entrepreneurs as

customers . Airtel was positioned as an aspirational and lifestyle brand .

It was pitched not merely as a mobile service, but as something that gave
consumer a badge value. The Brand was developed to connote leadership in
network, innovations, offerings and services.

The taglines like "Airtel celebrates the spirit of leadership" and "The first choice
of the corporate leaders" emphasized that stance.

The ‘Leadership’ campaign was reportedly successful and resulted in a marginal

improvement in Airtel performance.
Explain the reasons behind the
‘Leadership campaign being
replaced by the ‘Touch Tomorrow’
campaign. Also critically comment
on the company’s decision to
replace ‘Touch Tomorrow’ with
‘Live Every Moment’.

Govt. reduced the tariffs and taxes
which led to the emergence of
huge customer base.
A brand was created that not only had
qualities like
Leadership, Performance, Dynamism
but also with supportive values like
courtesy, politeness and efficiency.

Other players also started imitating

During late 1990s many national and
strategies followed by Airtel, by
international players started entering
offering same type of schemes and
into the Indian telecom market.
facilities
 In early 2000 it was observed through market surveys that
the concept of leadership was undergoing a transformation
resulting in it being a moderate success.

 Hence Bharti decided to ‘humanize’ the brand ‘Airtel’ to gain

competitive advantage.

 In august 2000 Bharti launched its new ‘Touch Tomorrow’

campaign which aimed at strengthening its relationship with
its customers and make the brand ‘softer’ to cater a wide
variety of people across the society.

 The Company adopted a three-tier brand architecture to

expanded its ‘Touch Point’ network.
 Special features like Tier-I

music download Airtel

facility, SMS, permane
nt GPRS was
introduced at a Tier-II
affordable price National Long Broadband
Basic Telephony Mobile Service
Distance Service Service

 Airtel logo during

‘Touch Tomorrow’ Tier-III
days
Freenet Long Distance Tango-Internet mobile

Three-tier brand architecture

 In 2002, Airtel again repositioned its brand with new tagline
‘Live Every Moment’ and changed its logo to create a brand
identity that had a younger international look and feel.

 Airtel also replaced its three-tier brand architecture and

adopted a two-tier brand architecture where all wireless
products were placed under Airtel brand

 . Airtel logo after repositioning to ‘Live Every Moment’

campaign
Do you think Bharti has not been
giving enough time for one
positioning plank to prove effective
before moving on to the next?
What are the merits and demerits
of frequently changing a brand’s
positioning?
 Rationale
 In telecom industry people live a brand 24X7 so the
possibilities of being tired by a continuous campaign is very
high
 Brand restructuring helps the company to broaden its
customer base by reaching more people and offering new
services
 Success
 Airtel is the most recognizable brand in Indian operator
space, with 30.8% of respondents able to identify it as a
mobile brand unaided
 A member of Forbes ‘Asian Fabulous 50’
 Of 10 million new subscriber sign up every month one in
every 4 sign up with Airtel, not only to make calls but also to
access the Web, download cricket scores and send billions of
text messages
 During 2004-2005 its increased its market share from 20.5% to
21.5%
 Brand perception:

Can't Say Perception Cool

14% 28%

Cheap
9%

Technically
Creative
advanced
27%
22%
Source: IE Market Research Corp.-14th
Oct,3006, ID-IEMR1370648
 Merits  Demerits
 Targeting different  Huge promotional
segments of market costs which depends
effectively upon the level of
 Reduce mental fatigue change
towards the brand  Risk of being alienated
 Corporate level or from loyal customers
product offering  If a new positioning
restructuring fails or not executed
properly brand may
suffer a crisis of
identity and dilution of
brand image
In the light of intensifying
competition in the Indian cellular
telephony market and the fact that
almost all players have began
focusing on the marketing
front, what should Bharti do to
ensure that it retains its market
leadership position.
 Strategic

 In 2003 ,Airtel changed its tagline once again and

the new tagline is ‘Express Yourself’. This
dynamism should be maintained in future to build
a more comprehensive and stronger brand.

 More focus on emotional angle to differentiate the

brand

 Airtel was the first cellular service provider to start

customer centers (Airtel connects), thus setting a
trend of effective and responsive CRM system & it
should be maintained.

 Innovative and low priced schemes for attracting

mass
 Low-priced and Youth oriented schemes
(e.g. Campus pack, Student pack) are to be
implemented more effectively.
 Keeping the competition low by strategic
alliances and acquisitions.
 Aggressive rural market penetration using
existing infrastructure and by implementing
innovative & focused schemes.
 Promotion in regional languages to tap
rural market.
 Technical

 Widening of the network coverage area

 Increasing quality of service & interconnectivity
 Innovative VAS such as e-recharge, recharge using
SMS
 Advanced technology introduction such as 3G, M-
commerce (e.g. m-check, ATM recharge)
 Promotion of Blackberry and other business
customer oriented services
 Better use of internet and transforming it into a
direct communication channel