A

PROJECT REPORT

ON

“VODAFONE GROUP PLC”

“ANALYSIS OF MARKETING STRATEGIES OF VODAFONE”

SUBMITTED FOR THE PARTAIL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT

FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF “MASTER OF COMMERCE”

SUBMITTED TO:- SUBMITTED BY:-

PROF.ASHOK JINDAL DAVINDER KAUR

(H.O.D OF POST GRADUATION DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE) M.COM 1ST YEAR ( 2ND SEM)

R.S.D COLLEGE FEROZEPUR CITY Roll No.:-46429

1

DECLARATION

I Davinder Kaur student of M.COM at RSD College FEROZEPUR hereby declare that I have completed this project on “VODAFONE MARKETING STRATEGIES”.The information submitted is true and original to the best of my knowledge.

This project was undertaken as a part of academic curriculum according to the university.

I further declare that this project work is based on my original work and no part of this project has not been previously submitted to any university for any examination.

DAVINDER KAUR

2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Before we get into thick of things, I would like to add a few words of appreciation for the people Who have been a part of this project right from its inception. The writing of this project has been one of the significant academic challenges I have faced and without the support, patience and guidance of people involved, this task would not have been completed. It is to them I owe my deepest gratitude.

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to MRS.SARITA KHURANA Distributor of VODAFONE AGENCY for providing me an opportunity to do my intership and project work in K.K.AGENCIES.

I sincerely thank Sanchi Arora for providing information regarding my project work. I also wish to express my gratitude to the officials and other staff members of Vodafone agency.

I also thank to the Prof. ASHOK JINDAL of RSD College for providing me the opportunity to embark on this project. I Sincerely thank to Prof. SUNANDA SHARMA for her guidance and encouragement in carrying out this project work. I also like to thank all department members of my college.

DAVINDER KAUR

3

4

PREFACE

The six weeks summer training program in K.K.AGENCIES gave me the valuable exposure of the work in the marketing department of a Vodafone agency. It was a great learning experience.

I formulated my project on “Marketing Strategies of Vodafone ”. The report Also contains brief history of company n industrial profile .MARKETING STRATEGIES are really beneficial for the organization in knowing the kind of work, the degree of complexity, the degree of skill required, the extent to which the problems are standardized, the extent of workers responsibilities for phase of work etc.

Marketing strategies are really beneficial for the organization in the modern era. Strategies are must for the survival of the company in present scenario.

DAVINDER KAUR

5

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This project is based on telecom sector as the telecom sector is growing at a very good pace. The telecom company which I have selected for my project is VODAFONE. The reason behind selecting Vodafone is its various schemes in product & services category and also its future policies where the company is coming out with lots of new & affordable schemes for its customers. Vodafone is a UK based company and has various branches over the world. The company was started in the mid 70’ and since then it has never looked back. The products &services offered by Vodafone is of a very high quality & also at a affordable rates. They have various plans for various customers depending upon the status of the customers.

Vodafone has various product categories ranging from chargers, interest, mobile phones, headsets, headphones & many more. In the service category it has interest services which include broadband interest and pc interest services.

Apart from product and services normally offered they also come out with some interesting & unique products like I phone. This was the one of the biggest event in the history of Indian telecom industry. The phones were available at around 32000-36000 Rs which has a unique feature called as 3G system.

Vodafone also come out with cell phones for the poor which was a part of the social responsibility towards the poor class people of the society. The phones were available in the range of 1000-1500 Rs which was one of the successful strategies of Vodafone.

According to 2003-2010 data VODAFONE captures the market with 17.56% & is at the third position just after BHARTI AIRTEL with 24.69% & RELAINCE with 17.68%.

6

Vodafone also come out with one of the best& most attractive advertisement which no one has ever seen before called as “VODAFONE ZOO-ZOO’s”. This advertisement is a part of VODAFONE marketing strategy to boost its sales during the IPL2 season. This was one of the master moves by VODAFONE introduce ZOO-ZOO during the IPL2 Scheme which was ‘SUPER-HIT’.

VODAFONE is planning to come with its own accessories stores which would be a one-time shop for its customers wherein the customers will get all the products under one roof. Vodafone’s future plan is to became No.1 telecom company by the year 2010-2011 which does not seems to be very difficult keeping in mind the progress it has made in the last 5 years.

Vodafone has added around 5 million subscribers in the year 2008-2009 which makes it the world’s 3rd largest telecom company. Vodafone has joined hands with one of the world’s largest & the car racing company FL MCLAREN MERCEDES to boost the 2 day event. This is the part of the promotion strategy of Vodafone to become the worldwide leader in telecom industry.

Vodafone is also the official sponsor of the England cricket team for the power test series. It has also shaken hands with the most popular Football Tournament UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE which is a part of the promotional strategy of Vodafone.

7

INDEX

SR.NO. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE NO.

1 DECLARATION 22 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 33 CERTIFICATE 44 PREFACE 55 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6-76 CHAPTER-1 COMPANY PROFILE

HISTORY OF TELECOM INDUSTRY IN INDIA

INTRODUCTION OF TELECOM INDUSTRY IN INDIA

HISTORY OF VODAFONE INTRODUCTION OF VODAFONE VODAFONE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA PRODUCTS AND SERVICES OFFERED

BY VODAFONE VISION,MISSION,GOALS,OBJECTIVES

OF VODAFONE SWOT ANALYSIS STRATEGIES OF VODAFONE INTERNET PLANS OF VODAFONE

11-12

13-15

161718-2122-23

24

25-2627-3536-37

7 CHAPTER-2 AGENCY PROFILE INTRODUCTION OF AGENCY FUNCTIONS OF AGENCY STRATEGIES OF AGENCY ADMINISTRATIVE SET-UP SALES & CUSTOMERS IN A FEROZEPUR

CITY

39404142

43

8 CHAPTER-3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY NEED OF THE STUDY SCOPE OF THE STUDY RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

45464647-50

8

SR NO. PARTICULARS PAGE NO.

9 CHAPTER-4 ANALYSIS & INTREPRETATION

ANALYSIS & INTREPRETATION LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY CONCLUSION SUGGESTIONS &

RECOMMANDATION

52-565758

59-60

BIBLIOGRAPHY 61

ANNEXURE 62-64

9

CHAPTER-1 (COMPANY PROFILE)

HISTORY OF TELECOM INDUSTRY IN INDIA INTRODUCTION OF TELECOM INDUSTRY IN INDIA HISTORY OF VODAFONE INTRODUCTION OF VODAFONE VODAFONE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA PRODUCTS & SERVICES OFFERED BY VODAFONE VISION,MISSION,GOALS,OBJECTIVES OF VODAFONE SWOT ANALYSIS STRATEGIES OF VODAFONE INTERNET PLANS

10

HISTORY OF TELECOM INDUSTRY IN INDIA

India is the world’s fastest growing industry in the world in terms of number of wireless connections after china, with 811.59 million mobile phone subscribers. According to Broadband policy 2004, Government of India aims at 9 million Indian telecom sector is more than 165 years old. Telecommunications was first introduced in India in 1851 when the first operational land lines were laid down by government near Kolkata (then Calcutta), although telephone services were formally introduced in India much later in 1881.Further in 1883, telephone services were merged with the postal system. In 1947,after India attained independence, all foreign telecommunication companies were nationalized to form the posts, telephone and telegraph, a body that was governed ownership until 1984,when the private sector was allowed in telecommunication equipment manufacturing only. The government concretised its earlier efforts towards developing R&D in the sector by setting up an autonomous body-centre for developing of telematics in 1984 to develop state-of-the-art telecommunication network. The actual evolution of the industry started after the government separated the Department of Posts & Telegraph in 1985 by setting up the Department of Posts & the Department of Telecommunications (DOT)

The entire evolution of the telecom industry can be classified into three distinct phases.

Phase I- Pre- Liberalization Era (1980-89)

Phase II- Post-Liberalization Era (1990-99)

Phase III-Post 2000 onwards

11

12

INTRODUCTION TO THE TELECOM INDUSTRY IN INDIA

The telecom network in India is the fifth largest network in the world meeting up with global standards. Presently, the Indian telecom industry is currently slated to an estimated contribution of nearly 1% of GDP.

INTRODUCTION

The Indian telecommunication network with 110.01 million connections is the fifth largest in the world and the second largest among the emerging economies of Asia. Today it is the fast growing market in the world and represents unique opportunities for U.S companies in the stagnant scenario. The total subscriber base, which has grown by 70% in 2010,it is expected to reach 550 broadband connections and 18 million internet connections by 2012.The wireless subscriber base has jumped 33.69 million in 2004 to 82.57 million in FY 2008-2009.In the last 3 years, two out of every three new telephone subscribers were wireless subscribers. Consequently, wireless now accounts for 54.6% of the total telephone subscriber base, as compared to only 45% in 2013.

Wireless subscriber growth is expected to bypass 3.5 million new subscribers per month by 2009.The wireless technologies currently in use are Global system for Mobile Communication(GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access(CDMA).There are primarily 9 GSM and 5 CDMA operators providing mobile services in 19 telecom circles and 4 metro cities, covering 2000 towns across the country.

MAJOR PLAYERS

There are three types of players in telecom services:

State owned companies (BSNL and MTNL) Private Indian owned companies (Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices ) Foreign invested companies (Bharti Airtel, Escotel, Vodafone, Idea, Cellular, BPL,

Mobile, Spice communications)

13

14

MARKET SHARE OF VODAFONE (2015)

HISTORY OF VODAFONE

The evolution of Vodafone brand is started in 1982 with the establishment of “Racal Strategic Radio Limited” subsidiary of Racal Electronics Plc-UK’S largest maker of military radio technology.

The same year, Racal Strategic Radio Limited form a joint venture with Millicom called “Racal Vodafone” which would later evolve into the present day Vodafone.

Vodafone Group plc VODOFONE is a British multinational telecommunications company headquartered in London and with its registered office in Newbury, Berkshire. It is the world's 2nd-largest mobile telecommunications company measured by both subscribers and 2013 revenues (behind China Mobile), and had 434 million subscribers as of 31 March 2014.

Vodafone owns and operates networks in 21 countries and has partner networks in over 40 additional countries. Its Vodafone Global Enterprise division provides telecommunications and IT services to corporate clients in over 65 countries.

15

Vodafone has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalization of approximately £89.1 billion as of 6 July 2012, the third-largest of any company listed on the London Stock Exchange. It has a secondary listing on NASDAQ.

INTRODUCTION OF VODAFONE

16

17

VODAFONE’s MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

SUNIL SOOD

(Managing Director & CEO Vodafone

India limited )

Sunil Sood is the Managing Director and CEO for Vodafone India. He succeeded in this role taking over from Marten Pieters with effect from April 1, 2015.

Prior to this new role, Sunil was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Vodafone India. Being part of the senior leadership team at Vodafone India, Sunil was responsible for the day to day operations and the P&L management for all circles in the country. He also spearheaded the new business development initiative of Mobile Commerce for the organization.

Sunil also served as the Director - Business Operations for Vodafone India before becoming COO. Sunil started his Telecom sojourn in the summer of 2000 as Vice President, Sales & Marketing for Hutch in Delhi. He soon became a Business head and led the Gujarat, Kolkata and Chennai operations.

Prior to joining telecom, Sunil has had a long career with Pepsi in various roles within India and abroad (CEO for Pepsi in Bangladesh). Sunil has also spent 4 years in Nigeria where he was working to establish the market for Nestles milk and infant formulae in the country.

18

NAVEEN CHOPRA

(Chief Operating officer Of Vodafone

India limited)

Naveen Chopra is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Vodafone India Ltd. He succeeds Sunil Sood in this role with effect from April 1, 2015. He continues to be on the Executive Committee of the company. In this role, Naveen will be fostering collaborative decision-making and will front end the key responsibility of Operations and P&L management. In addition, he will be expected to foster and drive new business development initiatives the company embarks upon.

19

THOMAS REISTEN

(Chief Financial Officer of Vodafone

India limited)

Thomas Reisten joined Vodafone (Germany) in March 1998, after completing his post-graduation at the University of Muenster, majoring in Accounting and International Markets Management. In September 2000, he was designated as ‘Controller’ and within a month was appointed Team Leader – Business Planning, a role he held till June 2001.

VIVEK MATHUR

(Chief Commercial Officer Vodafone

India limited)

Vivek joined Vodafone as Chief Commercial Officer, Consumer Business in November 2012 and has had the overall strategic responsibility for the commercial functions of

20

consumer business since. As part of the EXECO, he is responsible for driving the consumer commercial portfolio to greater heights, while addressing the new and emerging priorities of the business.

VISHANT VORA

(Director-Technology Vodafone

India limited)

Vishant has over two decades of experience in Mobile Telecom. As Director, Technology, he plays a strategic role in the technology and network infrastructure for the company in India.

Vishant joined Vodafone, Romania in 2000, to move to India in 2010 to assume his new role. His prior work assignments have taken him all over the world, including USA, Europe.

21

PRODUCTS & SERVICES OFFERED BY VODAFONE

Vodafone offer a wide range of products & services including voice, messaging, data and fixed line solutions and devices assist customers in meeting their total communication needs.

PRODUCTS CATEGORY

1) CONNECTIVITY:

Get a great signal at home, without leaning out of the window, thanks to the Vodafone access modem/dongle.

2) HEADSETS & HEADPHONES:

22

3) FLEX ARM CRADLE:

Talk in your car-while your hands on the wheel. The Vodafone car cradle designed for any handset. Just attach the suction cup to your windscreen, or clip the cradle to your air-vent. No mess. No tools. No hassle.

SERVICES OFFERED BY VODAFONE

1) Mobile services with GSM technology

2) Fixed line telephone services

3) Universal internet working

4) VOIP (Voice over internet protocol)

5) Interactive television

6) Visual communication

7) Broadband portal

23

VISION AND PROMISE STATEMENT OF VODAFONE

* Mobile technology can change the way people live. We will innovate to improve access to Finance, education and health care; improve efficiency in agriculture and working as well as delivering low carbon solutions.

* By acting with honesty and integrity, we know we will achieve more for our business, for our customers and gain the necessary trust needed to transform society.

*Our new vision captures the far reaching ambition we need to support sustainable living on a grand scale.

MISSION STATEMENT OF VODAFONE

* The Vodafone mission is to be communication leader in an increasingly connected world.

* By enriching

-Customer Live

-Helping Individuals

-Business & Communities

-And Delivering Total Communication Needs.

24

OBJECTIVES/GOALS OF VODAFONE

*To focus the customer and lead the product.

*Staying as a leading brand.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF VODAFONE

S=STRENTGHTS O=OPPORTUNITIES W=WEAKNESS T=THREATS S & W=INTERNAL FACTORS O & T = EXTERNAL FACTORS

SWOT ANALYSIS

25

STRATEGIES OF VODAFONE

26

BUSINESS LEVEL STRATEGIES CORPORATE LEVEL STRATEGIES MARKETING STRATEGIES

BUSINESS LEVEL STRATEGIES OF VODAFONE

27

CORPORATE LEVEL STRATEGIES

MARKETING STRATEGIES

28

Strategy is direction & scope of an organization over the long term: which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a challenging environment to meet the needs of market and to fulfill stakeholder’s expectations.

Marketing strategy is a key part of overall corporate strategy, which is concerned with developing plans for finding out what customers want and then efficiently meeting their requirements.

Vodafone’s strategy is customer focused and product led; the company is continually developing new products and services which utilize the latest technological advances.

To keep its leading edge, Vodafone is continually looking to add value to the services it provides and to the packages it offers to customers.

Zoo-Zoo, the new brand ambassador of Vodafone, has created furors in the advertising industry.

MARKETING MIX

29

30

MARKETING STRATEGIES OF VODAFONE

31

32

33

34

35

VODAFONE 2G & 3G INTERNET SCHEMES

2G INTERNET PACKS

36

3G INTERNET PACKS

37

CHAPTER-2 AGENCY PROFILE

INTRODUCTION OF AGENCY FUNCTIONS OF AGENCY ADMINISTRATIVE SET-UP STRATEGIES OF AGENCY SALES & CUSTOMERS IN FEROZEPUR CITY

38

INTRODUCTION OF AGENCY

Place of location: - The agency is situated at Malwal road in ferozepur city.

Started on: - The agency was started on 2009.

Name of the agency: - K.K AGENCIES.

Director of agency: - Agency is head by Mrs.SARITA KHURANA.

Number of staff members: - Total no. of staff is 7.

Classification of staff members: - 0ne distributor, four direct selling agents one back end & one runner.

Area of operation: - Its working area is limited to ferozepur city only.

Revenue (last year):- Rs. 3,62,400

Head Office in Punjab:-In Mohali.

Zone heads:- There are 5 zone heads in Punjab in 5 different cities. Like: Batihnda, Patiala, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar.

FEROZEPUR CITY IS UNDER THE BATIHNDA ZONE HEAD.

39

40

Functions of distributer agency

Primary

Secondary

Activations

ETOP

New sim

card

porting

Front end

Back end

DPAC

Maintaining

records

Grievance handling

Functions of distributor agency

Retailers

cif DSE

41

Strategies of distributor agency 4+4 staffing:- There are mainly two kinds of staff that is

responsible for actual distribution one is DSE and the another one is runners. DSE provides demo ,transfer balance ,sells sim card to their respective area’s retailers. Whereas runners collects cif and deposit it with regional office. 4+4 staffing ensures faster activations.

4 hour activation:- The agency provides activations of sim card in just 4 hours whereas other network agencies take a longer time of around 8 to 24 hours.

cordial relation with retailers:- Agency have trained DSE that maintain easy and cordial relations with retailers by providing them timely balance, credit options and various attractive schemes.

4+4 staffing

4 DSE

4 Runne

rs

ADMINISTRATIVE SET-UP

42

C.E.O

PRODUCTION

DEPARTMENT

H.R. DEPARTMENT

SALES AND MARKETING

DEPARTMENT

FINANCE DEPARTMENT

43

C.E.O

Postpaid head

Distributive head

General manager

Branch manager

Zonal head

Area sales managerRegional manager

Distributor

General manager

Distributive head

Zonal head

Branch manager

Area sales managerRegional manager

Customer care center

Sales & Marketing

department Prepaid head

COMPARATIVE SALES OF VODAFONE IN FEROZEPUR CITY

MONTHLY SALES IDEA VODAFONE AIRTELRS. (IN LACS) 80 35 28

Sales (%AGE)

IDEAVODAFONEAIRTEL

56%

20%

24%

44

Customer Base Of Survey Area

CHAPTER-2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY NEED OF THE STUDY SCOPE OF THE STUDY RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

45

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

Every organization has to achieve its organizational goals. For this it is very essential for an organization to know about its customer and its competitor product. This study or survey may be also aimed as to estimate potential buyer for the product. The objective of the study is under:

To identify the marketing performance as well as the marketing strategies of Vodafone’s product & services among its various competitors in the telecom market of Ferozepur City.

To identify the weakness of Vodafone’s product n services and provide value addition to the company.

To find out target customer for it as well as analyze the cause why customer preferring IDEA instead of VODAFONE.

To know about customers various need for the purpose of internet services.

To compare various parameter of marketing strategy, advertising n so on.

To study customer buying behavior, and factors which influences consumers buying processes for the Vodafone internet data card & many other services provided by Vodafone.

Proper study & analysis of telecom industry.

46

NEED OF THE STUDY

Here the need of the study reveals that:

To identify what type of marketing practices & strategies that the “Vodafone essar spacetel limited” follows for achieving its business goal via pre-paid sim card’s business among its all market competitors. And know how they provide their service to various its customers in the telecom market field.

To know the difference between the Vodafone’s product & services facilities & all its competitors’ product n service facilities as well as to identifying their various customers’ needs.

To enhance the successful performance of Vodafone’s Data Card’s, sim cards etc in the all other telecom Data Card’s & sim cards & overly trying to develop of the organization’s need as well as its customer need.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Here the scope of my study is focuses on existing marketing conditions of Vodafone’s business. And here my entire view were taken on the primary data collection from distributor of Vodafone agency & retailers on the basis of questionnaires and in my studies secondary data was taken from marketing books, internet sources like company website, company’s past record. Scope of the study is as follows:

The study will help understand the market scenario of telecom industry.

It may help the company to know its strengths and weakness.

The study may help to know the drawbacks the Vodafone company as the competitor in telecom industry.

This study may help the company to know its position as a competitor in telecom industry.

This will add value to know the most preferable product of the company among the customer.

47

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Achieving accuracy in any research requires deep study regarding the subject. The prime objective of the project is to study marketing strategies of Vodafone.

OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH:

My primary objective of my research is to conduct the market survey of Vodafone pre-paid sim cards.

To identify & analyze the customer satisfaction of Vodafone pre-paid sim cards.

To convenience different retailers to sale Vodafone ETOP & NEW SIM CARDS.

To deeply identify the cause behind the failure or lack of promotion. Vodafone data n sim card among its different competitors in the telecom market sector.

The Research Methodology adopted is basically based on primary data via which the most recent and accurate piece of first hand information could be collected. Secondary data has been used to support primary data whenever needed.

PRIMARY DATA CAN BE COLLECTED USING THE FOLLOWING TECHNIQUES:

Questionnaire Method Direct Interview Method Observation Method

The main tool used was, the Questionnaire method. Further direct interview method, where a face to face formal interview was taken.Lastly observational method has been continuous with the questionnaire method, as one continuously observes the surrounding environment he/she works in.

48

DATA COLLECTION METHOD

DATA TO BE COLLECTED

Data includes facts and figures which are required to be collected to achieve the objectives of the project and In order to determine the present position and marketing strategies of Vodafone.

THERE ARE TWO METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION:

PRIMARY METHOD SECONDARY METHOD

PRIMARY DATA CAN BE COLLECTED USING THE FOLLOWING TECHNIQUES:

Questionnaire Method Direct Interview Method Observation Method

The main tool used was, the Questionnaire method. Further direct interview method, where a face to face formal interview was taken. Lastly observational method has been continuous with the questionnaire method, as one continuously observes the surrounding environment he/she works in.

Data used for the research work was primary in nature.

PRIMARY DATA;-Primary data is that data which is collected for the first time and thus happen to be originated in character.

*QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY:-

In the studies, a questionnaire is prepared. The questionnaire consists of 10 questions.

49

SECONDARY DATA :-Secondary data refers to the data that has been already

collected by someone for some purpose. The secondary data, which has been used to carry out this study, are as follows:-

* Books, Journals, Magazines, Newspapers

* Industry Reports

*Agency Reports & Data

* Company’s Internet Site

* Some other relevant study material and websites like: www.goggle.com,

1) DATA COLLECTION METHOD :

For given project, the primary data, which needed to collect for the first time, were much significant. This type of information gathered through Survey technique, which is the most popular and effective technique for correct data collection. The survey was completed with the use of questionnaires.

2) SAMPLING DESIGN: Sample design is a definite plan of obtaining some items from the whole population. Sample is the small group taken under consideration from the total group.

3) SAMPLING TECHNIQUE :-

The sampling technique used in this project is the convenience sampling. In the non probability sampling method, each element in the population does not have an equal chance of getting selected.

50

4) SAMPLING UNIT :- Customers of Vodafone products & services.

SAMPLE UNIT:-Ferozepur City

The research process was done by interacting with number of customers during the activities performed, which included markets, cold calling, canopies etc. Sample design consists of RANDOM SAMPLING.

5) SAMPLE SIZE :-70 people(age group 16-60)

51

CHAPTER-4 ANALYSIS & INTREPRETATION

ANALYSIS & INTREPRETATION LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY CONCLUSION SUGGESTIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION

52

An overview of the results obtained, in the study are presented and discussed in this chapter. This chapter also outlines the demographic information depicted in graphical format. All findings are shown in the graph or table with interpretation, which can help to understand the data. In this survey we have taken 70 as sample from population.

Q:1 Do you have a mobile phone ?

YES NO

Q:2 Are you aware about telecommunication services?

YES NO

99%

1%

CUSTOMERS

YESNO

Q:3 Among them, which brand you prefer most?

53

80

20

CUSTOMERS

YESNO

AIRTEL VODAFONE RELIANCE TATA IDEA

Respondents

AIRTELVODAFONERELIANCETATAIDEA

10%

3O%

20%

35%

5%

Q:4 Are you aware about Vodafone?

YES NO

85

15

CUSTOMERS

YESNO

Q:5 What is your age?

54

0-20 20-40 40-60 Above 60

Data collected after survey

Particulars Respondents Percentage (%) 0-20 30 42.86 20-40 20 28.57 40-60 12 17.14 Above 60 8 11.43

PIE CHART ANAYLSIS

AGE

0-2020-4040-60ABOVE 60

42.86%

28.57%

17.14%

11.43%

INTERPRETATION: In the above pie chart analysis shows that the age segment which effect the Vodafone. In pie chart age 0-20 were the highest users of mobile phones in present era.

Q:6 SINCE HOW LONG YOU ARE USING VDAFONE?

55

LESS THAN ONE MONTH 2-6 MONTHS 6-12 MONTHS MORE THAN ONE YEAR

PARTICULARS RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGELESS THAN ONE MONTH 10 14.28

2-6 MONTHS 20 28.576-12 MONTHS 25 35.71MORE THAN ONE YEAR 15 21.44

CUSTOMERS

LESS THAN ONE MONTH2-6 M0NTHS6-12 MONTHSMORE THAN ONE YEAR

35.71%

28.57%

14.28%

21.44%

Q:7 Which of the following service do you use of Vodafone?

PRE-PAID POST PAID

56

85%

15%

CUSTOMERS

PRE-PAIDPOST-PAID

Q :8 If you have to purchase a new connection in near future, which brand will u go for and why?

Q:9 Would you like to recommend Vodafone to others?

YES NO

70

30

CUSTOMERS

YESNO

Q:10 What are your suggestions, for improving the product quality, service availability and parts availability.

57

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Here my study is limited to only Ferozepur city.

Respondents are busy in nature in their own business for this few retailers as well as people were not co-operate with me to answer my questions.

Some respondents totally don’t know about Vodafone’s features of product & services.

Research was conducted in Urban area, the result might differ when it include of semi-urban and rural area.

Incomplete data from retailers.

Limited sample size may fail the inductive generalization.

People were hesitant to disclose the true fact of their thoughts about Vodafone.

Maximum retailers are unknown about Vodafone’s all products & services.

Inability of retailers to answer few questions which caused difficulty in proper data analysis.

The project was taken as a part of my summer training, as the time was limited so the survey was confined to few store only.

Retailers were always keeps in their own business.

58

CONCLUSION

After analyzing the findings of the research, I can conclude that Vodafone is lagged behind its competitors as far as customer service and availability is concerned. Total 80% people have mobile phone. In my survey only 85% are known about telecommunication services. The maximum no. of people who use the mobile is in the group of 0-20.

There are only 85% people are those who aware about Vodafone. As Vodafone is the 2nd largest company having the maximum no. of pre-paid connections so it must seriously look into the loop holes of the existing customer service department. In my study, only 35.71% are those who have been a part of Vodafone more than 6 months.

As we know that now Vodafone has already launched its product with zoo-zoo and pug doggy, has became popular in market. So we can say that in spite of so many competitors in the market Vodafone is having a good position just because every time, it tries its best to understand the need of its important customers. That is the only reason 70% persons like to recommend Vodafone to others.

From the deep analysis of every aspect of business, we can conclude that Vodafone essar ltd has to work more in every field of communication business.

It is the time not only to survive but to sustain in the market for a long time. For this Vodafone has to work on its all marketing strategies, marketing, promotion, brand image etc.

Vodafone has to take Idea & Airtel very seriously and update its own strategies time to time and when the need arise.

59

RECOMMENDATIONS & SUGGESTIONS

Office furniture, zoo zoo shaped for select retail outlets.

A multiple poster holder that can be placed outside the shop with adequate and attractive lighting, (self rotating like those found in watch stores).

Virtual fire place outside the shop/outlet with a blow fan beneath. Cloth printing in Vodafone red with imprints of Vodafone.

Over shaped lighting boards with Vodafone & Symbols (earlier used by HUTCH).

Vodafone floorting, check board style for select retail outlets with Vodafone prints on it.

A water container used by both customers & retailers, zoo zoo shaped.

Mega posters for walls behind the retailer’s desk.

Shutter pained in Vodafone red.

Small desk shelf for keeping recharge phone, for easy identification.

Air inflated or plastic made zoo zoo, big enough for customers to spot.

Sim card holders are also used as key chains. Cresting a stylish new sim card holder to bring about a change in the way the products& services is offered.

A poster holder, completely dedicated to Vodafone preventing competitors from overlapping with their posters.

A uniform (Vodafone t-shirt) for all retailers.

60

Changes in incentive plans.

Radium signage or at least Vodafone and symbol printed in radium for those who were not offered electric charges.

The brand must be available easily in PCO & GENERAL STORES.

Company must undertake extensive promotional activities like advertisement must be released in different Medias to create brand awareness.

Catalogues must be distributed among customers.

Price should be as competitive as other telecom companies.

Distribution of new connections should be in reach of customer pocket.

Free sample should be distributed among the prospects. Sales promotion tools like gifts, contests & coupons must be given to retailers as well as customers and prospects.

61

BIBLIOGRAPHY

In this project report, while finalizing and for analyzing quality problems in detail following books, magazines, journals, websites have been referred. All the material detailed below provides effective help and a guiding layout while designing this text report.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

BOOKS:-

Principles of Marketing-Philip Kotler & Kevin keller edi.12

Market Research-D.D. Sharma

Research Methodology-C.R. Kothari

WEBSITES:- www.goggle.com www.vodafone.in www.india.com www.scirb.com www.wikipedia.com www.business-standard.com www.vodafone.co.uk

NEWSPAPERS:- BUSINESS STANDARD ECONOMIC TIMES

62

ANNEXURE

QUESTIONNAIRE

Dear Sir/Madam

I Davinder Kaur student of M.COM at RSD (Ram Sukh Das) college, Ferozepur. I am doing my project on Vodafone “Marketing Strategies & Customer Satisfaction”. Please give me your precious time for filling these details:-

Q:1 Do you have a mobile phone?

YES NO

Q:2 Are you aware about telecommunication services?

YES NO

63

Name :- ________________ Age :- _________________

Gender :- Male/female Occupation:-___________

Address :- ____________________________________________

_____________________________________________________

Mobile no. :- __________________________________________

Q:3 Among them, which brand you prefer most?

AIRTEL VODAFONE RELIANCE TATA IDEA

Q:4 Are you aware about Vodafone?

YES NO

Q:5 What is your age?

0-20 20-40 40-60 ABOVE 60

Q:6 Since how long you are using Vodafone services?

LESS THAN ONE MONTH 2-6 MONTHS 6-12 MONTHS MORE THAN ONE YEAR

Q:7 Which of the following service do you use of Vodafone?

PRE-PAID POST-PAID

Q:8 If you have to purchase a new connection in near future, which brand will u go for and why?

64

Q:9 Would you like to recommend Vodafone to others?

YES NO

Q:10 What are your suggestions, for improving the product quality, service availability and parts availability?

65