1. Marketing Strategy Comparison
AirTel & Hutch
Rahul, Priyanka, Zardar, Rashmi
Indian Institute of Planning & Management
Ahmedabad

2. Project Introduction
“…Telecoms are rolling out like never before.
And that 100-million mark doesn't look too
far away. The mobile subscriber base
crossed 65 million in September 2005, an
over-30 per cent increase over the previous
year…”

3. Project Introduction
Cont’d…
• Indian Cellular Industry will touch $24 billion
by the end of 2006.
• Airtel (22 per cent market share, over 15
million mobile subscribers, source: Cellular
Operators Association of India) witnessed its
highest-ever net addition of 1.8 million
mobile customers in a single quarter.

4. Project Introduction
Cont’d…
• Hutch, with over 10 million subscribers (15
per cent market share) may be No. 4
(behind Reliance and BSNL) at present,
but it has the highest average revenue per
user.

5. AirTel Marketing
Strategy
Business Process Management
Process Innovations and Continuous
Improvement through People Involvement
Problem Investigation by "Fact Based - Root
Cause Analysis"

6. Cont’d…
Customer-Defined Business Processes
Based on Customer Specifications, AirTel have
webbed many business processes on the following
concepts:
Delivery time
Turn around time
Lead-time
Time to market
Other performance indicators

7. AirTel Marketing
Strategy Cont’d…
Result Oriented Approach
Each process has been designed by first planning
the desired result. The targeted results are then
arrived at through identification of the following:
The next-customer and end-customer expectations.
Quantifiable purpose of the process and key result
areas.
Past experience of "What went wrong and can go
wrong".

8. AirTel Marketing
Strategy Cont’d…
Naturally, the target customer was clearly defined:
elite, up market professionals and entrepreneurs.
"We positioned AirTel as an aspirational and lifestyle
brand, in a way that trivialized the price in the mind
of the consumer. It was pitched not merely as a
mobile service, but as something that gave him a
badge value,“ –
recalls Hemant Sachdev, chief marketing officer
(mobility) and director, Bharti Tele-Ventures.

9. AirTel Marketing
Strategy Cont’d…
• In 1999, the rules of the game changed. The New
Telecom Policy came into effect, replacing licence
fees with a revenue-sharing scheme and extending
the licence period from 10 to 20 years.
• Now, cellular service operators could drop their
prices and target new customer segments. As SEC B
became part of the catchment area, Airtel's
communication changed from "power" to "touch
tomorrow".

10. AirTel Marketing
Strategy Cont’d…
• In 2002, Airtel signed on music composer
A R Rahman and changed its tune to "Live
every moment": Rahman's signature tune for
Airtel is, perhaps, the most downloaded
ringtone in India. But that was just part of the
ongoing communication.

11. AirTel Brand Review
• AirTel has the most recognizable brand in
the Indian operator space, with 30.8% of our
respondents able to identify it as a mobile
brand unaided.
• While this is lower than many of its
competitors, examination of the various
brand strength indicators shows AirTel has a
much stronger brand than its competitors do.
Source: IE Market Research Corp. – 30th Oct 2006 - 14 Pages -
ID: IEMR1370648

12. AirTel Brand
Review
cont’d…
• Of respondents, 27.4% identified AirTel with
“cool”, 26% with “creative”, and 22% with
“technically advanced”. Only 8.6% of
respondents identified AirTel with “cheap”.
• Between 2004 and 2005, it has increased its
market share from 20.5% to 21.5% of the
market.
Source: IE Market Research Corp. – 30th Oct 2006 - 14 Pages -
ID: IEMR1370648

13. AirTel Ad Campaigns

17. Hutch Marketing
Strategy
“…A big success factor was how
aspirational overtones in brand imagery
stayed, even though price wars had
started. Again, the colour orange was a
seminal attribute; the brand's slogan was
'The future's bright, the future's orange'…”

18. Hutch Marketing
Strategy
Cont’d…
“…The new brand name also heralded the
arrival of a new mascot, the "Hutch" pug.
When Hutch launched the Abby-winning
"Wherever you go our network will follow'"
ad, viewers believed that was Hutch's new
slogan, but it was just one brand attribute
…”

19. Hutch Marketing
Strategy Cont’d…
Value-added services
• "Privileges" (discount coupon booklets),
cricket scores and stock market information - have formed as critical a
part of Hutch's marketing efforts as its advertising.
• Hutch World (GPRS service),
• Hutch Alive (non-stop, streaming action)
• Hutch4Help, a unique dial-in 'convenience' service, all emphasize the
premium attributes of the service.
• Chhota Recharge, small value recharge cards (starting at Rs 10),
which will also help mobilize small spenders.

20. Hutch Mobile Shop
- A great initiative

21. Hutch Ad Campaigns

24. Marketing
Research Analysis
Which card is used.
21% HUTCH
0% AIRTEL
BSNL
50%
TATA INDICOM
29%
IDEA

25. Marketing Research
Analysis
Cont’d…
Service provided by the customer care
4% 4%
yes, I m satisfied.
no, not satisfied.
can't say
92%

26. Marketing
Research Analysis
Cont’d…
network connectivity
yes, I m satisfied.
no, not satisfied.
can't say

27. Marketing Research
Analysis
Cont’d…
Quality provided by Service Provider
0% yes, I m
satisfied.
39%
no, not satisfied.
61%
can't say

28. Marketing Research
Analysis Cont’d…
Billing System
21%
yes, I m satisfied.
49% no, not satisfied.
can't say
30%

29. Marketing Research
Analysis Cont’d…
Card do you prefer
48% prepaid
52% postpaid

30. Marketing Research
Analysis Cont’d…
Cost satisfaction
10%
yes, I m satisfied.
no, not satisfied.
33% 57%
can't say

31. SERVQUAL model
The Measurement and Evaluation of Service
Quality - SERVQUAL model: Service Quality =
(Performance – Expectation)
The word ‘SERVQUAL’ is an abbreviated form of
service quality. The measurement was
developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry
(hereafter, PZB) in 1985.

32. Five Dimensions of
SERVQUAL Model
(Revised from Kotler, P 1999 Marketing
Management, Millennium Edition Prentice Hall)
Dimensions Descriptions
Tangibles The appearance of Physical facilities, equipment, personnel
and communication materials.
Reliability The ability to perform the promised service. Dependably and
accurately .
Responsiveness The willingness to help customer & provide prompt service.
Assurance The knowledge & courtesy of employees and their ability to
convey their trust and confidence.
Empathy The provision of caring individualized attention to customers

33. SERVQUAL
Model
Methodology
• The raw data used in computing
coefficient alpha were in the form of
difference scores.
• A difference score for each item Q,
representing perceived service quality was
found by subtracting the expectation score
from the corresponding performance (or
perception) score (Q = P – E)

34. Research Findings
• GSM service providers (cellular),
customers seem satisfied with the 'ability
to make and receive calls in any part of
the city', however, the service providers
have fallen short in meeting customers
expectations when it comes to coverage
within buildings, in basements or in lifts.

35. Research Findings
Cont’d…
• The corporate image of the service
provider continues to be an important
aspect in driving retention and most
service providers have been successful in
building a positive and favorable image
among the subscribers.

36. Research Findings
Cont’d…
• The study also revealed that 'Error free'
and 'accurate' bills, being promptly
delivered is something that the customers
seem to be taking for granted and have
little impact on retention. On the contrary,
non-delivery on these could cause a lot of
disgruntlement and unhappiness with the
service provider.

37. Research Findings
Cont’d…
• Another revelation was that customers
seemed very peeved with the amounts
they had to pay for local and STD calls.

38. Research Findings
Negative Outcomes
The cellular industry has performed below
average in various aspects related to
• 'customer care / helpline'. These include
'time taken before someone attends to
you', their 'ability to resolve complaints/
queries in the first instance'

39. Research Findings
Negative Outcomes
Cont’d..
• 'overall time taken to resolve complaints',
call center personnel's ability to take
decisions.
• 'knowledge of customer care personnel
about tariff plans and schemes' and
• 'the promptness in taking action on
complaints'.

40. Samit Sinha,
Managing Partner,
Alchemist Brand
Consulting
“..There isn't a great deal of
differentiation in terms of pricing,
services, schemes and so on, but there
are differences in approach. Overall,
AirTel is focused on functionality and
efficiency, while Hutch has veered
towards warmth and emotions…”

41. Meenakshi Madhvani,
Managing Partner, Spatial
Access
• “… it would not be right to conclusively
say that Brand A is stronger than
Brand B. However, if you consider
adoption of the service by consumers
as an indicator of brand strength, then
AirTel would rank reasonably high…”

42. •“..What matters is
what the customers
want.."
- Mittal, CEO Bharti Teleservices

43. Other Indian Cellular Service
Providers

44. Thank You