Airtel Project

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1)Examine the circumstances in which Bharti launched Airtel and trace the brand’s initial days in the backdrop of the emerging cellular telephony market in India. In the light of the ‘leadership’ campaign, analyze why Airtel and other cell phone brands were seen as premium-end offerings. Sunil Bharti Mitlal was a New Delhi based Business man who started small bicycle-parts business in 1970’s first he entered the telecom business by establishing Bharti Telecom Limited (BTL) that manufactured Telephonic equipment. Over the years it entered into other business related to telecom industry. The main services of the bharti group included Airtel (cellular), Mantra (Internet Services) and beetel (telephone instruments).In 1992,Bharti entered the cellular market launching services in Delhi.Airtel was launched when 80% of the people didn’t even heard the term “cellular Services”. That was only confined to the premium class people. In the early 2000’s bharti invested heavily in the acquisitions and the alliances to expand its cellular market in India. As a part of this, Bharti acquired IT Mobile (AP & Karnataka), skycell (Chennai) and Spice Cell (Kokata).It also collaborated with BPL to gain seamless access in Mumbai, Maharastra, Chennai, Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu ,AP and Karnataka. Bharti launched Airtel as a postpaid

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cellular service in Delhi in November 1995. The company redefined the way cellular service were being marketed in the country. Airtel was the first cellular operator to set up cellular showrooms. It opened its first showroom “Airtel Connect” in Delhi, in late 1995. Bharti was also the first cellular company to install a second mobile switching center. The company was first to provide roaming cellular services and other value added services such as smart mail, fax, call hold, cal waiting and information services. It was also the first company to launch an online e-commerce portal that enabled customers to make online payments. The tariff rates charged by the government were quite high. Air time charges were as high as Rs16 per minute as against Rs.1.20 for land line communication. Thus, all players targeted the premium sector, which could afford the rates. Airtel was also positioned for the elite class. Airtel launched the ‘Leadership Services’ campaign which featured successful men and women with their deluxe cars, carrying laptops and using cell phones. So people started thinking that Airtel was an aspirational brand, which was meant for leaders and celebrities. People began associating three core benefits with the Airtel brand –leadership, performance and dynamism. Other supportive values associated with the brand included courtsy, politness

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and efficiency. So Airtel and other brands were treated as premium-class brands. 2)Explain the reasons behind the ‘leadership’ campaign being replaced by the ‘Touch Tomorrow’ campaign. Also critically comment on the campaigns decision to replace ‘Touch Tomorrow’ with ‘live every moment’. Though the ‘Leadership’ services campaign was successful and resettled in a marginal improvement in Airtel performance, it failed to attract more customers as it failed to add an emotional dimension to the brand. Analysis perceived the brand to be distant, effective and cold. The surveys also revealed that the concept of leadership was itself undergoing a transformation. The public perceived the campaign as leaders are people who worked with a team to achieve common objectives rather than those who dictated terms to their subordinates. The surveys also indicated that 50% of the new subscribers adopted a cellular service from the advice of their close one’s. So Airtel realized the fact that customer-relationship was of great importance and lacking an emotional or humanized touch was a major weakness. So in August 2000, bharti launched its new ‘Touch Tomorrow’ which

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aimed at strengthening its relationship with customers. The new campaign and the positioning was designed to highlight the relationship angle and make the brand softer and more sensitive previously Airtel was perceived as a premium brand ,now the new positioning is intended to add warmth to these attributes. The new commercial developed for this campaign reflected human, aspirational, family – centric and software brand values while promising easy reach. The campaign look’s into the needs of the tomorrow customer. The new branding initiative takes into cognizance the findings that consumers consider Airtel as a brand of the successful people and a preferred address. In early 2002, Airtel changed its logo and tagline from ‘Touch Tomorrow” to “live every moment” to give Airtel a younger look. The new logo symbolized innovation, energy and friendliness. The company reportedly allocated Rs.1 billion for media coverage and other brand building activities.Airtels brand identity and campaign will now have a new younger and international look and feel that builded on the earlier positioning of “Touch Tomorrow”, injected with renewed energy and heightened optimism. The shif to “live every moment” from touch tomorrow had nevertheless, proved that Bharti is consistently on the lookout for best marketing strategies for Airtel.

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3) Do u think Bharti has not been giving enough time for one positioning plank to prove effective before moving on the next? What are the merits and demerits of frequently changing a brands positioning? Bharti has been giving enough time for one positioning before shifting to the other one. Now the technology is growing so fast that the needs and behavior of people is changing so rapidly. What people think today is not what they thought yesterday. Their views and opinions keep changing quite frequently. Today, anything is reaching the consumers very fastly. So the time lapse between two different positioning of Airtel is quite enough for a positioning to prove effective. That time is enough for that positioning to show impact on the people before they get bored. The advantages are quite high compared to the disadvantages. MERITS: 1. Gives a new look to the brand. 2. Changes the impact that is created. 3. Changes the way that it is perceived.

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4. If the old campaign has no good response, then the new logo may get good response. 5. This helps in rectifying the mistakes that were done for the old campaign. 6. Can be changed according to changing trends and needs. 7. Different campaigns may reach different segments of people thus reaching all the people.

DEMERITS: 1. Frequent changing may cause negative impact on people. People may not associate themselves with any single campaign. 2. Frequent changing may create an impact of instability. 3. Sum times the new campaign may get introduced before the old one reaches the people. COFFEE PARLOURS IN INDIAHOTTING UP

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1)Differentiation and the cost leadership are the two generic strategies that a company can adopt to create a competitive advantage in a market. What are the strategies that Barista, CCD and Qwiky’s have adopted? Which strategy do you think is suitable for the Indian market? Give to justify your answer. Strategies adopted by Barista:Barista established in 2000 in New Delhi was the largest and fastest growing coffee chain in India. Barista positioned itself as a lifestyle brand with Italian neighborhood. Barista was the leader in espresso coffees. Barista was made with top grand Arabica beans and brew masters from Italy were invited to create blends. Alliance with Tata coffee would supply food items like baguettes, croissants, cookies, sandwiches, pastries and desserts. Every month it introduced and focused on a particular type of coffee. The idea was to change customer’s occasional indulgence and make it a habit and educate them about the original coffees. It also developed store-instore concept by focusing on themes that

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compliment coffee, such as music, books and art. Barista entered into marketing tie-ups with planet M, crossword and Ebony to set up it Espresso’s at the corner. It also wanted to enter into co-branded marketing tie-ups with several banks for credit cards. The company also entered branded merchandising with caps, coasters, co’s and cups. Barista entered home brew segment with freshly grounded coffee. The company extended its product portfolio from roasted coffee range to single origin coffee. Barista’s single origin coffee powder has a status symbol. It was planning to enter the international market. Barista planned to tie-up with ABN amro for opening “Banlafes”. This concept helps to ‘bank at leisure” enabling customers to visit the bank after banking hours on any day in an informal and friendly environment. It even tied up with BPCL to open coffee kiosks. Strategies adopted by CCD:CCD offered an informal ambience with bright and eye-catching interiors. Visitors could sip coffee, browse the internet, conduct business meetings or just while away time with friends. CCD was well looked as a cool-

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hangout for college crowed and teenagers. This promoted young artists and displayed their paintings on their walls. In 2001, a new logo was chosen leaving the old one which was bit old fashioned. The interior were redesigned and new menu was also introduced along with the new crockery. The baseline also changed to “A lot can happen over coffee”. Musical events were organized to attract youth. “Café jockey” was introduced which selected children above 15yrs and gave them 1 week training. In addition to the commercial and residential clusters in metros, CCD’s also targeted other locations like corporate houses, airport, hospitals and shopping malls. CCD priced its products 20% lower than its competitors. CCD positioned itself as a mass market brand, minimetros were also added to its list. Qwiky’s Strategies:Qwiky’s strategy was that to make their customers make them feel comfortable and have fun. The staff at Qwiky’s was trained to understand body language. They were very frankly with the customers. Qwiky’s objective was to target the “young at heart” that were

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looking for fun and relaxatation. They offered different varieties of coffee. Customers were given a choice of drinks that were not common in India. It had a separate vending area for chocolate products. Qwiky’s coffee pubs were located at strategic points which were frequented by youth. Qwiky’s pubs were located at intersection of roads in a corner were two side of café were made of glasses and faced the road. It even had coffee making machines for sale and also a trainer to teach how to make perfect espresso. It also planned to launch ready to drink coffee sachets. Their prices were based on the real-estate prices in that particular area. The strategy adopted by Barista would suit the Indian market. Barista came up with uniqueness in its interior with Indian neighborhood. It also offered several services along with serving coffee. Several international varieties of coffees are served in Barista. The ambience was great. The perfect Italian varieties of coffees were served with brew masters from Italy. They came up with single origin coffees and attracted with the niche set of consumers. Many varieties of coffees are served in Barista people feel very comfortable. It also serves food items like pastries, sandwiches. People started thinking

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that Barista has become a status symbol. So they wanted to associate themselves with Barista. It’s planning to go international into many countries. It’s even planning to co brand with several banks for credit cards. People of India always wanted something new and different. So Barista’s strategy perfectly suits the Indian market. 2)Barista, CCD and Qwiky’s target different segments. What is the segmentation strategy adopted by the three players? Also comment on the potential of each segment. Barista’s adopted a strategy on which it segmented itself to the elite class. This class has high potential because these people associate with anything that is of status symbol. They spend very high. So Barista choose this segment contains people with big designations like MD’s, Doctors, CEO’s and people belonging to elite class. They like to be in a place which is classy and luxurious like Barista. This segment has high potential. CCD positioned itself in the mass market. It targeted the middle class, upper

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middle class, house wives and students. The prices are less compared to the other two. This segment has high potential and great buying power and has great market share. Qwiky’s positioned itself as a place were people can come for fun and relaxatation it targeted people who having fun and young at heart. People who were quite interactive and friendly were appointed as staff to make their customers feel comfortable and while away their time. It was a place to hangout. 3)star bucks is planning to enter the Indian coffee retailing market. Of the three players discussed in the case, who do u think is competitively better placed to face the competition from star bucks and maintain their growth Barista is competitively better placed to face the competition from star bucks. Barista is the leader in the coffee retailing business. The value added services and ambience offered in Barista helps it, maintain its growth. Star bucks are an international player and it may give tough competition to the

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local players. But Barista with its ambience and services would maintain its growth. 4)Do u think that the intense competition in the coffee retailing business is likely to cause consolidation? Explain with reasons. The coffee retailing business in India is highly growing. It may cause intense competition between the players. Generally we see two nearby competitors merging to become market leader and capture great market share. This may even happen in coffee retailing business in India. Consolidation may take place to create their strong presence in the Indian market and expand their chain globally and become an international player. Many international players are lining up big expansion plans in India. So to give the international players a tough competition, local players may merge to create their impact.

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