Group-I, Section-D, PGPBM

1.Arka Chatterji, 2.Subhradeep Das, 3.Rakeem Baig, 4.Arindam Das

Entered telecom business in 1985

& telecommunication in 1990

First company to install second Mobile

switching centre
Won Techies Award for four consecutive
years(1997-2002)

Launch cellular service in Delhi in

1992

The First in Asia to deploy the multi band

feature in a wireless network for efficient
usage of spectrum.

The First to deploy Voice Quality Enhancers

to improve voice quality and acoustics.
Acquired Skycell (TN), JT Mobile(AP
& Karnataka), Spice Cell(WB) in
2000 to expand business

History

The First telecom company in the world to

receive the ISO 9001:2000 certification from
British Standards Institute.

Credits

Largest pan-Indian cellular network

One of the five most valuable cellular operators in the world

Current Market Share

4547870, 2%
11924843, 4%

3437716, 1%

342896, 0%

1378471, 1%

26329804, 9%

69383716, 25%
109744, 0%

Airtel
Relaince

27194205, 10%

Vodafone Essar
BSNL
IDEA
37362897, 13%

Tata
49195098, 17%

Source: COAI, July 2008

Including CDMA & WLL

Aircel
50417955, 18%

Spice

Examine the circumstances in

which Bharti launched Airtel and
trace the brands initial days in the
backdrop of emerging cellular
market in India. In the light of
Leadership campaign, analyze
why Airtel & other cell phone
brands were seen as premium end
offerings.

Sunil Bharti Mittal laid the foundations of the New Delhi based Bharti group in 1970s
with a small bicycle part business

1985 Bharti group entered the telecom business by establishing Bharti Telecom Ltd.
and entered into technical collaboration with Siemens AG Germany for
manufacturing electronic pushbutton telephones.

Launched cellular service in Delhi in 1992, started offering post-paid

service from Nov,1995.

Started offering VAS such as Smart mail, Fax, Call hold, Call waiting etc.
and e-commerce portals to facilitate consumers.

In the initial days due to high tariff rates cellular players had to impose high call
charges on their customers and the handsets were costly.
Naturally, they targeted the elite, up market professionals and entrepreneurs as
customers . Airtel was positioned as an aspirational and lifestyle brand .
It was pitched not merely as a mobile service, but as something that gave
consumer a badge value. The Brand was developed to connote leadership in
network, innovations, offerings and services.
The taglines like "Airtel celebrates the spirit of leadership" and "The first choice
of the corporate leaders" emphasized that stance.
The Leadership campaign was reportedly successful and resulted in a marginal
improvement in Airtel performance.

Explain the reasons behind the

Leadership campaign being
replaced by the Touch Tomorrow
campaign. Also critically comment
on the companys decision to
replace Touch Tomorrow with
Live Every Moment.

Govt. reduced the tariffs and taxes

which led to the emergence of
huge customer base.

A brand was created that not only had

qualities like
Leadership, Performance, Dynamism
but also with supportive values like
courtesy, politeness and efficiency.

Other players also started imitating

strategies followed by Airtel, by
offering same type of schemes and
facilities

During late 1990s many national and

international players started entering
into the Indian telecom market.

In early 2000 it was observed through market surveys that

the concept of leadership was undergoing a transformation
resulting in it being a moderate success.

Hence Bharti decided to humanize the brand Airtel to gain

competitive advantage.
In august 2000 Bharti launched its new Touch Tomorrow
campaign which aimed at strengthening its relationship with
its customers and make the brand softer to cater a wide
variety of people across the society.
The Company adopted a three-tier brand architecture to
expanded its Touch Point network.

Special features like

music download
facility, SMS, permane
nt GPRS was
introduced at a
affordable price
Airtel logo during
Touch Tomorrow
days

Tier-I
Airtel

Tier-II
Basic Telephony

National Long
Distance Service

Broadband
Service

Mobile Service

Tier-III
Freenet

Long Distance

Tango-Internet mobile

Three-tier brand architecture

In 2002, Airtel again repositioned its brand with new tagline

Live Every Moment and changed its logo to create a brand
identity that had a younger international look and feel.
Airtel also replaced its three-tier brand architecture and
adopted a two-tier brand architecture where all wireless
products were placed under Airtel brand
. Airtel logo after repositioning to Live Every Moment
campaign

Do you think Bharti has not been

giving enough time for one
positioning plank to prove effective
before moving on to the next?
What are the merits and demerits
of frequently changing a brands
positioning?

Rationale
In telecom industry people live a brand 24X7 so the
possibilities of being tired by a continuous campaign is very
high
Brand restructuring helps the company to broaden its
customer base by reaching more people and offering new
services
Success
Airtel is the most recognizable brand in Indian operator
space, with 30.8% of respondents able to identify it as a
mobile brand unaided
A member of Forbes Asian Fabulous 50
Of 10 million new subscriber sign up every month one in
every 4 sign up with Airtel, not only to make calls but also to
access the Web, download cricket scores and send billions of
text messages

During 2004-2005 its increased its market share from 20.5% to

21.5%
Brand perception:

Can't Say
14%

Perception

Cool

28%

Cheap

9%

Technically

Creative

advanced

27%

22%
Source: IE Market Research Corp.-14th
Oct,3006, ID-IEMR1370648

Merits

Targeting different
segments of market
effectively
Reduce mental fatigue
towards the brand
Corporate level or
product offering
restructuring

Demerits

Huge promotional
costs which depends
upon the level of
change
Risk of being alienated
from loyal customers
If a new positioning
fails or not executed
properly brand may
suffer a crisis of
identity and dilution of
brand image

In the light of intensifying

competition in the Indian cellular
telephony market and the fact that
almost all players have began
focusing on the marketing
front, what should Bharti do to
ensure that it retains its market
leadership position.

Strategic
In 2003 ,Airtel changed its tagline once again and
the new tagline is Express Yourself. This
dynamism should be maintained in future to build
a more comprehensive and stronger brand.

More focus on emotional angle to differentiate the

brand
Airtel was the first cellular service provider to start
customer centers (Airtel connects), thus setting a
trend of effective and responsive CRM system & it
should be maintained.
Innovative and low priced schemes for attracting
mass

Low-priced and Youth oriented schemes

(e.g. Campus pack, Student pack) are to be
implemented more effectively.
Keeping the competition low by strategic
alliances and acquisitions.
Aggressive rural market penetration using
existing infrastructure and by implementing
innovative & focused schemes.
Promotion in regional languages to tap
rural market.

 Technical

Widening of the network coverage area

Increasing quality of service & interconnectivity
Innovative VAS such as e-recharge, recharge using
SMS
Advanced technology introduction such as 3G, Mcommerce (e.g. m-check, ATM recharge)
Promotion of Blackberry and other business
customer oriented services
Better use of internet and transforming it into a
direct communication channel