ANALYZE THE MARKET SEGMENTATION
STRATEGY OF TELECOME SERVICE
PROVIDER “AIRTEL”.
Marketing strategy of Airtel – Airtel
marketing strategy
Airtel is the world’s 3rd largest mobile telecommunication Indian MNC
company which is operating in 20 countries across Asia & Africa. Airtel has
presence in 22 telecom circles across India & is India’s largest integrated
telecom service provider.
Segmentation, targeting, positioning in the
Marketing strategy of Airtel
Airtel uses mix of segmentation strategies to segment its offerings like basic
Call /SMS plans, prepaid / Post-paid plans, VAS – Data, caller tunes etc.
Apart from geographically segmenting the market in East, West, North, South
& central, the market is also segmented in each region on the basis
of demographic variables like age, Income, Social groups.
Different geographic regions are handled independently and different
campaigns are run according to the preferences of people in each region. Airtel
has targeted the generation of 15-25 ages, generation of 25-35 & baby
Boomers by using different campaigns over the period of time i.e. campaign
like “Har Ek friend Jaruri hota hai”/ “Jo tera hai wo mera hai ” to target Gen
Z and recently launched campaign of “one touch internet” targeting Gen X &
baby boomers.
Airtel has been successful in top-of-the-mind recall amongst cellular phone
users and is enjoying a leadership position in most markets. After changing its
logo it has repositioned itself as Young, Energetic & International brand. It has
evolved itself as a torch bearer of the telecom industry in India.
Mission –“Hunger to win customers for life.”
Vision- “Our vision is to enrich the lives of our customers. Our obsession is to
win customers for life through an exceptional experience.”
Tagline – “The smartphone Network”.
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 & promotion 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.
BCG Matrix in the Marketing strategy of
Airtel-
Airtel have 4 SBU’s (Strategic business unit) which occupies different places
in BCG matrix namely
Mobile services are stars, as it is operating in 22-telecom circles of India and is
the largest mobile service provider in the country, based on the number of
customers & (22.7 %) market share.
Tele-media services – fixed-line services are dogs since there is a phenomenal
decrease in the services in the industry as a whole.
High-speed broadband which is question mark since it has best in class
network with 126,357Rkm of fibre laid down but still they have presence in
only 87 metros & tier-1 city further investment can increase their market
share & will help it to move to stars.
Airtel business to large enterprise is question mark, although it provides a
broad portfolio of services to large Enterprise, Government, Small & Medium
businesses and carrier customers but the services offered by Airtel are
expensive as compared to other players.
Digital TV services are stars, Airtel have 18% market share in the DTH services
second to only Dish TV & have head on competition with TATA sky.
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.
