Pricing Strategies

People from different areas contribute their expertise to set the most strategic price for a product. Accountants, financial managers and sales representatives provide relevant cost data. Designers, engineers contribute important data as well.

Prices are determined by the basic ways: By applying the concepts of supply and demand. Completing cost-oriented analyses.

Economic theory assumes that a market price will be set at the point where the amount demanded and the amounts supplied are equal.

Cost based Pricing

Practice of adding a percentage of specific amounts to the base cost of a product to cover overhead costs and generate profits. Cost based Pricing totals all costs associated with offering a product in the market, including research and development, production, transportation and marketing expenses.
Breakeven Analysis

Pricing technique used for determining minimum sales volume a product must generate at a certain price level to cover all costs. Involves different types of costs and total revenues. Helps to determine profits/losses that would result from several proposed prices. Calculations of required sales can be compared by the Marketers. The comparison can identify the best price, one that may exceed the breakeven point and earn profits for the company. Banglalink joined the cell-phone Market a year ago. According to their plans and strategies: they have a goal of reaching the breakeven point within a few years. Al the present, they are concentrating on increasing and holding their subscribers which may cause a slow rate of progress in reaching the breakeven point.

Alternative Pricing Strategies

Skimming Pricing

Skimming Pricing is the setting of an intentionally high price relative to the prices of completing products. It may outline the firms high-end product from those of competitors as well. Skimming pricing is often used to recover a companys product development costs before competitors are introduced in the market.

Among the huge market of prepaid users, the Upper-Class Post Paid competes completely in different consumers. This certain type of offer differentiates itself relative to the other competing products of the same companys market.
Penetration Pricing

Penetration pricing is the setting low prices in products and services as a major marketing weapon. This strategy helps marketers to increase the product prices after the product earns certain recognition among the consumers. Banglalink introduced a Package, offering a basic Handset as well as a talk-time of 1800tk at the companys very starting, where the total cost of the package was less the market price of the handset alone. The offer helped the company to make a very early impact among the consumers because of its unique offer.
Everyday Low Pricing and Discount Pricing

Strategy devoted to maintain continuous low prices rather short-term price-cuttings. As the mobile phone companies run their prices on rather different ranges of time-slots, Banglalink offers least in average pricing of their services compared to the other rival companies. The company is also continuing its efforts on reducing prices of their current offers until a steady, low priced strategy is achieved.
Competitive Pricing

To reduce the emphasis on price competition by matching other firms prices and concentrating their own marketing efforts on the product, distribution and promotional elements. Banglalink is among the first mobile companies to offer a different taste in telephone conversation by introducing voice conferencing. Banglalink identified the deficit of a service that is neither too cheap not too expensive, and invocated a business offer named Call & Control Standard. This particular package includes many of the offers from the actual post-paid package to attract the customers but at a more standard price. Another attraction of this offer is that, the SIM card never deactivates even if its not used for a long time.

Price-Quality Relationships
The consumers perception of product quality is closely related to the price of the item. That is, a product may be expected to be valuable if its price is labeled in a higher price. Extreme prices are considered as too expensive or too cheap.

One of the up-coming products of Banglalink; will be offering mobile-to-mobile cell phone connections at only fifty taka per SIM card. The company has already planned to pay a percentage on those connections, and also aware of making the offer short-termed.

Certain priorities of the consumers.

Banglalink has taken initiatives for developing the ideas of consumers to prefer their company over their rivals by repetitive advertisements
Odd pricing

Odd pricing is the strategy of setting prices in different ways, for giving a general idea of the price to be less; where the price of the product may not actually be so. Banglalink uses pricing charts in half minute pulse in most ads, where the general idea of pulse still remains in minutes. Among many of the prices set by this particular company, odd pricing can be found from text messaging prices to call charges.

Promotion
Advertising media
Banglalink became a leader in terms of its advertising quality and setting very high standards for competition and others. To campaign their product most effectively. banglalink uses combination of different media to reach the highest percentage of the customers the combination would include : Print media Television

Print media
It is the habit of our people to go through some kind of newspapers or magazines and Banglalinks eye catching newspaper ads has attracted a lot of customers for the company

Television
The corporate TV commercial of din bodol based on the theme making a difference in peoples loves. touched everyone throughout the country and was adjudged the best TVC of the year according to the leading dailies of the country like Prothom Alo and New Age. This TV Commercial has become a matter of national pride for Bangladesh as it has been nominated for the best TV Advertisement of the year with 4 other international television commercials at the GSMA Award 2007. GSMA Award is considered to be the Oscar of mobile industry.

Billboards
Billboards are the cheapest and easiest way to catch the attention of the moving people of the city. The billboards of Banglalink are hung beside the busiest of roads and streets of the city where people travel frequently such as Gulshan, Banani, Dhanmondi, uttara etc.

Transit Advertising
One of the most popular ways of advertising today is transit advertising, which are the ads on body of the big buses as majority of the people of the country uses them for traveling.

Health link
They provide 24 hours health link service or telemedicine for Banglalink customers by dialing 789.

Other Promotional Activities

Banglalink continues to play an active role in the area of corporate social responsibility. Banglalink has given Dhaka International Airport-the gateway of Bangladesh a completely new look. Provision of high quality passenger trolleys, phone booths, emergency charging station and beautification of the premises is an exemplary initiative which no other multinational has taken. Banglalink also contributed to an important tiger conservation project in the Sundarbans, and continues to support the Coxs bazar beach cleaning program.