MKT 305- IMC Project Group: A Presented by:

Marwa Magdi Imam

Presented to: Dr. Omnia Zaazou

Company Background:

Vodafone
Vodafone Group is a global telecommunications company headquartered in Newbury, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second largest measured by subscribers (behind China Mobile) with 347 million proportionate subscribers as at 30 June 2010. It operates networks in 31 countries and has partner networks in a further 44 countries. It owns 45% of Verizon Wireless, the largest mobile telecommunications company in the United States measured by subscribers. The name Vodafone comes from voice data fone, chosen by the company to "reflect the provision of voice and data services over mobile phones". Vodafone Group Plc is the world's leading mobile telecommunications company, with a significant presence in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and the United States through the Company's subsidiary undertakings, joint ventures, associated undertakings and investments. Vodafone itself was formed in 1982 as a joint venture between Racal Electronics plc's subsidiaries Racal Strategic Radio Ltd (who won one of two UK cellular telephone network licenses) along with Millicom and the Hambros Technology Trust. The network was known as Racal Vodafone, with the Vodafone name being derived
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from the firm's goal of establishing a voice and data services over cellular telecommunication networks. Hence VO represented voice and DA symbolized data yielding the name Vodafone. In 1997 Vodafone introduced its new corporate Speechmark logo. This represents a quotation mark within a circle. With the 'O's in the Vodafone logotype being opening and closing quotation marks, suggesting conversation.

Vodafone's vision and mission Vision:

To be the world's mobile communications leader enriching customers' lives, helping individuals, businesses, and communities be more connected in a mobile world.

Mission:
Driving in a wireless world 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 services, research for improving operational efficiency and quality of our networks, and providing technology

vision and leadership that can contribute directly to business decisions.

History of Vodafone Egypt:

In November 1998, Vodafone Egypt network went live under the name ClickGSM. Vodafone Egypt is a total telecommunications provider, covering a wide array of voice and data exchange services, as well as 3G, ADSL and broadband Internet services. Launched in 1998, Vodafone Egypt supported by Vodafone Groups know-how and its own local market research provides innovative products perfectly suited for its customers. The leading Vodafone Egypt spirit and its ever broadening network have paved the way for numerous investment opportunities and world-class continuous customer support. Vodafone investments in Egypt are an evident reflection of its commitment to its civic involvement for a stronger market foothold, both on the short and long terms. When the Vodafone Egypt General Assembly voted in September 2006 in favor of the acquisition of 51% of Raya Telecom shares a telecom leader on its own right, the aim was to secure further expansion of corporate
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communication services, serving different Egyptian businesses and companies. A further acquisition of up to 97.52% of Raya Telecom shares followed after the ground-breaking success of the initial step. Later, Vodafone secured an even stronger market share when Telecom Egypt pushed for a major increase of its own Vodafone corporate share from 25.5% to 44.7% in a massive stock acquisition move. Today, Vodafone still owns a dominant 54.9% share of Vodafone Egypt and is cooperating very actively with the selective and powerful local team. The crowning event of this cooperation was the resounding and very successful introduction of 3G Broadband technology to the Vodafone Egypt network on May 11, 2007, enabling unprecedented visual communication, song downloads, and a variety of invaluable corporate services ranging from the Vodafone Mobile Connect Card, the USB modem, the Little Box for wireless internet services (Wi-Fi) for large corporations and businessmen and broadband internet access for individuals and corporations. Another giant step for Vodafone Egypt was its close matching of its own corporate policy with local government policy through the provision of job opportunities for young graduates, exporting high-tech products and the launch of its renowned call center in Egypt. The call center has leaped from success to success ever since its inception in 2006, particularly when

Vodafone Egypt signed call center contracts with Vodafone Australia, New Zealand and lately the UK to provide top-notch customer and technical support for customers in these countries. This international expansion further sealed the confidence of Vodafone Group in its Egyptian counterpart for the provision of call center services of world quality and standards, and its trust in the ever expanding possibilities of the Egyptian youth. Vodafone Egypt staff is now 6000-member strong and is proud to be serving more than 25.79 million customers (June 2010) all over Egypt. Its success relies on its superior network, privileged customer service, innovative products and a determined goal-based strategy. Vodafone Egypt is also proud to offer effective roaming communication supported by agreements with 564 partners in 188 countries spanning the world. Vodafone Egypt's current CEO is Hatem Dowidar Vodafone's biggest competitors are Mobinil, Etisalat, Telecom Egypt, TE data and Link ADSL.

Vodafone Egypts Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Vodafone Egypt is proud to be considered as leaders in CSR in Egypt. It aims to connect and develop the community and accelerate the advancement of Egypt.

Vodafone Egypt is one of the first corporate companies in Egypt to establish a department dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility activities. This reflects the commitment to Corporate Responsibility at the most senior level, and how it is embedded into our business here. The department was established in 2004 and has since then been engaged in philanthropic and community support projects. Vodafone Egypts Corporate Responsibility program covers a wide range of activities: Environmental issues (recycling, waste management, and network deployment) - Education development - Community support programs - Health support programs - Employment engagement programs to encourage a community spirit among our people

Situation Analysis: SWOT Analysis: Strengths:

Diversified geographical portfolio with strong telecommunications in Europe, The Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and to some extent the U.S.

Vodafone has a very strong brand name and a very reputable company. Vodafone has the largest number of retail stores around Egypt. Vodafone has a very qualified team of employees, i.e. strong human resources and very qualified managers managing the company. Network infrastructure Excellent customer service

Weaknesses:
Vodafone's coverage is weak to some extent. Vodafone's T.V. ad's are not as effective as they're supposed to be.

Opportunities:
Focus on cost reductions to increase returns. Opening more Vodafone stores in Egypt. Research and development of new mobile technologies. Growth through 3G technology
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Threats:
Increased Competition: Mobinil has planted under ground wires to improve coverage which makes Vodafone's coverage weaker. Etisalat's internet USB modem is cheaper and has enhanced connection to the internet. Etisalat also launches cheaper products and services.

PEST Analysis: Political factors:

Vodafone is generally subject to regulations governing the operation of its business activities. Such regulations
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typically take the form of industry specific laws and regulations covering telecommunications services and general competition (antitrust) laws applicable to all activities. Vodafone Egypt was its close matching of its own corporate policy with local government policy through the provision of job opportunities for young graduates

Economic factors:
The economic conditions may hugely affect Vodafone for example if there is a high unemployment rate it would affect the number of employees Vodafone wants to hire and this is why they hired an outsourcing company. Also if there is a high illiteracy rate it will also affect the quality of human resources.

Social factors:
Also the Social factors have a big effect on Vodafone, the lifestyle, even the advertisements are based on the social and cultural factors of each country, for example the

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advertisements of Ramadan and the feast in Egypt and the Dog impersonating Vodafone in India. The use of the telecommunications industry technology is now part of the life style and the 3g technology like surfing the internet from your phone in the younger generations.

Technological factors:
Research and development (R&D) is a driving force behind economic growth, job creation, innovation of new products, and increasing quality of products. The R&D has a great impact on Vodafone's revenue's for example the type of product's sold in Vodafone stores like i-phone and blackberry phone all the 3G technology, the ipad and the laptops and all the new technological products has a great impact on Vodafone.

Consumer analysis

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The Company's target market: Vodafone targets the A, B & C class, but each class is served different types of products according to their class category. For the A class & the business class Vodafone serves them the platinum and gold lines also the blackberry phones in the stores which targets the business men so that they can check their e-mails on spot. Also the roaming and international calls target the business and A class. As for the B class and the youth Vodafone targets them with the different products in the stores like the phones and the normal lines that are recharged by scratch card. Also the C class are targeted by selling them the cheap phones and the lines that are recharged by for example the 10 pounds scratch card. Vodafone also base the segmentation on lifestyle, age, usage rate and gender. Age: They have Vodafone booths in many Universities selling scratch cards, Internet USB modems and flash sticks for students. Also the lifestyle like people who are surfing the internet through their phones or laptops or talking on the phone also the blackberry community and the BBM. Also the Usage rate by giving free minutes to customers they are likely to increase the usage rate to make benefit from the free minutes and free SMS. And finally the gender where they sell USB modems and phones with

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different colors like pink to appeal to girls and green & blue to appeal to boys. Vodafone always gives value to their customers & they always care about serving their customers in the best way. Vodafone gives incentives and bonuses to their customers, and the Vodafone points that they use to give their customers products for free is a way for them to maintain their current customers and keep them satisfied.

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Questionnaire
We conducted a questionnaire for Vodafone Egypt to measure how much people are aware of the IMC program of the company. We distributed this questionnaire to 40 samples consisting of youth and elders. These are the questions that we included and their analysis:

1. What do you think of Vodafone's advertising campaign consisting of the puppets last Ramadan and feast? Like Dislike Haven't seen the Ad

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3%

40%

Like Dislike 57% Haven't seen the Ad

57% of the sample we interviewed liked the T.V. ad, but 40% didn't like it, 57% is a good percentage but Vodafone should also try to change the advertisements to appeal to more consumers. 2. Do you remember the Ad's jingle? Yes No

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25%

Yes No

75%

75% of our sample actually do remember the ad's jingle, which is a good indicator that the jingle was associated with the consumer's minds and they can remember Vodafone whenever they listen to the jingle.

3. Are you aware of Vodafone's publicity and public relations activities, like concert & event sponsorships and charity? Yes

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 No

15%

Yes No

85%

85% actually are aware of Vodafone's public relations activities which means that Vodafone is doing a very good job in advertising their activities, while only 15% weren't aware.

4. Do you use any of the online services offered by Vodafone Egypt via the internet (pay online or buy online)?
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 Yes No

35%

Yes No

65%

Only 35% of the sample we interviewed actually use the online services offered, while 65% prefer to actually go to the store to pay or buy.

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4. Do you use the promotions that Vodafone Egypt offers? Yes No

15%

Yes No

85%

85% of the sample use Vodafone's promotions while only 15% don't.

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5. Did you ever receive any direct mails or SMS from Vodafone? Yes No

20%

Yes No

80%

80% of the sample do receive direct mail and SMS from Vodafone while 20% don't.

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6. Are you satisfied with Vodafone's network coverage? 1) Extremely satisfied 4) Dissatisfied 2) Satisfied 3) Neutral

5) Extremely dissatisfied

8% 12% 30% Extrem ely Satisfied Satisfied Neutral 20% Dissatisfied Extrem ely Dissatisfied 30%

The rating of satisfaction of Vodafone's coverage was good where 30% were extremely satisfied, 30% were satisfied, 20% were neutral, 12% were dissatisfied and 8% were extremely dissatisfied.

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7. Vodafone's services have reasonable prices? (Rate) 1) Strongly disagree Neither agree or disagree Strongly agree 2) Disagree 4) Agree 3) 5)

Colum n1

10%

7% 13% Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree or disagree Agree Strongly agree

35%

15%

The rating of customers to Vodafone's prices was also rated good where 35% agree about reasonable prices, 10% strongly agree, 15% were neutral, 13% disagree and 7% strongly disagree.

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Expert Interview
We conducted an interview with the marketing executive of Vodafone, Mr. John Girguis. We asked him the following questions. 1) How much do you spend on advertising? Sorry, I can't inform you about this information because it's confidential. 2) Do you have an agency or an in house advertising department? He said that Vodafone has an advertising agency not an in-house advertising department. 3) Where do you advertise and what are your advertising types? We use all the media vehicles like T.V ads, radio ads, billboards, internet, magazines and news papers. There are two types of advertising that Vodafone uses which are: Above the line advertising: which are the seen advertisements like T.V. ads, news papers, radio, billboards, and magazines. Below the line advertising: which refers to the advertisements that are not actually seen for example SMS, facebook fan page and advertisements on websites.
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4) Who are your main competitors? Our main competitors are Mobinil, Etisalat, Telecom Egypt, TE data and Link ADSL. Mobinil was the market leader with highest market share, but in the last statistical analysis made in September 2010 Vodafone became the market leader with the highest market share and the highest revenues of all the three companies. Then comes Mobinil in the second place and in the third place comes Etisalat. The number of subscribers & market share: Vodafone: 27, 595,872 million subscribers, 44.47% Mobinil: 27,295,872 million subscribers, 43.98% Etisalat: 7,172,229 million subscribers, 11.55% 5) What's the brand image of the company in the eyes of consumers? Consumers perceive us as a strong brand image as it is a multinational company which makes it more prestigious in the consumer's eyes.

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Vodafone Egypt's IMC program

Vodafone Egypt implements the IMC program as follows:

1. Advertising
Vodafone advertises in mass media such as T.V channels like El Hayat, El Mehwer, Rotana, MBC, Dream, Melody, NTN, and Channel 1 & 2. It also advertises on the Radio Channels such as, "Nogoom F.M", "El Shark El Awsat", "Nile F.M.", "Radio Masr", "Ezaet El Aghany", "Radio Hits" and "Mega FM". It also publishes ads in newspapers such as, "EL Ahram", "El Akhbar", "El Masry el Youm" and magazines such as "kelmetna" and "Teen stuff". Vodafone also advertises on billboards around many of the Egyptian streets such as the Mehwar road, the Ring road, 6th of October bridge, also in Mohandeseen, Maadi, Nasr city etc
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2. Direct Marketing
Vodafone uses direct marketing through attaching direct response numbers which are toll free to its ads at the end for their customers to get more information. Vodafone sends catalogues by mail, it has a strong data base management, it also has telemarketing where Vodafone employees call their customers to inform them about new promotions, and also direct response ads through the internet. Vodafone also sends SMS's to their customers to inform them about promotions.

3. Internet/Interactive marketing
Vodafone publishes its ads on Facebook, yahoo, hotmail and msn. It also allows customers to pay their bills and know their balances through the internet; they can also purchase some products and services online and receive information about new promotions. You can also recharge your cell phone online.

4. Sales promotion
Vodafone offers free texts and free minutes in occasions like Ramadan, Feast and Valentines Day.
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Enjoy 1500 free SMS to all Vodafone numbers With the Free 1500 SMSs *offer send FREE SMSs to any Vodafone number every day subscribe for only 4LE. OR Enjoy 500 free SMS to all Vodafone numbers With the Free 500 SMS's offer send FREE SMSs to any Vodafone number every day subscribe for only 2 LE

Now, all Thanaweya Amma and University students will enjoy free Vodafone lines and offers. All you need to do is show your seat number together with your national ID or your parents ID or shows your University ID together with your national ID In any of Vodafone stores or in the Nile Kiosks. You will also enjoy: Free subscription to the free SMS Service for 3

months

Now and only with Vodafone, enjoy the best BlackBerry prices for all the colors. You can pay on installments* and also youll get a Vodafone line with a free golden number.

5. Public Relations
Sponsorships

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When it comes to sponsoring sports, for Vodafone it's not just a game, it's an investment. We believe in investing in tomorrow's athletes across many sports and look for ways to socially invest in the communities where we work, live and operate. Sports bring us together, it's a huge part of Egypt's national identity. The Egyptian society thrives on the excitement and patriotism that is clearly demonstrated in any Egyptian sport. El Ahly Vodafone is proud to be the official partner of the Club of the Century, El Ahly Club. Vodafones partnership with El Ahlys football team began in 2002. In 2005, Vodafone went beyond football and took on El Ahly teams for nine other sports. Team sports include basketball, handball, and volleyball, while individual games include gymnastics, track and field, tennis, table tennis, karate and swimming. Last year, Vodafone has extended the partnership by sponsoring El Ahly centennial celebration. Founded in 1907, El Ahly is one of the oldest clubs in Egypt, with a fan base of over 40 million Egyptians. Their football team is considered one of the strongest in Egypt, having won the Egyptian League 35 times and the Egyptian Cup 35 times, and was named Club of the Century by the Confederation of African Football in 2000. Finally, Egypt grabbed the third position of the FIFA Club World Cup Japan 2006.

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Formula 1 What is the secret behind peoples love for Formula 1? And what makes the racers themselves fall in love with the ultimate speed? There is no answer but its magic. Formula 1 is known to be the greatest and oldest car race in the world; it consists of 18 races per year. It entered a new era after establishing a new international circuit race at Bahrain. The sponsorship demonstrates Vodafones ongoing commitment to the Formula 1 World Championship, a sport which continues to deliver massive global television coverage and which has significant appeal for Vodafones consumer and business customers around the world. As Title Sponsor and Official Mobile Partner Vodafone Mclaren Mercedes team, Vodafone is raising its association with Formula 1 to the ultimate level. Vodafone also sponsors a lot of concerts and events such as Andrea Bocceli concert and many concerts in the opera. They also perform very well on the social charity work such as starting a fundraiser for street children and also they sponsored huge project which is building the 100 schools in Egypt. Moreover they hosted Mohamed Mounir to sing for sick children in "57357" hospital.

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6. Personal Selling
Vodafone really cares about their customers and always tries to fulfill their needs. In Vodafone retail stores the retail representatives always try to help consumers figure out what they need and provide them with the best service possible. They are always friendly with the customers and solve their problems even if the customers were angry. Vodafone also uses the electronic service to measure satisfaction of their customers especially the premium customers.

From our perspective after interviewing the expert and conducting the questionnaire we gave the

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following weights about how Vodafone distributes the use among the IMC tools:

Vodafone'sIMCTools
Advertising Sales Prom otion 10% 5% 40% Public Relations Personal Selling Internet Marketing Direct Marketing

20%

10% 15%

40% for advertising 10% for direct marketing 10% for internet marketing 20% for sales promotion 15% for public relations 5% for personal selling

Recommendations
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To improve the satisfaction of customers so that Vodafone attracts more customers and maintains the relationship between their current customers. Here are some recommendations that the company may apply so that it keeps succeeding and excelling. Vodafone should try to improve its coverage especially in the remote areas outside Cairo where the coverage is really weak, especially when Mobinil planted wires to enhance the coverage which can be a threat to Vodafone. Vodafone should also come up with new advertising ideas for their T.V. ads that are more effective to their customers and in turn can result in an increase in their sales, especially when they used the same ads with the puppets in 2 consecutive years of Ramadan. Vodafone should also try to decrease the waiting lines in their retail stores for customers to become more satisfied. Vodafone can also emphasize the use of the online services offered by making customers more aware of the benefits of doing so and that it saves a lot of time.

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