A RESEARCH PROJECT

ON

“MARKETING STRATEGIES OF AIRTEL AND IDEA”

(SUBMITTED IN THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER’S OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION)

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF: - SUBMITTED BY:Mr. Ranjeet Verma Sumit AggarwalMBA Faculty MBA 05/09 2005-2007

N.C COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ISRANA(KURUKSHETRA UNIVERSITY, KURUKSHETRA)

CONTENTS

1. Acknowledgement2. Preface3. Introduction4. Airtel5. Idea6. Objective of the study7. Research Methodology8. Analysis and Interpretation9. Findings10.Limitations of the study11.Suggestions and Recommendation12.Conclusion13. Annexure

i) Bibliographyii) Questionnaire

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DECLARATION

I SUMIT AGGARWAL, Roll no-09 M.B.A., 2nd year of my college

N.C. college of Engineering ISRANA, Distt.- PANIPAT, here by

declares that final project report entitled “Marketing strategy of

AIRTEL vs. IDEA” is an original work and the same has not been

submitted to any other institute for award of any other degree.

A seminar presentation of the training report was made on the date

_______________ and suggestions as approved by the faculty, were

duly incorporated.

SUMIT AGGARWAL

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PREFACE

A determination to succeed is the only way to succeed. For this, it is very important that all knowledge, which we have, should be translated into action. It is only then that we can achieve something. Project work is the way to convert our raw talent into potential management. Classroom knowledge can only then be efficient when it is effectively wedded to the realities of the situation existing outside the classroom. In this project work place an important role. In this regard, I was given a project entitled “MARKETING STRATEGY OF AIRTEL AND IDEA (PANIPAT)”.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Success is not brought inherited. It is a product of what we put in. Success

begins with a good feeling about where we are and a positive attitude about

where we want to be. With this willingness, I have started this project.

First of all, I would like to thank to the supreme power, the almighty

god, who has always guided me to work on the right track of my life and has

always blessed me with his blessing by giving me the best. Next to him are

my parents, whom I am greatly indebted for having me brought up with love

and encouragement.

Next comes a person, without whose guidance and encouragement,

this project report would not have been successful. So, I would like to

express my gratitude towards Ms. Puja Mann, HOD, N.C.College Of

Engineering, Israna.

SUMIT AGGARWAL

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

First of all we have to know the meaning of research, research is increasing the

knowledge in existing knowledge or we can say that search for new ideas. So, I

am taking out my research to find out the perception of the consumers towards

different cellular services, I prepared my questionnaire and record the responses

of consumers.

The presented report is an effort to find solution for the present day Problem in

the cellular service providers. Where the Company interested to find out the

solution for the fact that being a AIRTEL the Number one in the cellular service

provider I proposed them to undertake a Strategic Market Research where we

would Read the Market perception of the AIRTEL and IDEA . Starting with the

Retailer’s perception and then the Company’s Perception and finally Customer’s

perception. We have presented this Research study with respect to three different

Areas with different samples size and completely different set of response

Parameters.

The sampling technique used in all the three spheres of Research is Exploratory.

The data collected under all the three distinct perception point is completely

primary data as I was the prima fascia for theses responses. Primary data are

collected taking the view of consumers towards these cellular services. And

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secondary data also collected from the secondary sources like the customer care

services, business magazines.

As a result of this research I have see the loose pools of the company to modify

their strategy at certain points with respect to all the three perception nodes. In

the Retailer’s perception segment I have suggested the Company to increase the

number of visits at retailer outlet and boost the retailer with emotional support

and confidence. In Company’ perception I suggested them to improve the

cellular services and introduce some new schemes to consumers with customer

attracting schemes which should be available at dealers.

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INTRODUCTION TO COMPANY

Today the tele communication sector is very important in INDIA. There is very

tough competition between various companies. Now a day’s telecommunication

companies offering various plans or benefits to customers to outstand the

competition in the market. So, the telecommunication industry, in a way, creates

employment for people. So, I am here to study the marketing strategy of

companies on the consumers.

After the liberalization of the Indian Telecom Sector in 1994, the Indian cellular

market witnessed a surge in cellular services. By 2005, there were a total of 12

players in the market with the five major players being Bharti Tele-Ventures

Limited (Bharti), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Hutchinson-Essar

limited (Hutch), Idea Cellular limited (Idea) and Reliance India Mobile (RIM),

and Tata Indicom.

As competition in the telecom arena intensified, service providers took new

initiatives to woo customers. Prominent among these were - celebrity

endorsements, loyalty rewards, discount coupons, business solutions and talk

time schemes. The most important consumer segments in the cellular industry

were the youth segment and the business class segment. The youth segment was

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the largest and fastest growing segment and was therefore targeted most heavily

by cellular service providers.

Bharti Tele-Ventures adopted celebrity endorsement as its chief promotional

strategy. By 2004 it emerged the unprecedented leader commanding the largest

market share in the cellular service market. Hutch implemented the celebrity

endorsement strategy partially, relying primarily on its creative advertising for

the promotion of its brand. BSNL, on the other hand, attracted the consumer

through its low cost schemes. Being a state owned player, BSNL could cover

rural areas, and this helped it increase its subscriber base. Reliance was another

player that cashed on its innovative promotional strategies, which included

celebrity endorsements and attractive talk time schemes. Idea relied heavily on

its creative media advertising sans celebrities.

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AIRTEL

Airtel comes to you from Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited - a part of the biggest

private integrated telecom conglomerate, Bharti Enterprises. A consortium of

giants in the telecommunication business. In it's six years of pursuit of greater

customer satisfaction, Airtel has redefined the business through marketing

innovations, continuous technological up gradation of the network, introduction

of new generation value added services and the highest standard of customer

care.

Bharti is the leading cellular service provider, with an all India footprint

covering all 23 telecom circles of the country. It has over 12 million satisfied

customers.

Cellular telephony was introduced in India during the early 1990s. At that time,

there were only two major private players, Bharti (Airtel) and Essar (Essar) and

both these companies offered only post-paid services. Initially, the cellular

services market registered limited growth.

Moreover, these services were mostly restricted to the metros. Other factors such

as lack of awareness among people lack of infrastructural facilities, low standard

of living, and government regulations were also responsible for the slow growth

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of cellular phone services in India. Although the cellular services market in India

grew during the late 1990s (as the number of players increased and tariffs and

handset prices came down significantly) the growth was rather marginal. This

was because the cellular service providers offered only post-paid cellular

services, which were still perceived to be very costly as compared to landline

communications.

Following this realization, the major cellular service providers in India, launched

pre-paid cellular services in the late 1990s. The main purpose of these services

was to target customers from all sections of society (unlike post-paid services,

which were targeted only at the premium segment). Bharti Tele-Ventures is one

of India's leading private sector providers of telecommunications services based

on an aggregate of 15,844, 382 customers as of October 31, 2005, consisting

of 14, 740, 366 GSM mobile and 1, 104, 016 broadband & telephone customers

The businesses at Bharti Tele-Ventures have been structured into two main

strategic business groups - the Mobility Leaders business group and the Infotel

Leaders business group. The Mobility business group provides GSM mobile

services across India in twenty-three telecom circles, while the Infotel business

group provides broadband & telephone services, long distance services and

enterprise services. All these services are provided under the Airtel brand.

Bharti Enterprises has been at the forefront of technology and has revolutionized

telecommunications with its world class products and services. Established in

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1976, Bharti has been a pioneering force in the telecom sector with many firsts

and innovations to its credit.

Bharti provides a range of telecom services, which include Cellular , Basic,

Internet and recently introduced National Long Distance. Bharti also

manufactures and exports telephone terminals and cordless phones. Apart from

being the largest manufacturer of telephone instruments in India, it is also the

first company to export its products to the USA. Bharti Tele-Ventures through its

subsidiary Bharti Telenet Limited (BTNL) holds the right to establish, maintain

and operate a fixed-line telephone network in Haryana through a license valid for

20 years from October 8, 2001.

BTNL provides fixed-line services to approximately 114,400 customers as of

March 31, 2005 under the brand Airtel. BSNL also operates a fixed-line

telephone service within the same geographical area.

Bharti is the leading cellular service provider, with a footprint in 16 states

covering all four metros. It has over 12 million satisfied customers

Bharti Enterprises has successfully focused its strategy on telecom while

straddling diverse fields of business. From the creation of 'Airtel', one of India's

finest brands, to becoming the largest manufacturer and exporter of world class

telecom terminals under its 'Beetel' brand, Bharti has created a significant

position for itself in the global telecommunications sector.  Bharti Tele-Ventures

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is today acknowledged as one of India's finest companies, and its flagship brand

'Airtel', has over 12 million customers across the length and breadth of India.

While a joint venture with TeleTech Inc., USA marked Bharti’s successful foray

into the Customer Management Services business, Bharti Enterprises’ dynamic

diversification has continued with the company venturing into telecom software

development. Recently, Bharti has successfully launched an international venture

with EL Rothschild Group owned ELRO Holdings India Ltd., to export fresh

Agri products exclusively to markets in Europe and USA Bharti Tele-Ventures

vision for its mobile business is “To make mobile communications a way of life

and be the customers first choice”.

The mission is to meet the mobile communication needs of the customer through

1) error free service 2) Innovative products and services and 3) cost efficiency.

The Company’s strategic objective is to consolidate its leadership position

amongst the mobile service providers in India.

The Indian mobile market, according to the COAI, has increased from

approximately 1.2 million subscribers as of March 31, 1999 to approximately

41.03 million subscribers as of March 31, 2005.

Despite this rapid growth, the mobile penetration rate in India, at approximately

3.9% as of March 31, 2005, is significantly lower than the average mobile

penetration rate in other Asian and international markets.

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The number of mobile subscribers in India is expected to show rapid growth over

the next four years. By 2006 it is projected at 50 million by COAI and 44 million

by Gartner.

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Source:

(1) Population estimates are as per National Census, 2001 and are as of March 1,

2001. The population for Uttar Pradesh (West) circle is approximately 37% of

the total population

(2) Wireless subscriber statistics are as of March 31, 2005 and are based on data released

by COAI. Wireless market size comprises the total number of wireless subscribers of all

(3) Demographics of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu do not include demographics of state

capitals (metros) Mumbai and Chennai respectively.

 

(4) Demographics of Haryana does not include Faridabad & Gurgaon as they are

included in Delhi & NCR. Similarly demographics of Uttar Pradesh (West) &

Uttaranchal does not include Noida & Ghaziabad as they are included in Delhi

NCR.

The significant growth in the Company's mobile business has been through a

combination of organic growth and acquisitions of additional licenses and has

been summarized below. The information given below is for the total market and

is not representative of our market share or network coverage

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. 

 As of March 31,

As of Mar 31,

2006

1999(1) 2000(2) 2001(3) 2005(4)

Number of Mobile licenses held by us2 4 5

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Total mobile subscribers in India (in millions)1.12 1.88 3.58

41.03

Market mobile subscribers in our license areas(5)

(in millions)0.21 0.57 1.28

41.03

Percentage of market mobile subscribers to total

mobile subscribers in India18% 30% 36%

100%

1) Comprise the circles of Delhi and Himachal Pradesh.

2) Comprise the circles of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra

Pradesh.

3) Comprise the circles of Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra

Pradesh and Chennai.

4) Comprise the twenty-one operational circles of Bharti Tele-Ventures.

5) Based on data released by the COAI on the total number of persons

subscribing to mobile services in our licensed area

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MOBILE STRATEGY

 Capture maximum telecommunications revenue potential with minimum

geographical coverage to maximize its revenues and margins.

 

Build high quality mobile networks by deploying state-of-the-art

technology to offer superior services

 

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Airtel values

Inn venturing

• We will generate and implement entrepreneurial and innovative ideas, which will

continuously create new growth engines.

Customer First

• We are committed to delivering service beyond the expectations of the customer. Our

quality of customer responsiveness clearly differentiates us from others.

Performance Culture

• We benchmark our processes and performance against world-class standards. We

distinguish between performers and non-performers by valuing achievement at the

individual as well as the team level. Ours is a culture of inclusively where feedback,

learning and ideas are actively encouraged, sought and acted upon.

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Valuing Partnership

• We are committed to building exemplary relationship with our partners, which stand on

the principles of mutual trust and mutual growth.

Valuing People

• We nurture an environment where people are respected and their uniqueness is valued.

We believe that people are our key differentiators.

Responsible Corporate Citizenship

• We are committed to making a positive and proactive contribution to the community.

As a responsible corporate citizen we will contribute to and abide by environmental and

legal norms.

Ethical Practices

• We will uphold the highest ethical standards in all internal and external relationship.

We will not allow misuse or misrepresentation of any kind.

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Board of Directors

 

The Board of Directors of the Company has an optimum mix of Executive and

Non-Executive Directors, which consists of three Executive and eleven Non-

Executive Directors.

The Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, is an Executive

Director and the number of Independent Directors on the Board is more than 50%

of the total Board strength. The independence of a Director is determined on the

basis that such director does not have any material pecuniary relationship with

the Company, its promoters or its management, which may affect the

independence of the judgment of a Director.

The Board members possess requisite skills, experience and expertise required to

take decisions, which are in the best interest of the Company.

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Awards

The Asia Pacific Award for the Most Innovative HR practices-2000.

The Golden Peacock National Training Award for excellence in Training

practices-2000.

The Golden Peacock National Quality Award-2001.

BCL is first mobile communication service provider in India to be

certified for ISO 9001:2000 and 1st in world certified by British Standards

Institution for Mobile Communication.

Born a leader, the first cellular service, AirTel has maintained leadership

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IDEA CELLULAR

Idea Cellular — the three-way joint venture between Tata, Birla and US-based

AT&T — was called Birla Tata AT&T before being renamed in May 2002. It was

set up in January 2001 following the merger of Tata Cellular and Birla AT&T

Communications and is India's leading cellular services provider.  

With Idea's acquisition of Escotel in early 2004, its footprint now covers around

60 per cent of India’s population and over 65 per cent of the telecom market. It

has presence in seven states: Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai), Goa, Gujarat,

Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh (W), Haryana,

Kerala and Delhi (inclusive of NCR). Having operations in four of the five

largest cellular circles in India, Idea is the market leader in the Maharashtra and

Goa, Kerala, UP (W), Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh circles in terms of

number of subscribers.  Each circle has its own dedicated call centre with a

single call resolution approach towards the customer.

Idea covers over 3,660 small and major towns and villages along with a total

highway connectivity of over 6,000 km. There are over 380 'Idea n' U' outlets

and Idea shops and a network of over 44,000 retailers and deacons.  

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Thanks to the frontline technology — from Nokia, Ericsson, Alcatel and

Schlumberger Sema among others — at its command, the company can offer its

customers extensive coverage, quality service and minimal congestion levels.

The company is the fastest growing GSM operator in its area of operation. The

growth rate in the last six months has been 85 per cent as against 84 per cent of

all operators in the same area of operation. The company is now cash positive,

and is expected be profit positive in the financial year 2004-05.

Idea Cellular offers a wide range of cellular services and products. Its post-paid

and pre-paid services are supported by a variety of package plans to suit.  

It was the first company in the country to launch GPRS in November 2002. It

showcased EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) in Delhi, in July

2004. With EDGE, subscribers can enjoy live television with a data download

rate of over 160 kbps. Idea subscribers will also have a richer experience while

watching movie previews, multimedia messages with video attachments, web-

infotainment, high-speed video downloads, java game downloads and other

Internet-based multi-media experiences on their EDGE enabled mobile phones.

It pioneered the concept of 'Cellular Jockey' and offers 'Music Messaging' to all

its subscribers. It also launched 'Global SMS', which allows the users to send and

receive SMS from over 540 networks and 170 countries across the technology

platforms like GSM, CDMA, TDMA and satellite phones.  The company

introduced 'Mobile Top-Up' (a flexible anytime anywhere recharge service for

pre-paid customers) and 'Say IDEA' feature that allows the users to access value

added services by speaking into their mobiles.

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It also offers SMS in nine vernacular languages — Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi,

Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Punjabi, in addition to English

to its subscribers.

Idea Cellular's antecedents date back to 1995, when the Aditya Birla Group and

AT&T (through Birla AT&T Communications – Maharashtra & Gujarat circle)

and the Tata Group (through Tata Cellular - Andhra Pradesh circle) set up

cellular networks. Both the above company were amongst the first company to

commercially start operation in circles other than metros and achieve financial

closurein Indian Telecom industry

In the year 2000, the historic path-breaking merger of Tata Cellular with Birla

AT&T Communications and the subsequent acquisition of RPG Cellular -

(Madhya Pradesh circle) in the year 2001 - helped take the company to aim even

further and led to the formation of Birla Tata AT&T Limited.In year 2001,

company won fourth cellular license for Delhi metro circle and in year 2002

company introduced common brand "!dea" and changed the name to IDEA

CellularLimited.

Since then, there has been no looking back for IDEA Cellular. The company

launch Delhi operations in year 2002 and added a record 100,000 subscriber

within one month.

In 2003, the company achieved the largest financial closure in Indian Telecom

for all its circle. In 2004, the company entered into definitive agreement to

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acquire Escotel Mobile Communications (existing operator in Haryana, Kerala

and UP(W)) and Escorts Telecommunications (cellular licensee holder

forUP(E)Himachal Pradesh

Awards

Idea Cellular M-coupon service bagged the prestigious ‘Golden Peacock award

for the most innovative product / service’ in February 2003. The Golden Peacock

awards, established by the Institute of Directors, is given to companies

demonstrating sustainable excellence and innovation in the manufacturing and

service sectors, leading to improved performance.

In March 2003, Idea (Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh) was declared the

No 1 cellular service in India by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of

India (TRAI) for the second consecutive time.

Chosen as the winner of the award, ‘Indira Award for Marketing

Excellence’ for being the highest recalled brand in the year 2003

Ranked second in overall user satisfaction by the Voice & Data – IDC

Mobile User’s Satisfaction Survey, October 2003, which was based on

parameters like network availability and performance, customer care,

value added services, pre-sales and sales effort, and billing.

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CORE BELIEFS OF IDEA

The company continuously harnesses the power of wireless revolution to provide

world-class products and services. It aims at responding to customer needs

proactively by anticipating requirements and providing ready solutions.

Idea Cellular draws inspiration from the loyalty of its subscribers to keepraising

the bar, to shape the future, and to change and enrich the life of each and every

member of its ever-grow family.

The company is the fastest growing GSM operator in its area of operation. The

growth rate in the last six months has been 85 per cent as against 84 per cent of

all operators in the same area of operation. The company is now cash positive,

and is expected be profit positive in the financial year 2004-05.

Idea Cellular offers a wide range of cellular services and products. Its post-paid

and pre-paid services are supported by a variety of package plans to suit.  

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INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY UNDERTAKEN

STARTEGY OF AIRTEL

'Magic Hai To Mumkin Hai'

In 2002, the leading Indian telecommunications company, Bharti Cellular

Limited (Bharti) signed the famous cricket player Saurav Ganguly and leading

movie stars, Madhavan and Kareena Kapoor as endorsers for its brand, Airtel

Magic (pre-paid cellular card). Its objective was to create the highest recall for

Magic in the pre-paid cellular telephony segment by cashing in on the two

biggest passions of India - movies and cricket. Bharti also changed the tagline

for Magic from 'You Can Do Magic' to 'Magic Hai To Mumkin Hai' (If there is

Magic, it's possible). The move attracted considerable media attention, as it was

unusual for a company to spend so lavishly to promote a single brand.

In October 2002, Bharti launched a television commercial (TVC), featuring Shah

Rukh Khan (leading actor, already endorsing Magic since a couple of years) and

Kareena Kapoor. The TVC, developed by one of India's leading advertising

agencies, Percept Advertising, was the first of the series of four TVCs for

Magic's new campaign. According to Bharti, the TVCs aimed at attracting young

adults in SEC B and C categories of the Indian market . Commenting on the new

developments, Hemant Sachdev (Hemant), Director, Marketing and Corporate

27

Communications, Bharti Enterprises, said, "The aim is to be relevant to the

masses and make all their dreams, hopes and desires come true instantly, at Rs

300 per month."

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY-

Indian Idol Auditions on Airtel : Close on the heels of exclusive access to

Kaun Banega Crorepati 2's "fastest finger first", Airtel has added another feather

to its cap, by introducing mobile auditions for the eagerly-awaited Indian Idol 2

to be aired on Sony Television.

Airtel Customers Get Asia Roaming :Airtel a member of Asia's largest

mobile alliance - Bridge Mobile, has announced the launch of a suite of mobile

services that will enable Airtel's customers to access a range of services when

roaming overseas on the alliance member's network.

Airtel Reduces Roaming Tariff :Airtel has announced a reduction in its

roaming rates as a part of its celebration for covering 23 circles across India .

Airtel Gets Student-friendly :Airtel is customizing its mobile services

packages according to what it feels customers want the most.

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ENDORSEMENT STRATEGY-

RAHMAN TUNE CROSSES AIRTEL’S EXCLUSIVITY BARRIER :Cellular service

provider AirTel seems to have hit the right note with its new commercial starring

musician A R Rahman. The commercial which is currently on air has a beat

which also doubles up as a ringtone which is ostensibly available only to AirTel

users. But the interesting part is that the ringtone is being flaunted not just by

AirTel customers but by customers of rival service providers like BPL, Orange

and Dolphin as well!

The ringtone which is also the jingle for AirTel’s TV commercial, is proving to

be a potent advertising tool for the company. It is not very clear what this means

for the other cellular operators. Cellular users have been “forwarding” the tune to

one another, which according to Mr Pota, has given AirTel a chance to enter the

“mind of the user” irrespective of which service he opts for.

“Competition will not do well to adopt a knee jerk reaction and will have to

come out with advertising that is well thought out” explains Mr Kapoor. He

anticipates a situation where the new entrant (AirTel) will continue to be more

aggressive.

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TENDULKAR. & SHAHRUKH :Both Tendulkar and King Khan already share the

frame for soft drinks major PepsiCo India. Tendulkar is not the first cricketer to

endorse Bharti’s Airtel brand. Indian captain Saurav Ganguly had done so when Airtel

launched its service in the eastern metropolis of Kolkata2001.

Though company executives were mum on the value of the Tendulkar deal, those in the

advertising fraternity peg the signing rate for the three-year deal anywhere between Rs

8 crore and Rs 10 crore. Both Sachin and Shah Rukh are two of the most sought after

celeb endorsers in the country, with the former edging out the latter in the celeb

endorsement race. The Master Blaster’s portfolio includes brands like Colgate

Pamolive, ESPN-STAR Sports, Pepsi, MRF, Boost, TVS, Palio, Visa, Adiddas and

Britannia. The leading brands endorsed by Khan include Hyundai, Pepsi, Airtel, Tag

Huer, Clinic All Clear, Bagpiper and Videocon, amongothers. According to company

executives, the idea of roping in Tendulkar is in line with the group’s strategy to

connect to the mass market through celeb endorsers from movies, cricket and music.

“For mass connect, Shah Rukh and Sachin are the best bet as brand endorsers,” says a

senior company executive. Bharti plans to launch a multimedia campaign targetting its

service .

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SCHEMES

SMS packages- airtel provides sms package in which company deducts 30 rs rent and

other charges and offer 2000 sms free in a month.

Airtel Promotes Performing Arts

Airtel has announced the launch of "Airtel Expressions", a platform to promote and

celebrate the various forms of expressions through the medium of performing arts in

Delhi.

Airtel Launches BlackBerry 7100g

Airtel and Research In Motion (RIM) have introduced the BlackBerry 7100g business

phone in the country.

DIALER tones- airtel also provides the dialer tones to its customers , now any caller can

hear songs on your mobile phones , the company deducts 30 rs rent per month and call

charges to apply this tone is rs @6/min.

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INTRODUCTION OF CONSUMER BEHAVIUOR

Consumer behavior is the study of how individuals make decisions to spend their

Available resources time, money , effort on consumption related items it includes

the study of what to buy , where to buy , how to buy, how often they use. there is

a question arises why we study the consumer behavior and perception towards a

brand

Just as consumer or marketer are diverse, the preseason why the consumer study

are also diverse , as consumer are , we benefit from insights into our own

consumption related decision what we buy , where we buy etc

Ian doing my research on consumer behaviors towards the mobile services, I

have to take into mind why consumer choose that service, how regularly he is

using that services

In addition to the studying consumer uses and post purchases evaluation of the

product they buy consumer researchers are also interested in how how individual

dispose of their product are they satisfied with their mobile services or not.

The term consumer behavior is often use to describe two different kinds of

consumer entities the personal consumer and organizational consumer. the

personal consumer includes the single person and the organizational consumer

include the profit and non profit entities. So in cellular services consumer

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behavior of the people is very necessary , whether they purchase cellular

connection on the basis of services, coverage , brand name or lastly customer

attendance . so iam doing my research between two cellular brands AIRTEL and

IDEA and to know the consumer perception towards this cellular brands.

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Marketing strategy of idea

1) jodi kamal ki- idea cellular launches a programme on star plus JODI KAMAL KI.

In which they advertise their products through this serial. Which comes at 9 p.m on

every Saturday.

2) Charity match sponsored by idea played between Bollywood and England at

Mumbaiin which bollywood wins the match and amount goes to people suffering

from cancer.

3)Free outgoing calls for every 2 minutes allover India, conditions apply on that.

3) Chemist schemes- available to all chemist available in haryana- in which the

subscriber has to pay rent rs 100 pSper month the call charges will be rs 50 paise to

all mobile and free sms 50 in month.

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4) SUMO WRESTLER USED- the company uses sumo in their ad, which says

prepaid ho to idea jaisa. Which means talk more pay less.

5) ONE INDIA ONE IDEA- in which you can call,sms,std at the rate of rs 1.but the

company deduct 1.25paise per day.

6) SMS package- in this the customer has to deduct rs 15 and company gives 1000

sms free for a month to customers.

7) value-added services such as vernacular SMS (in 9 languages), games on the

mobile, a large covered area for pre-paid roaming,

8) Sending a Mail to any e-mail ID is so much easier. Just follow the simple steps and

send a mail to friend or a colleauge anywhere in the world from wherever you are.

9)  You can read, compose, delete and reply to your Yahoo! e-mails

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10) RING TONE SERVICES- idea provides ring tone service to its customers , the

company deduct rs 30 as a monthly rental. And you can apply any song as your ring

tones.

11) HARYANA- Idea Cellular Ltd has announced the Idea Girls Best Friend offer, an

opportunity to own a free dazzling real diamond pendant with every new post-paid

connectionon a plan of Rs 150 and above. The offer can also be booked through all

Idea and U showrooms. The existing post-paid customers can also avail themselves of

the offer

.

12) Yahoodating -

Looking for a bit of romance in your life. Well, with Yahoo dating service you may

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36

Haryana

Idea Cellular — the three way joint venture between Tata, Birla and US-based AT&T —

was called Birla Tata AT&T before being renamed in May 2002. It was set up in January

2001 following the merger of Tata Cellular and Birla AT&T Communications and is

India's leading cellular services provider. 

BTNL provides fixed-line services to approximately 114,400 customers as of March 31,

2005 under the brand Airtel. BSNL also operates a fixed-line telephone service

within the same geographical area.

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IDEA_CELLULAR SERVICES

POPULATION1 As on March 01, 2006 18 million

MOBILE - SUBSCRIBER BASE2 As on March 31, 2006 928,38

FIXED LINE DELs3 As on March 31, 2006 983,89

VEHICLES4 As on March 31,1996 1,215,542

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STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVE

Main objective

The MAIN objective of my project report is to study the marketing,strategy of

AIRTEL and idea Cellular service panipat city and its effect on mobile users

existing and who are going to use mobile service in future. In other words, my

aim is to study the

Sub objective

TO know the customer perception

To know which is the best

To know the brand loyality

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

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This reseach presented has an exploratory type reseach plot . where I gathered

responses for those aspects in the market. Which were not so clear .In my

research I stsarted to take responses personally by visiting to the customers and

registered their response. I want to known the customer perception towards the

AIRTEL and IDEA. In my research I take 200 sample size. Whom I personally

registered their responses for each and every aspect related to the customers

perception.

The sample size for Customer was 150 where the Customers responses have

been collected from all the possible races and areas which were in my reach

while working on this research. The Customer responses registered here have

been collected from different Hangout Zones like restaurants , friends to get the

young responses. For some mature responses, I have approached some officials

so that some professional responses are collected. I have also contacted some

Shop Keepers and . Thus I have gathered the customer responses from all major

sections in n Society who are probably using an cellular service. The importance

of the project lies in the fact that we are interested to find Out the data which is

not so evident in the market because its related to perception of the customers

and this can be only analyzed when we personally meet the customers .

Data is collected from both the Primary sources i.e. questionnaire and also

from Secondary sources.

40

Primary sources: The primary source of data collection is through

questionnaire. The questionnaires are distributed among 200 peoples and their

view is recorded and used in analyzing the data

Secondary sources :The secondary sources includes online sites, newspapers

and templates from AIRTEL and IDEAdistributions centers

SAMPLE SIZE- 200

RESEARCH DESIGN – explanatory reserch

LIMITATIONS

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The responses collected are perception based so the nature variant can be

biasing factor.

I was not able to cover the whole panipat city.

The time for the research was limited.

Money also become the constraint for me .

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

. Which connection you are using at present?

42

43

CONCLUSION

Ther are total 55% persons which uses AIRTEL.

And 45 % of the persons are using idea due to its good schemes.

So, the conclusion is that majority of people are using airtel services because of

its more benefits than idea.

44

ANALYSIS

. Due to which reason you are availing mobile services?

45

CONCLUSION

In this graph we conclude that 40% people uses mobile for their status symbol.,

the 30% people uses mobiles for their office jobs, then the remaining 10 % and

20 % people uses mobiles for family or for the other purposes.

So, most of the persons takes mobile in them for their status symbolsand it is

also very useful in jobs , so many people takes mobile to easily contact with their

employers.

And lastly some people retain mobiles for many purposes other than that, it can

be for family , friends etc.

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ANALYSIS

Do you think that advertising has changed your perception for

brand?

47

CONCLUSION

We conclude the conclusion from the graph that

55% of the peoples say that their perception changes due to the effect of

advertising.

30 % of the people say their perception about the cellular doesn’t changes due

to the advertising effectiveness of the company

15% percent of peop[le cant say about this.

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ANALYSIS

How many are using Airtel and IDEA in Profession/Service

Details?

49

CONCLUSION

AIRTEL USERS- from the above graph it is concluded that 12% uses for

service8% person uses airtel for the business puposes , 28 % students uses

in colleges and in school leveland lastly 7 % people uses for other

purposes

IDEA USERS- 10 % people uses idea cellular in services , business man

uses 20% of services due to many schemes offered by idea remaining 10%

are used by students and 5% are used for others purposes.

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ANALYSIS

Age Group users ?

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CONCLUSION

BETWEEN 0-20 AGE GROUP- from the graph we conclude that 24 % of the

people avail services of mobiles.

BETWEEN 21-40 AGE GROUP- in this 41% of the people uses mobile

services

.

BETWEEN 41-60AGE GROUP- in this 23 % of people uses service of

mobile phones in INDIA.

ABOVE that age group only 12 % of people uses services.

52

ANALYSIS

what is the sex composition using the mobile phones?

SEX COMPOSITION

53

CONCLUSION

65 % of the respondent are of the category male so we can say mobiles are

more popular among the male as youth are more attractive toward the

mobiles

35% of the respondent belong to the female class as today girls are also in

the jobs .

the above we can say that what ever the sex is mobile is useful to every of

generation

ANALYSIS

54

Give rank to the following facilities while you are going to avail

the mobile service?

Conclusion

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TALKTIME-7 % of service men give preference to the talk time,9 %

business man uses for talk time and the remaining 6% of students prefer

the talktimes in mobile.

SMS-3% of business man use service of sms,12% of students uses sms and

remaining 4% service man uses that.

Roaming-3% of students and service man give importance to the roaming

facality.and remaining 8% of business man give imp to roaming.

COVERAGE-2% of students and business man takes coverage in teir mind

remaining 5 % of service man takes in his mind of coverage of the cellular

service

ANALYSIS

56

Do you think AIRTEL company is number 1 in INDIA thanI DEA?

57

YES

NO

CONCLUSION

The conclusion from the above graph is that 72 % of respondent say yes

that air tel is the number one brand in all respect

The remaining 28 % of the people says that the idea cellular is the no 1

brand in India in all respect

From above it concludes that AIRTEL leads way than the IDEA.in all

respect in INDIA.

ANALYSIS

58

Income Group (Monthly Income in Thousand Rs.)

59

some personal

disappointment

with IDEA , they

prefer AIRTEL

for following

reasons.

For the remaining responses the reasons are as follows:

1 AIRTEL is an established brand name 09

2 SCHEMES are given in time 04

3 network coverage is more. 05

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Airtel idea

Consumer response for a better brand between AIRTELand IDEA

14

12

10

8

6

4

2

0 IDEA AIRTEL Brands in comparison

c

onsu

mer

res

pon

ses

consumerrsresponses

REASONS NUMBER OF RESPONSES

4 product is better from idea 09

5 customer care attended in time 03

11) People’s first choice of cellular service when they want to

use mobile phone

AIRTEL 45% HUTCH 30% IDEA 8%

RELIANCE 10% TATA INDICOM 5% OTHERS 2%

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CONCLUSION

From the above grapgh we conclude that 45 % of people like to avbil the services of

AIRTEl first time, remainng 30% of people like HUTCH services to avail, only 8% of

people LIKe IDEA because of the range problem. 10 % of people like reliance because of

the brand nameor low call rates. 5 % of people like tat indicom because of new mobile

people hasve less faith in that , but TATA has also brand name and offereing many

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benefits . only 2 5 of people like other services like LANDLINE services, they have no

faith in mobiles.

ANALYSIS

Type of advertisement mostly like by people in AIRTEL and IDEA is

AIRTEL IDEA

a) Audio a) Audio

b) visual B) visual

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CONCLUSION

AUDIO- 10% of people says that they are effected by airtels audio adds, but

5 % of people are effected by ideas audio adds

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VISUAL- 35 % of idea adds visual has effect on consumers and airtels only

20% visual add has effect on tahat.

AUDIO VISUAl- 70 % of people are well aware of adds come on

television , but in case of idea only60 % people has their effect causes due to adds

in television.

FINDINGS

The conclusion of my study is that AIRTEL’s Advertising has a major impact its

users. People like its schemes very much .AIRTEL had created a very good

image on the mind of the new users of cellular service. But in idea there is very

low advertisuing effectiveness on the consunmers.. airtel has adopted a very

good strategy by providing a new connection with NOKIA who is market leader

in mobile set, many new users buy Nokia sets and they get a free connection of

AIRTEL.

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CONCLUSION

However AIRTEL is a established and IDEA is a growing name in the

field of mobile services still in a very short period of time reliance has

captured a huge market share because of handset financing and cheap

facilities such as SMS, call rate etc. In future, IDEA will surely give a

hard competition to AIRTEL as well as other mobile service

companies. In the same time, AIRTEL is also habitual in adapting

itself according to the market situation. Hence we can say that both

AIRTEL as well as IDEA will prove to be a benchmark for others in

future.

66

RECOMMENDATIONS

Airtel:

1. Airtel should finance the handset like reliance but handset

restriction should not be there.

2. Advertisement should be meaningful and able to persuade the

customer.

3. Sale promotion technique should be used to survive in the market

and to increase the sale

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4. Insurance should be provided.

Idea:

1. Mostly, customers have regular habit of changing their handsets,

which is not possible in case of reliance. So such kind of restriction

should not be there.

2. Advertisement should be meaningful and able to persuade the

customer.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books

Kotler, Philip : Marketing Management

Schiffiman, Leon. G. : Consumer Behaviour

Kothari, C.R. : Research Methodology

Magazines and Newspapers:

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The Economics Times

Business India

Business World

Websites

www.ideaInfo.com

www.airtelworld.com

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