MARKETING OF SERVICES
Educative Television Channel
Neptune Networks
Submitted by: Sagar Amin (10M73) Dhara Patel (10M50) Komal Shukla (10M59)
Submitted to: Dr. Raju. M. Rathod
itted
Nikul Moradiya (10M66) Swapnil Chaudhary (10M75) Madhurram Chudasama (10M63)
April, 2012
G.H. PATEL POST GRADUATE INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT - SARDAR PATEL UNIVERSITY
Preface
As a part of the course curriculum, the fourth year MBA students are required to prepare a report on their selected topic in the subject of Marketing of Services (SM). The objective behind preparing this project report is to relate the management subjects taught in the classroom to their practical application and to get insight into practical situation. This project is prepared for academic purpose and in spite of our best efforts there may be some errors, which may please be excused.
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Acknowledgement
This project report is a result of contribution received from a number of people. Never can this report be claimed as our individual efforts. No amount of words written will be sufficient and adequate to acknowledge all the people who have provided us with the inspiration, guidance and help during the preparation of this project. Therefore we extend our deep sense of gratitude towards them. We are extremely grateful to Prof. (Dr) H J Jani, the Head of the Department, GHPIBM for giving us an opportunity to undertake this project. We also are grateful to our professor of the subject of Marketing of Services, Dr. Raju. M. Rathod for giving us the opportunity for doing this report. We would also like to thank our friends and our dear parents for their valuable inputs and constant encouragement in every step towards the completion of the project. Last but not the least we would like to thank GHPIBM for giving us the platform to gain practical exposure apart from the regular curriculum and to experience life from its near distance.
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Index
Particulars Page no.
Executive Summary Background and History Mission Statement Bundle of Service Segmentation and Targeting Brand Name USP Punch Line Suitable Media Celebrity Selection Sales Promotion and Schemes Prize Estimation Operations Collaboration with other parties Competitors Annexure
5 6 7 8 11 12 13 13 13 14 14 17 17 24 25 26
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Executive Summary
The mission of the organization is to provide quality educational programming to the citizens of India and provide a vehicle through which young people gain an appreciation for the technical aspects of producing programming and managing a cable television channel. The goals
for the organization are:
Improve the quality and variety of programming. Improve the technical quality of the productions and the operation of the educational channels. Increase communication and marketing to promote and increase awareness of programming and youth development opportunities. Strengthen the management and fiscal stability of the Educational Television Cooperative. In order to accomplish these goals, the Educational Television Cooperative intends to deploy the following strategies: Attract and hire staff to manage the operations of the channel, paid interns, volunteers, and sponsors and partners. Diversify the funding stream to include corporate sponsors and community foundations and underwrite the production of quality innovative programs. Implement an equipment acquisition, replacement and maintenance plan to insure the quality operation of the educational channels.
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Chapter 1: Background and History of Educative Television Channels
Neptune Network is a subscription television channel that airs fiction
television produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery channel, the channel features documentaries with factual content involving nature, science, culture, and history. Television constitutes an important medium widely used to disseminate information to its viewers. It has the unique feature of combining audio and visual technology, and thus considered to be more effective than audio media. It serves multiple purposes of entertainment, information and education. Besides performing motivational function it helps in providing discovery learning and cognitive development of its viewers. Because of its better accessibility, it can bring learning materials to the masses in more direct, effective and personal way than other educational media. Use of television as an instructional medium was first reported in 1932 by State University of IOWA in USA on an experimental basis in a world fair. Later on, due to the World War II the introduction of television was slowed down; and as a result by 1948 there were very few educational institutions involved in using television as an instructional medium in spite of great interest in television by the educationists. Realizing the power of television for educational purpose, the Federal Communication commission in USA reserved 242 frequencies for educational broadcast on no profit and non-commercial basis in 1952 (Magnuson, 1965).
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In India, since the inception of TV network, television has been perceived as an efficient force of education and development. With its large audience it has attracted educators as being an efficient tool for imparting education to primary, secondary and university level students. Mission Statement: "The mission of the Neptune Network is to enable the educational organizations (formal and informal) in India to cablecast educational and informational television programming into the community via dedicated cable channels through franchise agreements with cable operators." To accomplish this mission, NN provides a standard approach to program acquisition, development, playback and management of television programming and the NN operation.
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Service Strategies
Through this report we will be discussing the basic service aspects, which are listed below: 1) Bundle of our service offerings 2) Segmentation and Targeting 3) Brand name of our service 4) USP of our service (Core Positioning) 5) Punch line 6) Select suitable advertising media 7) Celebrity Selection 8) Select consumers sales promotion schemes 9) Price estimation 10) Number of basic operation requires 11) Probable collaboration with other parties 12) Our Competitors Let us look at the above aspects in details:
Chapter 2: Bundle of our service offerings:
The mission of the Neptune Network (NN) is to enable the citizens of India with an educational institutions to cablecast educational and education-focused television
programming into the community via dedicated cable through franchise agreements with cable operators. To accomplish this mission, NN provides the leadership to program acquisition, content development, video playback and management of television programming and the Neptune Network operation.
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Channel Capacity: The NN operates two kind of programs, through different time slots. The primary audience for the channels is broken into two audiences, Nursery through high school and adult learners. NN 1 contains programming targeted to audiences from early childhood to grade 12, while NN 2 airs programming targeted to adult learners including programming from colleges and universities and informal educational enterprises. Programming for these channels is provided by intern productions, formal and in-formal educational institutions, acquired programs (in-kind and purchased), and from independent local producers. Offerings: The following offerings are provided by NN to provide the citizens of India with the educational access that they deserve: Create innovative programming which extends beyond traditional Nursery to high school or higher educational programming. Attract and hire staff to manage the educational volunteer partners, funders and the operation of the channels. Diversify the funding stream to include corporate production sponsors, community foundations, and donors to underwrite quality innovative productions. Continuously improve and maintain the technical quality of the channels and establish a life cycle equipment replacement plan.
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Innovative Programming: The overwhelming majority of program hours on the educational channels include locally produced programs, originated and sponsored by local schools and educational institutions. The channels will also carry programming by local independent producers on a wide range of topics that are educational in nature. While the programming provides a wide range of magazine formats, tele courses and news programs, NN is seeking to develop more innovative programs that build upon the emerging themes and cultures. NN owns two field production units and an editing suite, which will be located in Ahmedabad. There are thousands of innovative programming ideas at schools, youth programs, church groups and neighborhood associations. Infrastructure needed: 200 square feet of office space should be leased, or acquired in or near the playback facility. A centralized facility will provide the necessary networking infrastructure to create programming and provide other necessary functions. In addition to office space, the facility would need to provide a production studio, secure storage for field production equipment, space for post-production, and the programming playback facilities for the channels (64-100 square feet). At least two additional networked workstations will be required to complete the build out.
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Programming NN will provide access to satellite delivered programming, which enables area schools without satellite facilities to participate in live-interactive educational programs. NN will also be providing a local place where schools can view and participate. Our major goal will be: Expand Locally Produced Program Base Increase Membership Involvement Increase Fundraising Maintain Quality Programming
Chapter 3: Segmentation and Targeting The NN will be targeting two different kinds of segments, through different time slots. The primary audience for the channels is broken into two audiences, Nursery through high school and adult learners, their programs will be aired in early mornings and evenings. NN 1 contains programming targeted to audiences from early childhood to grade 12, while NN 2 airs programming targeted to adult learners including programming from colleges and universities and informal educational enterprises, this will be aired in afternoons and night. Our channel will be aired all over India, with just national language - Hindi. We are also focusing on airing different regional programs in different states at one given time. For example: a show related to Gujarati tradition can be aired in Gujarat state only at a particular given time, let us say 5 pm, and at the same time a show on Tamil tradition can be aired in Tamil Nadu. Because cost is less, we are trying to reach our channel and its program to all without any income level constraints.
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Chapter 4: Brand name of our service We have selected our brand name to be Neptune Network. We have selected such name as we know Neptune is the farthest planet of our system, in the same way we want share our light of knowledge to reach in the darkest and farthest part of the India, weather that be a small village or a slum.
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Chapter 5: USP of our service Complexity...Simplified...! Our aim is to provide the most complex educational contents through very simple and easy to understand programs, which will make learning not only easy but also fun...! Chapter 6: Punch Line Explore beyond the limits...! Above punch line represents the characteristics of Neptune planet which is the farthest planet of the solar system, despite not away from the reach of man, same way we want to establish NN to reach every small and remote areas of the India. Chapter 7: Suitable advertising media Unlike other educative channels who spends fortune on ad campaigns, we have decided to follow a different approach. We will be focusing heavily on the following way to advertise our channels: Out of home media such as advertising on buses, rickshaw, taxi, etc. Advertising on educational magazines and periodicals such as Safari, Competitive success review. Advertising on comic books to target smaller children. We will be relying heavily on word of mouth, especially through educational institutes. We also will be creating our own website, that will provide information on all our shows, its timings, interactive contests, such as games and quizzes.
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Chapter 8: Celebrity selection Unlike going for celebrities such as cricketers or actors, we have selected our celebrity as "Arya," who is an animated character, and represents Aryabhata - the great mathematicianastronomer of India.
Chapter 9: Consumer sales promotion schemes Sales promotions or term it as sales and promotion, together makes one. These promotions include quite a lot of communication activities that would help in adding value or advantage to the customers, retailers and wholesalers and others to kindle the sales. These things would help in rousing interest in having a trail or purchasing the product or a service. Samples, premiums, contests, point of purchase displays etc are some of the techniques that we will use.
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The various promotional tools we will use in our service are 1. Advertising 2. Press releases 3. Contests 4. Billboards 5. Sponsorships 6. Internet 7. Public relation 8. Publicity Advertising Prior to launch of Neptune we will carry out advertising campaign on television, radio, newspapers and magazines. The objective of advertisements is to generate awareness and buzz about the launch of new channel. Advertisements will be crafted in such a manner that it can generate large amount of visibility among the target customers. Press releases We will make sure that Neptune will be in news frequently. Press releases are cost effective way of promotion. By investing small amount of time and few updates we can be in news in all the media. Press release requires a spoke person to be interacting with media. If we would be able to gain faith of media then media will spread positive word of mouth rapidly which is very useful before and after the launch of Neptune.
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Contests Various contests will be organized frequently. Some of them would be sweep stakes, where chance of winning is purely based on the luck while rest would be knowledge based where customer requires to watch Neptune frequently in order to be able to win the contests. Lucky winners would be used as a promotional tool. They will be used in ads and they will also spread positive word of mouth. Billboards Billboards will be planted on the prime locations of all major cities. Billboards are very useful to increase the visibility among the masses. New shows would also be promoted through the medium of billboards. Electronic billboards will also be used in metro cities. Sponsorships We will sponsor major sports events in country. In India only visible sport is cricket. But at the time of some major events, sports like hockey and athletics become popular. People generally not watch athletics but at the time of Olympic everybody is interested in athletics and to know about various records. During such time we will sponsor such sports and gain visibility among the masses. Sponsorships are also parts of social responsibility. We will support social issues through sponsoring various events and with the help of various non-governments organizations. Internet Internet is the most popular medium to reaches the target audience. Social media is the important and rising medium where we must have to present in order to be in competition. Its also most important media which leads viral marketing without any expenses. Another
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important internet tool is search engine promotion. We will spend some amount to be visible on the most frequently using search engine, Google. Public relation & Publicity By supporting social issues and investing in public relations we want to become a socially responsible organization. During the most dangerous event of 9/11 the biggest media houses of USA like, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News have broadcasted four hours without any advertisements. That leads them to loss of Billions of dollars, but what they gain is trust of people and society and today they are operating profitably and ready to face any situations as a social citizens. We would also like to be a responsible and social citizen like them. Neptune will maintain its public relations and publicity by investing some portion of advertising budget on it. Chapter 10: Price Estimation Connection charges will be 15rs per month. As a new entrant in the market we cant charge more or even equal to our competitors in the same segment. Our channel will be available on both of the cable and satellite. Mostly Neptune will be reliable on the income from advertisements. Chapter 11: Required basic operations Production Operation: The television program playback operation is the center of the NN operation. The system takes advantage of current digital technology and delivers automated programming 24 x 7. This system has expanded ETCs programming hours, but has also allowed ETC to lower operating expenses. This plan provides for the modernization of the television playback system
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in calendar year 2003 and additional scheduled maintenance and equipment replacement for the following four-year period. NN owns two field production units and an editing suite, which will be located in Ahmedabad. HR Operation: Human resource management is the planning, organizing directing and controlling of the procurement, development, compensation, integration, maintenance and reproduction of human resources to the end that individual, organizational and objectives ar e accomplished HRM is concerned with integration getting all the members of the organization involved and working together with a sense of common purpose. Human resource takes active role in the modern economic scenario of any country. The abundant Physical Resources alone cannot benefit the growth of the country without Human Resource component which transform physical resources into productive. NN will require an executive director to oversee the operation, to focus on fundraising and programming strategies, and develop a comprehensive marketing strategy. Recruitment of an executive director will allow for an individual to have a primary focus on the critical issues listed. The executive director will manage the educational channel, generate new programming ideas that engage formal and informal educational partners in the delivery of content to the community, maintain communication with and between funding partners and programming providers, and provide fiscal and administrative oversight of the organization and channels.
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A comprehensive marketing plan must be developed to invite educational providers to participate, engage young people in the production of quality programs, and inform policy makers and donors of the programming available on the channel. The organization will require a marketing assistant to publicize the programming and educational experiences of the young people and teachers. This individual can also provide scheduling assistance to plan and execute the monthly programming schedule. Programming, requests for production proposals, media releases and special interest stories about the young people producing programs and the program content must be available to citizens around the clock. A web master must maintain and update the NN website, and create an electronic means to communicate upcoming programming and news to members of the community, future producers, young people, educators, youth development professionals, policy makers and donors. NN must maintain current staffing levels at the playback site to insure timely replay of programming. NN will continue to maintain a Playback Technician and must consider contracting engineering support to maintain the technical quality of the channel, routine maintenance and service.
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Recruitment:
Identify vacancy
Jo b description and job specification
Search resume relevant to job Scrutinization of resume Arrange interviews Conduct interviews Final selection Appointment process
Our recruitment process is designed in simple steps, which is shown in the flow chart above. Various operations require hiring educators, experts in various fields, program directors, animators and creative people. Network Operation Center A network operations center (or NOC, pronounced like the word "knock") is one or more locations from which control is exercised over a computer, television broadcast, or telecommunications network.
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Large organizations may operate more than one NOC, either to manage different networks or to provide geographic redundancy in the event of one site being unavailable or offline. NOCs are responsible for monitoring the telecommunication network for alarms or certain conditions that may require special attention to avoid impact on the network's performance. For example, in a telecommunications environment, NOCs are responsible for monitoring for power failures, communication line alarms (such as bit errors, framing errors, line coding errors, and circuits down) and other performance issues that may affect the network. NOCs analyze problems, perform troubleshooting, communicate with site technicians and other NOCs, and track problems through resolution. If necessary, NOCs escalate problems to the appropriate personnel. For severe conditions that are impossible to anticipate such as a power failure or optical fiber cable cut NOCs have procedures in place to immediately contact technicians to remedy the problem. NOCs are frequently laid out with several rows of desks, all facing a video wall, which typically shows details of highly significant alarms, ongoing incidents and general network performance; a corner of the wall is sometimes used for showing a news or weather TV channel, as this can keep the NOC technicians aware of current events which may have an impact on the network or systems they are responsible for. The back wall of the NOC is sometimes glazed; there may be a room attached to this wall which is used by members of the team responsible for dealing with serious incidents to meet while still able to watch events unfolding within the NOC.
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Individual desks are generally assigned to a specific network, technology or area. A technician may have several computer monitors on their desk, with the extra monitors used for monitoring the systems or networks covered from that desk. NOCs often escalate issues in a hierarchic manner, so if an issue is not resolved in a specific time frame, the next level is informed to speed up problem remediation. Many NOCs have multiple "tiers", which define how experienced/skilled a NOC technician is. A newly-hired NOC technician might be considered a "tier 1", whereas a technician that has been there for several years may be considered a "tier 3" or "tier 4". As such, some problems are escalated within a NOC before a site technician or other network engineer is contacted. Additionally, the NOC staff may perform extra duties; a network with equipment in public areas (such as a mobile network Base Transceiver Station) may be required to have a telephone number attached to the equipment for emergencies; as the NOC may be the only continuously staffed part of the business, these calls will often be answered there. The term NOC is normally used when referring to telecommunications providers, although a growing number of other organizations such as public utilities (e.g., SCADA) and private companies also have such centers, both to manage their internal networks and to provide monitoring services The location housing a NOC may also contain many or all of the primary servers and other equipment essential to running the network, although it is not uncommon for a single NOC to monitor and control a number of geographically dispersed sites.
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NOC at Neptune NOCs at Neptune will be responsible for the technical and operational overview of all broadcast network services, including monitoring, correcting, and troubleshooting day-to-day issues. Duties that fall under broadcast NOCs include: Serial Digital Video, ASI, Multiplexed and DVB data streams technical monitoring Networking RF and IF distribution Monitoring turnaround video services, and other services. Finance Operations: NN must diversify its funding to accomplish other programmatic goals which serve the greater community. In an effort to diversify funding sources dedicated to educational television, NN will expand the role of the programming committee to include sponsorship development. The programming committee, marketing assistant and executive director will seek corporate sponsorship of a minimum grant of Rs. 150,000 per production.
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Chapter 12: Collaboration with other parties Some of the parties we will be collaborating in terms of knowledge partners are:
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Chapter 13: Our Competitors
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Annexure:
Below is the schedule of our TV channel (Neptune Network) for the first three months: Daily schedule: Time 12:00 am - 1:00 am 1:00 am -2:00 am 2:00 am -3:00 am 3:00 am -4:00 am 4:00 am -5:00 am 5:00 am -6:00 am 6:00 am -7:00 am 7:00 am -8:00 am 8:00 am -9:00 am 9:00 am -10:00 am 10:00 am -11:00 am 11:00 am -12:00 pm 12:00 pm -1:00 pm 1:00 pm -2:00 pm 2:00 pm -3:00 pm 3:00 pm -4:00 pm Show Name: Indian Chopper Indian Guns Auction Kings Deadliest Destination Dirty Jobs Gold Rush Man in Jungle Stories of Freedom A Passage through India Child Warriors Extreme Trains Monster Quest Indian Chopper Indian Guns Auction Kings Deadliest Destination
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4:00 pm -5:00 pm 5:00 pm -6:00 pm 6:00 pm -7:00 pm 7:00 pm -8:00 pm 8:00 pm -9:00 pm 9:00 pm -10:00 pm 11:00 pm -12:00 pm
Dirty Jobs Gold Rush Man in Jungle Kitchen Secrets Strange Rituals The Secret Book of Scams Call of the Wild Man
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