PROJECT REPORT

ON

EFFECTIVENESS OF ADVERTISING
IN
ENHANCING BRAND VALUE
A COMPARISON OF AIRTEL &
VODAFONE

Submitted for partial fulfilment of requirement for the award of

degree

Of

Master of Business Administration

Of

Session 2016-2018

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED

BY:
PROF. Rajkiran Prabhakar Umang
Mansinghka
IM-BHU, VARANASI ROLL
NO. 42
 DECLARATION
I, the undersigned, solemnly declare that the report of the project
work entitled EFFECTIVENESS OF ADVERTISING IN ENHANCING
BRAND VALUE: A COMPARITIVE ANALYSIS OF AIRTEL &
VODAFONE is based on my own work carried out during the course
of my study under the supervision of Prof.Rajkiran Prabhakar.

I assert that the statements made and conclusions drawn are an

outcome of the project work. I further declare that to the best of my
knowledge and belief that the project report does not contain any part
of any work which has been submitted for the award of any other
degree/diploma/certificate in this University or any other University.

Place: Varanasi
Date:13/04/16
Signature of student
(Name of
Student:Umang Mansinghka
Address: A-25/5, Machodari, Varanasi-221001)
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I, Umang Mansinghka, sincerely thank all those people who
have been giving me anykind of assistance in the making of
this project report.

I express my gratitude to PROF. USHA KIRAN RAI, who has

through her vast experience and knowledge been able to guide
me, both ably and successfully towards thecompletion of the
project. I express my gratitude to FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT
STUDIES, BANARAS HINDU UNIVERSITY.I would hereby,
make most of the opportunity by expressing my sincerest
thanks to allmy faculties whose teachings gave me conceptual
understanding and clarity ofcomprehension, which ultimately
made my job more easy.

Last of all but not the least I would like to acknowledge my

gratitude to therespondents without whom this survey would
have been incomplete.

(Abhishek Gupta)
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration
Objective of the study
Introduction
o Telecom sector in India
o Airtel
o Vodafone
o Comparison between Airtel and Vodafone
Research Methodology
Questionnaire &Data Analysis
Findings
Recommendations
Limitations of Study
Bibliography
 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

To find effectiveness of an advertising

campaign on the brand value of a company
and what effect it had on brand value of
Airtel and Vodafone.

To identify the difference between marketing

strategies adopted by Airtel & Vodafone and
their impact on brand value.

To study current consumer preferences

towards advertising campaigns.
TELECOMMUNICATION SECTOR IN
INDIA
 India's tele-density has improved from under 4% in
March2001 to around 82.3% by the end of 2016.

Cellular telephony continues to be the fastest growing

segment in the Indian telecom industry.

The mobile subscriber base (GSM and CDMA combined)

has grown from under 2 million at the end of FY00 to
touch 1043 million (approx.)at the end of June 2016.

Tariff reduction and decline in handset costs has helped

the segment to gain in scale.

KEY POINTS:
Supply
Intense competition has resulted in
prompt service to the subscribers.

Demand
Given the low tariff environment,
demand will continue to remain
higher in the foreseeable future
across all the segments.

Barriers to
entry High capital investments, well-
established players who have a
nationwide network, license fee,
continuously evolving technology
and lowest tariffs in the world.

Bargaining
power of Improved competitive scenario and
suppliers commoditisation of telecom
services has led to reduced
bargaining power for services
providers.
 Bargaining
power of A wide variety of choices available
customers to customers both in fixed as well
as mobile telephony has resulted in
increased bargaining power for the
customers.

Competition
Competition has intensified with
the entry of new cellular players in
circles. Reduced tariffs have hurt all
operators.

PROSPECT:

Increasing choice and one of the lowest tariffs in the world

have made the cellular services in India an attractive
proposition for the average consumer. The penetration
levels in urban areas have already crossed 100%. Therefore
the main driver for future growth would be the rural areas.
 AIRTEL
Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as Airtel, is an
Indian multinational telecommunications Services Company
headquartered at New Delhi, India. It operates in 17 countries
across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands. Airtel has
GSM network in all countries in which it operates, providing
GSM, 3G and 4G LTE services depending upon the country of
operation. Airtel is the world's third largest mobile
telecommunications company with over 364 million subscribers
across 17 countries as of 2016. It is the largest cellular service
provider in India, with 264.58 million subscribers. Airtel is the
third largest in-country mobile operator by subscriber base,
behind China Mobile and China Unicom.

COSTUMER BASE OF AIRTEL:

Metros "B" Circle

Delhi 11347967 Haryana 3256498

Mumbai 5901183 Kerala 4410132

Kolkata 4756286

"A" Circle Madhya Pradesh

13167350
Andhra
Pradesh&Telangana Punjab 8080854
24115714
Rajasthan 19650609
Gujarat 8624110
Uttar Pradesh (East)
Karnataka 21252139 21513837

Maharashtra& Goa Uttar Pradesh (West)

13465482 8396686

Tamil Nadu 17721709

 West Bengal Himachal Pradesh
15150564 2886707

"C" Circle Jammu and Kashmir

3297984
Assam 6130263
North East India
Bihar 29015941 3952201

Orissa 10672418

Airtel is the market leader in India with about 256.8 million

wireless subscribers in India or about 24.83% market share at
the end of July, 2016. The Brand Trust Report published by Trust
Research Advisory, places Airtel as the trusted brands in India.

The total revenue generated by company is 233,357 million

(ended December 2016 audited report).

TIMELINE OF ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS

UNDERTOOK
After launching its first circle in 1995, Airtel shifted from being a
'technology' brand to a 'communication' brand in 2002. AR
Rahman created the signature tune for the telecom giant.
From'Harek friend zaroorihotahai' to'Jo
terahaiwohmerahai', here's a look at Airtel's ad campaigns
over the years.

1995: Airtel launches its first circle

2002: Airtel shifts from being a 'technology' brand to a
'communication' brand - as the category witnesss high growth
and is set to expand beyond voice and text. AR Rahman creates
the signature tune.

2008: The mobile telephony category is in the way of getting

commoditised. India becomes the only market in the world with
more than 10 telecom players.

Its time to move away from voice as the basic promise of the
category.
Airtel bets big on VAS and launches a new campaign that
speaks about how barriers break when people talk.

2010: Airtel rebrands itself and launches 3G services.

2011: Airtel launches the 'Harek friend zaroorihotahai'
campaign, created by Taproot India. It injects some much
needed freshness into the brand.
2012: After the popularity of its predecessor, Taproot creates
the next big campaign for Airtel called 'Jo
terahaiwohmerahai'.
2014: Airtel advertise itself with the help of the policy of
unlimited calls and internet for all night.

2016: The network features itself as the widest 4G network of

India in the advertisement.
 VODAFONE
Vodafone India, formerly Vodafone Essar, is the second
largest mobile network operator in Indiaby subscriber
base,after Airtel with a market share of 21.54%. It is based in
Mumbai, Maharashtra. It has approximately 200.47 million
customers as of August 2016.

On July 2011, Vodafone Group agreed terms for the buy-out of

its partner Essar from its Indian mobile phone business. The UK
firm paid $5.46 billion to its Indian counterpart to take Essar out
of its 33% stake in the Indian subsidiary. It will leave Vodafone
owning 74% of the Indian business, while the other 26% will be
owned by Indian investors, in compliance with Indian law. On 11
February, 2007, Vodafone agreed to acquire the controlling
interest of 67% held by Li KaShing Holdings in Hutch-Essar for
US$11.1 billion, pippingReliance Communications, Hinduja
Group, and Essar Group, which is the owner of the remaining
33%. The whole company was valued at USD 18.8 billion. The
transaction closed on 8 May, 2007. It offers both prepaid and
postpaidGSMcellular phone coverage throughout India with
good presence in the metros.

CUSTOMER BASE OF VODAFONE:

No. of
Telecom Circle
Subscribers
Gujarat 15,801,116
Uttar Pradesh(East) 14,526,236
Maharashtra 12,977,123
West Bengal 11,165,667
Tamil Nadu 9,777,927
 No. of
Telecom Circle
Subscribers
Rajasthan 8,565,366
Uttar Pradesh(West) 8,999,073
Andhra Pradesh 6,080,916
Delhi 8,449,120
Goa 7,134,576
Karnataka 6,452,620
Kerala 6,067,506
Bihar 6,381,278
Kolkata 4,084,284
Punjab 4,309,853
Haryana 4,437,015
Madhya Pradesh &
4,101,877
Chhattisgarh
Chennai 2,091,411
Odisha 2,789,575
Assam 2,188,073
North East 928,563
Jammu & Kashmir 666,009
Himachal Pradesh 475,329
Mumbai 6,160,353

Total number of Vodafone India Subscribers: 141,519,840, i.e.

21.54% of the total 657,158,013Indian mobile phone
subscribers.

Valuation of Vodafone ltd. Worldwide is US$ 70.30 billion.

 TIMELINE OF ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS
UNDERTOOK
1992:Hutchison Whampoa and its Indian business partner
Max Group, established a company that in 1994 was awarded a
licence to provide mobile telecommunications services in
Mumbai and launched commercial services as Hutchison Max in
November 1995.

Hutch was often praised for its award winning advertisements

which all follow a clean, minimalist look. A recurrent theme is
that its message "Hi" stands out visibly though it uses only
white letters on red background.

2003: Featured a pug named Cheeka following a boy around

in unlikely places, with the tagline, "Wherever you go, our
network follows" The simple yet powerful advertisement
campaigns won it many admirers. Ads featuring the pug were
continued by Vodafone even after rebranding.

200
2009: Zoozoo was introduced for the first time in 2nd season
of the IPL. It was an instant hit and videos of these ads gone
viral all over the internet. This trend can be followed by looking
at the huge fan following of zoozoo pages on facebook, twitter
and other sites with facebook page having more than a million
fans.

2009

2013: Vodafone as the network of never ending conversation.

Comparison between Airtel and
Vodafone-
Global perspective
(Data considered till 2012)
Marketing strategy by Bharti Airtel:

Market segmentation
Geographical segment (metropolitans & cities India)
Demographic segment - middle income groups
People age group of 20 to 28 year

Target marketing
People who living in cities and towns.
Poor or middle income group people.
Youngsters in big cities.
Businessmen

Positioning
Creating brands (Sharukh khan & Sachin Tendulker)
Ads and promotions
Promotion for study of poor children.

Marketing mix
Price: low price strategy(new), better service strategy(old)
Place: maximum outlets and service centres
Product: varieties available for various groups
Promotion: various schemes for pre-paid and post-paid

Marketing strategy by Vodafone:

Market segmentation
Geographical segment (semi-urban &rural India)
Demographic segment - middle income groups

Target marketing
People living in small towns and villages.
Poor and middle income groups.
Youngsters in big cities.
Businessmen

Positioning
Creating brands
 Ads and promotions

Marketing mix
Price: low price & value for money strategy.
Place : maximum outlets and service centres
Product : verities available for various groups
Promotion: various schemes for pre-paid and post-paid
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research methodology adopted is basically based on
primary data via which the most recentand accurate piece of
first-hand information could be collected. Secondary data has
been used tosupport primary data wherever needed.

Primary data was collected using the Questionnaire

Method:

The main tool used was, the questionnaire method.

Type of Research Methodology:

EXPLORATORY:
Type of research carried out was exploratory in nature. For this
purpose, the information collected from the sample will be
helpful in drawing the conclusion about the unknown.

DATA COLLECTION METHOD:

There two type of method of data collection.
PRIMARY DATA
SECONDARY DATA

QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY:
In the studies a questionnaire is prepared. The
questionnaireconsists of 20 questions.

SECONDARY DATA:
Secondary data refer to the data that has been already
collected. The secondary data, which has been used to carry
out thisStudy, are as follow:
Books, journals, magazines, newspapers
Industry reports
Companys internet site
Some other relevant study material and websites.

SAMPLE UNIT: - Varanasi.

The research process was done by getting the costumers to fill
the questionnaire. Sample design consists of randomSampling.

SAMPLE SIZE: - 25 people

METHOD OF COLLECTION: -
Questionnaires were e-mailed to the respondents and the
completed questionnaires were analysed.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT:
Questionnaire

The questionnaire was formulated by keep in mind the

following
Points: -
Giving the respondents, Clear comprehension of the
question.
Objectives to be found out.
Giving instructions as to what is needed.
Identifying the needs to be known.
 QUESTIONNAIRE AND DATA ANALYSIS
FOR

PROJECT
ON

SURVEY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF

ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS IN ENHANCING
BRAND VALUE
(CUSTOMER PERCEPTION VIEW)

NAME:

ADDRESS:

AGE:

GENDER:

CONTACT NO. :

1. WHAT IS YOUR EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION?

A. MATRICULATE
B. INTERMEDIATE
C. GRADUATE
D. POST GRADUATE & ABOVE.

QUALIFICATION

6% Matriculate
26%
19% Intermediate
Graduate
Post graduate and above

48%

More than 3/4th of the respondents are having educational

qualification equal to or higher than graduation, these
demographics will help us in getting more valid answers as
higher education level generally means a higher market sense.

2. WHO IS YOUR CURRENT SERVICE PROVIDER?

A. AIRTEL
B. VODAFONE
C. IDEA
D. BSNL
E. OTHERS.
 Operator

10% Airtel
Vodafone
10%
39% Idea
Bsnl
16% Others

26%

39% of respondents were having Airtel connections at the time

of survey and 26% were having Vodafone connection, rest were
having idea, BSNL, TATA etc.

3. DO ADS PLAY ANY ROLE IN DECIDING YOUR

SERVICE PROVIDER?
A.YES
B. NO

Role of ADS

3%

YES
NO

97%
97% of the respondents say that ads do play a role in deciding
the service provider which shows the value and effectiveness of
ads in enhancing or justifying brand value.

4. IF YES, WHAT ROLE DOES IT PLAY?

A. HELPS IN KNOWING THE ATTRIBUTES OF THE
SERVICE
B. HELPS IN COMPARING SERVICES WITH OTHER
PROVIDERS
C. RE-ENFORCES BELIEF ABOUT THE PRODUCT
D. ALL OF THE ABOVE

AD role

6%
13%

6%

74%

74% of the respondents say that an ad plays all the

roles which show the importance of ads in conveying
the message of the company to the customers and
creating value for brand.

5. THE ADS OF WHICH SERVICE PROVIDER

ATTRACT YOU THE MOST?
A. AIRTEL
B. VODAFONE
C. IDEA
D. DOCOMO
E. OTHER
 Attracts

Airtel
10% Vodafone
3%
Idea
39%
Docomo
Others
48%

With 48% votes Vodafone takes the lead in most

attractive ad area with full credit going towards the
Ogilvy &Mather produced mascot Zoozoo.
Airtel with 39% votes is not far at all, with campaigns of
hare ek friend zarurihotahai,etc going on, it can very
quickly catch up to it.

VODAFONE
6. HOW WELL THE ADS OF VODAFONE CATCH
YOUR ATTENTION?
A. VERY WELL
B. SOMEWHAT WELL
C. NOT AT ALL
 voda how well

3%
19% a
b
c

77%

7. AS AN INDIAN ARE YOU ABLE TO ASSOCIATE

WITH VODAFONE MASCOT ZOOZOO?
A. YES
B. NO

Associate

yes
39% no

61%

8. WHAT TYPE OF VODAFONE ADS ATTRACTS YOU

THE MOST?
A. GOOD NETWORK RELATED ADS
B. DISCOUNT SCHEME ADS
C. VALUE ADDED SERVICES ADS
D. 3G ADS
E. OTHERS.

voda ad type

a
16% 19% b
c
d
19%
e
29%
16%

9. WHICH MASCOT YOU LIKE THE MOST IN

VODAFONE ADS?
A. PUG
B. ZOOZOO
C. NONE OF THESE

Voda mascot

13%
pug
zoozoo
none

87%
87% of respondents have said that they like Zoozoo more than
the pug used in earlier ads of hutch and Vodafone, this shows
that current marketing strategy of Vodafone is a huge hit
among people and is on the right track. But as seen with all
famous ad campaigns, people are used to getting bored with
same concept ads and hence they need to be changed after a
period of time.

10. DO YOU MISS THE PUG IN TODAYSS ADS?

A. YES- 21%
B. NO- 79%

11. DOES THE ADS OF VODAFONE ATTRACT YOU

MORE TOWARDS THE SERVICE?
A. YES
B. NO

Attracts towards services?

29% yes
no

71%

12. DO YOU WANT ANY SPORTS PERSON OR

MOVIE STAR TO REPLACE THE ZOOZOO AS THE
VODAFONE MASCOT?
A. YES
B. NO

Zoozoo replacement?

3%

yes
no

97%

13. RATE THE RECENT AD CAMPAIGN OF

VODAFONE:

Very Poor Neutra Good Very

Poor l good
MESSAG
E
CLARITY
PRODUC
T
APPEAL
VISUAL
IMPACT
CREATIVI
TY
EMOTIO
NAL
APPEAL
HUMOUR

Accumulated Average score out of 5 with 1 being very

poor:

Message clarity- 4.7

Product appeal- 4.2
Visual impact- 4.8
Creativity- 4.95
Emotional appeal- 3.6
Humour- 4.8

TOTAL AVERAGE- 4.508

Hence, Respondents found Vodafone ads high on

creativity, humour and visual impact. The newly started
ad campaign by O&M has provided Vodafone a bright
chance to capitalize on the connection they have made
with the customers due to these highly engaging ads.
 AIRTEL
14. ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE NEW AIRTEL
LOGO?
A. YES
B. NO

Logo

32% yes
no

68%

15. HOW WELL THE ADS OF AIRTEL CATCH YOUR

ATTENTION?
A. VERY WELL
B. SOMEWHAT WELL
C. NOT AT ALL

Attention

10% a
b
16%
c

74%
74% of the respondents believe that the ads of Airtel are
attractive and hence are able to get the respondents attention
towards the ad so resulting in Brand awareness and
subsequently enhanced brand value.

16. WHICH AIRTEL JINGLE YOU LIKE THE MOST?

A. A.R REHMAN SIGNATURE JINGLE FOR AIRTEL
B. JO TERA HAI WO MERA HAI
C. HAR EK FRIEND ZARURI HOTA HAI.

jingle

13%
a
b
c
52%
35%

The new jingles in the ad campaign started by TAPROOT India

are the most liked jingles for Airtel brand in current time. The
old signature tune of Airtel made by A.R. Rehman is still holding
its land but new jingles have completely turned the orientation
the youth way.

17. DO YOU FEEL NOT TAKING ANY BIG STAR IN

RECENT ADS IS ADVERSLY AFFECTING AIRTEL
BRAND IMAGE?
A. YES
B. NO
 STAR

yes
no
45%
55%

It is close but still a majority of respondents feel that Airtel is

not being adversely affected by not having any big star in the
campaign, solely attributed to the highly successful and
engaging ad campaign which is currently going on otherwise
earlier Airtel has always been a big star in roping in stars for its
ads and has been benefitted by it.

18. HOW DO YOU LOOK AT AIRTEL AS A BRAND?

A. YOUTH BRAND
B. ELITE BRAND
C. ECONOMICAL BRAND
D. FOR ALL BRAND

Airtel brand

a
16% b
3% c
45%
d

35%
45% of the respondents see Airtel as a youth brand compared
to 36% viewing it as an elite brand. This is a huge shift from
earlier strategy of Airtel where all emphasis was given on
showing Airtel as an elite and high class brand. A recent
change in strategy which also resulted in Logo change and
complete brand makeover has caused this change.

19. DO YOU FEEL HAVING A PROPER MASCOT OR

AMBASSODOR WILL HELP AIRTEL IN FURTHER
ENHANCING BRAND IMAGE OR CURRENT AD
CAMPAIGN IS GOOD ENOUGH?
A. YES, IT WILL HELP
B. NO, IT WONT HELP

AMBASSADOR

A
42% B

58%

Even though most of the respondents believe that not having

any star campaigner is not adversely affecting brand Airtel
still 58% respondents feel that having a proper ambassador
either any star or an animated one like in case of Amul and
Vodafone will help Airtel.
20. RATE THE RECENT AD CAMPAIGN OF AIRTEL
ON FOLLOWING PARAMETERS:

Very Poor Neutra Good Very

Poor l good
MESSAG
E
CLARITY
PRODUC
T
APPEAL
VISUAL
IMPACT
CREATIVI
TY
EMOTIO
NAL
APPEAL
HUMOUR

Accumulated Average score out of 5 with 1 being very poor:

Message clarity- 4.8

Product appeal- 4.5
Visual impact- 4.7
Creativity- 4.4
Emotional appeal- 4.6
Humour- 4.85

TOTAL AVERAGE- 4.641

Respondents rated Airtel ad campaign highly on Humour,

Emotional appeal and message clarity. As compared to
Vodafone Airtel is way ahead in emotional appeal but lags
hugely behind in case of creativity. All other areas are almost
equally rated by the respondents.
With a marginally higher average score AIRTEL emerged as a
complete advertisement and marketing strategy king among
the two in Indian conditions.

FINDINGS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS

AIRTEL:
Airtel has started to establish itself as a youth oriented
brand and hence should focus more on flexibility of plans
so as to cater the needs of youth.

Even though the marketing strategy and ad campaigns

are going really well but roping in a youth icon in the
framework without disturbing the current direction of
campaign should help Airtel in further capitalising on its
enhancing youth brand image.

Airtel has always been good to connect with customers

emotionally and current campaign should keep that in
focus not to lose the emotional connect by overdoing the
youth branding strategy.

Still many costumers think of Airtel as an elite brand and

consider it a not so economical option. With data showing
that most of new connection takers are middle class who
look at value for money, Airtel should start advertising it
as a for all brand.

Data shows a constant increase in Brand value and

Brand rating of Airtel with it gaining a AA rating this year
as compared to AA- last year. Airtel has fared in worlds
top 100 brand list above brands like Sony, Citi group etc.
To further capitalize on this, they can aggressively
advertise this fact which will bring this in the notice of
everyone and hence will further help in increasing brand
value.
 VODAFONE:
Vodafone scored very low in emotional connect with the
customers, being a foreign brand it is difficult for Vodafone
to create a really strong emotional connect but it should
try to conceptualize some serious, heart touching ads in
comic series ads of Zoozoo. Having a better connect will
finally render more customers towards the brand like
future group and coca-cola has done.

Vodafone lost brand value and brand rating this year in

global market at a time when one of its ad campaign is
touted as being the best and winning a lot of awards like
abbys, Vodafone should take advantage of this campaign
and should port this to all the operating countries and see
if this can help in getting the rating back.

Even after getting highest respondent votes in most

attractive ad category Vodafone lost in total accumulated
average score, this shows that current Vodafone strategy
is capable of overcoming all odds and winning the battle
but only 1-2 areas are holding it back, the company should
focus on these areas like emotional connect.
 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Lack of time is the biggest and most basic limitation off

the study.

Lack of proper information and experience.

As the respondents were from cities only, so the

perspective of rural costumer cannot be taken into
account.

Number of respondents was limited due to limited

contacts and unwillingness of the respondents to fill the
questionnaire.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

WWW.BRANDIRECTORY.COM

WWW.SCRIBD.COM

WWW.ECONOMICTIMES.INDIATIMES.COM BRAND EQUITY

WWW.VODAFONE.IN

WWW.AIRTEL.IN

WWW.EQUITYMASTER.COM

WWW.INDIAINBUSINESS.NIC.IN