MINOR PROJECT REPORT

ON
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY OF AIRTEL
Submitted in the partial fulfillment of degree of Bachelor of Commerce (2019-2022)

Under the guidance of

Mr.Kawaljeet Singh
(Assistant Professor , FIMT)

Sumitted by :
Simran Bhutani
Enrollment no :- 02851488819
B.Com(Hons) 2nd Semester

Fairfield Institution Of Management and Technology

Affiliated to
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University , New Delhi - 110037
 Student Declaration
I hereby declare that the project entitled “ Promotional Strategy Of Airtel “ under the
guidance of Mr. Kawaljeet Singh submitted in the partial fulfillment of degree of Bachelor
of commerce from Fairfield Institute Of Management and Technology affiliated from
GGSIPU New Delhi . This is my original work and this projet work has not formed the basis
for the award of any degree to the best of my knowledge .

Name – Simran Bhutani

Enrolment no – 02851488819
Place – Gurgram
 Certificate
This is to certify that the project entitled “Promotional Strategy Of Airtel”is the original
work of Simran Bhutani of Bachelor of commerce , 2nd semester and has duly completed
under my guidance and supervision .

This work has been done in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the
degree of B. COM (HONS) from Fairfield Institution of Management and Technology
affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University , Delhi and has not been submitted
in anywhere in any other University for the award of any degree to the best of my
knowledge.

Signature of the Guide

(Mr. Kawaljeet Singh )

Assistant Professor

FIMT , Kapashers , New Delhi

 AKNOWLEDGMENT
It is pleasure to acknowledge many people who knowingly and unwittingly helped me to
complete my project . First of all let me praise God for all the blessings , which carried me
through all those years .

I offer my sincere thanks and humble regards to Fairfield Institution Of Management and
Technology , GGSIP , New Delhi for imparting us very valuable professional training in
B.COM(hons).
I pay my gratitude and sincere regards to Mr.Kawaljeet Singh my project guide for giving me
the best of his knowledge. I am thankful to him as he has been a constant source of advice,
motivation and inspiration. I am thankful to him for giving his suggestions and encouragement
throughout the project work.

Last but not the least , I am grateful to my parents, my siblings, my friends and all well wishers
for their moral support and encouragement during the entire period of time .

SIMRAN BHUTANI
 TABLE OF CONTENT
Chapter : 1 – THE INTORDUCTION
1.1 Introduction to Airtel
1.2 Objectives of the study
1.3 Scope of study
1.4 Competetiors
1.5 History of Airtel

Chapter : 2- LITRATURE REVIEW

2.1 Analysis of company
2.2 Price War
2.3 Reason of Price War
2.4 Impact of price war on:
a) customers
b) product
Chapter : 3 – RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Primary data analysis
3.2 Secondary data analysis

Chapter : 4 – PRMOTIONAL STRATEGY OF AIRTEL

4.1 6Ps :
a) Place
b) Product
c) Price
d) Promotion
e) Process
f) People

CHAPTER : 5 – DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDING

5.1 Income statement analysis
5.2 Balance Sheet analysis
5.3 Cash Flow analysis
5.4 Current Valuation of Airtel
CHAPTER : 6 - CONCLUSION AND SUMMARY
6.1 Conlusion
6.2 Summary

CHAPTER : 7 - REFERENCE

7.1 Book links

7.2 Web links

CHAPTER : 8 - QUESTIONNAIRE
 CHAPTER – 1
INTRODUCTION
 INTRODUCTION
Bharti Airtel Limited, also known as Airtel, is an Indian global telecommunications services
company based in Delhi, India. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa, and
also in the Channel Islands. Airtel provides GSM, 3G, 4G LTE, 4G+ mobile services, fixed line
broadband and voice services depending upon the country of op] eration. Airtel had also
rolled out its VoLTE technology across all Indian telecom circles.It is the third largest mobile
network operator in India and the second largest mobile network operator in the
world with over 411.42 million subscribers.
Airtel was named India's 2nd most valuable brand in the first ever Brandz ranking
by Millward Brown and WPP plc.
Airtel is credited with pioneering the business strategy of outsourcing all of its business
operations except marketing, sales and finance and building the 'minutes factory' model of
low cost and high volumes. The strategy has since been adopted by several
operators.[10] Airtel's equipment is provided and maintained by Ericsson, Huawei, and Nokia
Networks[11] whereas IT support is provided by Amdocs. The transmission towers are
maintained by subsidiaries and joint venture companies of Bharti including Bharti
Infratel and Indus Towers in India. Ericsson agreed for the first time to be paid by the
minute for installation and maintenance of their equipment rather than being paid up
front, which allowed Airtel to provide low call rates of ₹1 (1.4¢ US)/minute.
 HISTORY
In 1984, Sunil Mittal started assembling push-button phones in India, which he
earlier used to import from a Taiwan company, Kingtel, replacing the old
fashioned, bulky rotary phones that were in use in the country then. Bharti
Telecom Limited (BTL) was incorporated and entered into a technical tie up with
Siemens AG of Germany for manufacture of electronic push button phones. By
the early 1990s, Bharti was making fax machines, cordless phones and other
telecom gear. He named his first push-button phones as 'Mitbrau'.
 In 1992, he successfully bid for one of the four mobile phone network licences
auctioned in India. One of the conditions for the Delhi cellular license was that the
bidder have some experience as a telecom operator. So, Mittal clinched a deal with
the French telecom group Vivendi. He was one of the first Indian entrepreneurs to
identify the mobile telecom business as a major growth area.

 His plans were finally approved by the Government in 1994 and he launched
services in Delhi in 1995, when Bharti Cellular Limited (BCL) was formed to offer
cellular services under the brand name AirTel. Within a few years Bharti became
the first telecom company to cross the 2 million mobile subscriber mark. Bharti also
brought down the STD/ISD cellular rates in India under brand name 'Indiaone'.
 In 1999, Bharti Enterprises acquired control of JT Holdings, and extended cellular
operations to Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In 2000, Bharti acquired control of
Skycell Communications, in Chennai.

 In 2001, the company acquired control of Spice Cell in Calcutta. Bharti

Enterprises went public in 2002, and the company was listed on Bombay Stock
Exchange and National Stock Exchange of India.

 In 2003, the cellular phone operations were re-branded under the single Airtel
brand. In 2004, Bharti acquired control of Hexacom and entered Rajasthan. In
2005, Bharti extended its network to Andaman and Nicobar. This expansion
allowed it to offer voice services all across India.
 Airtel launched "Hello Tunes", a caller ring back tone service (CRBT), in July
2004 becoming the first operator in India to do so. The Airtel theme song,
composed by A.R. Rahman, was the most popular tune in that year.
 In May 2008, it emerged that Airtel was exploring the possibility of buying
the MTN Group, a South Africa-based telecommunications company with
coverage in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East.
The Financial Times reported that Bharti was considering offering US$45 billion
for a 100% stake in MTN, which would be the largest overseas acquisition ever by
an Indian firm. However, both sides emphasise the tentative nature of the talks,
while The Economist magazine noted, "If anything, Bharti would be marrying up,"
as MTN has more subscribers, higher revenues and broader geographic coverage.

In May 2009, Bharti Airtel again confirmed that it was in talks with MTN and the
companies agreed to discuss the potential transaction exclusively by 31 July 2009.
Talks eventually ended without agreement, some sources stating that this was due
to opposition from the South African government.

 In 2009, Bharti negotiated for its strategic partner Alcatel-Lucent to manage

the network infrastructure for the fixed line business. Later, Bharti Airtel awarded
the three-year contract to Alcatel-Lucent for setting up an Internet
Protocol access network across the country. This would help consumers access
internet at faster speed and high quality internet browsing on mobile handsets.

 In 2009, Airtel launched its first international mobile network in Sri Lanka.
 In June 2010, Bhartil acquired the African business of Zain Telecom for $10.7
billion making it the largest ever acquisition by an Indian telecom firm.
 In 2012, Bharti tied up with Wal-Mart, the US retail giant, to start a number of
retail stores across India. In 2014, Bharti planned to acquire Loop Mobile for ₹7
billion (US$98 million), but the deal was called off later.

On 18 November 2010, Airtel rebranded itself in India in the first phase of a
global rebranding strategy. The company unveiled a new logo with 'airtel' written
in lower case. Designed by London-based brand agency, The Brand Union, the
new logo is the letter 'a' in lowercase, with 'airtel' written in lowercase under the
logo.On 23 November 2010, Airtel's Africa operations were rebranded to 'airtel'.
Sri Lanka followed on 28 November 2010 and on 20 December 2010, Warid
Telecom rebranded to 'airtel' in Bangladesh.
Bharti Airtel's competitors
Name Last Price Market Cap. Sales Net Profit Total Assets
(Rs. cr.) Turnover

Bharti Airtel 488.70 266,613.09 49,608.00 -1,829.00 182,149.20

Vodafone
3.30 9,482.68 36,858.80 -14,056.00 172,028.10
Idea

MTNL 7.00 441.00 1,987.80 -3,390.20 9,357.57

TataTeleserv
2.00 390.99 1,277.20 -667.60 -2,180.40
ice
Reliance
0.70 193.59 1,379.00 2,847.00 40,721.00
Comm
Accord
Synergy
12.75 4.43 77.54 3.34 26.78
Competitive Situation:

Airtel had its forces before Essar and floated the market picking up the
vastness of the high usage premium clients is in very determined diligence
with two companies differentiating either on value-added service or price.

 Airtel is an invented as the high class provider and has a premium

likeness. Essar, on the other hand, is professed as the lower end service
provider.

Airtel positions itself as the market head on the basis of the number of
subscribers. Essar is trying arguing against emphasising each of its networks
and the quality of its service.

To persuade themselves, both the players have been charge on strategic
advertising. However, they have controlled from using comparative
advertising hoardings have been a very admired medium for carrying the
advertisements Airtel has also been advertising on television using the
Bharti Telecom name.
 Competitive advantage in the Marketing strategy
of Airtel –
With the formation of Indus tower & partnering with Idea & Vodafone for
Indian Operations, Airtel has extended its infrastructure in the extreme parts of the
country for nationwide penetration, creating competitive edge over other players in
terms of low operational cost, better network connectivity, coverage, low call drops
& better customer service.

Airtel developed a sustainable advantage through its excellent network of telecom

towers. In many locations, newer entrants found it cheaper to rent Airtel’s
existing infrastructure rather than setup new towers.Also spending extensively on
advertising & promotions helped it to become a market leader. Word of mouth is one
of the strongest forms of promotions & Airtel has completely leveraged that. Airtel is
always known for its innovation and some of its products were thelifetime prepaid,
Airtel live, Hello tunes, My Plans, M-check are pioneer strategies & the list is never
ending.
 Distribution strategy in the Marketing strategy
of Airtel –
It has wide spread simple and effective channel structure. Company uses 2-Tier & 3-
tier distribution network system.
Under 2-tier distribution network, company appoints UD (urban distributors) & RS
(Rural Suplliers). UD distribute the items to retailers according to the demand &
transfer easy balance to retailer through FOS (Field officer Sales) SIM who work
under UD’s.
Under 3-tier distribution RS (rural supers) distributes the items to RD (Rural
Distributors) & transfer easy balance into RD’s SIM, who then distribute it to
Retailers.
Apart from all these company also uses Airtel Relationship centres under
franchised model & company officials for corporate sales.
Brand equity in the Marketing strategy of Airtel –
High TOMA (Top of mind awareness), ARPU (average revenue per user), and
extensive distribution system & as high as 300+ million subscribers has helped Airtel
in crafting market leader position for itself over the years. Also Airtel has shifted
from a technological brand to a communication brand through its continuous
evolving branding & marketing efforts. It has rechristened its logo to make it more of
international, young & Energetic brand.

Competitive analysis in the Marketing strategy

of Airtel–
Being the torchbearer of the telecom industry in India it has reshaped the telecom
industry over the years. From tele-density of just 18.3 % in FY’07 to 75.2 FY’14 (DOT
data), industry has seen a high growth momentum. Reliance which initially targeted
the B & C customer segments, lost its market share to new & existing players like
Idea, Vodafone, Tata-Docomo, and BSNL etc. due to Network & customer service
issue. In wireless data services players like MTS, TATA Indicom have high market
share in the selected circles whereas Airtel is still figuring out to establish itself due
to High data charges.
Market analysis in the Marketing strategy of Airtel –
In the highly competitive telecom market where each company is trying hard to
retain their customers & increase ARPU (Average return per user), Airtel is facing stiff
competition from small & local players like Uninor, Aircelwho are present in few
circles. Also players like Vodafone who are fighting head on to emerge as a market
leader possess a serious threat to the company.
Connectivity, data services & VAS(Value added services) will be the driving force of
the telecom industry.

Customer analysis in the Marketing strategy

of Airtel –
Customers group consist of all 3 segments A, B & C with their distinctive needs but
majorly it is targeting B segment which is Middle class with aspirational needs & is
the fastest growing segment. To cater the corporates clients & A-class they have
dedicated workforce. Airtel deals in both B2C & B2B customers.
OBJECTIVES
To know the customer opinion about tariff rates of Airtel

To know the brand loyalty of Airtel

To know the influencing factors of Airtel

To know the market share of the Airtel

To know the sources of awareness for the customers

To identify the customers satisfaction level regarding the advertisement of

Airtel.

To find out the right media for advertising of Airtel in the view of
customers.

To know the impact of advertisement on customers and on sales .

Scope Of Study
The study is aimed at analyzing the current scenario of Airtel and its promotional strategies .
It also traces its genesis in the Indian market and it aimed at enlightening the company
about different steps to be taken up to increase the share of airtel in regard to other
competitors and also to make company to provide better customer services .
CHAPTER – 2
REVIEW
OF
LITERATURE
Literature review
Price war has a definite impact on the quality of products and this affects the
customer’s behaviour towards any services of telecommunications.

Gap analysis: Previous journals do not specify in detail about the impact of price war
on quality of products. Moreover, it is also essential to understand customers’ perception
towards price war. This price war affects the productivity of the company and this was not
discussed in detail in the previous journals. Therefore, this study will detail about price war
and its impact of products quality as well as customers dissatisfaction in case of BAL.

Concept of price wars: Price war occurs among Indian market in order to grab the
market and attract customers in order to avail their services. It has also been seen that many
companies try to reduce their pricing range of their products in order to attract customers.
This overall increases the productivity of the companies. Furthermore, Kumar (2017)
commented that price war affects customer’s perception regarding any products. Kushwah &
Bhargav (2014) argued and commented that these price wars are one of the most severe
forms of interplay that occurs within the market. This affects the productivity as well as
profitability of the companies. It has been seen that various companies suffer huge losses due
to this price wars. George et al. (2016) opined that many companies might even face
bankruptcy and suffer from lower quality of products due to this price war. Mujawar & Bodade
(2016) commented that in case of telecommunication industry, Jio started providing its
consumers free call and internet facilities in order to occupy a position in Indian market.
Therefore, this affected the overall product quality and market price. Furthermore, it
has also been seen that in this case, customers get dissatisfied on receiving lower
quality of products and therefore, it is essential to understand the impact of a price
war on the quality of products (Kotabe & Kothari, 2016). Pricing is one of the most
essential criteria that affect the product quality and therefore, it is essential to
understand the impact of this price war on products quality.

This research study will shed light on understanding and analysing the impact of
price war on product quality and dissatisfaction of customers.

Furthermore, it has also been seen that in this case, customers get dissatisfied on
receiving lower quality of products and therefore, it is essential to understand the
impact of a price war on the quality of products (Kotabe & Kothari, 2016). Pricing is
one of the most essential criteria that affect the product quality and therefore, it is
essential to understand the impact of this price war on products quality.

This research study will shed light on understanding and analysing the impact of
price war on product quality and dissatisfaction of customers.
However, this affected other telecommunication companies like Bharti Airtel Limited. They
also started giving its consumer products and services like internet and calling facility
however, they fail to grab the attention of their customers (IEEE, 2018). Therefore, it can be
said that this price wars effectively affects the quality of the products and this affected the
overall profitability if the companies.

Reasons behind price war: One of the main reasons behind this price war is to
attract customers and to increase market share. Yadav, Tiwari & Divekar (2015) commented
that many companies try to give discounts and reduce their pricing range of products in order
to attract customers. These companies believe that reducing the pricing range would attract
customers and this would increase the productivity. Gautam (2015) opined that over-
competition could also lead to price wars. Most of the companies believe that reducing their
pricing range would increase competition among markets and this would overall attract more
customers. However, Mishra & Rao (2015) argued that most of the time, it is seen that these
companies tend to provide lower quality of products to their customers in order to attract the
customers. Therefore, they cut down their pricing range in order to avail to their customers
and attract them more to but their services.
Competition is another factor that affects price war. Motohashi (2015) opined that in order to
meet the demands with other leading telecommunication brand, Jio have proposed to provide
free calling facilities to its users. Therefore, this marketing penetration strategy has been used
in order to attract customers. Moreover, Sujata, Sandeep & Abhijit (2016) commented that in
order to gain market share, most of the companies have proposed to use this reduce pricing
range. Therefore, it could be said that this pricing wear occurs in order to grab market position
and to penetrate into the market.
Moreover, Kotler (2015) opined that most of the companies in order to penetrate into the
market reduce their pricing range in order to attain a position in market. Therefore, it
could be said that these companies engage in price war while penetrating into the market.

Reasons behind price war

Impact of price wars on quality of products: Price wars have immense
impact on the quality of products. Arasa & Gathinji (2014) commented that reduced
pricing range of the products that are offered by the companies have a huge impact on the
quality of the products.

It has been seen that this reduced pricing have resulted in lower quality of products.
Furthermore, Bhadani, Shankar & Rao (2016) opined that reduced quality of products or
services overall affects the business.

Reduced rate of the products overall affects the customer satisfaction. Sagar et al.
(2015) opined that customers would get satisfied with products when they receive high
quality products at affordable price. However, most of these companies try to provide
products at affordable prices but their quality are low.

Therefore, this affects the customer's perception regarding buying any products.
Customers want high quality of products and therefore, in order to curb down the pricing
range, most of the companies reduce the quality of the products.

Therefore, this overall affects the productivity of the companies. Therefore, this reduced
pricing rate overall impacts the customer’s perception regarding.
Impact of price wars on customer’s dissatisfaction: It has been seen
that most of the customers make comparison between the products they receive. As per
the assimilation theory, consumers want to make a comparison between the price and
quality of products.

They have certain expectations regarding the quality of the products and therefore, this
effects customer’s perception regarding their products.

Moreover, Kasana & Chaudhary (2014) commented that as per the consistency theory,
in case any customer does not receive appropriate products as per their requirements
then they get depressed and demotivated.

Therefore, this overall affects their cognitive ability and influences customers’
perception regarding any products. Furthermore, it has also been seen that in this case
due to price wars, the customers do not get their desired products and therefore they
become dissatisfied in availing any services.

 Most of the customers receive free calls and internet from Reliance Company and
therefore, they do not avail to Bharti Airtel Limited due to the high pricing rate of the
company. This raised dissatisfaction among them and this overall affects the profitability of
the company.
Conceptual framework
 CHAPTER – 3
RESEARCH MTHODOLOGY
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Descriptive research is followed in this research. The
universe of the population includes the respondents who are the customers of Vodafone
and Airtel, located at Avadi. The samples (i.e. sample size 50) were selected among the
customers of Airtel and Vodafone, located at Avadi for this research. The samples were
chosen from the population, by using Convenience sampling technique (i.e. Non-
probability sampling technique), because the exact population size is unknown and the
accessibility of the customer is difficult. Survey method of data collection was used in this
research. The primary data were collected using structured questionnaire.

Primary and secondary data will be accumulated in order to carry out this research study.
These data will be accumulated in an ethical manner in order to prevent any issues while
conducting this study.

Primary data collection and analysis:

In this case, the researcher will carry out primary quantitative data in order to carry out this
research study. The researcher will provide a set of close-ended questionnaire in order to
survey customers.
These customers will be chosen by a simple random method from Bharti Airtel Limited in
order to analyse the impact of price war of their satisfaction. This simple random sampling
method will be chosen by the researcher in order to prevent any form of biases while
conducting this research study.
The researcher will choose this quantitative research method as it is essential to understand
the impact of price war on quality of products.
 Customers of BAL will be better able to analyse this impact on their perception and buying
behaviour. Therefore, the researcher will choose this quantitative data analysis method to
obtain authentic information regarding the impact of price war. Moreover, the researcher will
choose this questionnaire method as this will be less budget exhausting in comparison with
qualitative method.

Secondary data collection and analysis:

 Secondary data is the type of academic literature that is already published in books or
articles. Wiegmann and Shappell (2017) state the evidence from secondary data are most
abundant in nature and can be verified easily.
Secondary data source is economical and hence suitable to be used in budget-curtailed
studies.

Dignified databases and information repositories like Taylor and Francis, Elsevier and
Springer will be referred to in the search of valid and transparent information regarding the
present issue.

 Reports and trends on client preference can shed light on the issue. Qualitative data can be
retrieved from articles and quantitative data are made available in governmental survey
reports.
 CHAPTER – 4
PROMOTIONAL
STRATEGY OF AIRTEL
 Airtel Marketing Mix (4Ps) Strategy
Marketing Mix of Airtel analyses the company which covers 4Ps (Product, Price,
Place, Promotion) and explains the Airtel marketing strategy. The article elaborates
the pricing, advertising & distribution strategies used by the company.

PRODUCT

PRICE 4 Ps PLACE

PROMOTION
 Product:
The product strategy and mix in Airtel marketing strategy can be explained as
follows:

Airtel provides a wide variety of services in the field of telecom. The summary of the
products in the marketing mix of Airtel are described as below:
• Mobile Services: Airtel provides both voice and data service to its customers.
Currently Airtel has got the largest customer base in India crossing over 358 million.
Airtel was the first one to provide 4G services in India. Also Airtel provides a variety
of low cost plans for its voice and data services. Airtel mobile service can be
classified into:
o Prepaid service eg. Recharge offers , roaming packs, blackberry packs, Family share
pack, Handset pack etc.
o Postpaid service eg. Bill payment, My Plan, Roaming plans, other special offers etc.
o Other value added service eg. SMS, MMS, Hello tunes, Airtel Money, Airtel Live,
2G 3G 4G internet, voice mail, DND services etc.
• Telemedia Services: Airtel provides broadband services across 87 cities in India.
Some of the products offered are 4G homes internet services , broadband internet
connection , Dongels and routers for 4G and 3G services .
 Price:
 Airtel follows a competitive pricing strategy because of the huge competition in
telecom segment in India from competitors like Reliance Jio, Vodafone etc.
The pricing strategies of all telecom companies are monitored by Telecom Regulation
Authority of India to ensure fair prices are being charged to all customers.

 Hence, despite regulation, the most important aspect in the pricing strategy in the
marketing mix of Airtel is based on competitive pricing strategy.

Airtel provides flexibility to its customer to choose and customize their plan
according to their preference and pay tariff according to chosen pack .

The aim of Airtel’s pricing strategy is customer retention by providing them with
combo offers to boost revenue. Airtel pricing strategies in broadband segment is also
of very low cost and attracts huge customer base to avail affordable plans.

Airtel faces tough competition in terms of price war with other telecom companies
like Reliance Jio and the customer loyalty for any telecom company is nearly zero and
entirely dependent on price of services, so Airtel offers its basic product like call, data,
SMS and other value added services at a cheap rate
 Place:
Airtel sells its service through distributers and retailers, which form the basis of
place strategy in the marketing mix of Airtel. Airtel has got a wide distribution
network which spans across 20 countries. Airtel’s intensive distribution network
enables it to cover the remotest area.

 Airtel uses retail stores, convenient stores, roadside stalls etc to make its service
available to customers.

Airtel makes its service available through businesses like paan shops, chemist’s
shops, groceries shops etc.

Airtel has also launched ‘Project leap’ in the year 2015 to expand its coverage to
over 5 lakh villages. Under this project, Airtel will spend 60 thousand crores over a
period of next three years to expand its network and make its services available
across India.
Airtel also offers a dedicated 24 customer support service team which can be
reached online or through telephone to report any issue or solve customer queries.
 Promotion:
The promotional and advertising strategy in the Airtel marketing strategy is as
follows:
Airtel is an established and well known brand in telecom sector. Airtel organizes a
strong promotional campaigns for its services utilizing all media channels from TV,
print, events, social media etc.
Hence the promotion strategy in the marketing mix of Airtel is extremely
comprehensive i.e. they do a 360 branding. Airtel has used all the big celebrities to
endorse their services like Shahrukh Khan, AR Rehman, Sachin Tendulkar, Vidya Balan
etc.
Airtel has also organized some famous marketing campaigns to target youth
audience and build its brand like ‘Har Ek friend Zaroori hota he’ and ‘Jo Tera Hain Wo
Mera Hain’. Airtel also sponsors various events like Cricket matches, Grand Prix etc
and organized events like Airtel Delhi Half Marathon etc under their community
development programme and brand promotion.
Airtel has also got a good presence on social media like Facebook, Twitter etc.
Which it uses for its service promotion and solve queries of customers. Airtel also
engages in public relations like Education campaigns, girls child awareness campaigns
etc.
 People:
Airtel focuses on ‘Win with people’ approach for its effective business strategy.
Airtel has got an employee base of 18179 with a commendable employee
engagement score of 79%.

 Airtel invests heavily in the training and development of the skills of its employees.
In 2016, Airtel invested 168 million to nurture talent within its organization and build
high performance culture.
 Airtel also focuses on developing a healthy work culture and efficient functioning
of its cross functional teams. Airtel’s Talent First Strategy focuses on building
entrepreneurship and leadership skills in employees. The people strategy in the
marketing mix of Airtel focuses on hiring the right talent, training them and
rewarding them.

Airtel also promotes gender diversity in its organization by promoting women

friendly working policies. Airtel promotes itself as a learning organization where all
employees follow a learning development plan based on their career aspiration.

Airtel also gives rewards and recognition to indentify and retain talent within
organization.
 Process:
Airtel process for providing service to its customer is very easy and streamlined.
Airtel process focuses on providing a reliable and responsive service to its customers.
To get a plan or new connection the customers can directly go to any Airtel’s service
centres or contact the support service to activate/deactivate a plan.

 Airtel’s customer can get their queries resolved 24*7 by contacting the customer
support number from anywhere across India. Airtel also opened India’s first Open
network initiative under Project Leap that displays network strength across India.
 This transparent policy allows customer to check network strength and coverage
and report any issue easily.

Airtel also allow its customer easily to identify various plans and pick the most
suitable plan. Airtel customers are free to evaluate the services and then can carry on
or switch to a different brand using number portability.

 Airtel focuses on delivering optimal services without loss of quality through their
commitment towards its customers.
Marketing Strategy Adopted by Bharti Airtel:
Bharti has spent a momentous quantity on advertising its mobile phone service, Airtel.
Besides print advertising, the company have put up massive number of hoardings and
kiosks in far and wide. The aim at the back designing a back-up campaign for the ‘Airtel’
service is to approve the brand perception and to build brand penchant.
It is trying to setup a thematic operation to put together stronger brand impartiality for
Airtel. Since the cellular phone category itself is too controlled, also the statement that a
cellular phone is a high giving product price doesn’t qualify as an effective differentiator.

The figure of the service provider calculates a great deal. Given the Cell phone category,
it is the network helpfulness and the eminence of service that becomes imperative.
What now the consumer is looking at is to get the optimum price-performance package.
This also serves as a helpful differentiator.
Brand insomnia is enlarge through the’ campaigns and brand predilection through brand
stature. Airtel’s campaign in the resources began with a series of ‘puzzler’ hoardings
crosswise the city, ‘bearing just the company’s name and without explaining what Airtel
was. In the next segment the campaign associated Airtel with cellular only there after
was the Bharati Cellular correlation brought up. Vans with Airtel logos roamed the city,
handing out brochures about the company and its services to all consumers. About
50,000 direct callers were sent out.
As of today the awareness level is further that 70% unaided. This implies that it dormant or
knowledgeable consumers are asked to name of Cellular phone service provider that is on
the top of his/her mind and 70%-75% of them would name Airtel.
Brand potency of a product or the vigour of a brand is considered by the percentage score
of the brand on the above aided and the unaided tests. The figures show that Airtel is a
healthy and a deafening brand.
Every company has a goal, which might cover a sales target and a game plan with due
regard to its opponent. Airtel’s campaign strategy is designed keeping in mind its marketing
strategy. The quality, drift and the stance of the visual ads are designed to get across the
image of a market leader in terms of its market share.
MARKETING OTHER STATEGIES
 Strengths in the SWOT analysis of Airtel
Renowned Telecom company: With its 19+ years of rich experience in
telecom industry this MNC had travelled far to become world’s 3rd largest telecom
operator overseas with operations in nearly 20 countries.

High Brand Equity: It is one of the pioneer brands in telecommunication having a

high brand recall and with a whopping subscriber base.

Extensive infrastructure: With the formation of Indus tower & due to its
partnership with Idea & Vodafone, the infrastructure of Airtel has extended in all
parts of the country resulting into nationwide penetration.

Strategic Alliances: The company has top notch stakeholders,

namely Sony Ericsson, Nokia and singtel, and the recent one being Apple. Such
strategic alliances boost the brand equity and the bottom line of the company .

Torchbearer of the telecom Industry: With its number 1 spot due to its excellent
services in developing economies, Airtel has interconnected the life of people in an
highly efficient way. Thus, where Vodafone is an external entrant, Airtel is a leading
nationwide player in India and the torchbearer of the telecom industry in India.
 Weaknesses in the SWOT analysis of Airtel

Outsourced Operations: Outsourcing operations helped Airtel in lowering its cost.

But on the other hand, they are running the risk of being dependent on some other
companies which may affect its operations.
Venturing into African operations: Although it’s been 4 years that Airtel has
acquired Zain’s Africa business, but Airtel is still struggling to turn around the unit
which was bought at a whoppy 9 billion dollars.
High Debt: With its acquisitions turning out to bad investment, and credit being
high and margins being low, Airtel group is under high debt. Airtel does not have as
deep pockets as Vodafone.
 Opportunities for Airtel
Due to the competition in the urban market and shirking profitability, they should
focus on the untapped rural market as it will be a very good opportunity to increase
their revenue.
Collaborating with smartphone companies and providing schemes to hem will be
a smart move. This will ensure fixed revenues in the future and with a
higher customer base.
 Value-added services if the future of the industry and by the introduction of the
services the ARPU will rise and attract customers who are capable to pay.
The wireless world is moving towards LTE (long term evolution or 4G). LTE services
for mobile broadband will be a good solution for India where fixed broadband
penetration is low in the market.
Airtel is leading with this version of LTE in metro cities, but deployment needs to
catch up pace. Despite a weak LTE network in India they should work and embrace
the services.
With changing consumer needs and behavior, diversification is required into
Ecommerce, payment banks, and new product categories.
New taxation policies with a reduction in corporate taxes will significantly increase
the profit margins.
 Threats in the SWOT analysis of Airtel
Government Regulatory Framework: With the auction of spectrum & change in
the government policies on a regular basis, it is a potential threat to the stability &
existence of this industry thereby affecting the players.
Competition: Price war in the home market and declining margins due to this is
adversely affecting the overall business of the group.
MNP (Mobile number portability): MNP gives the customer independence to
change the service provider while retaining the number and as Airtel charges are
premium over other service providers, it can see slump in subscriber base in the
next fiscal year with PAN India MNP applicable from May 3rd 2015.
An increase in the cost of technology and employees are affecting the profit
margins.
Cutthroat competition in the market with other players has affected the margins
over the last 2-3 years.
Competitors are paying higher margins to their Dealer/Distributor networks to
increase their sales/revenues.
Inappropriate services provided are upsetting customers and encourage them to
shift to their competition via Mobile Number Portability.
 Justification of the research study
It has been seen that price war has a huge impact on the quality of the products and
services. Sagar et al. (2015) commented that in case of Bharti Airtel Limited, there
has been reduced number of consumers due to the increased price war among the
competitors. However, Kasana & Chaudhary (2014) opined that most of the
companies believe that reducing the price range would attract more customers and
this would overall raise their income and productivity. Therefore, most of the
companies exhibit huge loss due to this increased price war within the Indian
market.
It has been seen that about 49% of Indian companies suffer huge losses due to this
price war among the market. Moreover, it has also been seen that this price war
affects the overall customer’s perception regarding any products. Therefore, it could
be said that this price war overall affects the quality of the products (Association for
Consumer Research, 2018). Furthermore, this price war also causes customer
dissatisfaction and these impacts the quality of the products.
It has been seen that almost half of the companies get impacted due to this
price war. In this case, Bharti Airtel Limited gets affected due to this Reliance
Company on launching Jio network. Therefore, this affected the overall product
quality and market price.
 CHAPTER –5
DATA ANALYSIS
AND
FINDING
BHARTI AIRTEL Income Statement Analysis
Operating income during the year rose 3.1% on a year-on-year (YoY) basis.

The company's operating profit increased by 5.3% YoY during the fiscal. Operating
profit margins witnessed a fall and down at 52.6% in FY19 as against 51.5% in FY18.

Depreciation charges decreased by 9.2% and finance costs increased by 13.8% YoY,
respectively.

Other income declined by 3.5% YoY.

Net profit for the year grew by 0.0% YoY.

Net profit margins during the year declined from 37.1% in FY18 to 36.0% in FY19.
 INCOME STATEMENT 2018 - 19
No. of Mths Year
12 Mar-18* 12 Mar-19* % Change
Ending
Net Sales Rs m 66,212 68,262 3.1%
Other income Rs m 1,052 1,015 -3.5%
Total Revenues Rs m 67,264 69,277 3.0%
Gross profit Rs m 34,128 35,933 5.3%
Depreciation Rs m 12,188 11,064 -9.2%
Interest Rs m 465 529 13.8%
Profit before tax Rs m 22,527 25,355 12.6%
Tax Rs m 10,355 10,589 2.3%
Profit after tax Rs m 24,937 24,938 0.0%
Gross profit
% 51.5 52.6
margin
Effective tax rate % 46.0 41.8

Net profit margin % 37.1 36.0

BHARTI AIRTEL Balance Sheet Analysis

•The company's current liabilities during FY19 down at Rs 18 billion as

compared to Rs 18 billion in FY18, thereby witnessing an decrease of -2.2%.

•Current assets fell 44% and stood at Rs 43 billion, while fixed assets fell 6%
and stood at Rs 106 billion in FY19

•Overall, the total assets and liabilities for FY19 stood at Rs 171 billion as
against Rs 197 billion during FY18, thereby witnessing a fall of 13%.

BHARTI AIRTEL Cash Flow Statement Analysis

BHARTI AIRTEL's cash flow from operating activities (CFO) during FY19 stood at Rs 32
billion on a YoY basis.

Cash flow from investing activities (CFI) during FY19 stood at Rs 16 billion on a YoY basis.

Cash flow from financial activities (CFF) during FY19 stood at Rs -48 billion on a YoY basis.

Overall, net cash flows for the company during FY19 stood at Rs -362 million from the Rs -
19 billion net cash flows seen during FY18.
 BALANCE SHEET AS ON 2019
No. of Mths Year Ending 12 Mar-18* 12 Mar-19* % Change

Networth Rs m 169,644 145,316 -14.3

Current
Rs m 18,159 17,752 -2.2
Liabilities

Long-term Debt Rs m 0 0 0.0

Total Liabilities Rs m 196,796 171,305 -13.0

Current assets Rs m 76,120 42,800 -43.8

Fixed Assets Rs m 112,470 105,587 -6.1

Total Assets Rs m 196,796 171,305 -13.0
 CASH FLOW STATEMENT 2018 - 19
No. of months 12 12
Particulars % Change
Year Ending Mar-18 Mar-19

Cash Flow from

Operating Rs m 34,694 31,586 -9.0%
Activities

Cash Flow from

Investing Rs m -18,551 15,999 -
Activities

Cash Flow from

Financing Rs m -35,548 -47,947 -
Activities

Net Cash Flow Rs m -19,405 -362 -

 Current Valuations for BHARTI AIRTEL

The trailing twelve-month earnings per share (EPS) of the company stands at Rs 6.2, an
improvement from the EPS of Rs 6.2 recorded last year.

The price to earnings (P/E) ratio, at the current price of Rs 354.3, stands at -99.0 times its
trailing twelve months earnings.

The price to book value (P/BV) ratio at current price levels stands at 8.1 times, while the
price to sales ratio stands at 17.3 times.

The company's price to cash flow (P/CF) ratio stood at 54.8 times its end-of-year operating
cash flow earnings.

No. of Mths Year Ending 12 Mar-18* 12 Mar-19*

Sales per share (Unadj.) Rs 16.6 17.1
TTM Earnings per share Rs 6.2 6.2
Diluted earnings per share Rs 6.2 6.2
Price to Cash Flow x 58.8 54.8
TTM P/E ratio x -99.0 -99.0
Price / Book Value ratio x 10.6 8.1
Market Cap Rs m 1,416,079 1,416,079
Dividends per share (Unadj.) Rs 2.5 15.0
CHAPTER - 6
CONCLUSION
AND
SUMMARY
 Conclusion
 Thus from the above information, it can be stated that Bharti Airtel must ensure that the
present price war with its competitors does not affect its clientele base.

 It can be recommended to make further investment to recognise the needs and

preferences of the clients.

 Airtel must expand and strengthen its network by the use of fifth generation server and
fibre optics for a better bandwidth.

 Use of a primary quantitative method has ensured faster recognition of market trends.

 Secondary information on qualitative and quantitative nature has provided significant

evidential backup to the observed primary data.

 The planned budget has been influenced by essential factors that are linked to the
proposed issue.

 The limitation of this study is its time and budget bound nature. However, the researcher
has implemented the available resources to accumulate and analyse the data in a critical
manner.
 SUMMARY
After analyzing the findings of the investigation, I can conclude that Airtel lagged behind
its challengers as far as customer facility and availability is anxious. The maximum no. of
people who use the mobile is in the age group of 20 to 28. Cash cards are the most
popular type of mobile connections, as they are consumer friendly and recharging the
connection is not a problem.

Maximum no. of people spends RS 500 on their connections. As Airtel is the only company
having the highest no of mobile connections so it must critically look into the loop holes of
the existing customer service department.
As we know that now Airtel has already launched its product with logo “Aisi azaadi aur
kahan” has already became trendy in market. So we can say that in malice of so many
competitors in the market Airtel is having a good position just because every time, it tries
its best to understand the need of its key customers.

From the evaluation and weighty analysis of every aspect of business of both the
companies we can conclude that Bharti Airtel has to more work in every field of
communication business.
It is the time not only to survive but to uphold in the market for a long time.
According to the Indian Constitution, telecommunications (or telecom) services are
controlled by the Central Government’s of India. Hence, all policies for promotion,
development, regulation (including pricing) oftelecom services are formulated and
implemented for the nation as a whole. Since 1991, focused telecom reforms have been
introduced for privatisation and diversification in competitive provisioning of services:
globalisation of trade under the WTO agreements and capital by liberalisation of imports
and foreign direct investment, establishment of an independent regulator (i.e. Telecom
Regulatory Authority of India), introduction of cellular phones, universal service access
through the formulation of National Telecom Policy 1994 and 1999 and corporatisation of
public provider of telecom services (e.g. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited for domestic
services).
From the supply side, the telecom reforms and policies have been aimed at higher
provisioning and wider access to telecom services for business, government and
residential subscribers. Both provisioning and access are preconditions for usage
oftelecom service, i.e. basic and value added services (including internet and broadband
services), as provided by public and private telecom companies over their telephone and
wireless networks. Telephone lines provide the subscribers with access or connection to
the network. Thus, provisioning, access and usage are equally important and sequential
stages in the process ofproduction through consumption oftelecom services
CHAPTER – 7
REFERENCES
REFERENCES
BOOKS -
 Wiegmann, D.A. & Shappell, S.A., (2017). A human error approach to aviation accident
analysis: The human factors analysis and classification system. Abingdon: Routledge. Retrieved
from
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.588.8315&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Saunders, M. N., Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. (2010). Research methods for business students.
Retrieved from https://sisis.rz.htw-berlin.de/inh2012/12402512.pdf

WEB LINKS -
 Airtel (2018). Get Airtel Advantage for your business. Retrieved from
https://www.airtel.in/business
 IEEE (2018). Calculation and analysis of customer dissatisfaction index. Retrieved from
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6683555/ on 14th February 2018
Kumar, V. (2017). Technology Integration for the Success of B2C M-Commerce in India:
Opportunities and Challenges. IUP Journal of Information Technology, 13(1), 24. Retrieved
from https://search.proquest.com/openview/61c9872f5b559cf6bfb46005d14d27e2/1?pq-
origsite=gscholar&cbl=2029987
QUESTIONNAIRE
QUESTIONNAIRE
Q1. Are you dealing in services / products offered by Airtel?
a. Yes
b. No

Q2. Reason for association with Airtel?

a. Margin
b. Promotional Schemes
c. Demand
d. Dealer relationship
e. Credit Policy
f. Its Service Quality
g. Other Reasons

Q3. Reason why you are not dealing in services and products offered by Airtel?
a. Credit Policy
b. Promotional Material Not Supplied on Time
c. Schemes are not conveyed on time
d. Supply of product is not proper
e. Don’t Wish To Specify
Q4. Does the company give proper response to your queries?
a. Yes
b. No

Q5. Have you ever faced problems related to the Services of Airtel?
a. Always
b. Sometimes
c. Never

Q6. Does the problems was resolved by the retailers support desk?
a. Yes
b. No

Q7. How do you rate the customer schemes of the company?

a. Highly Satisfactory
b. Satisfactory
c. Average
d. Dissatisfactory
e. Highly Dissatisfactory

Q8. Does the retailer support desk identifies the retailers problems effectively
and solve them in proper time?
a. Yes
b. No
Q9. Do the company executives visit your shop regularly to convey schemes?
a. Yes
b. No

Q10. How do you rate the schemes delivered to the retailers ?

a. Highly Satisfactory
b. Satisfactory
c. Average
d. Dissatisfactory
e. Highly Dissatisfactory

Q11. How do you rate the retailer’s support of the company?

a. Highly Satisfactory
b. Satisfactory
c. Average
d. Dissatisfactory
e. Highly Dissatisfactory

Q12. How do you rate the margin in Airtel services?

a. Highly Satisfactory
b. Satisfactory
c. Average
d. Dissatisfactory
e. Highly Dissatisfactory
Q13. How do you rate retailer grievance handling mechanism of the company?
a. Highly Satisfactory
b. Satisfactory
c. Average
d. Dissatisfactory
e. Highly Dissatisfactory

Q14. Does customers are happy when their problems are solved by the retailers support desk?
a. Yes
b. No

Q15. How do you rate the Credit facilities provided by Airtel?

a. Highly Satisfactory
b. Satisfactory
c. Average
d. Dissatisfactory
e. Highly Dissatisfactory

Q16 How do you rate the Discount offered by Airtel on bulk purchase?
a. Highly Satisfactory
b. Satisfactory
c. Average
d. Dissatisfactory
e. Highly Dissatisfactory
Q17. How do you rate the Brand Pull of Airtel?
a. Highly Satisfactory
b. Satisfactory
c. Average
d. Dissatisfactory
e. Highly Dissatisfactory

Q18. How much time does it take for delivery of Airtel SIM Cards / Vouchers after ordering ?
a. 6-12 Hours
b. 1 to 2 Days
c. 2 to 7 Days
d. More than7 Days