UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

PROJECT REPORT ONADVERTISING STRATEGIES OF VODAFONE

MASTERS OF COMMERCE(BUSINESS MANAGEMENT)SEMESTER 22014-15

In Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement under Semester Based CreditAnd Grading System for Post Graduates (PG)Programmed under faculty of Commerce

SUBMITTED BYMr. Sanket Nichani ROLL NO. 39

PROJECT GUIDEMs. KHYATI VORA

K.P.B HINDUJA COLLEGE OF COMMERCE315, NEW CHARNI ROAD, MUMBAI-400 004M.Com (Business Management)2nd SEMESTER

ADVERTISING STRATEGIES OF VODAFONE

SUBMITTED BYMr. Sanket NichaniROLL NO: 39

CERTIFICATEThis is to certify that Mr. SANKET NICHANI of M.Com Business Management Semester - 2 [2014-2015] has successfully completed the Project on Advertising strategies of Vodafone under the guidance of Ms. Khyati Vora.

Project Guide________________

Course Coordinator________________

Internal Examiner________________

External Examiner________________

Principal________________

Date: ______Place: Mumbai.

DECLARATION

I, Mr. SANKET NICHANI, student of M.Com Business Management, Semester - 2 (2014-2015), hereby declare that I have completed the project on Advertising strategies of Vodafone.

The information submitted is true and original to the best of my knowledge.

SANKET NICHANI

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I owe my special thanks to the Principal Dr. Chitra Natrajan and the Co-coordinator of M.com Dr. Minu Madlani for giving me an opportunity for this project work. I would like to give my thanks to the Project Guide Ms. Khyati Vora for her guidance and kind assessment that she has provided me and the inspiration in valued guidance and ideas throughout the project. I am also thankful to the library staff of K. P. B. Hinduja College of Commerce who co-operated with me and even all those seen and unseen hands and heads which helped me in the completion of this project.

TABLE OF CONTENTSSr NoTopicPage No

1Abstract2

2Introduction3

3Objectives5

4Literature Review6

5Case Study on Vodafone Marketing Strategies20

6Research Method30

7Findings36

8Conclusion39

9Recommendation39

10Bibliography40

AbstractThe major aim of this project was to understand the different marketing strategies used by marketers to delight customersMarketing is any paid form of personal as well as non-personal communication which is directed to the consumers or target audiences through various media in order to present and promote a product, services and idea.Good marketing requires competent personnel including a number of specialists to enable it thrive in the ever dynamic and competitive business environment.In todays world of competition, firms are selling goods and services through a variety of direct and indirect channels. In mass advertising, marketers are exploring new forms of communication, such as experimental, entertainment, and viral marketing.Vodafone is known for its unique marketing campaign such as pug, happy to help service and Zoozoo advertisement campaign. As Vodafone was a new brand in India, it had a challenging task to develop its own entity and it has done it in a splendid way. Vodafone had been benefitted immensely by the zoozoo campaign and it has been proved as a great marketing story.This project analyzes the marketing strategies used by marketers to delight customers taking example of Vodafone whose marketing strategy comprising of advertising campaign of Zoo Zoos, which helped them in increasing their sales.

IntroductionA strategy is a long-term plan to achieve certain objectives. A marketing strategy is therefore a marketing plan designed to achieve marketing objectives. For example, marketing objective may relate to becoming the market leader by delighting customers. The strategic plan therefore is the detailed planning involving marketing research, and then developing a marketing mix to delight customers. Every organisation needs to have clear marketing objectives, and the major route to achieving organisational goals will depend on strategy. It is important, therefore, to be clear about the difference between strategy and tactics.These terms originate from military use (military strategy before and during a military campaign is the general policy overview of how to defeat the enemy). Developing a strategy involves establishing clear aims and objectives around which the framework for a policy is created. Having established its strategy, an organisation can then work out its day-to-day tools and tactics to meet the objectives.Marketing can thus be seen as the process of developing and implementing a strategy to plan and coordinate ways of identifying, anticipating and satisfying consumer demands, in such a way as to make profits. It is this strategic planning process that lies at the heart of marketing.In 1985, the Chartered Institute of Marketing adopted the dynamic slogan: 'Marketing means Business'Strategic disciplineMarketing is now accepted as a strategic discipline or general management function and in this respect must care for the health of a business in the future - especially against competitive influences. This is because it is increasingly realised that although making a profit is important, an organisation should also develop its market share and search for brand leadership as well. So the marketer must monitor the profitability of the business and attempt to anticipate the likely trends. At the same time rival companies should be monitored and examined for vulnerable points.Successful marketers must therefore be concerned with every aspect of their business, including future project and other areas of their industry. Successful companies plan five or ten years and more in advance and often know as much about their competition as they know about themselves.Marketing is not just a series of business-related functions, but more wide-reaching than this. It is a business philosophy designed to develop an attitude of mind which should be shared by everyone in an organisation and is often enhanced by both frequent and open communication. Developing such an attitude of mind reduces the likelihood of crisis and contributes to the development of the overall future of an enterprise at both strategic and tactical levels.At the heart of marketing lies the degree to which an organisation becomes marketing-orientated. The more committed a company is to its marketing activities, the more able it will be to pursue its corporate objectives and develop and retain customers. Every business in existence relies upon its customers for survival, and those who best meet customer needs will always survive a period of change.The marketing function is therefore an essential ingredient of corporate strategy, and this marketing focus should be communicated through marketing planning into all aspects of business activity.In choosing a marketing strategy a frequent distinction that is made is between undifferentiated marketing and differentiated marketing.Undifferentiated marketing is where a single marketing mix is offered to the total market. In contrast differentiated market is the process of attacking the market by tailoring separate product and marketing strategies to different segments of the market, for example, the spectacles market can be broken down into fashion segments and functional segments, high price and low price segments, and segments for individuals with different types of vision problems

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDYIn a growing economy such as India, it is often very difficult to have a regular and consistent increase in the sales volume of a product because of the political and socio-economic instability in the country which directly affect the standard of living and the purchasing power of the consumers.This project is based on the drive to know the strategies used by marketers today to delight customers.In order to explain the topic in detail a research study on Vodafone and its marketing strategies is done.

RESEARCH METHOD

.1. Methods of data collection.A well designed questionnaire was used to collect the data required for this research. The motive behind choosing questionnaire for data collection was, person of any occupation could give or share his views for the study of research. Also the technique is cost effective.Questions included in the questionnaire were closed ended questions where analyst is able to effectively list out all possible responses to the question.The type of questionnaire was a multiple choice questionnaire which allows the respondent to select an option from a list of options.Also some questions are Dichotomous questions which offer only two answers Yes or No.

2. Sampling.The sample size of this research work refers to the number of respondents to whom the questionnaires were administered The technique used for sampling was non probability sampling. Non probability sampling is that sampling procedure which does not afford any basis for estimating the probability that each item in the universe has to be included in the sample. In this type of sampling, items for the sample are selected deliberately by the researcher; his choice concerning the items remains supreme.

The method used was accidental sampling where the researcher accidently chooses someone to be the respondent for the research study.Since the method of data collection was done by using questionnaire, this sampling technique was effective.

Limitations of the research methodSimilar to any research, this study has several characteristics that limit the generalization of its findings. There were some problems in collecting and collating the distributed questionnaires on time because of the attitudes of respondents. Some questionnaires were not adequately completed either.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Marketing is a form of communication used to encourage, persuade, or manipulate an audience (viewers, readers or listeners; sometimes a specific group) to continue or take some new action. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common. In Latin, ad vertere means "to turn the mind toward." The purpose of marketing may also be to reassure employees or shareholders that a company is viable or successful. Marketing messages are usually paid for by sponsors and viewed via various traditional media; including mass media such as newspaper, magazines, television commercial, radio advertisement, outdoor advertising or direct mail; or new media such as blogs, websites or text messages.Commercial marketers often seek to generate increased consumption of their products or services through "branding," which involves associating a product name or image with certain qualities in the minds of consumers. Non-commercial advertisers who spend money to advertise items other than a consumer product or service include political parties, interest groups, religious organizations and governmental agencies. Nonprofit organizations may rely on free modes of persuasion, such as a public service announcement (PSA).

Historical background of the studyIn the beginning of the time, people lived in caves, hunted for food and searched for edible roots, fruits. The division of work or of labour started with more proficient hunters going for the beasts while others kept the search for vegetable foods. Next, minerals were found. The women were engaged in preparing food for eating and shaping the animal hides for wearing and using minerals as cosmetics. We can consider the women as manufacturers of that time. Later, people found that they had a little surplus of a few items of food or clothing while they needed some others. This lead to persons going with their ware to neighbouring tribal areas to barter their products with those of the tribal areas they were visiting. These persons were the first salesmen. As the commerce increased, it became necessary for some people to precede the salesmen who could talk about the products. Thus started the profession of advertising. Still later, the Community Heads, the Warriors and others who had nothing to sell, and yet they wanted to buy, needed an item, which they could give in exchange of goods. The currency and monetary systems can find its genesis from this point. From such beginnings, we have reached today into the world of supermarkets, internet sales, with highly competitive products coming out in the market on a continuous basis. This has lead toorganized market research into the needs of the customers, research and development for developing such products, besides other innovative products which find market eventually, like the cell phone, and with it diverse and complex distribution systems. The government of the country, its monetary systems, money supply organizations and greater awareness of products and their needs among the customers, has made the market place complex as also rewarding.Later periods saw the burgeoning distribution channels, rise of middleman, the agency system, credit sales, and hire purchase. Over a period of time the concept of just selling got converted into the Grand Marketing Phenomenon that may look obvious to todays student. However, the importance of sales as a discipline can never be underestimated as it is the only function that brings in the cash for the company. Production, HR, Finance, R&D are all money spenders. Tracing back the evolution of commerce, we find that after the age of barter, beginning from last decade of nineteenth century, sales became an important discipline in business. During that time industrial revolution started in Europe followed by Mass Manufacturing Techniques the Conveyerised Assembly Line Operation, which as per experts was propagated by Henry Ford of the Ford Motor Company. The result was increased production of Quality Goods. Hence for most products, the supply exceeded demand. It was natural, under the circumstances that the manufacturers had to resort to hard sell, or power selling techniques. Salesmanship became an extremely valued profession. Successful salesmen believed that salesmen are born and people cannot be trained to become good salesmen. And yet training for salesmanship started in right earnest at about that time, early twentieth century. At that time, besides Salesmans profession, other areas of work opened up like that of Brokers, Sales Agents, Distributors and the Service People. Brokers a broker rarely handles the goods. He helps manufacturers to sell the products and for getting the orders for sale concluding the sales contract, he gets commission or brokerage from the manufacturer on the value of the contract. The manufacturer supplies the goods to the buyer, invoices the goods and collects the money. In some cases the broker could be involved in getting the payments on behalf of the manufacturer depending on the agreement between the broker and the manufacturer. Agents are the people, who act on behalf of some other person, like on behalf of the manufacturers. In trade there are several types of agents, like: Selling agents Commission agents Consignment agents Advertising agents Forwarding agents Buying agents Collection agents Credit enquiry agents.Changing scenario in the twenty-first century for India: Opening of countrys economy Global competition Better quality products A large variety of models of same products High-tech products New channels of distribution New channels/media for advertising Educated well informed customers, who are aware of their rights Complaint redress forums.In 1991, Government of India changed the rules of the business game as follows: Removal of license to manufacture for most products Foreign equity allowed in industries Lower rates of import duty Partial convertibility of rupee Lowering of importance of government/public sector business.The above resulted in several global players getting in to the country with massive investments. Later changes in governments let to slowing down of economy and reforms and in many cases foreign firms found that the large investments have not borne the expected results e.g. Daewoo Motors. However, with a large purchase group of some twenty crore people, the foreign firms believe that they can yet make a profit by just persevering in India. Lowering import duty has helped in exports as export related manufacturers could get their raw materials imported without any problem.

Evolution of Marketing in IndiaWhile the Industrial Revolution had started in Europe in the eighteenth century it did not touch India till the period after countrys independence in 1947. After 1947, the first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and the Government of India made the country a socialist republic, with emphasis on governments role in business and industry. A large number of public sector undertakings were formed with government funding and management. Private sector companies were considered as dishonest and therefore there was a lot of government control with license and permit Raj. Without the approval of the government officers, the private entrepreneur could not do any business. This lead to rampant corruption and bribery as a means of getting things done speedily in the government offices. A new breed of Power Brokers emerged as go-betweens between business and the government. The only concession to private business was for the small scale sector. Business suffered as the public sector firms could not bring about the needed economic growth and private sector was already handicapped. There were a few exceptions though, like the Bajaj group, the Reliance group, who forged ahead despite the hurdles. The early big names of Tata, Birla, Modi, Singhania, Bangur, to name a few, kept the struggle going. It was only in 1991, that the government found itself on the back foot with regard to its Foreign Exchange reserves, which had reached an all time low. On the request of the government of India, the World Bank and IMF agreed to provide loans on the condition that India opens its business boundaries to international players. This resulted in the economic reforms stated above. Now the present scene in India can be described as follows: A good number of MNCs have started operating in the country. Some Indian business have got foreign technology and finance. Market growth has slowed down world wide and more so in India. Stock market has been giving shocks with fluctuations and scams. Terrorists have further down swept the market. Advertising and almost continuous promotion has become omnipresent. Job market has slowed down both in India and elsewhere. IT Industry has had a set back. Lot of firms are busy in down sizing/right sizing their operations.What the future holds is difficult to predict. One thing, which can be said with certainty, is that while specialists will give way to generalists, innovation and quality will play a vital role in the success of any firm. India is a vast country with lots of diversities. Punjab and Andhra are known as the granaries of India. Farm labour during harvesting season International business today continuous information on the following aspects for different countries: Business environment of the country Product demand projection Competitive forcesThis calls for continuous Marketing Research, and Indian business tries to organize it as required. Besides, the Government of India needs to reassess its efforts in building India Brand Equity, for which proper planning and funding are important. These efforts will surely bring fruits and result in better International Business from India. A few years ago the Government had started such a programme and now it needs to be reactivated with greater zeal. Besides the traditional exports from India of core products, exports, joint ventures for other products need to be planned. India has a large heritage of ethnic goods, labour oriented products, which need to be nurtured with care. India is also rich in culture, has a large number of religious places, and other places of tourist interests. Tourist industry is still in its infancy if we compare ourselves with the total international tourism. India needs better infrastructure in terms of hotels, transportation, communication and entertainment to attract tourists from the world over. Unfortunately, Indias image has been badly tarnished with the numerous scams, which have surfaced in the recent past. To an outsider, India appears to be ridden with corruption, infested with cheats and its people are supposed to be of lacking character. It is time that the people got their act together and they kept the countrys interest uppermost and not their own. Ethics in business is a must if we are to emerge as a world lead player in business and commerce as well. Our firms have been blamed for transgression in to Intellectual property rights area with availability of pirated products has become a reality. As regards advertising is concerned there exists a body, the Advertising Standards Council of India that monitors transgression by advertises and the council can ban any advertisement, which is considered as obscene or incorrect.

In India Marketing and Advertising go hand in hand. It is very important for marketers to understand the strategies in order to delight the customer. They should also understand the dual role played by the adverting and publicity.In order to delight customers, marketers usually resort to advertising techniques. Creative publicity helps to delight customer. In India, advertising is one of the important strategy used by marketers to delight customers.Advertising in India has created an incredible awareness among the people in the past decade growing in to big industry. It has grown along with the press and today it has found its way into the other two media - Radio and Television.Advertising, which was an American concept originally, has found its place in a country like India, so much so that the number of commercials has doubled in the media.Advertising in India grew with the Indian press. In the initial period, to advertise meant to inform. The early newspapers and magazines announced births, deaths, arrivals of ships from England, sale of household furniture etc.In the beginning of the nineteenth century new products, discounts and special services got their place in advertisements. Thus, gradually advertising started gaining power. It increased with the growth of trade and commerce.The leading newspapers like The Times of India and the statesman had their own advertising departments which prepared layouts for advertisements.In early 20th century the advertising agencies such as Indian Advertising Agency and Calcutta Advertising Agency were started. During Second World War, press advertising was used extensively to raise funds for the war.The Indian professionals also learnt how to motivate the masses through advertising. From 1922-1939 many advertising agencies came up such as New India Publicity Co., Paradise advertising Agency of Calcutta, and National Advertising Agency and so on.The Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) was established in 1945, training an authority to represent the interests and problems of advertising profession. At the time of independence, advertising business was expanding.It grew technically also with the introduction of multi-color printing, and improved printing machines. Commercial art also grew as a profession which boosted the advertising business. In 1951, the Indian society of Advertisers was formed and in May 1958, the society of Advertising Practitioners was formed.During pre-independence era, Indian advertisements were mostly about clothes, travelling, eating and entertainment places, India, hotels, four-wheelers, tea, gramophones and tailoring shops for Britishers in India and the princely families.In the post -independence period, the focus of advertisements shifted from luxury goods to consumer goods bought mainly for time and labor saving purposes. In 1976, first commercial spot appeared on Television and in 1980, the first advertisement sponsors were allowed.Advertising in India has urban image, i.e. the urban products are advertised by urban models in urban living styles.Many factors contributed to the advertising industry's growth and expansion in India. The sharp increase in the media options in all spheres made it easy to reach the audience. This offered new advertising opportunities of media planning.Many companies were keen on encasing the innovations of the media and trying to be the first to catch the fascination and attention of the target audience and advertising agencies readily offered their skills.With the policy of liberalization, the business culture improved all around. This led advertising agencies to raise their creative standards and improvements in functioning of the ad agencies.Moreover, many specializations came up in advertising. Such as, financial advertising, direct marketing, social advertising etc. This resulted in the growth in number and size of the in-house agencies.Mudra Communications was promoted by Reliance Industries, Shristi was set up by Lohia Machines, Ambience by Garden Silk Mills and Govan Advertising was parented by Golden Tobacco. Later, these agencies grew in to fully fledge professional agencies, servicing several outside clients besides the owner company.

Importance of MarketingThe heart of your business success lies in its marketing. Most aspects of your business depend on successful marketing. The overall marketing umbrella covers advertising, public relations, promotions and sales. Marketing is a process by which a product or service is introduced and promoted to potential customers. Without marketing, your business may offer the best products or services in your industry, but none of your potential customers would know about it. Without marketing, sales may crash and companies may have to close.

Getting Word OutFor a business to succeed, the product or service it provides must be known to potential buyers. Unless your business is known in the community and have communication with your customers readily available, you have to use marketing strategies to create product or service awareness. Without marketing, your potential customers may never be aware of your business offerings and your business may not be given the opportunity to progress and succeed. Using marketing to promote your product, service and company provides your business with a chance of being discovered by prospective customers.Higher SalesOnce your product, service or company gets on the radar screen of your prospects, it increases your chances that consumers will make a purchase. As awareness becomes a reality, it is also the point where new customers start to spread the word, telling friends and family about this amazing new product they discovered. Your sales will steadily increase as the word spreads. Without employing marketing strategies, these sales may not have ever happened; without sales, a company cannot succeed.Company ReputationThe success of a company often rests on a solid reputation. Marketing builds brand name recognition or product recall with a company. When a company reaches the high expectations of the public, its reputation stands on firmer ground. As your reputation grows, the business expands and sales increase. The reputation of your company is built through active participation in community programs, effective communication--externally and externally--and quality products or services, which are created or supported by marketing efforts.Healthy CompetitionMarketing also fosters an environment in the marketplace for healthy completion. Marketing efforts get the word out on pricing of products and services, which not only reaches the intended consumers, but also reaches other companies competing for the consumers business. As opposed to companies that have a monopoly on products and services that can charge almost any price, marketing helps keep pricing competitive for a business to try to win over consumers before its competition does. Without competition, well known companies would continue to sell while lesser known companies or new companies would stand little chance of ever becoming successful. Marketing facilitates the healthy competition that allows small businesses and new businesses to be successful enter and grow in the marketplace.ConsiderationsAlthough marketing is hugely important for a business to succeed, it can also be very expensive. In its first year, a company might spend as much as half of its sales on marketing programs. After the first year, a marketing budget can reach as much as 30 percent--sometimes more--of the annual sales. A marketing program that gives your company the best chance is a healthy mix of different forms of marketing, such as website development, public relations, print and broadcast advertising, design and printing for all print materials, trade shows and other special events.The consumers benefits greatly from advertising expenditures. First, advertisements are informative. The newspaper ads are full of information about products, prices, features and more. Businesses spend more on direct mail than radio or magazine advertising. Direct mail (e.g. catalogs and letters sent by mail to peoples homes and offices) is an informative shopping aid for consumers. Most times consumers receive mini catalogs in their newspaper, that tells them whats on sales, where at what price, for how long and more. Advertising not only informs us about products, it also provides us with free television and radio programmes because money advertisers spend for commercial time pays for production costs. Advertising also covers the major costs of producing newspapers and magazines.Newspapers, magazines and radio are especially attractive to local advertisers. However, television offers many advantages to a national advertiser but its expensive. But few media besides television allow advertisers to reach so many people with such impact. Marketers must choose which media and which programs can be used to reach the audience and what they desire. Different kinds of advertising are used by various organizations to reach different market targets.(Philip Kotler,2005,776) Young (2005) stated that in an effort to improve managing and gain audience attention, advertisers create branding moment that will resonate with target markets, and motivate audiences to purchase the advertised product or service, advertisers copy test their advertisement before releasing them to the public. Major categories of advertisement used by various organizations include the following: Retail advertising: Advertising to consumers by various retail stores such as supermarkets and small stores. Trade advertising: Advertising to wholesalers and retailers by manufacturers to encourage them to carry their products. Industrial advertising: Advertising from manufacturer to other manufacturers knows as business-to-business advertising. Institutional advertising: Advertising designed to create an attractive image for an organization, rather for a product. Product advertising: Advertising for a good or service to create interest among consumers, commercial and industrial buyers. Advocacy advertising: Advertising that supports a particular view on an issue (e.g. an ad in support of fake food and drug control). Such advertising is also known as cause advertising. Comparison advertising: Advertising that comprises competitive products. Interactive advertising: Customer- oriented communication that enables customers to choose the information they receive, such as interactive video catalogs that allows customers select items to view. Online advertising: Advertising messages that are available by computer when customers want to receive them. Advertising using infomercials One fast growing form of advertising is the infomercial. An infomercial is a television program devoted exclusively to promoting goods and services. Infomercials have been successful because they show the product in great detail. A great product can sell itself if theres some means to show the public how it works. Infomercial provides that opportunity. Using technology in advertising The technology revolution is having a major impact on advertising. For example, promoters are using interactive television to carry on a dialogue before. Advertising on the World Wide Web is a recent phenomenon. Price of web-based advertising space is dependent on the relevance of the surrounding web content and the traffic that the website receives. Others are adverts through E-mail (unsolicited bulk e-mail advertising is known as spam), unpaid advertising i.e. word of mouth, SMS text messages, etc. (Philip Kotler, 2005)

Purpose of MarketingMarketing plays a vital role in influencing consumers purchasing decision and promotion to particular. Most consumers have the erroneous impression that promotion is synonymous with advertising and vice-versa. The partnership between producers and consumers through marketing is solely aimed at achieving certain mutually beneficial objectives. There are; To introduce new product: One of the roles of marketing is to inform consumers about the existence of a new product in the market i.e. creation of awareness. Persuade customers to buy: Marketing helps in arousing the customers interest and by so doing persuades them to buy the product. Creation of demand: Marketing stimulates demand by constantly reminding potential consumers about the availability of the product in the market. To change consumer belief: Marketing is a very good instrument that can be used to change consumer mindset about a product or service. Hence, help to tap into their buying power and influence their thoughts. To create brand loyalty: The demand of the consumers can be maintained by constantly arousing their interest on a particular product and this will ultimately create brand loyalty. Develop large market: Marketing create large market segment which leads to the development of larger market. To promote the image of the firm: Marketing builds a corporate image for a company. It helps to familiarize consumers with the new style of product in the market. Alert and sensitizes member of marketing channel. Helps to reduce consumer dissonance.

Marketing Strategy and its effect on Customers & Sale (Vodafone)Vodafone is one of the leading global brands and in brand value ranking and it is ranked as the 11th largest telecommunication company in the world and 2nd in Europe. In the same way Vodafone Essar is one of the leading telecommunication service providers in India. It serves about 35 million customers who are located in different part of the country. It was during the year 2007, an UK-based Vodafone Group took over Hutchison Essar in India and renamed as Vodafone Essar. Hutchison Essar was controlled by Li Ka-Shing who was a Hong Kong billionaire. Vodafone paid $11.1 billion in order to get the 67% stake of Hutchison Essar. The acquisition of Hutchison Essar in India gave Vodafone an access to enter one of the fastest mobile growing markets, where the providers add about six million new connections every month. Total number of Vodafone Essar Subscribers: 127,364,342, i.e. 22.88% of the total 556,683,683 Indian mobile phone subscribers.

Vodafone is known for its unique advertisement campaign such as pug, happy to help service and Zoozoo advertisement campaign. As Vodafone was a new brand in India, it had a challenging task to develop its own entity. The previous name of this Indian company was associated with a pug. Vodafone decided to come with a new persona for itself, so the people of the country can associate it with the company. The company came with a brilliant persona for itself, which was very apt for it, The Zoozoos. Zoozoos are advertisement characters promoted by Vodafone during the Indian Premier League Season 2 (IPL). Zoozoos are white creatures with ballooned bodies and egg heads who are used to promote various value added services of Vodafone. Each ad used a story which was enacted by the Zoozoos. These ads though look animated are actually real humans in the Zoozoo costumes. The Zoozoo advertisements were created in South Africa by Ogilvy & Mather, an international advertising, marketing, and public relations agency and Nirvana Films (Bangalore base company) used some animated characters to make these advertisements. Ogilvy & Mather, were asked by Vodafone to create a series of 3D advertisements which could be aired each day during the IPL Season 2. The ZooZoos became very famous and popular at little time. They spent near Rs. 30 million to make these advertisements. Nowadays it is one of the most admirable advertisements in India. The campaign created the buzz both in the traditional media as well as in social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and video sharing website, YouTube, for example, it has 2 million members on Face book page which is increasing rapidly. According to Neo@Ogilvy (digital arm of O&M) who is responsible for managing ZooZoos Facebook brand ZooZoo fan page has received around 2.6 million page views in comparison to only 0.5 million of IPLT20.com.This ad campaign has several implications from the economic perspective. Vodafone operates in what is known as oligopoly. An oligopoly is a market structure that has unique features because it is characterized by a few sellers and mutual interdependence. It is a market where the each seller tries to outdo the other through what is known as price wars (cutting down prices) and non-price wars. Advertising is part of non-price war where a firm tries to outdo its competitors through marketing and/or advertising strategies to generate mass appeal. Zoozoos are part of a unique and innovative advertisement strategy aimed at outdoing the strategies of Vodafone s competitors. By the means of ZooZoo Vodafone has tried to represent an image of the urban common man who is the main drive force behind the increased usage of telecom & VAS services in the tele-communication industry. Through ZooZoo character they have tried to showcase how the various offered by Vodafone can be useful for an urban common man. What Vodafone did was they projected the usage of their VAS services through various advertisements based on different themes as per the product (VAS) that they were offering. The various services offered by Vodafone such as chota recharge, group SMS service, busy alert service, fashion tips, recharge anywhere, bhakti songs, stock alert, voice SMS etc. were shown to the viewers not by normal advertisement ways but through some funny & catchy ZooZoo ads which were successful in immediately drawing the attention of urban population including all age groups. As far as the reach of the advertisement is concerned, this advertisement campaign could have been made more effective by taking into account the rural population of our country. In all these ZooZoo ads, since Vodafone tried to promote all the Value Added Services offered by them, clearly the targeted customers were the people who would use these Value Added Services. Hence in their ads Vodafone tried to showcase all the VAS services that they have to offer to the customers through different theme specific advertisements. Each of the advertisement was specific to one particular VAS service & attractiveness of these ZooZoos, Vodafone was able to draw the attention of the audiences quickly towards these ads & these ads became soon very popular & thus the VAS offered by Vodafone.

Vodafone was welcomed in India in 2007 with the Hutch is now Vodafone campaign and the advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather (O&M), had a two-fold task on their hands: promulgate the entry of Vodafone in India and propagate the metamorphosis of Hutch into Vodafone. The Hutch pug, which O&M had been using for about five years, would have been too costly a proposition to be junked. Having survived the $19-billion buyout, it was consequently used in putting forth the propaganda: Change is good. Hutch is now Vodafone.One of the frequently used avenues forrebrandingisadvertisement, as it is fairly easy and flexible. It is a powerful mechanism for signalling a change in positioning of the company or reaching out to a broad or targeted audience promptly.Time for Make the Most of NowThe next few months saw campaigns coming out from the Vodafone stable such as Happy to Help, Friend circle, Cheaper SMS, Amar Chitra Katha Alerts, but it was also at this juncture that the telecom industry woke up to the potential of Value Added Services (VAS) and Vodafone realized that the burden of VAS would be too much for the pug! It was an opportunity for tapping the lucrative Indian mobile VAS industry valued at more than Rs. 70,000 million.Cometh the hour, cometh the ZooZoos and what better occasion to launch the advertisement campaign than during the IPL in a cricket-crazy nation

Zoo zoos storm the advertisement worldThe ZooZoo advertisements were indeed clutter-breaking and they reinforced the following: Low cost advertisements can make good impact Concept and content are most important Expensive brand ambassadors are not a necessity The advertisements should relate to the common man The message conveyed should be kept simple A well-crafted campaign can be accentuated through massive viral marketing. The success of the campaign could be gauged from the fact that: Zoo Zoos were dominating social networking sites such as Facebook Wallpapers, emoticons, ringtones, videos, contests, pictures, stories were being downloaded frequently Videos had approximately 3 million hits within the first 3 weeks Huge number of downloads on YouTube Winner of PETA, Indias first Glitter Box awards

The ZooZoo campaign had considerable impact on the financials of the company when compared to its competitors during a period which saw a slump in sales revenue in the industry. This was due to price-wars among the existing players and the entry of new competitors in the fray. At end of Q1, FY10. Vodafone India added 7.68 million more subscribers Its customer base increased by 3.8% It reported an increase of 23% in revenue at constant exchange rates

Year on yearVodafone Group PLC's net income fell 31.21% from 7.97bn to 5.48bn despite relatively flat revenues. A contributing factor (zoozoos) has been an increase in the percentage of sales devoted to the cost of goods sold from 67.16% to 67.96%.

Marketing strategies used by VodafoneSegmentation

Demographic: Vodafone uses the occupation aspect in the demographic category of segmentation. They divide their users as consumer and business. On their website these two segments are catered to by two completely different web pages. The business users are offered company solutions, machine to machine solutions and all other end to end business connectivity solutions. The consumers on the other hand are again segmented as follows

Geographic: The company provides different plans, tariffs and offers to different customers depending on the state that they come from. Behavioral (User Status): The users are further segmented depending upon whether they are postpaid users or prepaid users. Separate plans are then provided to each user depending upon their category.

TargetingVodafone is adopting a multi segment targeting. They are targeting the high end user, low end user, the business professional as well as the common man.

Vodafone in order plan for the future and in wake of mobile number portability decided to distinctly identify its value added services by launching the Zoozoos campaign during the Indian Premier League 2 (IPL-2). Cricket is considered to be a religion in India, and Zoozooz captured attention of nearly two billion people during the IPL. People eagerly waited for breaks between matches to see more stories about Zoozoo. Zoozoos have been successful in giving Vodafone a makeover and establishing maximum brand presence. It is an excellent example of a well-laid out marketing strategy. It was a fresh and innovative concept and Vodafone wonderfully promoted their services by creating different stories featuring Zoozoos. There were no celebrity endorsements. The charm of the Zoozoo was itself a great self-marketing strategy and they were instant success among masses. Within few days, Zoozooz created a huge audience for them, giving a boost to the Vodafone brand. People were already in awe of those cute and lovable characters, but the curiosity heightened when Vodafone disclosed that Zoozooz were not animated, rather humans were playing those characters. People were hungrier to know about their favorite Zoozooz. In the second phase, after the release of these ads, Vodafone promoted these characters on social media sites, which was another wise decision. Zoozoo fan clubs are there on social networking sites like Facebook, YouTube, Orkut, Twitter, and many more, where they have a huge followings. Now Vodafone has announced to launch the Zoozoo goodies like zoozoo toys, zoozoo mugs, zoozoo keychains, zoozoo t-shirts, etc.

How big a threat is Vodafone to Airtel?

This question was raised in 2007 to Sunil Mittal and he responded very confidently about Airtel. He said that they dont expect Vodafone to be no different from Hutch. He also mentioned Vodafone had in 2005 picked up around 10% stake in the Bharti group and that they were released within minutes when requested by Vodafone.

However Mittal forgot to realize that by Vodafone selling the 10% stake of Airtel back to Airtel, Vodafone got the opportunity to re-invest at Hutch where knowledge and technology previously available to Airtel moved into the hands of one of its competitors. Also it is understandable that Mittal took Vodafone lightly and actually is starting to pay the price. It was reported this year that Vodafone has overtaken Bharti Airtel in the rural areas of India.Vodafones total of 82.24 million rural customers now just outstrips Bharti Airtels 82.16 million. However Vodafone has a long way to go to catch up to Indias market leader; as of March 2013 Vodafone and Bharti have 152.3 million and 188.2 million respectively.That said, Vodafones growth is encouraging, with 2.47 million additions across the same month. Bharti meanwhile gained 1.57 million customers in this period. (Barton) People have started switching from Airtel to VodafoneVodafone has been able to provide faster internet at a much cheaper rate which has basically caused a large portion of Airtel users to shift to Vodafone. Also even though the calling rates are fairly similar in both Vodafone and Airtel, Vodafone has been able to provide a much larger range of plans that customers can select from which has again negatively affected Airtel.

How big a threat is Airtel to Vodafone?

Airtel however is one of the most trusted telecommunication companies in India simply due to the fact that it is one of the oldest companies in India. Also the fact that Airtel is solely an Indian company serves well for Airtel as people would prefer what is theirs over a foreign company. The brand image created by Airtel still keeps them in the forefront of the market whichVodafone has not been able to reach until today. Analyzing Airtels strategy deeply we need to understand that the strategic decisions taken by Airtel in 2002 have really pushed them forward. The music composed by A. R. Rahmen in 2002 for Airtels television commercial has been so catchy that it is even heard today in Airtels new television commercials. This again is due to the fact that Airtel has focused on the cultural aspect of India in their marketing.

Recommendation for VodafoneVodafone should try and adopt the Indian culture more into their marketing. Plus they should try and gain the trust of its customers if they need to reach the top level of the market in India.

Entry of Vodafone in the Handsets Market

Vodafone also launched low-costs handsets to its new subscribers under the Vodafone brand and also co-branded the handsets sourced from the other global vendors. This was done by bringing many low- costs handsets from around the world into India. Vodafone distributed these handsets through its network of 400,000 outlets. By doing all this Vodafone also became a mass mobile phone brand along with continuing to stay as the telecom service provider.The above strategy was used by the CDMA players like RCOM and TATA Tele-services but Vodafone was the first GSM to do this.The Vodafone, a communication leader in an increasingly connected world - also enriches the lives of the consumers, helping the individuals, businesses and also the communities to be more connected by delivering them their total communication needs. Vodafones logo is itself a representation of that belief the start of a new conversation, a trigger, a catalyst, a mark of true pioneering.Advertising is the most frequently used tool to support or promote the rebranding, also its very easy, flexible and quick to change. There are also many examples where advertising has rebranded and repositioned or strengthen brands. There were also examples which developed strong emotional link with the public. The advertising agency of Hutch and now Vodafone, O & M (Ogilvy and Mather) had two-folded task to do, first to announce the entry of Vodafone to India and second to highlight the transition of Hutch to Vodafone. Which they did very wisely with the pug, in a campaign they showed the pug coming out of the pink kennel and then entering into the red one, the pink color depicted Hutch whereas the red depicted the Vodafone. A more energetic and chirpier version of the song You and I tune associated with Hutch was also played towards the end and it concludes Change is Good, Hutch is now Vodafone.

SWOT Analysis of Vodafone

STRENGTHS

Vodafone operates in an oligopoly market which is characterized by few sellers and a huge number of buyers. In this market each seller tries to outdo the other through price wars and non-price wars. Here advertisement plays an important role because it is a part of non-price war where a firm tries to outdo its competitors and win it through extensive marketing and advertising strategies to generate mass appeal. Vodafone has been able to penetrate in the market as social networking site and the consumer has accepted it. The most important thing is that Zoozoos are part of a unique and innovative marketing strategy that gave Vodafone an advantage in the competitive market. Due to all these factors, the campaign has able to penetrate in media as well as social networking sites. Zoozoo is a semi alien semi-human character living in earth-like places which are very simple and expressive. They laugh aloud, cry loud and have a child like simplicity around them so the success of zoozoo is the success of minimalism and simplicity. The zoozoo campaign has been able to generate a lot of curiosity among the viewers. The fan club of zoozoo touched to around 75,000 and various interactive quizzes came up in these days as evident in the wallpapers and screensavers in the cell phones. All these transformed into a great viral marketing event. Another important advantage is that it involves very low cost in the implementation of the zoozoo campaign as compared with the benefits it generated was infinitesimal. There is no celebrity was required as a brand ambassador which resulted in a dual advantage.

WEAKNESS

The marketing strategies have sometimes creates a feeling of suspicion and weirdness in their minds of the rural viewers where the literacy level is comparatively low. In fact all the marketing practices were not very easy to understand because some advertisements have no voice explanations and it is difficult to grasp & understand for the rural people. So clearly the urban & rural population was segmented out & the core target of this advertisement campaign was the educated urban population. The campaign had an undermining effect on the brand Vodafone.OPPORTUNITIES

The campaign has been able to break the traditional and conventional ways of advertising through public figures and celebrities. As the advertisements did not make use of celebrities as brand ambassadors, it resulted in savings of huge money. So the use of this concept reduces the cost of service from the part of the company and people may expect to get the service at lower cost. The other companies may also be interested in the success of zoozoo in restructuring their advertisement strategies.

THREATS

As a result of increasing popularity of ZooZoo people are more interested in the ads rather than the product. It means that people love to enjoy the ZooZoo ads on television rather than use the product. It can also be said that the brand ZooZoo has become more popular than the brand Vodafone.

TABLE 1

GROUP COMPANY WISE % MARKET SHARE - MAY'2011

Sl. No.Name of CompanyTotal Sub Figures% Market Share

1Bharti Airtel167,065,28928.31%

2Vodafone Essar139,426,76923.62%

3IDEA93,754,76415.89%

4BSNL87,618,76914.85%

5Aircel57,061,8249.67%

6Uninor25,386,2874.30%

7Videocon7,054,1981.20%

SAMPLE QUESTIONNAIRE

1. NAME...........................................................................................................................2. ADDRESS...3.AGE.4.GENDERA. MALEB. FEMALE5.PH. NO.. 6. WHAT IS YOUR EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION?

A. MATRICULATEB. INTERMEDIATEC. GRADUATED. POST GRADUATE

7. WHO IS YOUR CURRENT SERVICE PROVIDER?

A. AIRTELB. VODAFONEC. IDEAD. OTHERS8.FOR HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN USING THIS SERVICE?

A. LESS THAN 1 YEARB. 1-2 YEARSC. 2-4 YEARSD. MORE THAN 4 YEARS

9. DO ADS PLAY ANY ROLE IN DECIDING YOUR SERVICE PROVIDER?

A.YESB. NO

10.IF YES, WHAT ROLE DOES IT PLAY?

A.HELPS IN KNOWING THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE SERVICE.

B.HELPS IN COMPARING SERVICES WITH OTHER PROVIDERS.

C.RE-INFORCES BELIEF ABOUT THE PRODUCT.

D.ALL OF THE ABOVE

11.THE ADS OF WHICH SERVICE PROVIDER ATTRACT YOU THE MOST?

A. AIRTELB. VODAFONEC. IDEAD. BSNL

12. HOW WELL THE ADS OF VODAFONE CATCH YOUR ATTENTION?

A. VERY WELLB. SOMEWHAT WELLC. NOT AT ALL

13. CAN YOU IDENTIFY THIS CARTOON CHARACTER?

A. YESB. NO 14. WHAT ACCORDING TO YOU STANDS OUT IN VODAFONE ADS?

A. MESSAGE CLEARITYB. PRODUCT APPEALC. VISUAL IMPACT D. CREATIVITY15. AS AN INDIAN AREYOUABLE TO ASSOCIATE WITHVODAFONEMASCOT ZOOZOO?A. YESB. NO16.WHAT TYPE OF VODAFONE ADS ATTRACTS YOU THE MOST?

A.GOOD NETWORK ADS

B.DISCOUNT SCHEME ADS

C.VALUE ADDED SERVICES

17.WHICH MASCOT YOU LIKE THE MOST IN VODAFONE ADS?

A. PUGB. ZOOZOOC. NONE OF THESE

18. DO YOU MISS THE PUG IN TODAYSS ADS?

A. YESB. NO

19. DOSE THE ADS OF VODAFONE ATTRACT YOU MORE TOWARDS THE SERVICE?

A. YESB. NO 20. WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE NEW MPS SERVICE WILL VODAFONE ATTRACT MORE CUSTOMERS?

A. YESB. NO

21. DO YOU WANT ANY SPORTS PERSON OR MOVIE STAR TO REPLACE THE ZOOZOO AS THE VODAFONE MASCOT?

A. YESB. NO

DECLARATION

We promise that your identity will be kept confidential and will be used for the research purpose only.

Place:_____________________________________

Date: ..(Signature of the Investigator)

FINDINGS

1. Out of the 20 respondents 84 % of the respondents are male and 16% of the respondents are female.

2. Out of the 20 respondents 54 % are graduates, 32 % are post graduates, 14% are intermediate while there are no respondents who are only matriculate.

3. Out of 20 respondents 54 % are currents using Vodafone, 20 % are BSNL subscribers, 12 % are Airtel subscribers while 14 % are using other services.

4. 42 % of the respondents have been using their current service for more than 4 years. From this it can be said that majority of the respondents who are Vodafone subscribers having been using Vodafone for more than 4 years.

5. 72 % of the respondents have said that advertisements do a play a role in deciding their service providers while 28 % are not influenced by advertisements. From this it is concluded that advertisement is one of the key marketing strategy that essential for any company or firm to capture a good market position and compete with its competitors in order to maintain its position6. 32.43 % of the respondents said that advertisements helps them in knowing the attributes of the service while 21.62 % said that advertisements helps them to compare services with other providers. 40.54 % of the respondents said that advertisements help them in all the above7. 90 % of the respondents have said that the advertisements of Vodafone attract them the most than any other service provider.8. 74 % of the respondents have said that the advertisements of Vodafone attract them very well while 24 % said that the ads attract them somewhat well. Only 2% of the respondents are not at all attracted by the advertisements of Vodafone. Hence it can be said that the advertisements of Vodafone attract the majority of the people very well.9. 98 % of the respondents have recognized the cartoon character named ZooZoo the mascot of Vodafone. From this it can be said that presently people are quite updated on the advertisements.10. 64 % of the respondents said that the creativity in Vodafone advertisements appeals most while 16 % say that all the mentioned factors appeal to them. From this it can be said that in this modern era creativity in Vodafone ads is the most important factor in Vodafones advertisement campaigns.11. 90 % of the respondents have been able to associate with Vodafones mascot ZooZoo while only 10 % have not been able to associate.12. 54 % of the respondents like Vodafone advertisements which are related to discount schemes, 26 % looks for good network ads while only 20 % of the respondents like value added services advertisements. This shows us the increasing competition in the telecom sector as people go for those services which costs less to them & hence service providers has to constantly provide new discount schemes in order to attract the customers.13. 72 % of the respondents like ZooZoo as the Vodafone mascot while 24 % like previous mascot i.e. the pug as the Vodafone mascot. This shows that people like the creativity shown through the ZooZoo in the Vodafone advertisement campaigns.14. Although 72 % of the respondents like the ZooZoo more than the pug, but still 78 % of the respondents miss the pug who was the previous mascot. It shows that Vodafone advertisement campaigns have not only attracted the people with the concept of ZooZoo but has done the same with the concept of pug as the mascot over the years.15. 64 % of the respondents are attracted more towards the services of Vodafone just because of the advertisements. This shows the positive impact of Vodafone advertisement campaign on people.

16. 56% of the respondents feel that with the launch of mobile number portability Vodafone will be able to attract more customers while 44 % of the respondents do not feel the opposite. But with the introduction of mobile number portability service which allows a customer to change over to a new service without changing their present number 56 % of the respondents feel that Vodafone customer will increase.

17. 88 % of the respondents do not want Vodafone to change its mascot while 12 % want Vodafone to change its mascot and go for movie stars or sports person as its mascot. From this it can be concluded that in this modern era people prefer a 3D creation of ZooZoo more than any famous movie stars or sports person as the Vodafone mascot. In spite of Abhishek Bachan endorsing IDEA and Ranbir Kapoor endorsing TATA DO CO MO Vodafone has made a bigger impact on people with ZooZoo as its mascot and hence it can be said that expensive brand ambassadors can be avoided

CONCLUSION

There is no doubt that the Vodafones marketing strategy is a big hit and has become popular with everyone from kids to adult. The marketing strategy has given Vodafone a new look that will go a long way in further improving its brand image. The commercials have hit the Indian market like storm and will now probably go into history as one of the most brilliant advertising idea for the industry. It is necessary for marketers to decide the strategy which they have to implement in the Indian markets today. If they dont pre-test the strategy then they will not be in a good position to measure the success of the strategy. It may happen that the customer may not react favorably to the marketing techniques used by the company.Marketers must do the analysis of the market in order to implement the right strategy. As it is said that, Jo Dikhta Hai Wohi Bikta HaiIn the same way marketers must design their strategy in such a way that they delight the Indian customers.

RECOMMENDATION

Due to the competitive nature of the industry the marketing managers must develop and formulate marketing programs that will satisfy the needs of the consumers. Since organizations in the same industry have similar advertising messages, it is recommended that for a more distinguished and effective response from the customer, other forms of advert should be used.Regular and consistent up-to-date training on product information should be given to the advertising agency so that they will have the current knowledge and skills to handle the problems and also to ensure that product information is being emphasized so as to enlighten the customers.

REFERENCE/BIBLIOGRAPHY- ZENITH International Journal of Business Economics & Management ResearchVol.2 Issue 1, January 2012, ISSN 2249 8826www.zenithresearch.org.in 151-http://www.preservearticles.com/2012011821132/short-essay-on-the-development-of-advertising-in-india.html-http://varinderkaur.instablogs.com/entry/vodafone-zoozoo-a-successful-marketing-strategy/-http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com/2009/05/best-marketing-practice-zoozoo.html-http://www.domainofhope.com/2011/03/vodafone-zoozoo-3g-campaign-integrated.html-http://www.medianama.com/2011/05/223-fy11-vodafone-india-data-voip-net-neutrality/-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZooZoo-www.classof1.com-www.vodafone.com

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