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TOPIC: Analysis on marketing strategies

Research question: To what extent the aggressive marketing


strategies adopted by Reliance Jio will help increase its market
share in India?

Word count: 3972

Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................................3
Methodology:-.............................................................................................................................................5
Analysis:.......................................................................................................................................................9
Swot:...........................................................................................................................................................9
Pest Analysis:.............................................................................................................................................14
4P’s – (product, place, price and promotion):...........................................................................................17
LEWIN’S FFA..............................................................................................................................................21
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................................24
Bibliography:.............................................................................................................................................25
Introduction:
To understand the research question: “To what extent the aggressive marketing strategies
adopted by Reliance Jio will help to increase its market share in India?” terminologies and
background information has been explained and presented.

Indian telecommunication network has a subscription level of 1200 billion which is supposed to
be the world’s largest network users as of March 2018. The call-tariffs in India are very low and
hence the tele-communication competitors all over the world are very high. According to data
gathered on March 2018, India stands second in the number of internet users with a base of 410
million users.

One of the main segments in the tele-communication industry is telephones, televisions and
internet broadcast industry. And, India is wants to reach the next generation of network, by
utilizing a comprehensive system with up to date network features such as digital mobile phone
switching ventures, media and signalling gateways.

India has experienced a high pace of market development for the past two decades (1989-2018)
and now it has turned up as one of the most aggressive and fastest developing telecommunication
market in the world.

India’s telecommunication has introduced a new way of administrating, by implementing


e-administration in India. The Indian government has reasonably made use of the present
telecommunication facilities to convey educational programs rural society people of India.

The Indian telecommunication sector alleged about 6.5% of the Indian gross domestic product on
2015. Which add-ups to 9lakh crore and this helped 2.2 billion people in the country to get
employed. And it is expected that the Indian telecommunication sector will account almost of
14lakh crore and this will back up about 3 million direct employments by 2020 in India. 1

1
“Mobile Sector to Account for 8.2 per Cent of Indian GDP by 2020: GSMA.” The Economic Times, Economic Times, 27 Nov. 2015,
economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/telecom/mobile-sector-to-account-for-8-2-per-cent-of-indian-gdp-by-2020-
gsma/articleshow/49935068.cms.
● Key trends in India are:-
• 445.96 (in millions) digital users are in India as of January 2018.2
• An integrated approach to dealing with Date.
• Higher consumption in metros and mini-metros have increased the presence of
global brands.
• Lots of players set to boost presence with aggressive expansion plans.

Nowadays, business start ups has been difficult because of the competition is getting rigorous,
due to this most of the firms find a ways to overcome the pressure. This market penetration has
become as one of the most common problem in all the start-up companies, where some of the
firms try to survive by expanding their business or by making an effective strategy. As like this
there was an appropriate strategy made by Jio India pvt ltd, which was used to market their
product into the telecommunication industry.

Reliance Jio (basically recognized as Jio) located in Mumbai, is a Mobile River mesh driver in
India, owned by reliance industries. Jio the only LTE provider (Long-Term Evolution – a
standard high speed provider) in India uses 4G military services. After Jio’s growth it has tied up
business with the local phone maker Index for producing Green goods 4G mobiles. In the start of
the year 2017, the company has also launched its own mobile brand named LYF Smartphone.

The Jio network service was introduced on September 5, 2016. By giving a “welcome offer”, this
was first offered only for the Reliance Jio workers on December of 2015. To saint mark the 83rd
birthday of the Ambani (Founder of Reliance industries).3

2
“Internet Users in India Expected to Reach 500 Million by June: IAMAI.” The Economic Times, Economic Times, 20 Feb. 2018,
economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/internet-users-in-india-expected-to-reach-500-million-by-june-iamai/articleshow/63000198.cms.
3
"Jio Users to Get Free Voice, Data till March 31; Mukesh Ambani Calls It Happy New Year Offer." The Economic Times. December
01, 2016. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/jio-users-to-get-free-voice-data-till-march-31-mukesh-
ambani-calls-it-happy-new-year-offer/articleshow/55722636.cms.
The strategy made by Jio for the customers was they provided free net for one whole year, by
qualification such unique strategy, where other network company's were providing 1Gb of Data
for 300 - 350 rupees, this made the customers of other network company to turn towards Jio. 4

Their aggressive marketing strategy made other company's market go down, and forced them to
make crack offers to at least backup the remaining customers, where as some of the network
companies like Docomo and Aircel were sold to other network company's.

Reliance Jio completely stopped other new entries to get into market by implying aggressive
market strategy, instead giving the new entries opportunity for making partnerships.

Methodology:-
By relating with the research question, secondary research gives accurate information for
analyzing my essay when compared with the primary research which will not fetch outward
details about the company.

● Reliance Communication Website - To get to know about the company and their Jio sim
card plans.
● Articles related to Reliance Jio – To get to know about both the pros and cons of the
company. And to get know about the strategies and defined Information about the firm.
● Business management textbook – To know about the explained concepts and business
tools.

The analytical tools that will be used in this essay are:

a) 4 p's (product, place, price& promotion) – it is to identify the Reliance Jio’s desired
response and approaches that were done by the firm at the start of Reliance Jio.

b) Lewin’s Force field analysis – To evaluate what driving forces helps Jio sustain its low
pricing strategy and restraining forces which refrains from doing so.

4
Salgunan, Kshitij. “How Will Reliance Jio Make Money With Its 'Crazy' Plans?” NDTV Gadgets360.Com, NDTV Gadgets360.Com, 6 Oct.
2016, gadgets.ndtv.com/telecom/opinion/reliance-jio-business-model-how-can-it-make-money-1454531.
c) SWOT & PEST - To analyze and classify the forces which may come as a positive or
negative to Reliance Jio’s marketing strategy.

Major Researches done:-


Major research 1:- Price comparison between Jio and its rivals.5

Telecom Operator Data Offered Validity (days) Cost in Rupees

Reliance Jio 4GB + Unlimited 28 499


Night Time Data

Vodafone 4GB 56 852

Idea 5GB 28 851

Airtel 4GB 30 755

The above table compares the pricing between Reliance Jio versus Vodafone, Airtel and Idea.
Where Jio charges Rupees 499 for 4G with 28 days data usage, whereas its rivals cost about
rupees 803 at an average.

Major research 2:- difference in the market finance following the entry Jio (Reliance).

5
Dangwal, Sandhya. "Reliance Jio 4G Rate: Comparison of Tariff with Idea, Airtel, Vodafone, BSNL LTE Data Plans." India.com.
September 03, 2016. http://www.india.com/news/india/reliance-jio-4g-rate-comparison-of-tariff-with-idea-airtel-vodafone-bsnl-lte-data-
plans-1456319/.
The image above indicates the financial loss of other firms, when the Reliance Jio’s Aggressive
pricing strategy was declared. Together there was a fall of rupees 22,520 crore for the three
contenders, due to the Jio’s entry to the market.6

Major research 3:- customer survey.

The graph above displays a survey of people using Jio as primary sim over secondary sim after
the end of Jio’s “welcome offer”, where 33% of the Reliance Jio’s users use Jio as a primary sim,
and the rest 67% of the customers will use Jio as secondary sim only for usage of internet.7
6
Jagannathan, R. “Jio: Mukesh Ambani Made The Biggest Bet Ever By Any Indian Businessman And It Looks Set To Pay Off.” Swarajya Read
India Right ATOM, 1 Aug. 2018, swarajyamag.com/business/jio-mukesh-ambani-made-the-biggest-bet-ever-by-any-indian-businessman-and-it-
looks-set-to-pay-off.
7
Www.ETTelecom.com. "67% Customers Want to Use Reliance Jio as Secondary Connection When Free Offer Ends: Survey - ET
Major research 4:- principled considerations.

o Newspaper advertisement was released by Reliance Jio with the photo of Indian
Prime Minister Narendra modi, which turned out to be huge controversies by
denoting that it is illegal to advertise the photo of Prime Minister of India without
the permission being granted.

o Shah Rukh Khan advocating the Reliance Jio is unethical; this also turned into an
illegal consideration due to him changing sides from Airtel to Jio before day of
launch and this led to controversies of people Tweeting that #JioRemoveSRK and
called him anti-Indian throughout India.

Major research 5:- Jio’s aggressive marketing strategies.

o Jio’s pricing strategy is termed as “predatory pricing” by Airtel.

o It is calculated that Reliance will finance about 2500-3000 crore rupees on


promoting the Reliance Jio. And it has also tied up with some small
telecommunication services with is leaser than 4G.8

Telecom." ETTelecom.com. January 05, 2017.

8
Reliance Communications completes sale of fibre assets to Reliance Jio for Rs 3,000 crore
The Economic Times https://economictimes.indiatimes.com › Industry › Telecom › Telecom News
Analysis:

Swot:
Swot Analysis is a tool used to plan and organize the firm’s strategies by identifying and
evaluating the strength, weakness, opportunity and threats that may or may not affect the
business strategies.

Strengths:

o Brand name – The reason behind of having strong customer base by reliance Jio is
because of their name before Jio i.e. Reliance, This has businesses in all the
sectors like petroleum, clothing, glossary, machinery’s, this made the customers
to have trust on Reliance Jio. And the other one is adapting to the right strategy in
the recent years.9

o Wide range of network all around India – The Firm has invested and massive
amount of 20billion throughout India, by using latest technologies that is available
till date and hence it is capable of giving quality service all around the nation. By
having 22 telecommunication services around India it is said to be one the fastest
network.

9
Bhasin, Hitesh, Hitesh BhasinI, and Facebook. "SWOT Analysis of Reliance Jio - Reliance Jio SWOT." Marketing91. February 09,
2018. https://www.marketing91.com/swot-analysis-of-reliance-jio/.
o Cheap pricing strategy – Jio offers 1GB data for rupees 50 at a high speed, in
which it helps people to get easily accessible by creating social values.10

o Providing fastest network – Jio uses the latest technologies that are available till
data, and that technology has LTE services which are equivalent to 5G and 6G
service, that are expected to present in the future.11

o Aggressive pricing – Reliance Jio gives importance on providing low cost internet
service. This can help the company to target on increasing their market share, and
most of the competitor’s will not be able to afford Reliance Jio price.

Weakness:

o Late entry into the market – the telecommunication sector has


reached heights within few years from the start, and due to this the people
will have trust on the existing firms than the new entries. And the market
penetration has become high due to the existing companies like Airtel, Idea etc…

o Mobile number services are still not smooth – Mobile phone number has
become as an individuality of a particular person and it is bit complicated
to change the mobile number because it has synchronized with all the
services, and with banks. MNP takes time for implying the Sim’s and so,
the time management has become difficult. MNP has become important
10
Reliance Jio's 4G data rates are the world's cheapest; starts at Rs 50 for 1GB ... shift to the normal Jio plan, say the rs 499 one”- quora
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-logic-behind-Jios-Rs-303-pricing-not-Rs-299

11
Murlidharan. "SRK Endorsing Reliance Jio Is Unethical, and Here's Why." DailyO - Opinion News & Analysis on Latest Breaking
News India. September 11, 2016. https://www.dailyo.in/politics/reliance-jio-srk-airtel-moral-dilemma-asci-celebrity-
endorsements/story/1/12872.html.
for Jio since, lots of customers are being changing sim from other
telecommunication companies to Reliance Jio.12

o Highly relying on data consumption – 60 to 70 percent of the firm’s


revenue is coming from voice calling, due to this the company is facing
loss because of the firm making free of cost for voice call. So, to
consolidate this loss the consumption of data should be increased.13

o Too many offers – Jio increased its share sales by giving out many
services for free of cost, but the firm might not be able to pay for a long
term, if it can afford the business will face huge loss.

o Reduction in share price - Due to Reliance Jio offering low cost schemes
the financial performance of the firm has come down and the operating
cost keeps raising, because of this Jio’s share price has condensed on May
30th, 2017, lowest of Rs 19.20, before closing of Rs 20.50.14

Opportunities:

o Rapid growth in telecommunication industry- internet contribution has grown


9.72% over the preceding years and it is expected that there will be an increase by
10.3% each year.15

o Expanding the services in other country – Jio services are provided only in India,
but there is an indeed capacity for the company to expand their business in the

12
Employment, Small Business and Training. "Benefits and Limitations of SWOT Analysis." Business Queensland. August 27, 2018.
https://www.business.qld.gov.au/starting-business/planning/market-customer-research/swot-analysis/benefits-limitations.
13
“Revenue Loss from Telcos Temporary, Says Telecom Secy.” The Economic Times, Economic Times, 30 Mar. 2018,
economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/revenue-loss-from-telcos-temporary-says-telecom-
secy/articleshow/63540435.cms
14
“After Reliance Jio's First Profit, Mukesh Ambani Is Ready for Another Contrarian Bet.” The Economic Times, Economic Times, 20 Jan. 2018,
economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/after-reliance-jios-first-profit-mukesh-ambani-is-ready-for-another-contrarian-
bet/articleshow/62579912.cms
15
Trai Releases Data on Internet Usage: Subscription Has Grown 9.72 Percent over Previous Year- Technology News, Firstpost." Tech2.
December 20, 2016. http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/trai-releases-data-on-internet-usage-subscription-has-grown-9-72-percent-over-
previous-year-353824.html.
foreign countries, at least by operating with neighbouring countries Reliance Jio
can increase its shares.

o Online marketing – Due to Reliance Jio having Enormous growth in short period
of time in the tele-communication industry, Jio can have collaborations with E-
marketing companies this will help Jio to increase its net value. The current value
of Jio is 17billion and it is predicted that the growth will be about 100billion in
the next 5 years.16

Threats:

o High competition in the market – Since there are existing markets like Airtel,
Idea, Vodafone etc… the competition has become high, so that the customers will
have more trust on the existing companies.

o Fast growth in network generation – The changes from 2G to 4G has occurred


within a short span of time. And there are possible chances of 5th generation to
approach shortly into the market, and the up gradation from 4G to 5G will involve
a huge financial speculation.

o Collaboration of tele-communication companies – Nokia and Bharti Airtel are


planning to collaborate with BSNL to provide 5G technology services

o Deprived secret code – The strategies that are adopted by Jio such as low pricing
of data’s and market penetration are been said as unethical and there are possible
chances of this problem affecting the company in the future.

16
“With 83 Million Customers, Jio Set to Break Even on EBITDA.” The Economic Times, Economic Times, 4 Apr. 2017,
economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/with-83mn-customers-jio-set-to-break-even-on-ebitda/articleshow/57998795.cms.
Evaluation of Swot Analysis:

The Swot evaluation represented both the advantages and disadvantages of Reliance Jio and its
market share. “Reliance Jio” has situated itself as a business that creates social value among
India. This will help Jio to increase its customer base because of the low price strategy and good
value act, before the launch of Reliance Jio, Reliance communications had a huge customer base
of almost 95 million. And when Jio was launched, it crossed more than 15 million subscribers in
all over India. In the end of the fourth month after Jio’s launch, it was recorded that Reliance Jio
has 73.5million subscribers.
Pest Analysis:
Political:

o Telecom Regulatory Authority of India basically known as TRAI, this outlines the
standard and the directions of the telecommunication enterprises. The aggressive
development made by Jio, turned its competitors to exasperate their plans and
strategies. Because of the contenders bid their rights in Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India, This turned out to be as a threat for Jio, since TRAI might ask
Jio to raise the price due to its competitors facing loss. 17

o Reliance Jio advertised their brand by using Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s photo, that advertisement portrayed that the country is focusing on future
India with digitally socialized all around the country, illustrating the
government’s support.18

o New policies by Indian government – the Indian government has planned to bring
up a new national telecomm policy by 2018 due to the advancement of
technologies in the recent few years.19

17
"Trai Releases Data on Internet Usage: Subscription Has Grown 9.72 Percent over Previous Year- Technology News, Firstpost."
Tech2. December 20, 2016. http://tech.firstpost.com/news-analysis/trai-releases-data-on-internet-usage-subscription-has-grown-9-72-
percent-over-previous-year-353824.html.
18
Staff, The Wire. "The Reliance Jio-Modi Newspaper and TV Campaign: Illegal or Improper?" The Wire. September 03, 2016.
https://thewire.in/economy/modi-reliance-jio-advertisement.
19
Online, FE. "How Reliance Communications Destroyed Value & Got Saddled with Back Breaking debt." The Financial Express. May
30, 2017. https://www.financialexpress.com/market/how-reliance-communication-destroyed-value-got-saddled-with-back-breaking-
debt/692691/.
Economical:

o Jio made India profitable by saving $10 billion annually – Jio’s entry into the
market has made the data affordable of per GB dropping from Rs 152 to Rs 10.
The annual saving that is made by Jio in the entire economy due to rise in
affordability of data is $10 billion said by IFC (International Finance
Corporation). 20

o Jio’s entry pushed its rivals into trouble – Jio’s entry into the tele-communication
market by making low price strategy made its rivals to go on a huge loss and
forced to shut down or sell the company.21

o Expansion of network - the Indian telecommunication has planned to invest


20billion us dollar for the next 2 years for expanding the network.22

Social

o Growing Population – India’s population is 1.34billion, and to increase the


subscribers on Jio, it has created a social group which helps the people all
around the India to get socialized.

20
Pti. “RJio's Entry Led to $10-b Savings for Users.” @Businessline, Business Line, 6 Apr. 2018, www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-
tech/rjios-entry-led-to-10-b-savings-for-users/article23459983.ece.
21
Pinto, Viveat Susan. "McCann Leads Race for Reliance Jio Ad Account." Business Standard. July 07, 2015. http://www.business-
standard.com/article/companies/mccann-leads-race-for-reliance-jio-ad-account-115070800042_1.html.
22
"Reliance Launches LYF 4G Smartphone Priced under Rs 3,000." The Economic Times. September 01, 2016.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/hardware/reliance-launches-lyf-4g-smartphone-priced-under-rs-3000/articleshow/53960580.cms.
o Digital awareness – The Indian government services are made to be available
for the society electronically by improving its on-line communications, and by
improving the internet connectivity. In India there are 6 in ten smart phone
users use broadband services in urban India.

Technological

o 4G Technology adoptions – Jio has adopted the latest technology that is present in
telecommunication market i.e. 4G & LTE, by providing this in the cheaper price
they are leading the market. Because of this Reliance Jio is probable of being
benefited since it is a digital service. 23

o Digital India development – From 8,490 crore at 2018 on India’s digital sector it
is expected that there will be huge increase of 20,000 crore on 2020.24

o Internet users –having 445.96 million internet users in India as of December 2017,
India has been recorded as the world’s second highest users.25

Evaluation of Pest analysis:

The evaluation from Pest Analysis showed that Jio is making a step towards digital India, this is
positive for Jio as it is supporting the Indian government. Nowadays people are changing from
old technologies to newly digitalized technologies, by this Jio can develop a strong relationship

23
"Reliance Jio: All You Need to Know | Gadgets Now." Gadget Now. https://www.gadgetsnow.com/infocus/reliance-jio-all-you-need-
to-know/infocusshow/57005891.cms.
24
“India's digital sector market is projected to cross Rs 20,000 crore in the next three years from Rs 8,490 crore at present.”-
https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/digital/digital-to-overtake-traditional-mediums-by-2021-2022-ey-india/57625592
25
“Internet Users in India Expected to Reach 500 Million by June: IAMAI.” The Economic Times, Economic Times, 20 Feb. 2018,
economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/internet-users-in-india-expected-to-reach-500-million-by-june-iamai/articleshow/63000198.cms.
with the Indian government. The future growth of Jio Reliance Jio depends upon the customer’s
behaviour towards the pricing stagiest that are implemented. The only negativity is that, offering
low prices for 1GB Internet will lead Jio to lower profit margin, Since, there is 35,000 crore
debts on telecommunication industries, the debts on Jio is likely to increase. To overcome this,
Reliance Jio should be able to understand the customer’s insights.

4P’s – (product, place, price and promotion):


The 4P’s is an analytical tool, which will help the business refer to the actions, or strategies, that
the firm uses to help promote its product or brand into the market.

Product –

o LYF - 4G LTE enabled smart phones was introduced by Reliance Digital under
Lyf brand from Rs 2,999 onwards, making them affordable for consumers in a
highly competitive market. 26

o Jio sim - Reliance Jio works on 4G which is also able to support 5G speed by
providing Volte for connecting video calls which could be made through data
network.27

o Poor Quality – The LYF user’s hand injured, due to the handset getting
exploded. From this it can be said that the explosion of LYF handset is reflecting
the poor quality and worsening the brand image.28

Price –

26
News 16. "Reliance's LYF Brand Corners 13% LTE Device Market Share in Q1: CMR." Telecom Talk. June 18, 2016.
https://telecomtalk.info/lyf-brand-corners-13lte-devices-market-share-in-q1-cmr/154463/.
27
Ladage, Rutu. "You Can Soon Order Reliance Jio SIM Cards Online on Snapdeal!" India.com. December 28, 2016.
http://www.india.com/technology/you-can-soon-order-reliance-jio-sim-cards-online-on-snapdeal-1729063/.
28
Inácio, Stélio. Marketing Mix: Advantages and Disadvantages. https://agendamahala.com/marketing-mix-advantages-and-
disadvantages.
o Aggressive pricing by Reliance Jio - Jio offers “free voice calls and cheap data”
makes it as an aggressive pricing strategy i.e. 50 rupees per GB. And Airtel calls
it as predatory pricing.29

o Affordable price – As, Jio made its Volte services in a cheaper price now the
company is offering the LYF mobile phones at a very low price globally.30

o Psychological pricing - Reliance Jio Data pricing is 149 or 499, which makes the
customer feel that the price is way cheaper when compared to the number 500.31

Promotion –

o News paper advertisement of September 2nd - The India’s Prime Minister Picture
was on the front page of the various news papers for promoting Jio in the form of
way to digital India. This ad led to ethical consideration of advertising the product
with the permission of the Indian prime minister. However, people become aware
of this and knowing that the main aim by Reliance Jio was to advertise; as of 31 st
December it has been recorded that Jio has a huge customer base of nearly 72.5
million subscribers in just 4 months.32

o Welcome offer – The welcome offer turned out a huge customer base and that
made them to get 72.4 million customers in just 4 months (31st December, 2017)
from the start of the telecommunication. And due this they extended the 4G data
service till March 31st, 2017.33

o Investment – In the start of the company around 275-300 crore was invested on
promoting reliance Jio.34
29
Doval, Pankaj. “Airtel, Voda Accuse Jio of Predatory Pricing - Times of India ►.” The Times of India, India, 17 June 2017,
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/airtel-voda-accuse-jio-of-predatory-pricing/articleshow/59185203.cms.
30

31
“Reliance Jio's 4G data rates are the world's cheapest; starts at Rs 50 for 1GB ... shift to the normal Jio plan, say the rs 499 one”- quora
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-logic-behind-Jios-Rs-303-pricing-not-Rs-299

32
Staff, The Wire. "The Reliance Jio-Modi Newspaper and TV Campaign: Illegal or Improper?" The Wire. September 03, 2016.
https://thewire.in/economy/modi-reliance-jio-advertisement.
33
https://www.firstpost.com › Technology News › News-Analysis
34
"Reliance Jio Is World's Largest Startup with Rs 150,000 Crore Investment: Mukesh Ambani." The Economic Times. March 30, 2016.
o Brand ambassador – As ShahRukh khan was made as a Brand ambassador for the
Reliance Jio, a lot of people twitted that ShahRukh khan should be removed as the
brand ambassador by having a hash tag #JioRemoveSRK, because he is an anti-
nationalist.35

o Special offer to the corporate employees - Reliance Jio has special offer limited to
the employees, as a strategy to keep its customer base consistent. 36

Place –

o E- Commerce - reliance Jio sim can be brought on online through snap deal( an
online shopping platform)

o Apps – By downloading & using the App the Reliance Jio sim can be brought,
however there is only few public download it because they might not have Smart
phone.37

o Demo – tents - The utilization of demo – tents for proving deals was began by
Jio, and yet used for further promotion.

o Stores – Jio Sims can be bought from Reliance Digital stores, since the stores are
located in multiple areas; this tends to raises the ease of access.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/telecom/reliance-jio-is-worlds-largest-startup-with-rs-150000-crore-investment-mukesh-
ambani/articleshow/51613248.cms.
35
Sarkar, Asmita. "Twitter Erupts over Shah Rukh Khan as Reliance Jio Brand Ambassador." International Business Times, India
Edition. September 16, 2016. http://www.ibtimes.co.in/twitter-erupts-over-shah-rukh-khan-reliance-jio-brand-ambassador-693899.
36
Thomas, Trisha. "Reliance Jio Extends Preview Offer to Corporate Employees." Ultra News. August 31, 2016. https://ultra.news/t-
t/22032/reliance-jio-preview-offer-now-corporate-employees.

37
"Marketing Strategy | Marketing Mix: Product, Price, Place & Promotion | Entrepreneur's Toolkit." MaRS.
https://www.marsdd.com/mars-library/the-marketing-mix-in-marketing-strategy-product-price-place-and-promotion/.
Evaluation of 4P’s

By positioning the product that makes global esteem, and that reflects on Jio’s social awareness.
This goes about as favourable position in light of the fact that the legislature of India is meaning
to make a digital content country "Digital India". Be that as it may, this prompts Jio's rivals
retaliating. Reliance Jio charges Rupees 50 per GB, this is lower than the market cost, and
nowadays pricing internet in lesser cost makes the customer’s feel of having lower quality.
Customers of Reliance have reported that the speed of internet is slow, and these incidents have
made customers losing trust on the product. Reliance Jio should recapture client’s trust, for
surviving into the market. The advertising strategies that were used by Jio made to controversies.
However, these issues made the customers to get aware about digital India development, and
increased the customer’s to 72.5 million subscribers. The driving forces and restrained forces for
low pricing will be analyzed by Force-field analysis.
LEWIN’S FFA
Force field analysis gives frameworks about the factors which influences Jio, firstly about social.
It analyses about the forces that are driving towards or blocking towards a goal.

Driving Forces Restraining


The weightings were given on a scale from 1-5, with the maximum 5 being stronger.

Forces for change:


o Increase in the customer base – Lower price makes the sim affordable to the customers,
and at the end of December month there were 72.4 million subscribers for Jio, which is
almost 2 fourth of the whole telecommunication market.38

o Support from the Indian Government – As, Jio is planning to promote Digital India, there
is a support from the government. And Reliance Jio makes it by giving Sim’s at
affordable prices.39

o Barriers to entry – Since, it is a large scale of production with lower costs that will make
new players to stop entering into the market.

o Economies of scale – Producing large scale of products by Jio, will benefit them from
getting economies of scale, and this will help them to cut down their price.

Restrained forces:

o Poor quality – Pricing a product will influence the quality of the product, lesser price of
mobile will setup to give low quality products. Customer mentioned that reliance Jio has
low data connectivity and 67 % of subscribers say that they will use Jio as a secondary
sim only.

o Lower Profit Margin – low profit margin started with the welcome free offer, in spite of
Jio investing 150,000 crore, low price leads to lower profit margin.40

38
"Price War: Idea, Vodafone and Bharti Airtel to Slash Tariffs to Compete with Reliance Jio." The Economic Times. September 02, 2016.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/price-war-idea-vodafone-and-bharti-airtel-to-slash-tariffs-to-compete-with-
reliance-jio/articleshow/53971250.cms
39
"Reliance Jio Plans Digital Content Strategy to Take on Peers." The Economic Times. November 23, 2015.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/reliance-jio-plans-digital-content-strategy-to-take-on-peers/articleshow/49886127.cms.
40
“low profit margin”- https://www.thehindu.com/business/jios-first-profit-is-a-bit.../article22716533.ece
o Competitive market – Together there is 74% of market share for Vodafone, Airtel and
Idea, which denotes that the telecommunication industry is highly competitive.41

Evaluation of Force Field Analysis

The driving forces are more when compared to the restrained forces by 2 points, which denotes
that the strategies taken by Reliance Jio are very effective and this will help to lead the industry
successful in the future. And Jio is also created barriers by covering almost two - fourth of the
customer base.However, Reliance Jio’s aggressive strategy will give profits in the future.

41
www.ETTelecom.com. “Airtel Leads Telecom Market with 25.85% Share, RJio Sees Highest Growth in Wireless Subs: Trai Dec Data - ET
Telecom.” ETTelecom.com, 16 Feb. 2018, telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/airtel-leads-telecom-market-with-25-85-share-rjio-sees-
highest-growth-in-wireless-subs-trai-dec-data/62947738.
Conclusion:
Utilizing various business tools the following RQ has been explored - To what extent the
aggressive marketing strategies adopted by Reliance Jio will help increase its market share
in India?

SWOT analysis concludes that Reliance Jio has strong market share and has a positive brand
image. However advertising Jio with modi's picture and having deprived secret code (Market
penetration is been said unethical) are the only drawbacks from SWOT.

PEST reveals the growing trend and the opportunities favouring Reliance Jio in the external
environment. The intense competitive environment and the expected dip in profit margin due to
low price strategy are matters of concern for this business to survive.

4P analysis states that the positioning of the product makes Jio strong along with good marketing
strategies. However, there are customers reports claiming that the speed of internet is slow, and
low pricing strategies makes customer feel of having lower quality of product.

Lewin's force field analysis demonstrates that the strategy of giving 4G at lower cost will benefit
Jio and this may lead to increase in the customer base. However, having lower profit margin and
poor quality makes a drawback for the company.

Jio has changed and influenced the whole telecommunication industry by implying aggressive
strategy. The increasing number of mergers and acquisitions is a sign of the market becoming
saturated. However, Jio has to improve on the quality of service to gain consumer’s trust again.
Reliance Jio can adopt emotional advertisements that make the customers feel wistful without
4G. To conclude, Reliance Jio’s marketing mix are appropriate enough to gain a stronger market
share in the Indian market share.
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