A PROJECT REPORT

ON

(MARKETING STRATEGY OF AIRTEL)

Summer Project Report submitted to the University of Mumbai in

Partial Fulfillment for the award of degree of

Master of Management Studies (MMS)

Specialization: MARKETING

By
YASH RAVI PAWAR
Roll No. 45
Batch: 2019-21

VIVA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT & RESEARCH

Shirgaon, Virar (East)
(Affiliated to the University of Mumbai, Approved by AICTE New Delhi) INDIA.
August 2020
 LATE SHRI VISHNU WAMAN THAKUR CHARITABLE TRUST’S

VIVA Institute of Management & Research

Shirgaon, Virar (E), Dist. Palghar, Pin - 401305
(Approved by AICTE, DTE, Affiliated to the University of Mumbai)

This is to certify that Mr. / Ms. YASH RAVI PAWAR is a bonafide student of our Institute and
the Summer Project Report titled “MARKETING STRATEGY OF AIRTEL” submitted by him /
her is in partial fulfillment for the award of the Degree of MASTER OF MANAGEMENT
STUDIES (MMS) by the University of Mumbai during the
Academic Year 2020-21.

Dr. Hiresh Luhar

Director

Date:
Place: Virar (East)
 Declaration

This is to state that the Summer Project titled “MARKETING STRATEGY OF AIRTEL” is
original work done by me and being submitted in partial fulfillment for the award of the degree,
Master of Management Studies of the University of Mumbai. This Summer Project report has not
been submitted earlier either to this University, or, to any other affiliated college of this University,
or, to any other University / Institution for the fulfillment of the requirement of the MMS Course.

Date: ----------------------- ---------------------------------

(Signature of Student)

Place: Virar (East) ----------------------------------

(Name of the student)
 Acknowledgement

This report could not have been written without the contributions of all those who
participated in this survey. I am most grateful to all of them.

The present work is an effort to throw some light on “Marketing Strategy of Airtel”. The
work would not have been possible to come to the present shape without the able guidance,
supervision and help to me by number of people with an overwhelming sense of gratitude,
I acknowledge the valuable guidance and consistent encouragement extended to me by our
knowledgeable faculty members like ARTI Ma’am with whose guidance, I am able to
accomplish this endeavor. Their technical acumen and years of experience have provided
me with crucial inputs at a critical stage. I also extend my heartfelt thanks to my family
and friends for their support directly or indirectly provided to me.

I would like to express my special thanks to their valuable contribution in my society who
gave me the proper information and their unbiased opinion which helped me in doing a lot
of Research and I came to know about so many new things I am really thankful to them.
Secondly I would also like to thank my brother and friends who helped me a lot in finalizing
this project within the limited time frame.
Thank you for taking the time to fill out the below survey. The results are being used to
help people for better understanding

Date:-------------------------- ---------------------------------
(Signature of Student)

Place: Virar (East) ----------------------------------

(Name of the student)
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The project aims at understanding the Marketing strategies at Airtel and its impact on the
perception of Airtel Cellular Services
Research has demonstrated conclusively that it is far more costly to win a new customer than it is
to maintain an existing one. And there is no better way to retain a customer than to exceed his
expectations. For this purpose, it is essential to know the level of customer satisfaction. The focus
of my research was the measurement of customer satisfaction level for the services provided by
Bharti Airtel. The research was done for the corporate clients of Bharti Airtel. My job was to
collect the feedback from the distributors and also to get their suggestions about the other products.
Finally, the results of the research verify the fact that keeping the customer satisfied is the best
strategy to not only retain the existing customers but also to expand the business to new extend.
Airtel realizes that what matters most in brand marketing has always been, and always will be, the
relationship between a brand and its consumers. And the key to the brand relationship is trust.
People are constantly being crowded with messages and information they don’t have time to sort
out therefore they want brands they can believe in. There is stiff competition from other players
and consumer products are a high-volume, low-margin business. Airtel is well positioned, with
good relationships with retailers and a strong manufacturing base in place. A key deciding factor
in the marketing strategy is keeping in mind the lifestyle requirements of Indians and the income
constraints. Marketing activities at Airtel are a mix of continuous, diverse and balanced initiatives
based on the company’s ethos, Demand More-demand more products, more quality, more
personalized solutions from Airtel Aimed at consumers, channel partners and business associates,
the company’s strategy is to not only portray Airtel as a responsible brand through various above-
the-line and below-the-line activities but also to provide them interactive platforms to enrich the
touch & feel experience, which strengthen sales efforts and help in developing strong associations.
This are the technique they use to solve problem and handle situation and how it works that’s all
have find out in this survey.
 TABLE OF CONTENT

SR.NO. PARTICULARS PAGE.NO.

1 INTRODUCTION (CHAPTER 1) 1
1.1 THE AIRTEL BRAND AND ITS LOGO 8
1.2 BRAND AMBASSADORS USED BY AIRTEL 9
1.3 MARKETING STRATEGY ADOPTED BY BHARTI 10
2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE (CHAPTER 2) 12
3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (CHAPTER 3) 16
3.1 DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH DESIGN 17
3.2 SOURCES OF DATA COLLECTION 17
3.2 METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION 18
3.3 SAMPLING METHOD 18
3.4 SAMPLING PROCEDURE 18
4 DATA ANALYSIS & INTRAPRETATION (CHAPTER 4) 19
1 QUESTION 1 20
2 QUESTION 2 21
3 QUESTION 3 22
4 QUESTION 4 23
5 QUESTION 5 24
6 QUESTION 6 25
7 QUESTION 7 26
8 QUESTION 8 27
9 QUESTION 9 28
10 QUESTION 10 29
11 QUESTION 11 30
12 QUESTION 12 31
13 QUESTION 13 32
14 QUESTION 14 33
15 QUESTION 15 34
16 QUESTION 16 35
5 FINDING & CONCLUSION (CHAPTER 5) 36
6 LIMITATION & FUTURE SCOPE (CHAPTER 6) 40
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INTRODUCTION (CHAPTER 1)

Title of the thesis:

“HOW DOES AIRTEL KEEP HOLD OF ITS MARKET BECAUSE OF ITS GREAT
MARKETING STRATEGIES?”

Problem definition/Hypothesis:
 Effective marketing strategy makes the business profitable
 Marketing strategy is important for attracting customer towards business

Research Objective:
This study will try to analyze how Airtel keeps hold of its market because of its great marketing
strategies with the following objectives:
 To identify the factors considered by the Airtel in making the marketing strategies for their
business
 To identify how effectively Airtel is currently using his marketing strategies to attract new
customers
 To identify the current marketing strategies of Airtel
 To suggest them effective marketing strategies to get success in the current competitive
environment in the telecommunication industry

Marketing strategy is a process that can allow an organization to concentrate its limited resources
on the greatest opportunities to increase sales and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. A
marketing strategy should be centered on the key concept that customer satisfaction is the main
goal. Marketing strategy is a method of focusing an organization's energies and resources on a
course of action which can lead to increased sales and dominance of a targeted market niche. A
marketing strategy combines product development, promotion, distribution, pricing, relationship
management and other elements; identifies the firm's marketing goals, and explains how they will
be achieved, ideally within a stated timeframe. Marketing strategy determines the choice of target
market segments, positioning, marketing mix, and allocation of resources.
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Our survey is to give feedback and improve the line of communication between customer and
service provider Bharti Airtel the objective behind this research project is to study about the
importance and development of telecommunication industry in today’s scenario.

To understand the marketing strategies which are used by Bharti Airtel to survive in highly
competitive cell phone market and different service which are offered by Bharti Airtel. An
overview of the Indian telecommunication market is also given along with the growing GSM
market and challenges before the CDMA market in India a Brief introduction about Bharti Airtel
has also been given covering all the services provided by Bharti Airtel

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY
Airtel to “Touch Tomorrow” with a new brand vision

The Bharti Mobile promoted Airtel cellular service will go in for repositioning of its brand image.
The new brand ethos is portrayed in two distinct fashions - the tag line "Touch Tomorrow", which
underscores the leading theme for the new brand vision, followed by "The Good Life", which
underscores a more caring, more customer centric organization. Aimed at re-engineering its image
as just simply a cellular service provider to an all-out information communications services
provider, Touch Tomorrow is meant to embrace the new generation of mobile communication
services and the changing scope of customer needs and aspirations that come along with it

The new communication is about a new dimension in the cellular category that goes beyond the
Internet, SMS, roaming, IVRS, etc. but which engulfs the whole gamut of wireless digital
broadband services that will constitute tomorrows cellular services. The new campaign is in two
phases - the first of which will communicate overall brand philosophy and the second products
and services. According to Mr. Jagdish Kini, Chief Operating Officer, Bharti Mobile Limited,
Karnataka "We are adopting a new brand- platform - Touch Tomorrow - not only to reflect our
corporate ethos but also business strategy".

The new identity will have the logo in Red, Black and White colors along with lower case
typography to convey warmth. Airtel will incorporate the latest branding in all of its
communication and will soon be going in for an enhanced promotional drive to establish the
brand's presence.
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LIFE TIME PLAN

PRE-PAID card users need not worry anymore about recharging their coupons every month.
Company has launched a plan that allows users to take a pre-paid connection with lifetime validity
for a onetime payment of Rs. 999. Subscribers availing themselves of this scheme will also get full
talk time for the recharge coupon they purchase and also have the option to buy Taiwanese
manufactured Bird mobile handsets for as low as Rs. 1,399.

The move is aimed at stopping the churn in the pre-paid subscriber base. Once a subscriber takes
this plan, he will always be an Airtel subscriber whether the mobile is being used or not.

MARK ET SITUATIO N
At the time of launch
The first mover in the market was Airtel which launched its services in Delhi in Aug 1995
(Informal launch). Essar Cellphone followed by launching its services informally in Oct 95. At
this point of time, the market was at a nascent stage, awareness level was low and both operators
independently tried to spread awareness and educate the people
Once the networks were commercially launched, it became a number game with a multitude of
schemes being offered to woo customers Initially the cellphone was perceived as a status symbol
and utility took a back seat The target segment in Delhi were corporate and the high income group.
The average capacity installed was for 1.5 lakh subscribers. This coupled with the steep license
fee paid to DOT put pressure on the operators to break-even by rapidly expanding their markets.
In the first two years, this led to a number of schemes being offered and prices crashing.

COMPETITIVE SITUATION
Airtel launched its services before Essar and skimmed the market picking up the bulk of the high
usage premium clients. This is a very competitive industry with the two companies differentiating
either on value-added services or price. Airtel is perceived as the high quality provider and has a
premium image. Essar, on the other hand, is perceived as the lower end service provider. Airtel
positions itself as the market leader on the basis of the number of subscribers. Essar is trying to
counter this by emphasizing on the reach of its network and the quality of its service. However,
Essar is somewhat not being very successful largely due to the inconsistency in advertising. To
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promote themselves, both the players have been dependent on tactical advertising However, they
have restrained from using comparative advertising Hoardings have been a very popular medium
for carrying the advertisements Airtel has also been advertising on television using the Bharti
Telecom name.

TARGET MARKET SEGMENT

Airtel has targeted the premium and upper middle class. The rationale behind it is that only those
segments should be targeted who value time and have the paying capacity. It Is also planning to
target the business tourists during their stay in the capital
About 60% of the clientele are top executives of corporate houses. About 15% are foreign
organisations and the rest are professionals and small businessmen. During the introduction stage
there was intense pressure to get consumers across to hook up with their brand, because getting
them to switch brand loyalty later would be hard
So far Airtel marketers have been concentrating totally on the business executive class but now
that the basic viable volumes have beer) built up and prices have declined to a certain extent they
are planning to venture further afield.

POSITIONING
The product is sought to be positioned as a business efficiency tool. a lifestyle revolution and a
status symbol The emphasis is to remove misconception that the cellphone is an expensive means
of communication and drive home the point that the cellphone is actually a day-to-day utility

PRODUCT POLICY AND PLANNING

The product or service is the heart of the marketing mix. Without a product or a service customers'
needs cannot be satisfied.
The basic product promise by Airtel is mobility. Airtel's main marketing strategy is to be a first
mover all the time. It has recognized the significance of making the first move-- because in the
field of Communication & Information Technology changes occur at a tremendous pace.
Effective product segmentation has to be carried on continuously because basic services can be
and will be copied and in time become expected component of the product. Airtel seeks to carry
out this segmentation through provision of new information services and making new facilities
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available. The product policy and planning depends on the stage of the product life cycle. At
present the cellular phone market has reached the maturity stage. Since, the premium segment is
nearing saturation the company targeting the upper middle and middle-middle class. In order to
do so Airtel is trying to optimize the price performance package by offering suitable "product
bundling".
This involves the selection of the suitable hardware (handset) and its software (its services.) with
reasonable price in order to deliver maximum price performance to its customers. In addition, it
offers free Airtime services and other concessions to make the prices and thus the product more
attractive. It has also opened a 24 hours’ customer service.
Only price doesn't serve as an effective differentiator, value added services become the effective
differentiator.
The "Value Added Services" provided from Airtel are: -
1). Voice Mail service
This system is similar to the answering machine - if the user is not able to answer a call for some
reason the caller can leave messages in the voice mail box which can be later retrieved by the user
ii) Short Message Service
The short message service is like a two-way pager. It gives an option of sending and receiving
text messages directly from one mobile phone to another without the intervention of an operator.
iii) Mobile Fax 1 Data Service
This service helps the subscriber to send and receive Faxes, access E-mail, download computer
files from other systems and remotely log on to another computer and surf the Internet.
iv) Cash Card
The cash card is a pre-paid and pre-activated card which allows the buyers to buy air time in
advance. All it requires is the payment of an initial amount. This is a useful service for people
who travel to Delhi often and those who want to control the expenses on their calls.
v) Caller ID
Displays calling person's number.
vi) Outgoing call restriction
To prevent or limit outgoing calls, for example, in peak hours. Also possible to exclude one or
several countries, or any geographical region, to permit only local calls, or to limit the outgoing
calls to a listed number.
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viii) Call forward

Incoming calls can be forwarded to another fixed or mobile phone.
Besides these some other services provided by Airtel are - Call conferencing, Call Broadcast
criteria
It is in the operators -Interest that they not only get many subscribers but also get them to use the
mobile facility frequently. In the early stages getting increases to subscribe may be easier than
getting them to talk since they will find it costlier to use the mobile phone as compared to a
conventional phone [if is believed that initially cellphones would be used buy]
viii) Roaming Facility
Roaming facility is available while the subscriber is travelling. The billing is done in the home
network as well as semi-automatically. Once a subscriber is in any other city or country, where a
GSM network is available, simply insert the SIM card of the local operator into your handset and
start talking.
* Manual Roaming means a separate SIM card is provided for each city
** Semi-automatic roaming means one card has the facility for different cities.

AIRTEL'S MARKETING ORIENTATION.

Since this is a high-involvement expensive product, the service provider has to fully take care of
the customers.
a) They take personal responsibility to "get" the answer for any problem faced by the customer
b) They anticipate customers' problems and take pro-active steps to prevent them
c) They give answers to the questions & requests, quickly & efficiently.
d) They have a positive tone & manner while interacting with customers.
e) They end the interaction on a positive or a humorous note-making the last 30 seconds count.
Airtel realizes that attracting people 'Is easy but converting them into loyal customers is hard,
hence emphasis is on maintaining a 'Smiling and a Friendly Atmosphere' to please and retain the
customer.
PRICE AND PRICING POLICYAIRTEL has realized that the Indian market is price sensitive.
Therefore, it cares of the has come up with various innovative tariff schemes to take needs of
different category of customers- Generally, the cellular services are more expensive than the land
line based telephone services.
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Airtel is the world’s 3rd largest mobile telecommunication Indian MNC operating in 20
countries across Asia & Africa. Airtel has presence in 22 telecom circles across India & is India’s
largest integrated telecom service provider.

Airtel uses mix of segmentation strategies to segment its offerings like basic Call /SMS plans,
prepaid / Post-paid plans, VAS – Data, caller tunes etc. Apart from geographically segmenting
the market in East, West, North, South & central, the market is also segmented in each region on
the basis of demographic variables like age, Income, Social groups.

Different geographic regions are handled independently and different campaigns are run according
to the preferences of people in each region. Airtel has targeted the generation Z of 15-25 ages,
generation X & baby Boomers by using different campaigns over the period of time i.e. campaign
like “Har Ek friend Jaruri hota hai”/ “Jo tera hai wo mera hai ” to target Gen Z and recently
launched campaign of “one touch internet” targeting Gen X & baby boomers.

Airtel has been successful in top-of-the-mind recall amongst cellular phone users and is enjoying
a leadership position in most markets. After changing its logo it has repositioned itself as Young,
Energetic & International brand. It has evolved itself as a torch bearer of the telecom industry in
India.

Mission –“Hunger to win customers for life.”

Vision- “Our vision is to enrich the lives of our customers. Our obsession is to win customers for
life through an exceptional experience.”

Tagline – “The smartphone Network”.

With the formation of Indus tower & partnering with Idea & Vodafone for Indian Operations,
Airtel has extended its infrastructure in the extreme parts of the country for nationwide penetration,
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creating competitive edge over other players in terms of low operational cost, better network
connectivity, coverage, low call drops & better customer service.

Airtel developed a sustainable advantage through its excellent network of telecom towers. In many
locations, newer entrants found it cheaper to rent Airtel’s existing infrastructure rather than setup
new towers. Also spending extensively on advertising & promotions helped it to become a market
leader. Word of mouth is one of the strongest forms of promotions & Airtel has completely
leveraged that. Airtel is always known for its innovation and some of its products were the lifetime
prepaid, Airtel live, Hello tunes, My Plans, M-check are pioneer strategies & the list is never
ending.

THE AIRTEL BRAND AND ITS LOGO

There has been no change in the brand name Airtel was born free, a force to unleash into the
market with a relentless and unwavering determination to succeed. A spirit charged with energy
creativity and team driven to seize the day with an ambition to become the most globally
admired telecom service.

The Airtel logo is a strong, contemporary and confident symbol for a brand that is always ahead
of the rest. It is a specially drawn wordmark.

 The unique symbol is an interpretation of the 'a' in Airtel. The curved shape & the gentle
highlights on the red color make it warm & inviting, almost as if it were a living object.
 The logo represents a dynamic force of unparalleled energy that brings us and our
customers closer," it added.
 The "unboxed" having been freed of its rigid boundaries. Airtel calls the new
logo youthful, international, inclusive and dynamic – representing the journey of the first
Indian brand to go truly global. The new identity underlines Airtel’s willingness to
embrace everything that is new. The red color, which is an integral part of the brand,
continues to represent the energy and dynamism that has made Airtel the success it is
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today. The new curved addition to the logo is a symbol which will help ensure instant
recognition across diverse international markets.
 The color "Red is part of our heritage. It is the color of energy & passion that expresses
the dynamism that has made Airtel the success it is today, in India, and now on the global
stage.

BRAND AMBASSADORS USED BY AIRTEL

In order to take the advantage of the growing number of youth in our country, Airtel introduced
Sachin Tendulkar, Shahrukh khan, Saif ali khan, kareena Kapoor, Gautam gambhir and many
others as brand ambassadors to tap the potential.
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MARKETING STRATEGY ADOPTED BY BHARTI

Bharti has spent a considerable amount on advertising its mobile phone service, Airtel. Besides
print advertising, the company had put up large no of hoardings and kiosks in and around Delhi.
The objective behind designing a promotion campaign for the ‘Airtel’ services is to promote the
brand awareness and to build brand preferences.
It is trying to set up a thematic campaign to build a stronger brand equity for Airtel. Since the
cellular phone category itself is too restricted, also the fact that a Cellular phone is a high
involvement product, price doesn't qualify as an effective differentiator. The image of the service
provider counts a great deal. Given the Cell phone category, it is the network efficiency and the
quality of service that becomes important. What now the buyer is looking at is to get the optimum
price-performance package. This also serves as an effective differentiator
Brand awareness is spread through the' campaigns and brand preference through brand stature.
Airtel's campaign in the capital began with a series of 'teaser' hoardings across the city,' bearing
just the company's name and without explaining what Airtel was. In the next phase the campaign
associated Airtel with Cellular only thereafter was the Bharti Cellular connection brought up. Vans
with Airtel logos roamed the city, handing out brochures about the company and its services
to all consumers. About 50,000 direct callers were sent out. When the name was well entrenched
in the Delibes’s mind, the Airtel campaign began to focus on the utility of Cellphone. In the first
four months alone Airtel's advertisement spend exceeded Rs. 4 crores.
As of today the awareness level Is 60% unaided. This implies that if potential or knowledgeable
consumers are asked to name a Cellular phone service provider that is on the top of his/her mind
60% of them would name Airtel. As for aided it -is 100% (by giving clues and hints etc.).
Brand strength of a product or the health of a brand is measured by the percentage score of the
brand on the above aided and the unaided tests. The figures show that Airtel is a healthy and a
thriving brand.
Every company has a goal, which might comprise a sales target and a game plan with due regard
to Its competitor. Airtel 's campaign strategy is designed keeping in mind its marketing strategy.
The tone, tenor and the stance of the visual ads are designed to convey the image of a market leader
in terms of its market share. It tries to portray the image of being a "first mover every time" and
that of a "market leader".
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The status of the product in terms of its life cycle has just reached the maturity stage in India. It
is still on the rising part of the product life cycle curve in the maturity stage.
Airtel, keeping in mind the importance of the customer retention, values its heavy users the most
and constantly indulges in service innovation. But, since heavy users comprise only 15 - 20% of
the population the other segment cannot be neglected.
The population which has just realized the importance of cellular phones has to be roped in. It is
for this reason that the service provider offers a plethora of incentives and discounts. Concerts
like the "Freedom concert" are being organized by Airtel in order to promote sales.
.
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REVIEW OF LITERATURE (CHAPTER 2)

"Marketing" is an instructive business domain that serves to inform and educate target markets
about the value and competitive advantage of a company and its products. “Value” is worth derived
by the customer from owning and using the product. “Competitive Advantage” is a depiction that
the company or its products are each doing something better than their competition in a way that
could benefit the customer. Marketing is focused on the task of conveying pertinent company and
product related information to specific customers, and there are a multitude of decisions
(strategies) to be made within the marketing domain regarding what information to deliver, how
much information to deliver, to whom to deliver, how to deliver, when to deliver, and where to
deliver. Once the decisions are made, there are numerous ways (tactics) and processes that could
be employed in support of the selected strategies. As Marketing is often misinterpreted as just
advertising or sales, Chris Newton, in What is marketing? (Marketing Help Online, 2008), defined
marketing as every strategy and decision made in the following twelve areas:

 Identifying and quantifying the need in the marketplace

 Identifying and quantifying the target markets

 Identifying the optimum cost effective media – online and offline - to reach the target
markets

 Reviewing the priorities of the product offering in your overall product mix ‘matrix’

 Identifying and developing the most effective distribution channels, be they wholesaler
networks, partnering alliances, franchising, or any number of conduits to the market.

 Testing different ways of packaging the concepts or products to find their most 'easy-to-
sell' form

 Testing to find the optimum pricing strategies

 Developing effective promotional strategies and effective advertising and supporting

collateral, offers, and launch strategies
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 Developing and documenting the sales process

 Finding the optimum execution of the sales process – through testing of selling scripts,
people selection, supporting collateral, skills and attitudinal training, tracking, measuring
and refining

 Ensuring that sales projections reflect realistic production capacities

 Developing nurture programs to optimize the lifetime value of the customer

The goal of marketing is to build and maintain a preference for a company and its products within
the target markets. The goal of any business is to build mutually profitable and sustainable
relationships with its customers. While all business domains are responsible for accomplishing this
goal, the marketing domain bears a significant share of the responsibility. Within the larger scope
of its definition, marketing is performed through the actions of three coordinated disciplines
named: “Product Marketing”, “Corporate Marketing”, and “Marketing Communications

Strategic marketing: attempts to determine how an organization competes against its competitors
in a market place. In particular, it aims at generating a competitive advantage relative to its
competitors. Operational marketing: executes marketing functions to attract and keep customers
and to maximize the value derived for them, as well as to satisfy the customer with prompt services
and meeting the customer expectations.

The growth in demand for telecom services in India is not limited to basic telephone services. India
has witnessed rapid growth in cellular, radio paging; value added services, internet and global
communication by satellite item (GMPCS) services. The agents of change, as observed from
international perspective, have been broadly categorized into economic structure, competition policy
and technology. Economic reforms and liberalization have driven telecom sector through several
transmission channels of which these three categories are of major significance.

The effective research cannot be accomplished without critically studying what already exists in the
form of general literature and specific studies. Therefore, it is considered as an important pre-requisite
for actual planning and execution of research project. This helps to formulate hypotheses and
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framework for further investigation. In this research, the survey of literature has been classified into
two parts - studies related to telecom sector and studies related to marketing strategies.

 In (2008) analyzed that there is relative importance of service quality attributes and showed that
responsiveness is the most importance dimension followed by reliability, customer perceived
network quality, assurance, convenience, empathy and tangibles. Liu (2002) found that the
choice of a cellular phone is characterized by two attitudes: attitude towards the mobile phone
brand on one hand and attitude towards the network on the other. In (2002) observed that most
of the respondents consider size, quality, price, instrument servicing is an important factor for
selecting the handset while majority of the respondents are satisfied over the payment system,
quality of services, coverage area and the process of attending the complaints regarding their
mobile service provider.

 Nandhini (2001) examined that attitude of the respondents using cell phones was not influenced
by either education or occupation and income.Kalpana and Chinnadurai (2006) found that
advertisement play a dominant role in influencing the customers but most of the customers are
of opinion that promotional strategies of cellular companies are more sale oriented rather than
customer oriented. In (2007) suggested that price, service quality, product quality &
availability, and promotional offer play a main role during the time to choose
telecommunication service provider.

 Muller in a research focuses that the success of the mobile commerce can be attributed to the
personal nature of wireless devices. Adding to this are its unique features of voice and data
transmission and distinct features like localization, feasibility and convenience. The sustained
growth of the mobile commerce around the world has been more because of the transfer of
technology according to the needs of local geography.

 National Telecom Policy projected a target 75 million telephone lines by the year 2005 and 175
million telephone lines by 2010 has been set. Indian telecom sector has already achieved 100
million lines. With over 100 million telephone connections and an annual turnover of Rs.
61,000 crores, our present tele density is around 9.1%. The growth of Indian telecom network
has been over 30% consistently during last 5 years.
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 Virat Bahri (2006) explains the viewpoint of Sam Pitroda the Chairman of Worldly that
identifies opportunities for investments in telecommunications. He analyses that there is an
increasing role for telecom in e-governance in India. According to him, technology can be
leveraged to take India’s development to next level.

 Consumers interpret the meaning of the marketing activity behind a brand and project values
onto the brand, endowing brands with a personality. They developed a useful framework to
help understand the diverse types of brand-added value which includes; added values from
experience; added values from reference group effect; added values from a belief that the brand
is effective; and, added values from the appearance of the brand. Consumers form impressions
of a brand from their packaging and develop brand preferences based on their attraction to the
package design. . .
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (CHAPTER 3)

Research Objective:
This study will try to analyze how Airtel keeps hold of its market because of its great marketing
strategies with the following objectives:

The objective of the study is to check out the preference of consumer towards Airtel and study the
requirements of consumer and their grievances towards the company

 To identify the factors considered by the Airtel in making the marketing strategies for their
business
 To identify how effectively Airtel is currently using his marketing strategies to attract new
customers
 To identify the current marketing strategies of Airtel
 To suggest them effective marketing strategies to get success in the current competitive
environment in the telecommunication industry

To study Advertising Strategy of Airtel Cellular Service: Ads are an internal part of every company
and company has to know how and when to use it.

Research Methodology:
Research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. Research
Methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be understood as a science of
studying how research is done scientifically. researcher study the various steps that are generally adopted
by a researcher to know not only the research methods or techniques but also the methodology.
researcher not only talk of the research methods but also consider the logic behind the methods
researcher use in the context of our research study and explain why researcher are using a particular
method or evaluated either by the researcher himself or by others.

Purpose of the study :

The purpose is to check out the consumer preference towards Airtel and its services and what are their
requirements of consumer and their grievances towards the company
 P a g e | 17

Research methodology is done to solve the research problems involving a study of various steps that
are adopted by the researcher in studying his problem. Throughout the entire project the emphasis was
to check the awareness level of the customers towards the different services of Airtel and their views
and perception about the same.

Finally, the project was concluded by taking the feedback from the customers

The project is more of a qualitative than quantitative study. The project aims at the perception
of consumers regarding the consumers

DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH DESIGN

In thei research Descriptive research design have been use to study and analysis the marketing
strategy of Airtel in better and easier way. related to the Bharti Airtel this research design is use to
find out the strategy that they use for attract customer and what are the reasons behind it.
Descriptive research design is the research that are always using to do the detail study of particular
topic that researcher want to know. All information is collected from common people, customer
ex-customer. And some of them from are secondary information from internet and news article
newspaper. Information are gain by the people and by their point of view which help to conduct
the proper research related to the topic. All give their unbiased opinion on the particular topic

SOURCES OF DATA COLLECTION

DATA COLLECTION METHOD

 THERE TWO TYPE OF METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION.

o PRIMARY DATA

o SECONDARY DATA

In the research primary as well as secondary data is used.

Primary data were research have personally conduct a survey by QUESTIONER METHOD to
get the actual information about this particular topic and also get the raw data what actually public
think about it. Primary data will be collected by structured interviews it will be interviewed with
 P a g e | 18

the help of questionnaire. research will be interviewing Airtel customer as well as non-customer.
Data will be presented with the help of bar graphs and charts.

Secondary data where research have referred to some of the research on internet as well as be
collected through news articles, journals, magazine, per reviews and published databases which
are conduct on this particular topic to get the brief idea about it. research has referred all of this
that have mention above. A comprehensive of the collected data will be presented with the help of
tables, charts and graphs

METHODS OF DATA COLLECTION

The information collected in the form of QUESTIONER METHOD. The customers and the ex-
customer’s general public who are familiar with the brand give me their correct information and
their view about what they think about Bharti Airtel as a telecom service provider. Survey
individuals are asked to respond to these questions in either a yes/no manner or with open-ended
responses.

SAMPLING METHOD

In this research NON PROBABILITY METHOD is use due to my convenience and it is time
consuming and best method for conducting this research as per my assumption on this research.

In this Non Probability method there is JUDGEMENTAL/PURPOSE SAMPLING which is use

as an assumption of people who can give the questioner answers and the needed information in
this research according to our assumption researcher decide to whom researcher is going to ask the
question or to take the interview. researcher decide according to the assumption that he/she can
give the answer on the research.

SAMPLING PROCEDURE

The local area people will be my universe/population who are the uses as well as non-user or ex
subscribers every one. and also the resident of my area and locality that is my universe.

In this research non probability method is use from that universe/population researcher have
select people who are the sample of the research. They are going to give the answer of the
questioner. Hope with all the correct information will be provided by them
 P a g e | 19

DATA ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATIONS (CHAPTER 4)

 P a g e | 20

which mobile service you own?

45
40
40
35
Percentage

30
25
25
20
20
15
15
10
5
0
1
Brands

Airtel vodafone/idea relience jio others

TYPES OF BRANDS PRECENTAGE

Airtel 40
vodafone/idea 20
relience jio 25
others 15

INTERPRETATION:
After the survey we have found mostly people are using Airtel services. In the survey we can see
that 40% of the people on which the survey was done were in favor of Airtel, 20% of the people
are using Vodafone, 25% of people are using reliance jio and the rest 15% of the population is
using other service providers.
 P a g e | 21

which plan you prefer?

40%

postpaid
prepaid
60%

TYPES OF PLAN PRECENTAGE

postpaid 40
prepaid 60

INTERPRETATION:
Mostly prefer prepaid plan in the above pie chart we can see that a large number of people uses
prepaid plan rather than postpaid plans as it is convenient to use by just recharging your number
with an amount which the customer need to use 60% of the population go with the prepaid plan
and only 40% people uses postpaid uses postpaid plan which also has its own benefits
 P a g e | 22

How do you see the market for airtel india?

45 42
40
35
30
percentage

25
20 18 17 17
15
10 6
5
0
1
Demand

very demanding not demanding demanding not at all demanding don’t know/can't say

DEMAND PRECENTAGE
very demanding 18
not demanding 17
demanding 42
not at all demanding 6
don’t know/can't say 17

INTERPRETATION:
From the above response, we can say that the demand for Airtel products in India is
demanding in India.
 P a g e | 23

From where you collect the information regarding the

telecom mobile service

50
45
40
35
Percentage

30
25
Series1
20
15
10
5
0
newspaper television magazines any other

sources

SOURCES PRECENTAGE
newspaper 25
television 50
magazines 15
any other 10

INTERPRETATION:
After the survey we have found mostly people come to know about Airtel services accordingly.
In the survey we can see that 50% of the people on which the survey was done were in favor of
television, 25% of the people are saying newspaper, 15% of people are saying magazines and the
rest 10% of the population are saying other such as social media etc.
 P a g e | 24

Does offer free gift by mobile service provider affect

your buying decision?

25%

yes

75% no

AFFECT PRECENTAGE
yes 75
no 25

INTERPRETATION:
Most of the people say yes. Free gift helps to manipulate the customers mind on so many levels.
This helps in creating a positive image of the brand. People start to buy the product much
aggressively than before as they are getting additional benefits from the company. According to
the pie chart 75% of people agree that free gift affect the buying decision, while 25% of the
people disagree with the statement.
 P a g e | 25

Does your purchasing decision affected by the brand

of the service?

15%

yes
no

85%

AFFECT PRECENTAGE
yes 85
no 15

INTERPRETATION:
Most of the people say yes. Well the basic mindset or perception of the people regarding a product
matters when they are purchasing. A well-established brand will sell quickly and efficiently than the
unfamiliar brand. A brand like Airtel need no introduction in the market as it is an international brand.
But there is some unfamiliar brand which will be given least priority than other brands which may affect
the purchasing decision of a consumer. According to the pie chart 85% of people are in favor of the
statement, and 15% are against.
 P a g e | 26

For what purpose you buy the mobile phone?

60

50

40 personal
percentage

office
30
household
20 others

10

0
1
purpose

PURPOSE PRECENTAGE
personal 52
office 33
household 10
others 5

INTERPRETATION:
Most of the people use for personal purpose. In the earlier times mobile phones were mostly used or
office and business purpose only. But now it is use in every field, people of all age group uses mobile
phone for various purposes. According to the pie chart 52% of the people use mobile phone for personal
uses, 10% use it for house hold purpose, 33% use it for office and 5% of the population use the mobile
phone their own purpose.
 P a g e | 27

Are you satisfy with airtel service?

60
50 satisfactory
percentage

40 unsatisfactory
30
20
10
0
1
satisfy

SATISFY PRECENTAGE
satisfactory 60
unsatisfactory 40

INTERPRETATION:
Most of the people say it is satisfactory. Airtel provides various services to its customer like
caller tune facility GPRS, Airtel live 4G etc. and various other service. According to the survey
conducted among certain numbers of people the result was mostly satisfactory. According to the
chart 60% of the people were satisfied with the service provided by the Airtel and 40% of the
customers were not completely satisfied with Airtel.
 P a g e | 28

Does airtel provide any special offer on the festive

seasons?

15%

yes
no

85%

FESTIVAL OFFER PRECENTAGE

yes 85
no 15

INTERPRETATION:
Most of the people say yes. Well the basic mindset or perception of the people regarding a
product matters when they are purchasing. A well-established brand will sell quickly and
efficiently than the unfamiliar brand. A brand like Airtel need no introduction in the market as it
is an international brand. They give offers most of the time in every seasons. According to the
pie chart 85% of people are in favor of the statement, and 15% are against.
 P a g e | 29

How long have you been using this connection of your

service provider?
35

30

25
less than 3month
percentage

20 3-6 month

15 6-12 month
1-2 year
10
2-3 year
5
more than 3 years
0
1
month/years

MONTH/YEARS PRECENTAGE
less than 3month 10
3-6 month 15
6-12 month 10
1-2 year 10
2-3 year 20
more than 3 years 35

INTERPRETATION:
As per the survey around 35% of people are using Airtel for more than 3 years as
maximum percentage as it shows the customer are loyal to Bharti Airtel and next
20% are using Airtel from 2-3 years. Then 10% is 1-2 years, less than 3months as
well as 6-12 month and 15% are using Airtel for 3-6 months
 P a g e | 30

AGE GROUP

60

50 15-21
percentage

40 21-28

30 28-35

20

10

0
1
Age group

AGE GROUP PRECENTAGE

15-21 29
21-28 56
28-35 15

INTERPRETATION:

As we can see from the above graph, the people who are in the age group of 21-28 years are the ones who
are the maximum users of mobile phones. This segment is the one which give maximum business to the
mobile operators. This segment constitutes the young executives and other office going people. They are
56% of the total people who were interviewed. The next age group are the people who are 28-35 years old.
They are 15% of the total. They are those who are at home or have small business units etc. And the next
age group is the youngest generation who are 15-21 years old. They are school and college going students
and carry mobile phones to flaunt. They are 29% of the total interviewed people.
 P a g e | 31

what is your occupation?

60

50

40 student
percentage

household
30
executive
20 others

10

0
1
occupation

OCCUPATION PRECENTAGE
student 15
household 55
executive 20
others 10

INTERPRETATION:
Above graph shows that 55% of the total people interviewed are working. So, these people are
the ones who are the maximum users of mobile phones. They are the young executives,
managers etc. who require mobile for their official purposes. The next category is the households
20 %, who are either housewife, small units which operate from their homes etc. The next
segment is the students. They are 15%of the whole. And 10% of the whole is categories who are
the professionals.
 P a g e | 32

WHAT MAKES AIRTEL DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS?

tariff plan
PERCENTAGE

new schemes
Series1

connectivity

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
USP

USP PRECENTAGE
connectivity 72
new schemes 14
tariff plan 32

INTERPRETATION:
The above data shows that the connectivity of the Airtel is its backbone and it is the main reason that
the consumers are using it and the network is still is in usage and goodwill of the company is at risk
and falling at a huge rate.
 P a g e | 33

Types of advertisement you most like in airtel?

20%

audio visual
print
58% audio
22%

ADVERTISEMENT PRECENTAGE
audio visual 58
print 22
audio 20

INTERPRETATION:
The above data shows that the audio visual of the Airtel advertisement is the best in the segment.
58% of people are agree with audio visual as it create major impression then print and audio as print
is 22% and audio is 20% as per the survey.
 P a g e | 34

which feature of airtel convinced you to usse airtel?

60

50

advertisement
40
percentage

connectivity

30 schemes
goodwill
20

10

0
1
features

FEATURES PRECENTAGE
advertisement 23
connectivity 8
schemes 58
goodwill 19

INTERPRETATION:
The above data shows that the schemes of the Airtel is the highest and it is the main reason that the
consumers are using the give best deals, offers and schemes to the customers.
 P a g e | 35

Do you agree that the customer are satisfied

with the service offered by airtel companies ?

30%

yes
70% no

SATISFACTION PRECENTAGE
yes 70
no 30

INTERPRETATION:
The above response suggests that Airtel provide quality services to their customers but a
significant number of 30 per cent as dissatisfied customer.
 P a g e | 36

FINDINGS & CONCLUSION (CHAPTER 5)

FINDINGS

From above discussion and analysis, research conclude that 70% Airtel users preferred to remain
with Airtel. Also good number of users who were willing to switch from their respective
subscribers showed interest in Airtel. Hence, these statistics imply a bright future for the company.

⇒ Airtel connections are selling because of best network coverage.

⇒Bharti Airtel has adoption of more innovative marketing strategies like using celebrities at the
local level and joint venture with the reputed and cost effective Airtel, dealers and retailers.

Airtel is a very successful brand in India as it covers a wide network and is still one of the best
still in network coverage and stands one of the best network in the world and has covers major
of the population coverage

There is still scope of improvement as some of the rural and remote areas are not till covered
by any service provider and the company is shifting its focus towards them as well to reach a
wide area and generate loyal customers.

Business houses are the major users of Airtel as it is better than all other network’s in broadband
coverage and plans are better than any.

Airtel focuses on its customer’s satisfaction but it can provide some more relaxation to its users
and provide some more incentives for its dealers so that they can be more loyal towards the
company and market it better

Company is undertaking extensive promotional activities like advertisements released in

different Medias to create brand awareness in target pulling areas like campuses etc. Free
samples should be distributed among the prospects like free recharge or sims & sales promotion
tools like gifts, contests and coupons must be given to retailers as well as customers and
prospects. Catalogues should be distributed among customers.
 P a g e | 37

The company is focusing more on the Youth & the untapped areas of the country like rural areas to hold a
strong position in the country and prosper further.

 Company has shifted to its concern to one of the most influential target market i.e. YOUTH as
population concern more on the youth as they consist majority of the population in the country
and are most spenders in today’s age.

 Airtel provides value added packs for its heavy users as to retain them as postpaid connections
are on the rise as compared to prepaid.

 It is used mainly for its mobile network coverage across the globe as it covers a huge area so
its connectivity is high and the goodwill factor comes into play.
 P a g e | 38

CONCLUSION (CHAPTER 5)

Airtel is a very successful brand in India & providing customer satisfaction is to be there main motive.
Provides Internet access on the move as people are more dependent on it in their daily lives like wide
network.

Providing customer satisfaction is the most crucial step of the company as they are to be satisfied and
provides Internet access on the move such as Wide network and good 4G services as they are important
and technology advanced stuff required by almost everybody in today’s environment,

Airtel is a home brand and a very successful brand in India and overseas and one of the most successful
brands still to date. It possesses congestion free & wide network, unique value added & customer
services to cover one of the widest areas.

Connectivity is the backbone of the company and it is still the reason why consumers use it and the
most users of the company fall in the youth category and are now using postpaid services as they are
aware of the services provided as the youth is the main target of major of companies as the country
mainly comprises of them.

India has one of the world’s largest telecommunication networks. The telecom story
continues to be the best evidence of the efficacy of the reforms process. In just six years, the
number of mobile subscribers has gone up from just about one million to 100 million, a subscriber
base that only four other countries China, the US, Japan and Russia can boast of. None can doubt
the correlation between this explosive growth in numbers and the steep decline in the cost of the
mobile phone and of its usage.

After analyzing the findings of the research, it can conclude that Airtel is the leader in customer
service and availability. The maximum no. of people who use the mobile is in the age group of 20
to 28. Prepaid is popular type of mobile connections, as they are consumer friendly and recharging
the connection is not a problem. People do not prefer postpaid because of billing problems.
 P a g e | 39

Maximum no. of people spends more than Rs. 500 on their connections. As Airtel is the only
company having the maximum no of mobile connections so it must seriously look into the loop
holes of the existing customer service department.

We can say that in spite of so many competitors in the market Airtel is having a good position just
because every time, it tries its best to understand the need of its important customers.

jio is having particular customer potential. Mostly it is preferred by business class people because
of availability of network. jio provides the same scheme as that of Airtel. People also spend more
money on jio connection.

Considering both Airtel and jio have same features and benefits. Only the difference is between
the subscriber base. Airtel has more subscriber base than that of jio as primary sim card

Recently jio and has launched new scheme to compete with Airtel. This shows that service
providers are more into competition trend which should be followed by them to sustain in the
market.
 P a g e | 40

LIMITATIONS & FUTURE SCOPE (CHAPTER 6)

LIMITATIONS

The project has been successfully completed with certain inherent limitations, which are as
follows:

This Project report is based on primary and secondary sources for data collection and also there
is lack of restriction due to corona virus pandemic
Every attempt will be taken to obtain the error free and meaningful result but as nothing in this
world is 100% but there will still the chance for error on account of following limitations -

 Limited information & Respondent’s unavailability.

 Courtesy bias.

FUTURE SCOPE

 Following are the few suggestions to AIRTEL for improving the market share and image of
the products concerned.

 Modification must be brought about in AIRTEL, in terms of quality. Its demand should be
increased and provides its consumer with value added services as to retain them.

 To build itself as a brand that makes available the telecom services at a cheaper price. Presently
it has been perceived as a costly brand. In a developing country like India, this strategy would
help a lot.

 Market expansion and penetration into the rural market.

Airtel has good reputation in the market. Objective of survey is to know the satisfaction of user.
The organization has good reputation in the market. However, it requires some efforts to maintain
the reputation for the betterment of future. However, now they are taking reasonable step to
improve its brand name and sales target Lastly from the research says that Airtel has bright future
for the coming years. And hope this project report will help others to gather information. And
wishing Airtel the best success.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

In this project report, while finalizing and for analyzing quality problem in details the following
Books, Magazines/Journals and Web Sites have been referred. All the material detailed below
provides effective help and a guiding layout while designing this text report.

 Market Research – D.D. Sharma

 Research Methodology – C.R. Kothari
 Marketing Management by Philip Kotler

 Websites:
 www.Airtelworld.com
 www.google.com
 www.info-matic.com
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharti_Airtel
 http://www.slideshare.net/muskan19/airtel-brand-analysis
 http://www.airtel.in/
 http://www.slideshare.net/dpdas3/bharti-airtel
 http://www.authorstream.com
 Appendix
Which telecom service you own?

Airtel
Vodafone/idea
Reliance jio
others

which plan you prefer?

postpaid
prepaid

how do you see the market for Airtel in India?

1. Very demanding
2. Not demanding
3. demanding
4. Not at all demanding
5.do not know / can’t say

From where you collect the information regarding the telecom mobile service?

newspaper
television
magazines
Any other

Does offer free gift by mobile service providers affect your buying decision?

Yes
No
Does your purchasing decision affect by the brand of service?

Yes
No

For what purpose you buy the telecom mobile phone service?

personal
household
office
others

Are you satisfying with Airtel service?

satisfactory
unsatisfactory

Dose Airtel provide any special offer on the festival seasons?

Yes
No

How long have you been using this connection of your service provider?

1. Less than 3 years

2. 3-4 months
3. 6-12 months
4. 1-2 years
5. 2-3 years
More than 3years

Age group of users?

1. 15-21
2. 21-28
3. 28-35

What is your occupation?

1. student
2. household
3. executive

VIVA Institute of Management & Research, Shirgaon, Virar (E)

 4. other

What make Airtel different from others?

1. connectivity
2. New schemes
4. Tariff plan

Types of advertisement you most like in Airtel?

1. Audio visual
2. Print
3. Audio

Which feature of Airtel convinced you to use Airtel?

1. advertisement
2. connectivity
3. schemes
4. goodwill

Do you agree that the customer is satisfied with the service offered by Bharti Airtel?

Yes
No

VIVA Institute of Management & Research, Shirgaon, Virar (E)