Bharti Airtel’s “Back to School” Campaign SIP project report submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for the PGDM programme

Submitted by Ankita Agrawal 2010038

Company Guide Mr. Tarun Hans

Faculty Guide Prof. Subodh Tagare Institute of Management Technology, Nagpur PGDM 2010-12

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Acknowledgement

I am grateful to Bharti Airtel Limited for giving me the opportunity to do my Summer Internship Project with the organization and for providing an opportunity to work on a challenging project. I would like to extend my gratitude to various people who provided their continuous support during these two months of my Project.

I would like to thank my project guide Mr. Tarun Hans for giving me the flexibility and freedom to understand the scope of the project. I thank him for his support and patience with me despite being hard pressed for time. His continuous guidance and support is deeply appreciated.

I would also like to acknowledge the nurturing hand extended by Ms. Preeti Sharma (Head, Brand and Communication, Delhi-NCR, Airtel) during the course of the project. I greatly value the constant encouragement and direction shown by her during my internship. Her views enabled me to gain practical insights about the subject matter of this project and the telecom industry in general.

I want to pay acknowledgements to our Institute (Institute of Management Technology, Nagpur) for instilling in me the confidence to work on such a wonderful project.

I would also like to thank my faculty guide Prof. Subodh Tagare for his constant guidance and support during the course of internship.

I would also like to thank everyone else who at some point or the other in this short stint, have helped me in innumerable ways.

---Ankita Agarwal PGDM - FT

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Certificate

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgement ..................................................................................................................... 2 Certificate ................................................................................................................................... 3 Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... 6 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 8 Objectives of the Study .............................................................................................................. 9 About the Telecom Industry .................................................................................................... 10 Industry Size ........................................................................................................................ 12 About the company: Bharti Airtel Limited .............................................................................. 13 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 13 History.................................................................................................................................. 14 Business Divisions ............................................................................................................... 15 Mobile Services ............................................................................................................... 15 Telemedia Services .......................................................................................................... 15 Enterprise Services........................................................................................................... 15 Digital TV Services.......................................................................................................... 15 Brand Airtel ......................................................................................................................... 16 Mission............................................................................................................................. 16 Vision and Promises ........................................................................................................ 16 Values .............................................................................................................................. 17 SWOT Analysis for Airtel ................................................................................................... 18 Methodology Used ................................................................................................................... 19 Primary Data: ....................................................................................................................... 19 Secondary Data: ................................................................................................................... 20 Results ...................................................................................................................................... 21 Interpretations and Findings .................................................................................................... 32 SWOT Analysis based on the research study and subsequent findings ............................... 33 Strengths .......................................................................................................................... 33 Weaknesses ...................................................................................................................... 33 Opportunities.................................................................................................................... 34 Threats.............................................................................................................................. 35 Recommendations ................................................................................................................ 36 Limitations ........................................................................................................................... 40 Scope for future improvements ............................................................................................ 41 Appendix .................................................................................................................................. 42 Questionnaire ....................................................................................................................... 42

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Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 45

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Executive Summary

The telecom industry and mobile telephony in particular have taken a quantum leap in India. It is now the second-largest telecom market, just behind China. Despite the global economic slowdown, the Indian telecom industry continues to grow substantially, delivering strong returns on investment, fuelled by the growth in the wireless industry.

Airtel has been at the forefront of the mobile telecom revolution since its inception in 1995 and has been a leader in bringing new, innovative technologies to its customers. The Company enjoys a big 35% market share (approx.) in the telecom segment and has shown tremendous growth over the last decade. With the entry of so many players, Airtel has to keep on its toes to beat the competition by retaining existing customers, adding new customers to its base and simultaneously increasing revenue.

Among the GSM Mobile Service Operators, Airtel's biggest competitor Vodafone Essar notched up 3.1 million new subscribers during the month, taking its total base to 127.36 million.

However, despite the increasing revenue Airtel as a brand is not so famous among the youth segment. Vodafone is clearly the market leader in that segment with 41% share followed by Airtel with 27% share. In the recent past many new companies have entered into the telecom sector thus increasing competition. This has resulted in sharing of revenues, market shares and number of subscribers, so in the project we were to see how Airtel can make an impact on other service providers.

The project was a twofold project. The first phase was to find out the general behavior of the youth of Delhi-NCR region so as to understand their expectations, spending pattern, usage behavior, etc. This helped in gaining the insight of this segment which is the growing concern of Airtel as it is losing its market share in this segment to Vodafone.

The second phase was to understand the feasibility and practicality of the new campaign of Airtel viz. “Back to School”. This campaign is aimed at school students leaving school after 12th standard. Usually telecom companies target youth when they enter college. But Airtel is planning to go backward and target them when they leave school. It included checking the

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usage behavior of youth in depth which was analyzed earlier in broader manner. It also included talking to school teachers and principals so as to take their suggestions as to how can the school students be approached.

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Introduction

The Indian Telecom Industry has been growing in leaps and bounds in the last decade. The number of telecom users is increasing substantially. There is cut throat competition in the market to tap new customers and retain the existing ones. Every service provider is providing services better than the other.

Since the industry is very attractive the number of players in the market is also increasing and so is the competition. The major players are Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Essar, Idea, MTNL, BSNL, Tata Indicom and Reliance. Besides there are also many new entrants like MTS, Virgin, Uninor, etc. So the competition is surely going to rise further.

Airtel has the major share of the market but the Vodafone has recently eating up its share. Vodafone’s major users are youth whereas Airtel’s major users are professionals and business people. Despite the offers and schemes being similar Vodafone attracts more youth segment then Airtel. So Airtel decided upon to capture this segment. Usually service providers approach students when they are about to enter college. So Airtel decided to go a bit backward and approach the students when they leave school by launching a new campaign “Back to School”. The campaign was all about using the emotional connect of school students among each other and offering them various schemes and offers by making their CUGs. The project was all about checking the feasibility and practicality of the campaign and recommending the ways to attract the school students and approaching schools to allow to talk to their students.

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Objectives of the Study 

To find out the preferences of youth when it comes to telecom services in terms of pre-paid and post-paid users, their expectations out of the service provider, etc.

 

To determine their usage and spending pattern.

To study the various modes of communication used by different players in the industry and their impact of the consumers.



To explore the Youth market particularly school students considering the service provider awareness among the consumers and facilities provided by the service providers and to determine the market potential and attractiveness.



To arrive at a conclusive decision on the steps that Airtel needs to take to create a visibility among the youth of Delhi and NCR.



To analyze the different service providers (Delhi and NCR region) and their products and schemes to analyze where Airtel is lacking in the youth segment.

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About the Telecom Industry

The Indian telecommunication industry is the world's fastest growing industry with 826.93 million mobile phone subscribers as of April 2011. It is also the second largest telecommunication network in the world in terms of number of wireless connections after China. As the fastest growing telecommunications industry in the world, it is projected that India will have 1.159 billion mobile subscribers by 2013. Furthermore, projections by several leading global consultancies indicate that the total number of subscribers in India will exceed the total subscriber count in the China by 2013. The industry is expected to reach a size of 344,921 crore (US$76.92 billion) by 2012 at a growth rate of over 26 per cent, and generate employment opportunities for about 10 million people during the same period. According to analysts, the sector would create direct employment for 2.8 million people and for 7 million indirectly. In 2008-09 the overall telecom equipments revenue in India stood at crore (US$30.51 billion) during the fiscal, as against year before. A large population, low telephony penetration levels, and a rise in consumers' income and spending owing to strong economic growth, have helped make India the fastest-growing telecom market in the world. India is projecting to become the second largest telecom market globally by 2012. In fact, in April 2008, India had already overtaken the US as the second largest wireless market. According to CRISIL Research estimates, eight infrastructure sectors, which include the telecom sector, are expected to draw more than US$ 345.28 billion investment in India by 2012. 136,833

115,382 crore (US$25.73 billion) a

With the rural India growth story unfolding, the telecom sector is likely to see tremendous growth in India's rural and semi-urban areas in the years to come. By 2012, India is likely to have 200 million rural telecom connections at a penetration rate of 25 per cent. And according to a report jointly released by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Ernst & Young, by 2012, rural users will account for over 60 per cent of the total telecom subscriber base.

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Mobile telephony was introduced in Indian markets in mid1990s. In the last few years, the sector has witnessed tremendous growth. The subscriber base is adding more and more customers every year and the Mobile segment has welcomed more and more players every year.

After the Telecommunication policies were revised to allow private operators, companies such as Bharti Telecom, Tata Indicom, Vodafone, MTNL, Idea and BPL entered the space. In 2007, an article by Business week magazine reported that India's mobile phone market is the fastest growing in the world, with companies adding some 6 million new customers a month. Liberalized policies have ensured lower tariffs and reduced roaming rentals. This will lead to increased usage of mobile phones. Mobile telephony can be further categorized into WLL, CDMA, GSM and 3G.

Mobile telephony provides services such as messaging text and multimedia mobile commerce through GPRS enabled mobile Internet, with local calls and long distance calls national and international.

Not only service providers but also equipment manufacturers are contributing towards the growth of the sector. Mobile telephony started up with bulky handsets and has now reached to smart phones with cameras, radio facility and lots of other multimedia applications. Also, PDAs have entered Indian markets with operating systems that can make it a pocket PC with more application based.

Although India's tele-density has improved from under 4% in March 2001 to over 35% by the end of January 2009, we are still way behind other developing nations. Cellular telephony has emerged market as the fastest growing segment in the Indian telecom industry. The mobile subscriber base (GSM and CDMA combined) has grown from under 2 million at the end of year 2000 to touch 362 million at the end of January 2009. Tariff reduction and decline in handset costs has helped the segment to gain in scale.

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Industry Size 

The telecom network in India is the fifth largest network in the world meeting with global standards. Presently, the Indian telecom is currently slated to an estimated contribution of nearly 1% to India’s GDP.

 

The overall cellular services revenue in India is projected to grow at the rate of 18% from 2008-2012 to exceed US$ 37 Billion. The Indian telecommunication industry is on a growth trajectory with the GSM operator adding a record 9.3 Million new subscriber in February 2009, taking the total user base to 277.12 Million, according to the date released by COAI.



Year 2008 saw the continuance of strong for the Indian telecom market, which witnessed a 46% yearly increase in its subscriber base during 12 month period. At the end of January 2009, the country’s total telecom subscriber base (fixed plus mobile) stood 400 Million.

 

Tele-density crossed the 35% mark by the end of the fiscal. Growth remained robust in the GSM mobile space, with the growing its subscriber base of 71 Million, thus contribution to 76% of the total incremental subscriber addition for the entire Indian telecom market. After a strong 75% yearly increase in subscriptions during year 2007, the GSM industry recorded another good performance during the year 2008, growing subscriber base by 59% yearly to over192 million

 

During year 2008, India’s mobile subscriber base grew by 58% yearly, from 165 to 261 Million, while the fixed subscriber base decline by 3% from 40.8 to 39 Million. The year also saw a strong yearly 67% rise in the internet broadband subscriber base. Currently the base stands at around 4 Million users as against 1.4 Million last year

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About the company: Bharti Airtel Limited

Introduction Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as Airtel, is an Indian telecommunications company that operates in 19 countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands. It operates a GSM network in all countries, providing 2G or 3G services depending upon the country of operation. Airtel is the fifth largest telecom operator in the world with over 207.8 million subscribers across 19 countries at the end of 2010. It is the largest cellular service provider in India, with over 164.61 million subscribers at the end of 2011 April. Airtel is the 3rd largest incountry mobile operator by subscriber base, behind China Mobile and China Unicom.

Airtel also offers fixed line services and broadband services. It offers its telecom services under the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal. Bharti Airtel is the first Indian telecom service provider to achieve this Cisco Gold Certification. To earn Gold Certification, Bharti Airtel had to meet rigorous standards for networking competency, service, support and customer satisfaction set forth by Cisco. The company also provides land-line telephone services and broadband Internet access (DSL) in over 96 cities in India. It also acts as a carrier for national and international long distance communication services. The company has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore.

It is known for being the first mobile phone company in the world to outsource everything except marketing and sales and finance. Its network (base stations, microwave links, etc.) are maintained by Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Network and Huawei, business support by IBM and transmission towers by another company (Bharti Infratel Ltd. 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. This enabled the company to provide pan-India phone call rates of Rs. 1/minute (U$0.02/minute). Call rates have come down much further. During the financial year [2009-10], Bharti has roped in a strategic partner Alcatel-Lucent to manage the network infrastructure for the Telemedia Business.

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History Sunil Bharti Mittal founded the Bharti Group. In 1983, Sunil Mittal was into an agreement with Germany's Siemens to manufacture the company's push-button telephone models for the Indian market. In 1986, Sunil Bharti Mittal incorporated Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL) and his company became the first in India to offer push-button telephones, establishing the basis of Bharti Enterprises. This first-mover advantage allowed Sunil Mittal to expand his manufacturing capacity elsewhere in the telecommunications market. By the early 1990s, Sunil Mittal had also launched the country's first fax machines and its first cordless telephones. In 1992, Sunil Mittal won a bid to build a cellular phone network in Delhi. In 1995, Sunil Mittal incorporated the cellular operations as Bharti Tele-Ventures and launched service in Delhi. In 1996, cellular service was extended to Himachal Pradesh. 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 rebranded 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.

In 2009, Airtel launched its first international mobile network in Sri Lanka. In 2010, Airtel began operating in Bangladesh and 16 African countries.

The businesses at Bharti Airtel have been structured into three individual strategic business units (SBU's) Mobile Services, Airtel Telemedia Services & Enterprise Services.

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Business Divisions

Mobile Services Bharti Airtel offers GSM mobile services in all the 22-telecom circles of India and is the largest mobile service provider in the country, based on the number of customers.

Telemedia Services The group offers high-speed broadband internet with the best in class network. With Landline services in 87 cities, Airtel helps you stay in touch with your friends & family and keep you updated round the clock.

Enterprise Services Enterprise Services provides a broad portfolio of services to large Enterprise and Carrier customers. This division comprises of the Carrier and Corporate business unit. Enterprise Services is regarded as the trusted communications partner to India's leading organizations, helping them to meet the challenges of growth.

Digital TV Services Discover the magical experience of digital entertainment with airtel. From DVD quality picture and sound, the best and widest variety of channels and programmes to the best on-demand content on airtel Live, your TV viewing experience change forever with digital TV from airtel!

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Brand Airtel Airtel was born free, a force unleashed into the market with a relentless and unwavering determination to succeed. A spirit charged with energy, creativity and a team driven "to seize the day" with an ambition to become the most globally admired telecom service. Airtel, after just ten years, has risen to the pinnacle of achievement. As India's leading's leading Telecommunications Company Airtel brand has played the role as a major catalyst in India's reforms, contributing to its economic resurgence. Today it touches people's lives with our Mobile services, Telemedia services, to connecting India's leading 1000+ corporate. It also connects Indians living in USA with call home service.

Mission To meet the global standards for telecom services that delight customers through     Customer service focus Empowered employees Innovative services Cost Efficiency

Vision and Promises By 2013 Airtel will be the most admired brand in India:    Loved by more customers Targeted by top talent Benchmarked by more businesses

"We at Airtel always think in fresh and innovative ways about the needs of our customers and how we want them to feel. We deliver what we promise and go out of our way to delight the customer with a little bit more"

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Values Customer: People: Learning: "We will be responsible to the needs of our customers." "We will trust and respect our employees." "We will continuously improve our services innovatively and expeditiously."

Community: "We will be transparent and sensitive in our dealings with all stakeholders."

Opportunities: "Imagine having the resources to influence tomorrow's reality today. At Airtel we are seeking people whose ideas can make a difference, individuals who thrive on the opportunity to think creatively and be empowered to deliver. We are proud of our ability to nurture individuals and provide them the space and empowerment they need to home their talents. Our size gives us the unique ability to provide fast growth and high responsibility early in one's career as well as multiple avenues to reach the top.”

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SWOT Analysis for Airtel

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Methodology Used

Primary Data: We have made use of mainly primary data in the study. The method of collection comprised a questionnaire survey from youngsters in the Delhi-NCR region. The questionnaire consisted of both open-ended as well as closed ended questions. The questionnaire was primarily aimed to find the usage pattern of youth, their perception about Airtel and competition and the communication effectiveness of Airtel and competition. The number of respondents was 412 belonging to the age group of 15-20 yrs. The questionnaires were filled in the following schools and college DPS, Mathura Road Modern, Barakhamba, Heritage, GD Goenka, Amity International School, Don Bosco, Bal Bharti, Apeejay, DAV, Gargi College, JMC, Venky, SRCC, KMC, etc.

In depth interviews were done with the retailers and first hand information was collected both for Airtel as well as competition. Their insights were taken so as to understand the psyche of the users as the retailers have direct feedback from the users.

In depth interviews were also done with the school teachers and principals at the recommendation stage. We talked to the following school teachers to decide on some doables for the company in the Delhi-NCR: 

School VisitedDPS, RK Puram Teacher spoken to Mrs. Kavita Saxena



School Visited Ramjas, RK Puram Teacher spoken to Mrs. Shashi Hans



School VisitedRyan International, Rohini Spoken to principalMS. Seema Sahay

They gave us very useful insights in terms of the needs of the students in our target segment, based on which we have come up with ideas like Airtel Prom night and counseling sessions which will be talked about in detail in the recommendation section.

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Secondary Data:    Internet : Blogs, Company website, Reports News articles Magazines

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Results

Market Share of different service providers by user base

Overall Market Share
4.12% 9.79% 27.30% 7.70% Airtel Vodafone Idea 10.30% Reliance Aircel Others 40.70%

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We divided the sample population into three categories based on their age viz. under 16, from 16 to 18, and 19 to 20. This was done because generally, users less than 16 yrs are school going students, from 16 to 18 they are in their senior secondary while above that are the ones who have joined college. Although this cannot be generalized, this classification has helped us in finding different preferences, behavior and trends.

Sample composition on the basis of age group

20.4%

17.1%

Under 16 16-18 19-20

62.5%

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Market share within different age groups

Under 16 • Airtel – 38% • Vodafone – 34% • Reliance – 10% • Others – 18%

16-18
• Airtel – 25% • Vodafone – 41% • Idea – 12% • Others – 22%

19-20 • Airtel – 27% • Vodafone – 44% • Idea – 10% • Others – 19%

Type of users
14%

86%

Prepaid

Postpaid

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Proportion of Prepaid and Postpaid users with major service providers

Airtel

Vodafone

Others

• Prepaid – 74% • Postpaid – 26%

• Prepaid – 82% • Postpaid – 18%

• Prepaid – 82% • Postpaid – 18%

Reasons for choosing a particular service provider within different age groups

Under 16
• Parents – 24% • Schemes – 21% • Network – 17%

16-18
• Network – 42% • Schemes -23% • Perception – 10% • Peers – 9% • Cheaper tariff – 5%

19-20
• Network – 46% • Schemes – 27% • Cheaper tariff – 20%

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Scheme awareness for different service providers •

Overall scenario: – Yes : 67%(aware of the schemes/offers) – No : 33%(not aware of the schemes/offers)

•

Airtel – Yes : 58.6% – No : 41.4%

•

Vodafone – Yes : 79% – No : 21%

•

Other service providers – Yes : 56.8% – No : 43.2%

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Major Reasons for Selecting a Service Provider
70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Network Schemes Cheap Perception Impulse Peers Internet

61%

35%

14%

13%

11%

10%

5%

 

Perception – Responses like “it’s the best”, “I like it” etc Impulse – If the person was not sure and made decision on the spot

Ratings on Network Coverage
0% 4% worst 26% 25% bad average good 45% excellent

Airtel3.92 overall

0% 22%

1% worst bad average good

21%

56%

excellent

Vodafone3.96 overall

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Packs/offers in Prepaid connections

60 Number of users 50 40 30 20 10 0 Airtel 27.3 18.2 9.1 45.4

54.5

35.8

38.8 unaware 27.8 Already using pack 19.4 14 No Price sensitivity Understanding and recall issues

18.2 18.2 9.1

21.4 21.4

21.4

Vodafone Service Provider

Others

Overall

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Reasons for not using schemes (in %ages) among different service providers.

Number of Switchers from Airtel to other Service Providers

Percentage
Voda Others 32.4 Do not want to switch

52.2

16.2

No. of Switchers from Vodafone to other Service providers

Percentage

41.7

41.7

To Airtel Others Don't wish to switch

16.7

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Comparison within different age groups for potential switchers

Percentage
14.3 14.3 Below 16 16-18 Above 18

71.4

From Vodafone to Airtel

Percentage
17.4 Below 16 16-18 Above 18

20.6

62

From Airtel to Vodafone

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Rating for Communication AIRTEL Worst Bad Average Good Excellent TOTAL 2 24 44 34 14 118 (1.7%) (20.4%) (37.2%) (28.8%) (11.8%) VODAFONE 0 16 46 88 18 168 (0%) (9.5%) (27.3%) (52.3%) (10.7%)



Most of the AIRTEL users rate the communication of schemes/offers/vouchers as AVERAGE.



Most of the VODAFONE users rate the communication of schemes/offers/vouchers as GOOD.

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A comparison between Airtel and Vodafone for effectiveness of means of scheme communication

Through SMS from the company From customer care Through retailers Through peers Posters at Retailer's Outlet Hoardings Through T.V. Commercials 0 5 10 15 1.2 7.6 8.1 7.6 13.5 12.8 12 12.8 16 17.5

22.2

37

19.2 20 25

25

30

Vodafone

Airtel

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Interpretations and Findings           Prepaid is preferred over postpaid, with prepaid users constituting 86% of all users. Vodafone is clearly the market leader with 40.7% share, followed by Airtel at 27.3%. However, in Under 16 category, Airtel is the market leader with 38% As we move up the age groups, we see a sharp fall in the Airtel’s market share. Upon further analysis, parental influence was discovered to be quite significant in Under 16 category, i.e. around 24%. Therefore, we can conclude that for Under 16 category, our target segment should include parents as well. Airtel has the maximum number of postpaid users as compared to any other service provider. The above trend was found to be quite prominent in Under 16 Airtel subscribers, where 4 out every 10 users are postpaid subscribers. Among the postpaid users, it was observed that people like to use monthly rentals in the price range of Rs.200-350. Vodafone has the 65% of the share in postpaid users with rentals in the range of Rs.200-350. And the most popular scheme in this category was Rs.325 monthly rental.  The major users in 200-350 category are in the age group of 16-18 years. Now, since airtel has cheaper schemes in the same category. Thus, we can conclude that it is due to perception than rationality.  It was also observed that 41.4% of the Airtel prepaid users were unaware of the schemes which are just twice of Vodafone’s prepaid users (21%). So, we need to increase the awareness among our users.  Airtel users rate the communication of schemes/offers/vouchers as AVERAGE whereas Vodafone users rate it as GOOD. Maximum average communications lie in Under 16 category.   People in 16-18 age categories are not brand loyals as maximum switchers in both Airtel and Vodafone lie in this category. Vodafone’s communications are more effective as compared to Airtel’s be it through HOARDINGS, POSTERS, RETAILERS OR T.V. COMMERCIALS.

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SWOT Analysis based on the research study and subsequent findings

Strengths 

Good network coverage is the first thing that attracts a customer. Airtel surely has the widest coverage and majority of users acknowledge this fact. We need to leverage this strength in the best possible ways.



Airtel is the market leader both in terms of market share as well as subscriber base. It has got the highest ARPU also. Being one of the oldest companies in this industry, Airtel has a lot of expertise which provides an edge in critical decision making.

  

It has built strong brand recognition in the country by using top celebrities and through big promotional campaigns from time to time. Wide network coverage saves roaming charges for the company as well as earns revenue from other vendors who have tie ups with us. The company has built a robust distribution network which ensures our presence in almost every outlet which deals in the relevant categories.

Weaknesses 

Youth population is not able to relate well to the brand. They readily pay attention to novel ideas and accept creativity and innovation. This is the reason Vodafone’s ZooZoo campaign is a hit amongst them. Celebrities are being used by many brands simultaneously hence they lack exclusivity.



Some customers complained of customer service to be rude and arrogant. A few complained of unwanted VAS deductions also. They might develop this feeling that Airtel being the leading player, doesn’t listen to customers anymore. This needs to be checked because at the same time, Vodafone stresses on its “Happy to help” policy. Recent change from “Airtel” to “airtel” should help in this regard as capital “A” alluded to arrogance.



People were also of the opinion that Airtel responds last to consumer demands and takes more time in introducing good schemes than others. For example, in case of

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1p/sec billing. Or recently, we introduced 100 free local SMS for Rs.9 with 5 day validity while Aircel has been giving this 100 free local as well as national sms for Rs.9 with 30 day validity.  Although it is not always possible to respond to price wars started by every competitor in the same way, but in case of breakthrough changes like 1p/sec billing, it becomes necessary because many customers, especially youth are quick to respond and change sim-cards due to these offers.

Opportunities 

We can devise some plan especially for school and college students only. It should include cheaper local call rates and SMS packs. To make it exclusive, we can give it after verifying their school/college I-cards. We can provide extra benefits to them based on this sim-card from time to time for more engagement.



We can develop specific applications for youth so that they can relate to it, something similar to Aircel’s pocket learning which has got Campus and Library Packs. Campus pack is to prepare for the examinations for admissions ranging from Class 10 and 12 Boards (ICSE, CBSE. Regional Boards will be added in 2 months) to Engineering (IIT-JEE, AIEEE) MBA (CAT, XAT) and more while Library Pack is for reading books and other materials on various issues.

 

There is good scope for innovative Value added services. We found that fewer proportion of respondents prefer Airtel for VAS as compared to others. We already have a huge customer base, so their satisfaction and delight can give Airtel a lot of word-of-mouth publicity. We can explore avenues to make them realize that we value them.



3G services are creating buzz nowadays. We can have an edge if we provide better and cheaper 3G offers before someone else does it. Because once it becomes a qualifier, there has to be a price war. Moreover, we have seen from the statistical analysis that Airtel is already preferred for internet usage more than any other company. So, leveraging the same for 3G is a great opportunity.



We can highlight our strengths like strong network coverage, and better sim-card offers at retail outlets and other communication from our side. Also, this will help the retailers push our products at the retail level.

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Threats 

The presence of so many competitors and aggressive new entrants are a matter of concern for the company. They come up with very low prices to attract customers and acquire a sizable subscriber base. It is not viable for a market leader to respond to every move of the challengers and small players all the time.

 

The competitors are keen to attract the retailers through various benefits to get their products pushed at the retail level. The school and college going students generally don’t have less money to spend on mobile usage. Due to this reason, they are always ready to welcome any cheap offer coming their way. They show lesser loyalty than other user groups. They take lesser time to change the sim-cards.



With the provision of MNP now, there are chances of Airtel users going for other providers. They can be misguided by showing some short-term gains but even if they realize it, they can’t switch before the lock-in period is over. Once that is over, they might get lured by some other service provider.

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Recommendations

A) Creating visibility inside school/colleges   

As we cannot do direct promotional activities like Van activity or canopies etc. Dealer-boards for general/stationery stores inside the campuses . Recharge facility as well as sim cards will be made available there. Canteen/eating joints menus made by airtel with special offers meant for the target segment highlighted on them.

B) School Activities    

Has to be educational. Benefitting the student in some way. Has to capture the students’ interest in some way. We were told that various student engagement activities could be done for thestudents of class 11th and 12th. Following are the suggestions that we got after speaking to the teachers: o Screening movies on social and environmental issues. o Quizzes based on telecommunication services. o Sponsoring the fete. o Elocution in line with the Airtel’s “Dil jo chahe pass laye” TVCs or Airtel wave theme.

C) Career Counseling Sessions     

We can organize career counseling sessions for 10th and 12th class students. Career counseling is the first thing that they need at this juncture. If we provide them something which they genuinely need, can have a long-lasting impact on their minds. Nothing of this sort has been done by any telecom company so far. This will give us a lot of media coverage also if we call people who are well known in the education field.

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 

Airtel will be promoted through all the communication from our side in this regard, like newspapers, magazines, placards /posters in colleges /schools, hoardings etc. Coaching institutes have huge database with them, they can also circulate sms regarding this event.

D) Sponsor Prizes at the Prize Distribution Ceremony, To Be Held For Classes 11th and 12th after the Summer Vacations. E) Airtel’s Toppers Trophy   We can also have schemes for the scholars. We can offer toppers of board exams( 10th and 12th) and other exams like AIEEE/PMT airtel trophies , some scholarship and special topper’s simcard with free minutes/sms.   This will provide us a way for brand promotion inside the colleges/schools. This is something which will be encouraged by the school authorities as well.

F) College Anthems    Targeting music – as it is something youth connects to. College rock bands are hugely popular. Their famous song can be set as the college anthem, i.e. all the students of that particular college will have that song as their caller tune, provided by Airtel free of cost.    This way, Airtel will create a privileged group, which all the students would like to be part of. We can air these anthems on radio as well, so that they “make a statement” about their college, creating a buzz in media. Contest for the best anthem · · Even more involvement Would make Airtel “the sought after connection” among college crowd.

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G) Special Discounts   Another thing which is common with the youngsters is eating out and watching movies. So, we can tie–up with the eating joints and the movie theaters in and around north and south campus. Ex: Kamla Nagar market, which is a hot hanging out place for the college goers.    Also, we can offer special discounts to the students. We can also use our existing services to support this. For example, we can have special discounts for the students who pay through airtel money.

H) Pick of the month     We can select a song which is most popular among youth in a particular month. We will set that song as caller tune for our target segment for free. This will act as a common reason for them to identify with Airtel. This will also popularize the use of hello tunes and VAS at large amongst them, similar to what Vodafone is doing through super-weeks.

J) Creating SCHOOL BUDDIES CUGs     We can come up with special CUG schemes for school students(for big groups of 3040) Numbers with a particular series ending with their roll numbers. This will keep refreshing the old school bond even when they leave the school. Provision for creating a group code with airtel, sms sent to this group code number will be sent to all. In this, we can offer special benefits: o Special call/sms rates within the group. o Night calling benefits ( this would curtail switchovers to cheaper connections such as Reliance and Tata.) o We can also have Birthday reminders for all the CUG members just like in facebook or orkut.  Students generally take new sim cards once they are out of school. This offer can reduce such switchovers to some extent.

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K) Airtel’s Grand Prom Night      Airtel can sponsor farewell function of some top ranking schools. We can have an event for the same, wherein students from schools all over Delhi can participate. The “airtel’s grand prom night”. That would be one event of the year, which every student would look forward to. We can have contests like “airtel’s Prom King” and “airtel’s Prom Queen”, in the same to generate further interest. These titles can be made really sought after by giving the winners a direct entry into Miss India contests.  This can be made an airtel specialty over a period of time, as it will to happen every year.

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Limitations  Data Collection: o At times students did not entertain us due to their personal issues so it was difficult to collect information and thus it consumed a lot of time to survey. o Students would give overly positive information about their service provider. o Some students were busy, so wanted to rush things up. o Responses given by students had certain errors. o The sample size was not sufficient to generalize the study. 

Data Analysis o Averages have been used in many cases which might be an inaccurate indication. o Data was approximated at times in order to simplify the study.

 

The duration of the project was limited to 2 months during which the in depth study was not possible. The project was carried out when the school were closed. So the interaction with the students and teachers was a problem.

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Scope for future improvements The summer internship project exposed a lot of grey areas in the overall execution of the project; the same can be summarized as follows:     The sample size can be larger. In-depth interviews can be done with the students so as to understand their psyche. The duration of the project could have been more. The school teachers and principals can be involved more as they understand the psyche of the students really well. Apart from these airtel can start with popularizing its schemes by the way of promotions as discussed in the report like the Prom Night and other things. The company should also look at building up their base early with the school going students when they enter the high school. All these factors combined would result in higher reach and penetration for Bharti Airtel in the target market segment.

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Appendix Questionnaire A) Name : ____________________________________________ B) Age: ____________________ C) Gender: Male / Female D) Mobile Number: ____________________ E) Name of School/ College: ________________________________________________

1. Which mobile connection do you use? a.) Airtel b.) Vodafone c.) Idea d.) Reliance e.) Aircel f.) Others (Please Specify)______________

2. Why did you opt for this network? ____________________________________________________________

_________ ____________________________________________________________

_________ ____________________________________________________________

_________ _________

3. Which type of connection do you use? a) Pre-paid b) Post-paid 4. If you are a post-paid user, which monthly scheme have you opted for? ___________________________________

5. If you are a post-paid user, do you use various schemes available for calling, messaging, etc.?

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a. Yes b. No 6. If no, then why? a.) Unaware about the various packs and offers b.) Already using a scheme number(i.e. the number already has call and message schemes) c.) Don’t care about the monthly bill d.) Packs are difficult to understand and recall

7. If yes, then which schemes and packs do you use?  For local calling- ______________  For National calling- ____________  For night calling-_____________  For international calling-__________  For messaging-_______________  For internet usage-_____________

8. If you are a pre-paid user, do you use various prepaid packs and offers provided by your service provider? a.) Yes b.) No

9. If no, then why? e.) Unaware about the various packs and offers f.) Already using a scheme number(i.e. the number already has call and message schemes) g.) Don’t care about the monthly bill h.) Packs are difficult to understand and recall

10. If yes, then are you aware of all the prepaid packs and offers? a.) Yes b.) No

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11. If yes, then which all schemes and packs do you use?  For local calling- ______________  For National calling- ____________  For night calling-_____________  For international calling-__________  For messaging-_______________  For internet usage-_____________

12. How do you come to know about the various schemes? a) Through T.V. commercials b) Hoardings c) Posters at retailer’s outlet d) Through peers e) Through retailers f) From Customer care g) Through SMS from the company h) Bonus cards help me understand the schemes in a better way

13. How to you rate the communication of schemes/offers/vouchers from your service provider on a scale of 1 to 5(1 being the worst and 5 being the best)? _______

14. How do you rate your customer care on a scale of 1 to 5(1 being the worst and 5 being the best)?

_______

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Bibliography           

www.wikipedia.com www.airtel.in www.coai.com www.blogspot.com Business Research Methodology, William G. Zikmund, Cengage Learning www.theindiastreet.com www.mobileindia.info www.mobigyaan.com www.economywatch.com www.cci.in www.ibef.org

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