Project on Sales and Promotion Strategy of Virgin Mobile in Mobile Store

Introduction

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Rationale for the Study In today’s intensely

competitive, rapidly changing

and highly complex

environment characterize by

diminishing customer loyalty,

the need to be market –focused

and customer centric is more

critical than any other time in

past. It is highly imperative for

every organization to retain

and use valuable information

about their customer to

enhance their business

strategies and product and service offerings. Today, the key focus area of much

organization is identification of a link between customer satisfaction and

performance. However, satisfaction as the confirmation of expectation has started

to be conceptualizing almost as a threshold for customers. The delivery of

satisfaction is the minimum the customer expects.

This project is totally focusing on the consumer preferences towards

different sales promotion techniques means which sales promotion technique is

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mostly preferred by the customer in the city of Allahabad (Uttar Pradesh). As the

sales promotion techniques are used for the marketing of the product so the

research has done in the area of marketing. Today every firm is facing the situation

of cut throat competition. So it becomes very important for every firm to promote

its product otherwise it cannot survive in the market. These techniques are used in

the marketing of product in the last stage which is called retailing. It is the stage

from which the product directly goes in the hand of customer and today India is

standing on the threshold of retail revolution and witnessing a great change in its

retail landscape i.e. from unorganized retailing to organized retailing. Retail is

growing with an annual rate of 40%. Its contribution towards GDP is 11% and

towards employment is 8%. So after agriculture retailing is one of the biggest

sources of employment in the country and is one of the largest industries in India.

Although retail industry has existed in our country for centuries but it is only the

recent past that it is witnessing such a tremendous growth.

In Allahabad Mobile Store has created its image in a very short period Mobile

store is best outlet for Mobiles and its accessories. It is attracting the customers

with its good services. Most of the customer satisfied by Mobile store services and

facilities.

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Profile of the Company

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Profile of the Company

About The Mobile Store:

Mr. Rajiv Agarwal, CEO and Director, The Mobile Store Limited, heads

India's first countrywide chain of telecom retail outlets. "The Mobile Store"

is an Essar Group venture, set to introduce a pan-Indian network of retail

telecom outlets. The Mobile Store offers a world class shopping

environment, with state of the art technology.

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The Mobile Store format is a one stop mobile solution shop that provides,

multi brand handsets, accessories, connections, repairs, VAS etc all under

one roof.The Mobile Store currently has more than 1050 outlets and the

vision is to have a network of 2500 stores by 2010 across 650 cities, thus

covering virtually every major town in every state across India.

The Mobile Store outlets are in three formats: Large - 1000-1500 square

feet, Medium- 800-1000 square feet and Corner-150-200 square feet, with

smaller formats located primarily in large malls.

Key thrust areas for the retail format are: Comprehensive Product Range,

Knowledgeable Store Staff & Interactive Environment, Competitive Prices

and Handset Repairs.

The Mobile Store caters to the Indian consumer's choice of the widest and

most comprehensive range of mobile phones with special offers from all the

key brands available across the globe. The Mobile Store offers complete

telecom solutions right from handset purchase to the choice of service

operator and miscellaneous services like monthly bill collections etc., the

stores also offer connections (pre paid and post paid), accessories and VAS

including the latest ring tones, wallpapers and gaming and prompt after

sales service, available not only in the city of purchase but in all The

MobileStore outlets across the country.

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The Mobile Store has undertaken an extensive training program to equip all

its employees with in-depth knowledge of the products and brands available

at the store, thereby allowing them to provide the right kind of guidance to

the customer.

The Mobile Store has categorized its mobile device offerings into consumer

segments keeping in mind the profiles and needs of different consumers.

The unique segments available in The Mobile Store The Mobile Store are:

Business - PDA & Smart phones, Emails, data transfer etc., Lifestyle -

Fashion phones, Look and elegance, Fun - Multimedia & music, camera,

games, wacky ring tones and wallpapers, Value for Money - Special offers,

discounts and budget phones.

All major handset brands like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung,

Motorola, Fly, Sagem, HP, I Mate, Dopod, HTC and Blackberry are

available at the store. The Mobile Store has also tied up with all leading

operators including Airtel, Vodafone, BPL, Idea, MTNL/BSNL and

Reliance, Tata Indicom.

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All major handset brands like Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung,

Motorola, Fly, Sagem, HP, I mate, Dopod, HTC and Blackberry are

available at the store. The Mobile Store has also tied up with all leading

operators including Airtel, Vodafone, BPL, Idea, MTNL/BSNL and

Reliance, TataIndicom.

INTRODUCTION-WHY VIRGIN MOBILE?

In Indian mobile market, Virgin mobile is a unique player based on its

business model and strategy. It is the only service provider which does not

hold any bandwidth and mobile setup infrastructure but uses Tata

Teleservices spectrum and is penetrating market totally on its branding and

marketing strategy. Creating a niche brand and promoting it to specific

customer segment with proper marketing has been the key success factor for

virgin mobile across the globe. So, from marketing and customer

understanding point of view, this is a very unique company to study.

UNDERSTANDING VIRGIN’S BUSINESS MODEL:

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Virgin has promoted itself as the brand for young India, keeping the Indian

youth as its target customer segment. The idea behind targeting this segment

can be found inherited in virgin’s business model. The different marketing

perspectives are explained in fig 1.

The salient features of Virgin’s business model from customer perspective

are:

1) With intensive competition and reducing voice tariffs, the profit

margins for voice service are decreasing day by day. So, the future

profit strategy is maximizing profit margins through data services and

it is youth segment which provides maximum data service revenues.

2) Future projection of increasing young and working population of India

as 65% of overall population by 2020.

3) Increased use of data services in future due to technological

advancements.

9VIRGIN MOBILE BRAND

NETWORK

Tata Teleservices

Bluedart

DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

Online selling

Retail Access

PRODUCT DESIGN

Paid incoming calls

50 paisa STD

VBYTES Value added services

COMMUNICATING VALUE PROPOSITION

Youth centric advertisements

Young & Vibrant website

Samsung

Fig 1: Creating Virgin brand through various market channels

COMMUNICATING THE VIRGIN BRAND:

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Virgin mobile has communicated itself as the youth oriented brand of India

through various communication channels. They are:

a) “Think Hat ke” advertisement campaign targeting youth

b) Red and vibrant website look with youth focused language (Fig 2)

c) Tailor made plans for young segment

d) Getting paid for incoming calls: a source of recharge option for youth

Fig 2. Virgin Mobile website depicting youth flavor

TARGET MARKET:

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The Virgin Mobile Brand, targets Indian youth aged between 14 and 25

years. There are 215 million people in this age group. Out of this, 70 million

own a mobile phone and this segment is expected to add another 50 million

new subscribers in the next three years. Though young subscribers constitute

only 30 percent of the total mobile subscribers, they contribute more than 50

percent of the revenues of telecom industry. By 2010 this group is expected

to contribute 60-70 percent of total revenues.

The distinct mobile phone usage habits of the young users provide a huge

advantage to Virgin Mobile. They make more and longer out-bound voice

calls, which means huge billing potential for service providers. The usage of

SMS, data services in the form of mobile internet, mobile shopping and

other value added services like ring tones, caller tunes, wallpapers, etc are

very high in this group which again provides a huge opportunity to be

tapped. Moreover young users have a short handset up gradation cycle-under

12 months as compared to two years for people above 25 years of age.

CUSTOMER ACQUISITION AND RETENTION STRATEGIES:

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The company knows that they are trying to position themselves into a very

established and competitive market. They understand the fact that they

cannot start making profit from day one neither they have plans for it; they

anticipate to achieve a subscriber base of 5 million in next three years and

will make profit afterwards they will be able to break even in three year or

so.

According to the patron, Sir Richard “We want to deliver a more tailored

and relevant offering for a single segment.” Company targets only 10% of

the above mentioned segment and have plans to acquire and retain them by

various innovative propositions, some of them are-

1) Providing services which were not offered so far

a) Get paid for incoming calls.

b) 50 paisa for all calls across the country.

c) A brand truly meant for the young India which is reflected at each &

every touch point.

d) Extensive data service offers in the form of vbytes.

e) Excellent value added plans.

f) Go online facility for enquiry, purchasing phone, recharging and

everything.

g) One touch VAS access from every virgin mobile.

2) Providing services which others are not providing meticulously

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a) Easy to change the handset from a wide range of handset providing at

very reasonable prices.

b) Boring customer care services telling you are in queue.

c) One customer care officer dedicated for all queries of one customer

leading to transparency.

d) No jammed or bad network coverage.

e) Tailor made customized plans without any hidden charges.

f) No monthly bills.

VALUE CREATION THROUGH PRODUCT DESIGN:

Various steps that Virgin is taking to add value to the customer are on price,

quality, technology and social front. Company is providing the best prices in

whichever plan you go, quality of signals is not only comparable but better

than most of the service providers, on technology front it is the first in India

to go for one-touch VAS access from every Virgin Mobile .

MARKETING MIX:

The marketing mix is the combination of marketing activities that an

organisation in so as to best meet the needs of its targeted market.

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Product: Virgin Mobile offers six RUIM enabled handsets with colour

screen, FM radio and include one touch access for V bytes-Virgin Mobile’s

VAS portal.

Price: The handsets are priced in the range of Rs2000-5000.The call tariff is

very nominal which is 50p per call both local and STD subject to terms and

conditions.

Place: The focus of Virgin Mobile on customer acquisition has so far been

in the top 60 cities of India and is set to extend to more cities. The product

is available across a host of modern retail outlets The Mobile Store,

Hotspot, RPG Cellucom, Croma etc.

Promotion: Virgin Mobile entered the Indian market in grand style. The

company surprised the readers of a leading Indian daily when all the

headlines on the front page were in the colour red. Virgin Mobile has used a

very vibrant colour to relate itself with the targeted market. Apart from

traditional media, internet and outdoor youth centric advertising has been

used wisely to attract the targeted audience.

DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL:

Virgin mobile makes its products available to the customer by both retail

stores and online distribution.

Selective Distribution:

Virgin mobile has selected some retail outlets to distribute its products. It

does not follow the strategy of intensive and exclusive distribution. The

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strategy of selective distribution helps the company gain optimum market

coverage and more control but at a lesser cost than intensive distribution.

Virgin Mobile launched a new mobile handset v Billing on 7 July 2008. V

Billing is available across 15,000 outlets nationally and over 1000 modern

retail outlets including The Mobile Store, Univercell, Croma, Convergem,

Big C, Vishal Mega Mart, Vijay Sales and Sangeetha to name a few. Apart

from this, the handset will also be available in 34 kiosks in high traffic

malls across the country.

Online Distribution:

Virgin Mobile India has announced that customers can now buy Virgin

Mobile branded products and services online. They just need to select the

handset, plan and number of their choice by filling an online form. Post the

payment transaction, handsets will be delivered to the customer within 24 -

48 hours and the requisite documents for proof of identity will be collected

in person. Customers taking advantage of online shopping will also be

offered additional talk time, extra messages as well as other freebies.

Disintermediation and re-aggregation: The different features of

the online distribution are stated as follows:

Intermediary becomes redundant as customer buys directly from the

firm using web technology.

Customization becomes easier and feasible which adds to the customer

value.

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Re-aggregation occurs in the sense that companies today encourage

customers to lodge their complaints or send their queries on the net.

These are then routed to another site where they are dealt with

immediately in a seamless manner. So it helps in improving the

overall efficiency of the channel.

For the delivery of the ordered products Virgin Mobile has tied up

with Blue Dart.

COMPETITION:

Virgin Mobile has entered into a very competitive industry where Airtel,

Vodafone and Reliance are the dominant players. Virgin Mobile faces stiff

competition from Reliance CDMA phones. Virgin Mobile have taken a

‘hatke’ route and launched the brand in the youth segment. The tie up with

Tata Teleservices enables it to fight competition as the network quality of

Tata Teleservices was ranked first by DOT. The company is spending huge

chunks of money to promote their VAS services and it would be interesting

to watch out what Virgin Mobile plans to offer.

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Objective of the Study

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Objective of the Study

Objective of project:

Primary objective:

To study the customer awareness about Virgin Mobile in Mobile

Store.

To enhance the sale of Virgin Mobile in Mobile Store.

To know the reason for the loss of inventory.

Secondary objectives

To analyze the customer buying behavior.

To find out the satisfaction level of the Virgin mobile customers at

Mobile Store.

To study the effect of event and promotion.

To make various suggestion on the improvement of Virgin Mobile in

Mobile Store.

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Scopes:

Study is restricted to various parts of Allahabad which include: LGF,

Atlantis Mall Allahabad Purana Katra.

Time frame-there is limited time of two months June to August 2009.

Analyze the consumer buying behavior at Mobile Store.

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Review of literature Marketing is a societal process which discerns consumers' wants, focusing

on a product or service to fulfil those wants, attempting to move the

consumers toward the products or services offered. Marketing is

fundamental to any businesses growth. The marketing teams (marketers) are

tasked to create consumer awareness of the products or services through

marketing techniques. Unless it pays due attention to its products and

services and consumers' techniques. Unless it pays due attention to its

products and services and consumers'

techniques. Unless it pays due attention to its products and services and

consumers' techniques. Unless it pays due attention to its products and

services and consumers' selling. It is also concerned with anticipating the

customers' future needs and wants, which are often discovered through

market research.

Essentially, marketing is the process of creating or directing an organization

to be successful in selling a product or service that people not only desire,

but are willing to buy.

Therefore good marketing must be able to create a "proposition" or set of

benefits for the end customer that delivers value through products or

services.

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A market-focused, or customer-focused, organization first determines what

its potential customers desire, and then builds the product or service.

Marketing theory and practice is justified in the belief that customers use a

product or service because they have a need, or because it provides a

perceived benefit.

Two major factors of marketing are the recruitment of new customers

(acquisition) and the retention and expansion of relationships with existing

customers (base management). Once a marketer has converted the

prospective buyer, base management marketing takes over. The process for

base management shifts the marketer to building a relationship, nurturing

the links, enhancing the benefits that sold the buyer in the first place, and

improving the product/service continuously to protect the business from

competitive encroachments.

For a marketing plan to be successful, the mix of the four "Ps" must

reflect the wants and desires of the consumers or Shoppers in the target

market. Trying to convince a market segment to buy something they don't

want is extremely expensive and seldom successful. Marketers depend on

insights from marketing research, both formal and informal, to determine

what consumers want and what they are willing to pay for. Marketers hope

that this process will give them a sustainable competitive advantage.

Marketing management is the practical application of this process. The

offer is also an important addition to the 4P's theory.

Within most organizations, the activities encompassed by the marketing

function are led by a Vice President or Director of Marketing. A growing

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number of organizations, especially large US companies, have a Chief

Marketing Officer position, reporting to the Chief Executive Officer.

The American Marketing Association (AMA) states, "Marketing is an

organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating

and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships

in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders.".[1]

Marketing methods are informed by many of the social sciences,

particularly psychology, sociology, and economics. Anthropology is also a

small, but growing influence. Market research underpins these activities.

Through advertising, it is also related to many of the creative arts.

Marketing is a wide and heavily interconnected subject with extensive

publications. It is also an area of activity infamous for re-inventing itself

and its vocabulary according to the times and the culture.

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Two levels of marketing-

Strategic marketing

attempts to determine how an organization competes against its competitors

in a market place. In particular, it aims at generating a competitive

advantage relative to its competitors.

Operational marketing

executes marketing functions to attract and keep customers and to maximize

the value derived for them, as well as to satisfy the customer with prompt

services and meeting the customer expectations. Operational Marketing

includes the determination of the marketing mix (4 Ps).

Four Ps - In the early 1960's, Professor Neil Borden at Harvard Business

School identified a number of company performance actions that can

influence the consumer decision to purchase goods or services. Borden

suggested that all those actions of the company represented a “Marketing

Mix”. Professor E. Jerome McCarthy, also at the Harvard Business School in

the early 1960s, suggested that the Marketing Mix contained 4 elements:

product, price, place and promotion.

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In popular usage, "marketing" is the promotion of products, especially

advertising and branding. However, in professional usage the term has a

wider meaning which recognizes that marketing is customer-centered.

Products are often developed to meet the desires of groups of customers or

even, in some cases, for specific customers. E. Jerome McCarthy divided

marketing into four general sets of activities. His typology has become so

universally recognized that his four activity sets, the Four Ps, have passed

into the language.

The four Ps are:

Product: The product aspects of marketing deal with the

specifications of the actual goods or services, and how it relates to the

end-user's needs and wants. The scope of a product generally includes

supporting elements such as warranties, guarantees, and support.

Pricing: This refers to the process of setting a price for a product,

including discounts. The price need not be monetary - it can simply be

what is exchanged for the product or services, e.g. time, energy,

psychology or attention.

Promotion: This includes advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and

personal selling, branding and refers to the various methods of promoting

the product, brand, or company.

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Placement (or distribution): refers to how the product gets to the

customer; for example, point of sale placement or retailing. This fourth P

has also sometimes been called Place, referring to the channel by which a

product or services is sold (e.g. online vs. retail), which geographic

region or industry, to which segment (young adults, families, business

people), etc.

These four elements are often referred to as the marketing mix,[1] which a

marketer can use to craft a marketing plan. The four Ps model is most useful

when marketing low value consumer products. Industrial products, services,

high value consumer products require adjustments to this model. Services

marketing must account for the unique nature of services. Industrial or B2B

marketing must account for the long term contractual agreements that are

typical in supply chain transactions. Relationship marketing attempts to do

this by looking at marketing from a long term relationship perspective rather

than individual transactions.

As a counter to this, Morgan, in Riding the Waves of Change (Jossey-Bass,

1988), suggests that one of the greatest limitations of the 4 Ps approach "is

that it unconsciously emphasizes the inside–out view (looking from the

company outwards), whereas the essence of marketing should be the

outside–in approach". Nevertheless, the 4 Ps offer a memorable and

workable guide to the major categories of marketing activity, as well as a

framework within which these can be used.

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Sales promotion-Promotion involves disseminating information about a

product, product line, brand, or company. It is one of the four key aspects of

the marketing mix. Sales promotion is an important component of a

company's marketing communication strategy along with advertising,

public relations, and personal selling. At its core, sales promotion is a

marketing activity that adds to the basic value proposition behind a product

(i.e., getting more for less) for a limited time in order to stimulate consumer

purchasing, selling effectiveness, or the effort of the sales force. As this

definition indicates, sales promotion may be directed either at end

consumers or at selling intermediaries such as retailers or sales crews.

Sales promotion stems from the premise that any brand or service has an

established perceived price or value, the "regular" price or some other

reference value. Sales promotion is believed to change this accepted price-

value relationship by increasing the value and/or lowering the price.

Familiar examples of consumer sales promotion tools include contests and

sweepstakes, branded give-away merchandise, bonus-size packaging,

limited-time discounts, rebates, coupons, free trials, demonstrations, and

point-accumulation systems.

Three issues clarify sales promotion. First, sales promotion ranks in

importance with advertising and requires similar care in planning and

strategy development. Second, three audiences can be targeted by sales

promotion: consumers, resellers, and the sales force. And third, sales

promotion as a competitive weapon provides an extra incentive for the target

audience to purchase or support one brand over another. This last factor

distinguishes sales promotion from other promotional mix tactics. For

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example, unplanned purchases may be directly related to one or more sales

promotion offers.

In order to understand the basic role and function of sales promotion, one

must differentiate between sales promotion and other components of the

marketing mix. Sales promotion usually operates on a short timeline, uses a

more rational appeal, returns a tangible or real value, fosters an immediate

sale, and contributes highly to profitability. The idea of contribution to

profitability may be confusing. It is simply the ratio between what is spent

on a promotional mix compared to the direct profitability generated by that

expenditure. A few exceptions to the above characteristics do exist. For

example, a sweepstakes might use a very emotional appeal, while a

business-to-business ad may be very rational.

Promotion is generally sub-divided in the textbooks into two parts:

Above the line promotion: Promotion in the media (e.g. TV, radio,

newspapers, Internet) in which the advertiser pays an advertising

agency to place the ad

Below the line promotion: All other promotion. Much of this is

intended to be subtle enough that the consumer is unaware that

promotion is taking place. E.g. sponsorship, product placement,

endorsements, sales promotion, merchandising, direct mail, personal

selling, public relations, trade shows

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\Marketing Communication-

Reaches large, geographically dispersed audiences, often

with high frequency; Low cost per exposure, though overall costs are high;

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Consumers perceive advertised goods as more legitimate; Dramatizes

company/brand; Builds brand image; may stimulate short-term sales;

Impersonal, one-way communication; Expensive .

Most effective tool for building buyers’ preferences,

convictions, and actions; Personal interaction allows for feedback and

adjustments; Relationship-oriented; Buyers are more attentive; Sales force

represents a long-term commitment; Most expensive of the promotional

tools

May be targeted at the trade or ultimate consumer;

Makes use of a variety of formats: premiums, coupons, contests, etc.;

Attracts attention, offers strong purchase incentives, dramatizes offers,

boosts sagging sales; Stimulates quick response; Short-lived; Not effective

at building long-term brand preferences

Highly credible; Very believable; Many forms: news

stories, news features, events and sponsorships, etc.; Reaches many

prospects missed via other forms of promotion; Dramatizes company or

product; Often the most under used element in the promotional mix;

Relatively inexpensive (certainly not 'free' as many people think--there are

costs involved)

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Many forms: Telephone marketing, direct mail, online

marketing, etc.; Four distinctive characteristics: Non-public, Immediate,

Customized, Interactive; Well-suited to highly-targeted marketing efforts.

Why Telecom Industry?

Indian Telecom industry is one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the

world. In telecom industry, service providers are the main drivers; whereas

equipment manufacturers are witnessing growth and decline in successive

quarters as sales is dependent on order undertaken by the companies.

Today the Indian telecommunications network with over 452.91 million(as

on May 09) subscribers is second largest network in the world after China.

India is also the fastest growing telecom market in the world with an

addition of 10- 12 million monthly subscribers. The tele-density of the

Country has increased from 18% in March 2006 to 38.88% in May 2009,

showing a stupendous annual growth of about 50%, one of the highest in

any sector of the Indian Economy. The Department of Telecommunications

has been able to provide state of the art world-class infrastructure at

globally competitive tariffs and reduce the digital divide by extending

connectivity to the unconnected areas. India has emerged as a major base for

the telecom industry worldwide.

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Recent things to watch in Indian telecom sector are:

3G spectrum auctions

Mobile Number Portability(MNP) Implementation

New Policy for Value Added Service

Due to technological advancement and increase in traffic.

Abolition of Access Deficit Charge (ADC).

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Research methodology

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Research Methodology

Research methodology is away to systematically solve research problem. In it we

study the various step that are generally adopted by researcher in studying his

research problem along with logic behind them. It is necessary for a researcher to

know not only the research method/techniques but also the methodology. It may be

noted, in the context of planning & development that the significance of research

lines in its quality and not in quantity. Researcher should know how to apply

particular research techniques, but they also need to know which of these methods

or techniques, are relevant and which are not, and what would they mean and

indicate and why?

Meaning of Research

“Research is common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. In fact research is

an act of

Scientific investigation.”The project was divided in to the following steps.

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To decide objective of the study

To decide research design & application

To decide source of data collection

To decide from of data collection

To organize & collect data

To process & analyze report

To prepare the research report

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1. To decide objective of the Study:-

This step is also research problem. Problem definition is the most critical

part of the research process. Research problem definition involves

specifying the information needed by management. The main objectives of

the study are:

To Creating the Awareness of Hotel Pristine Inn in among Corporates

in Pune.

To find out the level of customer satisfaction with the offers, discount

and services offered by Pristine Inn.

2. To decide research design & application:-

Research design involves defining the research problem, determining how to

collect the data and from whom, establishing the way the data will be

analyzed estimating costs and the preparation of the research approach. For

this study, descriptive research was selected.

3. To decide Source of data there are two source of data

Primary Data

Secondary Data

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Primary data:-

Primary data is the original data collected specifically for the problem.

Reason for selecting primary data:-

In terms of primary data a questionnaire has been used to interview desire

sample units that give accurate and up to data information as well better to

research problem.

Research approaches: - Primary data can be collected in five main ways:

through Observation, focus groups, surveys, behavioral data, and

experiments.

Research instruments:- Marketing researchers have a choice of three main

research Instruments in collecting primary data:

Questionnaires: -

A questionnaire consists of questions presented to respondents for their

answers. Because of its flexibility, the questionnaire is by far the most

common Instrument used to collect primary data. Questions can be open-

ended or closed-Ended.

Qualitative measures: -

Some marketers prefer more qualitative methods for gauging consumer

opinion because consumer actions do not always match their answers to

survey questions. Qualitative research techniques are relatively

unstructured measurement approaches that permit a range of possible

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responses, and they are a creative means of ascertaining consumer

perceptions that may other-Wise be difficult to uncover.

Mechanical devices: -

Mechanical devices are occasionally used in marketing

research .Mechanical devices like galvanometers measure the

respondent’s interest or emotions aroused by exposure to a specific ad or

picture.

Secondary data:-

Data potentially useful in solving a current problem but that were collected

for a different purpose.

Reason for selecting secondary data:-

Secondary data can be gathered quickly and inexpensively, compared to

primary data, it is clear useful to study analyzing the recent development in

the telecom industry.

Contact methods:- Once the sampling plan has been determined, the

marketing researcher must decide how the subject should be contact:

Mail questionnaire: -

The mail questionnaire is the best way to reach people who would not

give personal interviews or whose responses might be biased or distorted

by the interviewers. Mail questionnaires require simple and clearly

worded questions.

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Telephone interview: -

Telephone interviewing is the best method for gathering information

quickly; the interviewer is also able to clarify questions if respondents do

not understand them. The response rate is typically higher than in the

case of mailed questionnaires.

Personal interview: -

Personal interviewing is the most versatile method. The interviewer can

ask more questions and record additional observations about the

respondent, such as dress and body language. Personal interviewing takes

two forms. In arranged interviews, respondents are contacted for an

appointment, and often a small payment or incentive is offered. Intercept

interviews involve stopping people at a shopping mall or busy street

corner and requesting an interview.

Online interviews: -

There is increased use of online methods. There are so many ways to use

the Net to do research. In this method, researcher can include a

questionnaire on its Web site and offer a people to answer the

questionnaire.

4.To decide from of data collection:-

For this project survey method was selected which was carried through

person interview. Because information from different customers was

required.

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5. To organize & collect data:-

Once the researcher has formulated and development a research design

including questionnaire second thing he has to decide whether he has to

collect the information. From all the targeted customers. There can be two

types of survey are possible.

Sample Survey

Census Survey

“For this project sample Survey was chosen”

Characteristics of the sample survey are:-

It is cheaper than census survey

It requires less time

It is economical

More detail information can be collected

Deciding the sample plan requires following decisions

Sample unit “Who is to be surveyed”

Sample

Sample is the true representation of the population by studying of the

sample we can predict the behavior of the population.

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Sample Size: 250 (in this case)

Method of Sampling:-

In this project, the survey was done within the market that means

probabilistic convenience Sampling was carried out.

6. To process & analyze data:-

After the data was collected it was tabulated, analyzed and interpreted to the

conclusion reach.

Techniques Applied

Bar Chart:- A chart in which the length of the bar represents the amount of

the item associated with the bar.

Pie Chart:- A circle divided in to sections, such that each section represent

the percentage of the total area of a circle associates with one variable.

Types of Research

Along with this there may be 3 type of research methodology these are :-

They are –

Exploratory Research

Descriptive Research

Casual Research

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“Our research is based on the exploratory research.”

Exploratory Research

“The objective of this research is to gather preliminary information that will help

us to define the problem and to suggest any hypothesis.”

Which means first we have to define the problem and research objective? Then we

have to develop the research plan for collecting information. Now after collection

data we have to interpret those data for any suggestion,

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Limitation

It was assumed that the information given by the respondents is

authentic and best of their knowledge.

Some of the view given was completely views by customers as

they were in a hurry and were not considered in the data

analysis.

The result of the study is applicable to the survey area only.

Time and Money is also one of the important limitations.

Dull process and unwilling respondent also affect the result of

the study.

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Data analysis and

interpretation

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Proximity of Service Center

Table No.6.1

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Excellent 3%

Very Good 30%

Good 37%

Average 23%

Poor 7%

Figu

re

No.6.1

Data Analysis

The analysis shows that there is 3% Customer’s opinion for excellent, 30%

for Very good,37% for good and there is also 23% opnion is average and 7

% for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin has a large no. of customers those are satisfied with the services, it

increase the customer relationship and also increase the sales of the

company.

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User friendliness of delivery Point

Table No.6.2

Customer’s Opinion Percentage

responded

Excellent 33%

Very Good 53%

Good 7%

Average 7%

Poor 0%

Data Analysis

By the analysis we conduct that there is 5% for the excellent, 25%

customer’s opinion for very good,7% for good and also 0% for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin has friendliness of delivery point, Virgin Mobile use effective

techniques for take attention of customer’s.

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Service Time

Table No.6.3

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Excellent 19%

Very Good 34%

Good 27%

Poor 20%

Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 3% response for excellent and very good, 47% for

good, 27% for average also there is 20% response for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin makes the huge no of satisfied customers by its services. It is helpful

to increase the customer relationship and also for the sales of the company.

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Availability of Customer Care

Table No.6.4

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Excellent 19%

Very Good 34%

Good 27%

Poor 20%

Data Analysis

There is observed by the analysis that 18% opinion for excellent, 23% for

Very good, 39% good and also there is 20% for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin mobile has very good and huge customer care service, by this

customer can easily find the solution of the problem.

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Quality of Service by Customer Care

Table No.6.5

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Excellent 19%

Very Good 34%

Good 27%

Poor 20%

Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 19% response for excellent, 34% very good, 27%

good and also for 20% poor

Data Interpretation

Virgin Mobile has good quality of customer care Services, where customer

gets the quick response of his queries; it makes the good relationship

between the company and customer.

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Network Quality

Table No.6.6

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Excellent 17%

Very Good 36%

Good 26%

Poor 21%

Data Analysis

The analysis shows that there is 17% response for excellent, 36% for very

good, 26% for good and also 26% response for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin mobile has good network quality; by the analysis it is found that

there is large no. of customers those are highly satisfied with the network

quality of virgin mobile .

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Overall Satisfaction Level

Table No.6.7

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Excellent 12%

Very Good 38%

Good 28%

Poor 22%

Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 12% response for excellent,38% for very good,28%

response for good, and also 22% response for poor.

Data Interpretation

Virgin has large no. of satisfied customers by its services and offers. But in

rural area virgin is not so much successful.

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Virgin Connection

Table No. 6.8

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Yes 90%

No 10%

Data Analysis

By the analysis we come to conclusion that 10% of customer base is using

virgin connection and 90% other network.

Data Interpretation

There is less no of virgin mobile user in the Allahabad, so there is large no

of other network user.

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Which is the most important factor while using Mobile ServiceTable No.6.9

Reasons Percentage Responded

Price 42%

Mobile handset compatibility 33%

Mobile Service of friends and

relatives

12%

Free extra services like internet,

down

6%

Others 7%

Data Analysis

By the analysis we conduct that there is 42% for price, 33% for mobile handset

compatibility, 12% for mobile service of friends and relatives, 6% for free extra

service like internet download,7% for others.

Data Interpretation

There is large no of customer price conscious and they prefer handset compatibility

like GSM or CDMA.

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Which is the most cost effective Brand?

Table No.6.10

Brand Percentage Responded

Virgin 21%

Reliance 24%

Tata Indicom 7%

Aitel 24%

Vodafone 24%

Data Analysis

The analysis shows that there 21% for virgin,24% for reliance,7% for Tata

Indicom, 24% for Airtel,24% for Vodafone.

Data Interpretation

By the analysis it is founded that virgin is most cost effective brand.

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Are you aware of virgin’s 50 paisa STD PlanTable No.6.11

Customer’s Response Percentage Responded

Yes 68

No 32

Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 68% response for yes and 32% response for no.

Data Interpretation

There is average awareness of virgin mobile 50 paisa STD plan.

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Are you aware of virgin’s paid incoming call plan ?Table No.6.12

Awareness Percentage Responded

Yes 88%

No 12%

Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 88% response for yes and 12% response for No.

Data Interpretation

There is highly awareness of virgin mobile paid incoming call plan.

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If not a virgin customer, will you like to switch to virgin ?

Table No.6.13

Customer’s Opinion Percentage Responded

Yes 14

No 32

Can’t Say 54

Data Analysis

By the analysis there is 14% response for yes and 32% response for no and 54%

for can’t say.

Data Interpretation

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There is low customer response for switch to virgin mobile because of the CDMA

compability.

What is the main problem going for virgin mobile?Table No.6.14

Problems Percentage Responded

CDMA Technology 36%

Limited Handsets 42%

Price 8%

Switching from existing

handset

10%

Others 4%

Data

Analysis

By the analysis we conduct that 36% response for CDMA technology, 42% for

Limited handset, 8% for Price, 10% for Switching from existing handset, 4 % for

others.

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Data Interpretation

There is huge response for CDMA Technology Problem and also for Limited

handsets.

Observation & findings

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Findings

Virgin comes only CDMA features.

Virgin has a large no. of customers those are satisfied with the

services, it increase the customer relationship and also increase the

sales of the company.

Virgin has friendliness of delivery point, Virgin Mobile use effective

techniques for take attention of customer’s.

Virgin mobile has very good and huge customer care service, by this

customer can easily find the solution of the problem.

Virgin has large no. of satisfied customers by its services and offers.

But in rural area virgin is not so much successful.

Virgin is most cost effective brand.

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Conclusion

&

Suggestions

61

Conclusion of the Study

Telecom industry is seeing a rise as the trend goes and has potential for growth.

Taking into account the tele-density of 38.88% there is still unexplored market.

The competition is fierce with around 10 Service providers in most of the 18

circles and also the implementation of MNP. The service providers have to be

different and have to stick to strict service norms and provide excellent customer

service in order to hold on to the market share. Thus there is intense competition in

the market but at the same time scope for development in rural areas. Airtel, Idea

and Vodafone have taken up initiatives to provide customized connections to Rural

customers like Motor pumps control system, loud speaker phone for illiterates and

so on.

In a few words Telecom sector has a lot of scope for growth and the customers at

the same time have the benefit to choose from a wide range of service providers

offering various plans targeted to specific customers

It can be said that Virgin has created its image in a very short period in Allahabad.

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It is attracting the customers with its good services. Most of the customer satisfied by Virgin mobile services and facilities.

This satisfaction can be concluded by the response of customer in the questionnaires. Day by day Virgin is improving his reputation to other Mobile network.

Suggestions

Virgin should try to promote its latest plans like 50 paisa STD calls in advertisements.

Making customers aware about latest pricing will increase its market share in terms of cost effectiveness.

Virgin should try to tap 14% of customer base who want to switch to virgin but not able to switch because of existing non-compatible handset.

Solving existing non-compatible handset problem and better communication to inform latest pricing strategies will lead to substantial increase in consumer base for virgin mobile.

In order to enhance customer satisfaction, time gap between services sought and delivered should be minimized.

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Annexure

64

Questionnaire for the Virgin Customers:Please fill this questionnaire and rate Virgin Mobile on the following aspects from 1 to 5, with 5 representing excellent i.e. highly satisfied and 1 being poor i.e. highly dissatisfied.

Q.No.1: Is the delivery point user friendly?

a) Yes

b) No

2. How is the Network quality?

a. High

b. Low

c. Medium

3. The overall satisfaction level with Virgin Mobile?

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a) good

b) bad

Name:

Address:

Contact No

Questionnaire for target customer’s expectation:

Note: - Please fill this questionnaire and help us in finding target customer’s expectation from the firm. Please select the option which according to you is most suitable:

1. Do you own a virgin mobile connection?

a) Yes b) No

2. Which is the most important factor while using a mobile service?

a) Price b) Mobile handset compatibility

c) Mobile service of friends and relatives

d) Free extra services like internet, downloads

e) Others

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3. Which is the most cost effective brand in mobile service?

a) Virgin b) Reliance c) Tata Indicom d) Airtel

e) Vodafone f) Idea g) Bpl h) Don’t know

4. Are you aware of 50 paise national call plan of virgin mobile?

a) Yes b) No

5. Are you aware of paid incoming call facility by virgin mobile?

a) Yes b) No

6. If not a virgin customer, will you like to switch to virgin?

a) Yes b) No

c) Can't say

7. Why you do not want to go for virgin mobile?

a) CDMA technology b) Limited Handset

c) Price d) Switching from existing handset

e) Others

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Bibliography

68

BOOKS

1 .Marketing Management

Paramhans Foundation First Edition, 1992

2. Research Methodology

C.R.Kothari Second Edition, 1993

3. Marketing Management

Philip Kotler Tenth Edition, 1999

4. Fundamentals of Statistics

D.N.Elhance Present Edition, 1992

REFRENCES

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1. Website of www. mobilestore.com

2. Website of www.google.com 3. www.virginmobile.com

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