A PROJECT REPORT

ON

" MARKETING STRATEGY OF VODAFONE "

A Project Report Submitted in the Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

(Marketing and automobiles management)

(2019-22)

Under the guidance of

Submitted By

ARYAN RAJ

ANUSHKA JOSHI

FAIZAN QURESHI

Admission no 19GSOB1030046

19GSOB1030021

19GSOB1030054

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 GALGOTIAS UNIVERSITY

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project on “ MARKETING STRATREGY of

VODAFONE” sumitted to the Galgotias University is a record of an original work
done by me under the guidance of Reji john sir , faculty member , GALGOTIAS
UNIVERSITY.

……………………….

Signature of Scholar

Name : ARYAN RAJ

ANUSHKA JOSHI

FAIZAN QURESHI

Admission No.19GSOB1030046

19GSOB1030021

2
 19GSOB1030054

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that ARYAN RAJ,ANUSHKA JOSHI & FAIZAN QURESHI,

student of BBA(Marketing and automobile management) of "GALGOTIAS
UNIVERSITY" has completed her project " MARKETING STRATEGY OF
VODAFONE" under my supervision. She made this project with my complete
satisfaction and as per the requirement of the course.

..........................................

Signature of
Director Prof.

...........................................

Signature of Project in charge

………………………..

Signature of Guide

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 .............................................

Signature of Scholar

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

With an overwhelming sense of gratitude, I acknowledge the valuable guidance

and consistent encouragement extended to me by our knowledgeable faculty
members 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 am especially thankful and grateful to my project guide who motivated and

helped me in completing my project.

............................................
..

Signature of Scholar

ARYAN RAJ

ANUSHKA JOSHI

FAIZAN QURESHI

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 Admission no 19GSOB1030046

19GSOB1030021

19GSOB1030054

TABLE OF CONTENTS

S.NO CONTENTS PAGE NO.

1. DECLARATION 2
2. CERTFICATE 3
3. ACKNOWLEDGMENT 4

4. CHAPTER 1 6
Introduction about vodafone
5. CHAPTER 2 27
Introduction to Marketing strategy
of Vodafone
6. CHAPTER 3 41
Research Methodology
7. CHAPTER 4 47
Findings and Discussion
8. CHAPTER 5 49
Conclusion
9. CHAPTER 6 50
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 Suggestions
10. Bibliography 51

CHAPTER -1
INTRODUCTION OF INDUSTRY / COMPANY
INDUSTRY PROFILE

"Telecommunications is the backbone of our future economy. International

competitiveness increasingly depends on the development of a telecommunications
infrastructure that is compatible with international standards"

The cellular industry all over the world has been witnessing very high growth rates
in subscriber base in recent years. For developing countries in particular, cellular
services are becoming a very significant proportion of the overall telecom
infrastructure. The mechanics of competition within this market involve complex
feedback effects between individual service providers and with their operating
environment, and these forces play an important role in governing the growth of
this industry.

The Indian telecommunications sector has undergone a major process of

0transformation because of significant Government policy reforms during the
recent years. The New Telecom Policy, 1999 focused on creating an ideal

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environment for investment, establishing communication infrastructure by
leveraging on technological development and providing affordable telecom
services to all. These objectives of the policies have resulted in rapid growth of
subscribers and lower tariffs. We believe that with these major initiatives of the
Government, the mobile market in India will have a promising future.

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

The tele-density in India is about four per hundred people in respect of the fixed
telephones and a little less than one in respect of the mobile telephony. The low
densities are not because there is no need for a telephone but because of its high
cost that many cannot afford that one. The situation here is nothing but holding
true of the “law of demand”.

Today, it is the fastest growing market in the world and represents unique
opportunities for U.S. companies in the stagnant global scenario. The total
subscriber base, which has grown by 40% in 2005, is expected to reach 250
million in 2007.

According to Broadband Policy 2004, Government of India aims at 9

million broadband connections and 18 million internet connections by
2007. The wireless subscriber base has jumped from 33.69 million in 2004
to 62.57 million in FY2004- 2005. In the last 3 years, two out of every three
new telephone subscribers were wireless subscribers. Consequently,
wireless now accounts for 54.6% of the total telephone subscriber base, as
compared to only 40% in 2003. Wireless subscriber growth is expected to

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bypass 2.5 million new subscribers per month by 2007. The wireless
technologies currently in use are Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM) and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA).
There are primarily 9 GSM and 5 CDMA operators providing mobile.

Services in 19 telecom circles and 4 metro cities, covering 2000 towns

across the country.

Table no.1: Evolution of the Industry

YEAR DESCRIPTION

1851 First operational land lines were laid by the govt.

near Calcutta(seat of British Power)

1881 Telephone Service introduced in India

1883 Merger with the postal system

1923 Formation of Indian Radio Telegraph Company

(IRT)

1932 Merger of ETC and IRT into the Indian Radio and
Communication Company(IRCC)

1947 Nationalization of all foreign telecommunication

companies to form the Posts, Telephone and
Telegraph(PTT), a monopoly run by the
government’s Ministry of Communication

1999 Cellular Services are launched in India. New

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 National Telecom Policy is adopted.

ABOUT COMPANY:

Vodafone, telecommunications company based in the United Kingdom with

interests in Europe and the United States. It originated as part of Racal, a British
radar and electronics firm founded in 1950. Racal founded its Vodafone subsidiary
in 1983 and won the license to build Britain’s first cellular telephone network,
which was launched in 1985. By the early 1990s Vodafone was purchasing other
companies and building network partnerships around the world.

The company roughly doubled its size in 2000 by acquiring German industrial
conglomerate Mannesmann AG. Founded as Mannesmannroehren-Werke in 1890
by Reinhard Mannesmann (1856–1922), the German company had become a
leading manufacturer of steel tubing and by the 1930s emerged as one of the six
giant iron and steel works of the Ruhr. Although Mannesmann executives were not
among the German industrialists who promoted the rise of Adolf Hitler, the
company did contribute significantly to the war effort and therefore was stripped of
nearly all its directors under the terms of the war-crimes mandate. Following
reorganization of Germany’s basic industries according to Allied occupation
policy, Mannesmann emerged as an independent company in 1952 and conducted
business in Brazil, Canada, Argentina, Austria, and other European countries in
industries such as transportation and telecommunications.

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Vodafone’s hostile bid for Mannesmann resulted in what was then the largest
merger in the world. In the process Vodafone had become one of the world’s
leading providers of mobile telecommunications services, and it conducted
business in more than 30 countries.

As of 2018, Vodafone owned and operated networks in 25 countries, and had

partner networks in 47 further countries. Its Vodafone Global Enterprise division
provides telecommunications and IT services to corporate clients in 150 countries.

Vodafone has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent

of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalisation of approximately
£52.5 billion as of 10 February 2016, the eighth-largest of any company listed on
the London Stock Exchange.The company has a secondary listing on NASDAQ.

Mission:

Vodafone is primarily a user of technology rather than a developer of it, and

this fact is reflected in the emphasis of our work program on enabling new
applications of mobile communications, using new technology for new
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services, research for improving operational efficiency and quality of our
networks, and providing technology vision and leadership that can
contribute directly to business decisions in a mobile world.

Vision:

Our Vision is to be the world’s mobile communication leader – enriching

customers’ lives, helping individuals, businesses and Communities be more
connected .

Tagline:

“Power to you”

History:

In 1982 Racal Electronics plc's subsidiary Racal Strategic Radio Ltd. won one of
two UK cellular telephone network licenses. The network, known as Racal
Vodafone was 80% owned by Racal, with Millicom and the Hambros Technology
Trust owning 15% and 5% respectively. Vodafone was launched on 1 January

1985. Racal Strategic Radio was renamed Racal Telecommunications Group

Limited in 1985. On 29 December 1986 Racal Electronics bought out the minority
shareholders of Vodafone for GB£110 million.
In September 1988 the company was again renamed Racal Telecom and on 26
October 1988 Racal Electronics floated 20% of the company. The flotation valued
Racal Telecom at GB£1.7 billion On 16 September 1991 Racal Telecom was
demerged from Racal Electronics as Vodafone Group.

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In July 1996 Vodafone acquired the two thirds of Talkland it did not already own
for £30.6 million. On 19 November 1996, in a defensive move, Vodafone
purchased Peoples Phone for £77 million, a 181 store chain whose customers were
overwhelmingly using Vodafone's network. In a similar move the company
acquired the 80% of Astec Communications that it did not own, a service provider
with 21 stores.
In 1997 Vodafone introduced its Speech mark logo, as it is a quotation mark in a
circle; the O's in the Vodafone logotype are opening and closing quotation marks,
suggesting conversation.
On 29 June 1999 Vodafone completed its purchase of AirTouch Communications,
and changed its name to Vodafone Airtouch plc. Trading of the new company

commenced on 30 June 1999. To approve the merger, Vodafone sold its 17.2%
stake in E-Plus Mobilfunk. The acquisition gave Vodafone a 35% share of
Mannesmann, owner of the largest German mobile network.
On 21 September 1999 Vodafone agreed to merge its U.S. wireless assets with
those of Bell Atlantic Corp to form Verizon Wireless. The merger was completed
on 4 April 2000.
In November 1999 Vodafone made an unsolicited bid for Mannesmann, which was
rejected. Vodafone's interest in Mannesmann had been increased by the latter's
purchase of Orange, the UK mobile operator. Chris Gent would later say
Mannesmann's move into the UK broke a "gentleman's agreement" not to compete
in each other's home territory. The hostile takeover provoked strong protest in
Germany and a "titanic struggle" which saw Mannesmann resists Vodafone's
efforts. However, on 3 February 2000 the Mannesmann board agreed to an
increased offer of £112bn, then the largest corporate merger ever. The EU

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approved the merger in April 2000. The conglomerate was subsequently broken up
and all manufacturing related operations sold off.
On 28 July 2000 the Company reverted to its former name, Vodafone Group Plc.
In April 2001 the first 3G voice call was made on Vodafone United Kingdom's 3G
network. In 2001 the Company took over Eircell, then part of eircom in Ireland,
and rebranded it as Vodafone Ireland. It then went on to acquire Japan's third-
largest mobile operator J-Phone, which had introduced camera phones first in
Japan.

On 17 December 2001 Vodafone introduced the concept of "Partner Networks" by

signing TDC Mobil of Denmark. The new concept involved the introduction of
Vodafone international services to the local market, without the need of investment
by Vodafone. The concept would be used to extend the Vodafone brand and
services into markets where it does not have stakes in local operators. Vodafone
services would be marketed under the dual-brand scheme, where the Vodafone
brand is added at the end of the local brand. (i.e., TDC Mobil-Vodafone etc.)
In February 2002 Finland was added into the mobile community, as Radiolinja is
signed as a Partner Network. Radiolinja later changed its named to Elisa. Later that

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year the Company rebranded Japan's J-sky mobile internet service as Vodafone
live! and on 3 December 2002 the Vodafone brand was introduced in the Estonian
market with signing of a Partner Network Agreement with Radiolinja (Eesti).
Radiolinja (Eesti) later changed its name to Elisa.
On 7 January 2003 the Company signed a group-wide Partner agreement with
mobilkom Austria. As a result, Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia were added to the
community. In April 2003 Og Vodafone was introduced in the Icelandic market
and in May 2003 Vodafone Italy (Omnitel Pronto-Italia) was rebranded Vodafone
Italy. On 21 July 2003 Lithuania was added to the community, with the signing of
a Partner Network agreement with Bitė.
In 2006 the Company rebranded its Stoke-on-Trent site as Stoke Premier Centre, a
centre of expertise for the company dealing with Customer Care for its higher
value customers, technical support, sales and credit control. All cancellations and
upgrades started to be dealt with by this call centre. On 5 January 2006 Vodafone
announced the completion of the sale of Vodafone Sweden to Telenor. On
February 2006 the Company closed its Birmingham Call Centre. In 1 February
2006 Oskar Vodafone became
Vodafone Czech Republic, adopting the revised logo and on 22 February 2006 the
Company announced that it was extending its footprint to Bulgaria with the signing
of Partner Network Agreement with Mobiltel, which is part of mobilkom Austria
group.
On 12 March 2006 former chief, Sir Christopher Gent, who was appointed the
honorary post Chairman for Life in 2003, quits following rumours of boardroom
rifts. In April 2006 the Company announced that it has signed an extension to its
Partner Network Agreement with BITE Group, enabling its Latvian subsidiary
"BITE Latvija" to become the latest member of Vodafone's global partner

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community. Also in April 2006 Vodafone Sweden changed its name to Telenor
Sverige AB and Connex-Vodafone became Vodafone Romania, also adopting the
new logo. On 30 May 2006 Vodafone announced the biggest loss in British
corporate history (£14.9 billion) and plans to cut 400 jobs; it reported one-off costs
of £23.5 billion due to the revaluation of its Mannesmann subsidiary.
. On 24 July 2006 the respected head of Vodafone Europe, Bill Morrow, quit
unexpectedly and on 25 August 2006 the Company announced the sale of its 25%
stake in Belgium's Proximus for €2 billion. After the deal, Proximus was still part
of the community as a Partner Network. Vodafone Iceland and on 19 December
2006 the Company announced the sale of its 25% stake in Switzerland's Swisscom
for CHF4.25 billion (£1.8 billion). After the deal, Swisscom would still be part of
the community as a Partner Network. Finally in December 2006 the Company
completed the acquisition of Aspective, an enterprise applications systems
integrator in the UK, signaling Vodafone's intent to grow a significant presence
and revenues in the ICT marketplace.
Early in January 2007 Telsim in Turkey adopted Vodafone dual branding as
Telsim Vodafone and on 1 April 2007 Telsim Vodafone Turkey dropped its
original brand and became Vodafone Turkey. On 1 May 2007 Vodafone added
Jersey and Guernsey to the community, as Airtel was signed as Partner Network in
both crown dependencies. In June 2007 the Vodafone live! Mobile Internet portal
in the UK was relaunched. Front page was now charged for and previously
"bundled" data allowance was removed from existing contract terms. All users
were given access to the "full" web rather than a Walled Garden and Vodafone
became the first mobile network to focus an entire media campaign on its newly
launched mobile Internet portal in the UK. On 1 August 2007 Vodafone Portugal

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launched Vodafone Messenger, a service with Windows Live Messenger and
Yahoo! Messenger.
On 17 April 2008 Vodafone extended its footprint to Serbia as VIP mobile was
added to the community as a Partner Network and on 20 May 2008 the Company
added VIP Operator as a Partner Network thereby extending the global footprint to
Macedonia. In May 2008 Kall of the Faroe Islands rebranded as Vodafone Faroe
Islands.
On 30 October 2008, the company announced a strategic, non-equity partnership
with MTS group of Russia. The agreement adds Russia, Armenia, Turkmenistan,
Ukraine, and Uzbekistan to the group footprint.
ABOUT VODAFONE:

Today, in India, becomes Vodafone. Now, the pink color logo of Hutch is
replaced by Vodafone Essar’s corporate red colored one.

Launching

Vodafone launched in 1982 with the establishment of the Racal Strategic Radio the
UK’s largest maker of military radio technology. They formed a joint venture with
Millicom called ‘Racal’ but Vodafone was launched officially on 21st September
2007 which is independent under the name Vodafone in recent times.

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Vodafone owns and operates networks in 25 countries. They also have partner
networks in 47 further countries. Vodafone is now globally recognized and
provides telecommunications and IT services to corporate clients in over 150
countries.

In 2005-06, the Orange brand in Mumbai was phased out to introduce (now
Vodafone). The company also changed the colors of its logo from orange to pink
and then red.
After acquiring 67 per cent of stake (around Rs. 250 crores) in ison Essar from
Hong Kong-based ison Whampoa, Vodafone Essar is expecting to touch over 35
million customers across 400,000 shops and thousands of ’s own employees along
with employees of its business associates.
Vice chairman, Ravi Ruia, Vodafone Essar, said “We’ve had a good innings as
in India and today marks a new beginning for us, not as a departure from the
fundamentals that created , but an acceleration into the future with Vodafone’s
global expertise.”
Vodafone CEO, Marten Pieters of the Vodafone Essar will be landing in India
for the meeting that would discuss branding exercise, expansion plans, spectrum
requirements for its expanding subscriber base and future plans.
Vodafone offers a host of premier value added services (VAS) including national
and international roaming in over 70 countries in over 160 networks, Wireless
Application Protocol (WAP), short message service, voice mail service, auto roam,
fax and data, cricket updates, M-banking, general information, tarot line, etc. The
company launched WAP in Delhi in October 2000, much before its rival Bharti. It

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has 5000 WAP customers, as in December 2000. The company has been a prime
mover in introducing these value-added services in the Delhi circle.

The values are stated simply. To be fair and transparent in what they do and how
they do it. To provide the quality services with more customer friendly practices.
To make one’s communications experience simple, pleasurable and fun. Where he
doesn't simply get technology - but technology that is relevant. Where solutions are
not just promised in the future - but delivered in the present.

CORE VALUES:

 We shall uphold the dignity of the individual.

 We shall honor all commitments.
 We shall be committed to Quality, Innovation and Growth in every
endeavor .
 We shall be responsible corporate citizens.

Accomplishments:

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 - Over the years, Vodafone Essar, under the Hutch brand, has been named the
‘Most Respected Telecom Company´, the ´Best Mobile Service in the
country´ and the ´Most Creative and Most Effective Advertiser of the Year´.

- Vodafone is the world´s leading international mobile communications group

with approximately 315 million proportionate customers as at 30 June 2009.

- Vodafone currently has equity interests in 31 countries across five continents

and around 40 partner networks worldwide

- The Essar Group is a diversified business corporation with a balanced

portfolio of assets in the manufacturing and services sectors of Steel,
Energy, Power, Communications, Shipping Ports & Logistics, and Projects.

- Essar employs more than 50,000 people across offices in Asia, Africa,
Europe and the Americas.

- The company now has operations across the country with over 78.68 million
customers.

Services:

Staying connected becomes a lot easier with Vodafone. We have a wide range of
services you can access right from your Vodafone phone. From cell banking to
flight updates to call management services, get all that you want, instantly.

Prepaid services (latest):

- Vodafone Essar, one of India’s leading cellular service providers announced

a new Bonus Card 25 for its prepaid customers in Punjab. With this new
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 bonus card, Vodafone customers can enjoy the benefit of unlimited national
SMS at just 20paisa/SMS. The new bonus card comes with 30 days validity.
Rajiv Kohli, Chief Executive Officer, and Vodafone Essar - Punjab said, “We
have always aimed to provide value offering to our customers. The new Bonus
Card 25 facilitates Vodafone customers to stay connected with their loved ones
across India at an economical rate.”
- Has introduced two new Bonus Cards. Bonus Card 17 and Bonus Card 27
come with one month validity and are priced at Rs 17 and Rs 27
respectively. All Vodafone prepaid customers including the lifelong
customers in Kolkata and rest of Bengal can enjoy the new Bonus Cards
offer available across Stores and Ministores.

- ‘Lifelong Prepaid @Rs.46 plan’ for its prepaid customers in Kerala. This
new prepaid offer comes with lifetime validity and a talk time of Rs.5. 
Vodafone customers can make local calls to all Vodafone numbers, other
mobiles and landlines at Re 1 per minute and all STD calls are at Rs1.50 per
minute. Customers need to recharge with Rs 200 cumulative in 180 days to
stay connected.
Postpaid services(latest):

- Vodafone Essar, one of India’s leading cellular services providers has

launched three new monthly rental plans - Budget 500, Budget 750 and
Budget 1000 - for its postpaid customers in Kolkata and West Bengal. These
Budget plans offer combinations of free minutes over local and STD calls
along with free local SMS. This offer is valid for new and existing
customers.
Sridhar Rao, Chief Executive Officer, Vodafone Essar East Limited, said
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“These budget plans will specially appeal to customers with high usage who can
now manage their mobile bills without compromising on talktime or SMS 
volume.”
- Announced a special offer for its customers in Madhya Pradesh and
Chhattisgarh. Customers can now avail free VIP numbers with every new
post paid connection. The VIP numbers provide customers an option to
choose a number of their preference from a range of special Golden numbers
that usually comes with a huge price tag.

Value added services:

Vodafone Essar, one of India’s leading cellular services providers, has announced
a special offer for Zoozoo fans across India. Vodafone customers can now get
special oozoo DVDs from a Vodafone Store and watch these adorable characters
from Vodafone Essar’s recent television commercials as they live life’s little
moments in their inimitable style. Vodafone Prepaid customers can get the DVD
through a recharge of above Rs 300 at the Vodafone Store. Vodafone Postpaid
customers can enroll for Direct Debit or activate Callertune or Vodafone Alerts at
the Vodafone store to get the Zoozoo DVD. 

Dial 600 to activate:

To activate these values added services on your Vodafone phone simply dial 600
and access our Interactive Voice Response system.

SMS:

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Message your family and friends through Vodafone SMS Services. It's convenient
and affordable. Communicate with cell phone users in over 100 countries and
anywhere in India - by sending and receiving text msg.
Pay just Rs. 1.50 per message for sending SMS anywhere across the country.

SMS Chat:

Now, you can chat on your Vodafone phone with as many people as you want. Its
fun and as simple as sending an SMS. Your identity will remain anonymous as
your phone number is never displayed during the chat. You can have your own
profile and chat name.

You can also create your own chat rooms or chat in the different rooms that
already exist including: Teens, 20s, 30s, Office, Bollywood, Delhi.

All you have to do is type in your messages and send them to 2428. You will be
charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

Vodafone Online:

Get all the useful information you need directly on your Vodafone phone - with
Vodafone Online. Including cricket, finance, entertainment, weather, astrology and
more.

 Simply go to the Vodafone Online menu on your Vodafone phone.  If you do

not see the Vodafone Online menu on your phone, send HELP to 123.  We will
send you the list of keywords.

 Scroll to the topic on which you need information.

 Select the information and key input as requested on the screen.

You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

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MTNL Directory:

With this facility you can get to know the address and telephone no. of MTNL
users.you will be charged Rs.2 per outgoing message.

Ringtones & Logos:

Now you can change the ringtone on your Vodafone phone according to your
moods. You can download logos as well. With the Vodafone and

Yahoo! tieup you have hundreds of tunes and logos to choose from.

For every ringtone downloaded, you will charged Rs. 7.00 (including the cost of
SMS sent). For every logo/picture message downloaded, you will charged Rs. 3.00
(including the cost of SMS sent).

Flash & Blink:

Vodafone now offers you two exciting ways to send messages. You can make your
message flash directly on your recipient’s screen instead of the inbox. You can also
highlight the important parts of your message through blinks. So your text
messages become not only more visible, but more effective too.

You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

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WAP:

With WAP, you can have the Internet directly in your pocket. So if you are looking
for quick and easy delivery of information and services, your Vodafone phone can
show it all. Use it to check out news, finance, shopping, entertainment, travel,
entertainment and city service information etc. To access this service all you need
is a WAP enabled handset and WAP services activated on your Vodafone phone.
This service comes to you at a nominal charge of Re. 1 per minute (1 min pulse).
Group Messaging:

Party invitations, movie outings, festive greetings... whatever be the occasion, you
can send your message to all your friends at one go!
With Group Messaging from Vodafone, you can thus save yourself the bother of
painstakingly sending your message to one person at a time whether you are on
Vodafone Prepaid or Postpaid.
Vodafone4help:

Vodafone4help now lets you take advantage of a lot more services than before.
You can connect to the nearest fire brigade or mechanic or florist or even order a
pizza. If you are stranded in the middle of the road, or if you you need immediate
medical attention or if you are looking for a police station close by, Vodafone4help

24
gives you instant access to your nearest source of help, anywhere in Delhi or the
NCR.
Call Management Services:

There may be occasions when you need to conference with up to six people at a
time or talk to just two. Or you are speaking to someone and want to forward an
incoming call to another phone. With your Vodafone phone, you can do this and
more. Vodafone helps you manage your calls effortlessly so that you stay in
control of your conversations, always.

Voice Response:

Get your Vodafone phone to respond directly to your commands. Custom designed
to recognize Indian voices and accents, the Voice Response service makes your life
more convenient. You can get the latest updates on news, stocks, cricket and your
horoscope. Airtime charges will be Rs.6 per minute (1 minute pulse).

Voice Messaging:

Voice Messaging has become even more affordable. You can now send voice
messages to cellular phones as well as fixed telephone lines in USA or Canada for
just Rs.3.95 per min* (as against Rs.4.95 per min earlier).
Voice messages within India across select networks will cost you Rs. .95 per min
only. Also, recipients of the cellular Voice Messaging service have the option of
replying back to the mesages, which get returned back as return Voice Mail
messages, facilitating two-way (though not simultaneous) voice communication.

Yahoo! Messenger For SMS:

You do not have to wait to get a PC to use the Yahoo! Messenger. With the
exclusive Vodafone-Yahoo! tie-up, you can easily get connected through your
25
Vodafone phone.This unique messenger comes with a lot of exciting features. You
can connect with all Yahoo! Messenger users, send, receive and reply to instant
messages, view and manage your friend list and also manage authorization
requests. All this and more just by using SMS. You will be charged Rs. 2 per
outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

Cell Banking:

Vodafone now puts the bank in your pocket with Cell Banking. Access your bank
account and transact directly on your Vodafone phone by sending text messages.

The first of its kind in India, this service enables you to conduct your banking
without having to visit the bank or making a call.
You can do Cell Banking from over 90 countries worldwide.
You will be charged Rs. 2 per outgoing message. Incoming messages are free.

CHAPTER-2

INTRODUCTION OF THE TOPIC

MARKETING STATEGY OF VODAFONE

26
Global presence in the market- Vodafone constantly tried to develop new ideas
and their flexible policies made it a global company. Vodafone became one of the
companies giving a major fight in the market and is ranked 395th amongst the
world’s top 2000 brands by Forbes.

Vodafone is best known for its wide distribution and network coverage. Vodafone
is the second-largest subscriber base in India also the second-highest ranked
telecom operator. Vodafone is behind only by China Mobile. Vodafone now
operates in more than 25 countries across the globe.

Cost-effective prices– Vodafone to take over the market and give a severe blow to
its customers needed to give more offers and reduce its prices. But in India, the
telecommunication market was expanding rapidly and the competition was getting
tougher and tougher.

Surprisingly Vodafone anyhow managed to increase the rates and tariff for the air
time per minute and messages in the beginning. If we compared the prices in
Europe and US Market they were far lower. Vodafone to attract new customers
they started selling low-cost handsets like Vodafone 150 and 360, with
connectivity at very low and attractive prices found in Vodafone’s annual reports,
2009.

Later on, Vodafone slashed its STD and Roaming Call rates to Rs 1.30 and Re 1
respectively, while in roaming and an outgoing call was priced at Rs 1.50. This
step of Vodafone leads to a massive price war in the telecom industry. But luckily

27
Vodafone managed to attract and retain their customers while selling their
products.

Customer support– Vodafone believed in giving quality Customer experience as

it the key to penetrating the competitive market in the twenty-first century.
Vodafone needed to keep pace with all other major technology brands and other
industries, companies who are investing more in understanding and providing
superior customer service. 

To give a tough competition to its rival companies Vodafone started a new project
called CXX or Customer experience excellence. The main aim of this project
which will strengthen the leadership position Vodafone has built in the market, to
make this program a success. Vodafone started linking the KPIs with employee
bonuses and now CXX focused upon customer convenience as well as service
quality.

Vodafone gained customers rapidly and now has more than 417.1 million
customers of Vodafone’s mobile services in Europe. Vodafone also has more than
118.7 million customers in Africa, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific and is
constantly growing. They focused on user convenience which helped them to
reduce the rate and gain customer’s loyalty.

Low-cost Products– Vodafone not only took over the telecom market but also
stared selling different low-cost handsets to its customers which encouraged them

28
to subscribe to Vodafone. In the Indian market, Vodafone introduced various
suitable and affordable products and services for the different types of customers in
India.

Vodafone when one step ahead by thinking of the low-income customers and
provided them facilities of pre-paid mobiles. On the other hand, for the high-
income customers, Vodafone served them with post-paid mobiles. 

Vodafone now wanted to take over the market in the rural area of India by
introducing easy to use and low-cost mobiles for the rural community who could
not afford mobile phones at high prices.

Campaigning

Vodafone to promote their company gave into advertising, sales promotion in

various platforms, especially in television. Vodafone’s famous advertisements of
Zoo Zoos and pug became a television sensation which also got popularity in many
social networking sites like Facebook and other sities.

Also, celebrity like Irfan Khan promoted Vodafone which gained massive popularity
in the market because due to his style. 

29
Vodafone’s campaign extended to sponsoring many sporting events also the Indian
Premier League which helped Vodafone to come under the limelight of the
customers. They also sponsored MTV reality show named Splits villa which is
famous among Indian youngsters also helped Vodafone to gain success in the
market. The zoo-zoo advertisement got an overwhelming response from the
customers and it gained a remarkable exposure. 

ZooZoos are advertisement characters promoted by Vodafone India since

the Indian Premier League Season 2 (IPL).
ZooZoos are white creatures with ballooned bodies and egg heads who are used to
promote various value added services of Vodafone. These characters are played by
human actors in body suits. The ads were created by Ogilvy & Mather, the agency
handling Vodafone  advertisements.

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The ZooZoo idea was conceived by Rajiv Rao. He also created the story lines  and
the name.The ads were shot by Prakash Varma and produced by Nirvana Films
within a record time of 10 days. The pre-production work happened within a
month and cost around 3 crores Indian Rupees.

With more than 470 Million customers across the globe in mobile telephony, more
than 13 million customers in fixed broadband and 10 million customers in cable
TV; Vodafone is connecting people worldwide and making communications across
different mediums convenient & secure.

Over the years Vodafone has diversified its businesses from being merely a mobile
telephony company to emerging as a major player in communication services
industry which deals in broadband services, internet of things, Cloud services and
mobile telephony.

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Segmentation, targeting, positioning in the Marketing strategy of Vodafone –

Vodafone uses a mix of segmentation strategies to segment its offerings in mobile

network services, enterprise services and broadband services accordingly. It uses
geographical, demographical and psychographic segmentation

Vodafone is targeting different sections of the societies with their different

offerings. Therefore it uses selective and differentiated targeting strategy.

Vodafone with its zoo-zoos ad campaign has been successful in creating top of
mind awareness amongst communication services companies around the world. It
uses value-based positioning strategies.

Competitive advantage in the Marketing strategy of Vodafone –

Enterprise Solutions: Although 66% of its total revenue of 41 billion Euros (2016
annual report data: 31st Dec; 16) comes from retail consumers the enterprise
solutions offered by the company with 28% revenue share is the key growth driver
in its business portfolio.

Stronghold in the European market: With 66% revenue contributed by

European market, Vodafone has maintained its extensive presence by facilitating
87% of the market with 4G services and carrying 50% of the total data traffic on
4G networks.

Innovative Products: Its various products & services such as Vodafone Portrait,

Vodacom, M-Pesa, Vodafone One and Vodafone Speechmark, has helped the
company in being competitively ahead of its competitors in the respective market.

32
BCG Matrix in the Marketing strategy of Vodafone –

Vodafone deals in business verticals namely mobile telephony business, fixed-line

services. Whereas mobile telephony business stars in the BCG matrix while Fixed-line
services are a question mark in the BCG matrix due to the presence of various other
companies in the market.

Distribution strategy in the Marketing strategy of Vodafone –

It operates in Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East where Asia Pacific &
Africa are the emerging markets for Vodafone which contributes 32% of the total
revenue. It has partnership agreements with local mobile operators in 58 markets
and is operating through a joint venture or associates in mobile networks market in
26 countries.

Vodafone reaches to its customer through a variety of channels such as retail

outlets, Vodafone exclusive stores, distribution partners, third-party retailers, and
through online medium. Currently, there are 16000+ Vodafone exclusive branded
stores globally.

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Customer engagement through digital technology:

Customer experience has grown more central than ever to marketing in this hyper-
competitive era. In any and every industry, now companies focus on customer
experience more than ever. Vodafone has made it a core pillar of its marketing
strategy. In the recent years, it made several changes to its marketing strategy to
grow its customer engagement and strengthen its connection with consumers all
over the world.

Vodafone has started a programme which it calls CXX and whose central focus is
to improve customer experience. The full form of CXX is Customer Experience
Excellence. Through this program Vodafone aims to aim to deliver an outstanding
and differentiated user experience for its customers, building further on its network
leadership position. The focus of these programmes is on four key aspects of
customer experience that are summarized by the acronym CARE.

C – Connectivity; secure and smart.

The ‘Secure Net’ proposition of Vodafone is live in ten markets offering the
customers extra security layers. Mobile network guarantees in 17 markets offers a
full refund if the network fails to match customer expectations.

A – Always excellent value

Through its Big Data platform (in 15 markets) the company offers its customers
notifications for personalized solutions targeted at specific needs. 35% of the

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customer communications of Vodafone in these markets are supported by Big Data
analytics.
R – Real Time Relevant Rewards.
Loyalty and reward programmes are available in 18 of Vodafone’s markets either
through the Vodafone app or through the vodafone website. In 14 of these markets,
customers can redeem reward points by shaking the phone or another similar
interesting gamified technique.

E – easy, personal Instant access.

To make the Vodafone experience more personal and smooth, the company has
offered the Vodafone app across all market so that the customers can easily
manage their services.

The next phase of the group’s strategic development and an extension of the CXX
programme is the Digital Vodafone programme. Vodafone aims to deliver the most
engaging digital experience for its customers, which is a blend of the digital and
physical assets of Vodafone for making personal, instant and easy interactions
possible. The group aims to increase its focus on digital customer management. It
aims to increase its use of data analytics for predictive, proactive and personalised
offers to its customers, optimising the efficiency of its marketing spend, improve
ARPU and  to improve its direct channel mix. The My Vodafone app and the
digital marketing channels being used by Vodafone will, over time, become the
main customer acquisition and management platform for the company. In this era,
the better the customer experience, the lower will be the churn rate and the larger
the customer base. Vodafone is working on digitizing more and more of its

35
operations and marketing in the coming days for higher efficiency and
effectiveness in these areas.
Branding and Advertising:

Vodafone has created the image of a customer friendly image and that has been
made possible through consistent focus on customer service, excellent branding
and creative marketing. Its creative marketing techniques are meant to engage
customers and to drive user loyalty high. One of the most famous ads tha
Vodafone used to grow its popularity and which successfully helped it grow its
recognition internationally is the zoozoo ad. The zoozoo ads were full of fun and
targeted users of all ages. However, the most important thing was their uniqueness
which made them stand out. Vodafone has traditionally used sports marketing and
other similar techniques for promotion. The zoozoo ads helped it gain remarkable
exposure. These ads have been received remarkably well by various audiences.
While they are fun, the creativity behind the ads often leaves you feeling thrilled
and satisfied.

Another creative ad used by Vodafone is some markets is the one about its global
network. The ad with the strapline ‘Wherever you go our network follows’ was
also popular and successfully drove user engagement.  While Vodafone’s use of
digital technology for customer engagement has grown in the recent years, social
media is also playing a role in its promotional strategy. ZooZoo ads are quite
popular and shared widely on social media platforms. Vodafone does not use social
media extensively for promotions and instead engages its users directly from its
own app and platform. However, still, its ads and promotional material are
frequently shared on facebook and Twitter.

36
Competition in Indian Market:
Due to the takeover of the business and the subscribers of Hutch, Vodafone
successfully secured its place as the second largest operator in the industry, and as
a premium brand in the Indian market. But it is very difficult for Vodafone to
charge the premium rates because of the immense competition. Bharti Airtel,
IDEA, BSNL, Aircel, Reliance Communications and Tata Communications are the
bigger rivals of Vodafone (Galani, 2009).
Below statistical comparison of December 2009 vs. June 2010 tells us about the
top five in the GSM Telecom Industry, market share and subscribers wise, where
Vodafone has secured its second place with 23.89% market share as of June 2010
and has increased significant number of subscribers in comparison to December
2009 data. Bharti Airtel holds the first position with 29.92% & Idea Cellular is in
the third place with 15.09% market share. Bharti Airtel and IDEA are the tenable
competitors for Vodafone whereas others are way behind.

37
Market Adaptation & Services:

As Vodafone entered the market, they had a big challenge of handling their
growing customer base and at the same time, they had to reduce their personnel
and infrastructure cost because they had heavily invested for buying Hutch brand.
Vodafone introduced and installed 1100 plus Vodafone Self-Service Kiosk, the self
service automation machine, which helped customers to top up their prepaid
account, printing-paying post paid bills, and information of new services offered
by Vodafone. Kiosk provided 24×7 conveniences to the customers and also
reduced their cost per transaction. (Intellivisons Newsletter, 2008).

Product Pricing:

The Indian telecommunication market was expanding very fast and with that pace
the competition was also getting stiffer and competitive, but Vodafone somehow
managed to increase the rates and tariff for the air time per minute and sms in the
beginning. These prices if compared to the Europe and US Market are far lower.
To attract new customers Vodafone started selling low cost handsets (Vodafone
150 and 360) with connectivity at very low and attractive rates (Vodafone annual
reports, 2009) Later due to the increasing competition and competitors also cutting
down their tariffs, Vodafone was compelled to cut down its rate by more than 50%.
Vodafone slashed STD and Roaming Call rates to Rs 1.30 and Re 1 respectively.
While in roaming, outgoing call was priced at Rs 1.50. Before that competitor
Bharti Airtel had reduced call rates by 43% (Nagpal, 2008). It even came up with
deals where they provided customers with free talk time at night times and over the
weekends. This lead to massive price war in the telecom industry, but Vodafone
managed to attract and retain their customers while selling their products.

38
Distribution & Payment System:

Vodafone Essar has two kinds of distribution network of its services to the
customer. In direct distribution, it directly owns and manages store under the brand
name of Vodafone. These stores sell the services to the customers, existing
customers and the required support when the customers want. After Vodafone took
control in Vodafone Essar, all the stores were rebranded as Vodafone and
refurbished more than 40 stores in the standard format of Vodafone Group around
the world . Vodafone also sells its products and services, using the franchise and
the exclusive dealers all around India. Vodafone also operates post-paid outlets and
mini stores to sell their services and products. It also uses Internet technology to
sell their products, the state of the art website is very much user-friendly and useful
for the customers who are busy and can’t reach to stores for the services . For
indirect distribution, Vodafone has ties with independent dealers, distributors and
retailers to provide services in the rural areas where it has not much access.
Vodafone is refreshing its brand with a new marketing campaign, updated mobile
plans and revamped stores, website and mobile app in a bid to “modernise” the
brand amid both the roll-out of 5G data services and new rules that make it easier
for customers to switch mobile operator.
The new product proposition sees Vodafone become the first network to offer
unlimited data plans on both 4G and 5G. The mobile network is currently rolling
out its 5G network, which is expected to be in 20 UK cities by the end of July and
27 across Europe.
Vodafone has opted not to charge a premium for 5G, in part because of its limited
availability, meaning that anyone on Vodafone with a 5G-ready phone will be able

39
to access the faster data speeds. The hope is the increased speeds will open up new
opportunities in areas such as gaming, virtual reality and augmented reality.
“The industry is crying out for a customer champion that is modern, forward-
facing, representing innovation and bringing the best the world has to offer to the
UK. We felt like Vodafone could be that brand and be the leader in 5G,”
Vodafone’s consumer director Max Taylor tells Marketing Week.
“This is a real opportunity for us as a brand to re-engage with customers and set
the standard for telco in the 5G era.”

CHAPTER -3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

INTRODUCTION:

40
 “Marketing research means the systematic gathering, recording, analyzing of
data about problems relating to the marketing of goods and services”

METHODOLOGY ADOPTED:

Research methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. Here

we study the various steps generally adopted by the researcher in studying the
research methods to continue a part of research methodology.

In this research, only Secondary data is taken into consideration.

THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF DATA:

Primary data: - This is those, which are collected as fresh and for the first
Time, and thus happen to be original in character. There are many ways of
data collection of primary data like questionnaire, observation method,
interview method, through schedules, pantry Reports, distributors audit,
consumer panel etc.

Secondary data: - These are those data, which are not collected afresh and are
used earlier also and thus they cannot be considered as original in character. There
are many ways of data collection of secondary data like publications of the state
and central govt., website, journals, companies

reports, reports prepared by researchers, reports of various associations

connected with business, Industries, banks etc. For this project secondary
data was taken from company’s reports and websites.

41
SWOT ANALYSIS

SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths,

Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business

venture. It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and

identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to

achieving that objective. The technique is credited to Albert Humphrey, who led a

research project at Stanford University in the 1960s and 1970s using data from

Fortune 500 companies.

Strengths Weaknesses

Leadership Position Centralized Control –

Internal
Low Flexibility
Global Brand Strength

High Consumer churn

High Geographical reach
rates

Opportunities Threats
Expanding marketing Increased

boundaries Competition

Growth through 3G Market saturation in

42
 Strategic Alliances Europe

Emergencies of Low
External
cost Brands

SWOT ANALYSIS OF VODAFONE

Strengths:

The main strength of Vodafone within the telecommunications market lies in

its brand image and recognition. Vodafone, having established a global presence
and having invested highly in marketing a differentiated image by promoting a
Vodafone life style, currently enjoys a differentiating advantage that, if exploited
properly, can offer a lead in competition. The presence of Vodafone in numerous
countries within Europe as well as in all part of the world enhances this image. It
allows customers to travel and enjoy easily the services of their home country
operator. In the few countries that Vodafone is not physically present (e.g.
Norway) it has well established strategic alliances which allow for a better service
of mobile clients.

Weaknesses:

The expansion of Vodafone has been completed at the expense of direct control of
its operations. The company grew through a process of acquisitions of national
telecommunications companies (e.g. the acquisition of the third biggest Czech

43
mobile phone operator, Cesky mobile) rather than organic growth. This increased
its subscribers’ base quickly, offering direct market knowledge and immediate
additions of customer bases at the expense of direct effective control of the
subsidiaries. At the same time though, it implicitly imposed a centralized
operational structure for the group, nominating the UK headquarters as the leading
business unit running a much centralised marketing and handset procurement at
group level. This has resulted in the neglect of local markets and local differences,
allowing market share to be gained by smaller local competitors. Due to the highly
saturated Western European market this has resulted in an increase in the price
elasticity of demand, with consumers becoming continuously price oriented. This
has resulted in high customer churn rates reaching the level of 32.8% in the UK
compared to O2’s 24%.

Opportunities:

The telecommunications market, even though highly saturated in some regions

offers great potential due to the ageing population and the sophistication of the
consumers. It offers great opportunities through a careful market segmentation and
exploitation of particular profitable segments. Different strategies should be
pursued – simple phones and simplified pricing plans to the ageing population and
more updated, sophisticated solutions for younger generations. The expanding
Boundaries of the market could provide further opportunities by allowing
Vodafone to enter more aggressively into fixed‐line service and to better enjoy the
benefits of its high investment in 3G technology. Moreover the company has
undertaken its first steps in establishing strategic alliances to develop customized
solutions for end‐users: Vodafone recently announced two new partnerships, one
with supermarket group ASDA to launch an ASDA branded mobile service in the
UK, and another with electrical retailer DSG International to provide mobile

44
solutions to small businesses. This could further be enhanced to avoid being a late‐
entrant in this new method of distribution which offers access to a wide potential
customer base.

Threats:

The European part of Vodafone’s market is characterized by existing high levels of

competition. Major brands such as O2 and T‐Mobile are exploiting the price
sensitivity of customers and in this way they are building a stronger image and
presence in the market. Indirect competition is also increasing further, through the
presence of Skype and other related (not only voice) Internet‐based services. This
combined with the upcoming European legislative measures is expected to limit
further the tariffs for the network providers imposing further need for price cuts
which could harm the bottom line profitability of the company.

LIMITATION OF STUDY

Certain limitations do creep in a research study due to constraints of the time,

money and human efforts, the present study is also not free from certain
limitation, which were unavoidable. Although all effort were taken to make the

45
result of the work as accurate as possible as survey but the survey have following
constraints.

Here the researcher’s problems are:-

 A number of customers are not satisfied with services, new schemes and
offers.

 A number of customers are not satisfied with the network coverage.

 A number of customers are not satisfied with the current call rates of
Vodafone.

 A number of customers are not satisfied with the Free SMS schemes.

 A number of customers are not satisfied with the service of customer care
of Vodafone.

CHAPTER-4

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

46
 93% of the respondents are have a mobile phone while 7% of the
respondents do not have a mobile phone.

 100% of the respondents are aware about telecommunications services.

 16% of the respondents use Airtel, 6% respondents use Idea while 12%, 4%
and 2% respondents use Reliance, BSNL and Tata Indicom respectively.

 100% of respondents are aware about Vodafone Services.

 36% of the respondents are aware about Vodafone through Advertisements,

29% are aware because of Hoardings while 20% and 15% of the respondents
are aware because of Newspapers and Mouth Publicity respectively.

 39% of the respondents use Vodafone services from past more than 1 year
while the lowest is 14% respondents using Vodafone services less than 1
month.

 84% of the respondents use pre-paid services while only 16% of the
respondents use post-paid services.

 37% of the respondents use Vodafone for SMS services while only 14% of
the respondents use Vodafone for Value Added Services.

 87% of the respondent calls at customer care while 13% respondents do not
call at customer care.

 31% respondents respondents call customer care once a month while 16%
and 7% of respondents call once a week and daily respectively.

47
 CHAPTER-5

CONCLUSION

Follwing are the conclusion :

48
  From the above analysis the researcher concludes that major respondents are
dissatisfied with some of the major services like call rates, SMS rates and
new schemes & offers.
 Major respondents from all respondents use services of Vodafone.
 Major customers of Vodafone are old customers so many of the respondents
are satisfied with the services of Vodafone and thus they would like to
recommend Vodafone to others.
 Major respondents using Vodafone use pre-paid services compared to post-
paid services.
 Major respondents are youngsters so they need more SMS facilities and low
call rates, but Vodafone dissatisfies these age group (18-25) as their call rates
and SMS rates are much high.

CHAPTER-6

SUGGESTONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Following are some of the suggestions given by the researcher so that Vodafone
can serve people and its customers in an improved way:

49
  Vodafone should decrease call rates for local users.

 Vodafone should provide more offers to Post-Paid customers so that the

number of Post-Paid customers increase.

 Vodafone should bring introduce some new SMS schemes for the
youngsters.

 Vodafone should introduce more schemes and offers.

 Vodafone should provide more schemes and offers to its old customers.

 Vodafone should decrease call rates of STD and ISD.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS:

1-.Beri.G C, 2010, Marketing Research, Tata MC Graw Hill Education PVT. LTD,
ISBN- 13; 978-0-07-062022-3

50
2- Kotler.Philip,2013,Principle Of Marketing, Arrangement with Person Education
Inc. and Dorling Kindersley Publishing Inc. , ISBN- 978-81-317-1547-5

Websites:

 http://www.vodafone.com/start/media_relations/news/
local_press_releases/portugal/portugal_press_release/
vodafone_had_highest.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutch_(Indian_cellular_company)
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vodafone
 http://bora.nhh.no/bitstream/2330/1919/1/Saplitsa%202013.pdf
 www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?contentId=606658
 www.iimcal.ac.in/community/consclub/reports/telecom.pdf

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