Marketing Case Study of Airtel

The

Story

to Te

ll

Through a Ta

le

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The Story to Tell Through a Tale

Airtel Introduction

• Bharti Airtel Limited usually referred to simply as "airtel", is an Indian telecommunications company that operates in 19 countries.

• It operates a GSM network in all countries, providing 2G or 3G services.

• Airtel is the fifth largest telecom operator in the world with over 207.8 million subscribers across 19 countries at the end of 2010.

• It is the largest cellular service provider in India, with over 199.610 million subscribers at the end of 2010.

• 3rd Largest Wireless Operator in the World

Cont….

• The company is structured into four strategic business units - Mobile, Telemedia, Enterprise and Digital TV.

• Largest & Fastest Growing Wireless Operator in India

• The company also provides land-line telephone services and broadband Internet access (DSL) in over 96 cities in India.

• Airtel also offers fixed line services and broadband services.

• It offers its telecom services under the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal.

SUNIL BHARTI MITTAL ( Chairman & M.D Bharti Mittal)

Market share of Airtel

CONNECTIONS USED BY PEOPLE

32%

24%14%

12%

16%2%

AIRTEL VODAFONE IDEA

TATA RELIANCE OTHERS

Achievements of AIRTEL

• It was first to launch nationwide roaming operations.

• it was first to cross 1 million and 5 million customers.

• It was first to launch services overseas.

• It was first to bring the e- recharging and e billing for pre and postpaid customers.

Cont…..

• In 2003 Airtel received Voice and Data Award for being ‘ India’s largest cellular service provider.

• Bharti Airtel is the first Indian telecom service provider to achieve this Cisco Gold Certification. To earn Gold Certification, Bharti Airtel had to meet rigorous standards for networking competency, service, support and customer satisfaction set forth by Cisco.

• It won the prestigious techies award for “being the best cellular services

Milestones

• 1995

• Bharti Cellular launched cellular services as "AirTel" in Delhi.

• 1998

• Bharti Telecom and British Telecom formed a 51% : 49% joint venture, "Bharti BT Internet" for providing Internet services

• 2001

• Bharti Telenet launched fixed line services in Haryana under the brand name of "TouchTel"

• 2005 

• Airtel introduces BlackBerry Connect in India

• 2008

• Bharti Airtel tied up with US-based Apple Inc to bring the popular GSM-based iPhone in the country. 

• Bharti Airtel Ltd has forged a technology alliance with Infosys Technologies Ltd to launch its Direct-to-Home (DTH) television services. Infosys, through its digital convergence platform, will offer a suite of products including devices, application servers and interactive applications for Airtel's DTH services.

Conti…..

Airtel’s blackberry , iphone and DTH

Conti…

• 2009

• Bharti Airtel launched the 'Airtel Advantage' initiative. The initiative is aimed at offering the added advantage to Airtel customers to be in touch with each other at an affordable rate of 50 paise per minute, be it a national long distance call (STD) or a local call.

• 2010

• On 18 November, 2010, Bharti Airtel announced a re-branding campaign wherein, they would be referred as airtel, with a new logo.

Airtel Latest Logo

• Get closer to What you love

• (Dil jo chahe pass laye)

Change in Airtel’s Tagline

• Power to keep in touch(1995)

• Touch tomorrow(1999)

• Live Every Moment(2002)

• Express Yourself (2003)

• Get closer to What you love(2010)

Airtel as a brand

• Airtel was born free, a force unleashed into the market with a relentless and unwavering determination 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.

• The Company worked on a three-layered branding architecture:

• To Create specific brand for each of its services

• Build sub brands within each of these services

• Use Bharti as the umbrella brand

Airtel Three-Tier Branding Structure

Initial Branding

"Airtel celebrates the spirit of leadership“

"The first choice of the corporate leaders"

• Targeted the elite, up market professionals and entrepreneurs as customers

• Airtel was positioned as an aspirational and lifestyle brand

• Pitched not merely as a mobile service, but as something that gave consumer a badge value

• Sponsored games like golf

Conti..

•Brand should always connote leadership in

-network

-innovations

-offerings

-services

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SEGMENTATION

•On the basis of Geography –

•Divided Indian market in telecom circles.

•Subdivided States into category A, B and C.

TARGETING

•Earlier elite class above age group of 25 years.

•Corporate people and business men.

•Again targeted youth by introducing YOUTOPIA plan.

•Targeted women and senior citizens by introducing post paid plans.

POSITIONING as a Aspirational brand

• As an aspirational and lifestyle brand.

• Three Core Benefits to people associated with it:

• Other Values are:

• Courtesy

• Politeness

• Efficiency etc.

Leadership Dynamism

• BRAND LOGO The Airtel logo is a strong, contemporary and confident symbol for a brand that is always ahead of the rest.

• The Airtel Image style- It incorporates two solid, red rectangular forms whose counter form creates an open doorway.

• The Airtel Typographical style- The title case lettering with its capital 'A' was deliberately chosen to reinforce the brand's leadership position. The red dot on the letterform 'I' cues Airtel's focus on innovation.. The words 'Express Yourself' are very much part of the brand identity.

• The Airtel Colour Palette- The lettering is grey so that the pure black of Airtel is visually unharmed.

Airtel Logo

LOGO’S OF AIRTEL

Express yourself

Get Closer to What You Love

• Bharti decided to ‘humanize’ the brand ‘Airtel’ to gain competitive advantage

• red, black and white colors with ‘Airtel'enwrapped in an eclipse. The tagline ‘Touch Tomorrow'was placed below in a lower case typography to convey a warm and informal style

• Aimed at strengthening its relationship with its customers and make the brand ‘softer’ to cater a wide variety of people across the society

• In line with its repositioning efforts, Bharti also revamped the entire Airtel network including Airtel Connect centers.

• It also changed the color scheme of these outlets by adopting a coordination of red, black and white to give the outlets a soothing, soft but classy look. The dress code at these outlets was also changed. Men wore black trousers and a white shirt bearing the Airtel logo with and a red tie. While women sported red tops and black trousers with ivory, schiffon scarves.

INITIAL LOGO

• It incorporates two solid, red rectangular forms whose counter-form creates an open doorway.

• The title case lettering with its capital ‘A’ reinforces our leadership position. accompanied by a set of supportive variables like courtesy, politeness and efficiency.

• The red dot implies focus on innovation.

“ The peripheral value of the brand was status”.

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NEW LOGO

LATEST LOGO

•Airtel’s new logo launched with a new symbol and a new font in which the name of the brand is written.

•The red colour has always been an integral part of the brand and it still remains in the new logo of Airtel.

•The red represents energy and dynamism which has brought success to Airtel today.

Conti….

• The logo has a curve which will given automatic recognition to the identity of the brand.

• The new identity by Airtel has been launched in 19 countries in the continents of Asia and Africa

• Airtel’s new facial is youthful, has an international look, which is dynamic and represents the journey of the very first Indian brand to go truly global.

• The new identity of Airtel highlights that the Company is ready to start a new journey and embrace itself.

• A new curve has been added to the logo is a symbol which will help in instant recognition of the brand across international markets.

Taglines Of Brand

1995 •“Power to Keep in Touch”

1999 •“Touch Tomorrow”

2002 •“Live Every Moment”

2005 •“Express Yourself”

2010 •“Get Closer to What You Love”

'Power to keep in Touch’ YEAR- 1995-1998

• SIGNIFICANCE

The tag line 'Power to keep in Touch' used in the brand promise was designed to make the user feel 'in control…powerful' . Positioned in premium category aimed at elite class of society. Perception of aspirational and lifestyle brand

• REASON FOR CHANGE

Now, cellular service operators could drop their prices and target new customer segments. As the category developed with prices going down sharply, Airtel began talking to a wider spectrum of potential users. This gives the birth to the new tagline.  

REPOSITIONING 'Touch tomorrow‘ YEAR- 1999-2001

• SIGNIFICANCE–

Airtel started talking to new segments by positively positioning and establishing itself as a brand that improved the quality of life.New look and the feel of the brand tagline indicated the core values of the brand i.e. leadership, performance and dynamism

• REASON FOR CHANGE-

Airtel started to look from a regional level to pan India position. Rediffussion DY&R, which is the ad agency that took charge of revamping Airtel's brand image thought, to become a Indian leader, Airtel need to change its tagline .

From 'TOUCH TOMORROW' To “LIVE EVERY MOMENT”

Live Every Moment

FURTHER REPOSITIONING 'Live Every Moment' YEAR– 2002-2003

• SIGNIFICANCE

This was the first time A R Rehman had agreed to work for any brand, anywhere in the world. The music from the commercial became the most downloaded ring tone in the history of telecommunications. Tagline denotes that each and every person in India live every moment (emotions, feelings etc.) of the life with Airtel.

• REASONS FOR CHANGE

Rediffussion DY&R, which is the ad agency that took charge of revamping Airtel's brand image again changed the tagline to give better tagline to Airtel which catches some emotional appeal .

FURTHER REPOSITIONING 'Express yourself‘ YEAR- 2003-2008…….

• SIGNIFICANCE

• 'Express yourself' was successfully launched taking the ownership of the entire space of communication and strengthening the emotional bond Airtel enjoys with its customers.

• Tagline Changed to give more clear picture of Airtel.

• Airtel is a market leader in the cellular network and they wanted a very fresh and contemporary idea to build a brand image which their customers could identify.

• For this Airtel comes up with campaign with Shahrukh Khan and nokia.

• To justify the tagline Airtel launched an ad commercial

“BARRIERS BREAK WHEN PEOPLE TALK.”

• According to marketer, Airtel Justifies its tagline by having an ad commercial

• “KUCH BANDHAN ATOOT HOTE HAIN”

BRAND AMBASSADORS

2002 3 OCT, 2003

2006Signed as B.A for Airtel Vidya/Madhvan, 23rd april/2nd feb,08

2002

SIGNATURE TUNE (2002)

• Introduced in 2002

• In 2002, Airtel chose one of the country’s most successful music composers A R Rahman and Tune he gives denote "Live every moment" .

• This tune used for BRAND RECALLABILITY.

• It was the most popular tune among the people.

• People hear this tune and immediately associate it with the brand.

• It was most downloaded ringtone in India.

• Rahman had been paid Rs 10 million for the campaign

Signature Tune 2010

•Introduced in 2010

•Composed by A.R. Rahman

•Harihar Das a Street dancer fianlist of India’s Got talent seoson 2 was selected for the video

•The name of the new signature tune is “Get closer to what you love”

•Introduced for launching 3G service of airtel.

“Nigahhein nigahon se mila kar to dekho, Naye logo se rishta banakar to dekho…..” With this the focus have shifted to vibrating the innermost core of a viewer’s heart. The ad is made up of five snippets, each one displaying the importance of reaching out to others. In this Ad, there is the range of situations/relationships covered, from two little girls in the first one to an aged couple in the next one to the young lovers and then to student-teacher pair.Best part about the ad is that it never shows anyone using a cellphone !! This is definitely one of the best adsofrecent times.It certainly makes you believe in the line -- ’’Aasman simat jaayega tumhare aaghosh mein, chahat ki baahen phaila kar tho dekho ’’.

Jingles of Brand

Umbrella branding

Co-Branding

Innovations

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PUBLIC RELATIONS

• Marketing Communication function used to manage communication between an organization and its publics and create favorable relationships with different stakeholders.

• to become more “customer-centric”

• aims at developing a relationship of a company with its customers ,suppliers ,partners ,distributors – even its stakeholders.

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MARKETING V/S PUBLIC RELATIONS

• Marketing and sales have their primary objective as selling an organization's products but public relations attempts to sell the organization itself.

• Public Relations dept. generally have responsibility for managing the corporate image, whereas marketing is responsible for managing the image of product brands.

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FUNCTIONS OF PUBLIC REALTIONS

• To serve as the central source of information

• To bring to public attention

• To co-ordinate activities

• To collect and analyze information

• To plan and administer informational programs

• To coordinate the public relations activities with other marketing communication efforts

• To bring a relationship perspective

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PUBLIC RELATIONS INDUSTRY

• Compared to millions of rupees spent on mass-media advertising, public-relations spending is relatively minor because public relations triggers little or no media cost, which consumes the major portion of an advertising budget.

• The major public relations expenditures are for personnel and the production of events,news-letters,brochures,annual reports and corporate advertising.

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Public Relation Programs

Corporate Relation

Marketing Relation

Media Relation

Employee Relation

Financial Relation

MEDIA RELATIONS

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• to maintain a positive professional relationship with the media.

• to get the gatekeepers to run a story about an organization or to cover-attend and write about an organizations activities.

CORPORATE COMMUNICATION

• Public Relations carried out by senior executives who advise top management on how the organization presents itself

• Involves creating and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders who can affect the organization’s business, such as government officials and regulators.

• Focuses on public opinions and issues management.

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Responsibilities of Corporate Communication

• Monitor public opinion and advise senior management in sensitive or controversial industries like pharmaceuticals and liquor

Community Relation

• Involve members of local community and address their concerns

Government Relation

• Information programs for legislature

Industry Relation

• Concerns the industry in which company competes

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS

• Focuses on establishing and maintaining communication system with employees.

• Employee relations intersects with internal marketing, the effort to explain a promotional effort to employees and get their support.

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Financial Relation

• Creates communication in collaboration with :-

investors

Analysts

Stockbrokers

Financial media

• includes annual meeting with share-holders

Our public relation and marketing strategy

•Marketing Public Relation i.e Brand Publicity

Why Brand Publicity

Build acceptance

Increase Credibility

Clutter Busting

Reaching hard to reach

Cost Effectiveness

How to do Brand Publicity

Review Situation

Set objectives

Develop Strategies

Evaluate

Present Scenario

• Airtel as a brand is busy in building a mass franchisee for its target market.

• The sales driven communication has a limited ability to promote the brand as the “Most preferred and respected brand of India”.

• Airtel increased as a brand but giving back to foundation and community has not been publicized well

Setting objectives

To undertake transformational projects

To diversify into new business

To lay foundation to for building conglomerate for future

Improve on customer service & quality

Improve social responsibility

Strategies and Tactics

• Improve on customer service and quality

• Support education of under privilaged children through Bharti foundation

• Diversify the products

Publicity tools we can use

News Release

•Press conference

•Media events

•Speeches

•Media tour

Our core values

Empowering people Being flexible

Making it happen Transparency

Creating positive impact

Airtel- as a respected brand….

Conclusion

“We at Airtel always think in fresh and innovative ways about the needs of our customers and how we want them to feel. We deliver what we promise and go out of our way to delight the customer with a little bit more”

THANK YOU….