Marketing Strategies of Vodafone India Limited
Marketing Strategies of Vodafone India Limited
Marketing Strategies of Vodafone India Limited
The Essar Group is a diversified business corporation with interests spanning the manufacturing
and service sectors like Steel, Energy, Power, Communications, Shipping & Logistics and
Construction. The Group has an asset base of over Rs 400 billion (US$ 10 billion) and employs
over 20000 people.
The year 2007 was another remarkable year for Bharti Airtel. The company retained its Numero
Uno slot in the Indian Wireless market. At the end of Dec-2007, the company had 55.16 mn
subscribers up by 72.5% YoY. Vodafone Essar India ended the year with 39.86 mn subscribers.
BSNL which gained spectrum by virtue of being a government company and facing criticism
from private operators, managed to grow at a slower pace and ended the year with 32.71 mn
subscribers. Idea Cellular had an impressive performance and ended the year with 21.05 mn
subscribers. Aircel was the fastest growing cellular operator with subscriber base doubling in
2007 to 9.43 mn.
1.3 About company
Weve come a long way since making the first ever mobile call in the UK on 1 January 1985.
Today, more than 400 million customers around the world choose us to look after their
communications needs. In 30 years, a small mobile operator in Newbury has grown into a global
business and one of the most valuable brands in the world. We now operate in around 30
countries and partner with networks in over 50 more.
In an increasingly connected world, its no longer just about being able to talk and text. Our
network allows people to share images and videos as soon as theyre captured; to share thoughts
and feelings as soon as theyre created. And because we now do more than just mobile in many
markets, more customers look to Vodafone for great value in their fixed line and broadband
services too.
Vodafone understands that businesses need a communications partner with solutions that scale
and adapt as their business needs change. They may need a few smart phones for voice and email
on the move. Or they may require a fully integrated solution that enables sharing of documents,
video conferencing and access to corporate applications from any location. Whatever their size
and whatever their need, we are constantly looking for new, innovative ways to help our business
customers grasp every opportunity in a simple and straightforward way.
Our commitment to the community in which we operate extends beyond the products and
services we offer. The cornerstone of our commitment to global social investment is the
Vodafone Group Foundation. Funded by annual contributions from the Vodafone Group, the
Foundation and its network of 27 country foundations supports the community involvement
activities of Vodafone and funds selected global initiatives directly.
True to our origins, Vodafone has always committed to deliver useful and inspiring innovation.
In 1991 we enabled the worlds first international mobile roaming call. In 2002, with Vodafone
Live! we set a new standard for mobile communications with internet access on the move.
Fuelled by the desire for sustainable innovation, we recently introduced Vodafone Money
Transfer which allows customers in emerging markets to send and receive money safely and
easily using their mobile phone. Weve also caused a stir in the industry with the Vodafone 150
our most affordable ultra low cost handset yet.
Were a brand that loves change if its not happening naturally then were creating it ourselves.
Its in our DNA to push forward, to create a better future, to never rest and find new ways that
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help people communicate. Thats the lifeblood that runs throughout Vodafone. We are driven to
empower people.
To find that spark that empowers you is why we are in business. Thats what we mean when we
say power to you.
The global footprint of our network, our significant presence in emerging markets and our track
record as an innovator, enable us to make an important contribution to socio-economic
development. Recent research shows a 10% increase in mobile access raises a countrys
economic productivity by 4.2%.
Over 68% of our customers live in emerging markets. By extending our network coverage and
putting basic voice and data services in the hands of people without access to communications,
we can create tangible benefits while building our customer base and establishing lasting
relationships too.
We are also creating innovative mobile services to help people and organisations make the most
of limited resources and are focusing on using mobile to help transform financial services,
healthcare, education and agriculture.
Thanks to Vodafones M-Pesa service, millions of people without a bank account can send, save
and borrow money; our mobile health services enable health workers to see more patients; and
our Learning with Vodafone programme in India, helps children get a better education.
1.4.3 Doing more with less
By 2030, there will be 20% more people in the world necessitating a 70% increase in agricultural
production The Connected Farmer Alliance is our a partnership with USAID and the NGO
TechnoServe, using our technology to help 500 million smallholder farmers in Africa to increase
their productivity; and our Turkey Farmers Club has already helped farmers increase
productivity by 190 million, showing how mobile can make a real difference.
Businesses and organisations are under pressure to deliver a substantial portion of the global
carbon reductions required to tackle climate change, while also facing economic pressure to cut
costs and increase efficiency. They need to do more with less and by using our mobile
technology they can improve the efficiency of their operations and enable smarter ways of
working.
Remote wireless connections create two-way communication between machines M2M
enabling organisations to collect the real-time information they need to reduce their energy use
and carbon emissions. Vodafone is a leading M2M provider with more than 9.5 million of our
connections already helping businesses deliver cost savings and carbon reductions.
1.4.4 Extending access to everyone
For increasing numbers of people around the world, mobile internet is the internet. Fixed-line
internet is often too expensive to roll out and there are many places it cant reach. Wireless
technology can close that digital divide
Around the world, Vodafone is working to enable as many people as possible to share in the
mobile internet revolution. We are extending access to mobile broadband to remote areas across
the world and are creating new services that make mobile phones easier to use for people who
are elderly or people with a disability.
1.4.5 Being responsible
We cant do any of this without the trust of our customers and other stakeholders. To earn that
trust, we need to manage our operations responsibly and conduct our business in an ethical and
transparent way.
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We are ambitious in the way we manage our wide-ranging responsibilities and have strong
programmes in place from protecting customers information and respecting their privacy, to
treating our employees fairly, working to reduce our impact on the environment, and setting set
strict ethical, labour and environmental standards for suppliers.
By taking our responsibilities seriously, we aim to continue to enhance Vodafones reputation and
the contribution of our products and services to sustainable living.
Vittorio Colao, Chief Executive, aged 52, was appointed Chief Executive of Vodafone Group Plc
after the AGM on 29 July 2008. He joined the Board in October 2006 as Chief Executive,
Europe and Deputy Chief Executive. The early part of his career was spent in the Milan office of
McKinsey & Company working on media, telecommunications and industrial goods, with
additional responsibility for recruitment. In 1996 he joined Omnitel Pronto Italia, which
subsequently became Vodafone Italy, and he was appointed Chief Executive in 1999. He was
then appointed regional Chief Executive Officer, Southern Europe for Vodafone Group Plc in
2001, became a member of the Board in 2002 and was appointed to the role of Regional Chief
Executive Officer for Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa for Vodafone in 2003. In 2004 he
left Vodafone to join RCS MediaGroup, the leading Italian publishing company, where he was
Chief Executive until he rejoined Vodafone as CEO, Europe. He sits on the International
Advisory Board of Bocconi University, Italy and is a Member of the Steering Committee of
the European Round Table of Industrialists.
1.5.3 Nick Read, Chief Financial Officer
Nick Read, aged 50, Chief Financial Officer, was appointed Group Chief Financial Officer and a
member of the Vodafone Group PLC Board on 1 April 2014.
Since joining Vodafone in 2001, Nick has held a variety of senior roles including CFO, CCO and
CEO of Vodafone Limited, the UK operating company. In his role immediately prior to Group
CFO, he was the Regional CEO for Africa, Middle East and Asia Pacific for five years and was a
Board member of the listed companies of Vodacom, Safaricom, and Vodafone Qatar, our
subsidiaries in India and Egypt, and our joint ventures, VHA in Australia and Indus Towers in
India.
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Prior to joining Vodafone, he held senior global finance positions with United Business Media
Plc and Federal Express Worldwide.
Nick is a Fellow Chartered Management Accountant and a Chartered Global Management
Accountant, with a BA (Hons) in Accounting and Finance.
1.6 Products
1.6.1 Handsets
Wide range of handsets covers all our customer segments and price points and is
1.6.2 Smartphones
A handset offering advanced capabilities including access to email and the internet.
24% of handset sales in Europe.
All leading brands represented including iPhone in 14 countries.
Launched two tailor-made Vodafone 360 handsets: Samsung H1 and Samsung M1.
technology.
Prices start from less than US$15.
16 new models released under our own brand.
Low cost combined with high-end features, such as touch screen and mobile internet
capability.
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Voice services incorporate revenue for national, international and roaming calls.
SMS services include text messages as well as multiple media, such as pictures, music,
sound, video and text.
The core functionality and use of handsets continues to be voice and text messaging services.
Many different tariffs and propositions are available, targeted at different customer segments,
and include a range of unlimited usage offers which have been particularly appealing to
customers.
With sophisticated handsets becoming readily available, customers are increasingly using their
mobile phones to complement their lives in new and innovative ways. Data usage continues to
grow rapidly fuelled by large numbers of intuitive internet enabled devices (smartphones),
many with touch screens such as the iPhone and BlackBerry Storm, and transparent pricing
available through our internet on your mobile unlimited browsing tariff. Instant messaging is
available with Yahoo! and MSN and we offer integrated services from leading internet brand
partners including YouTube, eBay, Google and Google Maps.
Our partnership agreements with leading companies, such as RIM, Samsung and Google, have
enabled us to be first to market with cutting- edge devices such as the BlackBerry Storm,
Samsung H1 and Samsung M1 (our two tailor-made handsets that support our Vodafone 360
proposition) and Google Nexus One.
Available in 31 markets including partner markets, Vodafone branded devices are designed to
meet a range of customer needs and preferences from low cost phones offering simple voice
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and text, through fashion and design influenced, to competitively priced mobile internet devices
with cutting-edge smartphone functionality including touch screen and mobile internet
capability. During the 2010 financial year Vodafone launched its most affordable handset to date,
the Vodafone 150, which retails for less than US$15 unsubsidised, giving millions of people in
emerging markets the opportunity to share in the benefits of mobile technology for the first time.
Products promoted by the Group include Vodafone live!, Vodafone Mobile Connect USB
Modem, Vodafone Connect to Friends, Vodafone Eurotraveller, Vodafone Freedom Packs,
Vodafone at Home, Vodafone 710 and Amobee Media Systems.
In October 2009, it launched Vodafone 360, a new internet service for the mobile, PC and Mac.
This was discontinued in December 2011 after disappointing hardware sales. This was after The
Director of Internet Services resigned in September 2010 tweeting "5 days before I leave
Vodafone. Freedom beckons." In February 2010, Vodafone launched world's cheapest mobile
phone known as Vodafone 150, will sell for below $15 (10) and is aimed at the developing
world. It will initially be launched in India, Turkey and eight African countries including
Lesotho, Kenya and Ghana.
Mobile money transfer services
In March 2007, Safaricom, which is part owned by Vodafone and the leading mobile
communication provider in Kenya, launched a mobile payment solution developed by
Vodafone. M-PESA is aimed at mobile customers who do not have a bank account, typically
because they do not have access to a bank or their income is insufficient to justify a bank
account. The M-PESA system allows customers to deposit and withdraw cash via local agents,
and transfer money to other mobile phone users via SMS.
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By February 2008, the M-PESA money transfer system in Kenya had gained 1.6 million
customers. By 2011 there were fourteen million M-Pesa accounts by which held 40 percent of
the countrys savings. Following M-PESAs success in Kenya, Vodafone announced that it was to
extend the service to Afghanistan. The service here was launched on the Roshan network under
the brand M-Paisa with a different focus to the Kenyan service. M-Paisa was targeted as a
vehicle for microfinance institutions' (MFI) loan disbursements and repayments, alongside
business to business applications such as salary disbursement. The Afghanistan launch was
followed in April 2008 by the announcement of further a further launch of M-PESA in Tanzania,
South Africa and India.
In February 2012, Vodafone announced a worldwide partnership with Visa. To introduce a
Vodafone Mobile Wallet, initially in Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Turkey and the UK. "The
Vodafone mobile wallet represents the next stage of the smartphone revolution," says Vittorio
Colao, Vodafone's group CEO. This will enable Vodafone subscribers to pay for goods and
services using their mobile phones instead of coins and banknotes.
mHealth services
In November 2009, Vodafone announced the creation of a new business unit focused on the
emerging mHealth market (the application of mobile communications and network technologies
to healthcare). One of its early success stories is with the Novartis-led "SMS for Life" project in
Tanzania, for which Vodafone developed and deployed a text-message based system that enables
all of the countrys 4,600 public health facilities to report their levels of anti-malarial
medications so that stock level data can be viewed centrally in real-time, enabling timely re-
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supply of stock. During the SMS for Life pilot, which covered 129 health facilities over six
months, stock-outs dropped from 26% to 0.8%, saving thousands of lives.
Medopad at the Vodafone pavilion CeBIT 2014
Vodafone has also been active in mHealth from a philanthropic perspective. The Vodafone Group
Foundation is a founder member of the mHealth Alliance, supporting the adoption of mHealth
through policy research and advocacy and the development of interoperable and
sustainable mHealth solutions.
Vodafone is a strategic partner with several mHealth companies including Numera/BlueLibris
and Medopad. Medopad was showcased in the Vodafone Pavilion at CeBIT Global Conferences
in March 2014 in Germany.
Vodafone Foundation
The Vodafone Foundation is a recognised charity which supports and initiates projects which use
mobile technology to benefit the vulnerable. It is described by Vodafone as Mobile for Good;
using mobile technology to support good causes. They often work in collaboration with other
charitable groups. Below are some examples of their initiatives:
TECSOS mobile phones have been adapted to allow victims of domestic violence to activate
immediate contact with the emergency services if they are in danger
Paediatric Epilepsy Remote Monitoring System a monitoring system that allows physicians to
remotely make patient observations
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Safe Taxi System an initiative in Portugal that consists of technology that taxi drivers can use
to alert police if they are in danger of being assaulted
Learning with Vodafone Solution technology that allows teachers in India to use graphical and
multi-media content to enhance their teaching
The World of Difference UK programme - successful applicants choose charities for which they
work either full-time for two months or part-time for four months (minimum 15 hours a week).
The charities are provided with 2,500, with each winner receiving the balance as a salary after
NI and tax have been paid.
1.7 Research Methodology
1.7.1 Research Objectives
To evaluate the impact of promotion and advertising strategies on sales and consumer
spending with respect to Vodafone.
1.7.2 Methodology
The research methodology includes the information regarding the sample size design, data
collection methods and the analytical tools used.
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Here also the same is explained in detail regarding the sample size, data collection methods and
the analytical methods used in this research.
1.7.3 Data Collection Methods
There are so many ways in which data shall be collected. The methods that have been used for
collecting the data are:
Primary Research
Questionnaire Method
Direct Interview Method
Secondary Research
Books
Internet
Articles
Newspapers
Magazines
Both of these methods have been used for collecting the data. Questionnaire method was used for
collecting the primary data. This has been done by firstly preparing an appropriate structured
questionnaire. Then this questionnaire was given to 50 customers who belong to different age
groups at the various shopping malls in Delhi region. This data has been used for data analysis.
Secondary data for the purpose of research has been mainly taken from internet and various
magazines. Various journals have been used for the purpose of reference.
Sample Design
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Sample size
50
Random selection
Delhi
The samples have been selected from Delhi & NCR region from the various mall shoppers. The
samples include people from all age criteria and the analysis has been done on this basis.
Negative return on assets (ROA) underperform key competitors like AT&T, BT Group,
Deutsche Telecom
US business not nearly as strong as European/rest of the world operations 80% of its
business is generate in Europe.
2.2.2 Threats
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At the Global ET Telecom Awards 2012, Vodafone India received the award for Value Services
Rural Innovation Category. Vodafone India has been awarded the Best Marketing Company
for 2011 in a survey conducted by a leading financial daily. The company received the Most
Admired Telecom Operator and Best 3G Operator awards at the recent Telecom Operator
Awards 2012. Vodafone Business Services received the Best Enterprise Service Provider at the
Frost & Sullivan Awards 2012. The company has also received the globally recognized
prestigious Product of the Year 2012 consumer award for Vodafone Apps Store in the Mobile
Services Category. In another survey conducted by Nielsen, Vodafone India was the only telecom
player in the Top 10 Most Exciting Youth Brands in India.
At Vodafone, sustainability is an integral part of the companys mission and strategy, shaping the
conduct of business every day. Vodafone India, in line with its group philosophy has released the
Corporate Sustainability Report for India Footprints 2010-11. To view the online version of the
report, please visit www.vodafone.in. Vodafone India has been awarded the prestigious Golden
Peacock Award for corporate social responsibility for 2012.
Vodafone Group is one of the worlds largest mobile communications companies with over 406
million customers as on June 30, 2012. Vodafone currently has equity interests in over 30
countries across five continents and more than 40 partner networks worldwide.
Vodafone entered India in December 2005 by acquiring a 10 percent stake in Bharti Ventures
Limited (Bharti) which later became Bharti Airtel Limited. However, as Bharti later ruled out
further dilution of its stake, Vodafone started considering other options to increase its market
share in India...
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Vodafone Essar was launched in India on 21st September 2007. Vodafone was welcomed in India
with the Hutch is now Vodafone campaign. The popular and endearing brand Hutch was
transitioned to Vodafone across India. This marked a significant chapter in the evolution of
Vodafone as a dynamic and ever-growing brand. This brand unveiled nationally through a high
profile campaign covering all important media.
Vodafone, the worlds leading mobile telecommunication company, completed the acquisition of
Hutchison Essar in May 2007 and the company was formally renamed Vodafone Essar in July
2007. The transition from Hutch to Vodafone is probably the largest brand change ever
undertaken in this country and arguably as big as any in the world. It is even larger than Hutchs
own previous brand transitions. The migration from Hutch to Vodafone was one of the fastest
and most comprehensive brand transitions in the history of the Vodafone Group, with 400,000
multi brand outlets, over 350 Vodafone stores, over 1,000 mini stores, over 35 mobile stores and
over 3,000 touch-points rebranded in two months, with 60% completed within 48 hours of the
launch.
The Vodafone mission is to be the communications leader in an increasingly connected world
enriching customers lives, helping individuals, businesses and communities be more connected
by delivering their total communication needs.
Vodafones new advertising campaign in India carried on with the same popular pug that has
become a brand ambassador for Hutch. Where ever you go, our network follows, was the
previous slogan with the pug following the child wherever he goes. Now, with Hutchison Essar
becoming part of the Vodafone Group, the new campaign had started with Vodafone Essar
earmarking Rs. 2.5 billion on the transition from Hutch to Vodafone. The main message of the
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brand transition exercise: The new Vodafone is the same old Hutch. In the advertisement, the pug
sees a new home when it returns after an outing and feels the change is better. The new catch
phrase will be Make the most of now.
Vodafone had tied up with Star India to run a complete roadblock of its fresh campaign on the
entire network by unveiling the 24-hour nationwide rebranding campaign. Vodafone used all of
the commercial airtime across all 13 channels in five languages (Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi
and English) from 9 pm on 20 September to 9 pm on September 21. This exercise included TV
commercials, transition bumpers and contest spots to promote the Vodafone Essar brand.
Commercial spots had also been purchased on Sony.
Conventionally awareness for a new brand takes some time to build. However, Vodafone wanted
to achieve this task at the shortest possible time. Hence, Maxus and Star Network worked closely
to address this challenge and came up with the idea wherein during the day of the launch a
complete roadblock on the Star Network channels was conceptualized. Considering that the Star
Network is the lead network in India, this was the most apt platform for Vodafone launch. This
strategy helped not only in achieving build rapid brand awareness but also breaks the clutter
during such an important launch in the most happening category telecom. This is a first of its
kind mega media initiative in India by any brand. While the campaign was heavy on television, it
also included all other media vehicles. The print campaign kicked off on 21 September, a day
after the television splash.
While the brand campaign had been addressing the transformation, the Company, on the other
hand was swiftly preparing for a price war in the Indian telecom space. Indeed, it was preparing
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to provide mobile handsets to new subscribers at ultra-cheap prices, ranging from about $19 to
$25.
Vodafone Essar launched low priced cell phones in India under the Vodafone brand, and also cobranded handsets sourced from major global vendors. By bringing in millions of low-cost
handsets from across the globe into India, Vodafone Essar distributed bundled handsets through
its existing 400,000 distribution outlets. By flooding the market with its low-cost handsets,
Vodafone also became a mass mobile phone brand like Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, and Sony
Ericsson in addition to continuing as telecom services provider.
Previously, similar handset-driven expansion strategies to grow subscriber bases were adopted by
CDMA players, like RCOM and Tata Teleservices. Vodafone is the first GSM operator to follow
suit.
The Vodafone mission is to be the communications leader in an increasingly connected world
enriching customers lives, helping individuals, businesses and communities be more connected
by delivering their total communication needs. Vodafones logo is a representation of that belief
The start of a new conversation, a trigger, a catalyst, a mark of true pioneering.
Vodafones Advertising Strategies: Hutch to Vodafone
Advertising is probably one of the most frequently used vehicles for Rebranding, as it is fairly
easy, flexible and quick to change. It is a powerful way of reaching a broad or targeted audience
quickly and is effective at signalling a change in positioning, however real or broad that may be.
There are many examples of where advertising has either repositioned or strengthened brands,
other good examples of where advertising has built a new position for a brand or built a strong
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emotional link with the public are where companies have created a sort of soap opera out of their
advertising.
The Advertising agency of Hutch and now Vodafone, Ogilvy & Mather (O&M), had a two-fold
task to achieve: announce the entry of Vodafone into India and highlight the metamorphosis of
Hutch into Vodafone. O&M realised that they had a fantastic property in the Hutch pug, which
they had been using for about five years. Therefore, to show the transition from Hutch to
Vodafone, O&M launched a rather direct, thematic ad showing the trademark pug in a garden,
moving out of a pink coloured kennel which symbolised Hutch making his way into a red one
that is the Vodafone colour. A more energetic, chirpier version of the You and I tune associated
with Hutch was played towards the end, and it concludes with Change is good. Hutch is now
Vodafone.
O&M has also rolled out four Commercials featuring Hutchs animated boy and girl,
introducing the new brands logo to consumers. The four creatives which were of five seconds
each included the duo peeping over a wall to see the logo; parasailing with the logo flying high
behind them; releasing a rocket bomb wherein the explosion reveals the logo; and lastly, drawing
curtains aside to show the logo.
Four other ads with the pug did the rounds of telly screens. These five and 10 second spots cast
the dog in situations where he, literally, saw red, using the colour as a visual mnemonic to
remember the brand by. The pug was shown in a red basket, popping up from a red cart, drying
himself on a red mat, and hiding in a red blanket. Each of these made use of the Hutch is now
Vodafone tagline.
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The print ads, in all major languages in several leading dailies, were kept unbelievably simple: a
still shot of the pug inside a red kennel. The same creative was used in outdoor hoardings as
well, in all the 16 circles in which Vodafone now operates.
It wasnt easy integrating Vodafone with Hutch; the latter, as is known, is a subtle, understated
brand, while globally, Vodafone represents high energy, dynamism and young vitality all
represented by its bright red speech mark logo. And so they put in elements such as a more
energetic tune and feel to the ads.
A few advertisements include:
Hutch is now Vodafone: If you watch any of the star channels or tuned into 20-20 world
cup, you would have seen this ad. On 11 February 2007, Vodafone agreed to acquire the
controlling interest of 67% held by Cheung Kong Holdings in Hutch-Essar for US$11.1
billion and now had to rebrand itself so it has decided to run a new ad series which piggy
banked on Hutchs dog mascot and the theme Change is Good. This required nearly
250 crores of spending by Vodafone but they have successfully painted the town red. An
interesting part of this campaign was on the opening day roadblock where they made a
deal with Star India so that besides them no other commercials were aired (apart from inchannel promos) on the Star Indias channels for 24 hours.
Vodafone Valentine Day Special Ads: Vodafone had released a simple and sweet ad for
musical greetings targeted at couples during the valentine week the feature of this
campaign is its simplicity and believability and is quite well received. It uses the
positioning Make the most of now enjoy the video
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Vodafone Chota Credit Ink Ad: This new ad had come as refreshing change and more so
that this ad takes a very refreshing look at school and at fountain pens. This ad creates a
wonderfully subtle message which really puts the point of chota (small) credit across.
The Response
In April 2012, as the TVCs started being aired on television, they created the necessary buzz both
in traditional as well as in social networking sites like Facebook, and Twitter and video sharing
website, YouTube.
Superbrand sponsorship
Vodafone sponsors several leading sporting brands including the record breaking Ferrari Formula
1 motor racing team and Manchester United, one of the world's most successful football clubs.
It is a good way of increasing brand awareness, which helps to generate consumer preference and
to foster brand loyalty.
A company can reinforce awareness among its target market by sponsoring an event or
organisation that attracts a similar target market.
A sponsor can enjoy a wide range of benefits from a carefully selected sponsorship, which can:
The organisation receiving the sponsorship (sponsee) stands to benefit enormously from both
financial support and other forms of backing from an established partner, provided that both
parties have agreed a set of common objectives to underpin the sponsorship.
Similarly, the Vodafone Race Track racing simulator allows customers to compete in a racing
simulator.
Organisations gain competitive advantage by developing USPs: things that only they provide and
which make them distinct from anything provided by their competitors.
This is a completely new world of mobile services, delivered on the latest camera phones.
Vodafone's strategy is customer focused and product led; the company is continually developing
new products and services which utilise the latest technological advances.
However, as consumers become increasingly sophisticated users of modern mobile technology,
they make new demands and seek added value through product improvements.
Public relations (PR) is the planned, sustained effort an organisation makes to establish, develop
and build relationships with its many publics.
The benefits of sponsorship
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Before sponsoring an activity, the sponsor must feel sure that the event/organisation will be
successful; has a proven track record, good prospects and generally be aligned with the sponsor's
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brand and business objectives. Sports sponsorship is the most common and can range from
international to regional and local events.
The organisation receiving the sponsorship (sponsee) stands to benefit enormously from both
financial support and other forms of backing from an established partner, provided that both
parties have agreed a set of common objectives to underpin the sponsorship. In this case, Ferrari
will benefit from joint ventures and shared revenue streams arising from the creation of a range
of products and services, as well as the sale of merchandising within the telecom sector.
Sponsoring Ferrari
Vodafone intends to be recognised as one of the world's leading brands. Its sponsorship of
Ferrari, with the immensely valuable media coverage that Formula 1 attracts, helps Vodafone to
achieve this objective. Vodafone has over 100 million customers worldwide, spanning five
continents and 28 countries. Formula 1 offers Vodafone high profile exposure in a sport that
commands a worldwide television audience of 360 million people for each race.
Ask most people to name one racing team that they associate with Formula 1, and they will say
'Ferrari'. The name conjures up images of passion, joie de vivre, a can do attitude, innovation and
technology, all qualities that help Ferrari to take it to the top and keep it there. Who better then,
to sponsor Ferrari's next two assaults on the world title than Vodafone - the world's largest
telecommunication company. That is the thinking behind Vodafone's offer of sponsorship, and
Ferrari's acceptance of it.
Key events in the early days of the sponsorship were:
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25th May 2001 - The sponsorship agreement was announced at the Formula 1 Grand Prix
at Monaco.
6th February 2002 - The Vodafone-branded car was launched at Ferrari's headquarters in
Italy.
3rd March 2002 - The Vodafone-branded Ferrari team raced for the first time at the
Australian Grand Prix.
Sponsorship strategy
Vodafone sees sponsorship as involving far more than having a logo on a football shirt or a
racing car. The company believes that its sponsees act as ambassadors for the Vodafone brand,
saying to the world 'This brand is all about being dependable, empathetic, innovative, can do and
full of vitality and life.'
Moreover, Vodafone has established tangible links between the products and services it offers
and the organisations that it sponsors.
For example, Ferrari fans can subscribe to Multimedia Messaging Services (MMS), news
services and chat forums, download games, ringtones, wicked welcomes, wallpaper and other
images and play in quiz competitions. Similarly, the Vodafone Race Track racing simulator
allows customers to compete in a racing simulator. Vodafone is thus committed to developing a
range of value added connections to the sponsorship package. It explains this link in the
expression. "It's no good having the toys if you don't invest in the batteries to make them work".
30
Organisations gain competitive advantage by developing USPs: things that only they provide and
which make them distinct from anything provided by their competitors. Vodafone's link with
Ferrari gives them a USP in terms of up-to-the-minute involvement with the world's leading
racing team.
Fitting into corporate strategies
An organisation's strategies are the long-term plans that are the means that enable it to achieve its
objectives (ends).
Vodafone's current target is to become one of the world's top ten brands. To achieve this, it is
expanding its global presence.
Vodafone is the market leader in the UK and in many of the other markets in which it operates.
To stay ahead of the field it continually seeks to bring new technologies to the market. For
example, it has recently launched 'Vodafone live!' This is a completely new world of mobile
services, delivered on the latest camera phones. Users will be able to communicate with more
than just words, helping them to keep in touch with the people that matter to them, better than
ever before.
In a first-of-its-kind initiative, Vodafone India will speed up India by offering motor-racing
enthusiasts their first street racing experience. Motor racing fans and loyal customers of
Vodafone will witness Lewis Hamilton burn rubber in his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-27
car on Sunday, September 16, 2012 (evening), just a week before the Singapore Grand Prix 2012
night race. The venue for this unique and exciting initiative will be the historic and breath-taking
landscape of Marine Drive in South Mumbai.
31
Lewis will enthrall the crowd driving in his Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-27 car along the
curves of the brilliantly illuminated Queens necklace (Marine Drive) that will be made to look
like a Formula 1 race track complete with grand stand and pit garage. The ambience, the driving
skills of Lewis and lightning fast speeds of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes car is sure to leave
the audience spellbound. Some lucky customers will have the privilege of riding with Lewis
Hamilton and a chance of visiting the pit garage to see the technology behind the team, powered
by Vodafone.
Vodafone is the Title sponsor and Official Total Communications Partner of the Vodafone
McLaren Mercedes team since 2007. This partnership is Vodafones major global sponsorship
and is part of an ongoing commitment to the Formula 1 World Championship, a sport which
continues to deliver massive global television coverage and which has significant appeal for
Vodafones consumer and business customers and racing fans around the world.
During January 2013, Vodafone India ran a campaign to spread awareness about its range of
Value Added Services at the Maha Kumbh Mela, the largest religious festival in the world,
visited by over 100 million people. In keeping with the mood of the festival, it was decided to
promote devotional music from Vodafones repertoire of Value Added Services.
To do this activation, OglilvyAction used a vital winter accessory earmuffs as a player and
embedded devotional music into it. OgilvyAction is the global brand activation network of
Ogilvy & Mather. These musical earmuffs were branded with the Vodafone logo and a message
that instructed people to Dial 123 to listen to devotional songs.
32
33
Questionnaire
The method of data collection is primary data collection.
The sample size is 50.
1. SEX RATIO OF THE RESPONDENTS
S.NO.
A
SEX
Male
NUMBER
39
AGE (%)
78%
Female
11
22%
SEX RATIO
22%
Male
Female
78%
S.NO.
AGE GROUP
NUMBER
34
%AGE
15-25
21
42%
25-35
18
36%
35-45
12%
45 above
10%
10%
15-25
12%
42%
25-35
35-45
45 above
36%
PARTICULARS
Users
100%
Non- Users
0%
35
Users
Non- Users
100%
RESPONSE
NUMBER
Yes
45
90%
Not All
10%
36
10%
Yes
Not All
90%
SERVICE PROVIDER
NUMBER
Airtel
12
24%
Vodafone
14
28%
Idea
10
20%
Reliance
10%
BSNL
12%
Tata Indicomm
6%
37
SERVICE PROVIDERS
12%
6%
Airtel
24%
Vodafone
Idea
Reliance
10%
BSNL
20%
28%
Tata Indicomm
Response
Number
Yes
49
98%
No
2%
38
VODAFONE AWARENESS
2%
Yes
No
98%
SOURCE
NUMBER
Advertisements
35
70%
Hoardings
14%
Newspapers
6%
Mouth Publicity
10%
39
10%
Advertisements
6%
Hoardings
Newspapers
14%
Mouth Publicity
70%
RESPONSE
NUMBER
To Full Extent
12%
To Some Extent
30
60%
Not At All
10%
No Opinion
18%
40
ROLE OF ADVERTISEMENT
18%
12%
To Full Extent
To Some Extent
Not At All
10%
No Opinion
60%
Source
Number
Television
34
68%
Radio
18%
Newspaper
8%
Magazines
6%
41
ADVERTISEMENT SOURCE
8%
6%
Television
Radio
Newspaper
18%
Magazines
68%
SERVICE PROVIDER
NUMBER
RESPONSE
Airtel
10
20%
Vodafone
21
42%
Idea
18%
Reliance
14%
Others
6%
42
6%
14%
20%
Airtel
Vodafone
Idea
Reliance
18%
Others
42%
RESPONSE
NUMBER
Very Well
26
52%
10
20%
Undecided
12%
Not At All
16%
43
VODAFONE ADVERTISEMENT
16%
Very Well
Some What Well
12%
52%
Undecided
Not At All
20%
44
PARTICULARS
NUMBER
Yes
34
68
No
12
24
Undecided
8
Yes
24
No
Undecided
68
45
RESPONSE
NUMBER
Yes
38
76%
No
14%
Undecided
10%
MORE CONNECTIONS
10%
Yes
14%
No
Undecided
76%
46
SL. NO
RESPONSE
NUMBER
14%
2 6 months
8%
6 12 months
21%
57%
VODAFONE USAGE
14%
8%
Less than 1
month
2 6 months
6 12 months
57%
21%
47
SL. NO
RESPONSE
NUMBER
Lack of awareness
17%
High Prices
20
55%
Poor Services
11%
Poor Network
17%
17%
17%
Lack of awareness
High Prices
11%
Poor Services
Poor Network
55%
48
Promotion strategies give brand a touch of glamour, and the hope that a famous face will provide added
appeal and name recognition in a crowded market. In the battle for the mind, you get the customer excited
by showing him a known face, and an effective demand is created. This would normally work best when
the concerned brand has close substitutes, or has a need for differentiation, or requires quick entry in a
short lifecycle category.
Economic conditions, market structure, policies regarding tariffs and interconnect agreements, and
customer characteristics are some of the significant forces affecting the growth of cellular services. Since
it takes about 3-4 years for cellular operators to attain financial payback on their projects, estimates of
market size can be useful for network and investment planning. Qualitative narratives and descriptive
statistics of the cellular sector for many countries are available from a variety of industry sources.
However, rigorous empirically based studies of cellular market growth are much more limited in number.
Moreover, these studies do not provide much insight into the mechanics of growth in cellular markets.
Such insights can inform policymakers about the process by which growth occurs and help develop
policies that can improve cellular penetration in developing countries. They are also useful to service
providers in planning their network rollouts and services in the face of market competition.
With the introduction of new providers, the incumbents face erosion of their subscriber base. They can
take preemptive measures to improve the quality of their services offerings, reduce prices and increase the
breadth of their service offerings. The new operators have to battle against the advantages of the
incumbents such as existing subscriber base, economies of network operations, network infrastructure and
their financial strength.
49
At last, consider all these points we would like to say that Vodafone is using simple but unique and
effective advertisement strategy compare to other telecommunication companies in India. Their
advertisement strategy in India is totally different from England and other countries. Where football is
famous in England in the same way they know cricket is considered as religion in India. So they targeted
people through huge advertising during IPL. They use indoor like TV, radio and internet as well as
outdoor sources like posters, pamphlets, billboards in playgrounds and many others for advertisement. We
also have found that Zoozoo advertisement campaign is most effective campaign compare to Pug and
Happy to help service campaign because of its way of making and giving information to customers.
In the same way, we learnt that how to do business research, how to collect relevant data, how to
sampling and how to analysis the fact. Through this report we have clear idea that how to make an
academic report. It helped us also to enhance our knowledge about how a company does effective
advertising, how they make different advertisement strategy for different area, how they segment the
market and targeting. Whatever we mentioned above our objective, almost we found and completed.
Vodafone media buying strengths and the fact they selected an impactful creative concept to raise
awareness, but till they talk of actual plans of engagement or follow-through ideas, I'm not convinced that
this is an initiative. The problem is that they lost an opportunity to sound authentic and impactful during
the initial burst of communication.
50
4.1 RECOMMENDATIONS
Satisfaction levels of Vodafone customers are comparatively lower than Air Tel
customers. They should introduce reward-based schemes for its customers.
Vodafone should focus on those customers whose satisfaction is high but low loyalty.
Loyalty based programs should be introduced, which the company has introduced now in
terms of Rewards programmes. Also an alarming proportion of its customers are those
with low satisfaction and low loyalty. This category poses a threat and their loyalty
should be established.
The company together with the consumers associations should agitate that the revenue
share must be abolished as they were imposed not to pay for the subsidizing some, not so
affluent telephone users or for putting public telephones in villages.
A cellular becomes more and more useful as its reach increases, that is, more are
connected to network, and then the revenue share so utilized has atleast a redeeming
feature. Only then the cellular prices can be brought down to make it available to the
maximum number of the users.
Adding more customers to the network to enhance the network value to users or by
abolition or reduction of prices and there more people affording the service.
The reachness of service must be deepened so as to make a list of strong and loyal
customers, which will be proved successful while making advertisement through indirect
channel.
51
Try to create the need with the help of its advertisement campaign and sponsorship of
Television shows to make it for more usage.
52
Bibliography
1. Books:
a. Batra Rajeev, Myers G. John & Aaker A. David (2007), Advertising Management,
Pearson Education.
b. Kotler P., Keller K.L., Koshy A & Jha M. (2007), Marketing Management, 12th
edition, Prentice Hall.
2. Websites:
a. https://www.vodafone.in/pages/home_del.aspx?cid=del ----accessed on
__/__/2014
b. http://www.mxmindia.com/2013/08/adstrat-vodafones-made-forproposition/#sthash.KTrU2WGA.dpuf----accessed on __/__/2014
c. http://www.exchange4media.com/49238_%E2%80%9Cvodafone%E2%80%99snew-ads-deliver-message-crisply%E2%80%9D.html----accessed on __/__/2014
d. http://www.mxmindia.com/2013/08/adstrat-vodafones-made-for-proposition/---accessed on __/__/2014
e. http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/vodafone-rethinks-strategyto-drive-growth-113021400033_1.html----accessed on __/__/2014
f. http://www.mbaskool.com/business-articles/marketing/196-vodafone-3g-indiasuperhero-zoozoo.html----accessed on __/__/2014
g. http://press-releases.techwhack.com/vodafone-speeds-india-street-racingexperience-751/----accessed on __/__/2014
53
h. http://www.domainofhope.com/2011/03/vodafone-zoozoo-3g-campaignintegrated.html----accessed on __/__/2014
i. http://www.campaignindia.in/Video/307322,vodafone-delights-again.aspx
j. http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-0703/news/32524004_1_vodafone-zoozoos-new-campaigns
----accessed
__/__/2014
k. http://marketingmixx.com/marketing-plan-2/196-marketing-plan-ofvodafone.html----accessed on __/__/2014
54
on