Presented By

AIRTEL POSITIONING
AND
REPOSTIONING
Issue in the Case
 Airtel : the largest Cellular Company in India
 Reaching 600 million people in 16 states out of 29 states
 Having top-of-the –mind recall amongst cellular phone users
 Posted a revenue of Rs. 8.48 billion and net loss of Rs. 1 billion in
FY 2000-01
 Change of Tagline from “Touch Tomorrow” to “Live Every
Moment”
 Change of slogan to “Unlimited Freedom”
 Selection of A.R. Rehman for TVC to promote the brand – paying
Rs. 10 million
 Rehman composing five exclusive symphonies downloadable ring
tones for Airtel users
BACKGROUND
 Foundation by S.B. Mittal with small bicycle parts business in
1970
 Establishment of Bharati Telecom Limited (BTL) in 1985
 Technical collaboration:
 With Siemens AG for manufacturing of push button telephones
 With Takacom for manufacturing telephone answering machines
 Entry into telecom industry in early 1990s : Bharati Tele-
Venture
 Subsidiaries: Bharati Cellular Limited, Bharati Telnet Limited,
Bharati Telesonic Limited, Bharati Braodband Networks
Limited
 Telecom services offered: Fixed line, Cellular, VSAT, Internet
BACKGROUND
 Launching of post-paid cellular service in Delhi in Nov 1995
 First showroom “Airtel Connect” in Delhi in late 1995 – one stop
cellular shop
 Strategies adopted: innovative marketing strategy, continuous
technological upgradations, new value added services, efficient
customer services
 First company to provide
 Roaming Cellular services
 Value added services like Smart mail, fax, call waiting and
Information services
 Online e-commerce portal facility for online payment
 In late 1990s increased competition from International Player
like “Orange” and Domestic players – need for repositioning
aroused
In Premium category

 Airtel and other brands were positioned in the premium

category aimed at the elite sector of the society.
 The reason for this was the high tariff rates charged by
the government.
 So in order to cover this extra burden high call charges
was imposed on the customers.
 Rs. 16 per min for airtime and Rs. 1.20 per min for the
landline communication.
Leadership to Touch Tommorrow
 People viewed leader to work with the sub
ordinate rather than dominating.
 Survey showed it to be distant ,cold and efficient.It
had no emotional or humanized touch.
Touch Tomorrow to Live Every Moment:

 Wanted to build itself as younger brand having

international look.
 Wanted to reposition itself as brand with renewed
energy and heightened optimism.
 So, redesigned the logo with more younger look.
 The logo symbolized innovation, energy and
friendliness.