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Transcript of Brand Awareness.with Reference 2 AIRTEL.kolag
A STUDY ONBrand Awareness
With reference to
“AIRTEL”VISAKHAPATNAM
Project report submitted to Andhra University, Visakhapatnam in partial
Fulfillment for the Award of the Degree in
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
By
Regd.No. Under the esteemed guidance of
Project Guide
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE AND MANAGEMENT STUDIES
ANDHRA UNIVERSITY CAMPUSVIZIANAGARAM
(2007-2009)
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that project report entitled “BRAND
AWARENESS” with reference to AIRTEL, VISHAKAPATNAM is a
bonafide work done by with Regd.No: under my guidance and supervision
during May to June 2008. This project is submitted to ANDHRA
UNIVERSITY in partial fulfillment of the award of degree of MASTER
OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION.
Date: ()
Place: Vizianagaram Project Guide
DECLARATION
I here by declare that this project report entitled “BRAND
AWARENESS” with reference to “AIRTEL, VISHAKAPATNAM” has
been prepared by me during the year 2008 in the month of June and July is
partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Degree of MASTER
OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION of ANDHRA UNIVERSITY.
I also declare that this project is a result of my own effort and that it
has not been submitted to any other university for the award of any Degree
or Diploma.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER-I
Introduction Need for the Study Objectives of the Study Methodology Limitations of the Study
CHAPTER-II
Industrial profile Company profile
CHAPTER-III
Theoretical framework
CHAPTER-IV
Analysis of study
CHAPTER-V
Summary Findings Suggestions
Questionnaire Bibliography
Glossary
CHAPTER-I
Introduction Need for the
Study Objectives of the
Study Methodology Limitations of
the Study
INTRODUCTION
Marketing
Marketing is the process of planning and executing the
conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods
and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and
organizational objectives.
In a most simple and non-technical language, marketing
may be explained as a business function entrusted with the
criterion and satisfaction of customers to achieve the aims of
business itself in popular usage, the term "marketing" refers to
the promotion of products, especially advertising and branding.
However, in professional usage the term has a wider meaning. It
can be divided into four sections. Often called the "four Ps'".
They are:
Product - The product management aspect of marketing deals
with the specifications of the actual good or service, and how it
relates to the end-user's needs and wants.
Pricing – This refers to the process of setting a price for a
product, including discounts.
Promotion -- This includes advertising, sales promotion,
publicity, and persona! Selling. And refers to the various methods
of promoting the product, brand or company.
NEED FOR THE STUDY
The study was conducted to know the brand awareness
regarding Airtel cellular providers from the customers of different
cellular service providers. He study totally revolves around the
opinions and feed back from the users. An opinion survey with
the help of questionnaire was conducted to know the users' view
on the services provided by Airtel with special emphasis on the
other cellular users.
The study was also done to estimate the performance of
the Airtel mobiles with the other cellular service providers, and
to whether the customers know about different services provided
by the Airtel mobiles.
Understanding the level of customer satisfaction with :
Reference to Airtel
Coverage
Call centers
Billing
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1. To understand the concept of Brand Awareness of Airtel
Cellular.
2. To find the awareness strategies of the Airtel brand.
3. To know how many cellular users know about the services
provided by Airtel.
4. To find out the reasons for the retention of the Airtel
customers.
5. To collect the suggestions and complaints of customers of
other cellular service providers.
6. To know the customer preferences.
7. To understand the problems of mobile customers.
8. To study the basic need of the customer for switching from
one Cell Company to another.
9. To compare the service of “Airtel” with that of the other
market players.
METHODOLOGY
This study is done using the following primary and
secondary data:
Primary Data: The primary data was collected by a market
survey in Visakhapatnam. Questionnaire was prepared and
administrated by taking a sample of 100 consumers, which
contains different categories of consumers like students,
businessmen and employees.
Secondary Data: The secondary data comprises of various
Books, Journals, Periodicals and other published magazines are
included in the study. Data was also collected from the
company's records and from the websites "www.Airtel.co.in"'.
Sampling
Deliberate sampling:
Deliberate sampling is known as purposive or non-
probability sampling. This sampling method involves purposive or
deliberate selection of particular units of the universe for
constituting a sample, which represents a universe. When
population elements are selected for inclusion in the sample on
the basis of access it can be called convenience sample.
Simple random sampling:
This type of sampling also known as chance sampling or
probability sampling. Where each and every item in population
has an equal chance of inclusion in this sample and each one of
the possible sample, in case of finite universe, has the sample
probability of being selected.
Systematic sampling:
In some instances the most practical way of sampling is to
select every 15th name of list, every 10th house on one side of
house of street and so on. Sampling of this type is known as
systematic sampling.
Stratified sampling:
If the population from which a sample is to be drawn does
not constitute a homogeneous group than a stratified sampling
techniques applied so as to obtain representative sample.
Quota sampling:
In stratified sampling the cost of talking random samples
from individual strata is often so expensive that interviewers are
simply given quota to be filled from different strata, the actual
selection of items for sample being left to the interviewer’s
judgment.
Cluster and area wise sampling:
Cluster sampling involves grouping the population and
then selecting the groups or the clusters rather than individual
elements inclusion in the sample.
Multi-stage sampling:
This is the further development of the idea of cluster
sampling. This technique is meant for big enquires extending
today considerably large geographical area like entire country.
Sequential sampling:
This is somewhat a complex sample design where the
ultimate size of the sample is not fixed in advance but it is
determined accordingly to the mathematical decisions on the
basis of information yielded as study progress.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The sample size was comparatively very small compared to
the population and there are chances that it may not
represent the whole population.
The time and cost factors affected the size of the sample.
A few of the questions asked were ranking based and hence
there was every possibility of biased user opinion.
There were only three open ended questions, which were
comparatively low when compared to the number of the
number of closed ended questions in the questionnaire
keeping in the respondent's precious time.
Most of the samples were collected during the office time. So
there is a chance of receiving some wrong responses due
workload from the respondents.
Many of the respondents gave oral complaints, but hesitated
to write those complaints in the complaints column.
CHAPTER-II
Industrial profile
Company profile
INDUSTRY PROFILE
MARKETING
Marketing deals with identifying and meeting human and
social needs. One of the shortest definitions of Marketing is
“Meeting needs profitably. When eBay recognized that people
were unable to locate some of the items they desired most and
created an online auction clearing house as when IDEA noticed
that people wanted good furniture of a substantially lower price
and created knock-down furniture.
Marketing is an organizational function and a set of
processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to
customers and for managing customer relations in ways that
benefit the organization and its stoke holders.
Four Basic Features of Modern Marketing
Modern marketing is consumer oriented.
Modern marketing starts and ends with the consumer.
Modern marketing precedes and succeeds production.
Modem marketing is the guiding element of business.
Importance of marketing:
A high level of marketing activity is a prerequisite for a high
level economic activity. It has been aptly remarked. "Nothing
happens until somebody sells something. At present the urgency
is for increased marketing and not merely for increase in
production. This alone shows the importance of marketing as a
potential force that commands high significance for society as a
whole.
What Is a Brand?
Perhaps the most distinctive skill of professional marketers
is their ability to create, maintain, protect and enhance brands.
Marketers say that "branding is the art and cornerstone of
marketing.
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as
follows:
A brand is a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a
combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services
of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from
those of competitors.
In essence, a brand identifies the seller or maker. It can be
a name, trademark, logo, or other symbol. Under trademark law,
the seller is granted exclusive rights to the use of the brand
name in perpetuinity. Brands differ from other assets such as
patents and copyrights, which have expiration dates.
A brand is essentially seller's promise to deliver a specific
set of features, benefits, and services consistently to the buyers.
The brands convey a warranty of quality. But a brand is an even
more complex symbol.
It can convey up to six levels of meaning:
1. Attributes: A brand brings to mind certain attributes.
Mercedes suggests expensive, well-built, well-engineered,
durable, high-prestige automobiles.
2. Benefits: Attributes must be translated into functional and
emotional benefits. The attribute "durable" could translate into
functional benefit "I won't have to buy another car for several
years". The attribute "expensive" translates into the
emotional benefit “the car makes me feel important and
admires.'
3. Values: The brand also says something about the producer's
values Mercedes stands for high performance, safety and
prestige.
4. Culture: The brand may represent a certain culture.
The Mercedes represents German culture: organized, efficient,
high quality.
5. Personality: The brand can project a certain personality.
Mercedes may suggest a no-nonsense boss (person), a reigning
lion (animal), or an austere place (object).
6. User: The brand suggests the kind of consumer who buys or
uses the product. We would expect to see a 55-year-old top
executive behind the wheel of a Mercedes, not a 20-year-old
secretary.
If a company treats a brand only as a name, it misses the
point. The branding challenge is to develop a deep set of positive
associations for the brand. Marketers must decide at which
level(s) to anchor the brand's identity. One mistake would be to
promote only attributes. First, the buyer is not as interested in
attributes as in benefits. Second, competitors can easily copy
attributes. Third, the current attributes may be come less
desirable later.
Promoting the brand only on one benefit can also be risky.
Suppose Mercedes touts its main benefit as "high performance".
Then several competitive brands emerge with high performance
as compared to other benefits. Mercedes needs the freedom to
maneuver into a new benefit positioning.
The most enduring meanings of a brand are its values,
culture, and personality. They define the brand's essence, The
Mercedes stands for high technology, performance and success.
Mercedes must project this in. its brand strategy. Mercedes must
resist marketing an inexpensive car bearing the name; doing so
would dilute the value and personality. Mercedes has built up
over the years.
BRAND AWARENESS
Brand, the hip, catches all word of the New Economy. It
suggested all a company needed succeed was awareness.
Image, as they say, was everything. Pat Harpell saw it up close
as the CEO of Harpell Inc., an integrated marketing firm in
Maynard, Massachusetts. Over the past few years, many
entrepreneurs have called on her to create branding programs,
and she could see that old-fashioned branding strategies had
gone astray. “That’s not a branding program; that's a logo." she
says. "Basic business principles fell apart."'
Branding turned into a game of being seen for the sake of
being seen, without giving consumers a reason to buy.
What ultimately fell apart was the connection between
companies and consumers. Branding turned into a game of being
seen for the sake of being seen, without giving consumers
reason to buy. "There's been a tremendous abuse of branding,"
says Jeff Dufresne, managing director of Brand Storm, a brand-
consulting group in Cincinnati. "I think people got confused and
thought branding was just throwing some ill-conceived
advertising out there to gain awareness."
With the dotcom fallout, companies are relearning the basic
lessons of what makes a successful brand-mainly that you can't
live on image only. Eyeballs don't equal sales, and logos don't
create loyalty. Consumers want to know what you arc all about
and why they should trust you enough to purchase your product.
This will never change, no matter how much technology alters
our lives.
Branding has become a monologue instead of
a dialogue. Entrepreneurs need to leave their ivory
office towers and talk to people.
It’s that dialogue that's beer, missing lately, Koehn says,
and it's essential to any branding strategy. Branding has become
a monologue instead of a dialogue. Entrepreneurs need to leave
their ivory office towers and talk to people. They need to be
responsive to their customers. They have to make sure their
branding messages are understood by everyone inside the
company. “Over the last few years. People didn't realize how
hard branding really is.” Koehn says. But its rewards are equal to
is-s difficulty.
Harpell recently studied a group of new companies to see
how ingrained their branding messages were inside those
companies. She found that many employees weren't aware of
their companies' branding messages at all. “There were no
brand connection, no teaching of employees and no
communicating with consumers,” Harpell says.
The web's problems, too. When management and
technology consulting firm Accenture and technology research
company Online Insight surveyed 2000 online consumers last
year, they found that a lot of the givens about the web that
marketers operate under are false. While most of the marketing
is aimed at youth, the average online shopper is 35 to 44.
Entrepreneurs also assumed that advertisements drew
consumers to their sites while customer’s survey veiled on
search engines. And the low prices companies touted weren't
what customers were looking for; they wanted satisfying
customer encounter that was Fast and convenient.
"Branding is about more than the sock puppet. It's about
the total customer experience," says Kelly Dixon, co-author of
the study and director of e-branding at Accenture in Chicago.
"Companies haven't focused on the entire package."
Consumers developed a love-hate relationship with late-'90s
branding strategies. Observes David Schumann, consumer
psychologist and associate dean at the University of Tennessee
in Knoxville. On one hand, seeing logos invade every inch of
public space has left U.S consumers over-exposed to branding.
On the other hand, consumers are paying attention, if only
briefly, to discover whether you'll reveal that one clear benefit
your product or service offers that'll make them try it. The
problem is this "one clear benefit" has been missing in plenty of
branding campaigns, and Schumann sees companies facing the
fallout: consumers sticking with the products they've trusted for
a long time instead of taking a chance on products they don't
really understand. When the value proposition is missing,
Schumann says, risk-averse consumers will go with what they
know.
Brand Awareness:
In developing brand, it is important to design
communication messages that reflect the brand's unique value
for specific audiences. Med stat helps healthcare providers
strengthen their brand awareness efforts with those customers
likely to use their service as well as determine the most effective
media for communicating their brand value to the target
audience based on lifestyle and media preference.
DEFINITION:
u The act of creating public awareness of a specific brand in
order to maximize its recognition, successful brand awareness
strategies should define a company's uniqueness and set it apart
from competitors". Quite simply, if potential customers do not
know about a company, they will not purchase from it. Therefore,
one of the preeminent goals of any business should be to build
brand awareness, albeit, in cost-effective manner as possible.
Consumers tend to make purchasing decisions based on
peer recommendations and direct experience, as well as
traditional advertising methods. This is why it is necessary to
build brand awareness strategies out by instilling trust among
consumers. Thus trust must be achieved through credibility,
rather than just a catchy advertising campaign. Promotional
marketing involving a one-to-one component is proving
increasingly effective at building trust and acquiring new
customers.
Online brand awareness strategies are used frequently,
albeit with differing levels of success. These online brand
awareness strategies can include the use of advertising including
banners, sponsorships, and email/newsletter advertising, online
PR, affiliate marketing, etc.
WIRELESS MEDIA
Cellular Telephony:
The technology that gives a person the power to
communicate anytime anywhere has spawned an entire industry
in mobile telecommunications. Mobile telephones have become a
business/economy,
The most prevalent wireless standard in the world today is
GSM. The GSM association (Global System for Mobile
Communication) was instituted in 1987 to promote and expedite
the adoption, development, deployment and evolution of the
GSM standards for digital wireless communications. The GSM
association was formed as a result of a European community
agreement on the need to adopt common standards suitable for
cross border European mobile communications. Starting of
primarily as a European standard, the group special mobile as it
was then called, soon came to represent the global system for
mobile communication as it achieved the status of a world wide
standard. GRM is today, the world’s leading digital standard
accounting for 68.5% of the global digital wireless market. The
Indian government when considering the introduction of cellular
services into the country, made a landmark decision to introduce
the GSM standard, leap fogging obsolescent
technologies/standards. Although cellular licenses were made
technology neutral in September 1999, all the private operators
are presently offering only GSM based mobile services. The new
licenses for the 4'1 cellular licenses that were awarded in July
2001 too, have opted for GSM technology to offer their mobile
services.
Cellular Industry in India:
The government of India recognizes that the provision of a
world class telecommunication infrastructure and information is
the key to rapid economic and social development of the
country. It is critical not only for the development of the
information technology industry, but also has widespread
ramifications on the entire economy of the country. It is also
anticipated that going forward, a major part of the GDP of the
country would be contributed by this sector. Accordingly, it is of
vital importance to the country that there be a comprehensive
and forward looking telecommunications policy which creates an
enabling framework for the development of this industry.
India today is emerging as one of the most
important and exciting wireless markets in the world.
History of telephony in India: The first telegraph line in India
was commissioned in October 1851 for the East India Company.
That was the beginning of India's electronic contact with the
world. A hundred years later, the first automatic telephone
exchange opened in Calcutta. From then to 1995, (when the first
cellular phone call was made at the princely cost of Rs 16.80 per
minute) for the average Indian, getting a telephone connection
meant having contacts at the right places.
Of course, what is playing out in India is just one exciting
chapter in the global wireless revolution - a revolution that has
ensured that mobile phones are the most widespread
communication devices on earth. There are more than 50 million
subscriptions as 1st October 2007; the company is one of the
world’s fastest growing telecom companies. It offers its mobile
services under the Airtel brand and is headed by “Sunil Mittal”,
India’s 6th richest man with a total worth of US$27 billion.
Some analysis advises taking slightly more conservative
figure. They point out that there is some degree of over-counting
by cellular service operators in the mad rush to report higher
subscriber’s numbers, it is often hard to tell just how many active
subscribers each operator has. While post-paid customers need
to surrender their number to recover their deposits, there is no
such compulsion for prepaid customers, who account for well
over 80% of the subscriber base. And most operators allow a
pre-paid subscriber to exist in the system for anything ranging
from 45days to 6 months, even after they have stopped buying
talk-time. So, many of those subscribers simply do not exist.
Even the specter of -double counting cannot take away
from the fact that India's mobile party is in full swing. And that it
is likely to continue at least for the next couple of years.
Everyone - the Government, Vendors, Handset manufacturers,
and operators -is pulling out all the stops to make sure that the
party doesn't end prematurely. The introduction of the unified
license has sorted out the key regulatory concerns. Sure there
are still a few direct investment limits to 74%.
The equipment and handset vendors are keeping the
growth story going. If two years ago, capacity enhancement cost
over $100 per subscriber, it is under $40 now. Nokia is now
getting increasingly aggressive in the Indian telecom equipment
market. Recent data suggests that its equipment rates have
come down to S25 per subscriber- once again, among the lowest
in the world.
In just a decade, the Indian telecom sector has transformed
itself from a musty tome of arcane into a growth story on
steroids.
CELLULAR WORLD
Cellular telephones have revolutionized the
communications arena, redefining how we perceive voice
communications. Traditionally cellular phones remained out of
hands of most consumers due to their high cost.
As a result, cell phone carriers have invested time and
resources into finding ways to give the systems higher capacity
and thus lower cost. Cell systems are benefiting from this
research and starting to develop into large-scale consumer
products.
Today, cellular phones are truly consumer electronics
devices with over 75 million subscribers. Since cell phones have
ceased to be an exclusive status symbol of high-powered lawyers
and are now in the hands of million of consumers. They are now
incredibly cost sensitive. Specifically it is not the cost of the
device that counts, but the cost of using the device. Today, more
than ever, cellular companies are looking for ways to bring down
the call cost to attain even higher market penetration, especially
in metropolitan areas.
In this report, we will begin by examining how eel! Phone
systems work, paying close attention to details in system design
that reduce cost and increase quality. After knowing about how
an eel! Phone system works, we will examine the various cell
phone systems in existence, examining the details of their
operation and how that impacts the cost of using the system and
call quality on the system.
CELL PHONES
An Overview
It is common knowledge that cellular phone? (Referred to
as "cell'' phones from here on) are wireless phones; however,
many of us have confusion about how a cell phone works.
Essentially, cell phones use high-frequency radio signals to
communicate with "cell towers" located throughout the calling
area.
Cell phones communicate in the frequency range of 806-890
MHz and 1850-1990 MHz for the newly allocated "PCS"
frequency range.
When the user wants to make a call, the cell Phone sends a
message to the tower, asking to be connected to a given
telephone number.
If to the tower has sufficient resources to grant the request, a
device called a "switch" patches the cell phone's signal
throughout to a channel on (he "Public Switched Telephone
Network"(other\vise known as P S T N).
This call now takes a wireless channel as well as PSTN channel
that will be held open until the call is completed.
This channel cannot be used for anyone else's call until the
cell phone call is discontinued. The above simple description
of how ceil phones work, we will add technical details about
various facets of cell phone systems throughout the remainder
of this section.
CELLULAR PHONES
As the name implies, cell phone systems are made up of
many small "cells". Each cell in a cell phone system represents
the area served by one cell phone tower, The concept of cells is
key behind the success of cell phones because by spacing many
cells fairly close to each other, the cell phones may broadcast at
very low power levels (typically 200m\V 1W, depending on
system). Since the cell phones may broadcast at low power
levels, they use small transmitters and small batteries, and thus
are able to tit in a shirt pocket, unlike amateur radios can occupy
a tabletop.
Cells are typically spaced around 1-2 miles apart but can be
spaced up to 20 miles apart in rural areas. In loaded areas with
many obstacles (such as tall buildings), the cell sites may be
spaced closer together, some technologies, like PCS, require
closer cell spacing due to their higher frequency and lower power
operation. Additionally, buildings interfere with cell signals
coming from outside so many buildings have their own "micro
cell1'. The Kingdome and New York subway are two examples of
where micro cells are used. Micro cells may also be used to
increase overall capacity within a heavily populated area such as
city's core downtown area. In fact, homes may have "Pico cells''
connected to the home's PSTN connection to allow the eel]
phone to be used as a cordless phone.
ENCODING AND MULTIPLEXING
Overview
With thousands of cellular phone calls going on at any
given time within a city , it certainly would not work for everyone
to talk on the came channel at once(as in CB and short-wave
radios). Therefore, several different techniques were developed
by cell phone manufacturers to split up the available bandwidth
into many channels each capable of supporting one
conversation. The following sections will discuss each technology
and how it works.
Analog vs. Digital
While the distinctions between analog and digital encoding
is probably obvious to most readers, a short discussion is
included for those who are not. Essentially, analog broadcasts
audio as a series of continuously changing, voltage levels
representing the amplitude of the voice conversation.
When sent on the cell phone network using the standard
frequency modulation (meaning voltage levels translate into
frequency shifts) into channel separated by 30 KHz, we find that
the amplitude can be effectively transmitted at 15 KHz due to
Nyquist limitations.
Instead of sending data as various voltage levels, a digital
signal quantizes the voltage levels into a number of bits
(typically 2 or 25(5 representing an S-bit encoding). These bins
are encoded as a binary number and sent as a series of Is and
Os. This allows for digital compression in the encoding stage
enabling voice to be sent at as little as 8000 bits per second.
FDMA
FDMA stands for "frequency division multiple access1' and
though it could be used for digital systems, is exclusively used on
all analog cellular systems. Essentially, FDMA splits the allocated
spectrum, in many channels. In current analog cell systems, each
channel is 30 KHz. When a FDMA cell phone establishes a call, it
reserves the frequency channel for the entire duration of the call.
The voice data is modulated into this channel frequency
band (using frequency modulation) and sent over the airwaves.
At the receiver, the information is recovered using a Band Pass
Piker. The phone uses a common digital control channel to
acquire channels.
FDMA systems arc least efficient cellular system since each
wasted analog channel can only used by one user at a time, not
only are those channels larger than necessary given modern
digital voice compression, but they are also whenever there is
silence during the cell phone conversation. Analog signals are
also especially susceptible to
noise and there is no way to filter it out. Given the nature of
the signal, analog cell phones must use higher po\ver(between 0
and 3 watts) to get acceptable call quality. Given these
shortcomings , it is easy to see why FDMA is being replaced by
newer digital techniques.
TDMA
TDMA stands for "time division multiple access". TDMA
builds on FDMA by dividing conversations by frequency and time.
Since Digital compression allows voice to be sent at well under
10 kilobits per second(equivalent to 10 KHz). TDMA fits three
digital conversations into FDMA channel(which is 30 KHz) by
sampling a persons voice for say 30 million seconds, then
transmitting it in 10 milliseconds; the system is able to offer 3
timeslots per channel in a round-robin fashion. This technique
allows compatibility with FDMA while enabling digital services
and easily boosting system capacity by three times.
While TDMA is good digital system, it is still somewhat
inefficient since it has no flexibility for varying digital rates( high
quality voice, low quality voice, pager traffic) and has no
accommodations for silence in a telephone conversation. In other
words , once a call is initiated, the channel/timeslot pair belongs
to the phone tor the duration of the call. TDMA also requires
strict signaling and timeslot by synchronization. A digital control
channel provides synchronization functionally as well as adding
voice mail and message notification. Due to the digital signal ,
TDMA phones need only broadcast at 600 milliwatts.
CDMA
CDMA stands for "Coded Division Multiplexed Access11 and
is both the most interesting and the harden ro implement
multiplexing method. CDMA has been likened to a party; when
everyone talks at once, no one can understand, however, if
everyone speaks a different language, then they can be
understood. A CDMA system hay no channels, but instead
encodes each call as a coded sequence across the entire
frequency spectrum. Each conversation is modulated, in the
digital domain, with a unique code(called a pseudo-noise code)
that makes it distinguishable from the other calls in the
frequency spectrum. Using a correlation calculation and the code
the call was encoded with, the digital audio signal can be
extracted from the other signals being broadcast by other
phones on the network. From the perspective of one call, upon
extracting the signal, everything else appears to be low-level
noise. As long as there is sufficient separation between the codes
(said to be mutually orthogonal), the noise level will be low
enough to recover the digital signal. Each signal is not, in fact,
spreads across the whole spectrum (12.5MHz for traditional
cellular or 60MHz in PCS cellular), but is spread across 1.25MHz
"pass-bands."
CDMA systems are the latest technology on the market and
are already equipping TDMA in terms of cost and call quality,
since CDMA offers far greater capacity and variable data rated
depending on the audio activity, many more users can be hi into
a given frequency spectrum and higher audio quality can be
provided. The current CDMA systems boast at
least three times the capacity of TDMA and GSM systems.
The fact that CDMA shares frequencies with neighboring cell
towers allows for easier installation of extra capacity. So extra
capacity can be achieved by simply adding extra cell sites and
shrinking power levels of nearby sites. CDMA technology also
allows lower cell phones power levels(200 milliwatts) since the
modulation techniques expect to deal with noise and are well
suited to weaker signals. The downside to CDMA is the
complexity of deciphering and extracting the received signals,
especially if there are multiple signal path (reflections) between
the phone and the cell tower (called Multi-path interference). As
a result, CDMA phones are twice as expensive as TDMA phones
and CDMA cell site equipment is 3-4 times the price of TDMA
equivalents.
GSM:
GSM stands for "Global System for Mobile Communication."
GSM is mostly a European system and \is largely unused in the
US. GSM is interesting in that is uses a modified -and far more
efficient version of TDMA. GSM keeps the idea of timeslots and
frequency channels, but corrects several major shortcomings.
Since the GSM timeslots are smaller than TDMA, they hold less
date but allow for data rates starting at 300 bits per second.
Thus, a call can use many timeslots as necessary up to a limit of
13 kilobits per second. When a call is inactive (silence) or may be
compressed more, fewer timeslots are used. To facilitate filling in
gaps left by unused timeslots, calls do "frequency hopping" in
GSM. This means that calls will jump between channels is used to
communicate the frequency hopping and other information
between the cell tower and the phone. To compare with the
other systems, is should be noted that GSM requires 1 Watt of
output power from the phone.
CALL HANDOFF
It is apparent that cells must somehow overlap, and when a
user travels between cells, one cell must hand the eel! off to the
other cell. The cells must also not interfere with each oilier. Tins
is accomplished by giving each cell a slightly different chunk of
the frequency spectrum(note that CDMA does do not do this) and
by measuring power levels. When the power level of the user
begins to fade, the cell tower determines which cell is the closest
cell. Upon finding this information, the current cell tower sends
an over-the-air message to the new ceil tower and to the cell
phone. At this point, the new cell tower picks up the call and the
old drops the call as the cell phone switches frequencies. This
type of handoff is called a 'hard handoff' since the audio feed is
lost for between 10 milliseconds and l00 milliseconds while the
new tower picks up the signal. Often these "hard" handoffs fail
when the new tower tries to pick the call up, leading to frequent
dropped calls.
In most systems, each cell tower typically receives a
1.8MHz frequency spectrum. In normal cellular systems that
have a 12.5MHz spectrum (not the high-band PCS systems that
have more bandwidth), this allows for 7 ceils before ceils have to
reuse frequencies. Generally, there are 0-2 cells and 10-20 miles
separating cells using the same frequency in order minimize
interference.
A discussion of call handoff s not complete without CDMA
technology. Since CDMA uses the entire spectrum available,
there is no real distinction between cells in terms of frequency
use. Since each cell is scattered across a whole 1.25MHz pass
band in CDMA, every cell tower can access the whole 12.5 MHz
spectrum(60 MHz in a PCS system), this means that there is no
necessity to change frequencies during a handoff since everyone
is using the same frequencies. Therefore, two cell towers
intercept the signal where the cells overlap. This means no
sudden switch, since this handoff (called a "soft handoff) is
actually handled in the switch, changing from one weaker audio
feed to a stronger audio feed. This technique removes the loud
"pop" associated with normal "hard" handoffs and greatly
reduces problems with dropped calls.
SECURITY
One of the largest problems in wireless communication is
security. There are two worries: other people listening into phone
calls and other people illegally billing time to a users
account(called "phone cloning'').
Unfortunately, analog phones transmit in plain FM, and
provide no security. For instance, a few years ago, Newt Gingrich
had a cell phone conversation taped by someone using a simple
police scanner, which is designed to receive police activity on the
CB frequencies. Since analog phones have such weak security,
the architects of digital technology designed digital phones with
much more robust security.
Digital phones employ encryption to secure the phone and the
conversation. Encryption is used in TDMA and COM A to make
sure that works by picking a key that is used in an equation that
compresses the audio. The encrypted key is sent to the cell
tower so the cell tower knows how to decode the conversation.
Therefore, even if the person with the scanner finds the channel
and time slice you are using, they would need to find the
encryption code to make sense of the signal. It is also important
to mention that CDMA also uses its modulation code to provide
increased security, resulting in over four billion possible
encryption codes. Cell phones also must be protected from
cloning by encrypting the eel! phone number and related
information. When sending the information to the switch, cloning
is prevented.
Wireless Data
In the modern times, we depend on e-mail and on the
World Wide Web. We have access to these resources at home
and at the offices, and we would like to use these resources while
traveling. This is the goal that "wireless data" hopes to
accomplish.
Analog Modems
Analog modems are the simplest type of wireless data. Analog
modems work on any cellular system by simply encoding the
digital data as audio signals. Analog cellular moderns make the
same squealing sounds as the ordinary desktop computers
analog modem, but operate al far slower speeds. On an analog
modem, these modems typically average between 4800 to 9600
bits per second. This is slower than the maximum possible rate
because of the inefficiency of converting digital to analog. It
should also be noted that digital systems do not support analog
modems since their data compression would damage the analog
modem signal, preventing it from being decoded by the receiving
modem.
Packet Data (CDPD Over Is-136 And Amps
Networks)
By using some of the channels of TDMA and FDMA(is-1367
and amps standards) network as large aggregated digital data
lines, packetized digital data may be sent over this line. CDPD
describes how every cell phone on the network may insert
packets on this shared data channel without causing collisions,
which would happen if two packets were sent at the same time
by two different phones. CDPD is useful since it runs on top of
FDMA systems as well as newer TDMA systems and offers 19.2
kilobits per second data rate. Using a teemed system, the CDPD
protocol can be scaled by adding more frequency channels.
GSM: GSM uses an antiquing method to send data by sampling
sending computer data as it would send voice data. GSM allows
every phone to be "data enabled". Since the GSM network is
already a packet network of sorts because of its frequency
hopping. It requires no additional hardware to support data. GSM
allows data rates in multiples of 300 bits per second, up to 64
kilobits per second.
THE PLAYERS OF WIRELESS MARKET
a) Bharti Tele - Ventures:
Bharti Tele-Ventures is the most aggressive acquirer of
wireless connections and it is mainly focusing on penetrating in
the circles of India. It has got wireless subscribers of 10 million
and 19.48% of the total market share.
b) Hutchinson Telecom:
Hutchinson telecom has got profitable operations. It is now
mainly focusing on consumer prepaid market. It is launching
different easy recharges for the prepaid customers. It has got
subscribers of 7 million and 15,41% of the total market share.
c) Tata Tele Services:
Tata Tele Services is a later starter but banking of new
subscriptions. It is poised to be one of the Pan- Indian operators.
It has got 1.3 million subscribers and a market share of 1.87%
d) BSNL:
BSNL focused on consumer wireless and voice. It has a
strong last-mile edge that could be leveraged for data services
and broadband. It has got 5.2 million subscribers and 15.66% of
the total market share.
COMPANY PROFILE
AIRTEL
All of us communicate all the time. And AIRTEL believes
that's the way it should be. All of us communicate whether it's
mid day or mid night: Whether it's someone at the other end of
the world, or the other end of the room . Technology shouldn't
control when and with whom you can communicate.
About Airtel
Airtel, of course is a new product in Andhra Pradesh which
was a product of the Bharti Tele-ventures LIMITED. It provides
mobile. broadband & telephone (fixed line), long
distance(international& national) and enterprise service. It was
established as Public Limited company on July 07 in the year
1995. The proportionate revenue as per the Indian GAAP
Accounts are RS 81,558 million(year ended March 31.2005-
Audited); Rs 50,369 million(year ended march 31, 2004-Audited).
The Proportionate EBITDA is Rs 30,658 million(year ended March
31,2005-Audited) and RS 17,055 million (year ended March 31,
2004-Audited) as per the Indian GAAP Accounts,
The shares in issue as at December 31,2005 are
1,890,061,154. The listings of the Bharti tele-ventures limited are
The Stock Exchange, Mumbai(BSE), and The National Stock
Exchange Limited of India Limited(NSE).
Market Capitalization as on March 20,2006 is Approximately
Rs.727 billion and the closing BSE share price = Rs 384.65.
The customer base of the Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited is
there are 18,450,074 GSM mobile customers and 1,290,246
broadband & telephone(fixed line) customers as at the month
ended February 28,2006.
Operational network of Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited
is that it provides GSM mobile services in all the 23 telecom
circles in India, thus being the only telecom operator having an
all India presence. It provides broad band(DSL) and telephone
services(fixed line) in 15 telecom circles in India.
About our Mobile:
It's the instrument that will change your life making
communication simple and effective, besides keeping you within
a phone call away from any one on the planet, always. However
it is to be made sure that your handset is GSM 1800 compatible
handset.
Battery
This is the heart of your phone. Before using your battery
for the first time, charge it up to 6-8 hours depending on the
phone you are using.
Adapter/Charger
This is the food for your battery. Connect it to your phone
and plug it to an electric point to make sure your batter," never
lets you down.
SIM card: Subscriber identification Module
This little card needs to be inserted into your phone . It will
instantly connect you to, the AIRTEL network, and put you in
touch with the world. Your SIM card will already have the
numbers of all the Dial-in-Services and SMS based services,
which you can access directly from the phone book built into
your AIRTEL phone .
Getting Connected
Before you say "HELLO" for the first time on your AIRTEL
phone, make sure you check two things :
• Your battery is full charged.
• Your SIM card is properly inserted.
Saying 'Hello'
These keys vary depending upon the model of your cell
phone or the button you use to make a call of the button you use
to end a call.
The button bearing the instruction "call" key(generally in
green color) or "Yes" or "Semi" or “Ok" is used to make a call and
the button bearing the instruction "cancel" key(generally in red
color) or "No" or "C" is used to end the call.
Making calls from your AIRTEL mobile
To make a local call
If you are calling n landline in your city/town, dial 0891
followed by the landline number in case of Visakhapatnam i.e..
you have to dial the local code followed by the landline number
to be called. Eg: 0891-2538791.
To call a local cellular number
Directly dial the 10 digit cellular number you want. Eg:
98490XXXXX, 98660XXXXX.
To call a three digit landline number
Dial the three digit landline number you want. E<;; 108.
To call an STD number
Dial the STD code followed by the landline number you
want same as that of you have called a local number in
Visakhapatnam. Eg: 040XXXXXXXX if called to a landline in
Hyderabad.
To call a cellular number outside Andhra Pradesh
Dial "0" (zero) followed by the 10 digital cellular number
you want. Eg:098100XXXXX.
To make a call out of the country
Dial 00 or + followed by the country code, then the area
code and finally the landline number you want. Eg:
00449743XXXX.
To make a call to a cellular number in another country.
Dial 00 or -t- then the country code and the cellular number
you want. Eg; 001225389XXXX.
To leave a message on a pager
Dial the local city/town code followed by the pager number.
Eg;0891XXXX.
For Customer’s Security:
A1RTEL phone is built with in built safety features. Getting
familiar with them will prevent misuse of your phone.
Personal Identification Number(PJ.N)
This 4 digit password helps ensure that not just anyone can
use your AIRTEL phone. To activate it we have to fellow the
instructions given in the ceil phone user guide. Once activated
you are given a default password 0000. You can change this
through the menu setting on your AIRTEL mobile. If the incorrect
PIN is entered thrice in succession, your SIM card will be blocked.
Personal Unblocked Key (PUK)
This 8 digit number used to unblock your SIM card. If the
PUK is incorrectly entered 10 times, your SIM card will be
permanently damaged. It will (hen have to be replaced by a new
one. If your card does not get blocked you can call 24 hour
AIRTEL CUSTOMER CARE at 98490 98490 or 121. toll free
number from your AIRTEL phone. Our personnel will help you
unblock it.
Be Careful
The SIM card can get completely damaged if:
It is inserted or removed often, or handled in a rough manner.
Something is stuck onto to it, scratched or written upon, or
cut.
It is exposed to a very high/low temperature or to a magnetic
field.
An incorrect PUK is entered 10 times.
Replacements
A SIM card can be conveniently replaced at The AIRTEL
Shop in the city, at an additional charge. Your AIRTEL phone
number will not be changed when you replace the SIM card.
To prevent misuse of the AIRTEL phone in the case the
owner loses it. he can call 24 hour AIRTEL Care at 98490-98490
or 121 toll free number from any AIRTEL phone. The AIRTEL SIM
will be disconnected till you collect your new one.
AIRTEL VALUE ADDED SERVICES
Preactivated STD/ISD
The STD and ISD facility comes preactivated on your
AIRTEL prepaid, so you do not have to bother about paying
deposits or having minimum balance in your account to make
STD/ISD call.
Caller Line Identification Presentation
This feature on your AIRTEL Prepaid facilitates the display
of the calling party's number. This facility comes at no extra
charge and allows you to recognize the caller.
Calling facility till the last rupee
Fun till the end! You don’t have to bother about a minimum
balance required to make any calls.
Prepaid National Roaming
Airtel Prepaid is the first prepaid mobile card in the
country to provide "All India Roaming", that comes preactivated
with your connection. So that you can make outgoing calls in
Delhi, UP(west), Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Ultaranchal,
Mumbai, Maharashtra, Goa, Guiarat. Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu, Chennai, Kerala, Kolkata. While roaming in the rest
of India like West Bengal and Bihar, where Airtel is not present,
you get the facility of receiving calls and sending SMS. You can
also now make and receive calls, send and receive SMS while
roaming on.
Hutch/Orange, Idea, BPL networks in India. You can also
send SMS while roaming in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, UP (west) and
Utlaranchal(northern region only).
International Roaming
Airtel prepaid makes sure you to stay connected while you
trot across the globe, letting you receive incoming calls and send
SMS while roaming in more than 100 countries with 150 plus
networks.
SMS(Short Messaging Service)
Share those interesting one-liners, important reminders and
rib-tickling jokes, with anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world.
ROAMING :
With the Airtel roaming we will be able to whoever we want or
whenever we want irrespective of which part of India or the
world you are in, on our existing Airtel number.
Now one can always stay connected, no matter where they
are, with the Airtel Roaming facility, one can use their Airtel
phone in over 100 countries worldwide and over 530 cities
across India. Airtel Roaming makes life easy and convenient
for its subscribers.
So whenever you are always just a local phone call away from
those who need you because you pay for the long distance
part of any incoming call.
And to make life much simple.-:, you will get only one bill that
will include all your expenses.
Roaming is the best way to say in touch, wherever you go in
India or around the world. Airte! brings roaming along with its
roaming partners. With roaming you will have just one phone
number wherever you travel across the world.
Payment Options
Now the Airtel customers can pay their bills easily through
the wide range of payment options.
Cash.
Cheque.
Credit Card.
Pay Online.
ATM Networks
Reference Interconnect Offer
The Reference Interconnect Offer from Bharti Cellular
Limited covers the technical and commercial arrangement for
interconnection between the network of Bharti Cellular Limited
and the network of the interconnection seeker.
This offer covers the following:
1. Physical interconnection between the networks.
2. Charges for Other Services wherever applicable.
3. Charges for Sharing of Infrastructure Elements, wherever
applicable.
4. Applicable Technical standards.
5. Interconnect Unbundled Network Elements.
6. Interconnect usage Charges for Origination, Termination,
Transit Traffic.
CHAPTER-III
Theoretical framework
THEORITICAL FRAME WORK
What Is Brand Equity?
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as “a name,
term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended
to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers
and to differentiate them from those of competitors.” A brand is
thus product or service that adds dimensions that differentiate
may be functional, rational or tangible – related to product
performance of the brand. They may also be more symbolic,
emotional or intangible – related to what the brand represents.
Branding has been around for centuries as a means to
distinguish the goods of one producer from those of another. 2
The earliest signs of branding in Europe were the medieval
guilds’ requirement that craftspeople put trademarks on their
products to protect them-selves and consumers against inferior
quality. In the fine arts, branding began with artists signing their
works. Brands today play a number of important roles that
improve consumers’ lives and enhance the financial value of
firms.
The Role of Brands
Brands identify the source or maker of a product and allow
consumers – either individuals or organizations – to assign
responsibility to a particular manufacturer or distributor.
Consumers may evaluate the identical product differently
depending on how it is branded. Consumers learn about brands
through past experiences with the product and its marketing
program. They find out which brands satisfy their needs and
which ones do not. As consumers’ lives become more
complicated, rushed, and time-starved, the ability of a brand to
simplify decision-making and reduce risk is invaluable.3
Brands also perform valuable functions for firms. First, they
simplify product handling or tracing Brands help to organize
inventory and accounting records. A brand also offers the firm
legal protection for unique features or aspects of the product.
The brand name can be protected through registered
trademarks; manufacturing processes can be protected through
parents; and packaging can be protected through copyrights and
designs. These intellectual property rights ensure that the firm
can safely invest in the brand and reap the benefits of a valuable
asset.
Brands can signal a certain level of quality so that satisfied
buyers can easily choose the product again. Brand loyalty
provides predictability and security of demand for the firm and
creates barriers to entry that make it difficult for other firms to
enter the market. Loyalty also can translate into willingness to ay
a higher price – often 20 to 25 percent more. Although
competitors may easily duplicate manufacturing processes and
product designs, they cannot easily match lasting impressions in
he minds of individuals and organizations from years of
marketing activity and product experience. In this sense,
branding can be seen as a powerful means to secure a
competitive advantage.
To firms, brands thus represent enormously valuable pieces
of legal property that can influence consumer behavior, be
brought and sold, and provide the security of sustained future
revenues to their owner. Large earning multiples have been paid
for brands in mergers or acquisitions, starting with the boom
years of the mid-1980s. The price premium is often justified on
the basis of assumptions of the extra profits that could be
extracted and sustained from the brands, as well as the
tremendous difficulty and expense of creating similar brands
from scratch. Wall Street believes that strong brands result in
better earnings and profit performance for firms, which, in turn,
creates greater value for shareholders. Much of the recent
interest in brands by senior management has been a result of
these bottom-line financial considerations. “Marketing Memo:
The Brand Report Card” lists 10 key characteristics based on a
review of the world’s strongest brands.
The Scope of Branding
How then do you “brand” a product? Although firms
provide the impetus to brand creation through marketing
programs and other activities, ultimately a brand is something
that resides in the minds of consumers. A brand is a perceptual
entity that is rooted in reality but reflects the perceptions and
perhaps even the idiosyncrasies of consumers.
Branding is endowing products and services with the power
of a brand. Branding is all about creating differences. To brand a
product, it is necessary to teach consumers “who” the product is
– by giving it a name nd using other brand elements to help
identify it – as well as “what” the product does and “why”
consumers should care. Branding involves creating mental
structures and helping consumers organize their knowledge
about products and services in a way that clarifies their decision
making and, in the process, provides value to the firm.
For branding strategies to be successful and brand value to
be created, consumers must be convinced that there are
meaningful differences among brands in the product or service
category. The key to branding is that consumers must not think
that all brands in the category are the same.
Brand differences often are related to attributes or benefits
of the product itself. Gillette, Merck, Sony, 3M, and others have
been leaders in their product categories for decades due, in part,
to continual innovation. Other brands create competitive
advantages through non-product-related means. Coca-Cola,
Calvin Klein, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, Marlboro, and others have
become leaders in their product categories by understanding
consumer motivations and desires and creating relevant and
appealing images around their products.
Branding can be applied virtually anywhere a consumer has
a choice. It is possible to brand a physical good (Camphell’s
soup, Pantene shampoo, or Ford Mustang automobiles), a service
(Singapore Airlines, Bank of America, or BlueCross/BlueShield
medical insurance), a store (Nordstrom department store, Foot
Locker specialty store, or Safeway supermarket), a person (Tom
Clancy, Britney Spears, or Andre Agassi), a place (the city of
Sydney, state of Texas, or country of Spain), an organization
(UNICEF, American Automobile Association, or The Rolling
Stones), or an idea (abortion rights, free trade, or freedom of
speech).
Defining Brand Equity
Brand equity is the added value endowed to products and
services. This value may be reflected in how consumers think
feel, and act with respect to the brand, as well as the prices,
market share, and profitability that the brand commands for the
firm. Brand equity is an important intangible asset that has
psychological and financial value to the firm.
Marketers and researchers use various perspectives to
study brand equity.Customer-based approaches view brand
equity from the perspective of the consumer – either an
individual or an organization.12 The premise of customer-based
equity models is that the power o a brand lies in what customers
have seen, read, heard, learned, thought, and felt about the
brand over time. In other words, the power of a brand lies in the
minds of existing or potential customers and what they have
experienced directly and indirectly about the brand.
Customer-based brand equity can be defined as the
differential effect that brand knowledge has on consumer
response to the marketing of that brand. A brand is said to have
positive customer-based brand equity when consumers react
more favorably to a product and the way it is marketed when the
brand is identified as compared to when it is not. A brand is said
to have negative customer-based brand equity if consumers
react less favorably to marketing activity for the brand under the
same circumstances.
There are three key ingredients to this definition. First,
brand equity arises from differences in consume response. If no
differences occur, then the brand name product can essentially
be classified as a commodity or generic version of the product.
Competition would then probably be based on price.
Second, these differences in response are a result of
consumer’s knowledge about the brand. Brand knowledge
consists of all the thoughts, feelings, images, experiences,
beliefs, and so on that become associated with the brand. In
particular, brands must create strong, favorable, and unique
brand associations with customers, as has been the case with
Volvo (safety), Hallmark (caring), and Harley-Davidson
(adventure). Third, the differential response by consumers that
makes up the brand equity is reflected in perceptions,
preferences, and behavior related to all aspects o the marketing
of a brand. Table 9.1 summarizes some o these key benefits of
brand equity.
The challenge for marketers in building a strong brand is
therefore ensuring that customers have the right type of
experience with products and services and their marketing
programs to create the desired brand knowledge structures for
the brand.
Brand Equity as a Bridge
From the perspective of brand equity, all the marketing
dollars spent each year on products and services should be
thought of as investments in consumer brand knowledge. The
quality of the investment in brand building is the critical factor,
not necessarily the quantity, beyond some minimal threshold
amount.
It is actually possible to “overspend” on brand building if
money is not spent wisely. In the beverage category, brands
such as Michelob, Miller Lite, and 7Up saw sales decline in the
1990s despite sizable marketing support, arguably because of
poorly targeted and delivered marketing campaigns. And there
are numerous examples of brands that amass a great deal of
brand equity by spending on marketing activities that create
valuable, enduring memory traces in the consumers’ minds.
Despite being outspent by such beverage brand glants as Coca-
Cola, Pepsi, and Budweiser, the California Milk Processor Board
was able to reverse a decades-long decline in consumption of
milk in California partly through its well-designed and executed
“Got Milk?” campaign.
At the same time, the brand knowledge created by these
marketing investments dictates appropriate future directions for
the brand. Consumers will decide, based on what they think and
feel about the brand, where (and how) they believe the brand
should go and grnat permission (or not) to any marketing action
or program. New products such as Crystal Pepsi, Levi’s Tailored
Classic suits, Fruit of the Loom laundry detergent, and Cracker
Jack cereal failed because consumers found them inappropriate.
A brand is essentially a marketer’s promise to deliver
predictable product or service performance. A brand promise is
the marketer’s vision of what the brand must be and do for
consumers. At the end of the day, the true value and future
prospects of a brand rest with consumers, their knowledge about
the brand, and their likely response to marketing activity as a
result of this knowledge. Understanding consumer brand
knowledge – all the different things that become linked to the
brand in the minds of consumers – is thus of paramount
importance because it is the foundation of brand equity.
Virgin, the brainchild of England’s flamboyant Richard
Branson, vividly illustrates the power enjoyed and responsibility
assumed by a strong brand.16.
Building Brand Equity
Marketers building brand equity by creating the right brand
knowledge structures with the right consumes. This process
depends on all brand-related contacts – whether marketer-
initiated or not. From a marketing management perspective,
however, there are three main sets of brand equity drivers:
1. The initial choices for the brand elements or identities
making up the brand (e.g., brand names, URLs, logos, symbols,
characters, spokespeople, slogans, jingles, packages, and
signage), Old Spice uses bright-red packaging and its familiar
ocean schooner to reinforce its nautical theme while also
launching deodorant and antiperspirant extensions adding the
High Endurance and Red Zone brand names20.
2. The product and service and all accompanying marketing
activities and supporting marketing programs. Joe Boxer made its
name selling colorful underwear with its signature yellow smiley
face. Mr.Lickyy, in a hip, fun way. The company spent almost
zero on advertising clever stunts and events garnered publicity
and word of mouth. An exclusive deal with Kmart has generated
strong retail support.21
3. Other association indirectly transferred to the brand by
linking it to some other entity (e.g. a person, place, or thing).
Subaru used the rugged Australian Outback and actor Paul
Hogan of Crocodile Dundee movie fame in ads to help crafts the
brand image of the Subaru Outback line of sports utility wagons.
Choosing Brand Elements
Brand elements are those trade markable devices that serve to
identify and differentiate the brand. Most strong brands employ
multiple brand elements. Nike hs the distinctive “swoosh” logo,
the empowering “Just Do It” slogan, and the mythological “Nike”
name based on the winged goddess of victory.
Brand elements can be chosen to build as much brand
equity as possible. The test of the brand-building ability of these
elements is what consumers would think or feel about the
product if they only knew about the brand element. A brand
element that provides a positive contribution to brand equity for
example, would be one where consumers assumed or inferred
certain valued associations or responses. Based on its name
alone, a consumer might expect ColorStay lipsticks to be long-
lasting and SnackWell to be healthful snack foods.
BRAND ELEMENT CHOICE CRITERIA. There are six criteria in
choosing brand elements (as well as more specific choice
consideration in each case). The first three (memorable,
meaningful, and likable) can be characterized as “brand building”
in terms of how brand equity can be built through the judicious
choice of a brand element. The latter three (protectable,
adaptable, and transferable) are more “defensive” and are
concerned with how the brand equity contained in a brand
element can be leveraged and preserved in the face of different
opportunities and constraints.
1. Memorable. How easily is the brand element recalled? How
easily recognized? Is this true at both purchase and
consumption? Short brand names such as Tide, Crest, and
Puffs an help.
2. Meaningful. To what extent is the brand element credible
and suggestive of the corresponding category? Does it
suggest something about a product ingredient or the type
of person who might use the brand? Consider the inherent
meaning in names such as DieHard auto batteries, Mop &
Glo floor wax, and Lean Cuisine low-calorie frozen entrees.
3. Likeability. How aesthetically appealing do consumers find
the brand element? Is it inherently likable visually, verbally,
and in other ways? Concrete brand names such as Sunkist,
Spic and Span and Firebird evoke much imagery.
4. Transferable. Can the brand element be used to introduce
new products in the same or different categories? To what
extent does the brand element add to brand equity across
geographic boundaries and market segments? Volkswagen
chose to name its new SUV, Touareg, ater a tribe of colorful
Saharan nomads. Unfortunately, historically they were also
notorious slave owners, which created a negative press
backlash in the United States. 22
5. Adaptable. How adaptable and updatable is the brand
element Betty Crocker has received over eight makeovers
through the years – although she is over 75 years old, she
doesn’t look a day over 35!
6. Protectible. How legally protectible is the brand element ?
How competitively protectible? Can it be easily copied? It is
important that names that become synonymous with
product categories – such as Kleenex, Kitty Litter, Jell-I,
Scotch Tape, Xerox, and Fiberglass – retain their trademark
rights and not become generic.
Designing Holistic Marketing Activities
Although the judicious choice of brand elements and secondary
associations can make important contributions to building brand
equity, the primary input comes from the product or service and
supporting marketing activities.
Brands are not built by advertising alone. Customers
come to know a brand through a range of contracts and touch
points: personal observation and use, word of mouth,
interactions with company personnel, online or telephone
experiences, and payment transactions. A brand contact can be
defined as any information-bearing experience a customer or
prospect has with the brand, the product category, or the market
that relates to the marketer’s product or service. Any of these
experiences can be positive or negative. The company must put
as much effort into managing these experiences as it does in
producting its ads.
The strategy and tactics behind marketing programs
have changed dramatically in recent years. Marketers are
creating brand contacts and building brand equity though many
avenues, such as clubs and consumer communities, trade shows,
event marketing, sponsorship, factory visits, public relations and
press releases, and social cause marketing..
CHAPTER-IV
Analysis of Study
ANALYSIS OF BRAND AWARENESS OF AIRTEL SERVICES TO
THE CUSTOMERS OF OTHER SERVICE PROVIDERS
Number of samples collected: 100:
Out of the samples chosen, maximum respondents were male
and minimum respondents were female.
All the respondents were in the age group of 20-55 years.
Sex Number of Respondents
Male 90
Female 10
From the tale it is incident that the number of male
respondents who are considered for the survey are 90%.
It is incident that 10% of the respondents were female.
Kind of Service
Out of the 100 samples chosen, maximum people were using
the Prepaid Service.
Out of the chosen samples the minimum number of respondents are using the post-
paid services.
Kind of Service Number of Respondents
Prepaid 70
Postpaid 30
70% of respondents have chosen prepaid service since they
want to be economical and can have an idea on the amount
being spent.
90
10
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Male Female
30% of the respondents have chosen postpaid service since
they had confidence of controlling their bill amount. And of
them used Postpaid because their respective offices mostly
provides them.
70
30
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Prepaid Postpaid
Connection Type
Occupations of the Respondents
Maximum number of respondents were students.
They were mostly satisfied by the services offered by Airtel to its customers, mainly
its SMS and its value added services.
Occupation Number of Respondents
Public Sector Employee 5
Private Sector Employee 30
Business Men 20
Students 40
Others 5
From the table, the survey regarding the occupations of the
employees it is incident that:
a) 5% of the total Airtel customers belongs to “Public Sector”.
b) 30% of the customers belongs to the “Private Sector”.
c) 20% of the customers are “Business Men”.
d) 40% of the customers belongs to “Student Community”.
e) 5% of the customers are comprised with the other type of
category.
According to the survey the student community
comprises other maximum customer proportion i.e.,
40%.
5
30
20
40
5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Public SectorEmployee
Private SectorEmployee
Business Men Students Others
Factors Considered while taking cell connection
Out of 100 respondents, maximum respondents will look in for
the services and the call charges the service provider is
providing to them.
Some of the respondents looked in for all the factors like
Brand image, services, call charges and availability.
Only very few respondents looked in for the availability and the Brand Image
individually.
Factors Considered
Number of Respondents
Brand Image 05
Services 25
Call charges 30
Availability 10
All the above 30
From the table the following factors are observed regarding
the “Factors that are considered while taking a cellular
connection”.
i. 5% of the respondents will consider “Brand Image” as
the main criterion while taking a cellular connection.
ii. 25% of the respondents will consider “Services” Provided
by the service provider.
iii. 30% of the respondents considers “Call Charges as the
main criterion while taking a cellular connection.
iv. 105 of the respondents considers the “Availability” factor
as the main criterion while taking a cellular connection.
v. And finally 30% of the respondents considers all the
above stated factors while taking the cellular connection.
5
25
30
10
30
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Brand Image Services Call charges Availability All the above
Services Provided by the Current Service Provider
Maximum number of respondents said that the services
provided by their current service provider is satisfactory.
Some of the respondents said that the services are good.
Many of the respondents were unsatisfied with the services provided by their current
service provider.
Rate of Satisfaction
Number of Respondents
Excellent 11
Good 20
Satisfied 44
Not Satisfied 25
The above table determines the rate of satisfactions of
customers who are using other than Airtel.
11% of the respondents have said that the services provided
by their current service provider are “Good”.
44% of the total respondents have said that the services
provided by the current service provider were “Satisfactory”.
And 25% of the respondents have said that the services
provided by the current service provider are “Not Good”. And
that they were not satisfied at all with the services.
11
20
44
25
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
Excellent Good Satisfied Not Satisfied
How they are aware of various service providers
Many of the respondents have answered that they have to
came to know about various service providers through
advertisements.
Some of them have aid that they came to know about
different service providers through friends and News Papers.
Very less amount of people have got aware of various cell
service providers through Hoardings.
Only two customers have aid that they have cam to know about the cell service
providers through all the above stated means.
Means of Awareness
Number of Respondents
Hoardings 4
News Papers 20
Friends 40
Advertisements 36
The following are the observations that are made from the
study regarding the “Means of Awareness”.
a) Only 4% of the total respondents are aware of the cell
service providers through “Hoardings”.
b) 20% o the respondents are aware of the product through
“News Papers”.
c) 40% of the total respondents are aware of the product
through “Friends”.
d) And 36% of the respondents are aware of the product
through “Advertisements”.
The maximum number of respondents got aware of
the product through “Friends” and only 4% of the
respondents are aware of the product through
“Hoardings”.
4
20
40
36
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Hoardings News Papers Friends Advertisements
Are you aware of Airtel Services
Many of the customers are aware of the Airtel Services and
offers. These respondents know about Airtel through various
means and mainly through friends.
Very few of the respondents do not know about the Airtel services and offers.
Awareness about Airtel
Number of Respondents
Yes 60
No 40
From the survey it is incident that only 60% of the total
respondents are aware of the Airtel product and its services.
40% of the respondents are not aware of the Airtel product
and the services being provided them.
60
40
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
Yes No
Have you used Airtel Connection Before
Many of the respondents said that they haven’t used the Airtel
connection before.
And only few of them have used Airtel before and have shifted from Airtel to other
service provider.
Usage of Airtel Number of Respondents
Yes 28
No 72
From the survey it is incident that only 28% of the total
respondents have used Airtel connection in the past.
72% of the respondents have not used the Airtel connection
before
28
72
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Yes No
Reasons for shift to other service provider
The respondents who have used Airtel and shifted to other cell
service provider have answered to this question.
Many of them said that they have shifted to other cell service provider due to high
call charges in Airtel.
Shifting Reasons
Number of Respondents
High Call Charges 15
Improper Signal 0
Want to try new operator
10
Others 3
From the above table it is incident that the customers who
have used Airtel before have shifted due to the following
reasons.
a. 15 respondents out of 28 respondents have
shifted from Airtel due to “High Call Charges”.
b. None of them have shifted due to the improper
signal coverage.
c. 10 respondents out of the total respondents
have shifted from Airtel for the reason that
they want to try a new cellular service
operator.
d. 3 respondents have shifted from Airtel due to
other reasons like; they family influences etc.
15
0
10
3
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
High Call Charges Improper Signal Want to try newoperator
Others
Interested in using Airtel In future
Many of the respondents want to use Airtel in the future if any
customer related benefits are provided.
They also said that if the call charges have been reduced they
will be definitely using Airtel.
The Post-Paid customers who have shifted from Airtel said that
it is the wrong billing in Airtel which made them toshift from
Airtel.
Some of them don’t want to shift from their current cell service provider.
Usage of Product
Number of Respondents
Yes 64
No 36
From the survey conducted regarding the usage of the Airtel
cellular in the future the respondents have responded in the
following way:
a) 64% of the total respondents have said that they are
interested in using Airtel in the future.
b) 36% of the total respondents have said that they are not
interested in using Airtel connection in the future.
64
36
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Yes No
Rating about the services provided by Airtel
Out of 100 respondents only 60 respondents know about the
Airtel services an offers.
Many of the customers have accepted that the services
provided by Airtel are excellent regarding the Network
coverage and signal quality.
Some of them have stated that the customer care and the call
charges are satisfied and.
They have stated that the value added services provided by
Airtel are good.
On an average the customers rating for the services provided
by Airtel are good when compared other cell service providers.
1. Rating for Network coverage:
Network Coverage
Number of Respondents
Excellent 30
Good 15
Satisfied 05
Un Satisfied 0
From the above table the following interpretation is made
regarding the network coverage of Airtel.
Out of the 60 respondents who are aware of Airtel product 40
respondents have said that the network coverage of Airtel is
“Excellent”.
15 respondents of the total respondents have stated that the
network coverage of Airtel is “Good”.
05 of the respondents have stated that the network coverage
is “Satisfactory”.
There were no “Unsatisfied” customers regarding the Airtel
network coverage.
30
15
5
0
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Excellent Good Satisfied Un Satisfied
II. Rating for the Customer Care:
Out of the 60 respondents many of the respondents have said that the customer
regarding Airtel is not so good as other cell service providers do.
Customer Care Number of Respondents
Excellent 10
Good 35
Satisfied 10
Un Satisfied 5
From the above table the following interpretation is made
regarding the Customer Care of Airtel:
a. 10 respondents out of 60 respondents have
stated that the customer care regarding Airtel
is “Excellent”.
b. 35 respondents have stated that the customer
care regarding customer care is “Good”.
c. 10 respondents have stated that the customer
care is “Satisfied”.
d. 5 respondents have stated that the customer
care of Airtelis “unsatisfied”.
10
35
10
5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Excellent Good Satisfied Un Satisfied
III) Rating for the Call Charges:
Out of the 60 respondents many of them have said that the call charges in Airtel
are somewhat high when compared to the other cell service providers. Only one
responded that the call charges are excellent in Airtel.
Call Charges Number of Respondents
Excellent 1
Good 24
Satisfied 30
Un Satisfied 5
From the survey regarding the rating of the customers
towards the call charges the following points are noted:
Only one respondent have stated that the call charges of
Airtel have been “Excellent”.
24 respondents of the 60 respondents have stated that the
call charges of Airtel are “Good”.
30 respondents have stated that the call charges of Airtel are
“Satisfied”.
And 5 respondents have stated that the call charges of Airtel
are “Unsatisfied”.
1
24
30
5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Excellent Good Satisfied Un Satisfied
IV) Rating for the value added services in Airtel:
Out of the 60 respondents many of the respondents have said that the value added
services provided in Airtel are good but the SMS offers are satisfactory when compared
to the other cell service providers.
Value added services
Number of Respondents
Excellent 4
Good 30
Satisfied 16
Un Satisfied 10
From the above table the survey revealed the following
factors regarding the Value Added Services provided by Airtel.
a. 4 respondents of 60 respondents who are aware of Airtel
have stated that the value added services provided by
Airtel are “Excellent”.
b. 30 of the respondents have stated that the value added
services of Airtel are “Good”.
c. 16 respondents have stated that the value added services
are “satisfied”.
d. And 10 respondents have stated that the value added
services of Airtel are “Un satisfied”.
4
30
16
10
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Excellent Good Satisfied Un Satisfied
Customer Rating for Various Cell Services Providers
54% of the respondents have rated Airtel the First place
among various cell service providers.
30% of the respondents have rated Hutch the First place.
8% of the respondents have ranked idea Cellular First place.
5% of the respondents have ranked BSNL with the first place.
3% of the respondents have ranked Reliance with the first
place.
None of the respondents have given first place TATA Indicom.
CHAPTER- V
Summary Findings Suggestions
SUMMARY
Total number of samples collected are 100.
Out of the 100 samples chosen, maximum number of
respondents were male (90) and minimum respondents were
female (10).
Out of the 100 samples chosen, maximum people were using
Pre~ Paid service and minimum number of people were using
the Post-Paid service.
Out of the 100 respondents 70% were using Pre-Paid Service
and 30% of them were using the Post-Paid service.
Out of the 100 respondents 5 are public Sector Employees, 30
are Private Sector Employees, 20 respondents are
Businessmen. 40 respondents are students and 5 respondents
are others like un employees, Auto drivers.
Out of the 100 respondents, 30 respondents considers the
Brand image, services, call charges, availability while choosing
a cell connection. 30 respondents consider only call charges,
25 respondents consider only the services, ID respondents
considers the availability of the services and only 5
respondents considered the Brand image of the cell service
provider.
Out of the 100 respondents, 44 are satisfied with their current
cell service provider. 25 respondents are not satisfied with
their current service provider. 20 respondents have said that
the services of the current service provider are good. Only 11
respondents have responded that the services provided by
their current cell service provider are excellent.
Out of the 100 respondents, 40 of them have said that they
are aware of various cell service providers through friends. 36
respondents are aware of the services through the
advertisements. 20 of the respondents are aware through the
newspapers. Only 4 respondents are aware through hoardings.
Out of the 100 respondents, 60% of the respondents are
aware of the Airtel services, only 40% of the respondents are
not aware of the Airtel services.
Out of the 100 respondents only 28 respondents have used
Airtel before, and 12 of the respondents have not used Airtel
connection before.
Out of the 28 respondents who used Airtel have
shifted. 15 respondents have shifted due to the high call
charges. 10 of them wanted to shift in order that they want to
try a new operator. 3 of them have shifted due to other
reasons.
Out of the 100 respondents 64 of them are interested in using
Airtel in the future, 36 respondents are not interested in using
Airtel in the future.
Out of the 60 respondents who are aware of the Airtel
services, 40 people have stated that the network coverage is
excellent, 15 of them have said that the coverage is good, 5 of
them have said that the network coverage is satisfied.
Out of 60 respondents who are aware of the Airtel services,
10 of them have said that the customer care in Airtel is
excellent, 35 of them have said that the customer care is
good,. 10 were satisfied and 5 of them were dissatisfied with
the customer care in Airtel.
Out of the 60 respondents who are aware of Airtel, only one
have said that the call charges in Airtel are excellent, 24 of
them have said that they are good, 30 of them were satisfied
and 5 of them were dissatisfied with the call charges in Airtel.
Out of the 100 respondents 54% have given first place for
Airtel, 30% for Hutch, 8% (or Idea, 5% for BSNL, 3% for
reliance and none of them gave first place for Tata indicom.
FINDINGS
Many of the respondents who are using cell phones of various
service providers other than Airtel arc aware of Airtel Brand;
it's features and the various other services of Airtel.
Some of the respondents who are dissatisfied with their
current cell service provider wanted to shift to Airtel if they
provide low call charges and better customer care.
Some of the Hutch Post-Paid customers have complained
about the wrong billing which is less in Airtel when compared
to the other service providers.
Airtel brand has attained a good awareness mainly due to its
advertisements, which clearly explains about the offers they
are providing.
In many rural areas also Airtel has its network coverage and
due to this aspect it gained lot of importance as well.
It is also found that the areas of Rishikonda and
Seethamadhara have less coverage.
The company has many parts in the same city or in the same
region having low frequency of signals due to which the
customer are facing problem.
SUGGESTIONS
From the Survey reports the suggestions that can be
made are:
Awareness programs: Still more awareness programs have
to be implemented in order to attract more customers like: -
1. Increase advertisement campaigns.
2. Increase Electronic media usage for the awareness
programs.
3. Establishment of Hoardings in rural areas also.
4. Bringing awareness through issue of pamphlets in the
newspapers.
Consumer Retention: Airtel has to implement some more
retention programs like: -
1. Extra talktimes should be given to the potential customers
who are there for more than 2 years in the subscriptions.
2. Some festival offers should be given in order to retain the
customers.
3. If more messages and extra talk time benefits are given then
it can help for the retain for the potential customers.
Airtel has to increase the customer care centers in order to
concentrate more on the customer’s queries and their problems.
The reduction in the call charges can still attract more number of customers who are willing to shift to Airtel from other
service providers.
QUESTIONNAIRE
Name :Age : Sex: Male/Female Address :
Occupation: a) Public Sector Employee b) Private Sector Employee c) Business d) Studente) Others (please specify)
Mobile No._______________________
1) Which ceil service are you using currently a)Airtel b) Hutch c)idea d) BSNL e) Reliance f) Tata Indicom
2) flow long are you using this connection ? .....................
3) What factors do you consider while taking a cell connection ?
a) Brand image b) Services c) Call Charges d)Availability e) All the above
4) How are the services provided by your current cell service provider
a) Excellent b) Good c) Satisfied d) Not Satisfied
6) Are you aware of Airtel services and offers.a) Yes b)No
7) Have you used Airtel connection beforea) Yes b)No
8) If yes which type of Airtel connection have you used before ?
a) Pre-paid b) Post-paid
9) What is the reason for your change to other cell service provider
a) High call chargesb) Improper signal
c) Want to try new operatord) Others
10) Are you interested in using Airtel in future ?a) Yes b)No
11) How do you feel about different services provided by Airtel
S.no
Description Excellent
Good
Satisfied
Un Satisfied
1. Network Coverage
2. Customer Care
3. Call Charges
4. Other Benefits (Value Added services)
12) How do you rank different cell service providers?Airtel ( )Hutch ( )Idea ( )BSNL ( )Reliance ( )Tata indicom ( )
13) Complaints if any:
………………………………………………………………………….………………………………………………………………………….
14) Suggestions:
………………………………………………………………………….………………………………………………………………………….
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1) MARKETING MANAGEMENT
- by Philip Kotler
2) RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
- by C.R. Kothari
3) STATISTICS FOR MANAGEMENT
- by G.C Beri
4) LESSONS ON SERVICES MARKETING
- by Ram mohan rao
5) GLOBAL MARKETING MANAGEMENT
- by Keesan warren J
Web Sites:
http://www.Airtel.co.in http://www.Baniboovvcb.comhttp://www.netmba.comhttp://www.coai.com
Glossary
Brand
A unique and identifiable symbol, association, name or
trademark, which serves to differentiate competing products or
services. Both a physical and emotional trigger to create a
relationship between consumers and the product/service.
Brand Attributes Functional or emotional association that are assigned to a brand
by its customers and prospects. Brand attributes can be either
negative or positive and can have varying degrees of relevance
and importance to different customer segments.
Brand Audit A comprehensive and systematic examination of all collateral
(both tangible and intangible) which relates to a brand.
Brand Awareness The proportion of target customers that recall a brand.
Realization by a consumer of the existence and availability of a
particular product. Brand awareness is a common measure of
marketing communications effectiveness. Unaided awareness is
spontaneous; added or prompted awareness is when the name is
recognized among others that are listed or identified.
Brand EquityThe value – both tangible and intangible that a brand adds to a
product/service.
Brand Essence The core characteristic that defines a brand.
Brand Expansion The exposure of a brand to a broader target customer market,
geographic market, or distribution channel.
Brand Extension The application of a brand beyond its initial range of products, or
outside of its category. This becomes possible when the brand
image and attributes have contributed to a perception with the
consumer/user where the brand and not the product is the
decision driver.
Brand Identify A unique set of association that the brand strategist aspires to
create or maintain. These associations represent what the brand
should stand for and imply a potential promise to customers. It is
important to note that a brand identity refers to the strategic
goal for a brand, while brand image is what currently resides in
the minds of consumers.
Brand Image A unique set of associations within the minds of target customers
which represent what the brand currently stands for and implies
the current promise to customers. (Note that brand image is
what is currently in the minds of consumers, whereas brand
identify is inspirational).